Article consists of editorials regarding prominent people and organizations within Oklahoma. Included is an announcement for information regarding prominent men within Oklahoma history and a narrative on how the only issue of the Oklahoma War Chief was printed within Oklahoma

Harris, Grant

J. Y. B.

Thoburn, Joseph B.

Gateway to Oklahoma History

Chronicles of OklahomaVolume V. December 1927 Number 4EDITORIALThis editorial is being written in behalf of men who havebeen prominent in the affairs of Indian Territory and Okla-homa. To this end we are asking those who may have thenecessary data concerning characters who have been prom-inent in territorial affairs and state affairs to give us thedata so we may have the record in Chronicles of Oklahoma.We should be willing to do this much to perpetuate the mem-ory of those who have been active in the development of thisgreat state. We are especially interested in getting the datafor biographical sketches of members of the ConstitutionalConvention. Several of these men have died, others aregetting old, and will soon have crossed over the great divide,after which it will be even more difficult to get the facts inthe case.If you are in possession of these facts as they pertain toany one of these men, will you not see to it that this officeis furnished now with suitable material so that a creditablememoir may appear as a part of the history of our country?It is also desired by this office that you furnish us withbiographical data concerning the members of the Legislatureof the Territory of Oklahoma, both the dead and the living,and the members of the State Legslature. We are appealingto you, if you have any such information, to furnish it now.J. Y. B.PUBLISHING A NEWSPAPER IN A "BOOMER" CAMPEditorial IntroductionPayne's Oklahoma Colony had as its official journalisticexponent or organ a newspaper, the Oklahoma Chief or, asit was more commonly called, the Oklahoma War Chief. Thefirst number of this publication was issued at Caldwell, Kan-sas, January 12th, 1883. This unique periodical underwentmany vicissitudes. Its publication office was changed fromplace to place along the Indian Territory border, in south-ern Kansas, not less than half a dozen times and its changes364 Chronicles of Oklahomain editorial and business management were almost as num-erous. It was issued more or less regularly, with occasionaltemporary suspensions, until August 12, 1886, when it waspermanently discontinued.Rock Falls, on the Chicaskia River, in the northwesternpart of Kay County, was the site of the last effort at settle-ment in Oklahoma under the personal leadership of CaptainDavid L. Payne. As in the case of all previous efforts in thesame line, it was broken up by troops of the Regular Army,its leaders being taken as military prisoners to Fort Smith,Arkansas. Later, they were formally indicted for conspiracyagainst the United States by intruding on Indian lands. Al-though Payne and his lieutenants were anxious to be triedunder this indictment, it was quashed by the Federal districtjudge, Charles G. Foster, who held that the title to the Ok-lahoma lands was vested in the United States and that, con-sequently, settlement thereon by American citizens was not acriminal offense. This was Payne's first and only victorybefore the courts.Although Payne's Oklahoma Colony had previously tak-en at least one other printing plant into the Indian Terri-tory, it was captured and confiscated by the military before asingle issue of the paper could be published. The followingaccount of the paper published alt the Rock Falls settlement,therefore, is an authentic, first-hand narrative of the onlyissue of the Oklahoma War Chief that was actually printedin Oklahoma. The writer, Mr. Grant Harris, long identifiedwith Oklahoma journalism, is the senior member of the firmof Harris & Foster, publishers of the Wagoner Tribune.J. B. T.One Sunday morning in May, 1884, I and two otherprinters, William Cunningham and W. A. Stacey (or HarryFelton, as he was known at that time) left Caldwell, Kan-sas, on ponies we had rented at the livery stable and startedfor Rock Falls, four miles south of Hunnewell, Kansas, onthe Chicaskia River, where Captain Payne and his boomerswere camped. For several weeks the papers had been filledwith the news of their activities and curiosity to see whatwas going on for ourselves was the motive that promptedus, though we knew Captain Payne had been trying to hire aprinter for some time and we were looking for work as wehad quit our jobs on the Caldwell Standard the night before.When we reached Rock Falls we found a city of tents.There were probably 1500 people on the ground with a num-ber of stores and eating houses, but no saloons. Some ofthe stores were in tents and others had wooden sides withcanvas stretched over for a roof. The only frame building inthe town was the printing office, and it had never been used,but the complete outfit was there. Tacked on the door of thebuilding was a paper reading substantially as follows:PROCLAMATIONAny person or persons printing or publishing, or at-tempting to print or publish a newspaper on the CherokeeStrip will be deemed guilty of trespass and will be subjectto a fine of from one dollar to one thousand dollars and im-prisonment in a United States jail for from one to five years.(signed)Henry M. Teller, Secretary of the Interior.That document explained why Captain Payne had beenunable to get printers to go to work, and it also explained ourhesitancy in asking for a job, although we wanted one badly.After talking to a number of Payne's followers we had de-cided to go back to Caldwell when Captain Payne came up.Someone had told him there were some printers on theground and he got up from a sick bed to see us. He saidhe wanted to hire a printer and would pay him $25 a weekand board (big wages in those days) and said we could de-cide among ourselves which one should go to work. Aftertalking it over alone we decided that none wanted the jobin view of the document posted on the door of the building,but Stacey said: "Let's tell him that if he will give all ofus twenty-five dollars a week and board we will go to work."No sooner was the proposition made than Captain pulleda roll of bills from his pocket and counted out twenty-fivedollars for each of us, with the remark: "You're all hiredand we ought to get out a paper this week."Then, as our horses would have to be returned to Cald-well and all of our personal possessions were there, some-one would have to go after them and we decided to "jeff"(any printer can tell you what that means) to see who wouldEditorial 365366 Chronicles of Oklahomago. I was elected to stay and Cunningham and Stacey re-turned to Caldwell that afternoon and got back to RockFalls Monday evening. In the meantime I had "laid thecases" as the type was in the packages in which they wereshipped from the factory and Monday morning set the firsttype for the first paper that was ever printed on the Chero-kee Strip, "The Oklahoma Chief."A paper by this name had been printed at different timesat Wichita, South Haven, Gueda Springs, and possibly otherpoints in Kansas in the interest of the boomer movement,but this was the first paper ever printed in the CherokeeStrip. Captain Cooper was the editor, though Captain Paynedictated what should go into the paper and did a consider-able part of the writing. Copies of this paper are on file inthe Historical Society.To go on with my story. One week sufficed to satisfyStacey and Cunningham and they pulled out for Kansas, be-fore, as they said, the soldiers came and threw them into jail.Payne then agreed to pay me the twenty-five dollars a weekand give me all I could make out of the paper if I would stay,and with the help of Claude Bowerman, a son of Doctor Bow-erman of Wellington, Kansas, I did the mechanical work onthe paper until the colony was taken out the following August(I believe).Life in the camp was rather dull, as a rule, but occasion-ally wild rumors would be set afloat and some of the boom-ers would get pretty nervous. For instance, one night short-ly after dark, considerable disturbance was heard on thesouth side of the river near the ford and Indian voices couldbe distinguished. The report got out that a large band ofIndians were there and would attack the camp. The leaderstook enough stock in the tale to post a strong guard and or-der everyone to have their arms ready. In the morning threeor four bucks, a half dozen squaws and a number of young-sters of various ages were found camped there on their wayto Kansas.Shortly after I got acquainted with Payne he asked meif I would not help him with his books and from then on Iacted as a sort of secretary, but he was so unbusiness-likethat his "books" were considerable of a joke. The member-ship fee for joining the colony was ten dollars and there wasa three dollar fee for surveying, but Captain never turneddown an applicant simply because he did not have the thir-teen dollars. He would take what he had. That night hewould try to remember who had paid him during the day andI would set down the amounts as he gave them, but therewas generally more money than he could account for andfrequently he could not remember names, so the books wereof very little practical use.Captain Payne was a likeable man and generous to afault. A friend could get anything he had and he forgot allabout the transaction right away and would never ask forthe return of anything borrowed unless the party voluntar-ily offered to pay. But, on the other hand, he was just asfree to ask a friend for aid and forgot it almost as quickly.All the time we were there about all anyone did was to loafabout and talk about the chances of being able to hold the"claims" they had staked. A few men plowed a few furrows,but no serious attempt to cultivate the land was made. Theyexpected to be driven out and Payne hoped to be arrestedand tried on the trespass charge, as he was confident hecould prove the land did not belong to the Cherokees, but wasgovernment land and subject to preemption. His contentionwas that the government had merely set aside the fifty-ninemile strip as an outlet for the Cherokees to the buffalo coun-try, but with no intention of ceding it to them. And althoughhe was arrested a number of times on that charge he was in-variably turned loose without a trial.The printing office was just about such an outfit ascould be found in any country town at that time, consistingof a Washington hand press, three cases of long primer type,one of nonpareil and a half dozen fonts of display type, thewhole probably worth about four hundred dollars. The firstissue was two pages of home print and two pages "patent,"and consisted of ten quires (250 papers). But within a fewdays after the first paper was circulated orders began tocome in until the capacity of that old hand press was taxedto the limit. The last paper we got out we put on the pressWednesday noon and ran it continuously until Friday night,during which time I printed all the patent on hand, all thepaper I could get at Hunnewell and Caldwell and several hun-dred copies on brown wrapping paper I bought of a Hunne-Editorial 367368 Chronicles of Oklahomawell grocer, and when we took the forms off the press therewere orders on the hook for more than 1,000 papers-andevery paper sold at ten cents a copy-and I got the ten cents,in addition to my twenty-five dollars a week and board, butI have hated the looks of a Waslhington hand press from thatday to this and still have "corns" on my hands from pullingit, and, what's more, I have never run one since.There have been so many wild tales told about the actualarrest when we were finally taken out that I hesitate to tellit as I saw it. The camp was located on the north bank ofthe Chikaskia River. The afternoon before we were arresteda company of negro soldiers came up to the south bank ofthe river and went into camp. They sent us no word andmade no move to interfere with us that evening, but we allrealized that the end had come and that night a council ofthe leading men of the colony was held in Captain Payne'stent. Some of the hot-heads advised resisting the soldiers,but the more level-headed, among them Captain Payne, over-rode them and decided that the better thing to do was to sur-render when it was demanded. A number of wagons leftcamp that night headed for Kansas, but the large majori-ty stayed to see the game through.The next forenoon the soldiers surrounded the camp anda detail was sent to the printing office to make the arrest.Payne was in his tent, a quarter of a mile away. After plac-ing me and the editor under arrest they went on to Payne'stent. He met them at the door with a "45"-in each handand said: "No damned nigger can arrest me. I will sur-render to a white man, but if any of you niggers want todie just make a move in this direction " The captain's repu-tation as a dead shot was too widely known to disregard histhreat and the negro sergeant in charge of the squad calleda parley, with the result that word was sent to LieutenantDay, in charge of the expedition,'and he came personally andmade the arrest. Seven of us, Captain Payne, Captain Coop-er, the editor, the two Couch boys and the vice-president andsurveyor of the colony, whose names I forget, were placed inirons, while the rest of the colony was lined up along thetrail and headed for Kansas with soldiers on each side ofthe trail clear to the state line. When the head of the columnreached Hunnewell, four miles away, the last of the boomerswere just leaving the camp.The printing office was loaded into a government wagon.and no one seems to know what became of it, but yearsafterward a negro janitor, for the Kansas City Star, told mehe had been a soldier and for a time was located at Fort Renoand that he was with them when Captain Payne was ar-rested. I asked him if he knew what was done with theprinting outfit and he said that it was thrown into theCimarron River on their way back to the fort. After thosenegro soldiers got through loading it into that wagon it wasnot fit for much else and I think that is probably what be-came of it.A little before sundown that evening a negro soldierreleased me and took me to Lieutenant Day. I was buteighteen years old and looked even younger and they evi-dently did not care to be bothered with me. The lieutenantasked me why I went to work in view of the notice on thedoor, which had never been disturbed and was there whenthe building was burned by the soldiers. I said: "Lieuten-ant, I had been working in Caldwell for seven dollars a weekand boarded myself. When Captain Payne offered me twenty-five dollars and board the difference in salary looked biggerthan the proclamation and I went to work."He laughed and asked me how long it would take meto get to Kansas if he would give me my pony, and I saidabout fifteen minutes. "Beat that time a little, if you can,"he remarked, and I did.Here is a part of the story I have always hesitated totell and had intended to leave out of this yarn, but upon sec-ond thought will tell it and you can do as you please with it.Early in the life of the colony an attempt had beenmade to dig a well near the print shop, but after gettingdown about thirty-five feet without a sign of water the workwas stopped, the well covered up and forgotten. When thesoldiers put in an appearance that afternoon and we realizedthat we would be arrested, there was a considerable sum ofmoney on hand, how much I do not know. We knew thatthis would be confiscated by the soldiers and naturally wewanted to save it. Only the officers of the company, themen arrested, and myself knew about it. That night we de-Editorial 369370 Chronicles of Oklahomacided to put it in a leather grip and drop it down the well,and this was done. When I was released I went to Wichitaand went to work on the Eagle, and there I stayed until thesix men were released at Fort Smith, some six or sevenweeks later. I had never breathed a word to anyone aboutwhere the money was put, or that I knew anything about it.The first thing they did when turned loose was to comeback to Wichita, hunt me up and ask what I had done withthe money. I told them that so far as I knew it was stillin the old well. I have always suspected they did not morethan half believe me for they insisted on me going with themto the old camp to get it. We went to Hunnewell by trainand from there drove to the site of the well. The old wind-lass was still standing and we put a rope on it and theylowered me into the well. The grip was where we left itand I fastened the rope to it and they pulled it up, and thenpulled me to the surface. I have sometimes wondered whatwould have happened if I had failed to find the money.We went back to Wichita and Payne, Cooper and oneof the Couch boys took charge of the money. I do not knowwhat became of it. A short time later I received word tocome to Wellington and help straighten out the books. Weworked on them that night until quite late and in the morn-ing went to breakfast late. There were five or six of us atthe table in the old Hotel de Barnard. Captain Payne wassitting at the head of the table with Captain Cooper nextto him. While we waited for our breakfasts to come,Payne's head dropped forward as though he was asleep.After his breakfast had been set in front of him CaptainCooper placed his hand on Payne's shoulder and said: "Wakeup, Cap, and eat your breakfast before it gets cold," givinghim a shake. Captain Payne's head dropped to one side,eyes staring. He was dead.GRANT HARRIs

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