The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-12-28
"A MEMORABLE STAMPEDE.
Herd OF 1900 Cattle Killed II,
Their Followers

herd or 1900 Cattle Killed L
Their Followers.
One of the most desperate slammed,
is OF cattle ever witnessed by a lex,
If COW ooy.,, says Rev. j. B. CranGll,
~ waco, Tex, occurred in 1876 on tb
~ prairie in the center of which no.
: stands the town Of McGregor. Fiftee
- thousand cattle and % cow BOYS partic
Dated in the exciting event. M,
~ Cranhll was not participant, but h
h Tells the story as he got it from an eye
- witness, in The Independent. Late il
=, the afternoon OF July 1 there had bee
- Il lively thunder storm that made tn,
3 cattle nervous. at 10 O'Clock at night
: however, they seemed to be sleeping
. profoundly. Then the narrative pro
ceeds as follows:
,, The stars wore all shining anC
+ there was no cause at all for the arous
: ing of the herd. They appeared tC
get up all at once, with single pur
pose, and the roar that was heard
seemed to come from single throat
me Wilson brothers and their COW boys
VINO were sleeping in the camp rushed
TO otheir ponies, who were grazing with
the saddles and brides on, and as fast
as the bits could be replaced in their
mouths they mounted and gallOped to
the Hanks OF the new disappearing
mass, headed in the direction Of the
BraZos river"
The usual course on such occasions
is 10 get in front of the herd-a risky
piece OF worB-and start it TO running
IN circle. This attempt was made
IN this case
" Some cattle can outrun others, and
IN this case there was "a bunch of about
fifty fully 20 yards in advance, and
toward this leading group the two
rescuers rode. OF the leading group
also some were faster than others, and
thlS group ran in diamond shape,
with two immense steers leading all
When Mr.. Wilson and his companion
reached the two leading steers they
began shooting their revolvers close
to them, and IN that way the bunch
was made to obl.Que, and as the lead
ing bunch of caJl.e obiiQued the main
stampede oblqncd, and the first step
| IN milling had been taken. BY this
Ilme the cattle were getting tiredi
Nearly five miles had been covered
and the breath Of the leaders was
coming short and painfully; but they
were rushing on, because the front
| cattle at this time knew as % matter of
fact their only safety was in keeping
np the run. Those behind we've com
ing, and they were in the majority,
ana the leaders were compelled to run.
There was real danger for the forward
members of the stampede.
In the invoice articles contained
In the regulation outfit there is
always some kind OF etimulants and
but Tor the Stimulants contained in
Mr.. Wilson's outfit, it is possible that
the stampede would have been halted
without disaster. He had Mexican
along, one Of the best boys in the
southwest. This Mexican and his
horse always reminded those who saw
him ride Of the tabled Centaur. He
rode far forward and bent over, so that !
he and his horse appeared to be one
animal.
No horse, however, rugged, "wild |
and woolly,' had ever been able to
unseat him. This Aztec had been 10
the little brandy runlet too often, and
had filled and emptied his tin cup
with surreptitlous intoXicants, so that
his usual excellent Judgment went
away. When he succeeded in getting
mounted, after having fumblcd with
his bride a good deal, he was far in
the rear and the stampede had gone
past him, so that when he overlook
the rear end, he passed to the front on
the other side, and road on the wrong
Hank. When he reached the mead Of
the herd he was ust in time to defeat
the maneuver then under execution Of
bending the moving mass from a
straight line to scmi-circlc. Revolver
in hand, dlsregarding the other men,
he began shooting in the faces OF the
wild steers; and the effect Of this was
to straighten the run and bring the
advance straight toward precipice
This precipicc was wash in the
prairie, forming deep ravine fully
in Sh
time than it takes TO tell of this con-
tretemps, the head OF the column was
pouring over, "a horrible cascade of
beef piunging madly into destruction
while nccing from an imaginary
| danger.
When Mr.. Wilson and his lieuten-
| ants saw that it was impossible to save
their cattle they saved themselves by
deXterously turning at right angles at
full speed and riding out OF the way
They next returned to the flank and
decided them, and all hands com
mcnced shooting into the herd, the
object now being to build Il breastwork
OF carcasses and save the r"ar end from
destruction that had Overtaken the
front. The gully was nearly full of
cattle by this time. They were snort
ing and believing, craS hing and tear
ing, and still hcaping up: and when
the firing began the wounded ones
tumblcd over on the others, and in Il
short time the gully like q snnken road
at Waterloo, was bridged by carcasses.
The herd surged up in billows, like an
ocean, and bent now, because it could
not do otherwise. The scmicircle was
formed, and Wilson and his men
crossed the gully below and rode
around the opposite side and recrOssed:
and in a short time they had the cattle
halted forming an incomplete letter
O, and there they stood, blowing,
believing, shivcrng. All hands re.
manned on watch all night, and in the
morning, when count was made, il
, was asCertaincd that 200 head were
, missing. There were aftcrward 200
, pairs Of horns taken from that gully
1T was called Stampede Gully for many
3, years afterward and perhaps will
, always, with some people, be re-
, mcmbercd by that name.'