The St. Johns herald., 1895-04-25
ZINC ENVELOPES.
Methods of the Navajo Indians in
 Capturing the Timid Animal
Pens in Which Hundreds of the Wary Creatures Are Corralod at Once-A Cruel Practice That Should
 Be Checked.


 Cruel Practice That Should
 Be Checked.
 Few people in the west, anO scarcely any in the east, have any idea of the unique manner in which the Navajo Indians have from time immemorial caught antelopes, writes 8 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 10 reserya ton, and between it and the Atlantic 6 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 treeless plains. In many places, says the Chicago Jour nal, they are nearly rotted 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 are mostly hunted down upon the Amer ican or white man's plan. However, directly south of Winslow, about fifty miles distant, large bands of these graceful creatures still roam, and there is in existence there a new corral that is in running order at the 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 old chief, Gano MunchO and his son, Many Horses A place was selected where slight hill was found upon the border of wide prai- rie. Not even a sagebush could be seen, and trees for the corral had to be. brought from the cedar-covered hills nearly ten miles away. They were cut and dragged to the place by the men and boys on horseb back. A close pen, cir cular in 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 the ground. but close enough, to appear .likeia brush fence. These lines at the pea 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 anda h3lf,0r 1ivO miles 70 .,-t .,- .-.. ,.,,
 When tho party reaches the corral for th& annual hurt the1 chief first Sc. -lectS the officers. four to watchi each point of the compass around thc pen. For each d pit ia dug, deep enough ito putlhiih out*of sight. The less space required the more the occupant''is es7 tGAned and considered worthy of pro- motion later on. The chief and his as 'sistatIt th6n tal;c their places at. the: right side of tho entrance to the pen, standing in a hole dug for tho pur- pose, and just deep enough to hide all except their heads. From five to eight Indians o- the 1lectcst horses are set out at daybrcak to surround band of artelopcs and head them toward the corral. An antelope when startled keeps 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 arc on either side of thcin, as they can. After being closed in upon they cannot turn back, as the drivers are in hot pursuit, and they make 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 stout pen, around which they run in a circle, never trying to jump over. The shouts and yells of the Indians at length so completely tcrrify the poor animals that they stand trembling and appar- ently unconscious of the Indians, who now approach and kill them with clubs, hatehcts, stones or 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 surpasscs any murdering proc ess in vogue, and should be stopped en- tirely.