The Red Cloud chief., 1900-09-21
With the Soonsrs.
GUTHRIE, y. r., Sept. 10
"stll stands the forest primeval; bu, unde

"still stands the forest prlmeval; but under
the shade OF its branches
Dwells smother race, with other customs and
- language"
Several ye. RS ago today the now ban
ner wheat and corn country Of Ameri.
ca-Kay county, Oklahoma-was a
bowling wilderness, peopled only by a
few families OF Poor Lo" and about as
many families Of sooners This sum.
mer it raised $500, 600 bushels of wheat,
a great abundance Of corn, besides
cotton, oats, corn, castor beans, and an
endless variety of other crops known
to both the north and the south, and
ALL it is a SMALL county having only
about $40 square miles of land, or less
than two thirds as much rs Webster
county. But mind yes it is lying
along the waters OF the great Arkansas
river although it is hardly right to
speak Of the water in the plural as a
Buff Cochin rooster can wade it almost
any place without getting its pants
wet) and the bottoms Of that stream
are almost a. fertile as those OF the
river Nile. e..
I believe that Kay and Pawnee are
the two most fertile counties In the
territory, and always will be, and they
both came into settlement with the
strip several years ago this fall.
On the EAST side Of the river adjoin.
ing these counties is the great Usage
and Kaw Indian reservations, sixty
miles long and about fifty wide and al.
most completely uncultivated. There
for the past five days | have conducted
my labors. Three thousand square
miles of %sun.kissed land, rank with
thick grass and dotted with beautiful
streams, worth from thirty to fifty dol.
lars per acre, all belonging to the chill.
dren Of America, given over to them
as a play ground, for not a dozen Of
the 400 Indians living in it will work
a day. And why should they work ?
Every three months they draw ifty
dollars, from the youngest babe strap.
ped to a board on its mothers back to
the toothless veteran who used to fight
the Sioux on the Republican river thir.
ty.thrss years ago where the city Of
Amboy now stands, (called Lester now
l believe.) Fer further particulars ask
Uncle Tommy Reed.
It was my good fortune to spend q
day at Pawhaskie, the capital of the
Usage reservation, and here I saw
some strange sights. At the hotel
where | stopped was a half.breed WON.
an boarding with her two eligible
daughters with the express view Of
marrying them to white men. Across
the street were several more young
quarter blood girls at another hotel all
looking for good white husbands. They
were passably good looking, all we'll
educated, good musicians, and each
had a dowry Of at least half a section
of the best land in the Nation and the
use Of as much more as they wanted
besides $500 a year as long as they
lived. The Usage bucks are all i'm.
mense fellows, scarcely one Of them
under six feet, and this seems to be
about the only virtue the match max.
ing mamas want in their selections for
husbands, good figure.
A young photographer came in on
the stage the next night after | was
there, and in the morning | took him
into the parlor and asked the Did lady
how he would do for one of the girls.
She gave a contemptuous sniff and
said ugh, heap small, no good, take
As he vas little understood |
led him out and went back in and told
her to wait until could get a friend
OF mine from Nebraska down here that
| thought would suit her. She said
she would and | have sent for Oliver
Hedge. l would send for Prof. Kinslow
the piano tuner Of Beloit, Kansas, but
he is a married man and his wife Is
very fond Of him.
Strange freaks of human nature are
almost a daily occurrence. For in.
stance | saw an Indian on the reserva.
ton with light colored hair, a red
moustache, and a speech almost exact
ly like Tommy Quinn's. He had PROV
en- his lineage however and had drawn
Sl3, 900 from the government as back
pay. Here IN Guthrie my barber is a
very much freckled negro with hair
like a Dutch baby.
In Pawhaskie | met n former Web.
ster county mar who at FIRST tried to
evade me, but iuding he couldn't he
shook hands and begged me moi to tell
anyone where he was. lie was at one
time a threshing machine magnate in
our %couatry.
In Guthrie last Sunday as 81 wan.
dered through the village. Tom" nj