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Federal Government didn't want
to be involved in Indian Territory
disputes.
Wildman and Williams then wrote
to the Indian Agents of the terri-
tory to tell them that Congress
had granted them their "mineral
claims". A lie, and also wrote that,
"We did so in good faith. In the
event that you come and destroy
our works, we shall sue through
the Court of Claims. I hope you
will not act too hasty in this mat-
ter, from the fact that we are right
and you are wrong." So he was
trying to turn it around on the In-
dian Agents that THEY would be
in the wrong and liable under gov-
ernment law - another lie.
As the story is documented, Wild-
man and Williams' mining town
did well for years. Many miners
moved to this small town in Okla-
homa, and began to make a good
living mining there. The Federal
Government did finally catch wind
of this not so legitimate town, sent
troops to destroy the camps and
small shops that began to flourish
there, and filled the mines. This
didn't stop Wildman from open-
ing up the mines again and again,
and while trying to sue the govern-
ment AND the Indian Agents who
were trying to close down this
town, Wildman created a smear
campaign against those trying to
shut down the mines by saying the
Government was taking food out
of hard working men's mouths.
They did this to make the Federal
and Indian Agents the bad guys for
destroying the plight of the work-
ing man. In the end, after a few
gun fights, arrests and a few lives
lost, the town finally was disman-
tled for good, and Wildman and
Williams went in to other business
endeavors.
Some may read this and say that
Frank Wildman's tactics were un-
just. This was the end of the "wild
A
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The "second person",
explained in the third
person, by the first.
Confusing? Not if you come to ex-
cept that a drunk becomes someone
completely different after so many
cocktails. Jekel, then Hyde. Who
knows where this change comes
from; everyone's different. Anyone
who drinks has a second person, it
just may take some people a little
longer to summon his or her inner
devil. Anyone who's been around
Syracusians when they are drinking
know what I mean by the "second
person". We are a rare breed... but
that is a completely different topic
for another "Foreword".
For anyone that knows me, I have
been known to drink a bit much
at times. So much that I don't re-
member many events that have to
be explained to me the next day,
"Oh god... that really happened?"
A smashed face, twisted ankle and
bloody knee, to losing all of my
belongings and hoping someone
has my wallet and cell phone- this
is all NOTHING in comparison to
the pain and anguish of filling in
the blanks from the night before.
As you receive phone call after
phone call, people begin to fill in
the hours leading to you hitting
the floor face first. "Oh... now I
remember... kind of". My second
person's name is Gulch by the way.
This all may seem strange; the fact
that friends and I have a name
picked out for our second person-
ality. But, like I said before, we all
have one... you included if you
drink. You just have to come to
accept your second person and live
with the consequences.
In case you think this is going to
be a long winded apology for my
drunken behaviors in the past, it's
not. I shamefully conduct those in
person to those that I must. This also
is not a psychiatric self examination of
why I do the things I do, or become
what I become. That would be as bor-
ing as reading people's daily blogs on
MySpace. This is merely a comparison
to a person in my family tree. Some-
one whom I have never met, but from
stories I've read and heard, sounds a
bit like myself when I'm in a facetious
mood.
So I've been told Gulch is quite an in-
stigator and very much an actor. I've
been known to start some shit with a
person or group, then move on to the
next scenario while the previous scene
turns over on itself. From what I've
been told, my great grandfather was
quite the trouble maker as well.
Frank Wildman was my mother's
grandfather. He was an innovator
who looked for cracks in the system,
moved in and set up shop. In the
"undeveloped" Wichita Mountains of
Oklahoma, gold miners set up a min-
ing town in Cut Throat Gap, named
for the scene of bloody bitter conflict
in the 1830's when the Comanche and
Apache land was being opened up to
white settlement to be "the last gold
rush east of the Rockies". Wildman
was known for opening the first cot-
ton gin in the town he lived in, where
he befriended these gold miners. In
1894 the Indian police ran the gold
miners out of Otter Creek and filled
their mines. But in 1900 Frank saw
the potential of the mining industry
and returned to Otter Creek to mine
and formed the Wichita Mining Com-
pany.
He and another business man named
Williams established a post office on
this land, disregarding the fact that this
land was part of Indian Reservation
territory. They sent in the Wildman
name to form the post office to the
Federal Government, neglecting to
tell the government the exact loca-
tion of the post office. If the govern-
ment had known "it would definitely
not have been granted", because the
"If you want to fi nd an animal, you must think like an animal"
~~ Greasy ~~