Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-05-29
CHIHUAHUA TIGERS.
Beautiful Beasts That Know How
to Fight Their Enemies
A California Hunter Tells of an Exciting
Adventure In the BIountains-One Man
SO Badly Manned That He Never
Recovered from His Injuries.

hunter of Yuma, is at the American Ex-
change, says the San Francisco Examiner
For fifty years he has been conspicuous
ngure IN the Colorado and Gilla river dis
trlcts. He has taken part in a number of
severe brushes with the Apaches and other
tribes, but in his old age, owing to the mill
tary forces on the frontier and the lessen
ing of Indian difficulties, he is now devot-
ing more attention to hunting. His eye is
yet undimmed, and though now nearly sew
enty years of age, he is strong and stall
wart. 1t would take book to tell of his
varied experiences. Moreover, he is in
clined not to talk much of himself How
ever, he consented to tell an Examiner rep
resentative of a strange experience he had
with royal Chihuahua tigers, as an animal
OF which nothing is known quite so far
north as San Francisco.
You must KNOW" said he, "that these
tigers are the most beautiful animals in
America. They are robust and seven or
eight feet long, a beautiful golden color and
spotted like a leopard The royal tiger of
Bengal is striped and has no dots on him.
Moreover, his general color is dun, and not
gold, like the tiger of the Aztec races A
'thoroughgoing cat in all his movements, sly
and light of tread, and with the strength
of Hercules, man can not afford to fool
round much when he meets one out under
the Southern pinion trees.
; 'It was in September that myself, Tim
Estabrook and John Wilkinson were
camped at our mines at the head of Dolores
canyon. A par1y of Mexicans came in and
reported that they had found an old Spanish
mine few miles out The Spanish mines
were to a large extent covered over and
concealed at the time of the revolution and
many of them were lost. 1t was one of
those lost mines that the Mexicans said
they had We set off after it, carrying our
express rifles with US, for we never in that
section go out unarmed for fear of rene
gade Apaches, let alone vicious wild
animals. After an eighteen-mile jaunt we
came to the entrance of the mine. The
earth covering had fallen in, and though
wreck and ruin were all around, there was
good-sized aperture, and we had 40 diff
Guilty in entering it. We had advanced
about fifty yards in the long, desolate tun-
mel, and if there is any thing desolate in
this world it is the dark, damp tunnel of a
deserted mine. We carried pine faggots in
the hand to give us light, and were moving
along In STOPPING posture, as miners go,
when all of a sudden l noticed great big
tracks in the soft mud at the bottom
Good heavenp said l, there are bears in
here, and if we don't get out we are done
for We beat hasty retreat, and reach
ing open air again gathered dry bushes and
sticks to smoke them out. We stacked
them up pretty high in the mouth of the
tunnel, and threw dirt on them to cause
them to smolder and throw the smoke back
ward.
Then we sat down with our guns to await
the enemy. We had sat there fifteen or
twenty minutes, and were tired of hold
ing our guns so long, and began to
talk about other things. Still nothing came
We discussed a variety of subjects; our at
tention became entirely relaxed, and was
in the midst of a story, when boob boob a
great golden tiger leaped over the fire and
us with great bound. In a twinkling an
other, with the same boohi boob! and big
ger than the other, leaped the barrier, col
lided against Estabrook, knocked him down
and went flying beyond like creased
streak of lightning. Every last one of US
forgot his gun and went racing around
trying to find trees to climb. An old she
tiger and two kittens, with piercing howls,
next followed, and went clambering up the
hillside after the other two. By this time
every one OF US was either perched in a
tree or shining up a sapling. Our guns
were lying scattered on the ground, and,
old hunters as we were, we were clearly
beaten. Perched in our trees, after our
fright was over we INDUCED in loud shrieks
and laughter. The situation was too
ludicrous. But we resolved to get after
these tigers, and we did it. We got
skilled Mexican trailer to go with us, and
we trailed them across gulches, through
shrybs, and finally caught glimpse of one
perched in rocky cleft. Wilkinson brought
him down by shot in the heart. He was a
very fine one, large and powerful and with
magnificent skin.
"Into the next canyon we traced the other
tigers. They travelled almost together. going
only fifteen or twenty feet apart in places.
The Mexican at last corraled them in
soft limestone mountain, crumbling in
pieces like chalk and with holes in one side
made by weather and animals. 1t was their
other retreat. This time, while we made
preparations to smoke them out, we sta
toned ourselves one hundred yards away.
spread far apart SO we could get a good aim
at their bodies while they ran. The first
came bounding out like a shot out of gun,
but we were on the alert this time. and
three bullets pierced him and laid him low.
Then the old one and her young came along.
We shot into them wounding the big one and
she turned on US. Estabrook was caught
and his coat torn off. Turning to flee, the
tiger caught him by the left hand and put
her teeth through it and crushed it. The
kittens, weighing about one hundred pounds
apiece. would not run. and advanced to aid
IN the fight A rife ball from one of us
crippled ono and laid the other low. and on
we rushed firing all the while, to the aid of
Estabrook. Some say we missed the brute
We had to fire with the greatest care to
keep from hitting the hunter, and it seemed
to me 1t was fully five minutes before we
planted fatal ball in her
"Estabrook was so badly manned by the
teeth Of the tiger that he has never recov
cred from it. His hand was SO torn that tSso
Of his fingers hung by shreds of flesh, and
his arm above the wrist was also lacerated.
This was the closest call 1 ever had with
any wild animals. Bear and deer and other
kinds of game on the borders have killed
in large numbers. but there Is nothing on
the frontier now that is so vicious as this
tiger. Estabroolx is now at San Bernardino.
laid up from his tiger fight.''