Wichita eagle., 1888-03-28
HUNTING WILD HORSES.
GEN. BRISBlN TELLS OF A PECO-
LIAR WESTERN PASTlME.

Habits of Wild Hsrses-An Cnbearabie
Nuisance to Stock Growers-The Busi-
ness of '.W oIfing''-Bounties.
An immense black stallion lay dying on
the hillside. His eyes were fast glazing
over with film of death, as his blood
slowly ebbed away from bullet hole IN
his lungs.
There" said the old ranchman as he
stopped over the dying horse, Il guess
you won't steal any more OF my mares,
you old rascal you," and he contemptu-
ously kicked the carcass. The ranchman
W old Steine, well known horse raiser
in the Zig Horn mountains.
"What did you kill him fors" l asked.
"What did kill him for?' said old
Steine in establishment "FOr stealing
my mares, of course. You didn't suppose
killed him for fun, did YEP"
81 didn't know" / replied modestly,
'but it seems a pity to XIII so fine a beast. "
Guess your experience at horse fals-
ing, then, is rather limited, stranger"
said old Steine; ''but as you ask me civil
question and seem to be an honest sort OF
a chap, I'll tell you ali about it..
Didn't you never hear of wild horses"
he asked, suddenly. WELL" continued
Steine, 'tha.'s ore of them lying there,
and / reckon he was the biggest thief in
the whole lot. You see they run in gangs
of fifty to a hundred, and the stations
steal our mares and drive them OFF into
the wild bands, and that's the last we
ever see of them, unless it is with a spy
glass. They just 60 plum wild and seem
worse nor the real wild mares"
l then learned from the old ranchman
some curious facts about the wild horses
of the plains. Every effort to destroy
them has proved futile, and the aid of the
territorial government is now to be asked
to eradicate their bands. They have in
creased SO wonderfully within the past
few years that they have become an IN
bearable nuisance to the stock growers of
the plains. They Craze in bands of
twenty, fifty and even one hundred, and
are very difficult to approach. An old
stallion generally occupies some elevation
and he will trumpet an alarm to the herd
if he sees any one coming. In times Of
danger from wild beasts the stations form
q circle and the mares and colts are put
inside. The colts are often attacked by
wolves or Rocky mountain lions, but they
never succeed in killing a colt without
battle with the horses, and often the
wolves and lions are kicked and beaten SO
badly that they have to beat a retreat
without securing their prey:
The stations are regular Mormons and
get al the mares they can. They cross
and recross the country looking for mares
and even PROSECUTING for horses to enter
their band. If cow ponies stray too far
from the cattle or camp the first thing
I, l., IL
stallion and driven off into the hills. Often
wild herd will discover a tame band of
horses grazing quietly in the valley, with
no intention of leaving their range, but
the band of wild horses, led on by their
stations, dash down into the valley, cap
ture them and curry them away. The
wild stations are shot without mercy by
the ranchmen. If one is seen grazing on
hill he is sneaked up upon and dropped
in his tracks. They are very alert and
horses are easily killed. A bullet in al
most any part of the body will cause the
horse to drop on the plain.
The Indians are the best wild horse
hunters, but they do not like to be out in
stormy weather and they cannot stand the
cold of winter as well as white men. Ina
for they bunch and cannot see any one ap-
preaching until it is too late to get out o;
the way of the bullets. 1t is generally
useless for a hunter TO attempt to run
down a wild horse with tame one. The
tame horse, weighted down by the burden
of the hunters body, soon tires and the
Wild horse easily escapes. Sometimes the
hunters discover the tracks of wild horses
near stream and they then hunt for their
watering place. The band always waters
at the same place, and although right on
the stream, the horses will go up or down
it for a mile or more in order to drink at
their accustomed watering place. Hiding
in bush or crawling to a bluff the hunter
lies in wait until the horses come to the
water, and then shoots them. 1t is diff
cult to catch them, as they seem to know
instinctively when hunters are about, and
if they even suspect danger they will at
once leave the locality. A smoke or any
thing unusual will stampede them, and
they will run forty or fifty miles before
letting UP. Their sense of smell is very
acute, and on the wind side about mile
is as close as hunter can get before being
discovered by his odor, and the horses are
off in iiffv.
The WI ter is the best season for wild
horse hunting in Wyoming. The animals
get discouraged by the deep SHOWS and be-
come hungry and poor. They are apt at
such times to bunch in the cottonwood
groves, where they eat the bark off the
trees and chew up all the small limbs they
can reach. In winter, too, the horse
hunters can unite with it the business of
'wolting." Perhaps some people do not
know what ''wolfngn is. Well, a
''wolfer" is simply wolf hunter, or a
man who kills wolves for their hides and
the reward offered for their destruction.
A wolfer goes out into the section of
country where the wolves are thickest and
builds him cabin. He will then kill one
or two antelopes, skin them and drag the
bloody carcass in pieces all about the
country. The meat is then poisoned with
strychnine and left near his cabin The
wolves get on the bloody trails and follow
them up until they come to the meat. of
which they eat heartily, and Of course
that is the last of them. The wolfer has
his bats in al parts Of the country, and
goes from one place to another SHINING
up"
The wild horse busters are always
wolfeTs, and when they do not find plenty
of wild horses they always find plenty Of
wolves, and make good thing out Of the
bounty and pelts. l have boy out with
a party OF wolfers now, ana he says the
three OF them frequently XII twenty and
and twenty-five wolves per day, worth for
their hides and scalps az least So. That's
pretty good wages for three men, or rather
two men and boy. 10 make.
When the wolfer hunts wolves and !
horses together he takes two swift ponies,
one Of which he rides and the other he