The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-09
ENGINEERING OUT WEST.
Tho Thrilling Experiences of Men
In the Cab on the Great
Plains.
Excitement and Danger Of Racing
With Countless Herds of
Buffaloes
The Trouble Caused by s~heep-Cattle Also
Troublosome-Horses Get Out
of tho Way.

DENVER Dec. S.-The special correspond
ent Of the st. Louis Republic sends tina
paper the following: Many a strange stor
the locomotive engineers tell OF their OF
~psrisnce with animals on the prairies of tn
far west. Between tho Missouri river IN,
the Rocky mountains are the great plains
spreading out for hundreds Of miles. Prob
ably in no part of the country do the On,
Sineors come more in contact with ANNA
fife. They have taken the place of OLE
iehus Of the overland mail and express il
the more modern days Of rapid Transports
ton. Gotten the old stages were in danger
of the great herds of stampeding buffaloes
The driver, express agent and passengers
all OF whom were well armed, only found
safety in the sharp crack, crack of the rifle
This would either turn the butfaloes, rush
ing with almost tho roar Of thunder over
the plains, or would split the hard. 30 that
it would pass in two droves on either side
of the stage. 1t required men of nerve, for
sometimes the buffaloes would hardly
swerve from their course until almost upon
the stage and passengers. The rear of the
herd, providing and urging on the leaders,
made it a difficult task, testing the courage
OF the men who faced them.
The buffalo, or bison, more correctly
named, still roamed the plains after the
railroad came. The old engineers OF the
Union Pacific, Kansas Pacific and Santa Fe
used to cut their way through the herds of
buffaloes. The blow of the whistle and the
discharge of firearms would make them
scamper away. Sometimes they would
blockade q train, but often raced with the
locomotive, giving the passengers an easy
chance to slaughter them. Trains were
also stopped to give passengers a chance to
kill them.
If buffaloes could live and thrive on the
plains, why not cattle? Thus the stock
men reasoned, and soon millions of cattle
took the place of the rapidly disappearing
buffaloes. and they were nearly as wild.
Tho bu ffalo, wild horse. antelope. deer, cat
tie, sheep, wolves and other animals were
along the line of the pioneer railroads. The
well-fenoed farming country of the east
protected she railway track from animals.
But not so the boundless prairies in the
changed in recent years.
The racing of the locomotive with the
wild horse and buffalo is a thing of the
past. The buffalo il almost extinct and the
wild horse is rarely found. Roping the
wild horse used to be a rare sport and quite
an industry. A few are still said to roam
the Laramie plains and emote sections of
country.
But Notwithstanding these changes, there
Ia still much of interest to the engineer, as
well as to guard against on the great plains.
Recently at Hoiyoke. in northeastern Colo
RADIO, near the Nebraska and Kansas line, I
was detained over Sunday. 1t is in the
heart OF the plains country, and is the
that extends from Holdrege through west
ern Nebraska and northeastern Colorado to
Cheyenne, Wyo. Locomotive engineers are
good story-tellsrs, and many an incident
was related that Sunday afternoon of their
experience on the great plains. j. S. Will
lard, who then pulled O freight train be-
tween Holyoke and Cheyenne, I found an
interesting talksr.
"Sheep," he said, "causs more trouble
than any other stock. An engineer always
tries to guard against killing stock, but if
mad my choice l had rather run into cattle,
horses. hogs or any animal rather than
sheep. Many thousands of sheep are in the
great looks that sometimes cross the tracks
OF the western railroads. When there are
no fences a quick turq in the road through
q cut may find the LOCOMOTIVE moving right I
through them. 1t is we'll known how sheep 8
follow their leader. Notwithstanding the !
moving train they continue to rush under
that the locomotive never touched. They :
really commit suicide crowding under the !
wheels before the train can be stopped. g
sometimes over 200 or 800 sheep have been +
Killed. But the wool gets into the running /
gear OF the engine. and this causes the en- q
gineer more trouble than the killing of
other stock. Sometimes the engineer is
compelled to stop and clean out the wool b
that works its way into the moro delicate
mach1nery. AT the end of the trip a search
9 also made for wool that may have escaped 1
ne attention of the engineer in his more {
examination. r
Next to sheep l think cattle are the d
Forst. They are slow and clumsy. Take
t In the winter during stormy weather. q
[ney often seek the railroad cuts for shell q
or. BE as careful as You will. during a A
ana or snowstorm especially, al engineer i,
> liable to run into a herd. These kind of r.
the engineer is not compelled to h
uard against 80 closely in the older set n
led states, where the tracks arc we'll E
ancsd in. The hair from cattle also gives n
ome troubls by getting into the machin- b
bat ID IS not SO bad for us as WOOL" Il
Doe not the locomotive give the engi- b
eer q pretty good shock when cutting a
nrough = hsrd of cattle?" K
met so great rs ons might suppose. An h
told me that his engine had killed u
syontaan cattle in g cut, and he did not n
ael a jar. Horses,"' continued Mr.. Will il
nd, "are moro active and generally get I
ub OF the way, and accidents to them are 9
OF 40 common. In u more thickIy settled Il
a horse Inside the track fence will a
item race with the train. Hogs Knocked
II 4 the track ara nearly always killed. a
nelr lega are short and body large, and Il
'enca easily struck in & vital part.' f,
10 might be added that engineers are h
said to be blamed for the killing a
stock that q locomotive never touched. O
hes been claimed that dead cattle, sheep e.
no hcfsss have sometimes been hauled up n
0 Inc ace OF the track, their limbs broken n
nd carcasses bruised and the blame @
brown upon the engineer. b
Yes, wS have a good deal of esperieuoo
nth wild animals" he continued, but mos II
thrilling SO that Of the engineers on the D
'estern roads when the buffalo was com +,
ron on TIE plains. Bat there is enough @
Jul lett OF villa animal life to make it in r,
The eyes of the wolf, COYOTE. ii
liacst. jack rabbit, p~olecat and other ami. il
lats look like q rad light when facinp the Il
DID not these animals quickly W
us by turning their heads, an en-. :.
.nesr might think his train was being n
aged and stop his engine. There ara h
lenty of wildcats between Wellfiee1 and Il
lwood. Neb. On Medicine creek they trap
" beaver. IL seems to be u ~favorite fish @,
y, place for beaver and coons. They have at
tile paths down to the edge of the stream N
nd there. seoreting themselves. catch fish sc
IT'D their paws. tc
Wolves and coyotes are numerous, but tt
% rarely struck by an engine. Near the &C
efbsft ranch, east of Cheyenne. I have
zen q coyote on a wire fence, which seems ri
nave been thrown there nv an ANGINA nj