The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-05-26
BEGINNING IN OKLAHOMA
HOW THE NEW TERRITORY WAS
STARTED.
Extraordinary Illustration of Self
troll of Americans and Their Re
spect for Rights OF Others.
a recent visitor to Oklahoma has
written his Impressions as follows:

a recent visitor to Oklahoma has ,
written his impressions as follows:
Captain Couch, the original Okla /
hama boomer who started the agita-
ton that opened the territory to settle |
some time be erected in one of these 1
thriving towns, like that to Kit Carson /
at Santa Fe, died with his boots on
while defending a homestead claim up
on which he had located just outside
Oklahoma City. Adams the man who
shot him, has just returned from ten
years visit to the Kansas penitentiary,
where he was sent for manslaughter
and is now preparing to fight Couch s
family in the courts for the title to the
property There is no penitentiary IN
Oklahoma, and there are no poorhouses
or poorfarms in the territory The need
of such things has never been felt. AL
though there is an impression in the
East that this is a lawless country, the
reports of the criminal courts show
that the penitentiary population is only
1856 and that there was only one con-
vict last year for every 2150 of the in
habtants while in the good state of
Ohio, the ratio was one to every 1902; IN
Kansas, one to every 1900, and in In
diana one to every 1850. There are jails,
or coolers" as the people kindly call
them, in all of the larger towns, but in
the smaller places when man has
committed an offense against society
the sheriff locks him up in a vacant
room until he gets time to take him TO
court.
The people have been 50 busy build
ing school houses and churches that
they haven't had time to build court
houses and jails, and the territory Is
still without a capitol building; but
that is due chiefly to the rivalry be-
ttHI, If hn Loo M IN nc.
to secure the seat of governments BY the
census last year there were more than
700 churches and more than 1000 Sun
day schools. with an average attend
ance of 10000. This is one church for
every 440 of the population and one
Sunday school for every 81. Ten per
cent. of the inhabitants of Oklahoma
are communicates in some church,
which is probably a larger percentage
than any of the older states can show,
but it should be remembered that the
territory was settled by remarkable
class of people and that on the first
day, when 60, 900 determined men rushed
in to seize the best locations they could
find there was only one homicide, and
the victim was a Chicago tough, who
was shot for refusing to behave him
self. He simply could not be tolerated,
and a righteous man, selected by his
| associates to keep order, removed
Governor Barnes who was register
of the land office on that memorable 22d
of April, 1889, told us of his experience
I and observations at Guthrie. 1t was
an extraordinary illustration of the self
control of the American people and
their resnect for the rights of others. A
town of il OO0 people sprung up on the
site of Guthrie within two hours. Most
of it's nopulation were determined men,
who had been waiting weeks, and some
Of them months on the edge of the
nromised land. for the long coveted
permission to enter. Many of them had