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

Detective Haekenbarg of the United
States Post iioSpita, a, Fort Randall. pa
eoiah Territory, gives>.he following &C.
count ofs'ne shrewd ehhaS.ers he met
there:
! / role several hundred miles wsy,f> au
experienced guide aud d,ra.lcr. Hack. whom
intsrrogaie3 upon iaany points in the
practice Of this art. In going II the
Niobrara River, W. cressel the track of
IN Indian pony. Ny guide followed the
track a Few miles aud then said:
Aashy al. ac4g ssaxtsi : lAsi'a alsag.
split hoof on tie ieft f,rc f0y<. -'es very
lame, and he passed he.e early this mora
ing"
-A>tonisLel and incrclalous, | asked
him the reasons for KNOWN. tlcs, Tariic-
| ulars by the arack &C the animal, when he
replied:
Ii was a stray horse, because it did
not 20 in di-,ci line: its tail WAS long.
for he dragged It over tie snow; in brush
iA- a-aiu>; j bus, he If; some oft, hlir.
which shows i:> color. IL WAS very hun
Try, tpr in going along he has upDcl At
| those high dry weeds, which horses sell
dom eat. The assure Of the left fore t,r
,ctt, also, is track, and the depth of the
in 'cntaticn shows the degree OF his la,nc-
ness; and lis tracks shows he was here
this morning, when the SHOW was hard
with frost
At aao;her place We came across an In
dian track, and he said:
1T is an oll Yankton who came across
the Missouri last evening to look at his
traps. In coming over he carried in his
right hand a trap, and i'll his left la<sp,
70 catch pony which h, had lost. He
returned without finding tue horse, bu;
hal cangh. in the trap he had out pra:-
rie wolf which lie carried home on his
back. ard n hunilc Of kialling wood in
his righ: hand"
Then ~ gave his reasons:
.! know he is old by the impression his
salt has made, and Iankton 10y that of
his moccaSins. He is from the other 81 lc
of the river, rs there are no Yank;an~ on
this side. Tn trap IL carried struck the
snow now and then, ana IL the sarr man
ncr rs when he came, shows that h. did |
not find his pony. \ drop of blood in !
the. center Of his tracks elbows that he car
ricd thc Wolf on his back. and the bundle |
Of kina,iEc wood he used finr a staff for |
i,rloct, and catching wolf, shows that |
nc "a traps ont"
h",: asked. ''how do yoa know !; |
o. q e1s6 s3: 4 ulAt M.v not fax or coyettc,
Said he: If: had been Tux, u g"
coyct;c. or any other smaller game he
would have slipped the animal in hi> waist
belt. anl 50 carried it by his side and not
on his shoulders Dccrs are not caught
ly traps: but if it had been a ic"r, h |
would not have crossed the high hill. but
would have gone back by way of the
ravine. and the load would have made his
steps more tottering."
Another Indian track we saw twenty
mile. west of this he put this serious con-
struction upon:
He is an upper Indiana prowling
horse th;ei-carricd = double shotgun,
aud j. rascal that killed some whit man
lately, anl passed here one week ago;
for" sail he. "a lone Indian in these
parts is on mischief, and generally on the
lookout for horses He hIi on the shoes
Of white man, whom he ha! in a., prob
ability killed: but his steps are tho>n OF
an Indian. Going through the ravine.
the end of his gun hi, the deep snow. y
week ago we had a very warm day, au!,
the Snow being Sait he male these deep
tracks: ever siuce it has bceu intensely
c u weather, which lnases very shallow
tracks"
suggested that perhaps lie bought
those shoes.
.Ildians don't buy Shoes, AMI II they
did, they wcu,l not buy them as large .
those were, for Indians have very small
! feet"
The most noted trailer Of this country
was Paul Daloria, a half-breel, who did
under my hands of Indian consum,ti IA
! last Summer. At one time I role with
him, AMI trailing was naturally the sub
/ iec, of conversation | begged to trail
! with him an old track over the prairie. IN
order to learn his history. 1 had hardly
made the proposition when he drew vi
his horse, which was at a ravinc, and
said
.sIVell. here is an old elk track l.;
us get off our horses and follow it,
| We followed it but n few rods, when h.
said il was exactly month Oil, AM male
n two O'Clock in the afternoon. This he
knew. "a then we had our las. rain. and
the hour named the ground was softer
than ut any ether time. The track before
US was then made. He broke mp here and
there clusters Of grass that lay in the path
of the track. and showed me the dry end
of some. the stumps of others. and by nu'
merous other similar items accounted f.:
many. circumstances tint astouishcd me.
We followed the trail over mile. Nov
and then we saw that wolf, fox. and
other animals had practsced their trailing
instincts on the clk's tracks Here and
there he would show me where snake
n rat. and a prairie dog had crosse,
, the track Nothing had followed or eros
sell the track tha. the quick eye Of Dalo-
. ria did not deteot. he gave an account
of the hAbl,s Of all the animals that hat
left their seospriEts on the track, also 0
the state If the weather since the elk pas
sed. and the etfec, of the sunshine. winds
arilitv. sand storms and other iHiIcnca
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