St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-06


meat, of which they eat heartily. and.
of course, that is the last of
them. The wolfer has his bats
IN all parts of the country and goes
from one place to another 'skinning
up" A wolf pelt is worth from So to SIS,
and some large gray wolf-skins bring as
much as "a and s. apiece. There are
many different ways of setting wolf
DaltS, but the poisoned carcass of an an
telope, deer, elk or COW is the most pop
ular method. Sometimes wolf bait is
SET I'm candies; the wick is pulled out,
the, hole filled with strychnine,
and then the candle is cut up
IN pieces two or three inches long and
the, ends sealed or plugged up. This
Dalt Is set by putting bit of stick in
tnei ground, splitting it at the top and
pGttlng the piece of candle between the
split portions of the stick. A wolf is
very fond OF candles, and when he comes
along he Jerks the bait out of the stick
and swallows it. When the candle
melts in his stomach, which it does
IN few minutes, the released strych-
T nine takes hold on the VOLTS vitals,
and then there is music. The
wolf always blames his trouble OH his
taii, aud he will spin round and round
Trying to catch his tail in his mouth, as
l have seen dog do when at play. He
t Will next stand up on his hind legs
and walk about and dance, but it all
does no good. His shrieks and
cries OF pain ale terrible to hear, and
ABOUT the last thing he does is to
turn two or three Somersaults in the
ar and fall dead. The strvchnine kills
them every time. Indians do not like
TO Kill wolves; they think it is ''bad
medicine" but never knew an Indian
yet to object to helping to ''skin-up,"
and they will generally skin a wolf
wherever he is found dead and bring
tile pelt to the wolfers.
The wild-horse hunters are ALWAYS
VOTERS, and when they do not find
plenty OF wild horses they always find
plenty OF wolves, and make good thing
out or the bounty and pelts. l have a
poy out with party OF VOTERS now, and
ne says the three of them frequently
XIII twenty and twenty-five wolves per
day, worth for their hide and scalps at
least SIS. That's
PRETTY GOOD WAGES FOR THREE MEN,
OF rather for two men and a boy, to
make. Although the wolfer has home
caDln where he keeps his pelts, he is
Seidom at home" He rides and walks
an over the country, often camping
undef a Tree or sleeping in the snow or
on the ground. His only care is to have
plenty of matches, keep near timber
and look outsfor '.northers."
Wnen the wOlfer hunts wolves and
horses together he takes two swift po-
mes, one OF which he rides and the other
| ne leads, packed with his bedding, grub
| ana traps. He goes over vast tracts of
territory, and it is only by hard riding
and terrible exposure he can hope to
come up to the wild horses. When once
upon tnem he does not attempt to catch
them, but kills them, wild stallion's
scalp being worth SIS among the stock
men or the region where he ranges.
sometimes Ill the summer time the
cowboys make up large parties and 90
out to hunt wild colts. On such occa-
slons they take their Iassoes, some good
riding horses and provisions and hunt
Tor the band. A band sighted, they
creep up under cover as near as posi-
PIE, ana then. mounting, give chase.
Inc colts, being weak, soon fall be-
hlnd the band, and are lassoed and
chOked into submission. The little fell
lows are not hard to conquer and when
separated from their wild companions
domesticate easily, but can never be
trusted. A band Of cowboys had some
colts in camp and they became so tame
they turned them loose with the other
horses. They stayed about for day or
two. but one morning they were missing
and were never seen again.
A farmer, who had wild colt given
to him by COW boy. put it in lot by
his house and kept it there long time.
1t became so tame it would eat sugar
out of his hand and let him fondle it.
one clay he left the bars down by ac-
cldent, and in the evening it was miss
ing. LII was seen several miles from
home and pursued, but it escaped to the
mountains and never came back.
Hunting wild horses is a noble snort
and most rare one in this country. A
ranchman tells me he knows where there
Is a band OF Seventy-five head of wild
horses in alittle valley up in the Big
Horn mountains. The valIeyis only ten
miles long and from half to one mile
wide. 1t is approached by a narrow
canon that closes into fifty and sixty
feet at places, and the whole valley in
side is surrounded by wall rock hun
dreds OF feet high, over which no animal
can escape. Not only wild horses, but
deer and elk are very fond of seeking
such sheltered hooks to winter in. 1t is
proposed to go up early in the spring.
wall up the mouth of the valley at it's mar
roWeSt point and go for the band. Old
Steine, who killed the black stallion
mentioned in the first part of this arti-
Gle, says he knows the band well, and
that there are several branded mares
and horses with it, stolen from the
same herds, and also ten or a dozen
tame unbranded two and three-year-
Odds. He offers to be one to capture
them. When this hunt comes off will
let you know the result of it.