Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-07-18
alistellansuas Readins.
MODERN SEMlNOlES.
No War Paint, But openwork Stock
jnus a Plenty.


From Shawnee the Choctaw, Ok
lahoma & Gulf railroad reaches
away to the south and hides itself
in the timber Of the Seminoles. The
vast woods sweeping from the tracks
over sloping country have yielded
little to the settler, for there are few
houses and many miles separate the
railroad stations. Crooked, ugly
streams which an almost tropical
rainfall keeps swollen and yellow at
this time of the year are the only
openings through the dense growth
of trees and vines. 1t Is a wild coun-
try which the advance Of civiliza-
ton had spared for a little while
that the Indian still might know
the seclusion of the forests and In
their depths preserve the hallowed
traditions of his race.
So thought a man from the east
in the smoking car as through the
shadows the train raced against he
falling eventide. He had never
been In Indian Territory before,
but had an idea of what 1t was like.
based upon facts gathered In the east.
He knew that 1t had been pene-
trated in places by white men,
hardy persons accustomed to taking
long chances, who had succeeded IN
fiim-fiaming those Indians i.Ediy
enough to do business, and th.it
there were in the territory ire
tribes, some OF whose members wee
civilized. He was In the lrdirii
country now-the brakeman lad
said so-and might be among the In
dians soon, provided those al'iE he
Choctaw road knew enough t" 20 {"
the station at train time.
The brakeman went through the
car calling a station. 1t was We
woka. The name rang true and the
man from the east went out on the
platform as the train slowed mp itEd
looked first about the station theh
toward the wood. Not brave wa
near, not a red blanket showed itself,
not even a squaw was in sight. The
man from the east went back to
his seat.
At Wewoka the train picked up
four passengers. girl, two boys and
a woman, the mother Of the three.
The girl. who was probably Is. was
stylishly drssed in blue and wore
openwork stockings and shoes with
high heels. The boys wore uniforms
of black with black braid and brass
buttons. They played in the band
at the Wewoka school. One Of them
carried a cornet and the other drag
ged aboard the train an ice cream
freezer. The boy with the cornet
found a seat beside the man from
the east and wanted to know what
made the train so late.
where are the Indians?" asked
the man from the east.
"All around here" replied the boy.
There were none at the station
The boy looked out Of the window
anu lIlell dl tic man iioih eiS SS'SN'
II am a Seminole" he said.
Il mean the other kind Of In
dams, who wear blankets"
1.-The Indians here wear clothes
like those of other people
But at times some Of them put
on war paint, hold a dance and
A man sitting in the rear who had
been listening took the man from
the east In charge and told him
about Indian Territory many inter-
esting and instructive things he had
never heard before There had not
been a blanket nor a wigwam in
Indian Territory for many, many
years, he said. and the stately forests
the man from the east had sized
up as the hunting grounds of the
braves soon would fall. it was
hoped, to the music of many saw
mills. The man from the east was
grateful. but disappointed
NO braves, no war paint. no trail,
he unused as his informant left the
train. but cornets. Ice cream freez-
ers and openwork stockings-and
in Indian Territory"
Wagner. in the Creek nation,
near the line between the nation
and the Cherokees, bears the stamp
Of prosperity. A few years ago 1t
was a village: now it is large enough
to claim population Of 5000.
The Missouri Pacific crosses the
Katy" there. the Missouri, Okla
home & Gulf the projected line from
Joplin to Galveston is building
through the town and there Is talk
OF a fourth railroad. Until last fall
il was the center of a cattle country
with many large ranches, but the al
lottment of the lands sent the cattle
to Texas, as the ranches were di-
yded into farms.
1t is a fine farming section and the
farmer who cannot make a living
raising the other Indian Territory
crops can try raising peanuts, which
the rich acres yield abundantly. 1t
is also a cotton country, and at
Wagner are cotton gins. one OF
which is referred to as the largest
gin in Indian Territory. Wagner IS
the home of Col. Sam Powell, we'll
known among Indian Territory poll
ticians, who helped to make state
hood history in Washington last
winter.
This section of the territory Is
counting on the passage of the state
hood bill at the next session OF con-
gress, and with a prohibition clause,
said Col. Powell in the course OF
talk on statehood. II do not believe
such a provision would be cOnstitu-
tional, but the question of its con-
stitutionality has not been con-
sidered. There are not six men In
Wagner who would favor a propo-
sition to give Indian Territory sa-
looms and I believe a similar senti-
ment prevails in nearly all the other
towns of the territory. Practically
the only opposition to prohibition
for the new state comes from the
saloon and brewery interests OF OK,
lahoma, and / do not think they VIII
be strong enough to prevent the
state from coming in dry. KAN
|sas City Times.