The Press., 1892-01-28


 ssWsi had all idined washf what appe- 'titss ws cSndsp Jim had been persuaded lto hee down, ,fm. .a nap, sud ithe rest of us were doing our best to:chAex ,up the poor women when we noticed an extraor- dinary comm otzou saua6ng stheaApaches, as, violently sgesticulatiagg they rode, loudly, ysllipgbE tfEpms all points of the compass toward the coulee. At the same moment we heard .. heavy, all perxading roar, every anstans Increasing ins'volume, and casting our eyes to the south saw dense gray cloud of dust two miles in width. from out of which came 8 thunderous, vibrating sound, as of thousand slashing cataracts, bearing swiftly to the north in the direction of the coulee, but which would evidently clear our camp by several hundreds of feet.
 Captain Jim sprang from his impro- vised couch, and waving his old som brero in the air, wildly shouted:
 :Hallelujerl glory! boys, we're savedl Thar's the biggest buff1o stampede I've ever seed in this kentry, an we won't ketch sight uv nary mother red; not this time.'
 'sThe left flank of the heaving, below ing mass of tossing manes and tra1npGng hoofs was now abreast of us, and 1t re- quired all our efforts to calm the terri fed horses. But where were the h. Gans? Those of them who were between the corral and the mouth of the pass might have easily escaped by running for the latter, but their temporary vil- lage, their squaws, old men and children were in the coulee, and, in order to get these out of the track of the onrushing herd they must ride across part of its face, as must also, and to @ much greater extent, the warriors who were far to the south and east of us, only those who happened to be ons the north having . fair start. Many of these last had already disappeared, and their more dis tant comrades, unavoidably strung out in line fourteen hundred yards long, were now madly urging their straining ponies toward the head of the coulee. The foremost half of the line reached 1t well in advance of the terrible column, but many of the savages in the resfs rid ing at an acute angle to the surging wave, could not clear its crest, and being overtaken by the rush avoided instant death only by darting away straight be- fore it, each man wherever he happened to be caught.
 "Some were carried into the coulee, some to the east, some to the west of 1t, while three or four unfortunates, who rode slow or wornout ponies, were ov6f- whelmed and ground to powder in the twinkling of -an eye. And still the stupendous body of frantic brutes, incal- culable in numbers and resistless in might, rushed on, stopping. turning, swerving aside for nothing; and weshud- deringly realized how narrow had been our own escape, as in awe stricken silence we watched them pass by-a process which took all of ten minutes go that the closely packed living mass must have been two miles deep as well as wide and on all this earth there lives not . man who will ever again see such . sightl
 ''Only an insignificant strip of tho vast herd entered the coulee, the fanksl over tapping it far to each side, and unless the Apaches had ponies enough to remove at once all their people some must inevitably perish-escape to the east, west and south being as hopeless as any attempt to split or divert the solid phalanx must prove. Some idea may be formed of the otherwise inconceivable multitude of buffaloes when state that, whereas before their passage the rolling plain presented only 6 surface of gray green grass, there was now to be seen a swath of deep dust two miles in width and extending southward as far as the eye could reach.
 "So soon as the wondrous spectacle was over the captain gave orders to break camp and hitch up, and while this work was in progress he and two others rode of to inspect the coulee. On their return. half an hour later, they reported that of the supposed Indian village not 3 vestige remained except . few lfrag- nents of tepee coverings, g broken bow or two and twisted gun barrel which alter they had picked up-o of the dust md brought with them. NaturalIy, al- though deeply thankful for cur strange we were all in . rather seri- 'us mood, and the old guide musingiy 'aid, Wal, boys, we've he'd bout ez 1arrer a scape ez ebeR I heered tell on. Them varmints heg paid purty dear UT ther fun, but,I recadn they'll gitclear " the stampede when the bufe'ioe rans out. Then they'll hang oukai he herd, layip in sstock uvmeat, an sSpa won't never set eyes on any uv 'em agiils@ @ We now drove away from the event ul camping ground, stopped at ths bring to refresh ourselves and the ami nals, and having repienishsd our waAer regss resumed the, interrupted journey, 'xpecting to reach Fort Yuma without urther molestation; but, although Jim's ,rophecy, so far as Indians were. con 'efned, was literally fulfilled, we5were sst destined to encounter grave perils of mother kind.
 ssMeantime, while threading theleast- m end of the gloomy pass, we could ,ut notice, wilma shuddering feeling of slief. how absolutely certain would ave been our fate had we ventured within it's narrow, rock embattled re- esses while these were occupied by the ayages; for, in more than one place, hey could easily have destroyed the Eholel party without themselves vast ng an arrow,or charge of powder by imply hurling upon. it's helpless mem els an. .ayalanche,ofs overhanging bowl CTS and broken, rock. rts was only trough Captain Jitn,s wise leadership hat we had escaped annihilation, and he good fellow was greatly pleased Then all of us, especially the women. ook occasion to tell him so in terms of rateful praise. ( A
 .'That night Sthough still within the fountain detiles, we camped down in eace and security and enjoyed the long, ,und sleep whhch all % greatly needed, nd thesuext morning no one unac- uaintedfwith the circumstances, who chancedst to sec the cheerful 'olaen, ,imsrryschildren and jovial men sx thedr early hreakfast, conld have messed that allizhad @ lataly been In lfssYsnrs4arv ax,,on&n &irvs nfsa s,rI1ol s3oo%h