Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-11-09
THE WALLED HERD.
STRANGE STORY o. AN lNBCCESSL
ELE BAND OF CATTLE.

In the widest portion of the west, r.
miles northwest of Moekcr, where in
1879, the Utcs mnssacrcd the Mcckcr fam.
lily 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 i'm width ruams a herd upon
whose sides the branding iron has never
been placed and around whose horns the
lHriat has never frightened. But score
or even fewer OF them have ever seen u
man or horse or other animal of their
kind, and in fact, their kin except mt
distance Of nearly COO feet high above
them. Ute Indians call them "p'chctk-
up or rcd buffalo. And yet if an in
dian who has seen them should be asked
about it lac would laugh and shake his
head, and all the Information ohtainahc
would be, p'choci-up; 'cm rcd; no kctch
'em There are moro than LOCO Of this
herd, and yet no man owns Them nor is
there man, white or black or copper col
orcd who has ever been able to possess a
single hoof Of these fat and tempting
bcCVcs.
The cattle are in a prison. out Of it
there is one method Of escape, but to tray
cl that road means death to the adveutur-
Gus one. There is no way to get in cXcrpt
As the Indians say: Heap see 'cm; 40
kctch 'cm; 10 come away On the two
long sides of the ollong space i'm which
these cattle roam rise procipitous and even
concave rocks for 800 or 600 fcct-yawr
ing, black and ineurmountublc. At either
end seethos and ru,hcs the Iampn or Bear
river For miles above and miles below
it plunpcs and stumblos on in its hcadlong
haste to reach the arms of its parent the
scarcely less tumultuuus but deeper Green
river. Like the wonderful tlat top noun
tain of Colorado, this home Of the impris-
oned herd has no likeness in the wul. H.
1t recalls in its inacccssbiity the marvel.
Gus stories of the valley of vcrdurc, into
which Maync Rcid's adventures only
found their way by the assistance Of Tive
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 murdcrcrs of the innO.
cent victims of the Mountain Meadow
massacre, the Danites, or Avcnging An
gels of the Mormons, fled for Jhcir lives
into what was then literally the wilder
ness. A few of those who had been the
blindest followers of Lee, the Mormon
]
with the blood Of women and children.
found in their wandcrings pretty valley
or stream, which flows from the Wasatch
range into the Green river. They stuck
their stakes built their campfireS and dur
ing the night rhcir saIacious leader had
a vision, Which told him there to stay.
They could hardly have chosen in all Utah
"a more fertile or more isolated spot They
called it Ashley, and about them have since
gathered more of their sect until whcrc
the refugees posted their pickots on the
lonely nights OF the first summer has
grown Il thriving village. 1t is 40 mil
from the Union Pacific railroad south and
145 miles north of The Rio Grandc We l.
ern. Until within a 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 n business for the community.
1t is II tenet of the Danites thai robbng
or theft from IA gentle is no crime. 50
/ it was thought to be only a cunning trick
when John Wycklitfc, one Of the Mormon
/ settlers of the new town, and his three
sons made night sorte on IIenry's ford
in Wyoming and carried away SEQ head
Of cattle ranging there. This was in 1871.
The owners of the cattle discovered their
loss few days after they We're gone and
started in pursuit
The thieves ana the stolen herd had
reached mess of inviting rras, at sun
down one day and halted to camp for She
night 4 terrific storm arose. The li..t-
ming flashed necessarily, and the thunder
peaed and cracked with interMittng fury.
The four men desperately held the terror
stricken cattle by riding around them
constantly and chanting some weird tune.
/ But the wild fcarossncss of the furious
storm excited the brutcs beyond measure.
/ They surgcd and ground, every moment
growing less subject to control. All nj
once, rs if by one mad impulse, they STAN
peded
John Wyckliife and his sons met their
fate amid the lightning's glare and the
thunder's roar They endeavored to head
off the stampeding herd. Instead they ana
their horses were swept on and driven in
the terror to escape the charge Of the mad
dened animals over tho 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 IA few of the herd
were not killed. Those which had gone
ahead formed ii cushion of death. Main
ed, stunned, but still invested with Il spark
of life, when the dread storm was over
/ the living cattle crawled out from the
mass beneath them and formed nucleus
for the herd which now roams at will
within its rocky confines On the bank
of the river stretching back few hun
/ dred yards, grow succulenU grasses, and
upon this the cattle have propagatcd and
thrived. In looking over the edge of the
precipicc one can see that they are email
and rs wild and agile as deer They have
been shot at to see the effect and have
learned to regard the appearance of a man,
whether Indian or white, as IA menace
from which they fee clambering over
rocks and through underbrush in the chase
to point of conccalment.
The place where the thieves and their
horses and the herd fell is plainly mark d
by pyramid of bones, which rises to the
height of 30 feet. The CHASTITY reminder
and relics of the human and animal vic
TINS of the terrible leap shine forth white
and glistening when the sun is high and
reaches that spot with its full glare. The
progeny of the surviving animals from