Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-06-17
NIGHTS WITH THE COYOTES.
The Desperate Straits OF Two Men on the
Plains In Early Days.

The Desperate Straits of Two Men on the
Plains In Early Days.
Sitting around the stove at the rail-
road station one cold day, Willing away
the time telling stories of wild advent
ures, one old fellow forgot his name
asked: Ibid you ever see a coyoteP"
And at once half dozen chorusedj
Lets have it."
"Well," he said, as he knocked the
ashes from his pipe and filed it from a
huge twist of aromatic "'long green"
1T was in 1850. / had started early in
the spring 10 the land of gold and gilt
tering generalities, bareback and bear
meat with three OK teams loaded with
goods supposed TO be suited to the min
ing trade, consisting of heavy boots,
miners jackets, dried fruit, tobacco.
cigars, cards and whisky, and was
pretty well loaded At Forts Kearney
and Laramie disposed of some extra
weight and at Salt Lake disposed of a
lot OF dry goods had carried along to
trade 70 the Mormon merchants. After
laying In supply of -four at S25 a 100
and resting our stock, we struck out
over Thousand Springs valley to the
head of Humboldt river, following 1t
down TO the Big Meadows, where we
made hay for our cattle and took in
water preparatory to crossing the
great desart between the sinks
of Hum boldt and Carson rivers
Finally we were in the midst of a
trackless waste, and water worth 81
pint, dead mules and oxen enough
TO fence a lane, clear across it, and a
$1,000 900 worth of outfit scattered all
the way, not mouthful of grub of any
kind except what was in our wagons
and with 10000 coyotes bowling and
yelping worse than legion of devils.
The only living things to be seen were
owls, prairie dogs, rattlesnakes and
coyotes.
at was right in the middle of this
wild, barren, sandy desert, surrounded
by the whole coyote family, with one
days rations of grub and water, that
we had 70 double teams and leave one
Of our wagons while the others at
tempted to reach grass and water on
the Carson that Morton and were left
10 guard the last wagon.
After supper, which we were care
full enough TO have over before night,
the music and dancing began. The
owls screeched, snakes ratified, prairie
dogs barlSed and 1000 coyotes set up
their howl. Nearer and nearer they
camo-round and round they trotted-
and we were forced to flee to our
wagon for safety. Under and around
they trotted, growing, whining and
yelping, every one making the night
moro hideous by seeming to make a
dozen of himself just to see how much
pandemonium he could scare up.
What night! and still another we
must stay. The first was bad enough,
but on the second one the animals re-
turned with reinforcements. They
leaped upon the front of the wagon.
which we had barricaded the best we
could, and we had to fight them
with our pistols and guns, and a des-
perate fight il was. First one and then
the other would punch them back
Morton killed one rs it leaped into the
front of the wagon, and rs it fell back
a dozen grabbed and devoured it in less
time than can tell it. This only made
them ten times more ferocious, and it
became fight of life and death to both
of us One after another leaped az us,
swapping, snarling and determined to
have us for picnic supper. Morton
had foot snapped off, / had a hand
badly torn and was nearly stripped of
clothing. Both our guns were broken
and we were about To yield the fight
when daylight broke up the game. They
decamped. 1 bound up Mortons leg
with some old rags and then finished
L.. ,,1 L..
the returning teams upon which de-
pended our lives. At ten o'clock they
hove in sight and there was more re-
joicing in that solitary wagon than I
can tell. We made it safe through in
due time. Morton finally went to Val
paraiso and died. l gathered up hun
dred thousand-here / am in a way sta
ton as ticket agent on the Chicago,
Kansas City e. Topeka railway.
Boys, it's over forty years since that
awful night, but shudder every time l
think of IT, The cold chills are running
down my back now. Please pass that
flask. kansas City Times.
Force of the Waves.
From experiments at Bell Rock and
Sl<erryvore lighthouse, on the coast OF
scotland, IL is 1Ound tnaU while the
force of the breakers on the side of the
German ocean may be taken at about "a
ton and Il half to every square foot of
exposed surface, the Atlantic side
throws breakers with double that force,
or three tons TO the square foot; thus d
surface of only two square yards sus-
tains IA blow from a heavy Atlantic
breaker equal to ffty-four tons In
March of this year heavy gale blew
for three days and nights at Sherry
wore, washing out blocks of limestone
and granite of three and five tons
weight as easily as if they had been
empty eggshells. One block of lime
stone, estimated TO be of fifteen tons
weight, was moved over one hundred
and fifty feet nom a place in the surf
where it had been firmly grounded since
1897, 1t having first been rolled in sight
10y the awful gale of the WINDY Christ
mas" of that year. This is a high sea
record for 1890, showing that the gale OF
March was the w orst known on the
Scottish coast for one hundred and
ninety-three years. london Tid-Bits.