had trapping the' way I had shown them. 
I stayed four days with the Sack and Fox and during that time 
we took one deer hunt, killing five, and three turkeys. I then bade 
them farewell and promised to come back again. 
I rode from the Sack and Fox village to Tecumseh in one day, 
where I stayed overnight and in another half day I was at the Shawnee 
village, which were my favorite Indians, excepting the Delawares. 
These Indians could speak English very well and our meeting was 
grand. That night after supper they informed me that they were in 
trouble. They told me that they were only squatters and that their 
country was to be sold and settled by white people and that they 
would have to look out about their Texas home. They said they want¬ 
ed me to help them. After they explained how they had fought the 
Camanches and Kiwahs with Texas and Texas had given them 40 miles 
square on Brazee River for their services in the Indian war. They 
told me many exciting stories of how they had rescued white cap¬ 
tives from the Camanches and what dangerous perils they had under¬ 
gone. It made tears rise in my eyes and I only wished I could have 
been with them. After they had explained this situation, I told them 
I would like first to consider what was best to do and I wanted to be 
in the country when it opened for settlement, which would be soon, 
and after the opening they could call a council and we would agree on 
some plan in which to proceed. I knew Texas, especially Brazee River, 
was thickly settled and was almost sure their reservation had been 
settled, which was a fact. 
I remained with the Shawnees about ten days. I wanted to get on 
to the line of the country that was to be opened for settlement which 
was old Oklahoma proper, which was never an Indian Reservation and 
was first to be opened for settlement. 
The people had begun to collect all along the line, from every state 
in the Union. Most of them had come in covered wagons, the land 
to be opened for settlement was completely surrounded with white 
people seeking a home. 
The set day and hour came for the country to be opened and 
many unprincipled fellows slipped in the night before the opening and 
hid themselves in timber and grass, but those that were more honorable 
remained on the line until the minute the signal was given to go, at 
that, they were all mounted on their horses when the signal was given 
and a wild rush was made all around the country. Within two hours 
it was covered with men, some contending for the same piece of land, 
and as there were more people than there was tracts of 160 acres each, 
this was a sad affair. Some were badly disappointed as they had their 
families and all their belongings with them. Some were killed by acci¬ 
dent and others were killed in quarrels. Most of the disputes arose with 
unscrupulous fellows who had sneaked in the night before. I made a 
run for a town lot in Oklahoma City, and got one on Main Street, and 
sold my right to it the next day for $125.00 which was a big price at 
that time, but if I had it now I could easily get $10,000.00 for it. 
The next opening I was in was the opening of the Cheyenne and 
Arapahoe. By this time I had learned that I could make the worth 
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