Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-01-13
THEFOURQUREAN- PRICE ca
WILD MULES IN MONTANA.
The Origin of Strange Herds in III,
bitter Root Valley.
(Arlee (Mont) Correspondence OF the Ct.
cago Record)


(Arlee (Mont) Correspondence OF the Cs.
cago Record)
Almost any one may own a horse d
Montana. If he has not the s., so, SD o.
so necessary TO pay for the blood and c..
ture with which any particular animal
may be. endowed, he may, II he has be
necessary agility. 90 out on the range li
take one for there are plenty that l0li
belong 10 any one else.
Since the price on horses fell below ne
paying point many ranchpen have neg
lected branding their stock or keeping
any track OF il, and. In fact, there have
been a good many local efforts made By
the owners themselves 10 exterm.nlte
drive the horses of the immediate ranges
that there might be better grass for ca,ti
and sheep. 1t is a very repulsiye blsnai
TO a western man more especially thar
any one else, TO shoot a horse. and q usa
who is capable OF IL Is regarded with "a.
Their more circumspection than one V.o
has killed his man.
SO. being protected by a spark OF se'r'
ment. the herds Of wild or mayeHs
horses are really increasing, and a rsE
royal breed of animals they are. WEI
the business was good, few years olA
the Montana breeders were the most a,'
ergetic and progressive Of any ir ti
West They bought sires OF thorous.h'i
and trotting blood in Kentucky and tlnt
them loose with their herds.
Others who desired size rather hh
endurance went TO Illinois and Canal
and purchased great Norman and ciyia'
dale stations. While the prices ruled h'sh
the two classes were bred separately ui
Of late years they have been aA9Hl
TO run into one uniform and honl--
neous herd. The new breed is OF gl
height and strengthened, with lung i4a
er and endurance that are suggestive q
a greyhound
IL conditions were 10 remain the sane
for. say. a period of thirty years longer.
without any new admixture Of blood. Dc
is reasonable to expect that these he'ls
would gradually assume a unliosnA N'
size, shape, and color 10 as great an .
tent as is noted in any other wild ar
mails.
did you ever hear of the Wild mls
OF the Bitter Root Mountains ASKED
prospector the other day.
/ had never heard Of them, and the sls
gestion seemed a little bit wooiy ali
western, as mules. being withon. Peg
OF posterity have a very uncertain ieD-r
Of existence as a species, ana i4i
have expressed scepticism.
"But they are there. for ! have sr'
them" he continued Il have seen n.-
dreds of them-little. gray fellows o.-
about the color OF buffalo-grass- ~
are some wilder than an antelope. la3
are most too small and vicious 70
worth botherlng with, even n it Waf
easier to catch them. They W0lil .M
TO associate with the horses. DIX '-.
stations drive them OF, and they h-'
20 herd by themselves. As the sle
men dcspise them, they are Kept prey
well scared back into the mountains
"Where ala they come from, ana A.'
Is the supply kept up?' 80,
well sOmo OF their ancestors
prosecutors are still with them
burros. as wild as the little mules 49,
selves. II began I'm 1870. when W..
lost mis- drove OF burros on the 81 A"'
fork OF the Bitter Root. 49,.
"He brought back "a pack-traln e.. D
ros all the way from Southern Do."-,
or New Mexico. II was 40 the um.
one OF the earliest discoveries or gov
the Occur d'Alene mountains, ana
Wilson got the reports Of the di7,0,,
and the rush. he conceived me lA.'
he could make big money packing i,'
miners. .-s
"Wilson hal about forty llrfo'
he hired another man, and well e4o.-
the season they started northwafi' ~.
made their way slowly through 'o.9i
and Wyoming into Montana, th' -
December lst after pretty h-i- 4.
they reached the Missoula river "a.
they got the first reliable news a. II
mines. They ascertained that lN M.
value OF the discoveries had DeeN 49,
exaggerated, and that there was \,
Iutely no demand for pdcA-ii""
any description. ...-, %
Then Wilson concluded 70 ~
Colorado. They started sortn"'I- ~
cot as far as the ST. Mary ,, WIZ, .,r.
were overtaken by blizzard, VIM Is
tinued several days. After me .... 80
over and they went TO 'rouni y. ft
donkeys. they were able 10
three or four In a whole days ts-,t
:" WHAT'S the use OF trying 10 yet - ~.
IN Colorado?" asked Wilson. 'I'ts.
ros can probably pull through ihe W,
here as well as anywhere anu 49,.
spring comes, they VIII DC "0'''
thing IN Montana ~ ~
few animals they had LEFT ana ni"''
way 20 Helena" ts III.
"Did he never try TO round UP N
ros againT ,,,, any.
wav he never got them. and ths' .,,,.
counts for the little wild mules OF .,s
western Montana and idaho. in,, .tos,
70 be proverbally protected SUE
80