of undressed pine, but each hamlet felt in itself the possibilities
of a city, and had its spaces in the glaring sands or the dead
sagebrush which it called "the Square" and "Main Street" and
possibly "the park." The air quivered with expectations of a
railroad, maybe two or three, and each cluster of hovels expected
to find itself in a short time constituted the county-seat, with a
gleaming steel road at its back door.

This spirit of optimism was but a reflection of the miraculous
growth of the new country of which Greer County, though owned by
Texas, felt itself, in a sense, an integral part. Eight years
before, Indian Territory was the hunting-ground of the Indian, and
whosoever attempted to settle within its limits was driven forth by
the soldiers. It was then a land of dim twilight, full of mystery
and wildness, with vast stretches of thirsty plains and bleak
mountains around which the storms, unbroken by forests, shrieked in
the "straight winds" of many days, or whined the threat of the
deadly tornado. And suddenly it became a land of high noon, garish
and crude, but wide-awake and striving with all the tireless energy
of young blood.

Scarcely had the Oklahoma country been taken possession of before
the settlers began agitating the question of an organized territory,
and too impatient to wait for Congress to act, held their own
convention at Guthrie and divided the land into counties. Congress
made them wait five months--an age in the new country--before
approving the Organic Act. The district, which a short time before
had been the Unassigned Lands, became the counties of Logan,
Oklahoma, Cleveland, Canadian, Kingfisher and Payne. To these was
added Beaver County which in Brick Willock's day had been called