The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-02-01
CONTEST
TEN YEARS
FOR LAND
Long Fight Ended in Favor of
Or. Acker.
WAS lard FOUGHT CASE
Cost Contestants More Than
Claim Is Now Worth.

Ponca. o. T., Jan. 31-The other day
Sheriff Balm, of Kay county. Oklahoma,
served the mandate of the territorial
supreme court and elected j. s. McCalla
from the famous claim on the Bots de
Arc ebodoc) creek. says the Courier. This
claim has been in litigation continuously
Tor over nine years and has been the
cause OF the most famous land fight in
the territory. There are other cases that
have been hanging fire, but that is some
thing this one never did. 1t was a fight
from start TO finish, every inch of the
battle ground being hotly contested On
one side was Dr. c. S. Acker and his
friends, and on the other was j. 5. Nc
Gala and his hackers and their friends.
The case has cost the litsants nearly
Sfa,O90 in court costs and attorneys fees
The claim is not worth with the i'm
provements upt upon it by the DOCTOR
only about 5000.
On September 16 1898. there was the
greatest land race in the history of the
United States. Among the racers upon
the memorable occasion was one c. S.
Aeker. a practicing physician of Arkansas
City. The gun cracked and the doctor,
astride the fleetest horse he could find, !
piowed through Oklahoma ozone TO
home. With a plug hat discarded, his
WeIl-kept auburn whiskers blowing TO
the breeze he rode on and ON and on
Until to him. inexperienced horseman, it
seemed as though he would be lame the
rest of his days. The banks of creek
Bots De Arc were reached and before
the eye of the doctor there stretched
away, as far as he could see, some of the
finest land on the foetstool Nowhere
could he see a living thing, except
bird or a butterfly Ha dismounted, and
as he fell exhausted to the ground, unable
TO stand upon those saddleworn legs, he
stuck into the greEnd-his ground-a lit
tie flag bearing the inscriptions: This
claim taken.'
Later in the afternoon along came Nc
Gala and older men, who also saw the
perfect beauty of the land and realized
that in the future many ducats could be
realized in its sale or if not that he saw
what a home for him and his family it
would make.
He was treated in friendly spirit by
the doctor but he squatted anyway and
IlaNe klioNI his lnlciiAtcll pl SldAi4iS. IL
left a little later but came again In
the interval he learned that the doctor
had made the run from the south side
of the Chilocco reservation. At that time
there was question as to whether these
runners were to hold their claims. The
contest was flied and has been fought
ever since McCalla has been, it is said.
backed by Ponca City people. During this
time he has lived on about three-quarters
of an acre of land in one corner of the
claim. The feeling grew in the neighbor-
hood until il became almost feud. at
times needing only a word TO bring a
bloody war, but that word was never
spoken and while there was one or two
gun plays not a drop OF blood was shed.
Both men had their friends in the neigh
borhood The question as to who was
In the right broke up lodges and made
church congregations split up and was a
subject TO be avoided in friendly CONVEX
sation.
Political fights were based upon this
contest and trouble was in store for the
candidate who declared himself. On the
other hand the candidate who did not de-
clare himself was in bad fix. and so
the row went merrily on
Eleven times has the case been before
the department of the interior and eleven
times has the decision been favorable TO
the doctor Eight times ii has been on
trial in the territorial civil courts and
al last went to the supreme court. The
result of this courts action was stated
above Then came the business of get
ting the sheriff to do his duty and after
some trouble he cleared the land.
The doctor has made his home in Okla
homa ever since the opening of the strip
and it is still his home. His claim is
located three miles from Kildare and
five miles from Newkirk.
He received his patent last October, but
could never get his contingent to look at
81 the way he did. McCalla is a fighter
and would have wore out n less deter
mined man than DIR. Acker.
He is monarch of all he surveys il he
surveys the right claim; IT is his own
10 have and to hold forever.
ROCK ISLAND TO BUILD.