Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-08-28
TRAP IN A CANYON,
An Attempt to Catch the Equine
Ghost.
HE WHITE STALLION OF TEXAS.
His Speed Had Enabled Him to Escape
Many. Many Timss-the Fate of
Magnificent Steed.

Some forty years ago l was travelling
through the western portion of Texas
and spent several years at San Antonio
de Bexar. As "a civil engineer. a great
deal of my time was spent out of doors,
many miles from any settlement or
habitation of man, locating land claims
and perfeoting titles. My business
frequently called me great distances
from San Antonio. and into the unex-
plored wilds where the mustang horse,
the wild bull, the tiger cat. numberless
red deer and wild turkey abounded in
all the freedom of untutored nature,
and it was not an unusual occurrence
to see bands of from fifty to one hun.
dred wild horses on the run at full
speed, making their escape from the
face Of man ere they had caught sight
of his approach. A wild horse is
considered the most wary animal on
the plains, and they can scent man
five miles away, if the wind is favor.
able.
1t was common thing to see among
a band Of these horses animals of all
the colors natural to the horse-pie-
bald, clay bank, strawberry, roam,
calico, "ringed," streaked and striped,
coal black and snow white, without
spot or blemish.
The Mexicans at that day in that
seoUion carried on quite successful
business capturing and domestioating
the mustang, and as is usual among
that class Of frontier people, supersti-
tions entered largely into their nomadic
lives. especially in regard to wild
animals, the capture Of snow white
animal being considered by them a
"lucky" omen, provided the animal
was without discolored hair. An
animal of this kind was looked upon
with somewhat of reverence, similar
to the sacred white elephant of India
And then there was ranging over the
vast plains what was known in their
superstitious legends as the cayallo
blanco, snow white stallion of the
most perfect symmetry and name and
tail that had the appearance when the
horse was IN full flight of two long
white banners exposed to a stiff breeze
In fact, no one had ever seen the horse
in any other attitude except in full
flight, and in such speed as to appear
as a winged spectre sailing through the
air at electric speed, his feet not SEEM
ing to touch the earth.
Coupled with the extreme wariness
and unaccountable speed of the animal,
his unblemished whiteness caused the
ignorant border Mexican to look upon
him with superstitious awe. An
other unusual thing connected with
the history of this peculiar animal was
the fact that he had been sighted by
different parties at different times in
other ranges, several hundred miles
from where he had been few months
before, and positively identified as one
and the same horse. These character
istics of the horse had settled the fact
so consclusively in the naturally sup
erstitious minds of the swarthy plains
men that he was phantom that he
had become known among them as the
Equine Ghost of the Plains.
While reclining in the shade OF a
luxuriant evergreen, upon bed of soft
moss mesquite grass. during the hours
of the usual siesta, enjoying the cool
zephyrs that came floating lazily from
the Gulf of Mexico, laden with the
fragrance from the beautiful varie-
gated carpet of wild flowers, spread out
upon the whole land, listened to my
Mexican guides in 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,
and had formed an Unsuitable desire
to see with my own eyes the much
talked-of "horse ghost" of the plains.
At that day there was stretch of
wild and unsettled territory of seven or
eight hundred miles west of San An
tonic, reaching to Paso del Norte, now
Ell Paso City. The Mexican guides
knew every mustang range in this
whole wild section Of country and
could with great precision locate theil
|
by him in his last flight.
While listening to these weird and
awe-inspiring legends of the guides
had become deeply imbued with de-
sire to capture such beautiful animal
as this "equine ghost" and had
formed in my mind plan to secure
him alive, if such thing was posi-
BILE; and having just finished my con
tract in that particular locality ant
had few days rest from the arduou
labors to which had been subject fol
several weeks. felt that scene O
that nature would restore my wontet
spirits and satisfy longing desire TO
change of business for spell.
In laying my plans before my Mexi
can guides had great difficulty in get