The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-12-16
AMERICAN WILD HORSES
Their Romantic Origin, Habits and
Practical determination From
; the United States.
At One Time They Roamed From
Mexico's Border to
Winnipeg.
Some Interesting Facts About How They
Were Caught and Trained to do
Mans Bidding.

The Indian horses of the mountain and
plains tribes were originally of that wild
stock once found in vast herds all over the
intracontinent region, and which had their
beginning from those that strayed from the
Spaniards in old Mexico. as there were no
animals of that character on the continent
until the Spanish conquest. if we except an
extinct species found only as q fossil on
the plains of Kansas. says the Kansas City
Star. These were geological specimens long
before the advent of the Indian, and of such
remote age as to bewilder the mind in
its contemplation. Even until the middle of
the eighteenth century the Indians of the
country east of the Mississippi used to laugh
at the white man who could not walk but
must ride a horse. The Indian thought
nothing of keeping up a dog trot'' all day,
making his fifty and sixty miles during
that time. ! am inclined 70 inc peHe1'
after some investigation OF the question.
that our word 'lope,' which both Webster
and Worcester define as "an American pro-
yincialism: short gallop." has its deriva-
ton from the fact that those Indians who
were the runners of the tribe always moved
in sort of shutting gait, resembling, as
the early French voyageurs called it, the
amblinp of the "loup.' in that language
meaning the wolf, and which has become
corrupted into ''lope.
The wild horses of the American CONT
nent once roamed from the border of old
Mexico as far north as Lake Winnipeg.
Twenty three years ago there we're great
many wandering over the broad. grassy bot
toms of the Cimarron, i'll southwestern Kan
sas; perhaps they are not all extinct yet.
All the wild horses that | have ever seen
were of small stature-pony- in every
instance-but possessing wonderful
amount of endurance-tough. hardy ami
mails, well.fitted to perform the peculiar
duties the Indian demanded of him. The
average savage is very hard on his animals
and unless their horses were constituted to
'.live on cactus and drink the green
slime of the buffalo wallows" they
would have become extinct, probably,
long ago. When caught young they
are easily "broken," but if taken at an ad-
vanced age they are perfectly incorrlglbie
! remember one that used to do duty on the
old stage line between Ellsworth and Ster-
ling about seventeen years ago. He was the
most vicious brute it has ever been my for
tune to have seen. Whenever it became
necessary to shoe him he had to be knocked
down with an ak, and before he recovered
his senses, tied, and only in that condition
would the blacksmith dare approach him.
His endurance was something marvellous;
his driver, the only man who could do any
thing with him at all, tried for years to wear
him out, but without success, and he sue
cumbed at last only to old age. have rid
den behind him many a time, but in momen-
tary expectation of having my brains kicked
out or dashed to pieces whenever he started
down hill. His bones lie bleaching some
where on the divide between the Smoky Hill
and the Arkansas.
The usual method of capturing the wild
horse by the plains tribe was with the lariat,
in the early days made of the hair of the
buffalo or that of the tail of the ponies.
The Cheyennes, Kiowas and Dakotahs, i'm
properly called Sioux, whenever they started
out on an expedition to catch wild horses,
always picked the fastest animals they pos
sessed. The rider. winding his lariat OH
his arm, dashes into the herd at dead run,
and, as soon as he gets the rope on the
neck OF wild horse. jumps off his own as
quick as flash, and, running as fast as he
can, allows the lariat to slip through his
hands gradually. until the animal is
choked and falls to the ground for want of
breath, and lays there a quivering, helpless
mass. Then the Indian moves forward
very slowly, step by step. toward the horses
head, still keeping the animal we'll choked,
hobbies on his forefeet. Then he let's up
on the lariat SO that the animal can catch
his breath, and then takes turn with the
lariat around the jaw, like a Bit which
gives him wonderful power over the fright
ened horse, which pitches ind plunges.
snorts and tumbles around until he is
nearly exhausted. Then the Indian, by
careful management, gets his hand on the
horse's nose pats him little, and is soon
able to mount him, and he is ''broken.'
In later years they sometimes "creased"
the animal. custom taught the Indians by
the old trappers, l suspect. 'Creasing"
was simply sending ball through the
tough mass of gristle of the neck, which, by
stunning the brain for few moments,
caused the animal to fall as if dead, every
limb stretched out and quivering; this lasts
long enough for them to be secured, when
they rise as if nothing had happened to
them. The white men used to adopt en-
tirely different tactics in capturing the wild
lorses on the Cimarron, in Kansas. They
simply wore them out by never letting them
stop to eat or drink, and by keeping up that
plan the animal was easily ''roped' after a
day or two's constant travel.
Automatic Mannera.
But time changes minds as we'll as man.
ners, though even now when making
changes from one circle to another, it often
requires that adaptability which could be
SAID found in one who has automatic man.
ners. However, such radical changes not
only appear Ill drawinR-room repartee,