Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-02-06
A BUFFALO STAMPEDE.
The Living Wave That Was as Terrible as
Water Fire.

~ . ALI - AMT GOCs
The Living Wave That Was as Terrible as
Water Fire.
1t is high noon on the great plains of
Central Nebraska. An emigrant party,
composed of dozen wagons and as many
families has halted on the Loup Fork of
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 a hundred yards The
suns of July and August beat down on
the great plains with terrible effect.
Creeks run dry, rivers sink into insig-
nificance, the grass IS killed to its roots,
and great cracks open in the baked
earth to give convenient shelter to in
sects and reptiles. Then woe to the
man or beast who Is far from water.
Thirst Will craze him in 4 few hours.
There is water here for the emigrant.
such as it Is, but the quantity is reduced
! one-half before the thirsty horses have.
had their fiji. The men look up and
down the bed of the creek. but as far as
! the eve can see in either direction there
is no more water. Last May this Loup
/ Fork would have foated a ship 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 aS fly north
! dozen miles 4 hundred miles away is
/ the Niobrara river. rising in the noun
tainS 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 herd of buffaloes num-
/ bering 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 pastur-
,ro alonc tho forks @ tie T ;.ste.
| Here and there as 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, COW
erinr acre after acre. are almost quiet
! at this MONDAY hour. Here and there
| one tosseS his head in anger as thirst
| torments him. and the others give utter
ance 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
a single one Of them to break into a run.
| The sun giares like ball of fire The
stirring of 50 many feet has TILED the
air with fine dust to add still another
torment to the situation. The OK or the
horse would long aro have fallen to the
earth to die.
See, Near the center of the herd
great bull suddenly throws up his head
| and scents the air lie is a magnificent
| IL, l,r III
Does his keen scent bring the presence
of water over the dozen miles of scorched
rlain? Is there something to make him
| afraid: He wheels around and around,
he utters hoarsc bellows which excite
| the animals around him. and in two
minutes half the herd Is II = state OF
agitation.
OF a sudden. WITH massive head held
low as If to attack. with eyes blazing,
with clots OF foam flying from the corn
ers of his mouth. with - ferceness of
delneanor which clears 4 path for him,
| he heads to the wcetand charges through
| the herd He j. followed by ter. thirty,
| a hundred a thousand by every animal
| which can move. ard now begins stam-
| pede. a mighty living mass rolls over
the plain. q body more TO be dreaded
than a tidal wave sweeping in from the
sea. Movement incitcs to new energy,
a rivalry to reach the front sort of
madness which knows no fear for obstruc-
ton.
The elnigrants are al their dinner and
| their horses are feeding about them,
when an alarm IS sounded One Of the
horses raises his head. looks Ezedly to
| the east. and utters = shriu 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 . moment
| later half dozen horses are pulling at
their lariats. there = 4 trembling OF the
earth. and Iaa;s whose face is paler
than death leaps up 70 shout:
"a buffalo stanlpeGe. Take 10 the
| wagons.
| There is room for al and siIne for all
| but as the men leckto the cast and see
that great living wave, two or three
miles long. and q mile vide. bearing
down upon the camp they shout In dis
may and cry out in despair
! Nearer-nearer- oInins trslight on
nladdened by their thirst and terrified
by their own conduct, AM there is a
] chorus of slirieks and shouts-the re-
ports of two or three rifes-a series of
| crashes which blend into one. and the
camp has been blotted out Is the great
wave itself hurts into tie bed Of the
Loup and beyond, there is no sign of the
camp. no sight Of the ci1ss--rloshlngs
/ to tell of the thirty human beings
alive and well and fuil OF hope only two
4 minutes before All have beea wiped
/ out-biotted of the face Of tie earth
Detroit Free Press.