Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-03-13
A BUFFALO STAMPEDE.
The Living Wave That Was as Terrible as
Water or Fire.

~
Water or Fire.
1t was high noon on the great plains
of Central Nebraska. An emigrant
party composed of dozen wagons and
as many families, has halted on the
Platte river to cook dinner and rest
their animals. 1t is midsummer, and
the creek has almost disappeared.
Here and there few barrels of water
are left in deep hole. and again the
bed of the creek is dry for hundred
rods. The suns of July and August
beat down on the great plains with
terrible effect. Creeks run dry, rivers
sink into insignifcance, the grass
is killed to its roots, and great
cracks open in the baked earth to give
convenient shelter to insects and rep
tiles. Then woe to the man or beast
who is far from water. Thirst viii
craze him in few hours.
There is water here for the emigrant,
snch as it is. but the quantity is re-
duced 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
in its channel, but the mountain SHOWS
have melted and no rain has fallen for
weeks.
As the camp fires are lighted and the
dinner made ready, let US fly north
dozen miles. A hundred miles away is
the Niobrara River, rising in the
mountains far to the west. flowing in
! the same eccentric manner, and its bed
also just as dry at this season of the
year. Five or six days ago a herd of
buffaloes numbering thousands drank
their fill at the Niobrara as they crossed
| it, working to the south in fear of the
| Indian buffalo hunters who were abroad
on the Dakota line, and in hopes to find
richer pasturage along the forks of the
| Platte.
Here and there as they have pro-
| crossed water has been found in small
| quantities, but for thirty-hours past not
an animal has had drop. The grass
is scorched and dead, the ground hot
to the feet, and the almost solid mass,
! covering acre after acre, are almost
| quiet at this MONDAY hour. Here and
there one losses his head in anger as
thirst torments him, and the others
give utterance to their sufferings by
long drawn sighs and means.
Every animal has listless look, and
you would say that it would require
something beyond the ordinary to
cause single one of them to break in
to run. The sun glares like ball of
fire. The stirring of SO many feet has
filled the air with the 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 center of the herd a
great bull suddenly throws up his
head and scents the air. He is a
magnificent specimen-one of the kings
of the herd. Does his keen scent bring
the presence of water over the dozen
miles of scorched plain? Is there
something to make him afraid? He
wheels around and around, he utters
hoarse bellows which excite the ami
mails around him, and in two minutes
half the herd is in state of agitation.
Of sudden, with massive head held
low as if to attack, with eyes blazing.
with clots of foam flying from the
corners of his mouth, with a fierceness
of demeanor which clears a path for
him, he heads to the west and charges
through the herd, He is followed by
10, 80, 1000, by every animal which can
move, and now begins a stampede. A
mighty living mass rolls over the plain,
body more to be dreaded than tidal
wave sweeping in from the sea- Move
ment incites to new energy, a rivalry
to reach the front, a sort of madness
which knows no fear or obstruction.
The emigrants are at their dinner
and their horses are feeding about
them, when an alarm is sounded. One
Of the horses raises his head, looks
ixedly to the east and utters a shrill
neigh of anxiety. The men look up.
The sky is clear, and there are no signs
Of Indians about. They make light of
The warning and sit down, but mo-
nent later half dozen horses are pull
ing at their lariats, there is trem-
bling of the earth, and a man whose
face is paler than death leaps up to
shout:
"a buffalo stampede! Take to the
wagonsi"
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
uoWn upon IHe camp tney SHOUT III us
may and cry out in despair
Nearer coming straight on
-maddened by their thirst and terri
fed by their own conduct-and there is
chorus of shrieks and shouts re-
ports of two or three rifes-a series of
crashes which blend into one, and the
camp has been blotted out. As the
great wave itself hurls into the bed of
the Loup and beyond there is no sight
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 off
the face of the earth.-Detroit Free
Press.
Langtry's Silver Bath.