Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-02-01
HUNTING WILD HORSES.
GEN. BRISBlN TELLS OF A PEcu-
LIAR WESTERN PAsTIME.

Habits Of Wild Horses-An Cnbesr.bls
Nuisance to stock Growers-The Busi-
ness Of "wolnng"-BOunties-
4. 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 be conremptu-
orsiy kicked the carcass. The ranchman
was old Steine. a well known horse raiser
in the Big Horn mountains.
What did you kill him for.'' l asked.
s'wlat did / kill him fors" said old
Steine in establishment. For stealing
my mares Of course. You didn't suppose
/ killed him for fun, did yep
II didn't know" | replied modestly,
''but IL 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 civil
question and seem to be an honest sort OF
a chap, I'll tell you all about it,"
.'Dlda'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 of into
tue wild bands, and that's the last we
ever see Of them, unless 1t is with a spy
glass. They just go 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 I'M
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
il he sees any one coming. In times Of
danger from wild beasts the stations form
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 hiking a colt without a
battle with the horses, and often the
wolves and lions are kicked and beaten SO
badly that they have to beat retreat
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 enter
their band II COW ponies stray too far
from the cattle or camp the first thing
they know they are rounded up by an old
stallion and driven of into the hills. Often
wild herd will discover 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 carry them away. The
Wi stallions 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
difficult to approach, but like the tame
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
stornr weather and they cannot stand the
cold Of winter as well as white men. Ina
storm is the best time to hunt wild horses,
for they bunch and cannot see any one APP
| preaching until 1t is too late to get ont Of
the way of the bullets 1t is generally
useless for hunter to attempt to run
down 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 milo or more in order to drink at
| their accustomed watering place. Hiding
| in bush or crawling to bluff the hunter
| lies in whit until the horses come to the
water, and then shoots them. 1t is diff
| cult to catch them as they seem to know
| in'tiuctively 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 n hduter can get before being
| discovered by his odor, aud the horses are
| off in u fly.
Tlcw ter tie best Sc son for wild
| horse hun.ng 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 cat 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
''wolhng." Perhaps some people do not
know what 'wolting' is Well, a
"wolfcr' is simply wolf hunter. or a
man who kills wolves for their hides and
the reward offered for their destruction.
out t,,t.. hn t;nt, .@f
country where the wolves are thickest and
builGs him cabin. He will then kill one
or two antclopes. 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 all parts of the country, and
| goes from one place to another ''skinning
up"
The wild horse hunters are always
| wolfers. and when they do not find plenty
of wild horses they always find plenty of
wolves, and make n good thing out of the
bounty and pelts have Il boy out with
| party OF wolfers now, ana he says the
three of them frequently kill twenty and
anu twenty nNe wolves per DAY, worth Tor
their hides and scalps at least Si5. That's
pretty good wages for three men. or rather
| two men and a boy, to make.
When the wolfer hunts wolves and
| horses together he takes two swift ponies.
one of which he rides and the other he
leads, packed with his bedding. grub and
traps He goes over vast tracts of terri
tory, and it is only by hard riding and
terrible exposure he can hope to come up
| to the wild horses. When once upon
| them he does not attempt to catch them,
but kills them, wild stations scalp be-
ing worth So among the stockmen of the
region where he rauges.-Gen. James s.
Brisbin in New York World.