The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-09-23
0kIahoma's Wheat Area viii
Be Bigger Than Ever.
PICTURE FROM NEW YORK
Of the Territory, Its Town
and Its Inhabitants.

complimentary. He says the politics of
the territory center on two things, honor
for Dennis Flynn, and statehood. The
wheat acreage, he notes, will surpass that
of last year. Mr.. Harger says:
A quarter-mile wide stretch of white
and yellow sand with a lazy rivulet,
over which an energetic boy might leap.
winding this way and that in the broad
expanse-such is the Arkansas river at
it enters Oklahoma at the northern Dor
der of the territory. And the streams OF
the territory itself, as the swift trains
cross them, are not much more interest
ing. The sand is redder, the water is col
ored with brick dust, that is all. Nature
seldom gives everything to one section,
and Oklahoma has evidence of other
riches, even if picturesque waterways are
far between.
This becomes evident soon after the
border is passed. The older settlement
of Kansas suffers by comparison, so pro-
nounced and positive are the features of
the development of the territory. AS
plainly as sign could read, is marked
on the country and the towns the an
nouncement that this is new land and
that the people are prospecting. 1t is evil
dent in the new farm houses, the new
stores and the wheat stacks. Here and
there, along the draws" and outlined
against the sky over the swelIs are build
ings Of new lumber; not in one section
or in one county, but in nearly every
new view. In the towns-that is, those
which natural selection has found to be
the coming business centres-the same is
true. On most claims one sees the old
three-roomed cabin standing back among
the young orchard trees, while the new
home looms proudly in the foreground.
The Oklahoma people are proud of their
prosperity. They glory in their success.
Eagerly they tell of what they have ac-
complished. II have made the run and
didn't have nothin' but my clothes and
the old horse" is a frequent statement
and it is true. Where else can one find
farmers by the score and the hundred
who eight years ago had nothing but a
horse, saddle, and gun, who secured a
home at the cost of three hours ride
on horseback, and who can now boast of
a 160-acre farm with buildings worth
$1,000 to $1,000. all paid for and yielding
nearly its own value in wheat in a single
year? Yet that is Oklahoma history
knoll and count a hundred wheat straw
stacks-the yield is twenty to twenty-five
bushels per acre. The wheat in single
county of the Cherokee Strip this year
was worth more than the government
paid for the whole six counties.
As one comes farther south, there is an
object lesson. The Santa Fe railway
passes through the reservation Of the
Ponca Indians. The handsomely improv-
ed country to the north is seen no more
only reaches Of pasture or where it is
farmed, the lonesome sort of agriculture
that comes from leasehold. The Indians
lease the land in some instances and they
allow the lessee to reside on the property
SO there is a frame cottage for the white
worker and a tent pitched some rods
away for the idle owner Little wonder
that the whites want an end to the reser-
walton policy. 1t is only a matter of time
when the Indian will be compelled to
work as does his white brother.
Beautiful are the pictures presented by
the Oklahoma prairies. In places there
are high-hilled pasture lands, with the
brick-red soil showing where road has
bene cut through the sod Then. as is
the view near this little city, broad
reaches that extend for miles to the
horizon. regularly laid out in farms, each
a half mile square. with its houses. sheds
and barns and growing orchard-the en-
bodiment of agricultural thrift The
houses seem so small at first. Most of
the first-built dwellings are only 12x20
feet, and one and one-half stories high. |
Some are not very large The town
houses are both small and low When
new dwelling is built. it is likely to be
only one story in height and spread out
over as much room as needed. Why?
Stand out in an Oklahoma breeze and you
will understand. The same is true Of |
western Kansas and western Nebraska |
architecture. The trees are small yet !
even where they were promptly planted |
In too many Instances the owner was too |
busy to plant trees for several years !
There IS a great deal Of waste lumber in |
Oklahoma. The towns were, in the rush |
for business at the opening, over-built.
The free homes" bill passed by the last I
congress was a boon 10 the settlers !
Nearly every family had from 1870 to 500 !
saved up to make payment 10 the govern
ment on claim. and the adoption OF the /
law was practically a donation OF that /
amount 1t gave the settler some clear 1
money and made his title to his home IN !
clcuded. He either spent the money in /
or allowed his hard-work- |
ing wife 4 rest and a trip back east 10 !
see the old home. She needed il, for fac |
Ing the summer winds OF the prairles !
wears on features and temper, and
makes a housewife seem older than she /
IS. The next generation will stand ii bet
ter The girls have fresh faces and t
healthy color. They have gained strength +
and comeiiness through their experiences /
and are prepared for prairie life ''stnl.
they say. this climate IS very hard on
our com2lexionsr'
Immigration IS coming 20 Oklahoma II 4
3 not entirely the result Of the raising Of /
a 5000. J,no- bushel crop q wheat. or % 4
the prosperity that has come m other 1
ways People are coming by train and 4
14airie schooner hy the hundred because I
they have heard Of these things and also j
because OF the approaching opening az
new reservations.
y came 70 get free home" said
anky westeraer az Oklahoma city. Sold (,
,ut In Nehrasky and moved here But,
sakes. IT'S going 10 be too long % wait 4
Tor opening, 50 I've bought place and I
settled down" There are scores tust ike
him. = Is this immigration that i help
ng the territory and Is stifTeainE realty
values The banks q the territory have
= s10esa on deposit a gain % nes-ly r.
-. coo IN ne past six months Il JEsy. /
iSs-. the deposits were s.. ~ sea This
shows that the people are saving their
noney. They have proatsd By ;he expert