Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1890-02-07
A Buffalo Stampede.

.
I Ii is midsummer and the creek has
almost disappeared. Here and there
a few barrels OF water are left In
deep hole, and again the bed OF the
creek is dry for a hundred rods. The
suns OF July and August beat down
/ on the great plains with terrible ef-
I feet. Creeks run dry, rivers sink into
insigniticance, the grass is killed to
/ its roots, and great cracks open in the
baked earth TO give convenient shell
/ ter TO insects and reptiles. Then woe
/ 10 the man or beast who is far from
water Thirst will craze him in few
hours.
There is water here tor the emigrant,
such ~ il is, but the quantity Is reduc-
ed one. half before the thirsty horses
have had their fill. The men look
up and down the bed Of the creek,
/ but as far as the eye can see in either
/ direction there Is no more water.
/ Last May this Loup Fork would lave
/ foated ship in its channel, but the
mountain SHOWS have melted and no
+ rain has fallen for weeks.
/ As the camp fires are lighted aud
/ the dinner made ready let us fly north
/ a dozen miles. \ hundred miles away
/ is the Niobrara river, rising in the
mountains far TO the west, flowing ~
the same eccentric manner, and IL,
bed also just "a dry at this season OF
/ the year. Five or six days ago herd
OF buiIaloes numbering thousands
/ drank their III at the Niobrara a
/ they crossed il, working To the South
T in fear OF the Indian buffalo hunters,
I who were abroad Oh the Dakota line,
and in hopes TO find richer pasturaSe
along the forks OF the Platte.
/ Here and there IA they have pro
gressed water has been found IN
small quantities. but for thirty hours
/ past not an animal has had "a drop.
/ The grass is scorched and dead, the
/ ground hot to the feet, and the almost
/ solid mass, covering acres, are almost
/ quiet at this MONDAY hour. Here
and there one tosses his head In anger
as thirst torments him, and the Others
/ give utterancc to their sulrerings by
/ long drawn sighs and moans.
Every animal has IA listless look,
/ and you would say that IL wonld
require something beyond the ordina-
ry 10 cause single one OF them To
/ break into run. The sun glares like
IA ball of fire. The stirring Of 80
many feet has filed the air with fine
/ dust, TO add still another torment To
| the situation. The OK or the horse
would long ago have fallen to the
earth to die.
See Near the centre OF the herd
great bull suddenly throws up his
head aud scents the air. lie is mag
niiicent specimen-one OF the kings
Of the herd. Does his keen scent
bring the presence Of water over the
dozen miles Of scorched plain j.
there something To make him afraid
He wheels around and around, he
utters hoarse bellows which excite
the animals around him, and In two
minutes half the herd l. In state Of
agitation.
or sudden, with massive head
held low as IL TO attack. with eyes
blazing, with clots of foam flying from
tho corners Of his mouth, with
fierceness OF demeanor which clears a
path for him. he heads TO the West
and charges through the herd. lie
is followed by ten, thirty, 100, 1000,
by every animal which can move,
and now begins a stampede. n
mighty living mass rolls over til"
plain, body more To- be dreaded
than IA tidal wave sweeping In from
the sea. Movement incites TO new en-
ergy, "A rivalry to reach the front, n
sort OF madness which knows no fear
or obstruction.
The emigrants are at their dinner
aud their horses are feeding about
them, when an alarm j. sounded. One
OF the horses raises his head, looks
iixedly TO the east and utters "a shrill
neigh Of anxiety. The men look up.
The sky il clear, and there are no
signs Of Indians about. They make
light OF the warning and sit down,
but a moment later half n dozen
horses are pulling at their lariats,
there is trembling OF the earth. aud
a man, whose facets paler than death,
leaps up TO shout:
a buffalo stampede Take 20 the
wagons r.
There is room for all and time for
all, but as the men look TO the east
and see that great living wave, two
or three miles long, and a mile wide,
bearing down upon the camp, they
shout in dismay and cry out ia de-
spair.
Nearer-nearer-c straight
OD-lnh1ueUeu ny tDeIT iuTbl hui
terrified by their own conduct, and
there Is IA chorus Of shrieks and
shouts-the reports Of two or three
rifles-a series Of crashes which blend
into one, and the camp has been blot
ted out. As the great wave itself
hurls into the bed Of the Loup aud
beyond, there il no sign OF the camp,
no sign Of the wagons--nothing To
tell Of the thirty human beings alive
and well and full Of hope only two
minutes before. All have been wiped
out-blotted of the face Of the earth.
The following is an extract from a