Milford chronicle., 1893-01-06

4AtADslliH
On tho Kansas Border.
.shoueh the opening TO settlement Of
soaooo0 rcres OF land ia the Cherokee
Is somewhat problematical as TO Time
,ossers are already gathering along
.,hern border Of Kansas prepared 70
the last rush for public lands this
ry viii ever see. As nearly as can be
aimed there are now encamped within
ouuties of Cowley Sumner, Barber
er and Comanche at least 1900 fami
waiting the slow action Of congress.
,ecity oficials Of Winfield. Arkansas
md Caldwell have called upon the
regenerous Of their citizens to provide
ourary shelter for those who have
-d the winter IN their wagons or
camping IN the woods near water
nave already responded, and barracks
teen prepared where women and
en- can find some little comfort
d feature Of this advance wave is the
It Of suffering that has already come
knowledge Of the proper officers
loCommissioner isorry, Of COwley
cour. says the boomer element on the
bore counts very largely IN the expense
Of tIpauper fund as these people must
not allowed to starve, even II they are
not ornament residents The same re
Hartr and Barber In order 70 be first
IN th coming mad rush, many Of these
bOonirs have left places where they have
been 70 work, and their little stock Of
mons has been exhausted. The expert
encosof others IN the former rushes count
as noining - they see only prospective
homes, never even giving thought TO the
future when the purchase money must be
secured from some source.
There is something remarkable about
these boomers. Many Of them have been
IN the former rushes, have endured the
trials Of long waiting, and claim that they
were always Just a little too late. Their
families were with them then, as they are
now, and as they congregate about the
campfire, sheltered from the winds by old
wornout wagons, whose covers show that
they have been through many campaigns,
notes are compared Of previous experiences.
It is nothing 70 them that there are lands
which they might now secure in the terri
tory last opened, which were abandoned
almost as soon as taken. They know every
mile Of that country and pronounce it
worthless, showing the correctness Of their
Judgment Before they could enter IL pre-
sented the same alluring prospect that the
Cherokee strip now offers. It was 50 when
the Sac and Fox country was opened, and
before that when the original Oklahoma
was given to the public.
The well built cities Of Oklahoma, sur
rounded as they are with finely cultivated
farms, seem 10 sffer a short road to wealth
IN the now new country If fortune gives a
favorable location For some reason the
government exacts good pay for all the
lands now at its disposal, and only those on
the inside can hope to reap harvest when
the country is opened. These people now
waiting on the border will be crowded out,
as they were before, and their priyations
seEthrnugh the winter will avail
' suem nothing After the rush their wagons
will head nCth and south, aud they viii |
be but mOUyted tramps, coming from. no
where and ping to the same place.
Visiting oe Of these camps about three /
miles from Lrkansas City. The Times cor /
respondsnt bund a family Of persons who
last spring I'D been among the campers
in front Of el Reno. They were as hope /
full then aahOw and were sure Of finding /
a location Iar some good city to be. The
year beford had made their acquaintance
when they Fere camped near Langston, on
the borierlf the Sac and Fox lands where
claim w secared. but was jumped by
negro. VIII bought them Gtf for the sum Of
fifty dollars.
This iahe secret Of this early gathering
Ntfsmo1 thar one in ten of these families
WIN be among the permanent set
ILL., when the time comes,
nd squat on some fine land
out to the more moderate
ss-to let some one-lse