Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-03-26
MOUNTAIN RATTLERs.
A Wonderful Den OF Monsters
Found In Kansas.
True Snake Story Told by . Veteran Of
tho Nineteenth Kansas CHvalry-A Re-
markable hybrid Discovered in
an Indian Village.
Especial Kansas letter.

l5p6S1AI AAuSdb ASbtaGsJ
There are snake stories and snake
stories, including the current tales re-
lating to sea serpents, circulated during
the bathing season at Saratoga and
other seaside resorts. Baron Munchau-
sen, Sinbad and even Mulhattan have
tried their hand at writing snake
stories, but it isn't that sort Of tale
that the writer proposes to rehearse,
and in order to escape the tmputations
that ordinarily attach to the garrulous
fisherman and serpent romancer, the
reader is assured in advance that every
representation herein made is absolute
~ true.
During the Indian war of 1ses-6e,
against the Cheyennes, Arapahoe and
Comanche Indians, upon our western
border, Gems. Sheridan and Custer de-
cided upon a winter campaign against
the hostiles with the Seventh United
States cavalry, the Nineteenth caval-
ry and detachment of in
fantry, the object being to strike the
Indians in their winter villages when
their supplies were short and their
ponies unable to subsist on natural
forage. After chasing the rowing bands
out of western Kansas and into the In
dian territory, the combined villages
OF all these tribes were attacked and
broken up on the Cemerone river, and
the scattered warriors were pressed
still further south.
Scouts finally again located their
principal villages among the Wichita
mountains, range or prolongation OF
the Rockies extending in the extreme
southwest corner of the Indian terri
tory, and here the troops followed
them. Judicious maneuvering upon the
part of Gen. Sheridan soon resulted in
surrounding and capturing these vii
layers, the squaws and surplus ponies
of the aforesaid tribes in the valley Of
Medicine Bluff creek, and here the little
army encamped for several weeks dur
| ing the months of January and Febru-
airy, 1869.
The camp Of the Nineteenth Kansas
was located about three-quarters of a
mile from the romantic Medicine Bluff,
bald and mural precipice facing the
camp, no less than 500 feet high, and
having the appearance of small noun
tain, one-half of which had been
washed away by the encroachments OF
the rapid stream that flowed along the
base. For a quarter of mile out
toward the level ground on which the
camp was located, there were great,
irregular piles of powders. which had
been washed down by successive floods
of the mountain torrents, and increas-
ing ip height and size as the bluff was
approached. Among these rocks there
were numerous eaverns, subterr1neau
tunnels and spacious interstices in
hahited by cinnamon BEARS coons,
hedgehogs, and other ALTERNATING on
ima1s, as well as monster reptiles. The
Indians, scouts and old hunters an6
trappers had frequently described the
huge mountain rattlesnal1es, but they
made them so large that we thought
them romancing for the benefit of ten
derfeet.''
Ono afternoon in February, after two
or three days of quite warm weather
the attention of the command was at
tracted by a loud and continuous
buzzing and whirring, the noise re
seabling that made by a large cottor
gin some distance away. 1t was sucl
a remarkable and unusual sound thai
great curiosity was excited and dozenl
of the men started out to investigate
They were not long in discovering &
large cavern among the rocks, the bot
tom and shelving sides of which were
covered with snakes There were bull
snakes. moccasins, black snakes, al
endless variety of prairie reptiles, bu
predominating in numbers were thu
mountain rattlers. They were tire
mendous in size and horrible In appear
ance, some of them measuring ten ant
. twelve feet in length and fourteen ant
fifteen inches in circumference arounC
the larger part. 1t was these monster
and their numerous families, running
down in size to one or two feet il
length, that made the noise.
The preceding warm days had revive'
them from their torpor sufficiently t.
permit them to move their tails, an,
thus they were shaking their rattles il
horrid concert, moving them around Il
circles and filling the air with the dreat