Each of these boxes were ten feet long, two and one-half feet deep, and two and one-half feet wide, with an iron rod running the entire length through the middle of each box and fastened at the ends of the boxes. Iron bolts were placed in either end of the boxes and served as pivots upon which the boxes could be revolved. On one side of each box there were three openings (about two feet apart) for the purpose of receiving the envelopes. On another side of each box were five holes, large enough to admit the hand and arm of a person and through which the envelopes were to be withdrawn. These holes were covered with slides, except when opened for the purpose of withdrawing an envelope.

On the morning of the 29th of July, at the hour designated in the President's Proclamation for the drawing, these boxes were taken upon a platform thirty-two feet square and placed in position for the drawing. This platform had been erected under our direction, in a public street of the city of El Reno, and as near to the United States land office as was practicable, and in front of an open space of ground that rose gradually from the front of the platform. From this open space more than twenty thousand people could and did see the boxes and could and did witness the drawing that ensued.

After these large boxes were placed in position, the paper boxes containing the envelopes were delivered to us upon the platform immediately in the rear of the two large boxes.

We caused lots to be cast as to the order in which the contents of these paper boxes were to be placed in the large boxes. The number that each box bore was placed in a receptacle and drawn by lot. When so drawn the contents of each box, as it was emptied, were scattered

through the larger boxes, from which they were to be drawn. When all of the envelopes had been thus placed, the holes in the boxes were closed and the boxes themselves turned until the envelopes were thoroughly mixed.

We selected ten reputable young men (five for each box), all of whom were under age and in no wise interested in the drawing, to draw the envelopes from the boxes.

The five holes in each box were given numbers and the young men cast lots for the place from which each should draw. They were placed according to lot and they again cast lot as to which should draw the first envelope. The young man who was at the hole numbered two, three, drew the first envelope from the El Reno box, and the young man who held number four at the Lawton box, drew the first envelope from that box.

Twenty-five envelopes were first drawn from the "El Reno" box by the young men in the order named, and as each of these were drawn they were delivered, first to Mr. Dale of the Committee, who caused the same to be numbered. He then, in the presence of the spectators, opened the envelope and took therefrom the card and caused the same number to be placed on it, and then handed the card to Mr. Richards of the Committee, who inspected the same and in turn handed it to Mr. Dyer of the Committee, who announced the name and description of the person to the people.

The same course was taken in the drawing of the first twenty-five envelopes from the "Lawton" box.

After this the drawing continued at the platform from day to day until a total of thirteen thousand (13,000) envelopes had been drawn from the two boxes, one-half of which came from each box. During the drawing the names of those

drawn were promptly posted on bulletin boards and in addition to the notice thus given, announcement of the names were publicly made by criers designated for that purpose.

After the thirteen thousand were drawn, as aforesaid, the boxes were removed to a building where the drawing could be more expeditiously conducted. The drawing continued until the afternoon of the 6th of August, when the whole number of envelopes deposited in the two boxes had been separately drawn and numbered. These were placed in the hands of an efficient force of clerks, from time to time, with instructions to notify, by postal card, each and every person who had made registration in the two districts.

As far as the drawing, over and above the first thirteen thousand was concerned, the same could have been omitted and some expense to the Government saved, but it was deemed wise to draw out and number each and every envelope, to the end that every applicant might be satisfied that his name had been placed in the box of the district in which he desired to enter.

We duly certified to the land officers at El Reno and Lawton the lists of names drawn from the boxes in the order in which they may file their homestead entries. This being done, we conconcluded that the purposes for which we were appointed have been met, and we shall return to our respective homes.

In concluding this report we may be permitted to say that the force of clerks sent out from the General Land Office at Washington, proved themselves to be efficient and faithful public servants, and we heartily commend each and every one of them to your consideration. The Department is to be congratulated upon the systematic order in which the registration and drawing were made.

A great majority of the vast number of people who were present before and at the time of the drawing were peaceable, law abiding citizens, and we are glad to report that there has been no disturbance of the public peace and not a life has been lost in the anxious contests of thousands of people for homes in the Territory.

As far as we have been able to observe, the course purused under the Proclamation of the President has been satisfactory to all peaceable and law abiding citizens who assembled here, and the fairness of the drawing has been undisputed so far as we have been advised.

We have the honor to be,

Very respectfully,
(Signed)

W. A. Richards,
David P. Dyer,
Frank Dale,

Committee.

The Honorable,

The Secretary of the Interior,

Washington, D. C.

As I have before said, the experience brought by my appointment as a member of the committee was the greatest I ever enjoyed. Over miles and miles of uninhabited territory at that time compared with what is there today, makes a marvelous transformation. Then, nothing but wild and uncultivated land; now, great fields of corn, wheat and alfalfa; then, not a church or school house; now, a teeming population with a school system unsurpassed, and churches erected to the worship and glory of God, whose steeples point the way to the place of everlasting rest.

I had not been in that part of Oklahoma from the time of the allotment in 1901 until March, 1921, a

period of twenty years. At that time I was assigned to hold a term of the United States District Court at Oklahoma City.

One Saturday afternoon while there in company with my daughter Lizzie, then and now my secretary, I went in a trolley car to El Reno, thirty miles distant, and stood upon the very spot where twenty years before I had stood when the lands were distributed. It will take a pen driven by a better hand than mine to properly describe the wonderful changes that have taken place within that period. Great cities, inhabited by intelligent, pushing men and women, great fields cultivated by enterprising farmers, have taken the place of wild lands inhabited by thriftless Indians and untamed animals.

and

Oklahoma is a great State and will grow greater as the years go by. All that she now needs is to get rid of a certain class of men who believe in the right to sit in the shade holding glasses of mint julep with a straw in each, a West Virginia stogy, and with negroes to wait on them. They are a set of good fellows but of no perceptible use and their allusions to what happened before and during the war may be interesting to them but to no one else.

The Act of Congress of March 1, 1872, creating the Yellowstone National Park with an area of over thirty-three hundred square miles or more than two million acres, was a wise piece of legislation.

There is no spot in the world, in my judgment, that has so much beauty and captivating gorgeousness as this park.

Probably the most delightful, instructive and enjoyable pleasure trip I ever made was in July, 1902,