The age-herald., 1898-01-23
DESPERATE CATTLE STAMPEDE.
Fifteen Thousand Were Caught Up in the Mad
 Rush.
From the Waco Independent.

One of the most desperate stampedes of
 cattle ever witnessed by a Texas cowboy, occurred in 1876 on the prairie in the center
 of which now stands the town of McGregor Fifteen thousand cattle and twenty-five cowboys participated in the exciting event Mir. Cranfll was not participant, but he tells the story as he got it from an eye witness. Late in the afternoon of July | there had been a lively thunder storm that
 made the cattle nervous. At 10 o'clock at
 night, however, they seemed to be sleeping profoundly. Then the narrative proceeds as follows:
 'The stars were all shining, and there
 was no cause at all for the arousing of the | herd. They appeared to get up all at
 once, with a single purpose, and the roar that was heard seemed to come from sim gle throat. The Wilson brothers and their cowboys, who were sleeping in the camp, | rushed to their ponies, who were grazing with the saddles and brides on, and as fast as the bits could be placed in their mouths they mounted and galloped to the Hanks of the now disappearing mass, head ed in the direction of Brazos river. "Tha usual course on such occasions is to get in front of the herd-a risky piece of work-and start it running in a circle. This attempt was made in this case. Some cat tie can outrun others, and in this case there was a bunch of about fifty fully twenty yards in advance and toward this leading group the two rescuers rode. Of the lead ing group also some were faster than oth- CTS, and this group ran in a diamond shape, with two immense steers leading all. When MT. 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 obique, and as the leading bunch of cattle obliqued the main stampede obiqued, and the first step in milling had been taken. By this time the cattle were getting tired. Nearly five miles had been covered, and the breath
 of the leaders was coming short and pain
 fully, but they were rushing on, because
 the front cattle at this time knew as a
 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 were compelled to run. There
 was real danger for the forward members
 of the stampede.
 ''In the invoice articles contained in the
 regular outfit there is always some kind
 of stimulants, and but for the stimulants
 contained in Mr. Wilson's outfit it is pos
 sible that the stampede would have been halted without disaster. He had Mexi- halted without disaster. He had a Mexi-
 can alongcan along; one of the best cow boys in the southwest. This Mexican and his horse always reminded those who saw him ride of the fabled Centaur. He rode far forward and bent over, that he and his horse appeared to be animal. No horse, however rugged wild and woolly,' had ever been able to unseat him. This Aztec had been to the little brandy runlet GI tod +, cup with surreptitious intoxicants, so that his usual excellent judgment went away. When he succeeded in getting mounted, af- ter having fumbled with his bridle good deal, he was far in the rear, and the stam- pede had gone past him, so that when he overlook the rear end he passed to the front the other side and rode on the
 wrong flank. When he reached the head
 of the herd he was just in time to defeat the manoeuvre then under execution Of
 bending the moving mass from a straight
 line into a semi-circle. Revolver in hand,
 disregardng the other men, he began shoot
 ing iii the faces of the wild steers, and the
 effect of this was to straighten the run
 and bring the advance straight toward a
 precipice. This precipice was wash in
 the prairie, forming deep ravine fully
 thirty yards wide, and in shorter time
 than it takes to tell of this contretemps
 the head of the column was pouring over,
 a horrible cascade of beef plungng madly
 to destruction while fleeing from irnas- mary danger
 When MT. Wilson and his leutena1ts
 saw that it was impossible to save their
 cattle they saved thems elves by dexterously
 turning at right angles at full speed and riding put of the way. They next re- turned to the flank and held a council of war. A few seconds decided them and all hands commenced shooting itEo the herd the object now being to build breastwork of carcasses and save the rear end from the destruction that had overtak-
 en the rfont. 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 be- gan and the wounded ones tumb1ed over on the others, and in a short time the gully like the sunken road at Waterloo, was bridged. by carcasses. The herd surged up in pillows like ocean, and bent now, because it could not do otherwise. The sem-circle 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 and shiver- ing. All hands remained on watch all
 night, and in the morning, when a count was made, it was ascertained that 2,T00
 head were missing. There were afterward 2700 pairs of horns taken from that gully
 It was called Stampede Gully for many
 years afterward, and perhaps will always
 with some people be remembered by that
 name"