America 1881: Legend of the West

Oklahoma region, the last undeveloped land in the western United States.

It is bordered by Missouri and Arkansas to the east, New Mexico and Texas to the west, Texas across the Red River to the south, and Colorado and Kansas to the north.

This was originally an Indian settlement.

After 1830, many eastern Indian tribes were moved here.

This became a reservation for Indian tribes.

Federal troops were stationed here to monitor the local Indian tribes and prevent them from engaging in armed uprisings.

However, this could not stop the pioneers who had not yet obtained the land from coveting this land.

From time to time, small groups would enter Indian tribal territory and be driven out by double attacks by Indians and federal troops.

But as other lands in the west were carved up, there were more and more of them.

Most of them are speculators, adventurers and people who have not yet acquired land for various reasons.

These people kept looking for opportunities to sneak in and set up camps, madly torturing the nerves of the federal soldiers.

Congress could no longer resist the surging public opinion and began to consider opening the Oklahoma border.

Chen Jianqiu first got this news at a board meeting of Pacific Railway Company.

Someone from the railway company has been tracking and promoting this matter.

Because the opening of Indian borders would help promote the railway transportation business.

They told Chen Jianqiu that the Creek and Seminole tribes in Oklahoma had been forced to give up at least 200 million acres of good land in their territories in exchange for a reward of US$417.3799.

Of course, whether the money can reach these tribes is another matter.

President Harrison agreed to open the area to all American citizens on April 4.

At that time, the army will withdraw from this territory and return to the border for supervision.

The way to acquire land is primitive, simple and crude.

First come, first served.

As long as people arrive first and lay down the boundary stakes, you say this land is yours, and it becomes yours.

The first person to seize the land has the right to use force to defend his rights to the land.

Regarding these, the troops will not care. At most, they will only act as starters and referees.

Don’t you guys like to sneak in and enclosure? Then simply open it up and let you all in. Life and death are determined by destiny, and wealth is determined by heaven.

Chen Jianqiu was happy when he heard it.

He had no intention of seeking justice for the two Indian tribes.

Now that the land has been released, it would be a bit of a disservice to the original owner of the land if he did not lead others to work on it.

There are still three months until the border officially opens.

Chen Jianqiu has already begun to prepare for this operation.

The Roswell Council Hall ushered in the long-awaited bustle. Wyatt, Holmes and others all rushed back in advance to attend this important meeting.

Chen Jianqiu was still sitting at the top, with a large map of Oklahoma hanging on the wooden board behind him.

A red pen is used to carefully outline the location of the opening area.

"According to the exact information provided by Holliday, the area developed this time should be located in the middle plains of Oklahoma."

Li Sifu held a small wooden stick and gestured on the map.

"We do not rule out the possibility of continued opening in the future, but if we cannot gain a firm foothold in the early stage, we may not even be able to drink soup later." Chen Jianqiu added on the side.

"This is part of the Red River Basin and the land is fertile, making it very suitable for settlement."

Holmes flipped through his small notebook and said seriously.

"This place not only has pastures, but is also rich in mineral resources. I took people to inspect it, but they were kicked out."

"Hey, why do you always get kicked out?"

Sean looked at the geologist with a smile.

Chen Jianqiu touched his nose.

This scene seemed familiar. When he was looking for oil deposits in Roswell, Holmes was also driven out by the soldiers stationed at the time.

That sounds like a good sign.

"Is there any Indian territory around?" Chen Jianqiu looked at Feiniao.

Feiniao walked to the map and marked a few places on it with a pen:

"According to my understanding, these places are the current residences of the Creek and Seminole tribes, and are distributed on the edge of this open land."

"To the north of the open land is the territory of the Cherokee tribe, who are also a very brave and fighting Indian tribe."

Chen Jianqiu nodded.

"Well, we won't touch them for the time being. If we can say hello to them, we will try to say hello to them."

Feiniao smiled bitterly and said: "I hope they can accept it, but based on my experience, I'm afraid it will be difficult."

Chen Jianqiu did not continue.

He actually didn't really want to use Maxim against those Indians.

"Wyatt, what are you hearing out there at Kansas and Texas? Who are our potential competitors?"

Chen Jianqiu clasped his fingers together, placed them on the table, and asked.

Wyatt also stood up and walked to the edge of the map.

At the same time, he handed a report to Chen Jianqiu.

He is now the head of the Border Detective Agency in Kansas and Texas and knows the situation very well.

"Most people haven't gotten the news yet, but you can guess that the border lines on the north and south sides will be crowded with people by then," Wyatt said.

"Don't worry about these people. Most of them are retail investors and don't pose much of a threat to us." Chen Jianqiu said while flipping through the information.

"But there is still some organization," Wyatt continued.

Chen Jianqiu's eyes also glanced at the fourth page of the document, which recorded some information about the organization Wyatt mentioned.

“One is the Oklahoma Colonists Association, which was founded five or six years ago by a desperado named David Payne. At first, they flouted all laws and tried to find ways to cross the blockade and enter Russia. Oklahoma opened up the land.”

"For this reason, these people fought with the federal troops stationed there more than once. Although they were all driven out and their leaders were arrested."

"But this has also allowed them to gain support from many people, and their organization has grown bigger and bigger in recent years."

"How many armed personnel do they have? What kind of equipment do they have?" Chen Jianqiu is more concerned about this issue. "Besides Payne, what other leaders are there?"

"Penn is dead. The current leader is WL Couch. In terms of armed personnel alone, there are about seven or eight hundred people. Because of sufficient funds, the equipment is pretty good. It is said that there are also a few Gatlings."

"Well, that's a lot of people." Zhang Danian nodded at the side.

As a former military general, he still had a certain understanding of seven to eight hundred men in full force.

"Are there any other organizations?" Chen Jianqiu continued to flip through the information.

Wyatt introduced some more to Chen Jianqiu, but compared with the Colonists Association, they were much smaller, scattered, and did not look very eye-catching.

"Seven to eight hundred people, well-equipped, Gatling guns, eh." Chen Jianqiu looked at the information, then turned his head and looked at the map behind him.

Finally, he looked at Zhang Danian.

"Since there are seven or eight hundred of them, Uncle Nian, please select a thousand outstanding ones from Roswell's militia."

"I'm afraid one thousand is not enough, right?" Zhang Danian frowned.

Chen Jianqiu did not answer, but shouted to Danny at the other end of the table:

"Danny! Where are the cannons we ordered from Krupp last year?"