The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1893-10-29

Along in the early fiftics the grizzly
bears were so plentiful in the canyons.
near Fort Fillmore, " NJ, that
domestic animals were in constant
pe~il from their nightly incursions.
n fact. they were dreaded by Lore
travellers almost as much as the saw
.ge and hostile Apaches.
l had occasion during my sojourn
n El Paso, Texas, at that early period
the history Of that country to visit
ort Fillmore. lwas detained there
several days and made my headquar-
ers at the post with the sutler.
The second day after my arrival
me of the cavalry horses, while play
~ in a corral. received a vicious
lick from another horse. On ex-
animation it was thought to be i'm
possible for the poor brute ever to
recover from the wound so as to be
If any use. and to put him out of his
misery he was shot AMI hauled up
the canyon, about a mile from the
fort.
AS it was we'll known that there
would be a grand carnival of the
grizzlies and other wild beasts over
tho carcass that night. the "boys," "
that is Lieutenant Cook and others,
consisting of quite respectable cor
porars guard, concluded to witness
the feast. The sky was clear and in
that soft, transparent atmosphere the
full moon lit up the canyon almost
equal to midday.
We selected two small brass howitz-
ers from the battery of six guns and
loaded them almost to the muZzle
with grape shot and canister. We
then hauled our ordnance to within
convenient range of the carcass and
secreted ourselves in ambush behind
a clump of cacti
We waited some three hours,
which seemed almost an age to the
eager watchers. and about 10 o'clock
the first intimation of the approach
ing carnival was made kuown by the
distant howl of a pack of hungry
coyotes. Tnev were not long. how
ever, in putting in an appearance. in
such force that it was ali we could
do to prevent Sergeant McGilvey
opening the battery on them. We
reserved our charge for the larger
game, as we knew the grizzly would
got fail to attend the feast.
We had begun to despair of the
covotsA- leaving anything for the
hear, when--fortunately, monster
spotted tiger appeared on the scene
putting the coyotes t01s 1slght' and Ia X
ing possession of the banquet pro
ceeded in the most ravenous~1annef
TO conduct the interesting cerem0R1ess
alone. He did not enjoy his mo-
nopoly long. however, for few min
utes later the awe-inspiring growls
of three large grizzlies were heard in
chorus over the banquet table and in
turn putting to flight that beautifully
freckled but somewhat discOmfitted
jaguar.
By the time we had placed our
guns in position two more monster
grizzlies had arrived at the feast,
making five OF the huge beasts. that
caused the ground to tremble by their
roars and savage growing as they
tore the carcass to pieces and fought
each other like demons.
suddenly the deafening roar of the
two guns. almost simultaneously.
awoke the echoes of the canyon, and
also the fears of the two remaining
grizzlies, leaving three of their NUM-
ber dead and wounded on the battle
field.
The whole scene was in plain viet'
from my position, and remained
secreted under that cactus Ga large
variety of what is generally known as
prickly pear) until the guns had
been heavily charged again. and l was
fully satisfied that the bears were in
no condition to give further trouble,
Two of the bears were killed out
right, says the Philadelphia Times,
being literally torn to pieces by the
canister, and the third was so badly
4nangled that he lived perhaps half
an hour in great agony.
By the time we had taken topo-
graphical survey OF the CORY field it
was past midnight. and we concluded
Ito make night of it" hoping for a
return OF the coyotes.
About o'clock in the morning the
distant wall of a hungry coyote told
us of the commencement of their
march to a second banquet at the
augmented table of good things 1t
seemed that the wall of that lone
coyote was re-ecnoed by a thousand
ravenous throats, and in less than
thirty minutes bowling mob of
them were tearing to pieces and
fighting over the remains of both
horse and bears.
When the suus again belched forth
the deadly messages the earth trem-
bled. the carnival ceased and quiet
once more rcigned over the scene.
In looking over the field of destruc-
ticn after the battle was over we did
not find a whole coyote and few
whole heads, but calculated the num-
be-. slain by their tails, finding twen-
ty-seven.
As the reveille sounded we wheeled