The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-08-12

u
concern some eight feet high. They
were shut in by the young shepherdess,
; no male members of the family being
home at the time. In search among
the foothills no cause for alarm was
developed. In the night Miss Tallert
was aroused bY her dog whining at her
ear, and getting up she saw from the
window, by the aid of bright moon
light. some wild animals raising havoc
in the corral. She stepped outside al
most into the embrace of four noun
tain lions and without a moments hes
itation attacked them with an axe.
Two of the lions jumped the corral and
! fled. The other two rushed toward
her and stampeded the goats. who
nearly trampled their young mistress
to death. She sprang to her feet just
in time to deal a well directed blow at
one monster who was springing at her
throat. She laid him out, cutting the
back open to the bone. Then both
fed. The next morning fifty of the
valuable goats were found dead and
thirty wounded. Fourteen of the latter
died afterwards.
There is a young nimrod living on a
ranch near Helena who is quite an
expert with the rifle and who has, in
addition to his expertnesS with powder
and ball. a very large amount of in
domitable pluck, endurance and good
sense His name is Ole Synnes and he
is Just fifteen years old. On the 18th
of February last father and son were
out in the mountains near their ranch
taking out timber for fencing. The boy.
who had been sent on short errand,
came rtInning back saying he had seen
the track of a large mountain lion and
was going to follow out the trail. Re-
monStrances from the father were use
less and in few moments the plucky
boy started out with a 44-caliber Win
chester rifle TO hunt the fiercest wild
beast in the Belt mountains. After
following the trail for mile and half
the boy lost it at the entrance of a
wood. When about to give up the
search he cast his eyes upward and
beheld the beast crouched upon the
limb of large fir The head of the
creature was hidden from sight, so the
boy aimed ut its fOre-shoulder and
fired. The animal. upon receiving the
fire, sprang upward and climbed still
further up the tree. when from his
elevated perch he sent forth a series of
roarS that made the mountains
resound with their echoes. Not in the
least deferred by such fierce cxpostula-
tiOns on the lions part. the boy
fired again and this time brought the
beast crashing down through the
branches. He lay for a few minutes
partially stunned upon the ground and
the dog, which had hitherto kept in the
background. SO to speak-perhaps be-
cause he couldn't climb a tree-now
rushed forward and attacked the
wounded lion. A powerful blow with |
one of the immense paws sent that dog |
on an exclusion through the atmosphere |
that had Il wonderful effect in cooling
his enthusiasm. In moment the lion |
sprang to his feet and was going up the |
nearest tree like rocket. He got on |
the lOftiest limb and endeaYOred to con-
ccal his body behind the friendly shell |
ter. but he left portion of his head |
exposed and the boy Il second later |
lodged bullet in his brain The father |
had heard the uprOar from where he |
was working and fastening to the spot |
came upon the scene just in time to be |
in at the death. This big fellow meas |
ured scant ten feet and weighed nearly |
three hundred pounds.
Mr. B. NJ. BOYLE, at one time en-
gagged in the United States Marshal |
service in Montana, relates an adven-
ture he had with a big mountain lion |
in the Bear Paw mountains when he |
was doing duty in the Northwest:
'lt was an evening in the forbidding |
month of December that Jack Davis |
and myself, both deputies, in response
to telegram from Major Lincoln,
started out from Fort Benton to antici-
pate party that was going to trade |
with the North AssinaboineS, near the |
point in the Bear Paw mountains
where General Miles and the Fifth In
fantry rounded up Chief Joseph and |
his band of hostile Nez PerceS. We |
were equipped in light marching order,
but well armed. We left at five o'clock |
and after riding all night reached Bel
KNAPP for breakfast. We passed through |
Fort AsSinaboine at four in the morn
ing and you can appreciate the rapidi-
ty of our movements by the fact that
the distance is ninety-five miles. Our
horses were badly jaded at this time
and we changed, securing a relay from
the post trader at B elknap. Our next
objective point was the camp of Chief
TrOcae, an adherent of the late Riel, |
and chief of all the Half Breeds on this
side of the border. We reached the
camp at four that afternoon, distance
of fifty-three miles. There we met with
cordial reception from the breeds,
they cheerfully sharing their supplies
and blankets with us. Next morning.
with two breeds for guides, we started
for the pass in the Little Rockies.
When we struck the foothills of thes e
mountains the guides exhibited an
anxiety to return to their camp and
we consented from necessity. Owing
to binding snOw-Storm, that came up
soon after, we lost the trail and wan
dered about in the mountains until
allout five O'Clock, when we struck
camp of Santee Indians, consisting of
about 125 lodges. Our reception was far
from hospitable. The beggars insisted
that we should give them all our to-
bacco, which we Indignantly refused to
do, and so we sought shelter in a ravine
near by. in Arrow creek. During the
night the storm increased in fury and
we slept through all the terrors of
full-blown blizzard. At daylight we
broke camp, but couldn't get a Santee
to guide us out of the labyrinth of noun
tainS. So we started out alone and
wandered about until the afternoon of
the fourth day from the Santee camp
in that binding storm. without any