Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-06-24
THE INVENTION.

Omaha on a buffalo hunt in this Vicinity,
when we came across a frontier genius
near Clifford's ranch, who claimed he was
catching full-grown buffalos on some sort
Of an agreement with Eastern people.
When we saw him here he had captured
one, medium-sized cow, but it had broken
It's leg in Its efforts to escape, and we sup
posed he would kill it as worthless for any
purpose he could possibly have, but he in
formed us that he intended to amputate
the leg and save the beast He performed
the operation very well, soaring the stump
with a red-hot iron, but whether he got it
East alive I do not know. He joined our
party next day to show US how it was done
A big buffalo bull was run into the pocket
of a canyon and rope thrown over his
horns from above and then the brute was
tied to the trunk Of a lone cottonwood tree
until next morning, when some of the hun
ters came TO look after him and found the
rope broken Off near the tree.
This particular buffalo was lassoed by our
own scout, Cody buffalo BID, it being the
first he ever captured in this way, although
he had killed more probably from the sad
die than any two men living. On the hunt
pur lasso sharp captured some two or
three altogether, but whether he ever filed
his contract or got them East alive do not
know. He claimed that the older ones were
more likely to live than the calves when
captured, a statement which is true under
some circumstances, but not under all. 1t
was my first and last experience in seeing
full-grown buffalo lassoed. Our expert
was half-breed from the Indian Territory,
and he could throw lasso over any thing
within the length of the rope, either when
horse. One of his most interesting feats
was in lassoing rattlesnake, capturing it
alive and thus exhibiting it IN his hands.
1t was not truly an act Of lassoing. how
ever, as he simply confused the reptile by
quick gyrations and numerous oscillations
of a short stretch of the rope in both hands
so that it could not coil to spring at him,
and when it would make an unlucky duck
ing Of the head when his hands and rope
were very close, he would grasp its neck so
close TO its head that it was impossible for
1t to turn and bite.
Having a nice inclosed park-lilze parade
at frontier post where only my company
of cavalry was stationed the Captain and l
determined to take advantage of some of
our spring scouting and capture few
young wild animals to put in the huge yard,
simply for want of something else to do and
TO really have little exercise when in the
field
Ny first operations were on the head
waters of the Red Willow in Southern Ne
braska- just as we were going into camp
one afternoon on that stream a Tanker TO
the west reported u fair sized herd of buff
falo within mile of the Government road
that had here taken to the winding valley
OF a small stream in order to descend by
easy grade to the Red Willow bottom. As
there was yet time for run and near camp
would be the best place to capture calves,
on account of immediate attention, deter
mined to give chase al once. In that run
we got six calves, sergeant and myself
running a ne-loo5ing little black fellow
out of the herd and only capturing him after
O long run which ended in a swamp, where
he stuck, and we lassoed him after the SER
geant had been lifted up the bank with his
small but effective horns. When the wagon
came up with the other five calves we were
somewhat SURPRISED to find we had caught
= last years calf-a yearling, in fact, for
the others were brown little rascals, with
40 sign CT hump on their shoulders, and
grunting Ike SO many'hungry pigs. The
yearling and another calf died that night,
and before next night two others had died;
but as small party Of men caught five the
second day, we really had seven that even
Ing determined to take advantage Of the
cool nights SO universal on the plains to
send these seven back 10 the post by
night trip of one wagon at once, and this
was done, although l heard that one or two
had died on the way, and none were alive
when got back TO the post some two weeks