River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1898-12-29
Letter from Texas.


the morning and listened with utter
est to good sermon. After services
/ walked To the p0stotiice and inquir
cd for mail. Lo, and behold. | re-
ceiyed letter from a friend | have
thought of many times The letter
was very welcome and interesting
one So much so that / have read il
over three times and now | am en-
deayoring to answer 1t.
Since | wrote you last, | have tried
many changes and all for the purpose
OF improving my health. | must say,
dear friend, | have tried as hard as
any man on earth To regain that
which / lost in my boyish ignorance
| have lived a ranch life where
sweet potatoes and SOW belly were
the principal eatibles. have slept
on the desert with blanket under
me and the soft side Of mother earth
for my pillow. / have patched it in
lonely cabin beside the river PecOs
where rattlers, cenIipedes and taran-
tulas tried u make my acquaintance.
| have camped under the lofty peak
of Sierra Blanco in a canon. the still
ness Of which was only disturbed by
the rushing water Of a mountain
stream, called Rio BOnito, which
means river beautiful lit was indeed
a beautiful stream and what made it
more beautiful was the speckled
beauties itcontained All. they made
the frying pan smell. l have used
the wagon as my bed under Mt FL
Captain and listened to the howlings
Of The lobe wolf and the laughing of
the cayote. / have had all these
changes and many others, always
thinking the best place was just
ahead
So left Roswell for III Paso and
think it among my best moves, as |
| have derived a great deal Of benefit.
| In fact, | llatter myself on being
nearly we'll, and if | receive no set
/ back | am in hopes of landing at your
| beautiful city all O. *. | say. gour
beautiful city. Wei, my friend,
! have not as yet discarded it, SO |
might say otu' beautiful city.
/ viii now tell you Of another Of my
! adventures, but this one was not for
| the purpose Of bcnehting my health
| No. it was simply to satisfy my curiOs-
! ity, as you know | was always a
! curious lad. On the 4th day Of Dec.
| visited one OF the Old Mexican bull
! fights.
Ny friend and | arrived at the arena
| early, as we were not posted as to the
usual hour Of the fight but we did
not lose anything by being early as
| We saw the animals prepared for the
! com bat.
At one side Of the arena is the bun
| pen where about dozen bulls are
| kept. From these, four Of the best
are selected. They are forced into a
| narrow alley, just wide enough for
them to enter. As they enter this
! alley the sharp points OF their horns
| are sawed oil. The four are placed in
! line, one behind the other, but kept
| separate by timberS In front and be-
| hind them.
! When all is in readiness the fighters
| enter the arena, five on foot and TWO
| on horseback. The men on foot are
| dressed in flashy uniforms and those
| on horseback are dressed similar to
! pictures you have seen of GlddiatorS
! OF olden time except they have only
| one foot in a shield and the horse is
! protected by a large leather apron
| covering his breast and extending
| back to The saddle grit. phe tighter
| sits upright in his saddle with a pole
| in his hand, probably six feet long
| with d steel point on the end. This
| is for the purpose Of pushing the ami
! NAL aside in his mad rushes. lie is
| not always successful. Then the horse
| and rider fare badly. Eacn man IS at
| his station, the door Of the alley IS
| opened and in ruShCS the IlrSJ mad
| bull. He is Immediately infurated 10y
| the men on foot VINO throw red blank
| cts in his face In doing this they
| venture very near, but nearly always
| get away unhurt. When the animals
anger is at the highest pitch, the men
| on horseback venture out and chal-
| lenge him for fight. The enraged
| beast, with head lowered, rushes at
| the horse and rider. If the rider is
| successful the animal is seemingly
| pushed aside with ease, but it did not
| happen 50 in this case. The pole miss
| edlJs mark, the bull came on with
| the full weight of his furious lunge,
| and horse and rider, at one stroke OF
| the bull were thrown headlOng into
| the air. All was excitement in an in
slant and though no deaths resulted,
| both horse and rider were seriously
hurt. All the horses and riders were
| then taken out Of the arena and the
men on foot took up the combat by
CUrmenting the animal with RED
| blankets. While this was going on, a
fighter approached the bull with d
bauderilla in each hand A banderllla
| is a sort of a jayelin with sharp steel
point 1t is the shape Of d harpoon
and about two feet long, and is beauti-
fully decorated with tissue paper and
SUreamerS.
The fighter. called a banderillero,
approaches the mad animal and at
tracts his attention from the others
by means of the banderillas. The
animal, maddened by the sting Of
these, makes a rush to escape, at the
same instant the man Tushes at the
bull and sticks close to his side as he
plungeS across the arena, the bander-
llas. like fringe, sticking in each
side Of his burly neck. This is kept
up until the bulls neck is decorated
with different colOrs of tissue paper.
Then comes the matadOre to attack
and slay the victim. He walks into
the center of the arena with a sword
and red cloth in hand. He challenges
the animal with the cloth. The bull
makes rush and the matadore meets
him half way. AS the bull rushes on
him, the matadore thrusts his sword
deep into his massive shoulders, leaps
lightly aside and allows him to pass
on. The bull sways in his course,
staggers heavily and falls dead in the
midst Of the arena,
In one of the encounters, the hight
er met the animal and left his sword
sticking full length in the bulls neck,
not, however, having struck the fatal
spot. The beast reared, plunged and
shook his head in rage, and by so do
ing hurled the sword out of his neck
and far up into the crowd Of specta-
tors. No one was hurt, though sever
al were sprinkled with blood. The
bull was challenged for second fight
This time the deed was neatly done,
and a team Of horses, decorated IN
tassels and tissue paper was brought
in to drag his dead body out Of the
arena Things are now ready for the
next bull, and the same act Is gone
through with again.
The fight, all the way through, IS a
very unfair one: all in favor Of the
man. although there are some very
dangerous feats.
l do not wish to leave the impress
ion that / seek such heatheniSh
sports, but curiosity impelled me TO
see one and | assure you | do not care
TO see another. 1t is cruel scene but
upheld by the church Of Mexico.
| notice what YOU say about some
little keepsake / will not forget il.
There are many things you would APP
pFeciate.