The Democratic advocate., 1888-06-09
SUPPLEMENT TO THE DEMOCRATIC ADVOCATE.

had his head down and he seemed to
acknowledge defeat He ran off about
twenty rods before wheeling, and as he
stood for moment I looked at him through
q field glass which one of the men handed
me. His ears lay fiat, his eyes looked
bloodshot, and there was bloody foam on
his lips. He had been severely handled,
but was by no means defeated. Indeed,
he had run away for the moment to adopt
new tactics. When he moved up again he
was the picture of ferocity He came at
full speed, reared, and struck right and left
and the second blow knocked our horse flat
on the ground. 1t was Knockout blow.
The victor stood over him for moment,
watching for movement, but as none was
made he Joined the herd, and all went off
at gallop. 1t was five minutes before
our horse staggered to his feet, and he
wanted no more lightning. He had three
bad bites on the shoulders, and his legs
were skinned in a dozen places, and it was
a week before he got his spirit back.
Two or three times during the next ten
days saw lone wild horses, and one of the
old hunters with us was asked for an ex-
PLANTATION. He said they were "rogues" s.
stations which had been driven from the
herd in disgrace-and that they were al
ways considered ugly and dangerous. He
had known of their attacking a single
horseman, but the presence of large party
like ours would of course frig ghten them off.
Two days after this explanation We we're
strung out for three miles along the river,
on the march and survey. Something
was lost by an officer, and one of the troop
ers was sent back to recover it. Ten. min
utes later the article supposed to be lost
was found in one of the ambulances, and l
was sent back to notify the trooper. He
had galloped back to camp, distance Of
two miles, and was searching around on foot
when arrived in sis int. | was about to
fire shot to attract his attention, when
from the cottonwood grove beyond the
camp horse came charging out. He was
a "rogue," and bent on mischief. The
soldiers horse was grazing, and the soldier
had his eyes on the ground, and l was SO
astonished by the sudden charge of the
rogue that I made no move to stop him OF
to warn the trooper. Indeed, warning
could have hardly reached him in time.
His back was to the approaching horse,
and the rogue seized him in his teeth by a
hold between the shoulders and dragged
him twenty rods before finging him to one
side. Then he started for the cavalry
horse, which stood with head up facing
him, and I got out my revolver and spurred
forward.
was yet a quarter of mile away when
the rogue reached his second victim. He
ran at full speed, with his ears back and
lips parted to show his teeth, and the sight
was too much for the domestic animal
He was on the point of turning to fly when
the other colhded with him. 1t was as if
a locomotive had struck him. He went
down in a heap and rolled over and over
four or five times before he brought up,
while the rogue took half circle to bear
down upon the trooper again. The man
was on his feet and limping of; but he would
have been a goner had L been further
away. I rode across the rogue's path
and opened fire on him, and after shaking
his head in an ugly way he galloped into
the grove and disappeared. The troopers
horse did not not seem to have suffered any
by the shock, but soon after noon lay down
and died. The man was actually crying
when / rode up to him, although he had
taken hand in several Indian fights and
was reputed brave fellow. The danger
had come upon him so suddenly as to over
come his nerves. The horses teeth had
not broken the skin through his thick cloth
ing and he did not have bruise to show,
but such was the sudden shock that he
was on the sick list for two weeks.
We were within two days ride on the
Bonita, and had been in camp two or three
days, when one of the hunters rode in just
before dark with some game and announced
that herd of at least 1900 wild horses
were grazing about three miles to the east
of us. This was on the opposite side Of
the Pecos, which just here spread out over
a rocky ledge, and was 200 feet wide and
about foot deep. Below our camp was
an old grove with many dead trees in it
1t was there We got our wood. In all
other directions the ground was open.
We had about twelve tents in camp, aside
from the wagons and ambulances. The
best feeding groundwas on the west of the
camp, and all the animals were staked out
there. Outside of the bunch of animals
was guard of two soldiers, and two more
were between the animals and the wagons
There was no danger apprehended from the
Indians, and the guard was set to keep
prowling wolves out of camp and to assist
any horse which might get tangled in his
lariat. 1t had been hot day, with "thun-