West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-09-17
drove of animals tvcr, n,A5 oIn, vrld1v

| i"chtiy uu not see us. Our hope was
to attract their attention, aud by go DID
ing To brighten them ard tndcaVor Ia
throw them ~. ~ their course. Had
they seen rs in the first place they
would probably have halted OF
turned their course TO one side. A. ID
happened, they kept madly on until
our bullets began io sting. them whcl!
the leaders looked up and. SEEING the
strange ,ighi in front of them. actually
paused or attempted to do 50: but il
was at their peril, for the foremost were
Immediately trampled ben cath the feet
Of the rushing, crushing multitude be-
hind. The pile OF bodies was our sal
walton. for it served a. an impedlmen,
to those In the rear and together with
our rapid fire sort of Stampedcd the
whole outfit. The pile became higher
and higher as buffalo after buffalo
came rolling on to tho heap. and thi.
blockade actually caused the trcmen.
lions mass 20 split and divide. moiety
going each side Of it. The center had
been checked, but the wings were still
sweeping by at railroad speed. We
hurried down 20 the pile of carca~ses
as being our safest point and stood
there watching the sea of animals
raging and tearing by like the pillows
OF an angry sea. A hundred yards or
80 further on the wings came together
again. aud there We were. i'm the midst
! OF that living mass. safe and free from
harm.
III was strange, remarkable sight o.
one which | never expect 10 sec on
earth again. NV head turned dizzy
with 50 much motion ali about me. but
both myself and the orderly had sense
| enough TO blaze away necessarily iii.
/ rcctly i'm front OF IL. which had the If.
| feet TO throw the successive leaders in
stu more confusion. and no doubt was
/ the means of saving It's from being
! tramplcd to death After this tremcn.
dous herd OF bison, going at about
twelve miles an hour, had passed
which consumed some forty minutes Of
time, We found ourselves among the
scattered tail end pf the herd. Here
was our chance. Quickly singing out
an animal ! was soon dashin" along
side OF him and pumping cold lead
INTO his bosom from my revolver. Nv
pony. well trained TO such sport never
left his side until the poor brute stag
| gered i'm his tracks. When he rolled
over ON thu prairie in the last throcs OF
death singled out another big fellow
and was soon pouring lcaden pills into
his shaggy hide also. had dropped
! an even dozen before NV little Cayuse
! or ! became wnded Then | looked
around for my orderly. but he was no
! where to be seen. One old bull took no
/ less than twenty cartridges before he
/ yielded up the ghost, which compelled
/ me TO reload both revolvers from
horseback while going at tearing
/ pace. The buffalo dies very hard.
| Even though MORALLY wounded. an in
I dlNldual unacquaintcd with its nature.
/ though never so good marksman. il
much surprised not TO see him fall az
/ once. One would suppose that shot
! about the head or central part of the
body would prove fatal. but such is
not the case. TO Mil bison the ball
must either divide his spine or enter
his body behind the shoulder 4 few
/ inches above the brisket. this being the
only point through which the heart
/ or lungs can he reached Even with a
tortv-iiye ball through the most vital
! part. have known bull to run Tor
half mile before falling, although
shot TO the death.
observed II curious thing in con-
neclion with that DAYS hunt. and
+ something which believe j. not zen
orally known. | saw antelope mixed
! promiscuou>ly with the bison herd.
/ Until that time it had always been nv
/ opinion that antelope, of all animals.
! "fcrr nature, herted by themselves.
/ but here was case where they were
/ scattered all through the bison, and i'm
considerable numbers, TOO. All plains
men will agree that antelope are tho
2 HinirtVlt q J..
+ for the simple reason that it is hard
matter To get within range Of them.
Most Of my antelope have been
dropped at live hundred and six hun.
| dred yards, and none less than three
I hundred yards.
On this day found could approach
antelope within piston shot with the
greatest ease. Riding up close to one
ne would make few jumps and then
/ turn around and gaze AT me i'm aston
/ iShment. seemingly bewildered and
J puzzled. To see how close il was DOS.
sible for me 10 approach I rode up TO
I within fifty yards of fine buck and
/ gradually reduced the distance TO
twenty-five yards. all the while on
horseback. There he stood gazing at
me and making q Jump now and then.
''''' ''.''A -hihN ilbifstHdl q Httn OF
two in any direction. ! pointed my
revolver at his heart. pulled the trig-
| ger. when. making one bound and a
few whirls, he spun around for a min.
ute and then fell dead on the prairie
But it was late in the afternoon and
time 10 think oflOoking up the detach-
ment. Again ! anSiously scanned the
horizon TO catch a glimpse Of my or
derry. but be was nowhere to be- seen.
/ J rode back over my trail until sunset
/ in hopes 81 finding some trace Of him:
but ] saw no sign or indication Of his
| presence. and 20 regretfully had to
( give mp the search for a time. Taking
my landmarks ! struck out for camp.
which ! reached about nine O'Clock
that night. The ORDERLY pony had
/ already come into camp ahead Of me.
/ which left the conclusion that the poor
/ fellow had been endorsed. or perhaps
/ had received some ininry. and pos.
/ sibly he might at that very moment be
! lying on the prairie awaiting assistance
from u.s. ! immediately started tho
whole command out i'm search OF him.
With others 70 scour our back trail
even as far back as our last camping
f. place. myself went along with Que
. party.
About midnight VIC heard .inole
. 4. Flr.f food g.. l. Il o.. IL