University:
Felician University
Course:
HIST-110 | World Geography and Culture
Academic year:

2019
Views:

261

Pages:

10
Author:

larbiwxcvbn

On the drives, the cattle had always grazed on the prairie grasses of Indian Territory. The tribes realized this could generate income. The Cherokee created a livestock association to bargain with the cattlemen. Selling the grazing rights in the Cherokee Outlet at 2¢ an acre, the tribe made $500,000 over five years. Illegal grazing later became a problem. In order to protect their lands in the Outlet, the Cherokee fenced them off with barbed wire. The fences had sharp points at intervals along the strands. After the Civil War, the Wells Fargo Company restored the stagecoach runs of the old Butterfield Overland Mail route. The effort didn’t last, because railroads were coming into Indian Territory. The Plains Indians didn’t like the “Iron Horse” and often attacked the trains. The Five Civilized Tribes, however, welcomed the railroads to Indian Territory. The most important rail line was the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. It was built just east of the Chisholm Trail. During the Land Run of 1889, it brought thousands of settlers to Guthrie, Edmond, Oklahoma City, Moore, and Norman. Another rail line through the Territory was the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (called the MKT or The Katy). It followed the old Texas Road. Shorter routes included the Frisco (southeast) and the Rock Island (west central). Coal was the primary fuel for the steam locomotives. There were extensive coal deposits in the Choctaw lands. Confederate veteran James J. McAlester discovered a geologist’s notes about coal deposits on Choctaw land near a town called The Crossroads. He moved to Indian Territory and opened a general store there in 1870.