Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1892-05-14

$eatber. 'ft,csroads ha se been % hops
1essly bad that there has, been no
mounted exeroise. and the little psrties
that formerly Aound pleasure even In
winter have not beensablc to pode to the
Navajo church, 6nesof the clsssic pois1ts
Of scepic'sinterestfn tssjSstegion. Ehe
soldiers have grown idle snh nexlcct&n
of discipline, II not of duty. aa0 c1 1en
the officers haze Suffered from pip
1onged confinement to quarters. Itwas
with freat deal of pfeasnre that the
Herald correspondent haiiedthe prom
tse of q grand wolf chase, to be con-
dncted with some of the ranchmen IN
the valley. The character of the couns
try must he first understood OF course
there are no 4orcsts. The bills are
rough and brolsen: there are miles and
miles Of uglySrock chasIn and thou
sands of acres Of continuous sagebrush.
Here and there:an arroyo runs an irreg-
"lar course, cut by water in the loose
soil. varying from two to twenty feet In
depth and from ono to.fortys feet in
width. There are no rivers. , ..,-.s,4
E4iday morning the entire party Of
hunters, more than two hundred men.
had gathered in two divisions on oppo-
site hills about five miles apart. They
were.in fairly good view Of each other.
andfwerc COMPOSED of ranchrnen. off,
GERS q nd enlis ted men. with some tive j.
ty 1ndians on,foot. All the rest we're
mounted. One of the rules was that no
hrearm should be used, no matter what
the circumstance demanding It. An
other was that all men we're equal
There was "a be no precedence of Off
GERS, no servile waiting by soldiers.
Each man was armed with a strong
club, and purse of fifty dollars was
offered to tire man who would bring in
the largest number of brushes. In this
hunt the tails of coyotes were to count
as much as those of wolves, for, while
they are not SO dangerous an enemy,
they arc more skillful in retreat.
The meet was arranged very early.
and before the sound of the grand
mount bugles at the fort had travelled
across the valley to the first hill the
signal had been made for an advance
This was done with the usual signal
code of the army. glasses and flags hav-
ing been carried to each of the hills.
AS soon as all was ready the com
mand TO advance was given. and Capt.
Daily. of the southern station, orde red
bis men away in two lines. one east.
the other north. Lieut.. Wright of the
other hill. which was exactly mort thcast.
started his lines to the south aud west.
The men were to take up ststionA at
equal distance. and as soon as that was
done the narrowing of the circle began.
Several times the skirmishers going for
ward started game, usually coyotes or
large gray wolves, and each time they
endeavored to turn them toward the
center. Thompson. a ranchman from
the neigh borhood of Fort Defiance. GO
ing fro.a the south hill ran across a
small black bear. and after lively
race managed to head him inside the
lines. In half an hour the men were in
their places. and at a signal of Ready"
from Lieut. Wright Capt. Daily ordered
the advance. From the hill the sight
was as fair a one AZ could be desired.
March is a pleasant month here gener-
ally, and this season is no exception.
The burning heat of Summer has not
yet come on. and the air has softness
and invigorating quality not found else
where. There is more green in sight
than at any. other season, and for the
one time of year we have birds with