Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-01-05
on THE TRAIL.

II Detective Hackenburg of the Urstc,
States Post Hospital ut Fort Randall, pa
eossh Territory. gives the following &C
count of son,e shrcwd characters he nle
] there:
/ / rode several hundred miles with Al
5 experienced guide and trailer. Hack. WHOM
, | interrogated upon many psints in ith,
practice of this art. In going tn ID
Aiobiara River, We crossed the track q
: an Indian pony. My guide followed III,
II track. q few miles and then said - -
: - sssa ~sssy hlss< lp.rse. Ew;sk alean
! Ea,shy tail, nearly starved % dcath. has
split hoof on the lc.t fare foot. goes yer,
lame, and he passed her, early this morn
ing
Astonishel and increiulcu<. | asRej
{ him the reasons for knowing thes, partic
aiars by the track of the animal. when h,
replied:
1T was stray horse, because It dii
not 20 in direct iinc: its tail WIS long
for he irrs@-ad il over the snow in brush,
ing against bush he left some ofits hair
which shows is color. Hc was very han.
cry. for in going along he has nipIri at
those high dry weeds, which horses sell
dom eat The fsSure uf the left fore foot
lnf;. also, its track. aud the depth of the
IN 'cntation shows the degree of his lams-
ness and his tracks shows he was here
this morning, when the snow was hard
with frost"
At another place we came across an In
dian track, and he said:
1T is an old Nankton who camc across
the Missouri last evening to look at his
traps. In coming over he carried in his
right hand trap. and in his leit Il lassc,
to catch pony which he had lost. He
returned without finding the horse, but
had caugh; in the trap he had ont pra-
ric wolf. which he carried home on his
back and bundle Of kinlliug wood in
his right haul."
Than h. gave his reasons:
Il know he is old BY the impression his
sait has made, and Yankton hy that of
his mocca>in>. He is from tn, other Silc
Of the river, rs there are no Ysnktons on
this side. The trap he carried struck the
snow row and then, and in the same man
ncr rs when hc came, shows that he did
not hEl his pony. \ drop OF blood in
the center Of his tracks shows that he car
ricd the wolf on his back, and the bundle
of kindling wood he used for staff for
support, and catching 4 wolf, shows that
he hai traps out"
'.i;ut." I asked. chow 20 you know It
, i; 4 wolf? Why not fox, or a coyet;e,
or even a deer
Said he: If it had been fox, or 4
coycttr or any other smaller game he
wou'| have slipped :hn animal in his wais;
belt. aul 80 carried it ~ his side and not
7 on his shoulders. Deers are not caught
" trnps; but if it had been deer he
wolll nos have crossed the high hill, but
world have gone back by way Of the
ravinc. and the load would have made his
steps more tr..cring."
Another Indian track we saw twenty
miles west of this he put this serious con
structipn upon:
''TIe is an urrcr Iniian--a prowling
horse thicf-carried double shot-can.
and is Il rascal that killed some whit man
lately, AMI passed mere one week ago;
for. said he, "A lone Indian in these
parts is On mischief, anl generally on the
lookout for horses II had on rhc Shoes
of white man. whom he had in al prob
! ability l.iilcd:. but his steps arc those 81
IN Indian. uoing through the rsyinc,
the eul of his gun hit the dep snow. !
week ago We hal 4 vcry warA lay. AMI,
The snow being soft h. mad. these deer
tracks: ever since it has been intcnec!,
cold weather, which maAes very shallow
TRACKS.
3, suggested that perhaps he bougi
tho" shoes.
Indians don't buy shoes, ani if they
did, they would not buy them rs large !,
these were, for Indians have very SI.a.
feet"
The most MOTEL trailer u :his cauntr,
was Paul Da!,ria, = ha!fhrcoi. Who IL,
under nay hands of Indian cons umntior
last Summer. At one time | rode WI
him, AM trailing wLs naturally ihe sub
joct Of conversation. | begged 10 tral
= with him an oil track ovcr the prairie. :,
order to learn his history. lad hac,i',
{ HiAic ttit s''~'tA'ti W !iti diA" VI
his horse, WHICH was al ray;nc, an,
: said /:
We'll. here Is an old elk track. Le
u get of our horses and follow it.
We followed il but few rods, when Ii
said it was exactly month old, and NAL
/! at two clock in ;'.e afternoon. THIS h
knew, a. then W bad our las. rain, an
= the hoar named tie ground was soltc
than Of any other ;li.". The track bc.or
: u WAS thou ir.a,le lie broke Up here IA.
: there cluster, oi graS. thai lay III tae p,.;
of tlie tack, and showed ne the dry c:I
=. cf >ouIa. he s'urps "j others, and by nu
nacrna' ,sit'f similar it,iAs accounted f.
: n,any rircuias :a,.c-s tha; as;nni~a.i Iue
: We followed the trail over = mile. No
4: anu then W. saw that volt, fox, an
| other animals had prscticoi their tgAilin
Instincts on the elk's tracks. Here au,
there h. would show me where q snake
, a rat, apd prairie dog had crosse
, the track Nothing had followed ur eros
scd the track that the quick eye OF Dal1
:, ria did not detect lie gave an aecour
of the habits Of all the animals that In
: left their Footprints Oh the track. also {
the state uf the weather since the elk pa,
y sci. aud the effect of the sunshine, wind,
!. aridity. sand stoTms aud other indueue.
So II N -. r-ssr -, .ln-a .r,alz