Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 May 1901 — FLOCKING TO OKLAHOMA THE LAND OF PROMISE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FLOCKING TO OKLAHOMA THE LAND OF PROMISE

Anadarko, Oklahoma, is the Center of activity in the preliminary work necessary to opening the new Indian lands -for settlement this summer. The administration building in this place presents a busy scene as the time of the opening draws near. Thousands of prospective homesteaders are already camped along the border and long trains of wagons are winding along the roadways that lead to this beautiful garden spot of the southwest. The lands involved consist of the large tract known as the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache reservation and the smaller section occupied by the Wichitas and affiliated tribes. The first named is bounded on the north principally by the Washita river; on ths south by Red river, and on the west by the north fork of Red river. In this strip there are 2,968,893 acres. It is a little larger than Connecticut and about three times as large as Delaware. The Wichita reservation is bounded on the north by the South Canadian river; on the east by Indian territory; on by the Washita river, and on the west by the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian lands, which are now marked on the map as Custer and Washita counties, Oklahoma. In this tract there are 743,610 acres. The Washita river the two reservations. A line drawn through the center of the two, from north to south would measure 14 miles, and from east to west 81-miles. The law provides that each Indian brave and squaw and each papoose that was thirty days old when the bill was passed shall be allowed to select a quarter section of land before the opening. This alotment is now in progress. As soon as it is completed the Indian Agent at Anadarko will notify the Secretary of the Interior at Washington. After that will come the proclamation of the president opening the lands to the public for settlement. When these allotments have all been made 464,000 acres of the large slice of 480,000 acres will be set aside to be held by the Indians in severalty as pasture lands. One-ninth of the total number of acres will be set aside as school lands, and there are 250,000 of pasture land for cattle raising pur poses. Colonel Randlett, the Indian agent, who has entire control of the affairs of the two reservations to be opened and who knows every foot of the ground,

in referring to the nature of the Country and the opportunity for the homeseeker, said: “These lands constitute a vast, fertile area of several million acres extent. There are large sections of it that are exceedingly well adapted for agricultural 'purposes, that portion known as the Washita valley, which lies along the Rock Island railroad between Chickasha and Anardarko being as fine farming land as can be found anywhere.” Filing fees are sl4 for 160 acres. After five years’ residence upon the land proof can be made at the land office and by paying $1.25 per acre a deed will be issued by the United States government. This deed can be obtained by paying $1.25 per acre any time after an actual residence of fourteen months. Many people will desire to take min-

(Indian Agent in Control of Reservation.) ing claims in the reservation, and the size of these will be 600x1,500 feet, which is about twenty acres. The president will designate the county seats in his proclamation opening the country, and while it is not a certainty it is quite likely that two of the county seats will be Anadarko and Fort Sill. A person is allowed to make entry on only one-quarter section. Settlement may be made and land held three months without filing, or one

may file on the land first After a claim has been selected it is necessary to make a few permanent improvements. Sections 13, 16, 33 and 36 in each township will be reserved for school purposes and will not be homesteaded. The plan for establishing the towns by fiat of government is a novel one. It has never been tried before in opening public lands and promises to do away with many of the unsatisfactory features that have attended openings. After the sites fpr the county seats have been designated by the president it will be announced that on the day of opening of the country the lots will be sold at auction to the highest bidder, and the money derived from this sale will be set apart to establish courthouses and schools and will tend to lighten the taxation which is always a burden to a new country. This plan is set forth by Delegate Flynn and meets the approval of all the authorities. The law provides that the president may issue a proclamation at any time after the alotment to the Indians, and it also vests him with the authority to designate the manner of the opening. The usual plan is to have a “run for the land,” but owing to the small number of claims that will be left, as well as the unsatisfactory features that have attended these “runs” in opening up former lands, ic is considered advisable to adopt some other means. A great many schemes have been set forth, the most practical, doubtless, being the plan of drawing, but this is all speculative, and the matter will doubtless not be decided until near the time for the opening, which will probably' be in the late summer or early fall. Concerning the taking of claims the law says any citizen of the United States or anyone who has filed a declaration to become a citizen, male or female, and who is at the head of a family, or who is 21 years of age, or a deserted wife or a widow, regardless of age, can file on a quarter section of land, provided they have not made previous entry under the United States law, or, having made such, have commuted their entry to cash payment, or are already the owners of 160 acres. Ex-soldiers or their widows or minor children, under these conditions, can enter by filing either in person or through an agent and have six months in which to commence settlement.

COL. RANDLETT,