The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-02-17
HAT WAS a STAMPEDE.

Gulley and 200 Were Lost.
OneSof the most desperate stampedes
Of cattle ever witnessed by Texas cow
boy, says Rev. J. B. Cranfill, of Waco
occurred in 1876, on the prairie in the:
center of which now stands the town.
Of McGregor. Fifteen thousand cattle
and rs cowboys participated in the exc
citing event. Mr.. Cranfil was not !.
participant, but he tells the story as. he /
got it from an eyewitness. Late in the
afternoon Of July there had been
lively thunderstorm that made the cat
tie nervous. At ten O'clock at night,
however, they seemed to be sleeping
profoundly. The narrative proceeds as
follows: ~ .is ~ LIZ Il
""The stars were all shining and there
was no cause at all for the arousings
of the herd They appeared to get up
all at once, with q single purpose, and
the roar that was heard seem dsto come
from single throat. The Wilsonabroth-
ers and the cowboys, who were sleeping
in, their camp, rushed to their ponies,
which were grazing. with their saddles
and brides on, and as fast as the bits
could be replaced in their mouths they
mounted and galloped to the tanks of
the now disappearing herd, headed in
the direction of the Brazos river.
''The usual course on such occasions
is to get in. front of. the =herd.-a risky
piece of .work-and start it to running
in a circle. This attempt was made in
this case. Some cattle: can outrun
Others and in this case there was
bunch. of about so fully 20 yards in adj
vance, and toward the leading group the
two rescuers rode. Of the leading group
also some Were faster than others, and
this group ran in diamond shape, with
two immense steers. leading all. When
Mr.. 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 oblique, and as the leading bunch Of
cattle obliqued, the main STAN pede
obliqued, and the first step in milling
had been taken. By this time the cat
tie were getting tired. Nearly five
miles had been covered, and The breath
of the leaders was coming short and
painfully; but they were rushing on,
because the front cattle at this time
knew as matter of fact that 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 danger
for the forward members of the STAN
pede.
''In the invoiced articles contained in
the regulation outfit there is always
some kind of stimulants, and but for
the stimulants contained in Mr.. Will
sons outfit it is possible that the STAN
| pede would have been halted without
disaster. He 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 Centaur. He rode far forward
| and bent over, so that he and his horse
| appeared to be one animal. No horse,
however rugged, wild and woolly,'
had ever been able to unseat him. The
Aztec had been to the little brandy run
let too often, and had filled and emptied
his tin cup with surreptitious intoxi-
cants, so that his usual excellent iudg-
| ment went awry. When he succeeded
| in getting mounted, after having FUN
bled with his bride good deal, he was
far in the rear, and the stampede had
gone past him, so that when he overlook
the rear end he passed to the front on
| 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
| maneuver then under execution of
bending the moving mass from
straight line to a semicircle. Revolver
in hand, disregarding the other men,
he began shooting in the faces of the
| wild steers, and the effect of this was to
straighten the run and bring the adj
vance straight toward precipice. This
precipice was wash in the prairie,
| forming deep ravine fully 30 yards
| wide, and in a shorter time than it
takes to tell of this contretemps, the
head of the column was pouring over,
a horrible cascade of beef, plunging
madly to destruction, while fleeing
from an imaginary danger.
when Mr.. Wilson and his lieutenants
saw that it was impossible to save their
cattle, they saved themselves by dex-
terously 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 fir
ing into the herd, the object now being
to build breastwork of carcasses and
save the rear end from destruction
that had overtaken the front. The
gully was nearly full of cattle by this
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 a short time the gully,
like a sunken road at Waterloo, was
bridged by carcasses. The herd surged
up in pillows like an ocean, and bent
now because it could not do otherwise.
The semicircle was formed, and Will
son and his men crossed the gully be-
low and rode around the opposite side
and recrossed, and in short time they
had the cattle halted, forming an in
complete letter o, and there they stood,
blowing, believing. shivering. All hands
remained on watch all night, and in
the morning, when a count was made,
it was ascertained that 2,7OO head were
missing. There were afterward 2700
pairs of horns taken from that gully.
1t was called Stampede gully for many
years afterward, and perhaps will al
ways with some people be remembered