The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-01-18
RIDING A BUFFALO.
a Traveller Escapes One Danger
by Getting Into Another.

twenty-five years ago, IN the fall Of
1897, / was travelling on horseback
over the plains, my objective point be-
ing small mining camp near where
the city of Deadwood now stands. I
had been on a prospecting tour two
| hundred miles to the northwest, and
was yet about one hundred miles from
my destination, when the adventure /
am about to relate occurred 1t was a
dreary November afternoon, and the
clouds threatened a heavy fall Of snow.
1t was about two o'clock, and I was
making for an uninh abited hut if
teen miles away, where l knew could
find shelter for myself and horse for
the night
/ was riding along feeling perfectly
safe in that wilderness when a strange
sound broke upon my ears l was not
long in doubt, however, for on CHANGING
back along the road / beheld about
mite away something fast approaching
| that looked like black cloud moving
rapidly along close TO the ground
/ From what l had heard knew at once
that was being pursued by half
famished pack Of black wolves, and
that if / could not reach the cabin my
self and horse would be torn to pieces
/ by the ravenous creatures. I lost no
time in putting spurs TO my horse for
race 10 the death The animal oauG at
the alarm and needed no urging to
make him do his best For a few miles
the brave horse dad noble work and the
] g.
US, but It soon became evident that the
( horse could not keep up the gait and
/ that the wolves were sure to overtallo
US before we could arrive within five
miles of the log hut.
On we went, but soon the speed OF
my horse began to slacken, and the
wolves were slowly closing the gap
My mind was intensely busy with the
problem of what was best to be done.
It occurred to me that my only chance
was TO abandon the faithful animal and
rush ahead on foot while the wolves
were deVopripg his carcass. 1t was. a
! forlorn hope, but there was no other
! chance of escape, and, Ike the drown
J ing man, l caught at the only straw;
held out TO ne.
My horse sank down on the roadside
as soon as 1 ceased to spur him for
ward and dashed along on foot, see
ing that my two pistols were ready for
use. When the wolves reached MY
horse they pounceo upon him, as had
anticipated. and snapped and snarled
and fought like demons over the
choicest portions of their feast. While
-, - SIN
a mile upon them. But ! knew they
would quickly be upon my trail again.
! Soon l heard the ominous sound that
! had first fixed my attention, and gazing
/ back over the level plain ! saw the
pack in full pursuit. Knowing that I
could not keep them from oVertakiDg
me, l slackened my pace and gathered
strength for the life-and-death contest
that was inevitable. My idea was to
/ fire and xiii two or three wolves at a
time and then rush forward as far as
possible while they were consuming
the bodies of the dead animals. l fred
rapidly at the foremost, and was lucky
enough to kill four IN as many shots.
Then l rushed forward, ar gained some
distance before they devoI red the dead,
and again started in pursuit. Again
fred, and killed three or four, and
again ran for dear life. It was still
fully four miles to the longed-for hut,
and l began to feel that the contest
was too unequal, and that I might as
well give up the struggle first as last
The running fight was kept up for
mile or two more, when l was suddenly
relieved from all danger from the
wolves, but threatened by another
fully as horrible. | had halted and
turned for the purpose of firing another
fusillade at my relentless enemies, when
the whole pack suddenly stopped and
stood for fully minute in listening
attitude. From the west came a sound
resembling distant thunder, and great
clouds OF dust were rising not far away.
obscuring the western view. The
wolves appeared to thoroughly under
stand what caused the ominous sounds
and clouds of dust, for they gave ons
frantic howl over being deprived OF
their expected prey, and then darted
madly away to the northward. At first
felt as if ! had been delivered by che
hands Of a special providence but was
not long in discovering that l was still
in the greatest of peril, and had not
one chance in thousand of escaping q
terrible death. That which caused the
seeming distant thunder and clouds of
dust was what was known in the par
lance of the plains as "a buffalo staIn-
pede." No one has ever explained
whatever caused herd now and then
to become suddenly frightened and in
almost one solid mass rush nadly
away, never stopping until they were
completely worn out. In those STAN
Dedes the maddeued animals would
keep up a suorting and believing,
creating a scene that could be COM
pared to nothing but pandemoniunl-
No living thing ever escaped being
trampled into shRpeless mass that
happened to be in front of them. Even
the wolves that followed me with such
logged purpose understood the danger
perfectly well
l had given myself up for lost, for I
as near the center line Of the APP
preaching herd. and it would have
cen folly for me to have run forward
or backward with the hope OF getting
out OF their way On they came, like
/ the huge waves Of an angry sea, and.
although | fully appreciated the great
peril was in, the scene fascinated me,
and I awaited the end with calm resig-
nation. In The foremost ranks was .
huge bull with shaggy name and long
hair extending far back over his neck