The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-09-08
WHITE TELLS
OF THE NEW
SETTLEMENT
Vivid Description of Civiliza-
ton at LaWtOn.
SENTIMENT MADE LAW
Transition From Chaos to,
Order Was Not Noticed.

After describing the familiar story Of
the Fl Reno drawing for the Saturday
Evening Post. William Allen White re-
cites the events attendant upon the set
Element Of the new country as follows:
The new country lies south of Okla
hOma and west of the Indian Territory.
1t comprises an area of 600 square miles
"a territory nearly three times as large
as the state Of Delaware, larger than
Connecticut, and nearly as large al New
Hampshire. Il is a wind-made country
The rich, raw. red. sandy clay soil lies
in hills and wales where the restless wind
has put it-like a great ocean petrifed
in some moment Of rage. One is con-
stantly expecting the wind which made
the billy pillows 10 return and set them
81 motion again. For there are no rock
beds to anchor them. Weu-diggers drill
through clay for thirty feet. The grass
which grows luxuriantly all over the land
is the nutritious prairie grass Of the Mis-
sissippi valley-the rank kind that leaves
the buggy bed when one drf es eeross 1t
with the sibilant swish OF still waters
gently moved. one might drive all day
and never hear The CRATE Of gravel under
the wheels. The roads. which are few and
direct-ignoring section lines and striking
cross country with Indian abruptness-
cut the sod into sand and the sand into
powder in a few days. With much travel
a road grows old and deep in 2 day.
Then in droughty seasons-such as this
has been-the road becomes a heavy, dry
slough, with a dry muck of powdered
sand. shoe-mouth deep in it. But
nights rain VIII harden it.
over roads ike this came the caravan
10 Lawton. Lawton is the capital of the
new country-the seat Of the government
land ofTice-the Mecca of the land hungry
pilgrims. The nearest point to Lawt0n on
a railroad is NARROW, Indian Territory.
Ex-Governor Richards laid out the
townsite OF Lawtou IT lies on a hillside
and it is two miles long and a mile wide
gently rolling and sloping toward the
south and west. In it there is a court
house square; two other squares are re-
served for school bouses-after the Amer
lean fashion. But Richards could not
know everything A man who bought a
lot in Lawton dug a well. Then he nailed
q sign to a stick and stuck it up for him
who runs 10 read. From this lot to
water-two hundred feet-DOWNn' But
on the section just south of the town
site there is an abundance of water at
fourteen feet. Lawton may move from
Lawton to the land adjoining IT, Still,
this is not likely. as most of the town
has been sold. and improvements are be
ginning. Next year there may be a sys-
TEN Of waterworks, and wells may be-
IN most western towns of over two thou
sand inhabitants. According to the rules
Of the game which the settlers were play
ing, the town site of Lawton was to be
left clear Of squatters for inspection until
the lots passed iuto the hands of owners
at the auction. But between the first and
the sixth of August $500 people had
gathered around the boundaries Of Law
ton and had built there a town of tents
This town of tents grew on the south and
the west sides OF the town site as plotted
for the government There were two
principle business streets of the town
which met AT the southwest corner of the
town site-Grand avenue running east
and west and Coo-Goo avenue running
north and south.
on the day of the opening these ave
nues extended far beyond the town site
limits of Lawton. and behind these ave-
nues ran parallel streets-residence
streets ana streets devoted to business
which required more frontage than the
crowded thoroughfares above mentioned
could aford-lumber. implements. bug
GIGS, feed and livery stables hotels and
the liSe-au Of these interests and con-
Germs were under tents. There were eight
miles of tent frontage outside the town
before q board was put 90 place on the
town site. In the tents facing the main
thoroughfares was an the staple mer-
chandise of rudimentary American civil
ization. meat groceries. provisions dry
goods clothing. shoes. -haberdashery. no.
tons. restaurant wares. lemonade. candy.
peanuts. popcorn. and the c0nfections of
the county fair: millinery. drugs. jewelry.
hardware harness. furniture. and iunu-
merahle pyramids of watermelous. The
saloons We're there but they did not omen
unCl the law gave them rights, the eam-
hlers were there also. but theirs is story
by itself
over the tents. many of which were
white, while others were striped i'm blue
or red. ana stiu others iu solid coIors of
navy blue and brown denim naes foated.
At the tent doors an0 sides banners
waved ana siEus tapped unintelHsjhly
The bark of The Vender of soft drinks and
cry of the water peddier were the only
street cries that Interrupted the song OF
the grass-locust and the squeak qf the
katydids fiddle The place looked like
g festival yet il was as quiet as a prison.
There was no note of music. no barrel
nrf~ou "a, -orsr,r.7 ~ -.,.,--a IN, lose
sounds from duskv vagrant troubadours.
nor even the pleasing Of the upright eb-
ony lutte OF The dance halls.
There was no hilarious mirth. no ex-
hibit or revelry-nothing bun cold busi-
ness in the place il was an inverted
street fair. people were tryiug ID save
as much as possible and They were set
ting very litte fun ont of it, sim. they
were enjoying their parsimory and their
pride in it made them go0d-
nature1- But was not the
raillery Of savagery. it was the rerress-
cd good nature ~ civilization. For the
eNternais of the place were rot barber
ous. Hsen Wcat back 90 terts. 81 course,
bus they sleut on wine cots ana the FOOD
was cooked Ha gasoline stoves There
were ne camp r-rls. no shake5ovns. every
thine Was canned. domesticated and do-
Gle but The Sky line Thal was heroic
aad nspiring And The distant horizon.
Tar 10 tne uorthWard the serrating peaks
OF the purple Wichita mountains Dix iato
The sreat circle ~ blue SKY linc and made
II Imperfect natural an3 kept it unbound
ly geometrical convention
So much for the stage setting. now Cor
tac characters The crowE that tramped
the streets Of the tented town outside of
l-awtcn was an American crowd Proba-