Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-08
RIDING A WILD BUFFALO
A Thrilling Yarn Spun by Man From
Montana.
A Race for Life ON the Back of a Huge
Bull-An Adventure ON
the Plains.

that the true ratio between gold and silver
Is 16 to 1; that the latter ought not to be
measured on the basis of its value in the
former, and that the phrase "In God We
Trust ought to be swabbed off all gold
coin. He was just getting ready to tell The
stars scribe about how the financial con-
spiracies Of the Rothschilds and Wall street
had deprecated the value of goods and ap-
preciated that Of gold. when The Star man
said: L say major, did you ever see a real.
genuine. bona fide live buffalo outside of a
picture frame or taxidermistical studio?"
well, you bet" said the major, In a sort
OF a sun-dance shout, as he brought his fist
down on the bar What am going to tell
you happened in the winter Of 1s69-7O
II was bad winter in my country, and
or course you know that means that the
mercury had gone down pretty near to
CHINA. During that cold season the buffalo
took refuge in mighty herds in the country
round the Porcupine river which is one of
tne tributaries of the Yellowstone. Over
$4,000 OF the brutes were killed in that coun-
try. They were shot down, their threats
cut and the hides taken. The carcasses were
left, and for years the skeletons lay thick
strewn over the region for many miles. 1t
was only a few years ago that the bleached
bones We're collected for use in refining
sugar. Well, word reached our camp that
bunch of buffalo were grazing about two
mlies from the ranch, and our men got to-
X,
Bill, Bitter Root Charlie, Tenderfoot Claud
and myself composed the crowd. knew the
location said to be covered by the bunch
Just as well as know the ingredients of a
whisky straight, and 1 had a plan in my
mind to outstrip the other boys and get in a
few shots ahead of them / swung onto my
pony and off l went a dead level run
across country. / left the trail which the
other members of the gang were reasonably
sure to follow and cut over a hog back into
the next valley. down in which the bluffs
We're alleged to be. They were not in sight.
however, and continued on. After about
ten minutes had elapsed 1 thought 1 heard
the sharp crack of a rifle.
I'm two seconds more ! was dead certain
l had heard a shot, for a regular chor-s Of
bangs ratified out / turned my broncho's
head in the direction Of the shooting and
had made up my mind to ride back and
rejoin the crowd. My plans wouldn't work.
They had fired into the bunch from the
other side and had stampeded II. The mad
dened animals, and there were fully one
thousand Of them, were tearing over the
snow, jumping ravines and dashing toward
me at a terrific pace Behind the herd the
CT acks Of the guns ratified.
Ride for Life.
1.-The valley was narrow and the sides
very steep. I did not have time to get out.
There was only one thing to do and that
was to fly and keep ahead Of the herd till
found a good opening in the hills. Well.
the oncoming circus, leaned his head way
forward and worked his hoofs for all there
was in him. 1t was a furious ride. There
wasn't the least sign Of trail and the
STOW drifts had frozen in some places and
in others, where the sun got a good look
at them, they were decidedly impressiona-
BILE.
These hindrances made breakneck speed
dangerous and difficult. But it was the
only thing that could be done. l could just
manage to keep out of the way OF The herd.
Every now and then a bullet from one OF
the boys in the rear would miss its mark
and whizz and whistle over my head, max
ing truly interesting music. I'd rather
hear Tristan and Isolde played by a brass
band any day In the year. The herd was
stretching out a little and the foremost
were about 200 yards in advance of the
others. My pony stumbled. turned a somer-
sault and threw me long ways before
him. My rifle was dashed to the pommel Of
the Mexican tree and I did not have time
to gather myself up and go back for it.
There was no chance 10 get out and only a
slim one to stay In. pulled my sIx-shooter
and began firing at the foremost Of the
bunch in an effort to turn them a little and
give me room to live. 1 did brighten them
so that the leaders slackened the pace The
van was an old bull and after cycling me
for a brief spell he made break with the
evident intention of doing me up.
On the Back of the Bull.
Just as he ducked to upper-cut me- I
lodged, grappled him by his shaggy locks
and leaped upon him just behind his hump
He reared and bucked violently. and twisted
and writhed in rage, but chung on and the
rushing beasts in the rear compelled him
to keep on the run. After that spell Of
bucking. the others of the bunch had come
up with n. and he. burdened with my
weight, hal to run for his life. Now and
then he would file an objection to my pres
ence and attempt to unhorse me, but 1
would simply dig my heels into his ribs
and we would go onward once more Finally
the pressure from behind began to slack
could not permit this, because the old
fellow was SO absolutely offended by my
presumption that he would have murdered
me on the spot. He gave me to under
stand by pantomime that II he ever laid
horns on me he would make me pay very
heavy car fare for my free ride.
Il knew that 1 would have to ride him to
death, that when I did dismourt he
would be too much exhausted to Kill me.
So every time he showed any disposition to
slow down / applied my heels, and once
more we went forward with rush. 1t was
3 o'clock when l had started on that I'M
comfortable ride, and 1t was now getting to
be about midnight. My buff was blowing
very heavily, and his tongue was lolling
out. He wanted to lick the snow, but /
could not even permit this. 1t must have
been about o'clock in the morning when
he began to manifest a wabbling gait Then
he lurched a few times from side to side
lunged heavily forward on his knees arc
rolled over on his SIDE falling on my left
leg before had time to free myself
Free at Last.
II lay there for few minutes, and after
a good deal of torture and an immense
amount Of squirming, I got free, whipped
out my knife. and started to cut my beasts
throat, because II is fashionable to do this
in my country to prevent further difficult
ties, as buffalos very often do the Enoch
Arden act in an unexpected way As L
plunged the blade into the old fellows neck
he sprang to his feet, lifted me In his
horny embrace, and tossed me probably
forty feett in the air, and then dropped
dead. I lay unconscious for sometime but
finally got together. and despite my bruises
I set to work with my knife to make a
buffalo robe out of that animal
Then 1 lighted fire Of grease-wood and
sage brush, and soon Toasted off broled
bison. AS soon as day broke. began to
take my bearings, and found that was at
least 100 miles from home. The other boys
who had been riding in the rear Of the
buffalo, had suddenly run onto my little
pony that had fallen and had been ground
up by the herd. They had of course sus-
pected that my remains must be somewhere
close by. and they began a hunt. They re-
turned to the ranch and got two of my ia