The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-04-21
Milling a Runaway Herd.
THE PERlLOUS TASK OF COWBOYS IN
A STAMPEDE OF CATTLE.
GTVER SEE a cattle stampede?"

LIVER SEE a cattle stampede?"
asked grizzled plainsman who
has passed the greater part of his life
upon the great cattle ranges of the
west. Il don't mean a promenade of
mich cows frightened by a neighbor-
hood dog, but the maddened flight of
several thousand head of long-horned
Texas steers, almost as wild as the
buffaloes of former days, whose tramp
ing hoofs raise a noise like thunder and
whose long horns toss among a sea of
waving heads; the whole moving mass
plunging madly over hill and plain,
ready to dash over precipice or cliff,
and not to be halted until the leaders
of the stampede have been turned back
iuto the body of the herd, and the band
is made to circle about until the mad
dened animals become so closely
wedged together that it is impossible
for them to move further. | tell you,
it is a magnificent spectacle, at once
grand and awe-nspiring.
ITO mill stampede, as the operation
of circling the leaders is termed, is
it is necessary for the cowboys who
have charge of the herd to ride at
breakueck speed side by side with the
leaders of the affrighted cattle, gradual
gy nearing them until the cattle veer
from their original course and turn
back into the remainder of the band.
The misstep of a pony in this mad race
of life and death is fatal to the rider,
who is cast beneath thousand pairs of
trampling hoofs in the twinkling of an
eye, to be crushed and trampled out
of recognition. And yet rarely a season
passes but the hardy cowboys are
called upon, sometimes at dead of night,
TO mount their horses and away in
a headlong chase after a stampeded
herd. They become hardened to the
danger, and take the call to horse as
a matter of course. But the uninitiated
rider would hesitate long and care
fully before riding away in pursuit of
a stampeded herd, going at headlong
speed side by side with the long-horned
and ank-belled leaders of the alright
ed cattle, gradually approaching closer
and closer, and finally driving them
back with whoop and yell into the
midst of their followers, and then cir
cling around the band until the STAN
pede has been milled and the danger
of self-destruction to the band has been
averted.
IL remember once in the spring of
1886 we were coming over the trail
with a band of fully 1000 head of the
wildest-eyed Texans that ever found
resting place in a slaughter house. The
season was a stormy one, and unusual
care had to be exercised to prevent fire.
guent stampedes. Thunderstorms are
the worst enemies of the peace of the
cowboys and trail riders, and they were
frequent and of great violence. Several
times the stampede of the herd was
averted only by the prompt appear
ance of the entire band of cowboys,
who rode around the herd until the
storm had passed. At night four night
riders were regularly detailed to circle
about the band, standing guard, as it
is termed, and singing to the immense
herd. Strange as it may seem, cattle
are quieted quicker by the notes of
the human voice than by any other
known agency. When night falls and
the night riders begin upon their cir
Giles about the gathered cattle, the
sounds of familiar airs ring out clear
upon the night air, and you may see
the cattle gradually sinking down to
the ground, as though soothed and con-
soled by the singing. Round and round
the band ride the night riders. meeting
each other as they circle in opposite
directions. and always singing. Trifing
incidents have been known to STAN
pede the quietest band. Occasionally
an inveterate cigarette smoker will
strike a parlor match and the short.
sharp snap of the match as it is igEited
will arouse the sleeping steers and in
trice they are up and away in mat
chase over the gloumy prairie.
I'VE were about four days from the
end of our journey and looking for
ward with pleasure to a speedy cessa-
ton of the continued anxiety of the
trip. when a tragedy was enacted which
cast a gloom over the spirits of the out
fit. and from which old plainsmen pre-
dicted disaster to the trail herd. Our
cowboys were for the most part Tex
ans and Mexicans, the former hot
headed and quick to take offense, the
iatter treacherous and revengeful. Be
tween two of the riders there was i'll
feeling. arising from some trivial dis
agreement at the beginning OF the trip.
The difference between the men was
gradually aggravated until only spark
was necessary to cause an explosion.
The climax came in the morning. Lum
Jeffreys, Texan rider, lighted a ciga-
rette after he had finished his break
fnst. and after taking a few whiffs OF
the smoke tossed it carelessly away
II was carried some distance by the