The Republican journal., 1870-07-21
A KNOWING HORSE.

During the early settlement of Wisconsin
or the wilderness part of it, at least-l was
frequently employed by correspondents from
abroad to search ont certain sections Of land
and report rs to their value. timber, quality
of soil etc. In discharging this duty,
usually went on horseback, using a iayoritc
old family horse. To find the particular sec
ton described, would first find a surveyors
''blazing line" and follow it up until would
find the ''corner trees marked with the
numhor of the township. range. and soction
of which the post was the boundary; then,
by q glance at the map, could tell at once
the distance and direction of the section |
was in search of, and would follow the blazel
lines accordingly
On one occasion-a dismal, toggy day-l
had gone Il longer distance from home than
usual, and into 4 part Of the wilderness that
was strange to me- After making the survey,
the fog came on 50 very thick that | dare not
take my usual course of returning by a direct
route without regard to the angles OF the
survey, but started or a line leading nearest
to the required direction. Before going far
came to q bog, or marsh, which was impassi-
BILE on horseback, and | was forced to 90
round it. After l had got on the opposite
side, could not find the line again, and,
after searching some little time, | gave il up,
and threw the lines upon the neck of the
horse and bade him 90 home, preferring to
trust to his instinct to find the way, rather
than my own judgment as to the proper di-
rection to be taken We had not gone many
rods before | noticed the blazed trees for
which had been looking, and my curiosity
was at once excited to know whether the
horse really noticed the faint marks on the
trees and was guided by them. Accordingly
left the reins perfectly free, and was soon
satisfied beyond a doubt that such was the
fact, for, on coming TO fallen tree or other
obstruction, he would 90 round it, return to
the line, and follow it without mistake; in
fact, he seemed to find the line more readily
than | could myself. Afterwards, | tested
him time and again. 1t made no difference
whether the direction was to or from home.
Once start him on a surveyors line, and he
would follow it unerringly. If the direction
was from home on coming to corner-post
he would make II stop, Us If to inquire Wheth-
er to keep strai ght on, or turn to the right or
left. This was only one OF the many kno"
ing traits displayed by him.
But, Notwithstanding the old fellow was so
docile and knowing, I could never persuade
him to let me shoot game from his back; ;
and after few attempts l was forced to
give it up. He would not even let me mount
him with gun in my hand, nor allow it to
be handed to me after had mounted. He
appeared to have a horror of firearms; per-
haps he had noticed the result of their use on
the game, and was afraid of sometime get
TING u shot himself With another horse [
tried an experiment that never should have
thought of but for the intelligence, if not
reasoning power, displayed by my old ia
vOrite.
had bought a horse in Milwaukee, jet
black and perfect beauty OF horse-which
was said to have been caught from drove Of
wild horses on the Texas prairies. He was
gentle and docile enough when in hand, but
once loose, there was no such thing as
catching him again by any of the ordinary
means used for catching horses. In fact the
man from whom purchased him, after chas-
ing him for days with relays OF horses from
his livery stable, had been obliged to "crease"
him. in order to catch him. e., to shoot
him through the top of the neck, just above
the neck-bone, temporarily paralyzing him.
without doing him permanent injury. This,
to be successfully performed, requires q
q good marksman; for if the ball struck an
inch too low, the shot would be fatal After
| had been his owner some six or eight
months, he got loose in the fall Of the year,
and took to the woods near by. used to
see him often, but he would never let me ap-
proach anywhere near him. After snow fell
and feed became scarce in the woods, he
would occasionally be seen in the evening
near the stable and used to leave the door
open until bed time, and sometimes as late
as two o'clock at night, and place measure
of oats and salt within tempting distance in
side the stable, in hopes that he would 60 in ;
but he was not to be entrapped in that way.
At last l began to cast about for the reason
why he would not enter the stable while the
door stood invitingly open and no person in
sight, and came to the conclusion that the
horse reasoned after this manner CAS- long
as lights are burning in the house, people are