The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-09-22
THE MAD WOLF.

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TODD in the whole range of fleshy i'll
1t is, indeed, given up by medical autho
ities as utterly incurable after Il
symptoms once set in, the orly remedi
being of preventive and not of a cur
tive character. The wolf, the dog, IL
fox, the jackal and the cat seem mo
liable to contract the disease, though
occasionally occurs in other animals, i
appearance, according to Eckel, bein
most frequent in tha months of Februar
and May, though popular belief has lai
hold upon the latter heats of summer c
the dog-days, as the season in which thi
horrible malady is most to be apprt
hended Its origin, when de noUo, is lit
tie understood but intense thirst, sud
den changes from heat to cold, bad food
and unsatisfed sexual desires have al
been assigned as CAUSES Tor its az,z>e~ - "a
IN ssrir.sals, hut i'm man it is invariably
and in animals most commonly, the
result of contagion. When contracted
by man it is usually from bites of rabiC
dogs, but fortunately the wounds il
most cases heal without any serious
consequences, but one person in twenty
or thirty bitten, according to Hunter
and Vaughn, taking the disease.
The bites inflicted by mad wolves are
more certainly fatal, Watson mentioning
sixty-seven deaths by hydrophobia out
of one hundred and fourteen bites. The
greater virulence of wolf bites is ac-
counted for by wolves usually biting at
the naked parts, but dogs nearly always
bite through the clothing, the poisonous
saliva thus being wiped from the teeth
before they enter the flesh.
But set out to tell a story, not to
write medical essay, though so much
on subject illustrated by my story
seemed not inappropriate by way of in
PRODUCTION.
Among the tales with which, in the
heyday of the American fur trade, the
trappers were wont to beguile the even
ing hours by their camp-fires, were those
of wolves having gone mad upon the
prairie, crept by night into the camp of
the sleeping trapper, and inflicted bites
from which the victim, after lingering
through days of suffering, died in ter
rible agony. Many such stories were
current in the olden time, and not even
an Indian alarm could arouse the sleep
ing trapper so quickly from his slumbers,
and cause him to clutch with such fierce
ness the ever-ready rife, as the cry,
through the camp in the
stiffness of night, 'Mad wolf! mad wolf
About the first of August, 1882, the
rival camps of the several fur compa-
nies then contending for supremacy in
the west, were clustered near each other
n the valley of the Green river. One
hight a mad wolf entered the camp
who represented the interest
# the American fur company, and pass
ng rapidly BY the recumbent and sleep
ne men, inflicted upon several slight
bite, proceeded among the horses, several
If which it bit, and escaped in the dark
less. The alarm was spread to all the
lamps, and the following day number
IF tents were erected by the more prudent
nen for their better protection should
,he wolf return. In the camp Of Fitz-
patrick and Campbell, five miles distant
rem that of Fontenelle, but one tent was
pitched, the occupants at night bar
leading the entrance with pack saddles
,ut as the night was pleasant the re-
nainder of the men preferred to take
heir chances in the open air, laughing
nd joking their more prudent COM
,amons not little for the precaution
hey had taken. Night came, and
Hence fell upon the camp, only broken
t intervals of twenty minutes, when the
hief of the guard sounded the cry of
AIS well % which was taken up and
epeated successively by the drowsy
entinels, who, forbidden by the rules of
he camp to pace their beats lest they
hould be made target for the feathered
hats of unseen foes, could scarcely keep
wake in the recumbent or sitting
,estures they were required to maintain
n some dark nook on the verge of the
amp. But presently a shaggy form
teals past tie nodding sentinels, and
caches undiscovered the centre of the
amp. 1t approaches the sleeping form
II George Howe, who, wrapped in his
blanket and resting on his left side, leaves
,uite unprotected his right ear and cheek
Swapping at the exposed face, the
shaggy intruder inficts a severe wound,
-ousing Howe rudely from his slumbers
with the cry on his lips: "Hol l am
bittenl mad WOLFF "a mad wolf
a mad wolf'' echoed the now aroused
sentinels, and every man leaped to his
feet in CONSERVATION. But the wolf
sprang quickly upon two other men and
bit them in the face ere they conld rise,
and then, favored by the confusion and
the darkness effected its escape The
next morning mounted men secured the
plain in every direction in search of the
rabid monster, but without avail; he
seemed to have gone quite eff, and fur
ther apprehension was quieted. In con-
sequence no additional precautions were
taken the ensuing night; but again,
about midnight, the cry.of Mad wolfp'
rang through the camp. This time the
creature was among the cattle, and fed
after having severely bitten fine, large
bull, which was destined for Fort VIII
liam, at the mouth of the Yellowstone
to be employed in breeding. The wolf
might have been killed upon this occa
ion, but for fear of accidents orders had
been given not to fire in camp; he was
however, not long afterwards shot and
killed by Fontenelle's men.
A few days subsequent to these events
Fontenelle and Campbell broke camp
and started for the Big Horn river. the
latter on his way east with the vesr,s
accumulation of peltries, the former 70
escort him as far as the river named
The bull that had been bitten apneared
to be doing well, and Howe's wounds
were rapidly healing; but when some
two days march from the Big Horn the
bull commenced to behave stranoelv