Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-12-29
OKLAHOMA LETTER.
r. z. Powers Tells in Very Interest
ing Way. of the Country in which He
Has Spent Considerable Time Dur
ing the Past Few Months.


sunshine, oil wells and Indians, ON m,
recent trip, but found little time ant
less inclination while on the trail.
am now pleased to make good my word
however, and trust your readers ma.
pardon you for infiicting me upon them
Oklahoma, the baby in the family o
states, the most recent addition Il
Uncle Sans galaxy of stars, is about a!
iusty a youngster as ever kicked of
swaddling clothes and essayed to shap'
its own footsteps. Because of It's loca
ton it is sometimes, and appropriately
too, called "the gateway of the South
1t is indeed, happy medium in tn,
way of climate, and because of this ara
its wonderfully fertile soil, all crop.
that can be grown in the North or il
the South can be successfully grown il
Oklahoma. When the thermometer hit
the high spots, along in July or August
the record shows from 80 to 100 degrees
Farenheit; but do you know | expert
enced couple Of weeks of this brand o
weather there last summer and did no
seem to mind it as much as would 5 o.
10 degrees cooler in Wausau, there be
ing less humidity in the air, most always
a little breeze and the evenings COO
enough to enable one to sleep well
They tell me case of sunstroke was
never known in Oklahoma Jack Frost
very seldom pays visit to this favored
land, and when he does his calls arr
short and not severe. Snow is quite {
curiosity. and when there is slight
fall it quickly fades away before the
CHEEKY rays of a southern sun.
No state in the union was ever more
talked about in her maiden days thar
is Oklahoma today; no state WA
ever more endowed or favored by
nature, and no state ever started ou
with so magnificent bin of rights
The Oklahoma constitution has beer
much jeered at and much rnisrepresent
ed; but when the Truth is known. 10
fair minded man can deny it is the best
and most progressive the nation
affords; and the laws made by the states s
first legislature last winter are as rule
very excellent ones. Very true, some
of their restrictions on corporations
appear rather severe, but when fully
understood they are found to be pos
sessed of considerable merit. AS a
sample of Oklahoma's corporation laws
/ will cite one bearing on land holding
This law says no corporation can own
or hold land, except town sites; thus
telling blow against land
1t also discourages land
grabbing by individuals for there is 6
graduated land tax which continually
grows heavier on all holdings over one
section.
Governor Haskell, who was much in
the public eye during the recent pres
idential campaign, because of his wordy
warfare with President Roosevelt,
played leading part in the building OF
the new states constitution and the
framing of her laws. He is a born
tighter, shrewd politician and a
mighty brainy fellow, whatever may be
his shortcomings or his mistakes. The
writer had friendly visit with him and
carried away this impression. that any
man, be he yet a rough rider or a yel-
low journalist, who crosses Haskell's s
path, he will know when the fray is
over that he has been in the "biggest
bear fight of his life. AS the governor
himself remarked, he may sometimes
be worsted, but he never quits he is
game to the core.
Some of the good things bountiful
nature dropped in the lap of fair Okla.
homa are a wealth of oil and natural
gas, the greatest known to the world;
unlimited quantities of coal, vast bodies
Of iron. zinc, lead, asphalt, gypsum,
salt, granite and building stone, and
areas of timber, both pine
and hardwood. Last year the output
of petroleum was $4,000, 900 barrels, the
greatest ever produced by any state
The development continues and there
appears to be no limit to the number OF
gushers Oklahoma may yet lay claim to.
The natural gas wells are also great
and some cities are Offering
gas to manufacturing enterprises at as
low as three cents per thousand cubic
feet. In the gas territory the people OF
the cities, and the farmers as well, use
gas exclusively for light and heat.
By the way, it is in the eastern part oj
the state of Oklahoma, in what was De-
fore statehood known as Indian Terri.
tory, that all of these great gifts OF
nature are found. The western part,
the old Oklahoma territory, is a prairie
section like Kansas and equally rich in
an agricultural way. The Indian Ter.
ritory part of the state was the property
of the Indians, aud it was noe until
the restrictions were removed last
July permitting them to sell their
lands, that real farmers began &c
move into the country, and gel
of the land Previous to
that time the Indians who would rather
starve than work, rented their lands to
stock raisers or itiuerant farmers who
in most instances scarcely made what
might fairly be termed q bluff at tilling
the soil. Oklahoma contains millions
of acres of rs fine farming lands as ever
the eye of D4an feasted on aneit is most al
for sale at prices that make it circus
day bargain. The information will soor
permeate the entire county aud then, il
few years, Oklahoma will be the great
garden spot of the southwest, where are
now tenants shacks. viii soon be com
Portable farm houses; the beautiful roll
ing praries, with their patches of woods
here and there and everywhere, will be
dotted by school houses and churches
and q prosperous citizenship vii
have replaced the .''squaw man
and the shifiless renter. WausaE
men who have recently visited Okla