9eigo                  Man     m
A LTU 5                     -
r derick
Gwr ndfield
Q-
o 6surkburnett
WICHITA FALLS
Map of the WF&NW and Grandfield (Eschiti) area
burnett and Kell, a newly proclaimed townsite in the Big Pasture, was
opened to service on June 10; the usual celebration followed at the WF&NW
headquarters in Wichita Falls. The euphoria there, however, was shortlived.7
As noted above, the Big Pasture had been formally opened, and its land
sold on December 6, 19o6. At that time the government had authorized
a scattering of new townsites, among which were Randlett, Quanah,
Ahpeatone and Eschiti. The first of these was named for the Secretary of the
Interior, while the latter three were named for prominent Indians. Totally
absent from the list of authorized townsites was any named Kell.'
On October 6, 1906, Joseph A. Kemp had advised the Office of Indian
Affairs that the Northwestern intended to petition the courts of Oklahoma
Territory for permission to condemn a ioo-foot right-of-way through the
Kiowa-Comanche reservation in Comanche County, Oklahoma Territory.
Kemp observed that the new road might extend for a distance of twenty-six
miles through the Indian lands. Permission was secured as a matter of
7 Poor's Manual of the Railroads of the United States, 1907, p. 1730; Poor's Manual of the
Railroads of the United States, 1908, p. 631.
8 Louis J. Wortham, History of Texas from Wilderness to Commonwealth. Five Volumes
(Fort Worth: Wortham-Molyneaux Company, 1924), pp. 294-296.
89