The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-15
THB BEGINNING OF OKLAHOMA
1T CAME WITH TEE MEMORABLE
RUSH or APRIL, 1855.

but wa Able to Soil oan0wlche9 81 Oh
Each --lneidcnts That Marked tire Hirth
Of tho IAtcst state Of tho vnion'
ouTHAIR. Okla, July M.-oklahoma
sprang into existenoe In . day. Az the
start Ito settlement was q contest OF brute
strength and endurance. The Fedora
Government drewa Inns around the domain
IL had cot aside for homestead settlement
and ut . signal ut noon on April az, 1889,
permitted an army Of men and women ia
rush across the border and take possession
OF whatever land they found u~noccupied,
The race was to the swift and the strong
No scsne like IT had ever been Witnessed on
bis continent nor In other lands. 1t has
become historic, and In future time some
poet may celebrate its epic glory.
At this day citizens Of Oklahoma who
came here In that memorable rush are dis
tingulshed above their neighbors who came
later. They belong to an aristocraoy.
As the capital OF the new Territory,
Guthrie wal the scene Of greatest activity
n the most characteristic incidents. All
the political fortune hunters came here
for fame and plumber. Some Of them were
sent to the ~penitentiary, some are dead
and some now are known an distinguished
citikens. ,.
A man who saw those first attempts to
reclaim q virgin wilderness in a day told
the story Of his experiences lately. He
was a sooner. A sooner was o man or
woman who stole into Oklahoma before
the legal hour, and perhaps violated the
law by settling upon land and swearing
that he had not entered upon and occupied
1t before noon.
In after years the penitentiary was flied
with convicted Of perjury, and
the soil Of Oklahoma is dyed In many places
with the blood Of men who were killed In
sooner quazrels or assa ssinated 10 prevent
their giving evidence that would send men
to prison. This particular sooner did not
commit perjury and got no land.
b twenty-seoond day Of April, 1885,
came on Monday. This man, with several
companions, entered the Territory on the
preceding Saturday night and induced the
conductor Of o freight train to stop In the
sand hins north Of the Cimarron River near
Guthrie.
He carried q valise filed with food, around
which was rolled his blanket, and in ad-
dition he had q SPADE, an AK and q VIM
chester rife. 1t was 1 O'Clock Sunday
morning when the train stopped. The
night was chilly and the country unin-
habited.
One nan in the party had a wooden
leg. The only way to CROSS the Cimarron
River was to walk on a long railroad ~trestle.
At the other end was an armed guard,
placed there by the railroad company to
prevent burning Of the bridge by sooners,
who In that way might try to delay the ar
rival Of the law abiding settlers until after
the hour Of noon had passed, which would
permit the sooners the more easily to get
the choicest lands.
The man with the wooden leg could not
walk the trestle in the darkness and the
leader Of the party took the crippled man
on his back and, carrying the baggage Of
both. crossed the river. They were chal-
lsnged by the guard, but The latter was
inundated by their number and remained
In the brush when no saw that they did not
attempt to injure the bridge. The man
who carried the cripple fell exhausted when
he stepped from the bridge.
Federal troops were riding the country
and arresting all persons without ore
dentia,s. These sooners had come from
western Kansas, where there was no timber
on TITO pIbiIIoGs Al Cu0 O hLC6o VuCy 6dW
a clump Of blackjack oaks on q nearby
hill and mistook them for 4 camp Of soldiers.
They hid themselves in the weeds for an
hour or two before they would venture
toward Guthrie, where there was nothing
except a railroad station, a hastily con-
etructed frame building to be used as a
land office and a tent occupied by a United
States Marshal. A member Of the party
who had walked in advance lost his way
and turned back and began firing bis
pistol to locate his friends. This was q
second alarm that sent the sooners into the
weeds.
Near Guthrie 10 q small stream, the Cot
tonwood, often In food, and then danger
ously deep. The oamped IN its
bank, but the night was 90 chilly they
could not sleep. The NEXT morning .ths
man Of whose experience this story IL q
record saw o tract Of beautiful farm Land
across the stream.
The stream was high, and he could not
swim. Lashing two pieces Of timber to-
gether and fastening his baggage securely
DO plunged from the steep bank as a coaster
goes down q hillside, and by olinging to his
raft and kicking his heels vigorously |
was washed to the opposite bank.
He staked his claim and began digging
4 dugout. An hour or two later be was
by the appearance Of q man on a
horse on the bank above him.
what are you doing there, young man1
asked the stranger.
Locating my claim and digging a dug
sWell. sir answered the stranger, who
llso was q ooner 'this is my claim, and I
kill the first man who files on IT.
The man who had swum the Cottonwood
licked up his Winchester, and the stranger
ode away; but each knew that the other
vas o sooner, and both would be living In
same town.
The man who refused to be blufYed never +
made entry on his claim When he read
copy Of the required oath, he saw perjury
him In the face, and he abandoned
he land, but not until be had received
cash sum from contestants who feared
hat he might have a valid claim, and did
lot know that he was a sooner.
He turned his attention 10 town lots,
n VII oh the question Of soonerism did
Iot enter unless the towns!te board asked