The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-03
THE NEW STAR IN THE AMERICAN FLAG Oklahoma Least Understood of All New States HAS MADE HISTORY FAST Its New Constitution Is Famous for It's Departures From the Traditions
 of Other State Con-
 stitutons.
HAS MADE HISTORY FAST
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

Guthrie, Okla, November s-The 46th
 star bursts through the blue into the
 constellation of Old Glory-Oklahoma!
 Therehit blazes brighter than any new
 star that has ever shone there, for Okla
 homa Is the richest, the most populous
 and the most highly civilized state ever
 added to the American Union. It has
 half as many people as all of the thir-
 teen colonies could muster when Ameri-
 can independence was achieved. Twenty
 three of the states even now have fewer
 people so that Oklahoma begins its ca-
 reer halfway up the ladder. By meas
 ure of population it is six times greater
 than any other state at the time of ad-
 mission, and by the measure of developed wealth it is 50 times greater than any of it's predecessors on the threshold of
 statehood. As Minerva leaped, ful-armed from the brain of love, so Oklahoma comes into the Union ful1-gfown state, 1 born of the best that all the other states
 might give.
 | It is a generally accepted theory that l the commingling of the blood and eus- 1 toms of all the nations of Europe Is re- 1 sponsible for the fact that the United ! States has taken the commanding posi- l tion among the countries of the world. 1 The new state of Oklahoma looks to a brilliant future with firm faith in it's l people who have gathered from every one | of the other states of the Union. Mis- 1 souri, Kansas and Texas have given more than the other states, but there is not | one of the 45 that has not at least 300 l representatives here. Rich in agricul- ture, rich in mines and rich in blood, 1 Oklahoma promises the people # Amer iea that the new star shall never lose 1 lustre, and that the flag shall ever be
 more glorious because of it's shining | there.
 | No section of the country is so much misunderstood as this. In the east espe- cially. the ordinary man has no idea of the wonderful growth and development of the southwest. The popular notion
 about Oklahoma has been gained from tales of the famous '101 Ranch" and the press agent exploitations of the Null halls. As matter of fact ranch 4ife in Oklahoma is as much of an anachro- nism as would be an Indian village in New Yorlx's Central Park. The renowned '101'' is a great institution prepared to l furnish ready-made, personally conduct | ed blank cartridge, wild-western vaca- 1 tions to whosoever will pay the price of $25 week and up, all gun-plays i, charged extra in the bill The Mulhall l ranch is nothing more than 320 acre 1 farm in Logan county, half of which IS
 leased from the school land board A 1 really, truly ranchman couldn't take l deep breath in 320 acres. The ranch and 1 the cattlemen are numbered with the 1 things that were, so far as Oklahoma is concerned; while the homeseekers are
 attacking their last stronghold in the l Panhandle of Texas.
 | Three decades ago the plains Of Okla 1 homa were still inhabited by roaming 1 herds of buffaloes. The buffaloes were 1 destroyed and then came the great graz i ing herds of cattle. They are zone, too, l and Oklahoma raises cattle just as New l York state does. Oklahoma is now care 1 fully nursing a band of buffaloes. They arrived two seks ago in special cars 1 from the New York zoo in the Bronx.
 Those who are not possessed of the 1o- | cent fiction idea of Oklahoma are apt to i think it is wild Indian country, espe- | cially that part of the new state which | was the Indian Territory. There is just i one way to see the Indians in Oklahoma | go to their reservations. The New York | CT will find it easier to visit Ls own l Indians on Long Island, in the Adiron- l dacks or at Niagara Falls. The citizen 1 of Oklahoma City is just as much sur ! prised and is just as curious if he sees l an Indian on his streets as the New | Yorker could be. In fact the Hippo Edrome shows have, caused greater h. l dian procession through New 1Ork StreetS | for the past year than typical Oklahoma l town could stir up.
 In the Indian Territory section of the 1 new state there are many Indians, Of
 course, but they are not the Fenimore
 Cooper variety. Many of them are col lege bred men and women who take a lively interest in the business, political
 and social life of the day. Many have
 so much white blood that their Indian
 descent is not at all apparent Yet they
 are Indians and untl recently were citi-
 zens of some one of the Five Civilized | Nations There are "blanket" Indians,
 too, but they are rarely to be seen out
 side of their own reservations and there
 are fewer of them in the Indian Terri
 tory than in Oklahoma proper Cowboys
 and Indians arc what one does not see
 in Oklahoma
 What one does see are the same things he would see if Massachusetts and Geor-
 gia and Ohio and Texas were all mixed l together with a dash of Kansas and Cali
 fornia for varisty's sake. He will find
 better farm houses taking them alto
 gether, than he can find in any of the
 states. He will find coal and iron mines