Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
The Great Serpent of the Tona-
wanda Swamp.
ny q. F. BURR,
CHAP. Iv.-THE CAPTURE.

- -. Es oSAsNs ~
CHAP. IV.-THE CAPTURE.
How they were to proceed with such
foe, was u question not easily solved.
Some proposed one thing and some
another. There was want of una
niinity. The captains Ut the three com.
! panies, however. agreed that the first
thing to be done was to find his snake
ship. The reasoned that at the late
hour they hal seen him, and the direc-
ton he was taking that he must be
somewhere at the north of them. They
decided to reffiain together, and move
on towards the north end of the swamp,
i'll the form of II crescent, ut the dis
tance Of fifteen rods between each man.
The trail was so fresh that they had no
difficulty i'll following 1t. They fol-
lowed on very brisl;ly. Soon the trail
turned to the right, leading to one side
Of the swamp. This direction they had
not pursued far before they heard the
believing OF acalf ahead. They halted
and listened. The believing grew
fainter and fainter, and finally ceased.
| Tie men moved slowly on i'll that dircc-
ticn till they saw the underbrush IN
motion Il few rods ahoad. Listening,
they could distinctly hear the crushing
Of the calt's bones. The monster had
killed the calf AMI was crushing its
bones preparatory to The act Of swal
lowing. They occasionally caught
ghmpses OF the monsters body us ne
reduced the calf to Il shap less mas
within his mighty coils. One among
the number acquainted with the habits
OF such Shiny iiendS, advised to make
no effort to capture the serpent until it
swallowed its prey. The accidental
discharge OF Il ghn drew the attention
Of the serpent. 1t raised its head above
the bushes-and what u headl Serpent
like, its first movement was to hiss.
This was more like letting off the steam
from Il locomotive than u hiss! Faces
blanched at tins demonstration. How
ever, the serpent was too busy with its
prey to molest them. While they were
awaiting the dcglution of the calf. they
were busy IN devising schemes Of cap
ture SO as to avoid exposure to danger
They wished also, to capture SO as to
mutilate the body us little as possible
One who had been a herdsman, and was
expert in handling the lassoo, suggested
the lassooing Of the serpent. They all
agreed to that ii they could make Il
cable sufficiently strong, and ii the
herdSman would handle the lIssoo. To
this the herdsman assented, provided
the cable was long enough to allow him
four rods slack. The next step was to
manufacture the laSSoo. AS fortune
would have it, they had the material on
haud. Their tent ropes We're soon
twisted into IL strong lassoo. 1t was
arranged that all should move together
/ toward the monster when the moment
arrived, with arms presented, ready to
lire, i'll case he attacked the man with
the lassoo, who was to move Il short
distance ahead of the others. Then, if
the throw was a successful one, they
were to anchor the serpent to Il tree as
soon as possible, and then retreat lit
tie ways. They believed that the snake,
in his struggles. would strangle hiln-
self to death. :hen they had compile
ted their plans-which occupied an
hour or two-tiley made u reconnois-
sance of the snake anG found all quiet.
He had swallowed his prey, and laid in
u torpid condition. The whole com
pany cautiously moved towards the OH
ject of their expedition. When they
came near enough to take Il fair survey
OF this giant reptile, their hearts leaped
for their mouths. When the serpent
saw the lassoo man in the lead he raised
his head from the midst of his huge
coils, aud dartpd his tongue out from
his distended jaws. like lightning
flashes. In the midst of his DISTANT
demonstrations. the assoc whizet
through the air, lighting most glori-
ously about the neck of his snakeship
He was anchored to tree instanter
He attempted to run away but was soor
brought to a solemn pause. DE strug
glcd iiercely to eXtricate ilimsely, but
, the more he struggled the tighter thu
moose embraced his neck. Only ont
. fear disturbed the se,,se of safety. viz
that the cable might break. But it dit
not. 1t held the colossal typhon to hi.
, last breathl After u few convulsiv,
| contortions he lay quietly in the EN-
. brace of death.
With vociferous cheering, the mer
approached the dead object OF thei
, hopes and fears, after assuring them
| selves that he was indeed dead. The,
!. then applied the measuring tape. TIL
! length of this serpent was twent-fou
! GAY feet eight and scvcn-eighths (Y3s
inches. Around the body, thirty-tw,
, (32) inches. We know that this meas
, urement was correct. In 1S4S we wer
r in the city. of New York and saw tn
: stuffed skin of this monster. in Bar
| NUNS Museum. and measured II witt
our own hands. Here we found til
S date OF its capture and the place. An,
: besides. we have Il vivid recollection 0
y the reports of some of the pioneer set
4 tiers of that country. This serpen
was u black python. or what was the
called Il black snake.
DIED