Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 April 1892 — NEW LANDS OPEN. [ARTICLE]

NEW LANDS OPEN.

Boomers Start at a Given Signal and ‘‘Go.” 7"’ Thousand* of People in the Bash—A Young Lad/ In the Swim—lnteresting Detail.. j. >. I 1 Thursday, in the northwest corner of South Dakota the triangular piece of land, woods and lakes known as the Sisseton Indian Reservation, which for the last thirty years has been sacred to the wild man of the prairies, was a sea of mud, frowned on by a threatening sky and surrounded on all of its three sides by hun - dreds—yea, thousands-who had for months anticipated this time. They had gathered together from all parts of the globe and were anxiously, almost sleeplessly, watching the lauds from which a thin line of blue coated soldiers and the law under which they were all content to abide by alone separated them. Across an imaginary line that the soldiers were guarding there was a promise of homes, and the homeseeker was there to accent that [promise and fulfill its conditional The day closed with a break in the clouds and during the night colder winds arose and chilled the bones but not the enthusiasm of the multitude. Friday morning the sun shone down on groups of ready and eager settlers. They were girding themselves for a race for homes and to-night thousands are sleeping under the blue sky, but on the soil of their new homes. Only a few hours between the mud and anticipation of Thursday and the weary rest after the race and the acquirement .of a home Friday, and yet how much of importance to the homes and future of the State has happened. One of the greatest crowds was at Brown s Valley, Minn., at the lower end of Lake Traverse, and within a few miles of the line. Itjhadbecn a scene of activity all the week, and the settlers and town site boomers were too excited to sleep last night. During the night intermittent shouts, yells, laughter and snatches of songs came from the various camps around the village, and as dawn approached these were supplemented by the neighing of horses hitched to the trees, barking of dogs and the crowing of the festive chanticler in the barnyards of the valley farms. Before 10 o’clock the muddy streets were jammed with vehicles of every character. Horses stamped in the puddles, and men, women and children crossed and recrossed the sloppy streets in never ending lines. Out of the town the crowd streamed and they ware soon strung along the boundary. At 11 o’clock fully 3,000 people had collected along the reservation where itruns southward along the high bluff, which rises abruptly from the iron monument at the head of Lake Traverse. Many of the crowd were spectators from the village and; surrounding country. The cavalry patrols galloped back and forth along the line keeping the Impatient crowd in check. At 11:45 the crowd became decidedly uneasy. Good nature prevailed in the crowd, although there was something cropping out in every conversation from wagon to wagon, which plainly indicated a general belief that the devil might take the hind one. -X

Some of the settlers’ outfits were unique and interesting. A large claim shanty on wheels, drawn by two horses, pulled up the muddy hill to the line. It had red window blinds and at the side was a glass door, the upper part of which also boasted of red curtains. As the door would swing open with the lunges of the wagon from side to side glimpses could be caught of the baby, which emitted spasmodic cries from time to time. Covered wagons in large numbers crawled along with innumerable frowsy heads peeping from the canvas in open eyed wonder at the wheeling soldiers and tho many people. A sack of feed, a bunch of hay and a spade comprised the outfit of some of those who wanted to “get there.” A laige woman with arms like a man. pulled a rearing team down to business.Luniber for a shanty; surmounted by a small stove, bod quilt bundles, a couple of chairs, pans and skillets which rattled with the wagon, and a rusty shotgun made up the kits of some who were going tostay therefor the night. The üblqutiona country editor was right in line on a white mustang pony ready to ride for a claim near town. The doctor, the clergyman who wanted to take a farm for his health, and the county seat politician were all to be seed in the crowd waiting for the signal. * The sharp clear note ofabugle at noon, the almost simultaneous crack of a carbine, then a volley from the whole farreaching line of cavalry as the signal was taken up and carried In., a.jpvorberating report lo thousands of walling ears, a few more halting shots, becoming fainter as the distance! increased, and the Sisseton reservation was Ripened. The military withdrew from the border and rejoined their respective companies. Five hundred teafflSptongeumrward. Horses snorted and started madlF across the prairies with their riders regardless.pl trail or direction. A davalrymau fell from hishorse and his revolver dischargee at random. The horseback riders soon took the lead. Then came a powerful team of black horses which seemed good for a ten mile run. The crowd was soon left far this buggy was Miss Burnett, a young' lady graduate of University of Minnesota. She and her brother were off for tjie new town-site, andusMbe long cavalcade of plunging horses disappeared over the hill in the distance the sWift black team was still ahead. Far up Hid lake a large party was crossing in boats. Indiap teems were waiting on. the bank above the water. They succeeded in entering the Ttosorvatlon live mllei ahead of the crowd, scattered along the road from Brown's Valley. Yet even others got a better start than those on ,the Jake. The cavalry bad scoured the country Thursday and many were driven off the reservation, but during the night they had returned, and others with them. When the long-waited signal came from the bush all along the course of the Minnesota river, from ra-

vines hitherto held to be unpopulated, from every spot bordering on the reserve that could shelter a man. horse or wagon there sprang hordes of home-seekers, and they led the race for homes. It is estimated that about one thousand . made the rush from Brown’s Valley.' About five hundred Started from the little • town called Travare, four miles from the lake. At Wheaton, where the approach ( to the promised land was over a private; bridge, whose owner attempted to stem j the flood of boomers in the Interest of a’ land company, 600 people crossed the bridge regardless of orders, and the policq force of the town was over-whelmed and lost in the struggle for the bridge.’ Ou gaining the table lands a mile west of the river the crowd scattered Jn all

directions, soon meeting with other crowds rushing down from the North Ledgerwood was deserted early in the day, large crowds starting out early on foot Every kind of rig was drawn into service and joined in the wild procession. All the farm teams In the neighborhood were engaged at big prices and seeding has bean stopped for the time. Hauklnsou, N. D.. also reports a wild rush at the firing of the guns. South of there, along the line of the reserve was a solid line of men walting, and in several instances half a dozen made for the same quarter, and in consequence trouble was feared. A party of eight men left on the 14th to secure the townsite, which is supposed to bo the sarhe as Brown’s Valley people are after and will soon give them a good race, having fivArnflds less to travel. The other towns on the northern border make similar reports. At Waubay S. D., close to the line Southwest, between five and six hundred people, with picks and spades and all kinds of conveyances, joined in one grand rush for the choice lands. On the eastef-n border, some miles to the south of Brown’s Valley—at ifll- - was a grand rush for a town site. A train on the Milwaukee road, with 500 people on board, pulled out for the line at 11:30 that morning. Governor Nelette, of South Dakota, and 2.so9deputy sheriffs are on the reserve, the latter heavily armed and instructed to maintain order. pcacefully if possible, forcibly if necessary. They checked several rows before serious results ensued. Wells are being dug on all the claims so far as taken up. All the squatters apparently intend to live on their lands, and in a coppie of weeks breaking plows will be at work everywhere. Codington county, South Dakota, of which Waterton is the county seat, has the sharp point of the triangle, and every quarter section in that county was occupied by from one to five squatters before 1 o’clock. There were numerous altercations between rival claimants, but no blood has been shed so far as known, and it is believed the deputy sheriffs and militia will be able to preserve order. In that locality many of the squatters began the erection of houses at once. A large nnmber had houses already constructed on wagons, but the majority commenced settlement by digging excavations for wells and cellars by plowing the soil.