The Dickinson press., 1889-01-05

collar TOR Boston Courier.
CATCHING WILD HORSES.
AN EXCITING OCCUPATION ONCE
FOLLOWED ON THE PLAINS.
A Long Race In Which Brains Win tho
yictory-The Patriarch of the Band Out
wittcd mt Last-Tle Captives Driven Into
the Corral.
Usually the occupation of capturing tho
u~ntanlcd steeds was followed by three men
working, together They used four or five
hardy, fleet, well trained horses. When tho
section Of the country the wild animals fire.
qncnted was reached, the first thing was to
select Il suitable location, ut the entrance of
II ravinc, generally, for Il corral. This the
c~atcllcrs knew how to construct, using great
quantities of rope, very speedily. Then near
this corral. on the most slightly emincnce,
one !:l!n stationed himself. y distance he
vo,ld il. ~ the apparently 'nost natural run
WAY. another man with one of the ~flcctest of
the saddle lnrsnS takes his station. The
w ri ii the most skilled man of tho three
then begins. Mounted upon the picked horse
of the lot, with n pair of field glasses, Il
water bag, and q supply of food, he swings
away in the earliest dawn on an easy lopc.
1t may lie ten or twenty miles before his
lcnm eyes, aided by the glasses with which he
sweeps the broad eSpanse of rolling plain,
detect Il grazing band of horses. He ap-
proachcs them by the easiest course which
will permit concealment as long as possible,
and then, within a few hundred yards, he
daShcs into sight and the sport is begun.
TIL %uTrightcd animals stand for an in
stant. the morning breeze tanning their lux
uriant names and tails. They snort in alarm,
turn and trot off, at first, and then, as it is
apparent this strange creature is pursuing,
break into Il run. Ittss now that the race is
to both the swift and the enduring. Tho
trained horse, on which the man is astridc,
kaows his part of the work and he docs it i'll
,e!lige .tlv. With head we'll down, swinging
out on a long. swift lope, he follows the flee
ing band. They rul madly, becoming moro
and more afrrighted rs they perceive that
they arc indeed pursued. The first wild burst
of speed carries them far III advance, but
not ont of sight. BY deNterous engineering
the rider and horse behind shorten the dis
lance as much IS possible. The band ahead
are to he kept on the move.
Mile after mile is rapidly covered. The
sun comes up hot and scorching in the cloud
less SKY. But there is no stop for u estlul
craze. nor opportunity FOR Il drink from a
chance stream. The fright of tho wild horses
has grown into vcritab!c terror. They throw
bits of foa,n4rom their mouths. They arc
worried. half crazed by this mprcilcss, con-
%tinuou5, unrclenting pursuit. But tic MAN
behind las rested his horse at every or,or-
tuui;y. Whenever there was IL chance, his
faithful animal has been gwen Il nibble at
the succu!nlit grass and h Il IL SUI from Il
/ sin.lny or Lite stream. Ridlent!ousi III he is,
the tough and experienced plains pony is
flcslcr than the fleeing cquincs ahead. They
now show signs of the greatest perturbation.
Their stoniachs are empty, their wind is
''blown," their tongues arc dry. But fear
makes them half unconscious OF these suffer-
ings, although they arc gradually wearing
under them. AT lenSth, when they have gone
forty or fifty or perhaps sixty miles, the pa
triarch begins to run in an eccentric way.
He is not as sure Of his course as he was. He
wheels and turns and then goes ahead again,
but with uncertainty.
They drop out of sight for Il moment be-
hind u ridge. The stallion, his nostrils dilat-
ed and quivering and his eyes flaslang, makes
a sudden run, and in another moment, with
his band of faithful spouses, he is galloping
back over the track he has come. Now is
the race in earnest and to the bitter end.
The nervy, gany, swift horse behind knows
that his energies have been saved for the task
that is yet before him. As hc feels the spur
he springs ahead with the racing blood
aflama in his veins. 1t is Il terrific chase.
New terror at this extraordinary. this un-
looked for ucnoucment Ok what the fleeing
animals ahead had thought in their brute in
s:inct wasa successful rlsc To throw tho pur-
sucr off the track, gives them desperate
strength, too; but they are worn and frcttcd
and starved and burning with thirst. They
run fol. their lives. Nearer, mile after mile,
they approach the starting place. Tho sun
is ablaze after monday, but still the hot race
goes Oil.
The man left behind on the eminence is
sweeping the plains with his powerful glasses.
lie has watched an hour, perhaps two, or
even three. At last his range of vision be-
comes conferred upon something away in tho
distance. He rains the glasses %intcntly until
at last he can see behind the running ami
mails a solitary horse, and that horse has n
rider. He is in the saddle with Il bound,
LII w aiASlASl AIoloC SluLlllS llCdl, ulln
away they fly towards this approaching cav
alcadc. Ho runs the horses as swiftly as he
can, and at length spies plainly, perhaps two
or three miles away, the fleeing bunch, and
behind them i'll hot chase the gallant horse
and rider. A signal tells him he too has
been seen, and then, seizing the Topographic.
cal features of the intervening space, he
skulks swiftly behind the ridges and clevs-
,, tons to cross the course. Tie trick is we'll
: done, and while the wary but still d~auutlsss
, stallion and his following mares SWEEP
around the base of an elevation the tired
galay pony and the two fresh horses and mel
meet. AS quickly as saddles can be trans
8 ferrcd the gallant horse that has made n III:
o of s~evea,y-tive, cighty-ivc, or possihl;
ninety miles is free and rolling Oh the grass
@ and the iron Elascled man who bestroGe hin
is on another fleet and fresh horse aud Gsai:
hot after the quarry.
Now followstlc most skillful naMeuvcriug
Q The terrorized band caano run much farther
a They have almost exhausted eve., their Wei
n nigh tireless vitality. They again bcco...
confused and resort to their last device
Their s~traightaway tactics are deserted an,
they commence running in a circle. AT frs
II it is two miles in diameter. The pursue
ia makes his circle in q little less space. Til
diameter reduces to Il mile. Gradually til,
n grows less. The poor, painting, cxhauste
# creatures stagger around, determined to di
n in what they think is their only means c
W escape. They have entirely lost their reeso,
if such it might be called. Narrower I'm
narrower becomes their course, until at les
with the sun sinking low in the west, the
stand, painting, weaving back and forth, co,
quered for the time. They may have III
,r 100 miles. The three men close i'll on tLel
r. and skillfully drive them toward the corrc
Among them aud il their lead now has con
r. strange saddleless horse; but they are t.
bewildcred to know it. This horse slow.
MARKS the course guided By the men drivin
b. aud OF last leads the prisoners within Il
= half concealed seclusjop,- Colorsl2 CO
Cbicaoo Tribune.