The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-20
Over Best Way to Open the
KioWa Country,
WHAT WILL UNCLE SAM Do
Proclamation of President
May be Only Signal.


fixing q certain hour for the opening, mr.
ing a gun, and letting a helter-skelter
scramble ensus viii noe be used
It's equally as certain that the plan
now contemplated by the department 3
TO give no previous notice other than the
presidents proclamation. upon the receipt
OF which prospective settlers may start
for their land
II some one can present a suitable plan
for replacing either Of these two, a plan
whereby the obnoxious features Of both
may be done away with, the government
VIII adopt it,
sngularIy enough all those plans sug-
gested, In lieu Of the old method embody
ia one form or another, a lottery. This
The government VIII be slow to adopt
Notwithstanding there are thousands
who have come to believe; since the dis
cussion began in the Eagle, that the
government could with as much good
grace, endorse a lottery plan as it can to
pun of a horse race.
The numerous communications suggest
ing plans which have been published ia
the Eagle have brought up in Oklahoma
far and near the memories Of other runs,
and the bad features so emphaticaly
demonstrated by them.
The race plan gave the sooner advan-
tage. advantage which is the cause OF
bitterness today, as may be found by in
terviewing any OF the original settlers,
not sooners themselves. The race plan
gave the best of it to youth, and in many
Instances to q bullying disposition. The
man who did not have a good deal Of
fight in him, was i'm hundreds Of instanc-
es. forced to relinquish his rights, and
in scores of other instances where men
would not surrender, they paid the penal
~ with death This was in case of open
jngs where there was plentitude of land
and the contest was largely over choice.
In the Kiowa opening the difficulty Is
q great and grave one. 1t is well known
that there is not going to be enough land
to so around BY the time the Indians
are allotted and these tracts with the ter
ritory which The Wichita mountains take
up is substracted. TO say nothing of "A big
reserve Of pasture of $50 900 acres the
amount of land LETT VIII he Comparatively
small taken in connection with the fact
that the run VIII be upon a square piece
of territory from all four sides, from
Greer county Texas, the Cheyenne and
-srapahoe country and from the Chicka-
saw nation. The contest viii be. NOT for
choice of lands, bus for land. From AN
indications. and because this is the last
land TO De opened. she crush for homes is
going to be something enormous. Okla
homa alone win furnish enough settlers
10 take every foot Of available HON stead
For that reason. the race might grow
into struggle and things might ensue I
which the government would regret for
ali time to come.
Meanwhile the government does not
take kindly to the lottery iiea and only /
variations of this idea have been pro-
posed
LOTTERY VS.. HORSE RACE.
Ponca City, @. r., Jan. 19.-To the E3i- I
Tor of the Eagle: As the Eagle seems 10 (
publish more news in regard to the open /
ing of The Kiowa. Comauche and Apache I
countries, we wish 10 ask you to kindly /
publish our views ON the subject.
The drawing plan seems to us to be
the best. fairest and most popular plan /
Of opening.
We have conversed with numbers OK .
persons who intend to try to get homes /
tn that country and without a single eX- I
ception honest men who can qualify as
hcmesteaders are i'm favor of the draw /
ing" proposed by E. C. Sewers /
Opponents of this plan are those who /
can not qualify as -homesteaders and in /
tend to rum as sooner this land ia order f.
10 speculate on il.
These persons claim that the govern
meut can not open this land by drawing
because it is "a lottery
We think the odds are in favor of "a (
drawing. rather than a ''horse race" pull F
ga off on a certain day by the President +
of the United States The stalker being
the farms and town lots
The president sets q day for this grand /
horse race, sends his starters down to
the lne and notifies those who wish 10
enter the race to &c there
Thousands gather at the line AT the
appointed time the starters fire their
guns. The race is on. Honest men rum
ming from the place Of starting and at
tempting TO get one Of these prizes only
To dnd that others who have gone IN ths
night before get I'D ont of the brush ANA
with fresh horses beat them TO their
lands
Those parties who run from the line
must either quit or begin a long logal
contest that VIII cause h0ta parties 10
pay for the land before the case is set
t,cd q is safe 30 say that there are
Very few good claims in the Ca.r3kee
strip that have net been wen pail Tor
10y the Contestants.
Thousands OF persons VIII 81 into a
race who know thar they can nos bold
these lands but DO So just 20 squeeze
q few dollars out OF people who are Just