The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-11-28
A SNON-NH|TE STALLION.
THE LAYING OF A BEAUTIFUL
EQUINE WRATH OF THE TEN
AS PLAINS.
END OF A SUPERSTITION OF NATIVES
yrbe Ghost Was Trapped in Il Canyon
by Herd Of Stampeded
Mustangs.

,lhrough the western portion of Texas ana
.snent several years mt San Antonio de
Bexar says a writer in the Phlladelphia
Times. As civil engineer, great deal
of my time was spent out of doors, many
miles from any settlement or haDltatioh
If man, locating land claims and perfect
yng titles. My business frequently calicd
me- great distances from San Antonio
ind info the uncXplorcd wilds where the
mustang horse, the wild bull, the tiger
rat. numberlcss red deer and VIII tur-
kev aboundcd in all the freedom of I'M
tutored nature, and it was not an uhuS-
anil occurrence to see bands of from on
to 100 wild horses on the run at Jun
speed. making their escape from inc iac :
nj man ere they had caught slght OF ms
nnnroach. A wild horse is consluered
tba most wary animal on the plains ana
rnn scent n man five miles away II the
wind il favorable. 1t was common
thing TO see among a band OF these
horses animals of all the colors natural
10 the horse-picbald, claybank, straw
horrv roam. calico, "ringed," streakcd
and striped, coal black and snow whlte'
without spot or blcmsh.
The Mexicans at that day IN tnat seG-
lion carried on quite successiul pusl-
ness capturing and demonstrating tne
mustang, and, as is usual among 'iin'
rlass of frontier people, supersuIt.loils en- Gu
tered largely into their madic lives, es-
neciolly in regard to wild animals, the
'ranture of a snow white animal beng
considered by them "lucky' omen, pro-
vidod the animal was without dlscol-
ored hair. An animal Of this kind was
locked unon with somewhat OF rever-
once similur to the sacred white elephant
of India. ,,,,or tbo
And then there was ranging over .ne
vast plains what was known III tnGlr eu
nerstitious legends as the caVaIlo plarco,
q snow white stallion Of the most pti III
symmetry. and name and tail that hau
4In appearance when the horse was Ill
fnll flight of two long, white banners
eynosed to a stiff breeze. In TACT, no one
Ind oyer seen the horse in any 0ther ai
titude except in full flight. ana Ill SUN
snned MS to appear as WlnScu spcCIi,I
sailing through the air mt electric speeu'
his feet not seeming to touch the eartn.
Coupled with the extreme warihess
and unaccountabe speed OF the a1 I'M ~
his unblemished whiteness causeu lllG Is
norant border Mexican to look upon MN
with slperstitious awe. AhoineI u
Usual thing connected with the history OF
this necuiiar animal was the fact tnat
no had been sighted by different parties
,at different times in other ranges, SeN,
oral hundred miles from where ne hhu
g,enn seen n few months before ana posi-
tivply identified rs one anu lhe SAINT
horse. These characteristics OF the uorsc
had settled the fact so concluSlVely III
the naturally superstiti0us MINDS Oh INC
,,warthy plainsmen that he was phth-
tom, that he had become known aiionb
them as the equine ghost Oh the pi'ihe'
While reclining in the shade Oh luA-
sriant evergreen, upon bed OF sou moss
mesouite grass, during the hours OF the
usual siesta, enjoying the cool zephyrs
that came floating lazily from the Guil Oh
Meyico. laden with the fragrance from
the beautiful variegated carpet OF wiz
flowers spread out upon the Whoie lahu,
/ listened to my Mexican guides III Their
relation of those legends with an amused
interest, not doubling the existence OF
such an animal, but as to the supernatural
part of the story | had grave doubts, ana
/ had formed an Unsuitable desire TO see
with my own eyes the much-talkeu-ol
"'horse-ghost" of the plains.
All that day there was a stretch OF wild
and unsettled territory of 200 or SOO miles
west of San Antonio, reaching to Pas0 del
Norte, now lei Paso city. The Mexican
guides knew every mustang range III TINS
whole wild section of country, and could
with great precision locate their ghost
horse" from the course taken from nm III
his last fight.
While listening to these wierd and awe
inspiring legends of the guides L had be-
come deeply imbued with desire to cap
ture such Il beautiful animal as this
equine ghost" had formed in my mind
a plan to secure him alive If such thing
was possible; and having just finished my
contract in that particular locality and
having few days rest from the arduous
iabors to which | had been subject for
several weeks, felt that a scene of that
nature would restore my wonted spirits
and satisfy longing desire for change
of business for spell.
In laying my plans before my Mexican
guides l had some difficulty i'll getting
their unanimous consent TO join me in the
undertaking, but by much coaXing finally
succeeded, and after swearing them on
the cross" to be loyal to me, we set about
forthwith to carry out my plans with
great enthusiasm. The range in which
the ghost" was thought to be was some
10 miles distant, near the hcadwaters of
the Nueces river.
In our course to the range we entered
after two days travel deep, broad can
y
of rich mequite grass and clumps of
palm cactus, and after proceeding few
miles up the canyon we came to Il patch
sf thorny chapparal, a perfect jungle
reaching from one wall of the canyon to
the other, and so dense, except in the
very center, that nothing larger than Il
Jack rabbit coult possibly penetrate.
The only pass through this thicket was
through narrow foOtpath in the center,
running parallel with the canyon and
only wide enough for a hundred yards or
more for single horseman to pass by
Il terrible scratch right and left. The
path then gradually widened out into
funnel shape to the abrupt walls of the
canyon on either side. After reaching
a space wide enough for the whole party
TO collect, council was held in order to
discuss bright idea that had forced it
self into the mind of an inventive genius
of the party. The plan suggested was to
set snares along this narrow pathway
by means of our strong 40-foot stake
ropes in such Il position that the fore
most horse in his wild STAMPEDE once
entering the path could not fail of run
ming his head into the moose, the other
end of which was secured to a stout
grub, solid enough to hold an elephant.
The moose was so arranged directly
across the path that the lower part would
Just strike the breast and the upper part
Just high enough to miss the highest
head of a badly frightened and widest
horse on the plains. Five of these snares
were arranged. Luckily the wind was
blowing gently directly down the can