The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1879-05-22
Chasing Wild Horses.

|
resided At Corpus Christi, Goliad, and San
Antonio and also at the towns along the
lower Ro Grande, from Laredo down, on
one side, the Eastern side of the river, sup
ported themselves chiefly by running
that is, catching wild cattle and by mus
tanging or hunting wild horses then seemed
so abundant as to be inexhaustble. The
horned cittle were never found in droves,
but the lorses almost universally ran to-
gether in large herds. In the course of
few yeas, say 1867, very few herds of
mustang were to be met, and almost no
wild cate, so persistently and extensively
had they been hunted down and caught or
killed The grown cattle were hunted for
their hids, which were then sold at half
dollar aIiece by Mexicans-or the young
cattle were caught to be gentled and sold at
a dollar head. Mexicans from the towns
before named and from the settlements
formed themselves into regularly organized
companies, with captain at their head,
who directed all their movements, as con-
cert of plan and action insured success.
The company of horse hunters were called
"mustanyers, and numbered as many as
from oneto two hundred men. Each man
had one o. more gentle running horses, ge
nerally kqt in the best condition he could
afford, as upon his horses fleetness and
staying qualities depended much of his sue
cess in running mustangs. After having
agreed upon a rendezvous, the mustangers
provided themselves with few necessaries,
such as some coffee, if they could afford it
(the greatest of luxuries in the field); duLce
(small cones of hard brown Mexican
sugar.; bag of pinole (parched corn,
ground on D1etdte, or Mexican mortar,
with aptstle-the metdte is a curved or
inclined plane); little shelled corn or
wheaten flour for tortiLLaS (or griddle
cakes, the substitute, in most parts of Me-
xico, for bread some lariats or ropes made
of rawhide, carefully twisted and creased,
so as to be very pliable and strong enough
to hold any animal when thrown as lasso;
some tin cups, butcher knifes, blankets
(Mexican, hand made, of brilliant colors,
good to shed rain but not for warmth), and
arms and ammunition, for in those days
Indians were very numerous as well as
dangerous, and had not been beaten back
hundreds OF miles They were particular
fond of paying delicate attention to mus
hangers, AMI had an amiable disposition to
relieve them of their animals and scaips.
1t was great matter with the mustangers
to 20 in strong parties and to be well and
bravely ed. The greatest mustanger in the
whole country was Laredo Mexican,
named Rogue, who had been many years
(atucdutivO) captive among the Co
manche Indians, He was not only a dex-
ferrous horseman, roper, and shot, using al
most invariably bow and arrows while
his companions used firearms, but also
remarkably brave and able leader, full of
daring tempered by judgment. Rogue
has, at my request to. show me what exc
cution he could do with his bow, shot
through one side of -four barrel and near
ly through the other side He could shoot
with wonderful precision and rapidity, see
mingly taking no aim, but nevertheless
striking the mark with great accuracy, the
hand, as it were, acting in instaneous voli-
ton with the eye. Roques brother, Ro-
mano, was also famous papitan among
the mustangers, but he was by no means
the equal of Rogue, though he came next
to him as leader of men. The acuteness
and skill of these men in Striking trail, "
or following trail, y was marvellous. 1t
appeared to be almost animal instinct.
Others claiming skill as woodsmen and
hunters could find scarcely perceptible
trail and follow all kinds of difficult ground
and concealments resorted to by willy In
dians, during the daytime, but Rogue and
Romano could strike trail and follow II
by deceptive moonlight or starlight. Some
times the mustanger made strong "pens"
or enclosures Of mesquite or other durable
timber, cut into posts and set on end,
fastened upright into the ground solidly
some two and half feet, and rising some
SIX TO eight feet above the surface of the
earth, each post standing as near as possible
next another, and sometimes held most
firmly in place bylong poles lashed hori-
zontally IN a continuous line, and fastened
to the upright posts by rawhide binding all
about the pen, about two-thirds OF the
heights of the posts above the ground. The
pen or enclosure had the form Of horse
shoe. but little more oval. From each
side, at right angles, projected lire Of
posts, similar in height, and fastened to the
pen. Each of these wings or walls, ex-
tending sometimes as far as half mile,
was intended to stop the mustangs or wild