The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1880-06-24
tsWIPED OUT"
THRILLING INCIDEDT on THE PRAIRIEs
What is that?

! LOOK closer and you VIII see thaJ II
/ is gaunt grim wolf creeping out of the
little grove of cotton woods toward &
buffalo calf gamboling around Its
mother. Raise your eyes a lite more
and you will see that the prairie beyond
is alive with buffalo. Count them!
You might as well try to count the
leaves on giant maple? They are
moving foot by foot as they crop the
juicy grass, and living waves rise and
fall as the herd slowly sweep ON.
Afar out to the right and left-mere
specks on the plain are the fankers-
brave old buffalOes, which catch a
bite Of grass and then sniff the air and
scan the horizon for intimation of dan
ger. They are the sentinels of the
herd, and right well can they be trust
ed.
The wolf creeps nearer
All the afternoon the great herd has
fed in peace, and as it now moves to-
ward the distant river it is all uncon-
scious that danger is near. Look you
well and watch the wolf, for you are
going to see such sight as not one man
in ten thousand has ever beheld.
Creep-crawl-skulk-nOw behind a
knoll-now drawing himself over the
grass now raising its head above a
thistle to mark the locality of its vic
tim. It is a lone, shambling, skulk-
ing, wolf, lame and spiteful and treach-
erous. Wounded or ailing, he has
been left alone to get on as best he
may; and his green eyes light up with
fiercer blaze as he drews nearer to his
unconscious prey.
There! No, he is yet too far away,
Creep -creep-creep! Now he is
twenty feet away-now fifteen-now
ten. He hugs the earth. gathers his
feet under him, and he bounds through
the air as if shot from gun. He is
rolling the calf over and over on the
grass in three seconds after he springs.
Now watch!
a cry of pain from the calf-furious
bellows from the mother as she wheels
and charges the VOLTA startled move
ment from a dozen of the nearest ami
mails, and rush begins. The one
wolf Is magniged into q hundred
and the hundred into a thousand,
short, sharp bellows-notes of alarm
q rush, and in. fifty seconds after the
wolf has wet his tangs with blood,
that living mass Is in motion to get a.
way from an unknown terror.
The waves rise higher and higher as
the confusion spreads. One instant
it seemed as if 10000 solid acres of
prairie were constantly moving bodily
away-again waves rise and fall as the
towards behind rush upon those in
front who wait to sniff the air and
learn the danger. In one minute the
alarm runs down the herd to the lead.
ers, further than the eye can see, and
the entire herd is going off at a mad
gallOp, heads down, eyes rolling, and
no thought but that Of escape. If
Lake Erie were to dash it self against
Il wall the shock would be no greater
than the awful crash with which this
mass Of rattling hoofs, sharp horns and
hairy bodies would meet it. The clat-
ter of hoofs and rattle Of horns would
drown the noise Of brigade Of caval-
ry galloping over a stone-paved road.
Ride out on their trail. Here where
the sampede began the ground is torn
and furrOwed as if a thousand cannon
had been firing solid shot at targets.
Acre and there are calves which have
been gored Or crushed-here and there
older animals with broken legs and
disabling wounds. Here, where the
herd was fairly off, you might as well
hunt for n gold dollar as a blade of
grass. You look across it. 1t is a
trail of dirt and dust, and ruts and
burrows, where half an hour ago was
a carpet of green grass end smiling
flowers. The most dreadful cyclone
known to man could not have left
more horrible scars behind. Miles
awGy ,on the banks ola winding, ,growl-
ing river, are three white topped emf
grant wagons. y camp fire ll,zes up
to boil the kettles; men, women, and
children stand about, peering over the
setting sun at the distant mountains,
and glad that their journey is almost
done, Butterflies come and 90 on lazy
wing-the crickets chirp cheeriIy in
the grass, and the eagles sailing in the
blue evening air have no warming to
give.
Bark? Is that thunder?
Men and women turn in their tracks
as they look in vain for cloud in the
sky. That rumble comes again as they
look into each others faces. 1t grows
louder as women turn pale and mer
reach for their trusty rifles. The
ground trembles and afar off comes {
din which strikes terror to the heart
"Indians" they whispered. No! 4
thousand times better for them if say
age Pawnee dared ripe down where
those long-barreled rifles could speal
in defense of the peaceful camp.
"Astampede Of bufaloes!" gasp:
one of the men as he catches sigh
Of the advance guard under the awfu
cloud Of dust. Rifles are held ready
for shot and the children climb up OF
the heavy wagon wheels to see tn
: grand procession galop past.
Here they come! Crack! crack
crack from three rifles, and a shou
as each bullet tells. Next instant
shaggy head, followed by a dus
Drowned body, rushes through til
camp. Then another and another, tn
men shout and wave their arms tn
, women and children turn paler yet.
The roar and din shut out every eth
er sound, and the wagons jar and trenl
l bic with every conclusion. No'
/ another shaggy head-anotheF-half
dozen a score--a hundred-a livin
wave which sweeps along like the pow
] er of Il tornado, followed by other