Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-09-03
a KINGS LAST BATTLE.
How a pufraIo's Life Was Sacrificed to
Pack of Wolves

Pack of Wolves
As the moon came up to render night
almost as light az day We heard curious
sound from over the ridge to the south,
and after listening for awhile thrcc or
four of us took our guns and started out
to investigate. On the far side of the
ridge n thicket thrust itself down Into the
open from the east like a tongue, and mt
tho outermOst end uf this thicket, and
using It to protect his rear from assault,
was buffalo bull In scmicircle In
front of him sat eight large mountain
wolves. For n year tho bull had been
skulking and hiding from tho sight of
man-thc last of untold thousands II not
of all tho herds which once roamed the
prairies and left trails 1900 miles long rs
they shifted from north To south In the
cover of the thickets he had escape the
eye of man, and when the wild beas had
tracked him down he had fought them
off. On this night he had come out OF his
lurking place when our camp grew quiet
to- satisfy his hunger on the rich green
grass, but the camp had attracted the
wolves, and they had encountered him in
the open. lilo could not hope to outstrip
them in flight, but he would fight them
off or die fighting.
As we sat down on the crest of the ridge
the moon cast our shadows almost at the
| feet of the combatants The buffalo rails
ed his head and stared full at us, and the
wolves shifted about uneasily till they saw
we had come rs spectators. Then they be-
gan worrying him again. 1t was their
| growls as they lcaped in and out and feint-
ed and lodged which had reached our ears
In camp. They separated to worry him
- Ia n
that their object was to annoy and pro-
woke him until his anger forced him tc
make q charge. Then they would COM
plete their circle, and he would be DOOM
| cd. 1t was not his first battle with wolves
| Since fleeing from the sight of man he had
learned strategy. He held his massive
head ready to strike the sharp horns to
the right or left, but he did not tire him
self with useless efforts. For 10 minutes
| he seemed TO give them no attention, but
| then, as one beast, holder than the rest
ran in, he was caught on the horns and
| tossed high in the air and fell to the
| ground to crawl away and lay whining
| and complaining The others gathered
| together as IL for consultation, and then
| the seven rushed together for the bull s
hind feet. They We're clear of his horns
and fore feet, and no doubt he received
| several bites before ho moved. He wheeled
as If on pivot, rolled two or three of his
| assailants over and over on the grass, and
| in 10 seconds had resumed his former po-
sition. One of the wolves was killed out
right, and another crawled out of the
fight with broken bones. The battle had
| not been on over "a quarter of an hour,
and yet the bull had reduced the number
| of his assailants to five.
The five wolves began their worrying
tactics again, but they had met their
match. They simply wore themselves out
while the bull remained fresh. When they
would draw away for moment, he would
| look up mt us in n defiant way, rs IL ex-
pccting that we had come as assailants,
but now that his blood was up he dcilcd
us. BY and by five fresh wolves came
galloping down along the edge of the
thickct. They had not been summoned by
any signal that we had heard, but had
probably heard and scented the battle
from afar of. The worrying began again,
but there was f,rocity In it now. They
lcapcd at his head, his shoulders, hi,
launches and feet. He caught them OF
his horns and tossed them aside, and h,
rolled them over rs he struck with hi,
hoofs and once more he fought them tn 4
standstill. Shoot him DOWN. No! L
die he must, let him die fighting. Drive
away the wUlvcs' OF what usc when they
have tasted his blood and would track hin
to his covert:
As the wolves drop down to pant ant
loll for moment we $40 morc fire com,
into the bulls eyes. and he paws the cartl
and uttcrs "a rumble like distant thunder
The remembrance OF 100 fights, when IN
led n herd, comes hack to him and put
courage in his heart. He fears ncithc
man NOR wolf. lie bellows menace at us
and he shakes his head at them as bitdin,
them come on. Now they play him
trick. Half Of them trot away To tn
right and the other half to the left, ant
for n minute he believes they have sivel
up the fight. Then both packs suddCnl.
turn and rush upon him ut full gallon
They bite him in n scorc of places. The.
leap over his back. They seize his shagg,
coat and pull and worry. With loud bel
lows of rage and pain, he uses horns ant
hoOfs in defense, and for five minutes h
makes n gallant fight. Then despair sud
denly comes To- his heart and he woul,
run away. lie makes n rush, clearing
path with his horns, hut he has not gun
30 feet when the muscles OF his hind leg
arc bitten through, and no tottCrs an
falls. 1t Is tho end. In - quarter of al
hour his llunCs will hC picked clean.
bullet would hav" brought u more mCrcI
full death, hut he could have made no figh
for his life. ITc had lpccn king Of tn
herd. Let him dis as n king.
NJ. QUAD.