Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-07-26
THE STORY OF GUM"
A Coyote, Captured with Difficulty, Was
Spoiled in the Menagerie.


Spoiled in the Menagerie.
'What do know about coyotes, young
manY he asked, throwing himself back i'll
his chair. ''By the way, we don't call them
kai-otes; k-a-i-o-t-e-e-s, kai-oteos is the way
to pronounce it. And let me say right here
that I've seen many man get into trouble
by doing what you have just done. Out west
we don't like to have our feelings hurt. We're
mighty sensitive about some things, young
man, and coyotes-kai-o-tees, l say, so you
won't make that mistake again-is one of
them. I've seen the boys shoot for less than
that. you ever go out in Wyoming, don't
you forget that it is kai-o-tee, kai-o-tee,n and
he bit the end of long cigar and struck
match.
''Well, you ask me what know about
them. l once owned cayote; that is l
owned a part interest in him. I think that
was the finest cayote l ever saw. He was
simply the tarnationalst all fighter you ever
saw. Fight!-he'd fight anything, that crit
ter. / once turned him loose on the cham
pion bulldog of Evanston, and I wish you
could have seen that dog after the first
minute. He looked like rag baby. We
got Jim, that was his name, near billiard.
I don't suppose you ever heard about Hill
lard. It's on the N. P, not far from Evans
ton; not big place, you know-water tank,
fume and four charcoal kilns We were
rounded up there in 10, with 10000 sheep,
and that cayote used to come around camp
at night bowling funeral dirges, until we
made up our minds we wanted him Well,
we got him, but we had big job on our
hands.
''Four of us started out on horseback with
lariats to lasso him. We chased him for
about fifteen miles, trying for him all the
time, but we couldn't get him. Finally he
got dead beat, and turned. Then the real
circus began. One of the boys hooked him
the first time, but that critter chewed the
lariat in two in three minutes. He backed
up against a sage brush and snapped and
snarled like mad dog. He had wicked
looking set of teeth, and nobody dared to
touch him. Three times we hooked him, and
each tina he chewed the lariat in two. lie
was fuller of fight than ever We had only
one good lariat left, and that Bill Ryder's.
Bill allowed that he would fix that cayote.
He rode off about 100 feet and got his moose
ready. He was mighty handy with rope,
and when saw his game l said: Now, Mr..
Cayote, you're done for
''Bill dug his spurs into his bronco and
they came on like whirlwind. As he rushed
past the cayote his lariat shot out in circle
no bigger than hat. He caught Mr.. Cayote
square around the neck and jerked him
twenty feet. That took the life out of him,
and he did not try to chew anything again
| that day. We got him to camp and chained
| him to stake That night he almost chewed
| the stake through. After that we fixed him
with an iron picket. How Jim used to howl
at firstl 1t was simply terrible. We broke
| him of that, though, by taking him off quito
! loo HI ,o1o of pirrh% han
we moved camp we used to chuck Jim into
sack and tie it up around him. just letting his
head stick out. Then we'd dump him into
| the provision wagon.
1--WE kept Jim for year, and he got so
| attached to us that believe he wouldn't
have run away if we had unclaimed him; but
| we never gave him the chance The next
| summer we struck Green river. If you've
ever been there you'll remember that right
in front of the railroad restaurant at the sta
ton there is a large cage. It's full of prairie
dogs, rabbits and other small animals. The
| proprietor of the restaurant wanted Jim for
his menagerie, and after talking the thing
over we decided to sell him for $40. So Jim
went into the menagerie The next morning
we went down to see him. His new owner
was distracted. All that was left of that
menagerie was Jim. He'd chewed the whole
thing up. The floor of the big cage was COW
cred with fur, bones and skins, while Jim sat
in one corner, his eyes bloodshot and rest
less and his long, white teeth cleaning white.
He snapped at every one who came near him
and looked just as he did the day he backed
up against the sage brush.
''The man gave us another $40 to take him
away, but that night spoiled Jim. He was
never contented with bacon after that, and
he got to be great nuisance. We unclaimed
him, hoping he would strike out for himself,
but he used to hang around camp, bowling
all night long, We chased him off with
stones, fired our six shooters and did every
thing we could to brighten him away, but it
was no use. Finally, we took pity on him
and let him alone, but he began to droop.
Civilized life was too much for him, and he
died two months after his night in the
menagerie. New York Tribune