The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-04-30

weather. The roads have been so hone
lessly bad that there has been no
mounted exercise, and the little parties
that formerly found pleasure even in
winter have not been able to ride to the
Navajo church, one of the classic points
OF scenic interest in this region The
soldiers have grown idle and ncglcctful
of discipline, if not of duty, and even
the officers have suffered from n pro-
longed confinement to quarters. ltwas
with Il great deal of pleasure that the
Herald correspondent hailed the prom
isc of Il grand wolf chase, to be con-
Quoted with some of the ranchmcn in
the valley. The character of the coun-
try must be first understood. OF course
there are no forests. The hills ere
rough and broken; there are miles and
miles of ugly rock chasm and thou
sands of acres of continuous sagcbrush.
Here and there an arroyo runs an irrcg-
ular course, cut by water in the loose
soil, varying from two to twenty feet in
depth and from one to forty feet in
width. There are no rivers
Friday 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,
and were composed of ranchmen, Off
GERS and enlisted men, with some twca-
ty Indians on foot. All the rest were
mounted. One OF the rules was that no
firearm should be used, no matter what
the circumstance demanding it. An
other was that all men were equal.
There was to be no precedence of Off
GERS, no servilc waiting by soldiers.
Each man was armed with strong
club, and purse of fifty dollars was
offered to the 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 are more sllillful in retreat
The meet was arranged very early,
and before the sound of the grand
mount buglcs ut 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 have
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. ordered
his men away in two lines, one east,
the other north. Lieut.. Wright of tho
other HILL which was exactly northeast,
started his lines to the south and west.
The men were to take up stations at
equal distance, and as soon as that was
done the narrowing of the circle began.
Several times the sliirmishcrs going for
ward started game, usually coyotes or
large gray wolves, and each time they
cndcavorcd to turn them toward tho
center. Thompson, ranchman from
the ncighborhood of Fort Defiance, go.
ing from 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 IL signal of Ready"
from Lieut.. Wright Capt Daily ordered
the advance. From the hill the sight
was rs fair one as could be desired.
March is 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