The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1893-09-21
Seventy. Five Thousand Settlers Go
Into the Strip,
A Pell Nell Race For Farms and
Town Sites.
a Land Not Flowing With Milk And
Honey,

day $4,000 men were gathered upon
the north and south boundaries of the
Cherokee Strip awaiting breathlessly
the signal which would announce TO
them the arrival Of the hour when the
land should pass from the ownership
of the United States government into
the possession oi its individual cjtizens.
All we're ready for the race wi ich
would bring fortune and happiness
to some and disappointment and sua
ering to others All expected the for
tunes, and all were ready for the race
for lands Some were mounted on
throughored racers, some on the less
fleet but surer-footed COW ponies and
some on bicycles Others We're % make
the race in buggies and wagons. An
air OF strained expectancy pervaded
the throngs and each was eager for the
signal
Barg, bang the revolvers Of the
United States army officers who have
the affair in charge gave the signal to
start and the race for homes was on.
Seventy-fve thousand men and wom-
en- rushed over boundaries and into
the coveted land as If their very lives
and tlat the mere possession of farm
or two depended on their going. The
shouting of the men, the screaming of
the women, the nelghing of the fright.
ened horses, the cracking OF whips, the
creaking of prairie schooners, the rat
ting of wheels, the clatler Of hoois
and the explosion Of fire arms combin-
ing to make confusion Of sounds in
keeping with the general confusion O.
thes tart and to render the scene of
Undesirable pan1emonium.
After, the line was crossed and the
racers spread out over the strip, hun
dreds Of exciting contests took place.
Here was a neck-and-neck race be-
tween horsemen who had all selected
certain lot in certain town site s
ave nnly thing worth having in the
wu u country stake is aluring, and
ho.semen puts forth every effort to
snatch the prize There a choice farm
is the stake and the race is equally ex-
citing. Here the racers come upon
gully over which they cannot urge
their horses They abandon their an
finals, trusting to luck to find them
again, and make for the goal on foot
stumbling over rocks, wading over
rocks, wading streams and climbing
precipitous banks in the mad race.
Here women engage in race for a
prize, and there men and women are
chasing over the prairie for the same
piece Of land.
During the long hot days of regis
tration, when standing in line in the
blazing sun entailed great suffering,
the men chiYalruosly surrendered to
tue weaker sex their places in the
lines. There is no dhivalry now. This
race is business affair, and no ssnti-
'ment interferes with the transaction of
the matter in hand on business basis.
The women must take their chances.
Their sex awaited them nothing in this
contest.
Along the railway tracks, the boom
er trains, loaded to the guards with
townsiters, were seen to be creeping
along at snalPs pace, it seemed to
the anxious passengers, while thous-
ands OF fleet animals with their mounts
were outstripping the mighty iron
horses, handicapped by being forbid
den to exceep twelve miles an hour.
The horsemens shouted derisively
as they passed the trains, and some of
the more hotheaded passengers piled |
off OF the cars forthwith, scampered a
distance into the prairies and squatted
upon the first vacant patch of 160
acres which came in their way. AS the
train pulled into town site or county
seat, it disgorged its load, and the
town siters swarmed over the land
like an army of ants. The plat of
ground, which fifteen minutes before
was nothing but surveyed patch OF