, 1892-03-08
SOME BRAVE WOMEN,
PLUcKY FEMALES WHO COMPARE
FAVoRAsLY WITH MEN.

to Save a Mans LIfe-MIss Willard and
Her Claim That Didn't Stay Jumped"
There was a heroine of the cattle trail
whose name was at one time, back il
the seventies, heard in every camp from
the Cimarron to the Brazos. ANN Kim
ball she was named, and she was the
wife of a camp manager, one of those
characters who took care of the tents,
the cooking and the baggage of the cow.
boys when a great herd wa IN its trav.
els from the southern ranges to the
northern feeding grounds. One day.
when q herd of 5000 cattle was camped
near the Salt Fork of the Arkansas, in
the Indian Territory, she was left alone
in camp while the cattle were feeding
near by. Suddenly, from some caus
never to be explained in a case like that,
the herd lifted its thousands of heads
and following a few excitable leaders
started on a stampede. Such n rush is
death to my n in its path, and Mrs.
Kimball a~nxiously looked over the prai.
RE to the north, whittier the herd was
tending. A few hundred yards ahead
of the believing beasts there was a
white hat showing against the green OF
the plain. 1t was one of the herders
who had ~dismounted, and his pony had
deserted him. He was directly in the
path of the oncoming avalanche of
beef. The animals, blinded with their
panic, would trample him into the earth
without a pause.
Only a IN remained for action.
TIT woman was the only one near the
front of the herd. Leaping upon a pony
she lashed it forward, passing one rank
after another, until she was ahead of the
herd, when she dashed directly in their
way. Should her horse stumble she,
too. would be lost. But the horse did
not stumble and Mrs. Kimball came
nearer and nearer the man now racing
mt his best pace toward her. AT last,
when the laundering host was not more
than three rods behind, she leaned far
from the saddle and lifting with her
suddenly strengthened arm the herder
by the waist, she threw him across the
neck of her pony and went racing on
until they were without the range of the
cattle.
1t was n deed which few men could
have accomplished, and the handsome
watch presented her by the men at the
end of the drive proved that, hardened
rs they were, they recognized n brave
act.
A RAIRIE
Among the heroines of the prairie
there must not be omitted some of the
women who have taken up claims and
defended their rights against all corners.
Several instances of this kind of bravery
nave gained state wide notoriety, and
justly so. They endured hardships and
took chances which entitled them not
alone to 100 acres of land, but to the
best wishes of the whole state in which
their lot was cast.
A Miss Willard ook up a claim near
the Kansas and Nebraska line, far out
on the plain. She had been a school
teacher in Illinois IN became weary of
the drudgery of her position. She select
cd a handsome quarter section and pro-
ceeded to make n homestead entry and
TO reside on it the required six months.
She had been on the claim but a few
weeks when one day she noticed two
rough looking men near The little cabin
in which she lived. She watched them
until they had withdrawn to some dis
lance, and saw them point to the quarter
section eagerly, as if discussing its posi-
bilities. The next day she was compelled
to ride to the county postoffice, five
miles away, and she took care to tax
her shotgun with her. On her return
she found that her claim had beer
''jumped"-that is, the men had taken
possession of her cabin and proposed to
treat her as an intruder. AS she came
near they motioned her to keep away,
but she did not heed them, and sudden
ly bringing her gun to her shoulder she
discharged a load of shot into the side OF
the cabin.
The men were probably unarmed, for
they did not stop to dispute possession
at that time, and vacating the house ran
out to the prairie. The girl took the
house, pleased with her easy victory,
but she reckoned without her host, for a
few moments later she saw smoke curl
ing upfrom the grass a few rods away.
They had begun to light the prairie fire
and would burn her out.
FIGHTING w MEN
Determined to nave a taste of re-
venge first, the girl drew from its hiding
place a loaded rifle, which she also kept
by her, and sent a ball 80 close to the
depredators that one of them had an
arm shattered. Then she took a wet
bedquilt, and running out to meet the
fire, pounded it along a strip as wide as
the cabin. There was a high wind, and
the flames swept by on either side, unit
ing again at a little distance, leaving a
V shaped piece of sod, at the base of
which stood the cabin. The men had
all they could do to care of the wound
ed arm, and when the smoke cleared
away the plucky little ex-school teacher
saw them still out OF the prairie.
Now that the danger to herself was
over, pity came to the surface and she
went out and helped to bind up the
strangers arm, sending him off with her
own pony to the doctors. Somewhat to
her surprise, as she afterward confessed,
the pony was returned to her in safety
and she was never again troubled with
claim Jumpers. She owns now her claim
and considerable stock.
Her deed was not an exceptional one
for a settler. Many a man and woman
had to fight for the land they now pos
sess; but it was remarkable in that the