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James Cox - My Native Land
not a minnow, or a frog, a tadpole, or a pollywog - nothing that lives, moves, swims, crawls or wiggles. It
is the ideal sea-bathing place of the world.
CHAPTER VI. THE INVASION OF OKLAHOMA.
A History of the Indian Nation - Early Struggles of Oklahoma Boomer - Fight between Home-Seekers
and Soldiers - Scenes at the Opening of Oklahoma Proper - A Miserable Night on the Prairie - A Race
for Homes - Lawlessness in the Old Indian Territory.
Oklahoma, the youngest of our Territories, is in many respects also the most interesting. Many people
confound Oklahoma Territory with the Indian Territory, but the two are separate and distinct, the former
enjoying Territorial Government, while the latter, unfortunately, is in a very anomalous condition, so far
as the making and enforcing of laws is concerned.
Up to within a few years Oklahoma was a part of what was then the "Indian Territory." Now it has been
separated from what may be described as its original parent, and is entirely distinct. It contains nearly
40,000 square miles, and has a population of about a quarter of a million, exclusive of about 18,000
Indians. It contains more than twice as many people to the square mile as many of the Western States and
Territories, and is in a condition of thriving prosperity, which is extraordinary, when its extreme youth as
a Territory is considered.
In 1888, Oklahoma was the largest single body of unimproved land capable of cultivation in the
Southwest. It was nominally farmed by Indian tribes, but the natural productiveness of the soil, and the
immense amount of land at their disposal, cultivated habits of indolence, and there was a grievous and
even sinful waste of fertility. To the south was Texas, and on the north, Kansas, both rich, powerful and
wealthy States. The Indian possessions lying between disturbed the natural growth and trend of empire.
Seen from car windows only, the country appeared inviting to the eye. It was known, from reports of
traders, to have all the elements of agricultural wealth.
And this made the land-hungry man hungrier.
The era of the "boomer" began; and the "boomer" did not stop until he had inserted an opening wedge, in
the shape of the purchase and opening to settlement of a vast area right in the heart of the prairie
wilderness. When the first opening took place it seemed as though the supply would be in excess of the
demand. Not so. Every acre - good, bad, or indifferent - was gobbled up, and, like as from an army of
Oliver Twists, the cry went up for more. Then the Iowa and Pottawatomie reservations were placed on
the market. They lasted a day only, and the still unsatisfied crowd began another agitation. Resultant of
this, a third bargain-counter sale took place. The big Cheyenne and Arapahoe country was opened for
settlement. Immigrants poured in, and now every quarter-section that is tillable there has its individual
occupant and owner.
But still on the south border of Kansas there camped a landless and homeless multitude. They looked
longingly over the fertile prairies of the Cherokee Strip country, stirred the camp-fire embers
emphatically, and sent another dispatch to Washington asking for a chance to get in. Congress heard at
last, and in the fall of 1893 the congestion was relieved.
The scenes attending the wild scramble from all sides of the Strip are a matter of history and do not
require repetition. Five million acres were quickly taken by 30,000 farmers.
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