Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1885-11-06
A THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
An Army Officer Relates the Details of
His Desperate Struggle for Life
with a Mad Bull in Dakota.

Lac DSSpCIhtC lOE Gtlt
with Mad Bull in Dakota.
st. Paul Pioneer Press.
An officer of the regular army, whose
death recently took place, and who in
lifetime was we'll and favorably known
in st, Paul, having been stationed al
Fort Smelling, told the following story
of his experience on the frontier many
years ago: One cold day IN the winter
of 1866, started from Yankton, in Q
stage, bennd for Fort Randall. My
only companion was young army Off.
Ger, journeying to one of the western
posts to join his regiment. 1t had been
showing hard all day, and the four
horses attached to the stage found i,
very difficult to drag the vehicle through
the drifts and over the bad roads. anG
the young man soon became en-.
gagged in conversation, such was
the effect of riding in stage in
those days. 1t was suifi
cient introduction to ride together. and
fellow travellers depend much on one
another to pass away the weary hours
spent in the coach. We spent half 9
day travelling u short distance. We
were both tired. The young officer sug
gested the proprlety of taking horses al
the next station, which proved to be
Springfield. He thought that it would
be change to get out of the stage and
exercise ourselves on horse back. /
gladly assented, for | was heartily tired
OF bong cooped up IN the stage. When
we got to Springfield we were served
dinner at the eating house of thai
station. The eating house was q from.
tier tavern, and was presided over BY
q determined-looking woman. The
woman's looks prevented any express
ions of dissatisfaction with the food OF
drink. The meal was frugal in its char
ecter, as might naturally be expected
The coffee was made of chicory. We
took every thing, however, and never
uttered complaint. We saw the ef
fecte of The landlady's iron will on ht
detected looking husband. The lessor
taught us to make the best of the meal
We did SO. Afterwards we made ar
rangements for two saddle horses, anC
in short time after dinner we were
on our journey on horseback.
We rode on, when an abrupt turn il
the road brought us suddenly upon (
ouiis hC obllie1 Noc PluuBlhB uDCo
as if infuriated. Retreat was impossible
| tunately we had our rifles hung on th,
saddles. l hastily drew mine and free
at the bull. The bali entered his side
| but apparently had no other effect thai
| to increase his fury. He rushed at us
singing me out as his first victim. A
he neared me he made fearful plunge
Just before his horns entered the hors
! upon which l was seated, seized hin
with both hands. and held them with
grip that only my great strength and nj.
athletic skill made successful. Thi
saved my life. Tossed and thrown from
side to side, but never losing my hold OF
his horns, struggled, almost sutfocate
| by the creatures terrible
scorching, sitting breath which
as be would give these snort
| and puffs, would seem like volumes O
impure air, and | feared would Amos
overwhelm me at times, But Still
tightly held on his horns, and hoped t,
conquer i'll some way not apparent then
My companion, meanwhile, had bee
unable to render me any assistance, TO
doubling his ability to kill the bulb at
shot, he wisely refrained from shooting
at all lest he might increase the Great
ure's madness. Seeing that / was be
coming exhausted without exhaustin,
the bull, the young nan concluded tha
something must be done quickly to re
| lieye me. He therefore raised the riff
to 81 oot, when the bull, as if determine
to shake me off, gave mighty jerk an
tossed me clear over bis head. lande
in big snow bank and SO great was tn
force OF my fall that disappeared en-
tirely from sight, buried in the snoy
The bull appeared surprised. He remair
ed motionless for moment. The youn
man was quick to see the advantage m
bofore the bull could turn to renew th
attack on either of us, the yonng ma
shot the animal in the head, which sen
him writhing to the ground. got ou
of the snowbank and sent second she
inio his carcass, which killed him il
stantly. AS soon as | had time to e,
anime myself | found that my hant
were in terrible condition, and tbs
my body and legs were bruised. W
hastily mounted our horses, the col
weather necessitatlng prompt actor
and started for the next station. "
were soon overtaken by the stage, an
we resumed our seats in that vechic
and 30 continued our journey to Fo
/: Randall. At the fort ] was taken
charge by the post surgeon. In aho'
three weeks | was all right. At I'll
fort we learned that the bull had bee
! running at large for some time, doir
; considerable damage. The Indians ha
, shot him repeatedly, but had not su
: ceeded in hitting him in a vital spf
The wounds only increased his fury. /
: was generally regarded as dapgero
ornatnrn