The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-20
r1rrErx THOUSAND srAMprDrn.
A Disastrous and Memorable Runaway of
Cattle on a'Texas Prairie.

Cattle ON a'Texas Prairie.
From he Waco Irdspypdtnt.
One OF the most desperate, stampedes OF cattle
ever witnessed by q TexusJcewboy says the
Rev. j. B. Cranfll OF Waco. occurred In 1875 ON
the prairie in the centre OF which now stands
the town Of McGregor. Fifteen thousand cattle
and twenty. five cowboys participated In the ex-
citing event. Mr.. Crannl was not a participant.
but he tells the story as he got It from an eye
witness. Late in the afternoon OF July 4 there
had been a lively thunderstorm that made
the cattle nervous. At 10 o'clock at night.
however. they seemed to be sleeping pro-
%foundly. Then the narrative proceeds as fol-
oSSS r.,. all s,,n;ra md ,h.,o nu.. no
cause at all for the arouaing OF the herd. They
appeared to. get up all at once with. a single
purpose, and the roar, that was heard seemed
f Spo s4%s a fpSn 9bs 3 raoTSof fsr %So v ans s, @ilsIo9
ErsRin sa with i The Saddles II s@ and s SGdiss' o MaS and %Y as
they mounted and Ralloned to the TANKS Of the
now disappearing mass: headed In the direc-
The usual course on. such occasions Is to
get, in front OF the herd-a risky. piece Of work
sna sta Msa i made to sqi IN thigs Case Ia 3 c sC@s ca tbs e at,
bunch Of about atty, fully twenty yards in ad".
rescuers rode. or the leading group also some
were faster than others, and this group ran In
ing all When Mr. Wilson and his companion
reached the two leading steers theybegan shoot
inE rey 1s mS elos e + o otthem; and md In n. that hat Eayths
bunch of cattle ,obliqued the. main stampede
obliqued. and the fret step in milling had
been taken. BY this time the cattle were get
and the breath Of the leaders was coming short
cause the front cattle at this time knew as a
matter Of fact their only safety was In keeping
fhay wAr in fhA majority and fha laA1Aro NVaFR
the forward members Of the stampede. :.
regulation outfit there Is, always sct4S kind
Of stimulants. and but for the stimulants con-
the stampede would have been halted without
disaster. He had a Mexican along, one of the
bss e. SiSY bsTss Il 5iT tns sS PSmISSsdI tS Tsis Me- lean
him ride Of the tabled Centaur. He rode far
forward and bent over. 50 that he and his horse
ever eyssr rugged. " Ids and %ooily. II Ra ep ever BEEN been
able to qnseat him This Aztec had been e
t feS f intoIicant s.S so III That eH bis Usual %s1@ . sacsfeait
IndT EessisE went @os sTFsi When sissn h bsvi sSsee fsSl
bled. with, his bride a good deal, he
was far in the rear. and the stampede had gone
s saS r % R "a &c S " ny darn 1ISP' " WINS sss S Seh resc i'ss
feat the maneuyre then under execution, of
10 u BemlclTcle. feNOlVer' IN mana. OlBreRafu-
ing the other. men. he began shooting in the
was to streighten the run and bring the ad-
vance straight toward q precipiee. This preci-
pice was aswash in the prairie. forming O deep
ravine fully thirty yards wide. and In o shorter
time than 1t takes to tell Of this contretemps
the head Of the column was pouring over. q
horrible cascade Of beef plunging to destruction
while fleeing an imaginary danger.
When Mr.. Wilson and his lieutenants saw
that It was impossible TO save their cattle they
saved themselves. by deXterousiy turning at
right angles at full speed and riding out Of the
way. They next returned to the flank and held
q council Of war. few seepnds decided them.
herd. the object now being to build q breast
work of carcasses and save the rear end from
the destruction that had overtaken the front.
The gully was nearly full of cattle by this time.
They were snorting. and believing. crashing
and tearing, and still heaping up; and when
the firing began the wounded ones tum-
bled over on the others. and In a short time
the gully. like the Sunken road at Waterloo.
was bridgod by carcasses. The herd surged
up in pillows, like an ocean. and bent now. be-
cause it could not do otherwise. The semi
crossed the gully below and rode aronnd
short time they. had the cattle, halted.
forming an incomplete. letter o. and there they
stood blowing. believing. and. shivering. All
hands remained on watch all night. and In the
morning. when q count was made. 1t was ascer-
tanned that 2.700 head were missing. There
were afterward =. 700 pairs OF horns taken from
that gully. 1t was called Stampede Gully for
many years afterward. aud. perhaps. will al
WAYS. with, some people. be membe by