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CHAPTER XXI
FOUNDING OF CITIES AND ESTABLISHMENT OF LAW AND
ORDER
The inrush of perhaps fifty
thousand people in a single day resulted not only
in the staking out of all the available lands into
homesteads, but also the congregation of hundreds
at certain advantageous points, usually selected beforehand
as the site for towns. The formation of townsite companies
in Kansas and elsewhere has been referred to. In most
instances a plat of the proposed town had been drawn
before the opening day, in several cases the company
surveyors were at work on the sites before the arrival
of the actual settlers, and plans had been carefully
laid that the establishment of towns could be effected
with the least possible delay and confusion.
It is necessary to advert once more to
the novelty of the settlement of Oklahoma. Not even
the history of California, following the discovery
of gold, furnishes a parallel to the rush to this
country in a single day. When the sun rose on April
23d Oklahoma was as densely populated as many states
after an existence of years. The relations by which
men work and live together had to be assumed or established
at once. All the economic laws of supply and demand,
of give and take, all the civic obligations that regulate
the actions of the individual upon society, and the
moral forces that restrain the evil and cultivate
the good qualities of men, had to be called into existence
and operation at once. And yet Oklahoma had no vigilantes
organization, no reign of terror preceded the establishment
of domestic tranquillity and the regular pursuit of
the various occupations of a peaceful community. Of
individual cases of injustice, of the exercise of
tyranny, of the license and crime characteristic of
a new country, many might be recorded. But the settlement
of Oklahoma, on the whole, is the finest example in
the world's history of the sudden transplanting of
a large population in a new land without the accompaniments
of bloodshed, of anarchy, and manifestations of mob
spirit.
The founding of the ordinary American
town has been a matter of natural growth. A cross-roads
point, an eligible location on a waterway, or a railroad
station, has furnished the usual incentive for the
gathering of people into a town community. Around
the cross-roads tavern, the postoffice or mill, people
singly or in small parties have chosen to settle,
and by gradual process of growth and accretion a village
has come into being, and perhaps later a city. But
it has all come about by an evolutionary process,
the inhabitants fell naturally into habits of social
life and co-operation, and the attainment of civil
government and organized institutions was effected
as quietly as the simplest functions of life are performed.
But in Oklahoma, the development that
took place elsewhere in months or years, was forced
to completion in almost a day—it was the compression
and reinforcement of natural forces such as are needed
to produce a miracle, and in this respect one
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is justified in speaking of the rapid
expansion of Oklahoma and the founding of its towns
in almost a day as miraculous.
The history of Oklahoma's growth during
the first few months after the opening can best be
illustrated by describing the founding of the principal
centers of population. The history of its largest
city, while in itself a story of unusual interest,
is remarkable for its suggestive facts and incidents
illustrative of the conditions that prevailed quite
generally over the territory. While upwards of ten
thousand people were congregated on the townsite of
Oklahoma City, busily engaged in selecting lots, building
homes and setting up quarters for trade and their
regular vocations, other similar groups of people
were engaged in building the towns of Guthrie, Kingfisher,
Edmund and others. All over the territory, and at
the same time, men were actuated by similar ambitions,
and partook in activities that produced similar results.
The history of a dozen towns dates back to April 22,
1889, and the stories of a hundred "pioneers"
selected from these different points would tally in
their prominent features.
On Sunday, April 21, 1889,
says a contemporary historian, seven buildings stood
along the Santa Fe Railroad in the bend of the North
Fork of the Canadian. They were: the depot, section
house, postoffice building, a government building,
the home of the railway agent, a boarding house, and
an old stockade1 used by a stage company
for an office. The high ground northeast of the depot
was occupied that morning by four companies of United
States infantry and a troop of the Fifth Cavalry,
with Brigadier General Merritt, of the Department
of the Missouri, in command.
The day passed without special incident.
The south-bound train in the evening brought a crowd
of eager passengers, but only a few of them succeeded
in eluding the guard at the depot, and the rest were
carried on beyond the limit of the forbidden ground.
The soldiers were on hand to preserve order and enforce
the regulations prescribed for the opening.
At noon on Monday, the 22d, the soldiers
and others congregated at the Santa Fe depot awaited
with great interest the result of the signal which
they knew had been given to the crowding throngs just
outside the Oklahoma boundaries. They did not have
to wait long. By twenty minutes past twelve, says
the chronicler of the "First Eight Months of
Oklahoma City,"2 white tents dotted
the country as
[Footnotes]
1The old post trader's house
that formed one of the buildings described as being
on the site of Oklahoma City at the opening had three
claimants, and became a subject of dispute that forms
one of the permanent records of the war department,
from the fact that Captain Stiles was called
to prevent the destruction of the building by two
of the claimants, the rights to the property being
at that time in the hands of the United States court
at Muskogee. The account of the building as given
in the military reports is an item of historic interest:
"The property in question consisted originally
of a trader's store and small corral. They were erected
a few years ago by Mr. Decker as a postoffice
and trader's store for the convenience of the employes
[employees] of the Santa Fe Railroad, then building,
and to facilitate trade with Indians and others. Mr.
Decker was an Indian trader, and failing to
have his license renewed, sold the buildings to J.
S. Evans, post trader at Fort Reno. Mr. Evans
died not long after and the heirs of his estate sold
the property to Mr. Sommers, quartermaster
agent and now United States commissioner. On the death
of Mr. Evans, post trader, 'Major' C. B.
Bickford got the United States contract for transportation,
and put up a corral outside the original corral, and
purchased an interest in the old store and corral."
Bickford was one of the claimants at the opening.
2This unique little book,
printed at Oklahoma City in 1890, containing 110 pages
in pamphlet form, was written by "Bunky,"
and aside from this name the historian gave no hint
of his own
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far as the eye could reach. At fifteen
minutes after noon the representatives of the Seminole
Land and Town Company stepped off the Santa Fe right
of way and began laying off lots on Main street. The
nearest legitimate starting point for the rush being
fifteen miles away, it is evident that these were
"sooners."
But at 19 minutes past one o'clock there
arrived, after a hard ride from the Canadian river
to the southwest, a party of Kansans who had conformed
to the conditions of the rush. They included some
notable names in the history of Oklahoma City.3
The first train arrived, from Purcell, at 2:05 p.
m. As soon as it crossed the river eager men began
leaping from the cars, some of them jumping from the
windows, and scattered over the townsite and vicinity,
setting stakes and appropriating the most eligible
lots they could find. It is said that twenty-five
hundred people came with this train. Each one had
his stakes ready, many with their names written on
them, and as soon as their feet touched the ground
the crowd broke into all directions and raced over
the ground to find a place to drive stakes. One old
lady drove her stakes between the railroad ties, and
it required considerable persuasion on the part of
the soldiers to convince her that the right of way
was not open to settlement.
The Oklahoma Colony, made up of men from
several towns in Kansas and organized long before
the opening for the purpose of laying a town, had
representatives on the site of Oklahoma City within
an hour and a quarter after the signal gun for the
opening. This is the statement of the historian "Bunky,"
who gives the following account of the colony's operations
on the opening day. Rev. James Murray, a Methodist
minister, was president of the company, and C.
P. Walker, secretary. "They left Purcell
at noon, Saturday, April 20, and drove up the Canadian
to the southwest corner of township 10 north, range
3 west, where they went into camp. By Monday noon,
the 22d, the crowd was increased by other arrivals
until it numbered over three hundred. By a vote of
the people, D. Walker, of Greeley, Kansas,
was elected captain. Upon comparison, it was found
the watches in the crowd differed fully one-half hour.
Mr. Kincaid of Cherryvale, Kansas, and Rev.
James Murray rode in a one-horse buggy and
reached the townsite of Oklahoma City in one hour
and fifteen minutes, a distance of fifteen miles.
Mr. Harrison and C. P. Walker—the
company's surveyor and secretary—had been on
the scene but a few minutes before the arrival of
Mr. Kincaid and Rev. James Murray, and
were at work on the government reservation, not knowing
that it had been withdrawn for military purposes.
When this fact became known, they commenced operations
west of the railroad, and erected a big tent. This
tent was made the headquarters of the Oklahoma Colony,
and about three o'clock the polls were declared open
and voting commenced for mayor and city clerk. When
[Footnotes]
individuality. His real name was Irving Geffs.
Some time before the incidents which he describes
he had taken too much liquor, and on recovering his
senses found that he was a regularly enlisted soldier
of the United States army, a position for which he
had no special liking, but it was several years before
he was able to get out. He was with the infantry that
camped at Oklahoma City the day before the opening,
and on leaving the army remained in the city for some
time. He was a left-handed scribe, a clever writer,
and was in the employ of some of the first newspapers
of the city, especially with Frank McMaster.
2See sketches of J. H.
McCartney, John Holzapfel, Delos Walker, in Volume
II.
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the votes were counted—over four
hundred having been cast—it was found that James
Murray was elected mayor and C. P. Walker
city clerk. While this election was going on, Hon.
Sidney Clarke of Lawrence, Kansas and Gen.
J. B. Weaver of Iowa—as representatives
of the Seminole Town and Land Company—addressed
the people from a wagon, protesting against the election,
and called for a public meeting at the intersection
of Main and Broadway the following evening."
The history of the provisional government
of Oklahoma City embraces the principal events of
the first year of the city's existence. The provisional
government was the object of such active hostility
on the part of the minority party, and involved so
many question of fundamental importance in the career
of the new country, that it was made the subject of
an exhaustive inquiry by Congress, and the records
of the time may be found largely in the reports made
to Congress during its fifty-first session.
Though an attempt to organize a city
government was made on the opening day, resulting
in the election of James Murray for mayor,
it appears that this attempt failed through the opposition
of the "Seminole" party. The immediate objects
of such organization were to create a corporation
with authority to enter a townsite under the defective
laws by which Oklahoma was opened. For this reason
it was necessary that the company or organization
engaged in the promotion of the townsite should control
this civil authority in order to secure the rewards
of its enterprise; hence the determined fight made
by the Seminole Company to control the government
of Oklahoma City.
Consequently, after the first few days
of confusion, while the survey of the site was being
made by the rival Seminoles and "Citizens"
party, a call was issued, on April 26, by the former,
for a mass convention of the citizens, for the purpose
of creating a temporary government for the city.4
It was a remarkable assemblage that convened
the following evening, with the slanting rays of the
sun falling across the red earth of the newly worn
streets and reflecting in long shadows the rough houses
and tent shelters that clustered about the intersection
of Main and Broadway. A chairman was appointed (Ledru
Guthrie), and then the convention proceeded to
the unanimous adoption of some articles of government
that of themselves prove a high capacity for self-government
that then resided in the controlling element of Oklahoma
City's population. Only two nominations were made
for the provisional offices of mayor and recorder,
and William L. Couch, the lieutenant and successor
of
[Footnotes]
4CALL FOR MASS CONVENTION.
Oklahoma City, April 26,
1889.
We, citizens
of the city of Oklahoma, request the meeting in mass
convention of all citizens of the city for the purpose
of nominating a temporary mayor and city recorder
to hold their offices until such time as there may
be elected by ballot their successors, which election
shall be held within five days from and after the
election of said mayor and recorder. Such mass meeting
to be held April 27, 1889, at the hour of 6:30 o'clock
p. m., and every citizen of said city shall be entitled
to vote. The election of said temporary mayor and
recorder shall be by the voice, and shall vest in
them the power to appoint police to preserve the order
of said city, and the power to call said election
for permanent mayor, recorder and prescribe the manner
of holding said election. Said mass meeting to be
held at the corner of Main and Broadway.
(Signed) Ledru Guthrie, J. B. Weaver
(not a citizen of the city, but living near the same),
John B. Banks, S. Lum Biedler, W. P. Easton, J.
E. Carson, J. D. Drake, T. B. Riley, G. A. Biedler,
p. m., O. H. Violet, Sidney Clarke, Bluford Wilson,
D. A. Harvey, W. P. Shaw.
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"Boomer" Payne, was
chosen for mayor, and William P. Shaw for provisional
recorder.5 It is said that at the conclusion
of the convention, all united in a grand chorus of
"Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow."
That a host of settlers, suddenly gathered in one
spot from all parts of the country, united in voicing
the familiar doxology, whatever may have been the
depth of feeling with which it was sung, is hardly
less significant of the homogeneity of this typical
American assemblage than the unanimity with which
they adopted resolutions providing for a civil government.
Following the appointment, in convention,
of temporary officials, Mayor Couch issued
a proclamation for a regular election, set for May
1st. The corner of Main and Broadway was one polling
place, and all who lived south of Clarke street (now
Grand avenue) were to cast their ballots at the corner
of California avenue and Broadway.6 The
results of this first city
[Footnotes]
6Record
of Mass Convention.
Oklahoma
City, Ind. T., April 27, 1889.
At a mass meeting of the citizens of
Oklahoma City, held pursuant to the foregoing petition
and call, the Hon. Ledru Guthrie was chosen
chairman and O. H. Violet secretary. The chairman
having explained the purpose of the meeting, Hon.
Bluford Wilson moved the adoption of the following
resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
"Whereas we, the people of Oklahoma
City, in the Indian Territory, for the more adequate
protection of property and for the better preservation
of order and to form a more perfect union, do ordain
these resolutions to be in force and effect:
"First. That
there shall be elected one temporary mayor, who shall
hold his office for the term of five days or until
the successor is duly elected and qualified.
"Second. That there
shall be elected one temporary recorder, who shall
be elected for five days, or until a permanent provisional
successor is duly elected and qualified.
"Third. It shall
be the duty of the temporary mayor to call an election
for the first day of May, 1889, for mayor, for recorder,
for police judge, for city attorney, and city treasurer,
for six councilmen, which call shall be by proclamation
signed said temporary mayor and attested by said temporary
recorder and shall be posted in three public places
in said city at least two days before the day of said
election, and shall proclaim the manner, the time,
and the places of holding the same. He shall
be ex-officio chief of police, and shall have power
to appoint such additional persons as police as he
may deem necessary to preserve good order; he shall
have power to designate and appoint three judges for
each voting place, who shall have charge of the ballot
boxes and the counting of said ballots.
"Fourth. The
temporary recorder shall make a complete record of
this article in a book for that purpose, together
with the proclamation by the mayor, and shall perform
such other duty as may be imposed upon him by the
mayor or council before his successor is elected and
qualified.
"Fifth. Said
permanent mayor and councilmen shall constitute the
legislative power of said city government, and shall
have power to provide by ordinance such rules and
regulations as they may deem best for the public welfare
of said city.
"Sixth. The
temporary mayor, recorder and police appointed under
said temporary mayor shall each receive the sum of
$1 for their services."
Pursuant to the resolutions, which were
adopted without any dissenting voice, Hon. David
T. Littler, of Illinois, put in nomination William
L. Couch, Esq., for the temporary mayor, which
nomination was duly seconded. William P. Shaw
was put in nomination for temporary recorder. No further
nominations being made, the chairman declared the
nominations closed, and proceeded to vote on the nominations.
A rising vote having been taken, the chair decided
that W. L. Couch had received a majority of
the votes cast. Whereupon, on motion of William
P. Shaw, the election was declared unanimous.
Motion was made and duly seconded that William
P. Shaw be declared the temporary recorder by
acclamation. Carried.
No further business appearing for consideration,
the meeting adjourned sine die.
LEDRU GUTHRIE, Chairman.
O. H. VIOLET, Secretary.
6Proclamation
for First City Election.
Whereas:
By virtue of authority vested in me by certain articles
adopted by the citizens of Oklahoma City, I. T., at
a mass meeting held by them in said city on the 27th
day of April, 1889, authorizing the calling of an
election for permanent officers therein designated
to be held on the first day of May, A. D. 1889, and
for the
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election are told in the records of
the city recorder.7
The city government, though installed
May 2, did not enter actively upon its duties until
May 6, when it took charge of the affairs of the city.
It then found itself unable to preserve order without
the aid of the military. From that day to August 5,
according to the report of the commanding officer
at Oklahoma City, a
[Footnotes]
designation of the manner and time and places for
holding the same; and,
Whereas: By section 2 it is provided
that at said election to be held under said articles
there shall be elected one person who shall be designated
and termed mayor, and one person as recorder, and
one person as police judge, and one person as city
attorney, and one person as city treasurer, and six
persons to act as councilmen, who shall hold their
offices for the term of one year; and,
Whereas: By section 2 it is provided
that the temporary mayor shall appoint three suitable
persons to act as judges of each election precinct
to be named by the mayor, who shall have charge of
the ballot-boxes and of the counting of the ballots,
and shall report the result the same to the mayor
and recorder, who shall declare said persons receiving
the highest number of votes elected; who, after taking
and subscribing to the oath of office required generally
of such offices as they may have been elected to fill.
Now, therefore, I, W. L. Couch,
temporary mayor of the town of Oklahoma City, do proclaim
that a general election for one person as mayor, for
one person as recorder, for one person as police judge,
for one person as city treasurer, for one person as
city attorney, and for three persons as councilmen
from each ward, shall be held in the town of Oklahoma
City, I. T., on the first day of May, A. D. 1889,
which election shall be by ballot, either printed
or written, and each citizen of lawful age of said
town shall be entitled to vote for said officers,
and that the places for voting shall be opened at
8 o'clock a. m. and close at 6 o'clock p. m., and
that there shall be two voting precincts dividing
said city into two wards as follows: All persons residing
north of Clarke street [now Grand avenue] shall be
entitled to vote at the place designated in said ward,
which is at the junction of Main and Broadway; all
persons residing south of Clarke street shall be entitled
to vote at the place designated in said ward, which
is at the junction of California avenue and Broadway.
The following persons are designated to act as judges
of the election north of Clarke street, viz.: J.
W. Gibbs, George S. Chase and Moses Neal;
and those to act as judges in the ward south of Clarke
street, O. H. Violet, John A. Blackburn and
James Murray, who shall count and return the
ballots to the temporary recorder, who shall canvass
said returns and make announcement of the result as
soon as can be done.
WILLIAM L. COUCH,
Temporary Mayor.
Attest: WM. P. SHAW, City Recorder.
7Record of First City Election.
Oklahoma City, Ind. T., May 2, 1889.
Upon personal
notice being given by William L. Couch, mayor
pro tempore of the provisional government of the city
of Oklahoma City, Ind. T., there assembled at 4 o'clock
p. m., on May 2, 1889, at the office of Ledru Guthrie,
the following named persons, to-wit: William L.
Couch, mayor pro tempore; William P. Shaw,
secretary pro tempore; Mr. Sidney Clarke, Mr. E.
G. Hudson, Mr. J. E. Jones, Mr. John Wallace, Mr.
W. C. Wells, Mr. C. T. Scott, Mr. Ledru Guthrie, Mr.
O. H. Violet, Mr. F. C. Quinton, Mr. John A. Blackburn.
Mr. William P. Shaw, secretary
pro tempore, of the provisional government of the
city, announced the result of the canvass made by
the qualified judges of the election held in the city
of Oklahoma City for mayor, city recorder, city attorney,
city treasurer, and police judge, and six councilmen,
to have resulted in the selection of William L.
Couch, mayor; John A. Blackburn, recorder;
Ledru Guthrie, city attorney; Frank C. Quinton,
city treasurer; O. H. Violet, police judge;
Sidney Clarke, councilman; E. G. Hudson,
councilman; J. E. Jones, councilman; John
Wallace, councilman; W. C. Wells, councilman;
C. T. Scott, councilman.
The above candidates were duly elected
at the city election held on May 1 between the hours
of 8 o'clock a. m. and 6 o'clock p. m.
After the announcement made by the secretary
pro tempore, Mr. William P. Shaw, of the provisional
government, of the result of such election, the duly
elected officials for the city government of Oklahoma
City took the following oath of office, administered
by United States Commissioner, C. F. Sommers:
"We......................do solemnly
swear that we will support the constitution of the
United States and that we will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of the office on which I am about
to enter. So help me God."
After which certificates of election were
given to each official respectively.
Mayor W. L. Couch called a meeting
of the council at once, and on motion of E. G.
Hudson,
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guard of from five to fourteen men was
daily sent to town as occasion required; and from
August 5 to October 21, from two to four men were
on duty in town every day. With a view to assisting
the civil authorities and in repressing the liquor
traffic, Captain D. F. Stiles, Tenth Infantry,
was designated provost marshal (the title by which
Captain Stiles was commonly referred to, but
which was not official as indicating the scope of
his duties or rank). For several months Captain Stiles
was the active executive officer of the military
at Oklahoma City. His report to Major J. P. Sanger
in November, 1889, includes information as to the
important occasions when the troops were used to preserve
order in the city.8
From the day of opening for several months
the federal troops had an active part in the regulation
of affairs at Oklahoma City, and without their co-operation
the authority of the first municipal organization
would have been impossible to maintain. The interference
of the military in town affairs, as also in its efforts
to preserve the peace among disputants for land claims,
were the subject of much complaint, and charges were
not wanting that the commanding officers were not
entirely disinterested in their direction of the movements
of the troops. The whole matter finally came to the
attention of Congress, and a resolution of the senate
directed the war department to submit the detailed
reports and official orders showing the movements
of the troops and their connection with affairs at
Oklahoma City and elsewhere in the Oklahoma country
since the opening. In accordance with that request,
the secretary of war on February 25, 1890, laid before
the senate all the official records of the army in
Oklahoma for the preceding months, and these form
a mass of historical data from which much of the following
account of Oklahoma City is derived.9
Reporting as to the employment of the
United States troops in the city of Oklahoma at the
opening, Major J. P. Sanger on November 7,
1889, very exhaustively reviewed the course of events
in the city, with particular reference to the employment
of the military. General Merritt on assuming
personal command of the troops at Oklahoma station
just before the opening, had issued a circular (April
21) informing the settlers that the troops were assembled
to protect property, the United States mails, and
to guard the people form lawlessness and disorder.
The same day he issued another order announcing that
the troops were to co-operate with the marshal of
the United States courts. Throughout the early months
of Oklahoma's history, as appears from the various
orders issued, the federal government and military
authorities were very scrupulous to observe the exact
limits of duty in connection with the preservation
of peace, without in any way interfering with the
civil status as established by the people.
[Footnotes]
properly seconded and carried, a committee of three
was appointed by the chair to confer with the city
attorney to prepare the organic act for the government
of the city.
The chair appointed Councilmen Clarke,
Hudson and Jones as such committee to
advise also with the city attorney.
A motion was made by Councilman Wallace,
seconded by Councilman Clarke and carried unanimously,
that the mayor appoint a mayor pro tempore to act
as mayor in his (the mayor's) absence.
Councilman Sidney Clarke was appointed
as such temporary mayor. Motion prevailed unanimously
to adjourn, pending the preparation of the organic
act, until 4 o'clock p. m.
JOHN A. BLACKBURN,
City Recorder
8Sen.
Ex. Doc. No. 72, 51st Cong., 1st Sess.
9Senat Ex. Doc. No. 72, 51st
Cong., 1st Session.
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Major Sanger in
his report explains why the use of the military authority
became necessary, in the character of the population
that thronged over the site of Oklahoma City during
the first day or so. "The crowd," he says,
"was composed of people from all parts of the
country, and embraced, among many honest settlers
seeking homes, a class of dangerous lot-jumpers, land
speculators, gamblers and sharpers, having no interest
in the city or country beyond swindling the confiding
and unwary, and pursuing their ordinary vocations
as law-breakers. Of the truth of this there is ample
evidence." The troops had entire charge of the
city from April 22 to May 6, the United States marshals
and the provisional civil authorities being unable
to manage the great concourse of people without military
aid.
It has been said that the de facto government
of Oklahoma City, established soon after the opening,
could not have existed without the support of the
military. But this admission does not confirm the
assertion, made by some in the early days of the city,
that the troops were used to establish a quasi-martial
law over the community, or that the influence of the
civil authorities with the local commanding officers
was unduly exercised to override the popular will.
So far as the federal government interfered in local
affairs, through its military arm, it was compelled
to recognize the civil government established by regular
and peaceable means. Furthermore, it appears that
every time the troops were used to maintain order
in the city, the local officers received instructions
from their department commanders, and therefore could
not be accused of discriminating in favor of one or
the other faction.10
Concerning the division of public sentiment
in Oklahoma City during its first months, Major Sanger,
who looked at conditions from the standpoint of the
army, reported, in November, 1889, as follows:
"I have sought the views of many
prominent citizens and am not without some information
as to public sentiment on this point. Those who come
within any of the classes referred to by me in these
reports as gamblers, liquor dealers (or as they are
called here, 'boot-leggers'), lot-jumpers and thieves,
whose operations have been checked by the troops,
do now, and will hereafter, unhesitatingly denounce
them [the action of the troops and the established
government]. They want no government, civil or military,
which they cannot control, and are now to be found
in the opposition. The body of reputable citizens
is divided into two parties which do not follow the
lines of the two great parties of the country, but
along the lines of local interests. They are distinguished
by
[Footnotes]
10July 15, 1889, the following
dispatch was sent to the commander of the troops at
Oklahoma City: "The commanding general directs
that, in any matter of violence directed against the
city government of Oklahoma, with a view to its overthrow,
you will use the troops in the maintenance of peace.
"This order applies to any disorders
growing out of the efforts of the civil authorities
of Oklahoma to suppress measures tending to the destruction
of the city government.
"In other matters the general course
theretofore pursued is approved and will be vigorously
persisted in. This especially applies to the suppression
of liquor traffic, and the prevention of its introduction
into the territory in any form, however disguised."
July 23, this dispatch was sent to Captain
Forbush, then in temporary command of the camp
at Oklahoma City: "Recognition of the only civil
government now in Oklahoma is approved and military
forces must be used if necessary in suppressing violence
against it. Care should be taken, however, not to
use the military force as merely a city police. Its
presence in the territory is to suppress violence,
from whatever source it arises . . . ."
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the names of two rival townsite companies
organized before the opening of Oklahoma to locate
townships and to secure town lots. They are the survivors
of such companies on hand at the opening, and are
known as Seminoles and Kickapoos; the latter in opposition
to the civil and military government. As distinguished
from the Kickapoos, I believe that every prominent
business man in Oklahoma is either neutral or on the
Seminole side. They have confidence in the military
and desire to retain it here, with its sphere of duties
undiminished. These men are not enamored of the city
government, but they wish no change until after Congress
has acted and the titles to their lands are perfected.
So evident is the purpose and so complete is the distrust
of each of these parties towards the other, that I
do not believe a change possible without serious disturbance.
That an election, even if peaceably conducted would,
remove existing difficulties, I can hardly believe.
. . . No principle of our political system worth mentioning,
except the right to life and property, is involved
at all in the troubles here, and no danger to the
rights of American citizens, or the sacredness of
the ballot from the use of troops, need be apprehended.
Meanwhile, the latter as a buffer between the contending
mercenary factions seems only likely to suffer. .
. ."
During the so-called "Seminole and
Kickapoo war" (see part three of J. L. Brown's
narrative) an attempt was made to limit the powers
of the provisional government by submitting to the
people a city charter, which, it was designed, should
constitute a fundamental law and allow a more representative
government.
When the attempt was made on July 16
to hold an election for this charter, serious trouble
being apprehended, the local force of troops was reinforced
by a troop of cavalry from Guthrie, making four companies
of infantry and two troops of cavalry. A platoon of
infantry was sent to town and the troops in camp were
kept under arms the entire day. The infantry in town
were stationed a block away from the voting places,
and were not used at all, the election being prevented
by the city officials. The official report of Captain
Stiles says: "A number of attempts were
made to create a riot by one G. W. Adams, an
opposition leader, but all without avail, owing to
the presence of the troops. The disturbance continued
during nearly the entire day, and the troops were
not withdrawn until after sunset."
A little later, another charter election
was proposed, this time by the party in control of
the city government, to satisfy the growing discontent
on the part of many of the citizens. The charter was
drawn by a committee of three from the city council,
three members of the board of trade, and three from
the citizens' or business men's committee. The mayor
proclaimed the election for August 29. The result
is described in the following telegram from Captain
Forbush to the Department of the Missouri:
"Vote on the charter election held today in Oklahoma
City was very light. For charter, 190 votes were cast;
against charter, 516. The election was one of the
most orderly I ever saw. No troops were in town, though
they were held in readiness at camp for use if necessary
to quell disturbance whenever the mayor should call
for them."
September 20, the "committee of
fifteen" issued a call for a charter election
to be held on the following day. Speeches had been
made on the streets for several days in favor of submitting
a charter, and the mayor and council had been requested
on
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the 19th to call an election, which
the latter refused to do,11 on the ground
that "it would be in violation of the city ordinances
in regard to elections." This refusal caused
a new outburst against the city government, and it
is said that threats were made to use force if needed
to effect an election. Alarmed, Mayor Couch
asked the intervention of troops to prevent the balloting.
Colonel Snyder sent Captain Stiles and
25 men to the city,w here they assisted the mayor
to suppress the election. On one side it was claimed
the troops prevented riot and bloodshed, while the
charter advocates asserted that the only breach of
peace was committed by the troops in clearing the
streets. Major Sanger says in his report of
November 7: "The peaceable intentions now claimed
are hardly compatible with the tone of the speeches
made beforehand, the attitude of the crowd when ordered
to disperse, or the resistance offered. It has been
stated to me by several reputable citizens that it
was the intention to kill both the mayor and Captain
Stiles on this occasion, and that threats to
that effect were known to have been made. Be this
as it may and leaving the troops out of the question,
no one familiar with the facts and the character of
the men concerned can doubt that a bloody riot would
have followed had the election been persisted in.
The city officials and their supporters were as determined
as their opponents and would have resisted with arms
any attempts to oust them from their positions."
Captain Stiles reported: "The
troops arrived in the city at 7:30 a. m., and at 8:30
those in opposition attempted to hold an election.
The proclamation of the mayor and the order of the
camp commander had previously been posted in prominent
places, and the leaders of the opposition movement
warned that no election could be held. Notwithstanding
this, an attempt was made to vote. A few ballots were
cast when the mayor and city marshal attempted to
stop the voting. This being unsuccessful and a serious
disturbance being imminent, the troops were called
upon and the crowd promptly dispersed. The attempt
was repeated several times and incendiary speeches
made. On each occasion the crowd—some two or
three hundred—was driven back by the troops and
the election prevented. Some two or three persons
were slightly injured by bayonet thrusts and by being
struck by the butts of the muskets, but none seriously.
In about an hour the crowds had been all dispersed
and order restored."
At Guthrie the organization of a provi-[sional]
[Footnotes]
11Mayor's
Office, Oklahoma City, Ind. T.,
September 19, 1889.
To the People of Oklahoma
City:
Whereas, [reciting the action of the
people in organizing a government and adopting a charter
on April 27, and by general election on May 1 constituting
a regular city government.];
Whereas, It has come to my knowledge
that certain persons calling themselves "the
committee of fifteen," under the direction and
control of one G. W. Adams and one J. L. Brown, are
engaged in a lawless and seditious movement to overthrow
the authority of the government aforesaid, thereby
threatening the peace and stability of this community,
depreciating values, destroying business and rendering
the rights of persons and property insecure; and,
Whereas, The persons calling themselves
"the committee of fifteen". . . . have,
without authority, assumed to call a pretended election
to be held in this city on Saturday, September 21,
1889, for the purpose of carrying out their seditious
plans and purposes. Now, therefore,
I, W. L. Couch, mayor of Oklahoma
City, Ind. T., by virtue of the obligations resting
upon me to protect the city from disorder. . . . do
hereby request and warn all law-abiding citizens to
refrain from participating in the lawless proceedings
aforesaid and to abstain from giving said proceedings
countenance and support. I further declare it to be
my unalterable purpose to suppress said lawlessness
by all power at my command, and I call upon all law-abiding
citizens to aid me in so doing.
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[provi]sional city government was subjected
to criticism and opposition very much as in Oklahoma
City, and from similar causes. The character of the
council and its early proceedings were describe in
a report of Inspector Pickler, May 18, 1889:
"The council was very irregularly chosen to begin
with, and as the people understood, for the purpose
merely of putting the machinery of the city in motion.
. . . The mayor was selected by a committee of seven
chosen by a mass meeting, and a committee of one from
each state and territory first chosen to recommend
what action the people should take to govern themselves,
by common consent afterward became the council; something
in excess of thirty, I think, at the time chosen,
but now numbering about fifteen.
"Grave responsibilities were forced
upon them, and generally, I think, they have assumed
and settled them in a creditable manner. They have
preserved order, surveyed the town, cleared the streets
practically. They have, however, assumed other powers
and undertaken to act in various matters that is very.
. . . emphatically condemned. They appointed . . .
a board of five arbitrators on settling the right
of possession to lots, some being members of the council,
at $10 per day each, compelling every contestant to
deposit each $10 before his case could be heard .
. . Have granted or pretended to grant a franchise
for ten years to a company to supply the city with
water . . . " and many ordinances, taxes, etc.,
that were considered arbitrary and oppressive and
irregular.
Involved with the dissension of the citizens
of Oklahoma City in establishing a city government
were the difficulties arising from town lot contests.
Of all the features of Oklahoma history, the subject
of townsite difficulties and homestead contests is
the most ungrateful. For that reason perhaps, many
who have sketched the development of Oklahoma have
avoided the subject altogether, and kept the attention
of the reader fixed upon the more interesting facts
that portray the rapid growth of the territory in
material and civic affairs. The homestead and townsite
controversies were not an incident of progress, but
the reverse; they cost the inhabitants of the country
an aggregate of wealth that would have gone far to
improve the contested lands permanently; they interfered
with development just at the time when all efforts
should have been directed to the cultivation of the
fertile soil and the upbuilding of its towns and business
resources; and they marred the narrative of what otherwise
might have been the peaceful occupation and prosperous
advancement of the most remarkable community in America.
Many individual cases of disputes between
rival claimants for lots and homesteads have already
been mentioned. Many such disputes were settled off-hand,
by the persons immediately concerned. In some instances
threats and intimidation won the victory, and the
defeated party abandoned his claim, and sometimes
withdrew from the country. Again, a determined and
aggressive claimant held his own against everyone
sent to dispossess him, setting at naught all "certificates"
and orders from the provisional authorities. Often,
too, the rivals settled their differences by arbitration,
and after an interchange of money one would leave
his claim and the other remained in peaceful possession.
But, as the court records show, a great number of
these contests were brought before the tribunals of
law, and there fattened the purses of hundreds of
lawyers and in some instances
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dragged their weary length from one
court to a higher until their final settlement is
a matter of recent judicial history. Without attempting
to follow the various trails of this maze of litigation,
it is necessary to describe the origin of the troubles,
since they intimately concern the settlement of Oklahoma
and the founding of many of its towns. A lengthy chapter
might be written on the "sooner cases" alone,
and a summary of the litigation that grew out of the
opening of Oklahoma would fill a volume.
In a communication, dated April 5, 1889,
the commissioner of the general land office held,
with reference to the entry of townsites, that in
the absence of provisions for the incorporation of
towns, and the absence of county courts within the
Oklahoma country by which the entry might be legally
certified, that the legislation of Congress in the
act for opening Oklahoma was defective and that it
was not feasible to effect townsite entries until
such supplementary legislation could be had from Congress.
In the absence of such legal prerequisites for the
entering of townsites, the commissioner held that
"any lands actually selected as the site of a
city or town, or any lands actually settled and occupied
for the purpose of trade and commerce and not for
agriculture, by bona fide inhabitants, are in a state
of reservation from disposal under the homestead laws.
. . . which will operate to preserve the claims of
the inhabitants of towns from interposing adverse
rights of settlers until such time as they may be
enabled to secure the right title to their lots under
future legislation."
At Guthrie and Oklahoma City, 320 acres
proved entirely inadequate for the people who came
during the first few days to occupy the townsites.
At Guthrie more than two full sections were occupied
and possessed for townsite purposes. This necessitated
separate and distinct town or city organization, and
as a result "East Guthrie," "South
Guthrie," West Guthrie," and "Capitol
Hill" came into existence around Guthrie proper.
Under the original act opening Oklahoma
to settlement, the homesteader could acquire title
to his home, but not so with the townsite occupants.
At Guthrie and Oklahoma City buildings were erected
during the first year said to have cost their owners
from $15,000 to $30,000, and yet the builders were
without title or security to the ground. Such was
the confidence of the settlers in ultimate justice
and the rule of fair play in American communities.
Justly it was said: "This is a wonderful compliment
to the people who have settled this new territory
in the heart of the American continent, and gives
additional evidence of the capacity and genius of
the American people to govern themselves, and in the
absence of legalized government to form temporary
expedients that settle controversies and give security
to all."
This unsettled status of townsites in
Oklahoma brought together, at Oklahoma City, November
19, 1889, a convention of delegates from various townsites,
who drew up a memorial to Congress, signed by John
T. Taylor, chairman, and Albert Reunie,
secretary, in which the conditions were thus represented.12
"First. The opening of the
Oklahoma country to settlement was attended by an
unprecedented rush of settlers for land, one of the
results of which being that nearly all lands now occupied
for townsite purposes were sought to be settled by
some one or more homestead claimants, who now are
seeking to assert their claims thereto,
[Footnotes]
12Sen. Mis. Doc. No. 74, 51st
Cong., 1st Sess. The memorial was referred, Jan. 20
1890, to committee on public lands.
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thus placing in controversy and dispute
nearly all our townsite titles, and without legislative
aid these townsites will in all probability be involved
in litigation for years to come. . . .
"Second. That all townsites
now occupied in the Oklahoma country were, under the
act of Congress of March 2, 1889, settled in pursuance
of sections 2387 and 2388 of the Revised Statutes
of the United States, which provide in substance that
entries thereunder be made in trust by the corporate
authorities of the town, or by the county judge of
the country in which the townsite may be located.
The absence, however, of both corporate authorities
and county judges thus far in the Oklahoma country
has precluded the making of entries under those sections,
while the absence of territorial government and legislation
renders the administration of such trusts impossible,
and practically defeats the acquisition of title under
the provisions of the aforesaid sections. . . .
"Third. We would also call
attention to the fact that in several of our cities
more than 320 acres in one body is now actually occupied
for municipal purposes, while under the restrictions
of the act of March 2, aforesaid, only 320 acres can
now be entered as a townsite,thereby necessitating
separate town organizations at these points.
The memorial recommended that precedence
be given to townsite contests in the land department,
that commissioners be appointed legally to enter the
townsites, and that a court be established in Oklahoma
to determine all contests over town lots.
At Oklahoma City, on May 14, 1889, a
party of townsiters numbering some two hundred and
fifty attempted to jump the claim adjoining the city
on the north. Some fifty of the party were armed,
and they were opposed by eight or ten armed men on
the claim; a serious conflict was averted by the troops
dispersing the crowd.
On May 21 the same party of townsiters,
but then number some five or six hundred, made a raid
on the claim adjoining the town on the west, and staked
almost the entire claim into town lots. This party
was ejected by a guard of a dozen men. The next day
at 10 a. m. the claim was again covered by the same
townsite party, who were driven off by a company of
infantry. At 2 p. m., the same day, a third raid was
made on this claim, when the invaders were removed
by a company of infantry and a troop of cavalry.
June 5, Colonel Snyder telegraphed
from Oklahoma City: "There appears to be a determination
to occupy the quarter section immediately west of
and adjoining Oklahoma City proper for townsite purposes,
town to be called West Oklahoma. The quarter section
in question is occupied by by five different homestead
claimants, who refuse to treat with the townsite parties
and claim our protection. The troops have been used
to remove townsite parties or jumpers on three previous
occasions, but a more determined effort to take possession
of the land in question is about to be made."
His superior officer directed him to use the troops
to preserve the peace and to keep the status peaceably
established by actual settlers.
At the same time the newly organized
Board of Trade took a hand in this discussion. It
is evident that the movement was one of the early
features of the factional contest that later divided
the city. On June 5 the board selected J. L. Brown,
C. P. Walker, C. W. Price, B. N. Woodson and G.
W. Adams to negotiate with the claimants on the
southwest quarter of section 33, township 12, range
3, with a view to
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opening it for townsite purposes. This
committee on June 7 addressed a communication to Colonel
Snyder, claiming to represent, in the views
set forth, "the virtually unanimous sentiment
of the substantial business portion of the city."13
The interference of the military could not be obtained,
Colonel Snyder being instructed not to engage
in the townsite complications further than to preserve
the peace, and to allow the courts and civil authorities
to settle the difficulties. However, a guard of three
mounted men was posted on this claim to prevent further
trouble, and maintained there until September 8.
Of the difficulties involved in the rival
claims of homesteader, and of the use of the troops
in preventing actual violence arising from these contests,
Major Sanger said (November, 1889):
"Disputes between homestead claimants
have occupied very much of the attention and time
of the officers, who have been, and still are, appealed
to daily for advice and assistance in settling these
contests. There is no authority short of the court
at Muskogee which can determine the respective rights
in question, and the people are too poor to make appeals
which involve long journeys and greater expense than
they can undergo. In truth, for either of two ore
more claimants to go away would result in his being
ousted by his rivals ere he returned; hence they turn
to the only representatives of the government in this
section who will, or can, afford them the least assistance.
The action thus far taken is believed to be covered
by the instructions received, which have in view the
preservation of peace and protection of property.
Were such arbitration as contestants have received
at the hands of the military denied them, they would,
without doubt, resort to Winchesters to settle their
disputes. As it is, they submit to the suggestions
made them with the understanding that their legal
rights are in no wise prejudiced thereby."
On the receipt at Washington of press
reports that homestead and town lot entries were being
made illegally in Oklahoma, and that government officials
and others temporarily in government employ were conniving
at these frauds or themselves taking advantage of
their office to secure choice parcels of land, the
president and Secretary Noble immediately telegraphed
to special department agents to make a thorough in-[vestigation]
[Footnotes]
13"There is at the present
time a movement on foot to lay off and enter as a
townsite the tract of 160 acres of land immediately
adjoining the townsite of Oklahoma City on the west;
this land is occupied at present by five persons,
claiming the same as a homestead.
"The parties now most prominent
in the effort to effect an entry of this tract for
town purposes have on one or two occasions previously
endeavored to enter upon the tract in large numbers
to stake it into town lots, ignoring the claims of
contesting homestead occupants, and have only been
prevented by the presence of military force under
Colonel Wade. They recently at a public meeting
appointed a committee to wait upon the contestants
to see if they could negotiate for a relinquishment
of their rights, but have reported that they were
unable to negotiate. . . . and are now proceeding
to register for the lots preparatory, as we think,
to effecting an entry upon the land.
"However that may be, we are assured
that if a committee representing the business men
of Oklahoma City take the matter in hand and approach
these contestants the matter may be amicably adjusted.
We therefore ask that, pending these negotiations,
the military force be made available if necessary
to prevent a forcible entry upon said land. . . .
It is our understanding that the men who have now
registered are men without lots or claims, and it
is our desire and intention that said registry be
respected, and that said land if opened for a townsite,
be occupied by settlers who are now without realty.
. . ."
14SEn. Ex. Doc. No. 33, 51st
Cong., 1st Sess.
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[in]vestigation of the alleged frauds
and irregularities. Most of the evidence14
turned over to the interior department as a result
of these instructions was sent in by J. A. Pickler,
inspector of the public lands service, who had been
on duty in Oklahoma for some time before the opening.
The reports of Inspector Pickler
establish beyond controversy the principal fact that
a great number of land seekers and speculators and
townsite promoters were in the Oklahoma country before
the time of opening, that the choice lots of the principal
townsites were occupied and controlled by representatives
of a corporation organized especially for that purpose
long before the opening, and that through the connivance
or indifference of the land office and military authorities
these "sooners" were enabled to secure the
choicest rewards of the rush by circumventing or openly
disregarding the rule of the game as played on the
22nd.
Inspectors McBride and Pickler
reported on April 27, from Guthrie: "About three
hundred people were in and about Guthrie before 12
p. m. on the 22d inst. Two carloads arrived upon Sunday
evening, and many were here upon Saturday; a few deputy
marshals were in and about the town limits for a week
or two previous to the legal opening of the territory.
This body of men was composed of deputy marshals,
stowaways brought here in freight trains, deputy internal
revenue collectors, and a host which cannot be classified."
John I. Dille, the register of
the Guthrie land office, in an official reply to charges
against his management of the office at the opening,15
gave the following account of the establishment of
the Guthrie land office and the first few days' developments
in Guthrie:
"We were detained at Arkansas City
with our supplies until Saturday afternoon, April
20, by the failure of our furniture to arrive and
by the failure of the carpenters to have the office
building completed. It was nearly dark Saturday evening
before we arrived at Guthrie. . . . When we arrived
. . . hundreds of people were here and from that time
on the number increased. Who were or were not officials,
we did not know and had no means by which we could
find out. The people as a rule brought their tents
with them to sleep in. They were pitched without any
reference to streets, lots or alleys. The first few
days Guthrie was a city of several thousand without
a street or alley, and with tents covering almost
every available space of ground. . . . Soon after
the 22d the city authorities made a survey of the
city, located lots, streets, alleys, etc. Several
different persons were frequently on the same lot,
many were in the streets and alleys. The city authorities
compelled those in the streets and alleys to vacate
the premises, and they all had to seek new locations.
The claimants for each lot have lessened in number,
by mutual concessions, abandonment, etc."
The records of the land office, in the
case of Guthrie, reveal that the townsite and the
best land around it were entered at noon or a few
minutes after that hour on the 33d of April. The east
half of section 8, town 16, range 2, was filed on
at 12 p. m., by Mark S. Cohn for the Guthrie
townsite. The first homestead entry of the day was
also made by Cohn, being the northwest quarter
of the same section 8. The entries of Cohn
and Jehu E. Dille (a relative of
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the register) on the first day included
seven quarter section about the original townsite.
The "following state of facts at
Oklahoma City" was reported by Inspector Pickler:
"The Seminole Town and Improvement Company, a
corporation of the state of Kansas, as is claimed,
of which J. E. Frost, of Topeka, who is land
commissioner or connected with the land department
of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company,
was the leader, and who claims to be the general manager
of the corporation in Oklahoma territory and who did
manage for the company at Oklahoma City, and L.
H. Crandell, secretary of said company, together
with United States Marshal W. C. Jones and
a syndicate from Newton, Kansas, who it is believed
is a part of or interested in the Seminole Town and
Improvement Company, entered the present townsite
of Oklahoma City at or before noon of April 22, and
secured for themselves and friends a large number
of the best and choicest lots in said town."
In corroboration of this, the statements
of two men employed at Oklahoma City before the opening
were obtained as evidence by the inspector. The first,
on May 5, witnessed as follows: " . . . . I have
worked at this place since the 8th of last August.
I was in the employ of J. H. McGranahan, who was the
postmaster, and kept a boarding house prior to the
22d of April. . . . I was here on the 22d day of April,
before 12 o'clock noon, and saw men surveying or staking
ground in the present townsite of Oklahoma before
the hour of noon. There were as many as five or six
in the party. . . ." Another witnessed that "there
were men surveying on the present site of Oklahoma
City as early as 10 o'clock a. m., on the 22d day
of April. . . . They carried a chain and compass.
. . . Many lots were staked along what is now Main
street, with stakes having papers fastened to them,
before noon of that day."16
In summarizing the situation, with special
reference to Guthrie and Oklahoma City, Major Pickler
wrote, on May 8, from Guthrie: "The people feel
that Marshal Jones, a resident of Kansas and
not a bona fide settler, with his deputies and with
influential parties in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa
Fe Railway Company, and other speculators, unfairly
gained entrance to the forbidden territory and fraudulently
gained great advantages over the honest settler, and
thus secured the most valuable property, while those
who obeyed the law are beaten by the law-breakers
in the race. . . ."17
The establishment of the town of Edmond,
and its experience at the hands of
[Footnotes]
16The Seminole Company planned
to derive its revenue by issuing to settlers certificates
for the lots included in the Seminole plat. It was
said that $25 was the fee first proposed for each
certificate, but $10 was the amount paid for the one
herewith reproduced:
"For value received the Seminole
Town and Improvement Company hereby sells and relinquishes
to Arnold Brandley all right, title and interests
that it now has or may hereafter acquire in and to
lot No. 4 of block No. 19, in Oklahoma City, Ind.
T., in accordance with said town company's plat and
survey thereof, and this certifies the said Arnold
Brandley is this day in possession and the occupant
of that said lot.
"THE SEMINOLE TOWN AND IMPROVEMENT COMPANY,
,By D. H. Crandell,
Secretary.
"April 27, 1889.
"[Seal]
17The matter of legal titles
to city lots, of lot-jumping, and the "certificate"
system, was the subject of a detailed message from
Mayor A. J. Beale to the council on December
14, 1889. He said: "It is clear to my mind from
the cases on the subject that the laws of the United
States intend town lots on the public domain to go
to the
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two rival promoting companies, well
illustrate the methods pursued by the various townsite
companies. The story is told by Inspector Pickler
in a report dated May, 1889. "I proceeded to
the town of Edmonds. . . . .on the afternoon of Saturday,
the 11th [May]. I called a meeting of the citizens
in the afternoon, representing the different interests,
from which I learned that before noon of April 22d
a party of surveyors were at this point, did some
surveying in forenoon of townsite, and continued Monday
afternoon and for some two or three days afterward.
This survey was in charge of a Mr. Shoop, from
somewhere in Kansas, and was made for the Seminole
Town Company. . . This company had a blue print Monday
afternoon, 22d, of the town of Edmonds, as they laid
off and surveyed the same, had certificates similar
to the ones used at Oklahoma City. . . . and asked
settlers $25 a lot.
"Another survey was made on the
same land . . . . on Monday afternoon . . . This company
invited settlers, but put the lots up at auction .
. . . The surveyors for the Seminole Company . . .
about the time of the telegram from Commissioner Stockslager
to the undersigned, ceased to offer to sell lots and
abandoned the site. . . . Settlers, however arriv-[ing]
[Footnotes]
actual settler in good faith. 'An occupant within
the meaning of the townsite law of Congress is one
who is a settler or resident of the town, and in the
bona fide actual possession of the lot at the time
the entry is made. One who has never been in actual
possession of a lot cannot be said to be an occupant
thereof. The occupancy may be for residences, businesses
or for use.'—21 Pac. Rep., p. 818. . . .
"The principal ordinances of Oklahoma
City on this subject are in conflict with the laws
of the United States. Ordinance No. 3 makes certificates
conclusive evidence of compliance with the law of
settlement. The holder of a certificate of a vacant
lot is conclusively presumed to have complied with
every requisite of the law of the land. And ordinance
No. 14 makes it a misdemeanor for anyone to question
by claim the validity of his title, or to attempt
to occupy such lot. These ordinances are in conflict
with the letter and spirit of the laws of the United
States, and persons undertaking to enforce them are
making themselves guilty of the violation of those
laws. It is needless to say they encourage speculation,
false swearing and fraud. The pretense that a certificate
conveys guaranty of title is a specious conceit. The
only possible title at present is that of actual possession
or occupancy for use.
. . . . Our city council cannot make new and extraordinary
regulations for acquisition of town lots. It may memorialize
Congress or offer suggestions to the secretary of
the interior, but until such regulations are proved
by competent authority, they will hardly be considered
binding by the land office or the courts. . . .
"It appears, therefore, that so-called
lot-jumping is reducible to one or the other of these
divisions: 1st, where actual bona fide possession
is assailed; 2d, where a pretended title to vacant
property is sought to be impeached. In the first class
of cases my duty as a peace officer is clear enough,
and I shall use the power at my hand to swiftly interfere
and punish offenders. The second is of cases illegal
in their inception, and to undertake to defend them
would be a flagrant abuse of power and contrary to
the laws of the United States."
The mayor also recommend is this message
the abolition of the ordinance providing for the payment
of what he deems an excessive fee for these lot certificates,
and also the repeal of the ordinance that compelled
lot-claimants to submit to arbitration and award rather
than to regularly constituted courts. He then continues:
"Had our settlement been left to ordinary usages
and the laws of the land, nice distinctions concerning
certificates and their value would never have been
heard of . . . . By this time title might have been
tolerably well settled, and if adjudication had to
be made, temporary courts with the ordinary American
system of trial by jury, instead of secret award,
would have more readily gained the confidence of the
people and litigants. Our sister city of Guthrie,
I am informed, has found the adoption of these courts
an available expedient, and if in the opinion of the
council any great delay may intervene before the establishment
of constitutional courts, I should gladly recommend
the creation by election of these proper tribunals,
with jurisdiction to try questions of actual possession,
but not title to real property."
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[arriv]ing and being displeased with
the action of the parties who auctioned the lots under
the second survey, began settlement on lots as surveyed
and staked by the Seminole Company, where they could
secure lots free. . . .
"These surveys were in conflict,
the streets and alleys of one being blocks and lots
of another, and houses were built accordingly in the
street as claimed by one party under their survey,
and this state of affairs having continued for several
days had engendered much ill feeling. . . . I insisted
on a compromise, and they the must agree and proceed
under one survey. The company making the second survey
had captured the organization on Monday night, 22d,
and elected a mayor and council, and had filed a declaration
as to their site in the land office.
"The settlers claimed, many of them,
that the election of this mayor and council was quietly
done, and that many of them, although present in the
town, knew nothing of the election." Partly with
the advice and assistance of the inspector, a compromise
was arranged between the factions by which the mayor
and council should hold office forty days from their
election, when a new election should be held. A new
survey was to be made, as sort of compromise of the
other two, and all buildings were to be adjusted to
the new boundary lines.
A final word on the Oklahoma
townsite problems was spoken by the supreme court
of the United States on February 20, 1905, when that
court reversed the ruling of the Oklahoma district
and supreme courts in the McMaster case. When
the agreement was reached between the Seminole and
Citizens' surveyors (see J. L. Brown's narrative)
and as a consequence Grand avenue was moved from its
course as first marked out, the new street ran directly
over a fine of lots which had claimants upon them,
Frank McMaster being one. As a result of this
revised plat, to quote the court's opinion, "the
parcel of land claimed by the plaintiff was thrown
in to the street called Grand avenue. The plaintiff
did not consent, but objected to the second plat,
and has never consented thereto or acquiesced therein.
He was, by the city authorities, forcibly removed
from the parcel of ground selected by him, and has
since that time been forcibly kept from the occupancy
thereof."
The court reviewed the facts that no
practicable provisions existed in law for the entry
of townsites in 1889; that the law providing for trustees
to enter the townsites and execute deeds to the occupants
was not passed until May 14, 1890, over a year after
the town was settled and laid out. The rest of the
opinion has direct bearing on some of the questions
at issue among the citizens:
"It seems, therefore, plain that
a mere agreement among a portion of the people selecting
lots for or in a projected townsite. . . . did not
and could not vest an absolute and unconditional title
in the persons who thus selected such lots. The persons
going on the land on that date, and under the circumstances
then existing, did not have any law for the vesting
of title to a lot as within a townsite, by the mere
selection of land at that time. There was general
confusion, and there were thousands of people entering
the territory embraced within the proclamation, on
that date." The selection of lots was not final,
nor the first plats of the town final or conclusive.
". . . . there was no absolute right to any particular
lot, as it was subject to future survey. . . . When,
there-[after]
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[there]after, the trustees, under the
statute, made a survey ofthe land into streets, etc.,
or approved a survey already made, by which the plaintiff's
lot was placed in the public of the city, it was his
misfortune, where all had taken their chances, that
he should draw a blank. The approval of a survey by
the trustees, which placed this lot in a public street
of the city, gives the city the right to the possession
of it, and to keep it open as such public street.
The plaintiff, not being an occupant of the lot at
the time that the trustees made entry of the land,
nor when the conveyance wasmade to the trustees by
the government, was not one of the parties included
in the statute, which directed the entry for the townsites
to be made by the trustees 'for the several use and
benefit of the occupants thereof.'"
The preceding account of
events connected with the founding of Okahoma City
and the establishment of provisional government is
drawn mainly from the official reports used in the
investigagion of the subject by Congress. In a matter
involving so many diverse interests and factions,
where order was evolved slowly out of the confusion
attending the first settlement, it is evidently, difficult
to render, with exact justice to all, a straightforward
account of the history of those first months. The
greater part of the evidence used above is clearly
unfavorable to the cause of the opposition party,
or "Kickapoos," as they were generally called.
In order that this history might serve as an impartial
medium for the facts pertaining to this subject, a
discussion of the Kickapoo side has been sought. For
this purpose the author has requested Mr. J. L.
Brown, a lawyer and resident of Oklahoma City
from the beginning, to contribute a discussion of
four phases of Oklahoma's early history. Mr. Brown
was a "Kickapoo" and one of the most active
opponents of the party in control of the city government
during the early months. While frankly partisan in
this respect, Mr. Brown describes conditions as he
saw them with careful regard for historical accuracy,
and his standing in the city and state entitles his
views and opinion to full weight in describing the
troublous days of early Oklahoma. His account is as
follows:
J. L. Brown's
Narrative
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