The St. Johns herald., 1895-06-06
ZINC ENVELOPES
Methods Of tho Navajo Indians in Capturing the T421id Animal
Pens in Which Hundreds of the Wax: Creatr-%s Are Ccrrsiled at Orce-A CTusI Practice That Should
 Be Checked.

Few pcople i7 t;le west. arr scarcely any in the eazt. hare any idea of the unique manner in whicl the Navajo Indians ha 5c from tine im1lemor:al caurht a-te.opcs, vvr: te.. 2 cocresp1r.'! cnt at Helen, Y Al. Thou9ands ot the beautiful creatures still abound upon tho vast tIblelands of this territory. In the country just south cf the Maya 70 reservation, and between it and the Atlantic G5 Pacific railroad, one ire. quentiy comes upon long. straight rows Of the trunks of trees and the branches Of cedar anl pine, stretching for jn;ies across these treelosS plalna. In many places. says the Chicago Jour nal, they are nearly rottal away, ana only the lar@er limbs and trunks now mark these lines. These are the ruina Of ancient antelope corTals or pens The large bands 0f artclopes have long since been destroyed in this part of the country, and only small herds of from five to ten can be seen. These ars mostly kurtad dcwn upon the Amer jean or white mans plan. However, directly south of Winslcw, about fifty miles distant, large bands cf these graceful creatures still roam, and there is in existence there T new coral that is ir running order at thc present time. It is here that the old men Of the tribe, who believe in the ancient manner of catching game, enjoy tile:r annual hunt.
 This corral was built in I890 by the order Of the old chief, Gano AIurncho and his son. Many Horses. i place was selected where slight hill was found upon the border of wide prai- ric Not even q GaGebush could bo seen, and trees for the corral had to be brought from the ccdar-c0yered hills nearly ten miles away. They were cut and dragged to the place by the men aud boys on horseback. < close pen, cir cular il form, about one hundred feet across, was first built against the steep side of the hill, So that the tops Of the posts used could not be seen from the opposite side Two lines of trees were then dragged and laid loosely upon tho ground. but close enough to appear like q brush fence. These lines at the pen are about twenty yards apart and run almost parallel for one hundred yards or So and then spread apart at an angle Of about thirty degrees and ex- tend across the plains for four and half CT five miles.
 When the party reaches the corral for the annual hunt the chief first sc lects the officers, four to watch each point of the compass around She pen. For each d pit is dug deep enough to put him out of sight. The less space requiI.ed the more the occupant is es- tecmcd and cOnSi lered worthy of pro- motion later or. The chief and his as- sistant then take then places at the right side of the entrance to the pen, standing in hole dug for the pur- pose. and just deep enough to hide all except their heads. From five to eight Indians on the flcetcst horses are set cut at davbrcak to surround 8 band of anteiopes and head them toward the corral An antelope when startled kceps as far as possible away from any place where an enemy might be hiding, hence they keep as far away from the wings Of the corral, which are on either side Of them, as they can. After being closed in upon they cannot turn back, as tho drivers are in hot pursuit, and they make a dash for the top of the hill, which to them appears tc be the only opening between the hOrrid lines of brush fence But, alas for them, they find themselves inclosed. in stour pen. around which they run in 6 circle, never trying to jump over. The shouts and yells of the Indians St length so completely terrify the poor animals that they stand trembling and appar- ently unconscious of the Indians, who now approach and kill them with clubs, hatchcts, stones or anything at hand. AS many as two hundred and fifty have been caUght at one time in this man ner, and fer wholesale destruction of game 1t surpGsses any numbering proc ess in vogue, and should be stopped ea- tirely.