The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-10-09

cowboy, at whose expense L had had
drink.
Twas more at home when it came to
buying horse and chose wiry little
roam standing about fourteen hands two
inches Wash Barton was standing by at
the time, and think that | rose in his esti-
nation when l rightly gagged the animals
age by his mouth. The next morning long
before sunrise we started for the winter
horse-camp, forty miles north. How
bleak and cold and dreary the prairie
| looked how brown and sparse and shriv-
eled up the grass IA desolate scene indeed.
No wonder one came frequently across
bleached bones andcarcasses in every stage
of decomposition; some shapeless shrlv-
ellsd heap of bones and hide, and others,
still more CHASTITY, hideously distorted
| and swollen. Flocks of buZZards, gorged
with their loathsome food, rose with
| slowhapping wings as we approached,
only to settle again after we had passed,
and occasionally We spied a coyote stink
| ing furtively awGE.
saw that my companion, lake all West
ern men, disliked being questioned; but,
| from what l could gather, the winter had
| been long and severe, and, as that partlcu-
lar part of the prairie was devoid of shell
ter, many cattle had succumbed.
| 81 reckon we're within a mile Of the
horse-camp, and them horses amt been
doing WELL" soliloquized Wash, after we
| had logged along for good six hours in
the jerky style peculiar to prairie horses
| A fetid odor now filled the atmosphere, and
soon began to understand what prompted
the remark that "the horses hadn't been
doing we'll"
Dead horses became more and more fire.
| quent, and occasionally a living skeleton
of horse hobbled across our path, almost
| hairless, and covered with scabs and sores.
At last we came in sight of a small wooden
| shanty standing apart from Il long line of
| tumble-down open sheds and a roughly
| constructed enclosure or corral" but
| before we reached it we passed a heap of
about forty dead horses piled up together,
the most revolving pitiful spectacle mag
Unable, and standing listlessly, or moving
about with staggering gait, were about
twice as many more still living creatures,
with a peculiar look and manner about
them such as had never seen before, and
most of whom must surely soon be dragged
| to the big heap close by. But what on
earth did it all meant 1t seemed SO strange
to come suddenly across this gruesome
sight on the lone prairie. l soon learned
| the explanation.
A weed called loco" has of late years
| largely increased in some of the cattle
ranges of Texas and the Indian Territory
| owing probably to an increase in tho rain
fall; it has mysterious habit of appearing
suddenly in places where it was before
unknown, and, given dry season, of as
suddenly disappearing. During the sum-
mer, when the prairie is a fair expanse of
waving grass, lit up with bright flowers,
both horses and cattle instinctively avoid
| it; but when in the fall of the year the
grass becomes scarce in over-stocked re-
gions, and when all around assumes a
brown and burnt-up appearance, it stands
out conspicuously and temptingly green,
Its long, soft velvety leaves rising in a
bunch from six inches to a foot off the
ground. Then the hungry creatures begin
by nibbling, suspiciously and steglthily, at
the seductive plant, but very soon become
reckless, and eagerly and greedily devour
all that comes in their way. And now, if
the mania can not be nipped in the bud by
q sufficienCy of good strong food the ami
NAL is doomed for be has become a con-
| tirmed ''loco-eater." He will rapidly
become thin and lose all control over
his movements; he will be subject to
| frequent fits, during which he lies on the
| ground groaning and foaming at the
| mouth; he throws himself about without
| reason; rears up OF runs round in small
| circles when you attempt to mount him;
his eyes turn dull and stupid in short, he
| gives you the impression of being beref6 of
his senses. Specimens of 'loco" have been
subjected to analysis by experts in Wash
ington and in Edinburg but without any
thing injurious being discovered in it. 1t
| is possible that some minute animalcule
may be the cause of the mischief, but up to
| the present its disastrous effects only are
known, for this pernicious weed causes
| periodically the death of thousands of
horses and cattle. Here, then, was the clue
| to the miserable appearance of these
| wretched creatures. More severely punished
than their human counterpart the opium
eater they had paid, or were paying, with
their lives the penalty of their devotion to
the drug.
Out Of about two hundred and fifty
'locoed" horses, which had been driven in
the fall from the region where loco"
| tiourished, but ninety odd head had
wintered. The carcasses of the rest were
strewn about the Doggy bottoms of the
creek, whittier they had dragged them
selves to quench their last raging thirst,
and those that had died in too close proX-
unity to the shanty in which the boys lived
had been heaped up in small hollow, in
order to mitigate the peStilential stencil
which arose from them. Right glad | was
to leave such scenes after a couple of days
spent in preparing harness, saddlery, and
mess wagon for the march.
Having shot two horses which were I'M
able to stand up, we rounded-up our Grip
pies and made start for the headquarters
ranch, one hundred and eighty miles due
south. A sorry crowd, indeed! In addi-
ton to being badly 'locoed" and half
starved, the majority suffered from Spanish
itch, skin disease which eats the hair off
and leaves the shivering creature ex-
posed to the icy blasts of tho wind-swept
pains. rev comparatively sound
horses Immediately take the lead, but
the tail of the bunch, being composed of
the worst cases, require a deal of cruel
urging. Never before had l hoard such
swearing and cursing, such blasphemous
meaningless oaths and mighty anathemas
as were continually on the lips of the sorely-
tried cowboys. Three long weeks did this
melancholy procession trail across the
prairie-ten miles day being the best pace
we could manage-until the herd had con-
siderably thinned down, and the survival
of the tittest enabled us to quicken Every
now and then horse stumbled aud fell;
generally he was too weak to rise, when q
couple of boys dismounted, and, passing a
rope under his body aud round their
shoulders hoisted the poor beast on his
legs again. As rule, this was the begin
ming of the end; if he managed to hold up
until the end of the days march, the frosty
night settled him. Every morning, in the
chill half-light of early dawn, it was our
sad duty to lift those who had lain down
to rest, and, by rubbing their stiffened
trembling limbs, to restore circulation
sufficiently to enable them to stand. Others
were beyond help, and several times Ihave
given such their quietus with six-shooter
bullet without drawing more than a faint
trickle of blood, so poor were they. One
old gray, called "Blanco," showed an ex-
traordinary amount of pluck and sagacity.
He was always in the tail of the bunch,
but never actually within reach of
the long lassos, which the boys flick
with great dexterity to dis
lance of about thirty feet. During halt