The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-11-15
STAMPEDES.
An Exciting Experience with q
Herd of Buffalo.


not if live a century," said front
iersman, as the train was slowly creep
ing along over deep. narrow abyss,
common in the Western country.
"Why?' l asked.
Because. was the reply; Il
dropped into it once, or rather, was
thrown in, and had the narrowest es-
cape of my life. l was what is termed
COW puncher' in those days, and ]
did little of every thing. The year
have in mind l was guide for party
of prospectOrs and engineers, and
under contract to supply them with
beef. Beef meant buffalo, and there
was plenty of it-too much, as you
will see, in those days, though they
are all gone now.
Il generally worked ahead of the
party an hour or so, to be on the look
out for the Indians and game, and one
day, having sighted a big herd OF
buffalo, | started off With one of the
party to kill some, and have them
dressed by the time the main party
came up. My companion was new to
the business, but l had no idea that he
would put ne IN; The scrape he did.
We were about four miles from this
canyon, which is simply big wash, Q
cut, the sides almost up and down
and a thousand feet wide. A horse
can jump from the edge at some
points and fall fifteen hundred feet
without striking; that's the kind of
place it is. In crossing in the cars
you do not see the steepest part of it.
1--WE started off in high spirits. 1t
was a beautiful morning. and there
was something in the air that slim
ulatcd me. something that is difficult
to explain, but exists nevertheless
The country to the south and east was
as level as the sea; but to the west
rose the Rockies. blue and pink, and
here and there isolated buttes. Away
to the northwest rose a cloud of dust,
which hung owe the ground for hun
d eds Of &C 'es That dust meant buff
lal0eS. ana Tor 1t we headed,
Il intended riding slowly. and when
We got near to put on speed and
charge them. But all at once nv
man's horse went into a hole, and
broke the cinch. l rode on and Left
him to mend it. thinking, of course,
that he would follow. / had gone two
miles, when it occurred to me to stop
and wait for him. The buffaloes were
just ahead, and | wanted to give him
fair chance. For half an hour
waited, and then suddenly noticed
movement in the herd, which was APP
parently coming in every direction.
The dust seemed to cover the entire
horizon. rising in the air like cloud,
and spreading to each side
I'm moment / was in the saddle
and riding out toward it to see which
direction it was taking, still not want
ing to leave my companion. Just then
| began to hear a roaring sound like
thunder. Every instant it grew loud
er, and finally began to realize that
| was being surrounded, and then it
flashed across my mind that it was a
stampede. In a second | was about
and away in the direction of the
party; but had been standing in a
depression, and as l came up l saw
that l was in the center of half-moon
of dust. Thousands of buffaloes were
dashing down on me, like an ava
lanche, and their fankers reaching
out as if to hem me in. / didn't waste
much time, and was soon on dead
run. If you have ever seen man or
horse run down track before an en-.
CINE. animals leaping along before a
prairie fire, o. to escape a cyclone, you
can imagine the feelings which i'm.
PEELED me. 1t was merely a matter OF
getting around the herd, but they
Were Closing in on me, and a fall, an
accident of any kind, meant being
tramp,ed to death. | soon saw that it
was useless to attempt getting around
the herd; it was too big and the start
was too great, and so | simply ran for
It, ran for life.
You never saw a stampede!
Well, imagine eight or ten thousand
cattle, perhaps more, impelled by
lear or terror, dashing along, crowd
Ing together. A living glacier; it is
irresistible; nothing can stop it; a
surging. solid mass, rush -ng blindiy
forward, with a roar and noise which
shakes the very earth. Imagine
something like this, and you can re-
alize something. perhaps. of the
features of stampede. 1t is merely
the wild rush OF terrified cattle or
bufaloes.
Il ran before them twenty minutes.
and of course gained. and. seeing
some buttes at a distance of a mile or
mo e, | thought l could make them,
ana would consequently be safe.
But life is uncertain and so is riding
IN this country. as, without any warn
ing' l came upon this canyon. took
In the whole situation at a glance.
II | went down. the animals would
iail upon me. If stayed on the edge.
they would trample me to death
There was but one chance-that |
could turn back the herd, and I took
II | ran at them, firing my rife,
bowling them over. yelling and
screaming as q man can only scream
IL 1t is for life. Bot the roar of their
ieet was so loud that | doubt if they
could have heard me.
On they came. like whirlwind,
and' turning again, made for the
canyon | reached the edge about a