The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-14
1DAHo's POISONOUS POT HOLES.
Death Traps in the Soil That Are the
TerrOrs of Man and Beast.

TerrOrs of Man and Beast.
From the Denver Republican.
Attention is again called to the danger
GUS pot holes of the Payette by the story
of a hunter who saw several of a herd Of
cattle plunge into some of them and go
bawling AMI kicking down to a terrible
death. These pot holes do not cover any
great area, but they are sufficient in num-
Der to render travel across the section ex-
ceedingly dangerous, while to stockmen
they constitute a constant source of loss.
For many years the existence of these
pot holes has been known, but as the years
have rolled on they have not apparently
increased or diminished in size or number,
but stand there ready to receive in their
Shiny embrace any object, animate or in
ANIMATE, that may be unfortunate enough
to pass that way.
The substance with which these holes
are filled is of the consistency of mortar,
and the summer heat forms over the sur
face a thin crust, the appearance as COM
pared with the surrounding ground being
sufficient to deceive the man unacquainted
with the dangers that Turk on every hand
or the animals that may rush across the
mesa.
The pot holes are from six to twenty
five feet in depth, as near as can be as
certained. and are from four to twelve
feet across at the exposed surface, but
they appear to enlarge as they go down,
being like inverted tunnels, so that one
might break through before treading upon
the surface. Around these pot holes are
fringes of underground, and this fact has
saved many a man from terrible death.
faA NTH dir
cumstances avoid the section as they
would the fumes of hades, except when
compelled to go on to the mesa to "hur-
rah' out stock, and strangers are warned
to keep off the bare spots"
In the rainy season, when the action of
the water wears away the crust, the odor
that arises from the holes causes persons
who inhale them to become deathly sick,
giving rise to the belief that the holes are
filled with matter as poisonous as the
condensed breath of a million swamp rep
tiles. Hunters who have broken through
and had their shoes covered over with the
nasty slime have found that in the course
OF an hour the leather has become rotted.
A feature that attracts many to that
section Is that birds abound there, maxi
ing it a splendid shooting ground, but
the nimrods are all familiar with the To-
cation of the holes, and none of them has
ever come to grief beyond slipping in to
their shoe tops in moments of abstrac-
ton while waiting for a shot.
Ex-Gov. Mcconnell tells a story of how
the poisonous pot holes are supposed to
have claimed several victims in the early
days. The governor with a party was
mining in the Horse Shoe Bend country,
and came down to the Payette valley to a
point where Emmett now stands after
some vegetables, the governor having put
in a garden to which he afterward gave
n 10 0lu cin Of no mir
ing claims, as a more certain means of
piling up a supply of the yellow metal.
During that time the Indians, while not
on the warpath, had been giving the min
ers and stockmen no little trouble, and
when the governor and his party arrived
on the Payette they found a number of
cowboys greatly excited over the impromp-
tn burial, as supposed, of several Indians
in what are now Familiarity called the pot
holes.
The cowboys had chased a small band of
Indians away from their camp couple of
days before threatening to shoot them if
they did not thereafter keep their dis
lance. The Indians, it appears, secured re-
Inducements in the Boise Valley and re-
turned determined to give the cowboys a
taste of high life. They appeared on the
side of the mesa opposite the point where
the cowboys were encamped, and just be-
fore daybreak sneaked out through the I'M
uefSTOWln TO give the SlOChiuSu IL
prise party that they would not soon for
get just before they reached the point
where the pot holes are located they start
ed on the jump for the camp, whooping
like troop of iends. The cowboys at once
jumped for their guns. but before the red
skins had advanced 200 yards a most as
founding spectacle was presented. One of
the foremost Indians was seen to pitch
from his horse, and the animal itself was
seen floundering on the ground. Several
other Indians went down in the rapid sue
cession with their horses and others tum-
bled over them. This had the effect of stop
ping the revenge laden expedition. There
was a scramble to assist the fallen reds,
and then the majority of the Indians
wheeled about and struck off in the direc-
ton from which they came as though the
devil and all his legions were after them.
The cowboys made an examination and
found several horses mired in the pot
holes. Some were only partially in, and
these they managed to pull out, while 9TH
ers were so far gone that the cowboys
mercifully shot them and left them to
sink In the deadly mire. The cowboys saw
no Indians in the holes, but, as those they
saw running away on foot did not corre-
spond to the number Of swamped horses,
they came to the conclusion that some of
the reds at least had been pitched head
first into the pot holes, going under before
the stockmen could reach the scene.