St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-25
WILD HORSE JERRY.
An Interesting Western Cknrac.
ter Who DetieJ IL Storm.

An Interesting Western Chnrac-
ter Who Deiied Storm.
Buffalo Express.
The most interesting character L
ever knew l me- last summer in Gree
ley, Weld county. Col.," said w. c.
Boeruer. of Denver, to an Express re-
porter. He has caught more wild
horses in his day than any other man
living His real name is Jeremiah
Smith, but everybody around Greeley
knows him as Wild Horse Jerry. He
has a little ranch down on the banks
of the Platte about ten miles east of
the town. and it was there l met him.
| was riding from Lovelands TO Ster-
ling. l stopped at Jerry's house for the
night, and that evening, before we
turned into bed, he told me something
about his experiences. He is quite an
old man now. but he is still very active,
and can ride 100 miles in a day easily
enough.
1T was over thirty years ago that he
started out as wild horse catcher
Since that time he has caught over
goo horses, and he has broken every
one of them to the saddle. He has
ridden for three days and nights stead
lily after some particularly wary band
of horses, stopping only to change
horses. 1t takes a man with all iron
constitution to do that, and he is one
of the most powerful men in the coun,
ty. He is under medium height, but
the muscles stand out all over his body.
"Once, he told me, he was far out
lot IN, IA ,t-t. with q
young German. They were miles away
from any ranch, when they were caught
in a snow storm. The only thing to do
when a storm like that strikes you
way down below zero, is to roll your
self in your blankets and lie down and
wait until the storm is over and the
weather gets warmer. That's what
they did. The snow piled over them
and kept them warm, but they knew it
would be as much as their lives were
worth to get up and try to continue
their journey. The snow came down
so thick and fast they couldn't see g.
foot ahead of them. They couldn't see
their horses: they couldn't see each
other. Jerry held his hand out before
his face, but the snow hid it from
his sight. He had to hold it close to
his eyes before he could see it. Hour
after hour passed by, and the storm
still kept on. Finally, after they had
lain there six hours, the German said
he was going to run the risk of getting
up and looking about. He thought he
might be able to find a ranch some
where near.
In spite of Jerry's remonstrances
the man started off. Jerry lay there all
through the day and night, and iE the
morning the storm passed away. Jerry
started out to look for him. and only a.
few rods from where he had been lying
he found his dead body. The wind had
been blowing such a gale that even
If he called for help Jerry would not
have heard him.
Jerry would be a rich man today
If he had let whisky alone. He made
tens of thousands of dollars out Of his
horses but he spent it all in Cheyenne
saloons There is only one band of
wild horses left in the state now, and
Jerry has made half a dozen unsuc-
cessful attempts to catch them They
wander about in the northwest corner
of the state. and are very often seen
by men on the Seven Cross ranch, near
Grover. Jerry has chased them for
hundreds of miles. but they have al
ways cluled him."