Morris tribune., 1888-03-21
HUNTING WILD HORSES.
GEN. RRIsHlN TELLS OF A PEcu-
LIAR WESTERN pAsTiME.

Nuisance to Stock Growers--Tho Busi-
ness of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
An immense black stallion lay dying on
the hillside. His eyes were fast glazing.
over with q film of death, as his blood
slowly ebbed away from bullet hole In
his lungs. 81
s"Thcre," said the old ranchman as he
stopped over the dying horse, II guess
you won't steal any more OF my mares,
you old rascal, you," and no contemptu-
ously kicked the carcass. The ranchman
was old Steine, o well known horse raiser
in the Big Horn mountains.
"What did you kill him for'' I asked.
"What did / kill him fori" said old
Steine in astonishment. "For. stealing
nv mares, of course. You didn't suppose
I killed him for fun, did yef
81 didn't know" replied modestly,
'sbut it seems pity to kill SO fine beast"
"Guess your experience at horse rails
ing, then, is rather limited, stranger"
said old Steine; ''but as you ask me aciyil
question and seem to be an honest sort Of
q chap, I'll tell you all about it." 49,
"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 q 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 spy
glass. They just 60 plum wild and seem
worse nor the real wild mares"
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 un-
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 a
hattie with the horses, and often the
wolves and lions are kicked and beaten SO
1
without securing their prey.
The stations are regular Mormons and
| get all the mares they can. They cross
and recross the country looking for mares
and even proselyting for horses to entel
their band. II cow ponies stray too faI
from the cattle or camp the first thing
they know they are rounded up by an old
stallion and driven Off into the hills. Often
o wild herd will discover q 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 theil
stations, dash down into the valley, cap
ture them and carry them away. The
wild stations are shot without mercy by
the ranchmen. If one Is seen grazing OF
hill he is sneaked up upon and dropped
in his tracks. They are very alert ant
difficult to approach, but like the tame
horses are easily killed. A bullet in oil
most any part Of the body will cause thu
horse to drop on the plain.
The Indians are the best wild horse
hunters, but they do not like to be out II
stormy weather and they cannot stand th'
cold of winter as well as white men. Int
storm is the best time to hunt wild horses
for they bunch and cannot see any one up
preaching until it is too late to get out o
the way of the bullets. 1t is general,
useless for O hunter to attempt to ruI
down a wild horse with tame one. Th'
tame horse, weighted down by the burde1
Of the hunters body, soon tires and th'
wild horse easily escapes. Sometimes th'
hunters discover the tracks Of Wild horse!
near stream and they then hunt for theil
watering place. The band always waters
at the same place, and although right OF
the stream, the horses will 60 up or dow
it for q mile or more in order to drink a
lair accustomed watering place. Hiding
bush or crawling to O blun the hunte
lies in wait until the horses come to tn
water, and then shoots them. 1t is diff
cult to catch them, as they seem to know
instinctively when hunters are about, ont
If they even suspect danger they will O
once leave the locality. A smoke or any
thing unusual will stampede them, ant
they will run forty or fifty miles befor
letting up. Their sense of smell Is yer.
acute, and on the wind side about mil
is as close as hunter can get before beinl
discovered by his odor, and the horses ar
off in jiffy.
The winter is the best season for vii,
horse hunting in Wyoming. The animal
get discouraged by the deep SHOWS and be
come hungry and poor. They are apt a
such times to bunch in the COTTONWOOD
groves, where they eat. the bark off tn
trees and chew up all the small limbs the,
can reach. In winter, too, the hors
hunters can unite with it the business
''wolfng." Perhaps some people do no
know what "wolfng'' Is. Well,
s'wolfer'' is simply wolf hunter, or ,
man who kills wolves for their hides an,
the reward offered for their destruction.
A wolfer goes out into the section o
country where the wolves are thickest an,
builds him cabin. He viii then kill on
or two antelopes, skin them and drag tn
bloody carcass in pieces all about tn
country. The meat is then poisoned wit
strychnine and left near his cabin. TIL
wolves get on the bloody trails and follow
them up until they come to the meat, o
which they eat heartily, and Of cours
that Il the last Of them. The wolfer ha
his bats in all parts of the country, ant
goes from one place to another "skinnini
up." e..
The wild horse hunters are Away
wolfers, and when they do not find plent.
of wild horses they always find plenty o
wolves, and make q good thing out Of tn
bounty and pelts. have boy out wit
| party of wolferS now, and he says tn
three Of them frequently kill twenty ant
and twenty-five wolves per day, worth TO
their hides and scalps at least $75. That
pretty good wages for three men, or rathe
two men and boy, to make.
Il When the wolfer hunts wolves an,
horses together he takes two swift ponies
one of which he rides and the other b
leads, packed with his bedding, grub AM
traps. lie goes over vast tracts of terri
; tory, and It Is only by hard riding an,
terrible exposure he can hope to come u,
to the wild horses. When once upOl
them he does not attempt to catch them
but kills them, wild stallion's scalp be
ing worth SIS among the stockmen of tn
region where he ranges. Gen. James
Brisbin in New York World.
The ''Lofely Maid.''
II The German who was driven from th
] Quisiana hotel by the coarse table man
ners of the British. and their habit of put
ting their knives in their mouths, during