The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1890-02-22
A BUFFALO STAMPEDE.


A BUFFALO STAMPEDE.
ne Living wave That was ~ Terrible y
water or Fire.
It Is high noon ON the great plains o.
Central Nebraska. An emigrant party
composed Of adozen wagons and as many
families has halted ON the Loup Fork o.
the Platte river to cook dinner and resi-
their animals. It IL 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 yards. The
suns of July and August beat down on
the great plains with terrible effect
Creeks run dry, rivers sink into insig.
nifcance, the grass Is killed to it's 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 II far from water.
Thirst will craze him in = few hours.
There il water here for the emigrant,
such - It Is, but the quantity is reduced
one-hah before the thirsty horses have
had their I'LL. The men look up and
down the bed Of the creek, but as far as
the eye can see in either direction there
il no more water. Last May this Loup
Fork would have fioated 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 rs fly north .
dozen miles. A 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
~ dry 1T this season Of the year. Five
or six days ago herd of bufIaloes num-
bering thousands drank their fll,at the
Niobrara Is 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-
age 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
m animal has had drop. The grass is
scorched and dead, the ground hot to
the feet, and the almost solid mass, COW
ering 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 suRerings by long drawn
sighs and means.
Every animal has hstless look, and
you would say that 1t would require
something beyond the ordinary to cause
. single one Of them to break into q run.
The sun glares like ball of fire. The
stirring of 20 many feet has filed the
air with hne 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
great bull suddenly throws up his head
and scents the air. He Is 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? II 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 is in state of
agitation.
OF sudden, with massive head held
low ~ II to attack, with eyes blazing,
with clots Of foam flying from the corn
ers OF his mouth, with . fierceness Of /
aemeanor which clears path for him,
be heads to the westand charges through
the herd. He is followed by ten, thirty,
hundred, thousand, BY every animal
which can move, and now begins stam-
pede. A mighty living mass rolls over
he plain, body more to be dreaded
han tidal wave sweeping in from the
20. Movement incites to now energy,
rivalry to reach the front, q sort Of /
MADNESS which knows no fear for obstruc-
lon
The emigrants are 1t their dinner and
heir horses are feeding about them,
Then m alarm Is sounded. One Of the II
orses raises his head, looks fxedly to
he east, and utters . shrili neigh of /,
nxiety. The men look up. The sky
clear, and there are no signs Of
indians about. They make light Of the
farming end sit down, but . moment
Ater half dozen horses are pulling 1t [
heir lariats, there is trembling of the /
arth, and . man whose face is paler [
han death leaps up to shout: a
"A buffalo stampede Take to the I
agons!'' II
There IL room for ali and time for all. O
ut ~ the men look to the east and see 9
AIT great living wave, two or three .
Hes long, and mile wide, bearing o
'wn upon the camp, they shout in dis b
~ and cry out In despair. ID
Nearcr--nearer-coming straight on q
addened by their thirst and terrified n
their own conduct AMI there is /
lorus Of shrieks and shouts-the re- 1
'rts Of two or three rifes-a series of d
ashes which blend into one, and the s.
mp has been blotted out. As the great e
ave Itself hurls into the bed Of the a
pup and beyond, there Is no sign of the q
mp. no sight Of the wagons nothing Il
tell OF the thirty human beings Il
I've and well and full Of hope only two p
lnutes before. All have been wiped d
on the face Of the earth Il