The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1898-01-19
STAMPEDE GULLY.
HOW A WELL KNOWN RAvlNE IN
TEXAS GOT ITS NAME.
A Herd Of $4,000 Cattle stampedcd at
Night, and Before They Were stopped
s,ioO Of Them Were Killed. Costly
Biunder Made by a Mexican Cowboy.

Biunder Made by Mexican Cowboy.
One of the mcst desperate stampedos
of cattle ever witnessed by Texas cow
boy. says Rev. J. b. Cranfill of Waco,
Tex occurred in 1876 on the prairie In
the center OF which now stands the
town Of McGregor. Fifteen thousand
cattle and 25 cowboys participated in
the exciting event. MIR. Cranfill was not
participant, hut he tells the story 40
he got 1t from an eyewitness in The
Independent. Late in the afternoon Of
July 4 there had been lively thunder
storm that made the cattle nervous. Az
10 o'clock at night. however, they
seemed to be sleeping profoundly. Then
tho narrative proceeds as follows:
1.-The stars were all shining and
there was no cause at all for the arous-
ing of the herd. They appeared to get
up all at once, with a single purpose,
ard the roar that was heard seemed to
come from q single throat. The Wilson
brothers aud their cowboys who were
slel ing in their camp rushed to their
ponies, who were grazing with the sad.
dies and brides OH, aud as fast as the
bits could @ replaced in their mouths
they mounted and pallnped to the ilanks
of the now DISAPPEARING mass, headed
in tho dire, tion of the ] raZos river.
The usual tuuiso on such occasions is
TO ret in front Of the herd-a risky
| piece Of work-and start it to running
in circle. ibis attempt was made In
this case.
''Some cattle can outrun others, and
in this case there was bunch of about
80 fully 20 yards in advance, and to-
wari this leading group the two rescu-
ers rode. OF the leading group, also,
some were faster than others, and this
group ran in a diamond shape, with two
immense steers leading all. When Mir.
Wilson and his companion reached the
two leading steers, they began shooting
their REVIEWERS close to them, and in
that way the bunch was made to oblique,
and as the leading bunch Of cattle
obliQued the main stampede ObliQued,
and the first step in milling had been
taken. BY this time the cattle were get.
ting tired. Nearly five miles bad been
covered, and tho breath of the leaders
WAS coming short and painfully, but
they were rushing on because the front
cattle ut this time knew as matter of
fact their only safety was in keeping up
the run. Those behind were coming,
and they were in the majority, and the
leaders We're con. PEELED to run. There
was real danger ior the forward mem
bers of tho stampede.
In the invoice of articles contained
in the regulation outfit there is always
some kind of stimulants, and but for
the stimu!ants contained in Mr.. Will
sons outfit it is possible that the stam-
pede wopld have been halted without
disaster. Ho had Mexican along, one
of the best cowboys in the southwest.
This Mexican and his horse always re.
minded those who saw him ride OF the
tabled Gentaur. He rode far forward
and bent over. SO that de and his horse
appeared to be one animal. No horse,
however rugged, wild and woolly, had
ever been able to unseat him. This Az.
tee had been to the little brandy runlet
too often and had filled and emptied hii
tin cup with surreptitious intoxicants,
SO that his usual exoellent judgment
went awry. When he sncceeded in get.
ting mounted, after having fumbled
with lie bride good deal. he was ia,
in tho Fear, aud the stampede had gone
past him, SO that when he overlook the
rear end he passed to the front OH the
other side and rode ON tho wrong flank.
when he reached the head of the
herd, he was just in time to defeat the
maneuvec, then under execution. of bend.
ing the moving mass from straight
line to semicircle. Revolver in hand.
disregarding the other men, he began
shooting in the faces of tho wild steers,
and the effect of this was to straighten
the run and bring the advmce straight
toward precipice. This precipice was
a wash ip the prairie, forming deer
ravine fully 80 yards wide, and in a
shorter time than it takes to tell of this
contretemps the head of the column was
pouring over, u horrible cascade of beef,
piunging madly into destruction while
fleeing from an imaginary danger.
"When Mr.. Wilsonand his lieutenants
saw that it was impossible to save their
cattle, they saved themselves by dexter
ousiy turning at right angles at full
speed and riding out Of the way. They
next returned to the flank and held a
council Of war. A few seconds decided
them. and all hands commenced shoot.
ing into the herd. the object now being
to build o breastwork Of carcasses and
save the rear end from the destruction
that had overtaken the front. The gul-
| l. A--1l -
time. They were snorting and below
ing, crashing and tearing, and still
heaping up. and when the firing began
the wounded ones tumbled over ON the
Others. and in short time the gully.
like the sunken road at Waterloo. was
bridged by carcasses. The herd surged
up in billows, like an ocean, aud bent
now because 1t could not do otherwise.
The semicircle was formed, and Viii
lon nnd his men CROSSED the gully be-