The St. Johns herald., 1895-08-15
LING ENVELOPES.
Methods Of tho Navajo Indians in
 Capturing tho T;mid Animal
Pens in Which Hundreds of the Wary Creatures Are Cor-alcd at Once-A Cruel Practice That Should
 Be ChecixeJ.

Few people lC the west, ma scarcely Y any in the east, have any idea of the unique manner in which the Navajo Indians have from time immemorial caught antelopes, writes correspond cnt at Helen. \. NJ. Thousands of the beautiful creatures still abound upon the vast tablclands of this territory. In the country just south of the Maya Jo reservation, and between 1t and the Atlantic 65 Pacific railroad, one ire quently comes upon long, straight rows of the trunks of trees and the branches of cedar and pine, stretching for miles across these treelcsS plalns. In many places. says the Chicago Jour nal, they are nearly rotte1 away. and only the larger limbs and trunks now mark these lines. These are the ruins of ancient antelope corrals or pens. The large bands Of antelopes have long since been destroyed in this part of the country, and only small herds of from five to ten can be seen. These arc mostly hunted down upon the Amer ican or white raan's plan. However, directly south of Niusloyv. about fifty miles distant, large bands of these graceful creatures still roam, and there is in existence there q rcw corral that is in running order at tlie present time. 1t is here that the old men of the tribe, who believe in the ancient manner of catching game, enjoy their annual hunt.
 This corral was built in 1890 by the order Of the oli chief Gano Mumcho and his son, Many Horses. \ place was selected where a sight hill was found upon the border of wide prai- rie. Not even a sagebash could be seen, and trees fer the corral had to be brought from the ccdar-covercd hills nearly ten miles away. They were cut and dragged to the place by the men and boys On horseback. 4 close pen, cir cular in form. about one hundred feet across, was inst 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 the ground, but close enough to appear like g brush fence. Thcse lines at the pen are about twenty yards apart and run almost parallel for one hundred yards or so aud then spread apart at an angle of about thirty degrees and ezz- tend across the plains for four and a half or fire niles.
 When the party reaches the corral for the crnUal hunt tue chief first se- lects thc officers, four to watch each point Of the co1Gpa>;5 around the pen. For each 2 pit is dug deep enough to put him cut of sight. The less space required the more the occupant is es- teemcl and considered worthy of pro- motion later oa. The chief and his as- sistant then take their places at the right side of the entrance to the pen, standing in hole du.r for She pur- pose. and just deep cnoLgh 10 hide all except their heads. From f-o to eight Indians on the fcetest horses are set out at daybrea3l to surround q band of antclopes and head them toward the corral. An antelop2 when startled keeps as far a5 possible away from any place where an enemy might be hiding, hence they keep as far away from the wings of thc corral, which are on either side of them, as they can. After being closed in upon they cannot turn back, as the drivers are in hot pursuit, and they make a dash for the top of the hill, which to them appears to be the only opening between the horrid lines of brush fence. But, alas for them, they find themselves inclosed in q stout pen, around which they run in circle, never trying to jump over The shouts and yells of the Indians at 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, hatchets, stones CT anything at hand. As many as two hundred and fifty have been caught at one time in this man. ner, and for wholesale destruction of game it surpa3ses any murt!ering proc ess in vogue, and should be stopped en- tirely.