Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-08-13
pie bathing, washing clothes, cleaning
fish and killing snakes in the streams.

llSH and Killing snakes IN the streams.
Fishing.
There are some pretty good fish of
the pike and bass varieties, but there
are not very many of them being
caught. There are some fine cat fish
and cells being caught in Cache creek.
opposite Lawton. Game in the noun
tains is very scarce. We got one
squirrel, all the game We saw
Excellent Springs.
There are fine springs on Cache creek
after it leaves the mountains. The
springs in this country are like the
springs in Iowa in that they all come
out very near on level with the wat
er in the streams The roads in this
country are merely trails running
across the country from one spring 10
another they are in some places ten or
twelve miles apart.
Good Pasturaae.
This entire opening, except for now
and then field of corn is one vast
pasture, covered with the most nutri-
tious grasses. On the uplands sage
grass is most abundant interspersed
with numerou patches of buffalo grass.
What is called high grass land is the
finest land in the country. 1t is high
and sandy with grass growing knee
high. BY scratching down in the
ground with the finger it will be found
to be moist and damp clear to the sur
face, it is said that wells of very fine
water are maintained on this land
LaWton.
The country around Lawton is fine.
The population in and around Lawton
in tents and wagons is estimated at
10000 but | think 1000 will be nearer
the truth Most of the people that
are in tents are camped around the
townslte on the southeast and north
sides. The south line is called Goo
GOO avenue, the east line Main street.
All kinds OF business are represented
mere. Everything is comparatively
cheap considering that everything has
to be freighted thirty miles Good
bacon is fifteen cents per pound at
Fort Sill and all over this territory
and other things are about in proper
ton. AS there has not been much
whisky struggled in yet, the people
have been very orderly here thus far
Tarantulas.
Lawton appears to be headquarters
in the southwest for tarantulas. The
townsite is full of them. To find them
all one has to do is to walk out on the
townslte and look for holes in the
ground an inch or an inch and a half
across the crater, with a small web an
inch wide around it, then take a stem
OF grass and poke down the hole six
or eight inches. If the tarantula is at
home he will put up fight and COM
mence to pull and haul at the grass. l
was digging one out with a stick and
mad several of his limbs amputated
and was leaning back to keep as far
away from him as possible when an
ola timer came along and stopped
down and threw him out with his
hand. Some fellows across the street
from us got five full grown ones out OF
mole under their tent and, besides
Webbed into ball the size of a birds
egg, over hundred little ones. They
secured the large one in a small tin
pox with screen wire over it, They
let them out one at time and
teased them with stick Some OF
them showed considerable fight while
others We're very docile.
Anticipates Confusion.
1t looks as if there was going to
be confusion worse than Babel when
1t comes to filing the higher numbers
as the applicants are going to be re-
CURED to take oath that they have
been on every part of the land they
wish to file on, and that there is no
mineral on 1t, and a man might have
10 pick out fifty different quarters be
lore he would ger one that had nor
been filed on The thing down here
that crates heaviest on an Iowa farm
er,s nerves is to sec the thousands and
thousands OF acres of pasture going 10
waste and know that his stock at home