Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-11-09
THE WALLED HERD.
STRANGE STORY or AN INACCESSl-
BILE BAND OF CATTLE.
Pyramid Of Bones Marks the Spot Where
Their Ancestors Fell Over q Precipice
Twenty Years Ago-DwelI In Safety
Where Han Has Never Trod.

Twenty Years Ago-Dwell In Safety
Where Han Has Never Trod.
In the widest portion Of the west, Is
miles northwest of Meeker, where, in
1919 the Utes massacred the Meeker fam
Ty and every one at the agency, is the
most wonderful cattle ranch in the world.
Within space of five miles in length and
three miles in width roams herd upon
whose sides the branding iron has never
been placed and around whose horns tho
lariat has never frightened. But score
or even fewer of them have ever seen
man or horse or other animal of their
lind, and, in fact, their kin except at a
distance of nearly coo feet high above
them. Ute Indians call them ''p' check
up or red buffalo. And yet If an In
dian who has seen them should be asked
about it he would laugh and shake his
head, and all the information obtainablc
would be, "Pcheck-up; em red; no ketch
'em" There are more than 900 of this
herd, and yet no man owns them, nor is
there man, white or black or copper col
ored who has ever been able to possess a
single hoof Of these fat and tempting
beeyeS.
The cattle are in n prison. Out of it
ell that road means death to the adventur-
Gus one There is no way to get in except
it be by use of rope / 900 feet in length.
AS the Indians say: Heap sec 'em; no
ketch cm; no come away On the two
long sides of the oblong space in which
these cattle roam rise precipitous and even
concave rocks for 500 or 600 feet-yawn-
ing, black and insurmountable. At either
end seethes and rushes the Yampa or Bear
river. For miles above and miles below
it plunges and stumbles on in its headlong
haste to reach the arms of its parent, the
scarcely less tumultuous but deeper Green
river Like tho wonderful Fat top noun
tain of Colorado, this home of the impris-
oned herd has no likeness in the world.
1t recalls in its inaccessbility the marvel
Gus stories of the valley of verdure, into
which Wayne Reds Adventures only
found their way by the assistance of the
balloon.
The story Of the way in which these
cattle came there Is as strange as their
existence Is curious. Over 90 years ago,
when the government troops were pur-
suing the Mormon murdcrerS of the inno-
cent victims of tho Mountain Meadow
massacre the Danites, or Avenging An
gels of tho Mormons, fled for their lives
into what was then literally the wilder
ness. A few Of those who had been the
blndest followers of Lee, the Mormon
fend incarnate, whose hands were red
with the blood of women and children,
found in their wanderings pretty valley
or stream, which flows from the Wasatch
range into the Green river. They stuck
their stakes, built their campnres and dur
ing the night their sagacious leader had
vision, which told him there to stay
They could hardly have chosen in all Utah
a more fertile or moro isolated spot. They
called it Ashley, and about them have since
gathered more of their sect until where
the refugees posted their pickets on the
lonely nights of tho first summer has
grown thriving village. 1t is 14O miles
from the Union Pacific railroad south and
las miles north of the Rio Grande West
ern. Until within few years past it has
been isolated entirely, but now it is but
30 miles from the Ute reservation, and
furnishing supplies for the agency forms
quite business for the community.
1t Is q tenet of the Danites that robbing
or theft from gentle is no crime. So
it was thought to be only q cunning trick
when John Wyckliffe one of the Mormon
settlers of the new town, and his three
SONS lllauc HlglJ SOElle vi IItnIy loiu
in Wyoming and carried away 500 head
of cattle ranging there This was in 1874.
The owners of the cattle discovered their
loss "a few days after they were gone and
ctarted in pursuit.
The thieves and the stolen herd had
reached mess of inviting grass at sun
down one day and halted to camp for the
night. A terrific storm arose. The light
Mi, thunder
pcaled and cracked with intermtting fury.
The four men desperately held the terror
stricken cattle by riding around them
constantly and chanting some weird tune
But the wild fearlessncss of the furious
storm excited the brutcs beyond measure
They surged and ground, every moment
growing less subject to control. All at
once. as if by one mad impulse, they stam-
peded.
John Wyckliffe and his sons met their
fate amid the lightnings glare and the
thunder's roar. They endeavored to head
off the stampeding herd. Instead they and
their horses were swept on and driven In
the terror to escape the charge of the mad
dened animals over the brink of the awful
precipice which frowns up from the waters
of the Bear. After them plunged the
whole fright crazcd herd and down to the
bottom of the fearful fall went horses,
riders and horned creatures. Out of this
strange plunge of life to what was SEEM
ingly certain death to all a few of the herd
were not killed. Those which had gone
ahead formed a cushion of death. Maim-
cd, stunned, but still invested with spark
of life, when the dread storm was over
the living cattle crawled out from the
mass beneath them and formed a nucleus
for tho herd which now roams at will
within its rocky confines. On the bank
of the river, stretching back few hun
bred yards, grow succulent grasses, and
upon this the cattle have propagated and
thrived In looking over the edge of the
precipice one can see that they are small
and as wild and agile as deer. They have
been shot at to see the effect and have
learned to regard the appearance of man,
whether Indian or white, as menace
from which they flee, clambering over
rocks and through underbrush in the chase
to point of concealment.
The place where the thieves and their
horses and the herd fell is plainly marked
by a pyramid of bones, which rises to the
height of 80 feet. The CHASTITY reminder
md relics of the human and animal vic
tins of the terrible leap shine forth white
and glistening when the sun is high ard