Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-02-20
A TENDERFOOT'S LUCK.
be Relates How He Shot Els First
Euffalo.

ne Crept Up on the Herd, BIazed Avsv
and Noble Bun Bit the Dust-An I'm
profitable and Decidedly Dis
agreeable Surprise.
One DAY, while / was ticket agent Of the
Kansas Pacific railroad at Wallace, Kan
during the years that buffalo were still roam
ing III vast herds over the plains, the tele
graph operator at the station came INTO my
ONCE IN great state of excitement, writes
a New York Sun correspondent.
"Ihere a million buffalo feeding on the
prairie only three miles below here.n he
exclaimed, 'and not more than a quarter OF
q mile from the railroad track. Let's &c
down and bag few"
Twas still a tenderfoot in the region, and
was crazy to kill buffalo. So, in less than
ten minutes after the operator brought me
the news, we mounted hand-car, and,
accompanied by one of the track repairers,
were spinning along toward the spot where
Ihe punaloes were reported to be feeding.
Inc report hadn't been exaggerated, except
That the bufaloes were feeding no nearer
than mile from the track. That was the
hrst herd Of buffalo had seen. saw many
big one afterward, but neversa one that
could compare in vastness with this great
bison gathering. The prairie seemed filled
with them. They formed one black, un-
broken, undulating mass that seemed
bounded only at the horizon and stretched
eastward and westward as far as the eve
could follow it. The herd was on the north
SIDE OF the railroad, and feeding toward it,
DeralIlng our hand-car and taking our guns,
we proceeded cautiously across the prairie,
halt creeping, half crawling, until we had
succeeded in approaching to within a quar-.
ter OF a mile Of the advance guard of the
mighty host
AS we lay there watching the systematic
arrangement and conduct of the vast herd
It's divisions and subdivisions and line Of
outposts, our attention was attracted by the
peculiar actions of various members Of one
Of the punches which was feeding nearest
10 US. First one buffalo would give sud-
den jump, run several steps, stop and look
back, and then, giving his body thorough
shaking, would resume his feeding again,
only to repeat his strange maneuvers few
seconds later. Another aud another were
affected in the same way, and, one after
another, they finally fell abruptly to the
ground, and lay stretched motionless there
1t full length.
SIT seems to me-" said in whisper to
my companion, "that rattlesnakes are
getting in their work on those buffaloes."
"No," said the trackman, who seemed to
know something about buffalo, "the prairie
rattiesnake can't kill buffalo Not as
quick as those fellows have gone down,
anyhow. l never saw any thing like that
aefore, and CAM understand it."
To solve the mystery, we concluded to
fire into that particular bunch, which would
stampede it, and in turn send the entire
aerd speeding away over the plain. was
allowed the privilege of first fire. crawled
to within three hundred yards of the
lunch. A magnificent spike bull stood
within easy range, broadslde to me- /
timed at him and fred. He fell where he
stood. His immediate companions fed.
The alarm spread along the herd, and soon
he vast body was laundering away to the
lorthward shaking the prairie by their
mighty tread. Followed by my comrades, l
rushed up to my trophy. Il put my foot on
his massive neck, and felt proud Of my
achievement 1 looked BACK at my COM
Oanions. They were standing stock still
en- feet behind me, their eyes staring at
something beyond me and their jaws
lropping turned to see what they were
ooling at and my eyes instantly became as
staring wide open as theirs were. never
1new where he could have come from, but
uClO dO buC OluSl oluC VI lllS DuudlO nGu
,hot stood an Indian. He was at least six
Get SIX inches tall. He was entirely naked,
'ept that he wore strip of buckskin
Iround his loins and quiver of arrows al
ais back. His eyes flashed wickedly as he
lrew himself up to his full height, placed
lis foot on the buffalo, and, shifting himself
n his bare breast, exclaimed in a naughty
md imperative tone:
"Ma boofalo-o-oW
Before the Indian had finished making his
positive claim to the buffalo became pain
'ully aware that he was not alone, but that
lot less than six other Indians, as big and
IS ugly as he was, had appehr,d d on the
scene as quietly and mysteriously as he had.
{ had no intention whatever of disputing
the red thief 8 clam, and l know that
neither of my companions had. 1 took my
.oot off of the dead bull, which was all the
indian knew for resigning my right to the
rophy. The Indian folded his right arms
md looked, 1 thought, contemptuously at us,
md then exclaimed;
"Tabac9'
We interpreted this lightly to mean that
the Indian wanted a chew I tobacco. Sim
all three of us produced big
plug, and reached it toward him. He took
them all, bit off chew from one, and slowed
the three away somewhere in his breech-
cloth. Then, with wicked leer, he waved
his hand toward the railroad. We inter
preted this to mean that we had better go,
and we went. The mystery of the strange
actions of the buffaloes we had seen fail
was explained. The Indians had been in
hiding ON the edge of the herd, and were
picking off the choicest Of them with their
aoiseless and deadly arrows. We never
looked back until we had reached our hand
car on the track and were to start for home.
Then we saw the Indians squatted in an ex-
cited group on the ground
"They are gambling for our tobacco, " said
the trackman.
That was the way 1 shot and lost my first
buffalo, and have often congratulated my
self since that l didn't lose my scalp, and
always wondered why that villainous red
skin happened TO let me keep it.