The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-25

| several of the largest ranches In the
State. aggregating more than $1,000
acres, and including the millionaire
ranch Of Mrs. Henrietta King, are TO be
divided into small farms and irrigated.
A syndicate with 81 $50 oJo capital has been
formed to lay out townsites and do the
preliminary work of development 1t is
| but an incident OF the changes that are
taking place.
| The order of the Government that fences
on the public domain must come down is
the result Of the settlers demands. In
Texas there have been strong efforts to
secure the adoption of laws that will pro-
! hibit the leasing of more than four Sec
tons of land to one person-also in the in
terest of the farmer and small stock
raiser. How long the stock syndics ties
and cattle barons will be able to with
stand the demand is uncertain. Govern
ment leases with a limit of 10000 acres
! for the pasturing of not more than COO
cattle fenced in one tract, with prior
rights for the settler and rights of home
stead under certain laws AUTHORIZATIONS.
seem to be about the best that is likely
to be given in this direction The cattle
men dislike to take down their fences,
and some have not done so. but they
will have TO in the end.
OF course, not all the land is amenable
to farming. but the possession of few
acres near a stream, with some bottom
land on which to raise vegetables and
feed for winter, makes the farmer secure
and his cattle may grow UP on the open
plain and make him rich. That is the
plan of most who live on the frontier.
The eastern portion Of the Southwest is
becoming more and more like the East.
The other day l rode over the beautiful
praries of central Oklahoma and reached
busy Oklahoma City. a little more than
a decade ago not a white man was on
the townsite; now there are over 12.O0o.
The three and four-story brick blocks.
the manufactures and the wholesale
houses are but part of the picture.
Along the busy streets rush trolley cars,
the last touch of Eastern ways and the
( final conquering of the desert On the
sidewalk was group of Usage Indians
and their grim expression as they watched
the fitting cars was study. 1t was a
meeting of two civiliza tions-the old and
the new.
The towns of the southwest are no more
wide open" Within a month the last
town of Oklahoma to-stop the disregard
of Sunday that is characteristic of the
frontier has taken that step. The wild
disorder that was once thought necessary
in order to have a lively town is I'M
known. Business reigns and decency is
popular. Dodge City. which was once the
wickedest town in the west, does not have
enough police work to keep its one mar
shall employed. \ great many new roofs
are seen in the frontier towns. more in
the towns farther towards the Missouri
River. The store buildings are not the
time shacks with hideous square ga
bles; the houses are OF modern architec-
ture built low TO avoid the winds, and
usually with porch. Comfort is thought
of by the settler and the stockman. as
well as money-making. The wives and
daughters have more leisure and more
enjoyments The sons ond daughters are
sent to college frequently, TO some higher
school outside the district school general
ly, if they so desire.
Probably the most interesting fact In
connection with the Southwest at this
time is the opening to white settlement
Of the Indian Territory. The rich lands
of the Five Civilized Tribes are being
parcelled out rapidly. They are all to
be given to the Indians in severalty. to be
sure. but that means that the whites
win get them. There are now in the Ter
ritory 5000 Indians and freedmen, and
$50, 600 whites Except among the Creeks.
where the allotment has made consider
able progress, the lands are yet leased.
-,
and so great is the demand for farming
property that the Dawes Commission is
almost compelled to push its work and
the next five years viii see almost all the
Territory in white mems hands, under
some form of control. 1t is virgin land
it is fertile we'll watered, and well wood
ed. 1t has great mineral riches and
wonderful future. Railways are being
extended through every part of its do
MAN, and the settler will IN most in
stances be within sound Of the locomo-
tive's whistle. This means a development
far different from that which came 10
the older portions of the West, for II
brings the settlement within the touch of
the business interests of lie East and
makes the life of the farmer far more in
accord with me spirit of the times.
1t is one of the notable factors in the
present-day condition Of the Southwest
that the development of the modern APP
planes for communication have brought
the settlers in close touch with the world
Fast mail trains. leaving Kansas City at
two a. m, take the morning papers two
hundred miles into the Southwest. catch
ing the trains on the roads leading far
Their TO the plains. BY afternoon there
Is scarcely a town or hamlet that has not
received the latest information Of the
day The Texas territory is served from
this city and Dallas, while the mountain
region gets its news from Pueblo. and
Denver. The rural delivery route has
become so large a factor that almost
every county that is fairly well settled
has number of wagons taking the mail
to the farms and ranches. The large
ranches are all connected with the towns
by telephones TO the ranch houses. and
the owners and managers are in constsne
touch with the markets.
A few years ago the cattle man. wish
ing 10 ship stock, drove his herds TO the
station, perhaps a hundred miles away.
uncertain or not whether the cars would
be there for him when he arrived To
await them he he-ded the cattle on the
prairie around the town. Nov the road
is nearer. and ~ can by telephone learn
from the agent When to expect ''empties"
and he starts with the fat cattle or the
.'stockers' at the right time 10 make
the proper loading During the past six
months the demand for cars has been 50
great IN the West that II has been with
much difficulty that the shipper OF stock
has been Accommodated