New-York tribune., 1897-01-03
WILD MULES IN MONTANA.
THE ORIGIN OF STRANGE HERDS IN THE BITTER
ROOT VALLEY
Arlee Mont) correspondence Of The Chcal
Record

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Arlee CMont) correspondence Of The Chcag
| Record
he has not the s. so SO or necessary to pay 70
| the blood and culture with which any partcula
necessary agility. go out the range and take one
for there are plenty that don't belong to any ont
Since the price horses fell below the paying
point many ranchmen have neglected branding the
have been good many local efforts made by the
horses of the immediate ranses that there msh
be better grass for cattle and sheep 1t is very
than any one else. to shoot horse. and a man who
Is capable Of II is regarded with rather more cir
So being protected by spark Of sentiment. the
herds of wild or maverick horses are really ncreas-
When the business was good a few years back
progressive OF any in the West They bought sires
Of hOroughbred and and irottiHs blood in Kentucky
Others who desired size rather than endurance
vent to Illinois and Canada and purchased great
ruled high the two classes were bred separately.
but Of late years they have been allowed TO into
breed is of good height and strong -boned. with
lung power and endurance that are suggestive of a
II conditions were to remain the same for say. a
period OF thirty M years Longer without any new sd
these herds would gradually assume unifor nifty
Hf IN shape y anS sUH %a to M " as is
did U, you eyer hear OF Of The villa mules OF The
bitter koot Mountains! asked prospector the
had never heard e; Of them and the suggestion
being without hope Of posierlty. have very IN.
certain tenure of existence as species. and may
But they are there. for have seen them" he
conti1ued II have seen hundreds Of them-little
are most too small and vicious to be worth bother
They would like to associate with the horses, but
the stations drive them of and they have to herd
themselves StOckmen
are kept pretty well scared back into the noun
-. Where did they come from and how is the SUP
are still with them Mexican burros. wild the
little mules themselves 1t began in 1879 when viii
son lest his drove Of burros on the ST. Mary fork
rom train On G s the
at the time OF one sa Of The earliest discoveries Of gold
60, the reports Of the discovery and the rush he
conceived the idea that he could make big money
Wilson had about forty burros and he hired an
other man. and well along IN the season they
through Colorado and Wyoming into Montana, and
about peeember after pretty haTd trip they
FIRST reliable news about the mines. They ascer-
tanned that the real value Of the discoveries had
solutey no demand for a pack train Of any de-
"Then Wilson concluded to return to Colorado.
They started southward and got as far the st.
WITCH Continued several days Afey the siorm
was over and they wen. to round up their donkeys
they were able to find but three or four in a whole
days search.
whats the use OF trying to get back to Colo
rado?' asked Wilson: These burros can probably
pull through the winter here we'll anywhere
and when spring comes they will be worth some
thing In Montana
Then Wilson and his man took the few animals
they had left and made their way to Helena"
Did he never try to round up his burros aga!nr'
81 don't know about that. but, anyway. he never
got them, and that accounts for the little wild
mules of Southwestern Montana and Idaho They
seem to be proverbially protected, somehow, and
the number Increases every year