The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-02-07
HELD UP BY SNAKES.
AN ARMY ENGlNzER,5 ExctTiNGN l0ilJ
IN TrE RoRTGWtsT.

q Walking Stick That HaA NtnetseM HASA
ties-Iaoosting ON . Boplder and SURF
rounded by WoIvcs-A Bnzxing NdAhS
That Is Far From Musical. sR
1--WE reached the Wolf mountain, In
the Big Horn country. one day i'm Sep
tember.n said Fl. P. futile. formerlyaan
army engineer, while to the south were
dimly visible the outlines of the Rattle
snake mountains. These names were
given TO these mountains by both the
Crow and Sioux Indians, vino regarded
them with horror. Late on the afternoon
Of our first day in these mountains /
sent all of my party to camp. about two
miles TO the southwest Going forward
with my transit to where I had sent my
head fiagman, / placed 1t in position and
told him he could return to camp, as /
had to remain i'm order to make an as
Economical observation early in the even
ing.
Taking of his belt, which held o
huge revolver and a sheath knife about
q foot i'm length, he handed 10 TO me.
saying that / might need 1t after dark,
AZ he had just seen o small pack OF
wolves ahead. After he had gone look
ed over the ground about me and saw
that I was ON q fat topped hill covered
with large powders and small stones,
but entirely destitute of vegetation.
Seating myself beside . big bowlder, /
took out my notebook and began writing
mp my notes for the day, when darkness
suddenly reminded me that 1t was about
time to make my astronomical observa-
tions. This was soon over, and / started
OF at a brisk walk toward our camp.
"Ihad not gene owe q hundred yards
when I saw, . few feet ahead Of me, q
long, black object lying directly in my
path. ! wanted a walking stick badly,
and was STOPPING down to pick 10 mp
when I noticed the end Of it farthest
from me was white. Taking D match
from my pocket and tearing q leaf from
the back Of my notebook, I o o had
the desired light, and what was my hCr-
ror to see that the supposed stick was
nothing but one of the deadly green rat
tlesnakes. completely paralyzed by the
chilly night air.
Another light showed that the white
object was the snakes rattles. So old
was he that his rattles had turned white.
Holding my revolver within 3 foot OF
his head, I fred and blew it entirely on.
But now came another surprise, which
for a moment made me tremble. The re-
port of my revolver had awakened doz-
ems Of rattlers who had sought shelter
under the loose rocks before sunset. The
sounds came from all directions, and
some seemed close to my feet.
ITO one who has been in the forest
and heard the noise made by hundreds
of locusts he q readily realize my stu
alton, for the buzz Of q rattlesnake il
exactly like the buzz of q locust. The
! only thing now for me TODD was TO stand
i'm my tracks all night or make my way
, back to the bowlder from which start
, ed, bnt there was . difficulty, for In the
excitement / had forgotten the direction.
But where there is o will there 10 q
: way, and by STOPPING low down and
: scanning the horizon I soon detected the
outline Of my transit against the sky,
and cutting of the rattles / wasso be-
!. side the bowlder and filed with excite.
ment enough for one night.
Sitting down blythe bowlder, ! made
! mp my mind to pass the night ut thai
] spot and was o sleeping as soundly
|. as n in the open air, with only .
canvas coat and the mercury below freez
|, ing. About midnight / was suddenly
: aroused by something trying to- pull of
!, the shoe from my left foot. I'm an instant
! / caught the glaring eyes and outline Of
o wolf. He had given up his grip as hi
! saw me move, and mechanically / seized
: my revolver. which I had left lying In
( my lap, and fired as best / could with
my half frozen hand.
"A loud yell showed that he had beer
struck. and Immediately . dozen o.
I more wolves who had been close by sci
mp a bowling, which in the still nigh
air could have been heard for miles
around. For an hour or two all wa
quiet. when a solitary howl q few yards
from me was answered by a dozen 9th
! ers not 100 yards away. 1t was too dari
10 see am animal of the size OF a vol
I more than 90 feet away; but, trusting II
luck, took the direction of the pack ri
Z near as possible and sent three shots q
! them as rapidly as / could fire.
Z "A couple of yells showed two hat
J been hit. most probably by glancing bul
!, lets. Soon after this the bowling of th,
wolves ceased. and for awhile all wa
J quiet again.
HAs soon as it was light enough
picked up the string OF rattles which
! had secured the night before and founs
= there were 10, and as the button wa
missing he may have had several more
= A few rods from my transit lay TIN
cleanly picked bones OF q wolf which ON,
!, Of my random shots had killed during
! the night, and on which the coyotes has
y made a substantial meal. but. NOT salts
fed with this, they had devoured TIN
y big RATHER / had killed, head and all.
Returning to camp, / ordered one o
my men to cut ten small poles, not les
% than eight feet in length, and TO walk
me mp Mt 10 O'Clock. AT that hour w
all started for the place where ! hat
n xsauuaa tha nfuhf Hnr0 we fnvu9 go