Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-12-09


w ownership of oil wells and oil lands
worth many Millions down along
the Red river where it forms the boundary
line between Texas and Oklahoma, may de-
pend upon the testimony of the elms and cot
tonWoods which grow near the banks of the
river.
The testimony of the trees is thus i'm
portant because the river is the culprit. The
river is suspected of stealing land from one
state and giving it to another. And only
the trees have been watching the river all the
time. Only the forest knows, in this strange
case, what the river has done. Men have
forgotten.
In the sandy Red river flood plain, which
is several miles wide between high bluffs,
the river and the forest have fought battle
for centuries. The silt of the muddy river
has formed islands; on the islands trees have
grown the silt has filled one of the chan
nels that encircles some island, and the for
ested island has become a part Of the main
land, and seemingly permanent part.
Then the river wrestling with its loads
of silt like serpent with it's prey, has rolled
against the mainland, and slowly worn
it down or bitten a way through it, uproot-
ing trees and burying them in bottomless
quicksands.
This process has been going on for cons,
perhaps, and has been repeated innumerable
times Men knew that it was going on,
but they attached no importance to it. When
a treaty made between Spain and the
United States in 1919, the Red river was
made part of the boundary between what was
then Spanish Texas and Oklahoma, and the
Red river has been the boundary between
the two states ever since. 1t was generally
considered that the south or Texas bank of
the Red river the boundary. But for a
long time no one worried as to which bank
it was, or where the bank was. Texas own
ed the prairie south of the river and Okla
hOma owned that to the north. No one
wanted the sterile, f1ood-swept sand plain
between
Then few years ago oil was discovered
in that sandy plain, and especially on the
part of it which was covered with forest,
and which iutted out from the Texas bluffs,
pushing the river back against the Okla
homa bluffs. On this bit of forest land,
containing perhaps two thousand acres, there
are oil wells which produce wealth by mil
lions, and which have just begun to produce.
New wells are being opened every month.
Pipes are being sunk even in the bed of
the river.
Now certain Oklahoma citizens have sud-
denly recalled to mind the pranks of that
river. They perceive that quite probably at
one time the river ran south of that precious
bit of forest land, instead of north of it,
They perceive that by shifting it's course, the
river may have deprived the state of Okla
homa of very valuable bit of taxable prop
erty and an important natural resource.
The old Spanish-American treaty by which
the boundary line was fixed, merely named
the river as the boundary. 1t said nothing
about where the river was. 1t mentioned no
other or more stable natural features It
did not fix the boundary by latitude or longi-
tude as modern boundaries are fixed.
Taking all these facts into account, the
Oklahoma filed a suit against Texas, claim
| ing the Red river oil lands for Oklahoma on
| the ground that when the treaty was made,
one hundred years ago, the river ran south
! of the oil lands. The United States govern
ment also Immediately filed suit against
| Texas, because if these oil lands are really
in Oklahoma, they are probably United
| States public lands, and the oil wells by law
| belong to the people Of the United States as
| a whole. Some Kiowa Indians who have al
lotments Of land along the river may also
| be the rightful owners of all or part of the
oil lands, and as they are charges of the gov
! ernment their interests in the matter also
make it necessary for the department of
! justice to enter the case.
The first thing to be determined is where
| the Red river ran in 1919. Needless to say
| no man remembers. Nor is there any writ
! ten record of the matter. Only the trees
| know. And the trees, it appears will tell
For the United States government has sent
! to the spot several of the best biologists in