Buck—The Settlement of Oklahoma. 369 
street and no effort was spared to keep the people supplied. 
The waterworks were speedily repaired, hut the drinking places 
proved so useful that they were retained throughout the regis¬ 
tration. After the second day no unregistered applicants were 
left in front of the booths when they closed at night, although 
the incoming trains brought crowds vastly exceeding the ex¬ 
pectations of the officials and running the total registration at 
El Reno to 135,416 when it closed on July 26th. 1 
On July 11th, the day after the registration began, a force 
of clerks was employed in separating by districts and arranging 
in order the applications and identification cards which had 
been filled out by each applicant, and these latter were placed 
in blank envelopes and sealed. When the registration was 
closed, all the clerks were employed at this work, which was 
completed at 4 P. M. Sunday, July 28th. The Secretary of 
the Interior had appointed a commission of two public men 
to superintend the drawing in conjunction with Assistant 
Commissioner Richards, and these three met July 25th and 
readily agreed upon a plan for the drawing. 2 
In accordance with the plan decided upon, a platform 
was erected in the street facing the high school grounds', 
which rose gradually from the platform' and afforded ample 
space for the crowds to witness the drawing. Two boxes, ten 
feet long, two and one-half feet wide and two and one-half feet 
deep were constructed and bolts placed in each to serve as 
pivots for revolving them. There were three large openings 
on one side of each for receiving the envelopes and five num¬ 
bered holes on the other to admit the hand for the drawing. On 
the morning of Monday, July 29th, the boxes were placed on 
trestles on the platform and the envelopes brought up and 
separated according to districts, those for one district being 
buff, and for the other white. With much care to avoid any 
possible charge of unfairness, the envelopes were put into the 
respective boxes, the openings sealed and the boxes revolved 
until the lots were thoroughly mixed. Ten young men under 
1 Sec. Int. Rept., 1901, pp. cclx-cclxi. 
2 Ibid., pp. cclxi-cclxii. 
7—S. & A. 
