Arizona republican., 1894-01-23
IN THE CHEROKEE STRIP.
The Experience Of a Drummer in
the Rush for Land.
He Found He Had Made Great Mis-
take and Was Glad to Get Out of
the Country Alive-Trials of Other
WOuld-Be SOOners.

NO l6SS Glldn SlSnU luCD
were seduced into making run to the
Cherokee strip in search of quarter sec
tions or town lots and the number
which returned disappointed and dis
gusted was exactly six. AS | was one
of the number and hence am telling a
tale on myself, says writer in the
st. Louis GlobeDemOcrat, | cannot be
accused of malice, unless it be against
mankind in general and the interior
department in particular. l paid
twenty dollars for turn to register,
and have ever since looked upon the
man who made the sale as remark
ably smart individual 1 obtained a
certificate and at twelve o'clock com
menced to ride bright looking horse
into the strip. l might have got a
good claim if could have controlled
the horse. But 1 couldn't. The ami
NAL simply did his best to beat every
thing else in sight, taking the fastest
horse for peacemaker aud following
with praiseworthy assiduity. ] have
been under the impression that 1 could
ride, and if sticking on a horses back
means good riding have nothing to
be ashamed of, for certainly did not
fall off. Otherwise I was a complete
failure as rider, for the horse went at
his own gait, turned when he wanted
to and treated my desires with a
contempt which was supreme. 1t
was nearly three o'clock before
he got so tired out that l was
able to stop him, and by that time he
had got me into one of the worst sec
tions IN the strip, where the ground
the government asked for it. Whether
those who obtained the claims got in
on balloons or whether they sneaked
in over night l am not prepared to say,
but every claim with pretense of herb
age or water on it was occupied, and
one man had house half built. 1t did
not take me long to make up my mind
that the sooner I could get back into
Kansas the better, but had no idea of
the enormous distance 1 had travelled
until had got well into the journey
on an exhausted morse which needed
both food and water badly. l had to
camp out all night, and finally got into
town on Sunday morning heartily
ashamed of myself, and with enough
dust on me to have started a small
vegetable garden. My only consolation
was that hundreds of others were
equally unfortunate, and l believe
there was more grumbling and cussing
to the square inch all day Sunday in
this town than anyone present could
possibly realize. W., who travels for a
st. 10 dry goods house, did not turn up
till just after supper on Sunday even
ing. Exactly what happened to him
no one will know until he regains his
temper. At present he will give no in
! formation whatever, and all that is
known is that he went into the strip
on horseback and came back as an
extra passenger in a prairie schooner
or ex-boomer's wagon. A Chicago man
who went in with us on horseback
from here got hopelessly lost, and
! finally found himself at Kiowa, where
he sold the cuadruped and took the
cars back here Another man of the
travelling fraternity, who has always
boosted that he never got left, Joined
town-site colony few days before
the opening and went in with them
Half a dozen sooners were quarreling
over the quarter section they had
designed to make the metropolis of the
Indian territory when they arrived at
it, and all they could do was to drive
back. Cur brother in affection gives
a most humorous account of his ex
perience. Three of the number made
the run on horseback, the balance fol
lowing in wagons. When they met a
the coveted spot and compared note
they decided to camp out for thu
night and come back at their leisure
as they had enough food and drink OF
hand to give Indigestion. if not govt, t.
the entire party. A remarkable diff
Guilty then beset them. Every inch o
ground Of the vicinity was claimed
: and no one would allow them to camp
fearing lest it was a trick for the pun
pose of securing evidence in project
ed contest. Finally their resting plac
! w e1o oClCSuSei OLI oiIS SNAS5C VI OAiC VI uii
countless branches of the Arkansa
river, and after hearty supper an
good wash in the river an attemp
was made to sleep. The darkness
brought with it thousands of mosqu
{ toes and millions of insignificant
creeping things which stung wors
than could be imagined, and camp wa
broken before nine O'Clock. Afte
!, that two or three more attempts wer
!, made to secure decent resting plact
and finally it was decided to kee
B moving as the best opportunity fc
3 comfort. Several miles were covere
? during the night, and in the mornin
the heartbreaking discovery was mad
that they were going south instead {
north. They retraced their steps an
finally got back into town in a ve1
dilapidated and dirty condition an
with an immense amount of conce
j knocked out of them. We propose
9 resume our ordinary avocations as soc
" as we are rested up.