The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-12-31
Y,he Grnre Of linh.Chc.Tnn.
ny WILL FERRELL.
or Cosdsn a Co.. Poet Laureate Of tho
oil Country

Standing like Enunt gray warrior
sharp against the golden west.
Like q bakers loaf that mound Is
like q clean-cut cameo.
Looming silver gray at sunrise
purple ln the sunset glow.
Flat and treesless all around It, In
a green unbroken soa.
OF tho rlnw'r-dcckcd Cherokee
Stretch tho asc-old virgin prairics OF
tho tlow'r-decked Cherokee
To the north tho land is ciuttered.
Iron wheels have morred the
trails.
snortiug engines shunt the talk cars
to the main lines cleaning
rails
Everywhere are Kindred noises.
clank OF iron and throb OF
driu
Creaking shaclle rods and cables
webbing every vale and hill
For the white mans hope Ia CEN
tered in his en-absorhinE
quest.
In his leases. ever nearing, to the
Gray Mounds rugged crest.
And the 1ninns say" said Casey.
foreman of tho TcN-O kan,
THAT the or Gray mound IA hauted
hv the ghost Of Nah che Tan,
Ons-tlmo big Comanchc chleftain.
vain at heart and strong OF
frame.
Feared and hated by his people
long before the white man
came.
Once upon n time this warrior. so
the Jnjun story goes,
Led his part yforth TO battle with
the SpmiuOloa hts fgCa
Rode for many hours in silence TN
no gllmpsed tho Gray
Mounds top,
Then he siRnaled 60 his warriors for
the long-eNpected stop.
Now, said -Che-Ttnn, the
mighty, III ascend yon
lonely Hill
And invoke the war Gods curses
on tho tribe we go to KIM
Bo az length he gained the summit,
flung his gnudy blankets
wide.
yust In time to catch the lightning
IN his copper-colored side.
None could say Just how II hap
pened, Nary cloud was In
the Sky,
And tho whole cahoodle beat It
when they sa wthelr OF chief
die
Ana for forty years / reckon. not
an Injun had the grit
Nor The nerve 20 elm OIL Gray
Mound up to whore their
chief got hit.
Often have seen tho iightnin' when
when the storms are raEiu'
hiGh
smits that or mounds limestone
bouldcrn with It's long
tongues from the sky.
And I've eeon the lone pine swaying
like a ilvin' thing in pain,
FiinginR wide its ragged branches
in the gusts of wind and rain.
can see Just how the legend Of
the old chiefs tragic fall
Holds its portant through the ages
holds meaning after all
From his grave the lone pine
sprouted and tho spot from
whence it grew
Is the target for the arrows of the
God OF Mantou.'
Casey Eot the lob OF spudding whom
Gray Mound lease was filed
And he staked the wells location.
timid aa q child
And we had TO laugh nt Cahey, who
had bravery to let,
For his superstltitsus notions
when tho spuddln' stake was
set.
For the lone Pine was in splintera
and the stump was used to
brace
The drilling rig and smokedack
and to anchor them IN place,
The driller, "Baldy Benson" looked
little bit distressed
When he drove that ten~inch drive
pipe through the fallen
ch!eftain's breast.
Fave you ever heard the story,
Mister, how that Gray Mound
well came in2
Gosh, you never saw It's equal That's
a fact, sir, sure MS sin.
Fifty feet above the derrick, In a
sohd olive flow,
Coursing downward like a river 20
tho praires Just below.
with allttle gas 20 help II that old
mound was like n tank.
With a dozen engines pumping and
the dcvil at tho crank.
Stop itF Well we tried to- Mister,
but tho shackles failed 90
stick.
And wo had n wire the "super'' for
n man TO do the trick.
clouds were swiftly
forming IN a black massin
the south.
sounded like the belching
from a distant cauno's mouth,
And we sought the camps protection
when the rain came driving
down,
out the mounds dim out
lines and the guzher on its
crown,
Then there came holt. torrific,
Ike the spliptefing OF the
world,
While a flame OF fire shot Flsyward
ana the SNAKE clouds danced
and wh.rled.
In a glarlng conflagration down thu
Ndown tho Gray Mounds
wounded side,
Spreading fan-Hks 20 the pTa'rin9
IN fearsom creeping tide.
We'll she burned herself 10 ashes.
rig and shack and tank and
an
And for days the black smoke
hayered on the landscape IKE
pan.
Vain they made repeated ventures.
Set the rig down at ltH base
But the wells were merely "dugtorsf
ana of oil aluj-uot a trace.
But for miles I'm each direction
spreading outward like q fan
Men arc searching. ever searching
for tho "p0ol" os Mah-Cho-