The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-09-17
BIG GAME HUNTING.


with bull train outfit, carrying sup
plies for Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson's
army that was sent against the Nor
mons. \ train consisted of25 wagons.
all i'll charge of one man, who was
known as the master. The second man
in command was the assistant wagon
master. There was an extra hand,
the night herder and the cavallald
div er, whose duty it was to drive the
lame and loose cattle The whole
train was denominatcd a bull outfit"
Everything at that time was called an
outfit, and at the present time the par
aphanalia Of the hunter who goes out
on hunting EXPEDITION is called by
the same name.
When the train struck the South
Platte river we found the country
alive with buffaloes. Vast herds of
these monarchs of the plains were
roaming around us, and we lay over
one day for grand hunt. The next
day we pulled out of camp, and the
train was strung out considerable
length along the road, which ran near
the foot of the sand hills, two miles
from the river. Between the road and
the river we saw large herd ofbufIa-
loes grazing quietly. They had been
down to the stream for drink. At
the same time We observed party of
returned Californians coming from the
west. They, too noticed the buffalo
herd, and in another moment they were
dashing down upon them with terrific
speed. The buffaloes stampeded at
once and broke down the hills. So
hotly were they pursued by the hun
ters that several hundred of them
rushed through our train pell nell,
frightening both men and oxen. Some
Of the wagons were turned clear
around, and many ofthe terrified oxen
attempted to run to the hills with the
heavy wagons attached to them. 9th
ers turned around so short that they
broke the wagon tongues off. Nearly
all of the teams got entangled in their
gearing and became wild and unruly,
so that the pcrplexed drivers were I'M
able to manage them. The buffaloes,
the wagons and the drivers were soon
running in every direction, and there
was certainly no lack of excitement.
Many of the cattle broke their yokes
and stampeded. One big buffalo bull
became entangled in one of the heavy
wagon chains. In his desperate efforts
to free himself he not only snapped the
strong chair in two, but broke the OK
yoke to which it was attacked, and the
last seen of him was running toward
the hills with the yoke hanging from
his horns \ dozen other remarkable
incidents happened during the short
time that the frantic buffaloes were
playing havoc with our train. When
they got through and left us, our out
fit was badly crippled and scattered.
Although, rs | have said, buffalo
hunting is now Il thing Of the past, !
feel that these references to the subject
will not be without interest, because
they refer to phase of American hurt
ing life which will never be forgotten.
In letter | received from General
w. 4. Sherman some years ago he
speaks thus Of the disappearance Of the
buffalo:
ssAs near as | can estimate there
were in 1865 about 9,5O0,OOO bufia-
loes on the plains between the Missou-
ri river and the Rocky mountains.
All are now gone-killed for their meat
and skins and bones. This seems like
desecration, cruelty and murder, yet
they have been replaced by twice as
many meat cattle. At that date there
were about l65, 900 Pawnees, Sioux,
Coeyennes, kiowas and Arapahoes who
depended on these buffaloes for their
yearly food. They, too, are gone and
have been replaced by twice or thrice
rs many white men and women, who
have made the earth to blossom as the
rose, and who can be counted, taxed
and governed by the laws of nature
and civilization. This change has
been salutary and will go on to the end
General Sherman speaks of the buf-
falo period as ''an epoch of the worlds
history William f. Cody IN
New York Independent.
Judge" Samuel Jones, You are
charged with robbihg Widow Green's
chicken roost What have you to say
to the charge?'
Not guilty, Jedg", to my know
ledge"
Judgc-''Expla YOURSELF
Samuel ''Jedge, if | took dem
chickens | did it unconsciouslv. 1t
am hereditary, Judge: | walks in my
sleep"
The true Christian is like the sun,
which pursues his noiseless track and
everywhere leaves the effect of his
beams in blessing upon the world
around him.