The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-07-03
SEEKERS OF BLACK
GOLD" REVIVE THE.WEST
MUSHROOM VILLAGES SPRING
UP OVER NIGHT IN RICH OIL
FIELD OF OKLAHOMA.
EVERYTHING RUNS WIDE OPEN
Lid Is Off, Whisky Flows Free for
Those With Price, Gambling Is I'm
checked, and There's Woman for
Every Man. Law Unto Themselves.

Every Man. Law unto themselves.
TULSA, Okla.-A family of oil
field towns have mushroomed up from
nowhere in Oklahoma since the Bur-
bank pool, perhaps the richest in the
state and so probably the most pro-
! ductive in the nation, was opened
scarcely more than year ago.
The town of Cooper is perhaps the
most notable example of these mush-
room villages. 1t is just a hating
place in the march of those who hunt
BLACK gold" beneath the surface of
the Usage Indian tribal lands in
northern Oklahoma.
Names Are Suggestive.
Cooper's sisters are Whiz Bang
(some. prefer to call it DeNoya for
the Indian girl to whom its site was
allotted Big Bertha, Webb City and
Shidler. Over in the adjoining county
of Kay sits a cousin, Three Sands,
The old west approaches reincarna-
ton in Cooper and her sister towns.
It's wide open, the lids off, whisky
flows free for all who have the price,
gambling is unchecked, and, though
thousands of oil-held workers have no
families, there a woman for almost
every man.
Towns Spring Up.
The birth and infancy of Cooper
and her sisters is typical perhaps of
the shack cities that have grown up
in every Oklahoma oil field, but be-
cause Burbank and Tonkawa are out
after worlds records the abandon
with which the natives have thrown
themselves into the business of build
ing towns almost defes the magma
ton.
In the Burbank field itself it is a
contest between the drillers and the
town builders to see who will occupy
the space, though, of course, the oil
company will win out If it decides to
"spud in" where somebody is running
department store or a young Monte
Carlo.
The towns and the wells are so
jumbled that when drill taps the
sand it is necessary to board in the
derrick lest the first wild cascade
spray thick black oil over all estab-
| lishments on Main street
Cooper, Whiz Bang, ct al, then,
constitute one big community, about
eight miles long by three wide And
this is only the beginning, for as fast
as the government decides to sell
leases in the Usage nation the Bur-
bank pool will spread.
Like the old First Chance" saloon
that marked the frontier towns of 9TH
er decades, the outer boundary of
Cooper is made known to the new
conner by the jitney drivers announce
ment that you can get anything you
want in those places there"
Greeters, or perhaps they are look
outs, lounge on tipped-back chairs,
one outside each First Chance" door.
Inside, rattle of dice, clink of bottle
against glass, raucous laughter, fem
mime voices, hard like the rest, are
heard.
All Homes Alike.
It's hard to distinguish the abode
of vice from the home Of respectable
ty in these oil field towns. The signs
on Main street are elemental in their
simplicity. Grocery" Drug Store"
Hardware all.
The thing that is remarkable in this
resurrection of the wild west is that
in this nation where whisky and gam
bling are pretty thoroughly under the
egan ban. in a state where prohibition
was adopted 10 years ago, and in In
dian country where the federal eye is
always peeed-the free life of the oil
fields is an accepted thing.
Authorities Helpless.
The attorney general of Oklahoma
sent his "pussvfootersP into the Usage
country. Officially they reported that
immediate steps should be taken to
put ambition in the local law enforc-
ers Privately they said it would take
the troops to clean up Usage county.
The sheriffs of the oil counties, ex-
cept for periodical raids and the re-
sulting overflow crowd at the county
Jail, devote themselves to the moon
sinners, hijackers, and miscellaneous
criminals who operate in the country
at large. They leave it to the oil COM
pany officials to enforce the law in
the fields.
Cooper-or one of her sister towns
at night is scene not soon dropped
from the mind Pickering coal oil
lamps, gas torches ranging from do
nestle size burners to great flames for
lighting a ten-acre square, and in
some cases electric lights. too, COM
bine to make weird sight.
NdtCn your step was Written loI
strangers in the Usage. Fifty gam
bling houses ran at full blast in the
Burbank field. If you're not giving up
to one of these, there are numerous
otherwise unemployed folk on the
streets waiting to push you into dark
corner for a quick 'frisking."
Everybody CANDLES.
Stud and draw poker, blackjack and
craps are the favorite indoor sports.
Every table has its house man. TAX
ing off the rake" while walking
boss" kepes general supervision over
the play. Slot machines and punch
board are everywhere for the milder
type of gamblers. They pay in cash.
Oh yes, it's a great life in these
"metropolises' of the Oklahoma oil
field But it's a place fer che" men,
quick in thought, quick in repartee,
hyrf nfYfcLaef If . with Esfe