The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-06-24
" Wiped 0ut''"-A Graphic Picture Of a
Buffalo Stampede.
What is thati

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is gaunt, grim wolf, creeping out of
the little grove of cottonwoods towards
buffalo calf gamboling around its
mother.
Raise your eyes little more and you
will see that the prairie beyond is alive
with buffalo. Count them! Youmight
as well try to count the leaves on a
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 right and
left-mere specks on the plain, are the
fankers-brave old bufaloes, which
catch bite of grass and then sniff the
air and scan the horizon for intimation
of danger. They are the sentinels of
the herd, and right well can they be
trusted. r-
The wolf creeps nearer!
All the afternoon the great herd has
fed in peace, and as it now slowly moves
towards the distant river it is all unc0n-
sciOus that danger is near. Look YOU
well and watch the wolf, for you are
going to see such a 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 victim.
1t is a lone, stumbling, skulking wolf,
lame and spiteful and treacherous.
Wounded or ailing he has been left
alone to get on as best he may and his
green eyes light up with iercer blaze
as he draws nearer and nearer to his
unconscious prey.
There! No, he is yet too far away.
Creep-creep-creep! Now he is TWEEN
ty feet away-now fifteen, now ten.
He hugs the earth, gathers his feet I'M
der 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 Gala furious
below from the mother as she wheels
and charges the wolf, a startled move
ment from a dozen of the nearest ami
mails, and a rush begins. The wolf is
magnified into a hundred the hundred
into a thousand. Short, sharp bellows
snorts of alarm-a rush, and in fifty
seconds after the wolf has wet his fangs
with blood that living mass is in mo-
ton to get away from an unknown ter
ror. The waves rise higher and higher
as the confusion spreads. One instant
it seems as if ten thousand solid acres
of prairie were 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 dan
ger. In one minute the alarm runs
down the herd to the leaders-further
than the eye can see, and the entire
herd is going off at mad gallop, heads
down, eyes rolling, and no thought but
that of escape. If Lake Erie were to
dash itself against a 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 out on their trail. Here where
the stampede began the ground is torn
and furrOwed as if a thousand cannon
had been firing solid shot at targets.
Here and there are calves which have
been gored or crushed-here and there
older animals with broken legs and dis
abling wounds. Here, where the herd
was fairly off, you might as well hunt
for gold dollar as blade of grass.
You loo& for three miles as 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
and smiling flowers. The most dread
full cyclone known to man could not
have left more horrible scars behind.
Miles away, on the bank of winding,
growing river, are three white-tOpped
emigrant wagons. a campfire blazes
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 60 on lazy wing -
the crickets chirp cheerily in the grass,
and the eagle sailing in the blue even
ING air have no warning to give.
Hank! Is that thunder3
Men and women turn in their tracks
as they look in vain for a cloud in the
sky. That rumble comes again as they
look into each others faces. 1t grows
louder as women turn pale and men
reach for their trusty rifles. The ground
trembles, and afar off comes din which
strikes terror to the heart. Indiansr'
they whisper. No! A thousand times
better for them if savage Pawnee dared
ride down where those long-barreled
rifles could speak in defense of the
peaceful camp.
"A stampede of bufaloesr' gasps
one of the men as he catches sight of the
advance guard under the awful cloud of
dust Rifles are held ready for a shot
and the children climb up on the heavy
wagon wheels to see the strange pro-
cession gallop past.
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,
rushes 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 a dozen-a
score-a hundred 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 completely
than by any power of Heaven. Nothing
to be seen-no shout to be heard. Wave
wave across the spot-Over the
baHk-into the stream and across, and
when the last of the herd has passed the