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Welcome to
this OK/ITGenWeb Special Project Page!
No Man's Land
encompasses the OK Panhandle counties of
Beaver, Texas, and Cimarron.
No-Mans Land
of early Oklahoma history became what is now known as the Panhandle and
touches Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. Its history begins
about 1850 when Texas relinquished claim to that territory
in compromising over the slavery question. Little or no settlement had
been made there then. The Santa Fe Trail traversed what is now Beaver
County in 1822. An 1850 map shows it as merely part of the public lands
neighboring on the Cherokee Outlet. It was already a haven for outlaws
for Texas had paid little attention to the extreme northern part of her
territory.
The type of
population in the panhandle are responsible for its high rank in many
respects. There are practically no Negroes and very few Indians. Those
Indians that are there have settled along the railroads and have come
as enterprising individuals rather than tribes or bands which were
forced to locate there as is true in the rest of the state. The few
negroes who are there were not slaves to be released after the Civil
War because it was north of 36 degrees and 30' and the latter fact
makes the history of No-Mans Land what it is. The outlaws who drifted
into that territory because it was so long unorganized and unprotected
drifted out when the opposite condition began to prevail leaving the
original settlers who had come, like the type already mentioned more as
individuals than as groups, who had gradually filtered in from
settlements in surrounding states and territories. Probably because
there were no large groups led or driven into this territory statistics
show they are more capable of individual self government than other
peoples to be found in the state. The population for the whole
panhandle rose slowly but steadily until 1900, sank between 1900 and
1910, and has risen very gradually since.
One of the
agreements made in 1866 as a result of the Civil War was the
right-of-way to railroads across the "Indian Country". One of these,
the Santa Fe, followed the old Santa
Fe Trail across Beaver County. In 1879 the Jones and Plummer
Cattle Trail from Toscasco to Dodge City first crossed Beaver Creek,
and at this crossing a fur trader built a sod store. Several years
later this place became Beaver City. The name Beaver, first given to
the creek, later to all No-Mans Land and finally to the present Beaver
County was probably in honor of a chief of the Choctaw Indians. An 1880
map shows this country a 'Public Land" strip surrounded by states and
territories.
In 1885 and
86 the general tide of immigration into southwestern Kansas and
southeastern Colorado swarmed over into No-Mans Land. By 1887 the
population had reached 6000 yet there was no way for the settlers to
claim the land upon which they lived, no way to make marriages legal in
the territory, no laws to govern tax foreclosures, the organization of
corporations, etc. More than that the desperados and horse thieves who
had come there because of this condition were not pleasant neighbors
for the peaceful settlers who held their land merely by common consent
and good faith. The main trouble was that during dry years these
settlers often had to leave their holdings for a time in order to
subsist and if someone "jumped their claim" while they were gone there
was no way of forcing off the intruder.
Under the
circumstances there was nothing the people could do but organize their
own government. The main hindrance to this was the constant rivalry and
meddling of townsites and ambitious politicians. A meeting was held in
Beaver City on 26 October 1886 which organized a "Claimants Board" to
protect land claims. The inhabitants had only the "squatters rights"
Federal law to work from. In November of the same year a meeting was
held in the sod schoolhouse in Beaver City for the purpose of
manufacturing "quit claim" deeds at which the foundation was built for
the organization of a new territory known as the Cimarron Territory.
At the same
time a scheme was being worked on by those who wished to delay or
prevent the settlement of the "Indian Country" by white people to make
No-Mans Land a part of Kansas.
The first
election in the new Cimarron Territory was held 22 February 1887. The
nine delegates chosen at this convention met in the same sod
schoolhouse on March 4 and organized a first legislative body of the
Cimarron Territory. This territory was divided into five counties -
Benton, Beaver, Palo Duro, Optima, and Sunset. Laws were made governing
land, marriages, taxes, foreclosures, etc. What public property there
was at the time had been secured by private freewill contributions.
The next
three years were marked by the rivalry of political organizations
divided over purely local issues. J. E. Dale and Orville G. Chase both
reported in Washington, showed credentials, and asked to be recognized
as the official delegate to Congress from an Organized Territory.
Either would have been seated if it had not been for the opposition of
the other. As it was Congress could not decide which to recognize and
that more than anything else kept No-Mans Land from eventually becoming
a separate State.
In 1890 the
Organic Act which organized the Indian Territory made No-Mans Land part
of that territory. It also made it all one of seven counties and called
it Beaver County. Beaver County then had a population of 64,000. Among
other things this county then boasted a newspaper published in Beaver
City known as the Beaver Herald. This paper is still being published.
The town of Rothwell was then a rival of Beaver City and had caused
much of the political dissension. Beaver City succeeded in becoming the
county seat.
This item
can be found in the vertical files for Texas County in the Oklahoma
Historical Society's Genealogy Library. It appears to have been part of
the Oklahoma Writer's Project, written on 22 July 1936. The opinions
expressed by the writer of the article in no way represent the opinions
of the coordinator, OKGenWeb, or the USGenWeb projects. However, it is
a fascinating view of the county from the 1930's.
Thanks to
Mark Adkinson, former host of Texas County OKGenWeb.
HELLO -
WELCOME!
My name
is LaRae Halsey-Brooks, and my
daughter,
Eireann Brooks, and I are the Co-Coordinators
for the No Man's Land ITGenWeb Project page.
If you
would like to contribute your information
to this page, please let us know!
If you are
interested in sponsoring a county in the OKGenWeb Project,
or have questions regarding the OKGenWeb Project, please contact:
OKGenWeb State
Coordinator: Ron Henson
Asst State Coordinator: Bobbi
Dunn
For more
information, you may also visit the Adopt A County
page.
To post your
Queries, Biographies, Bible Records, Deeds, Obituaries,
Pensions, and Wills, please visit the new Rootsweb message board
for No Man's Land.
No Man's Land Message Board
Indian
Blanket - Oklahoma State Wildflower
This page
was last updated
Sunday, 01-Jan-2012 22:11:06 MST
©
1998-2012 by the No Man's Land Page Coordinator
for the OKGenWeb Project
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