The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-09-17
ssMIPED OUT"
\ THRILLING STORY OF \ STAMPEDE OF BUF
FALoEs-TES THOUSAND ACRES MOVING.


grove of cotton woods towards buffalo calf
gamboling around its mother
Raise your eye a little more and you viii
see that the prairie beyond is alive with buff
falO. 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
mere specks on the plain-are the fiankers;
brave old buffaloes, which catch bite of
grass and then sniff the air and scan the hor-
lion for intimation of danger They are the
Sentinels of the herd, and right well they can
be trusted.
The wolf creeps nearer.
All the afternoon the great herd has fed in
peace, and as it now slowly moves toward the
distant river it is ali unconscious that danger
is near. Look you well and watch the wolf,
for you are going to see sight such as not
one man in ten thousand has ever beheId.
Creep, crawl, skulk-nOw behind a knoll,
now drawing himself over the grass now
raising his head above thistle to mark the
locality of its victim. Iti lone, shambling,
Skuiking wolf, lame and spiteful and treach-
erouS. Nounding OF ailing, he has been left
alone to get on as best lie may, and his
green eyes light up with fiercer blaze as he
draws nearer and nearer his unconscious
prey.
There! No, he is yet toofar away Creep,
creep, creep. Now he is twenty feet away,
now fifteen, now ten. lie hugs the earth,
gathers his feet under him and he bounds
through the air as if shot from a 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 caIf-a furious bel
low from the mother as she wheels and
charges the VOLTA startled movement from
a dozen of the nearest animals, and the rush
begins. The one wolf is magnified into a
hundred, the hundred into thousand
Short, sharp bellows, SnortS of alarm, a rush,
and fifty seconds after the wolf has wet his
fangs with blood that living mass is in mo-
ton to get away from an unknown terror.
The waves rise higher as the confusion
spreads. One instant it seems a. if 10000
solid acres of prairie were moving bodily
away-again waves rise and fall as the cow
ards behind rush upon those in front who
wait to sniff the air and4earn the danger. In
one minute the alarm runs down the herd to
the leaders-further than the eye can see
and the entire herd is going of at a mad gal
lop, heads down, eyes rolling and no thought
but that of escape. If Lake Erie were to
dash itself against wall the shock would be
no greater than the awful crash with which
this mass of rafting hOofs, sharp horns and
hairy bodies would meet it. The clatter of
hoofs and rattle of horns would drown the
noise of brigade of cavalry galloping over a
stone-paved road.
Ride ont on their trail Here, where the
stampede began, the ground is torn and fur
rowed as if a thousand cannon had been fir
ing solid shot at targets. Here and there are
calves which have been gOred and crushed
here and there older animals with legs bro
ken and disabling wounds. Here, where the
herd was fairly off, you might as well hunt
for a gold dollar as blade of grass. You
look for three miles as you look across it. 1t
is a trail of dirt and dust and rutS and fur
rows, where half an hour ago there was
carpet of green grass and smiling flowers.
The most dreadful cyclone known to man
could not have left more horrible scars be
hind
Miles away, on the banks of the winding,
growing river, are three white-topped emi-
grant wagons. 4 campfire blaZeS up to boil
the kettle-men, women and children stand
about, peering over the setting sun at the
distant mountains and glad that their jour
ney is almost done. Butterflies come and go
on lazy wing, the cricket chirps cheeriiy on
the grass and the eagles sailing in the blue
evening air have no warning to give.
IIark Is that thunder?
Men and women turn in their tracks as
they look in vain fora cloud in the sky. That
rumble comes again as they look into each
Others faces 1t grows louder women
turn pale and men reach for their truSty rifles.
The ground trem5les, and afar off comes a
din which strikes terror to the heart. IN
dams - they whisper. Mol y thousand
times better for them if savage Pawnees
dared ride down where these long-barreled
rifles could speak defense of the peaceful
camp.
~ stampede of buffaloes T. gasps one of
the men as he catches sight of the advance
guard under the awful cloud Of dust. Rifles
are ready for shot, and the children climb
up on the heavy wagon wheels to see the
strange procession gallOp by.
Here they come Crack crack crack
from three rifles, and a shout as each bullet
tells. Next instant a shaggy head, followed
by dust-browned body, rslshes through the
camp. Then another and another. The men
shout and wave their arms; the women and
children turn paler yet.
The roar and din shut out every other
sound and the wagons jar and tremble with
the conclusion. Now another shaggy head
another half dozen-a scorc-a hundred
"a great living wave which sweeps along
with the power of tornado followed by
others more fierce and strong, and the camp
is blotted off the face of the earth more COM
pletely than by any power of heaven. Moth
ing to be seen-no shout to be heard Wave
followed wave across the spOt-Over the bank
into the stream and across, and when the
last of the herd had passed the kcenest hun
ter can find nothing on that spot of wood, or
iron, or CLOTH or bone, or flesh to prove that
a dozen men, women and children were there
wiped out of existence and reduced to shred
and dust Detroit Free Press
CAN THIS De TRUE "A woman at Car
son, Nevada, is said to have undertaken to
refrain from speaking for forty days. The
report runs as follows: She began at nine in
the morning, and at ten and quarter her
pulse was so feeble from exhaustion that the
physicians feared she would die by room. st
eleven her heart beat but twenty-siX min
ute, and her Tespirations were hardly notice
able Her friends here urged her to discon-
tinuc her terrible task, and told her some
gossip about neighbor On hearing it she