The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-01-11
STAMPEDE GULLY.
HOW A WELL KNOWN RAvINE IN
TEXAS GOT ITS NAME.

A Herd of $4,000 Cattle stampeded at
Night, and Before They Were Stopped
2,7OO of Them Were Killed-Costly
BIunder Made by a Mexican Cowboy.
One of the most desperate stampedes
of cattle ever witnessed by Texas cow
boy, says Rev. J. B. Cranfill of Waco,
Tex, occurred in 1875 on the prairie in
the center Of which now stands the
town of McGregor. Fifteen thousand
cattle and % cowboys participated in
the exciting event. Mr.. Cranfill was not
a participant, but he tells the story as
he got 1t from an eyewitness in The
independent 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:
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 single purpose,
and the roar that was heard seemed to
come from a single throat. The Wilson
brothers and their cowboys who were
sleeping in their camp rushed to their
ponies, who were grazing with the sad
dies 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 mass, 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 a bunch of about
90 fully 90 yards in advance, and to-
ward this leading group the two rescu-
ers 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
chat 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 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 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 mem
bers of the stampede.
"In the invoice of 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 wonld 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. This Az
tee had been to the little brandy runlet
too often and had filed and emptied his
tin cup with surreptitious intoxicants,
so that his usual excellent Judgment
went awry. When he succeeded in get
ting mounted, after having fumbled
with his bride a 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 bend
ing the moving mass from a straight
line to 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 advance straight
toward precipice. This precipioe was
wash in the prairie, forming deep
ravine fully 80 yards wide, and in
shorter time than it takes to tell of this
contretemps the head of the column was
pouring over, horrible cascade Of beef,
plunging madly into 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 dexter
ously turning at right angles at full
speed and riding out of the way. They
next returned to the flank and held
council of war. A few seconds decided
them, and all hands commenced shoot
ing into the herd, the object now being
to build breastwork of carcasses and
save the rear end from the destruction
that had overtaken the front. The gull
ly 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 short time the gully,
like the 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 count was made,
it was ascertained that 2, 700 head were
missing. There were afterward 2,700
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
by that name.