The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1913-10-07
THE FAST VANISHING WEST
LAST OF THE HOSPITABLE OPEN
RANGE IN OKLAHOMA.
The Sale of 100000 Acres Will Bring
to an End the Big Cattle Outfits
of That Part of Country.

of That Part of Country.
The sale of 100000 acres of it's
new college" lands by Oklahoma in
the counties of Cimarron and Texas
| in September and October will bring
to an end the big cattle outfits and
| the big cattle ranches in that part of
the state.
Since earliest days these counties
have been a part of the choicest graz
ing region of the great plains. For
decades the vast herds of native cat
! tie moved undisturbed by wire
fences, feeding upon the buffalo or
curly mesquite grass, so nutritious
that the cattle went fat to market
without the use of corn.
Year after year, however, the small
! farmer crept further and further to-
ward the west in search of cheaper
lands, and as his numbers increased
the cattle men found their range mar
moving ad their water supply de-
creasing as these settlers fenced their
homesteads along the few streams in
the country.
The new college" lands are all
that remain of the uufenced area.
! They intermingle with the home
steads obtained by settlers from the
government, and with the public
lands owned by Oklahoma and held
under lease by their occupants. The
4, cattlemen have paid an annual rental
of three cents an acre to the state for
the grazing privileges on the new
college" lands.
Now, however, they will be COM
PEELED to buy them in competition
with other bidders at public auction
and without the preference right of
taking them at the highest bid, The
cattle outfits are making their last
stand in that part of Oklahoma and,
| like the buffalo, are quickly to disap-
pear. Their going will close the last
and one of the most romantic chap
tiers in the story of the plains coun-
! try Many an old cowboy will choke
as he tries to swallow his sour
dough biscuit that day
! Enough of the spirit and appear
ance of the old west remains to make
the region of uncommon interest to
the tenderfoot Here the Indian and
| the buffalo once lived. Both have
vanished and left great silent places
| in which there is scarcely a sound
save the lowing of the cattle, the bay
| ing of an occasional lobO wolf and
| the creaking of a windmill at tank
in a cattle pasture or on the home
stead of a settler whose neighbors
may be miles distant.
| Birds no longer seen in their old
haunts in more thickly settled COM
munities live and raise their young
here. The curlew, for instance, still
comes in numbers.
Timber is so scarce that it is not
! available for fuel purposes. The set
tiers burn coal brought from the in
exhaustible fields of Colorado and
/ New Mexico. A cheaper and more
! accessible fuel is chips or dried an
| imal droppings, which burn easily
and make a hot fire when dry. One
of the tasks of children is gathering
| Chips"
| In such primitive surroundings
mer and women seem naturally to
unite in fixing social standards that
are adapted to their needs. Hospital
| ity, benevolence and charity are so
| highly developed as to surprise the
strangers. Each settlement or com
munity becomes one family, in which
the sick, the poor and the unfortu
nate are cared for with fine sympa-
thy. Neighbors go miles to help each
other Travellers may be sure of en-
| tertainment