The times., 1898-12-04
A DESPERATE STAMPEDE.
Fifteen Thousand Cattle Run Away
ON Texas Prairie.

F11teen lhOus1nd Cattfe Nunf AWuy
ON IA Texas ,rrairie.
(From the Waco independently
One of the most desperate stampedes OF 1
cattle ever witnessed by a Texas cowboy. |
says the Rev.. B.. Cranfil, of Waco. oc- |
CURED in 1876, on the prarie in the center
of which now stands the town of McGreg- |
or. Fifteen thousand cattle and twenty |
five cowboys participated In the exciting |
event. Mr.. Cranfil was not participant. |
but he tells the story as he got 1t from |
an eyewitness. Late in he=afternoon Of |
July there had been lively thunder /,
storm that made the cattle nervous. At |
10 O'Clock at night. however, they seemed
to be sleeping profoundly. Then the mar |
rative proceeds as follows:
''The stars were all shining, and there
were no cause at all for the arousinss 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 a
single 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 4
their mouths they mounted and ;,alloped
to the nanks of the now disappearing
mass headed in the direction of the
Brazos River
.The usual course on such occasions is
of work-and start 1t to running ina cir
Gle. This attempt was made in this cases
Some cattle can outrun others. and in TINS
case there was bunch of about fifty fully
twenty yards in advance and toward this
leading group the two rescuerS rode. OF
the leading group also some were faster
than others, and this group ran In dia-
mond shape. with two immense steers
leading all. When Mr. Wilson and his
cn mn M nj ha fun ct
they began shooting revolvers close to
them. and in that way the bunch was
| made to oblique, and as the leading
bunch of cattle obliqued the main stam-
pede obliqued. and the first step in mill
ing 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 q
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 real danger for the forward
| members of the stampede
In the invoice articles contained in the
| regulation outfit there is always some
| kind of stimulants, and but for the stimu-
| lants contained in Mr. Wilson's outfit 1t
| Is possible that the stampede would have
been halted without disaster. He had
Mexican along, one of the best cowboys
! In the Southwest. This Mexican and lis
| horse always remind 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
Aztec had been to the little brandy rum
| let 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 getting
mounted, after having fumbled 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
| ne 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 semi
| circle. Revolver in nd.edisregarding
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 precipice was a wash in
| the prairies, forming deep ravine fully
| thirty yards wide, and in "a, shorter time
than 1t takes to tell of this contretemps
l
| a horrible cascade of beef piungins to
destruction while fleeing an Imaginary
| danger.
When Mr.. Wilson and his lieutenants
saw that 1t was Impossible 10 saxe their
cattle they saved themselves by~ciaxtef-
ousiy turning at right angles at full speesl
and riding out of the way They next re-
turned to the flank and held a council of
| war. few seconds decided them and all
hands commenced shooting into the nerd
the object now being TO build a breast
| work of carcasses to 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 be-
gan the wounded ones tumbIel@ over on
the others, and in short ti1ne%ihe gully,
| like the sunken road at Waterloo was
| bridged by carcasses. The herd sergetI
up In pillows, like an ocean, and bent
now, because 1t could not do otherwise.
The semi-circe was formed and Wilson
and his men crossed the gully below and
rode around the opposite side and re-
crossed: and in short time they had the
cattle halted, forming an incomplete let
ter o. and there they stood blowing, bel
lowing and shivering. All hands remained
on watch all night and in the morning
when a count was made. 1t was ascer-
tanned that 2.70o head were missing,
There were afterward 200 pairs of horns
| taken from that gully It Was called
Stampede Gully for many years after
ward, and, perhaps, will always, with
some people be remembered by that
name"
To cure Malaria, ChiIls and Fever