The Opelousas courier., 1894-12-29
LASsooING AN ALLIGATOR.
Interesting Story of Herding Cattle in
louisiana Some Twenty-Five
Years Ago.

About twenty-five or thirty years ago
large herds of cattle and creole ponies
roamed over the open p~rairies of South
western Louisiana. The Dupres, Wiki
offs, Moutons, Fontenots, Harmans,
P%rudhommes and Andrus families were
large owners of gentle and wild stock
in those pastoral days and employed
many stockmen to look after them on
the range reaching in some instances to
| the Gulf coast in Cameron and Calca-
sieu parishes.
Like the cowboys of the Western
ranches these vaqueros were very ex-
pert with the lasso, and, mounted on
their fleet and well trained creole
horses, they could rope and throw the
widest and most vicious cattle on the
| credible that such difficult feats could
be performed, but many of them are
| so well attested by competent eye wit
nesses that they-and many others I'M
contirmed-must be accepted as facts.
The annual "round up" and branding
Of stock in August were the occasions
when these fearless stockmen would
show their marvellous skill, and CON-
pete with generous rivalry for the
championship of the ranches in "noos-
ing" their quarry. 1t is not the pur-
pose of the writer, however, to go into
a graphic description of the life and
exploits of these "bold riders of the
prairies," but to relate an episode of
one Of u st. Landry stockmen, Mr..
Alb Andrus which we heard him tell
many years ago.
Alb Andrus is dead now-peace to
his ashes-but during his life time he
was a jovial, sociable fellow, full of fun
and anecdotes, and from his experience
in handling thousands of cattle for
many years could recount many stirring
events and hair breadth escapes to his
listeners.
On that occasion, while in
with several friends and being in a
reminiscent mood, Alb said Gentle
men l have rOped scores of wild cattle
ON the range, have been endorsed and
narrowly escaped being gored to death
by vicious animals, but by far the most
thrilling adventure / ever had was
when | lass0ed a monster alligator in
bayou Lacasine, in Calcasieu parish.
| had a party of vaqueros out looking
for stock, which had wandered from
their usual range and while riding
along the banks of the Lacasine one
day, | spied a huge alligator summing
himself near the waters edge. Being
mounted on my favorite and we'll train
ed Observation-Disclosures having a strong
new raw hide lariat-which would have
held Satan himself, I concluded that I
would try and rope this old Saurian as
a trophy to carry into camp. The main
difficulty was to get neal enough to
reach him with my lasso. Isecured the
lasso to the pommel of my Mexican
saddle, arranged it carefully in loops in
the grasp of my right hand and, bend
ing low on the side of my horse, began
slowly circling around the old fellow so
as not to give him a scare. He appeared
to be asleep, or thought it was nothing
but a horse grazing around him, be-
cause he let me get within fifteen feet
of him, and although much excited /
luckily threw the moose over his head
and by a quick movement of my horse
jerked him several feet before he knew
what was the matter with him. But
you bet your bottom dollar, gentlemen,
when that alligator did come to him
self he meant business. Although he
snorted and hollered like a bull he did
not propose to be made "beef" Of il he
could cut that lariat with his iron clad
tail. / have heard Of mules kicking SO
but a mule was not a circumstance to
the movements Of that alligator. l
gave my horse the signal to move off by
a backward step so that be could bcace
himself against the terrific sOmersaults
of the frenzied reptile. Why | wish /
may never eat another calf's head or
br0iled tenderloin steak il that alliga-
tor didn't turn v e with the speed of q
circular saw and from the sand and
brush which were whirling in the air
you would have thought that / had
roped q young cyclone. At times I
thought myself and saddle would be |
wrenched from the horses back, but |
the splendid training Of the
horse in playing the lariatn, prevent
ed any ENHANCEMENT and consequent
disaster. / tell you | had my hands full
in holding on to this amphibean and it
was a full hour before / could dismount
and tie the monster to a tree. To make
sure of him / shot him through the
head with my navy revolver and went
back to the camp to get the boys to
help me skin him.
!" | have read of the crocOdiles of the
Nile, gentlemen, but | do not believe
they grew much larger than the
one / lassoed. He must have been
feet long and his mouth was
enough to have swallowed a
young calf. No. l have never seen as
an one since, nor did / ever lasso
one again." And so ended Abs re-
markable story of lassaing an alligator.
j. M. T., Crowley, La.
1t is said seventy acres Of sugar cane
nm Snnatnr SainfS n1apfafinn poor