River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1894-05-31

want to try 10 show, 10y this paper.
how hunter can have an interesting
and exciting day without killing game,
or even getting a shOt-that Is. IL he Is
in a rattlesnaixe country
II was some years before the war,
when game Of every kind could be
found near almost all Of our military
posts in New Mexico. and az this par
ticular time I could. from the front
door Of my quarters of the old post up
against the bluffs at Fort Union. see at
one time nearly any and every day sew
eral hundred antelope on the plain be-
tween he post and Turkey mountain,
five or six miles to the east. There
were no locomotives, cars, telegraph
wires nor poles then To brighten them
away or make them wild.
Turkey mountain runs north and
south, or nearly so. and seems to have
been pushed up from below By some
gigantic force, five or six hundred feet
tat the highest point above the general
level Of the plain on all sides % IL IL
is about twelve or fifteen miles long
and perhaps six miles across from base
TO base II Is very rocky and uneven,
and is or was thiclxly wooded general!
" with pinel from the northern end to
within two or three miles of the south
ern end. where the trees disappear or
never grew, and at which point there
Is a plainly marked crater Of an extinct
volcano. My route from the pos; was
direct TO this crater, and. of course, To
the extreme southern end of the noun
tain
For many miles ] saw no antelope or
any other living thing in the shape of
man or beast. This was so remarkable
for that section Of country at that time.
I felt certain some unusual thing had
frightened the antelope away.
IN the afternoon. when well abreast
of the northern end Of Turkey noun
tain. but some miles 10 the east of it.
and about fifteen miles from the post.
] saw quite a large herd Of antelope
quietly grazing, and. n the cover and
wind were all in my favor. my hopes
were high for game.
approached TO within sixty yards of
the herd. and was well covered by lit
tie hill or ridge. and felt almost certain
that in five minutes / would have an
antelope To take back to the post
I dismounted quickly. laid ms rifle
on the ground. unfastened the lar.at
from its place Just behind the saddle.
took the picket pin in my hand tthe
other end of the lariat was around the
horses neck, and then found stone
to drive it into the ground. After about
the third stroke with the stone felt
sharp sting on the back of my left
hand, and at the same moment heard
the rattle of snake. and saw within a
few inches of my hand the last half of
a large and horrid looking rattlesnake
Just about To disappear in a hole in the
ground. His tail was in the air for
second. and his rattles seemed 10 wave
as a flag in triumph. as much as TO say:
''Ah, ! have got you this time" had
made IL a rule TO kill, either by shoot
ing or with stones or sticks. every rat
tlesnake J saw. But this time thought
the boot was on the ether leg
/ Immediately examined my hand.
aud sure enough there were two pune
lures, Just the distance apart To- CORE
spOnd IN the fangs of snake. ! was of
course frightened almost out of my
wits. and nv case looked very serious
lNuGtA. WIS lNEAkt or AAI+fN NMAAtN
from the doctor 1t the post, ana knew
that a very rapid ride would cause the
blood 10 circulate faster and send the
poison through the veins all the quick
er. and. on the other hand. IL | rode
slow. the-loss of time would bring about
the same results. All these things and
many more passed through my mind in
the few minutes occupied in pulling
the picket pin out OF the ground and
putting the lariat hack in its place.
Shooting at the antelope don't think
entered my head. ! was in great doubt
how best 10 proceed. but finally acted
on the rule laid down for old-fashiOned
whist players e, when in doubt
play a trump" ! took drink, and a
big one.
! put the flask back IN the saddle
bags, picked up my rifle. and mounted
at once. and in a few moments was GO
ing at i gaIlop toward the post and
watchirg all the time for the swelling
to begin IN my suabe-bitten hand. and.
70 my Consideration. thought could
see il was getting larger. also began
To- feel ver~ warm. which was to nv
mind evidence that the poison was do
ing its leadly work then pulled up
and took the walk. and finally halted
long enough Ia take another drink,
knowing that II 7 could get thoroughly
under the influence ~ ;he brandy
there would be a chance for me. This
time took a ''whopper
After this | rode quietly along for
short time and tried u cool down. ami
made desperate efforts to lie a phil
osOpher. and die. If had to. like man
and soldier. But soon found could
not play tina: role worth n cent did
not want To be philosopher and did
not want TO die. did not like the idea
at all Of being found on the prairie by
my friends. swelled up like n dead
toad, and black and ugly from the cf-
feet of the snake bite
IL all Of n sudden struck me that |
was not feeling - very badly; in fact,
felt just at the minute very familiar
and good Thought had felt that way
on some other occasion knew I had
never be ore been snake bitten
I succeeded, after a 2 cat effort, in
not looking At my bitten hand for sew
eral minutes; but. finally feeling 80
much more cheerful and hopeful. de-
termined TO peep at il again. trusting
that my fears had made my case much
more serious than il really was. With
this feeling slowly raised the hand tit
seemed very heavy before my face. I
let il drop to my side with 4 feeling o.
horror aud realized that there was no
hope The hand appeared to be much
swollen. and nv whole body seemed t.
take on a feeling Of WEAKNESS and las
situde that thought preceded imme-
diate death
laid my rifle on the saddle in front
of me and then raised both hands To
gether. that might see Just how muci.
the left one was swollen. To nv amaze
ment the right one was lust "a large as
the left, aud not snly that, there
seemed To he several pairs Of hands. in
fact, the air was full Of them. and ali
badly snake-bitteu- II Suddenly oc-
CURED 10 me that ! was very drunk.
and 81 the same time realized that
could not he badly poisoned or the
brandy would not have taken effect 20
saan. Thinking the matter ever for s
E4amsHt ! remembered kpT hard l. vas
10 msss ! asH sfdak VIA haA tssa
klsisa b q fsi.lssasas, white had ~:
!itf afahf without t5s slightest aif'