Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1898-05-30
STAMPEDE GULLY.
HOW A WELL KNOWN RAvJNE IN
TEXAS GOT ITS NAME.

pid One Of the most desperate STAMPEDE
DDS OF cattle ever witnessed by Texas COW
boy, says Rev. j. B. Cranfill of Waco
o's lex, occurred in 1876 on the prairie Il
the center Of which now stands th
no town Of McGregor Fifteen thousan,
ho cattle and 20 cowboys participated i,
-. the exciting event. Mr.. Cranfill was no
participant, but he tells the story Of
bo he got 1t from an eyewitness in The
Independent. Late In the afternoon O,
he July 4 there had been a lively thunder
m storm that mado the cattle nervous. AT
~ o'clock at night, however, they
es seemed to be sleeping profoundly. Then
the narrative proceeds as follows:
h 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 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
DIS could he replaced in their mouths
they mounted and galloped to the TANKS
OF the now disappearing mass, headed
III tho direction of the Brazos river"
The usual course on such occasions is
TO get i'll front of the herd-a risky
piece of work-and start it to running
IN circle This attempt was made in
this case.
"some cattle can outrun others, and
IN this case there was bunch of about
on fully 20 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
that way the bunch was made to oblioue.
and as tho leading bunch Of cattle
obllqued tho main stampede oblioued.
and tho 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 +
iact their only safety was in keeping up +
tho run. Those behind were coming. a
and they were in the majority, and the
leaders were compelled to run. There q
was real danger for the forward mem. h
bers OF the stampede. Il
In the invoice Of articles contained a
IN the regulation outfit there is ALWAYS a,
some kind of stimulants, and but for n,
inc stlmulants contained in Mr.. Will. h.
son s outfit 1t is possible that the STAN ri
oede Wonld have been halted without
disaster. He had a Mexican along. one
u tho best cowboys in the southwest.
This Mexican and his horse always re-. to
minded those who saw him ride of the ri
apled Centaur. He rode far forward gu
no bent over, SO that he and his horse i'd
ppeared to be ono animal. No horse. ph
owever rugged, wild and woolly, had ST.
yer been able to unseat him. This Az. ed
90 had been to the little brandy runlet w
20 often and had filled and emptied his
II cup with surreptitious intoxicants of
mat his usual excellent Judgment roc
ent awry. When he succeeded in get. the
ng mounted, after having fumbled I'M
18th his bride good deal, he was far {
.ilo year. ana the stampede had gone ing
'st MIN, SO that when he overlook the yor
ar end he passed to the front on the her
her side and rode on the wrong flank. er
When he reached the head of the apo
RI, nc was just in time to defeat the pre-
then under execution, of bend. ent,
the moving mass from a straight rea(
10 to semlcircle. Revolver in hand old
the other men, he began ent
ootlng III the faces of the wild steers. M
d the effect of this was to straighten ther
run and bring the advance straight hea(
Vafd O. preclploe. This precipice was We
wash in the prairie, forming deep and
Inc FULLY 30 yards wide, and in a part
rtor time than it takes to tell of this some
tho head Of the column was imp
ring over, horrible cascade of beef iudi(
nglng madly into destruction while in
ing from an imaginary danger. thro1
When Mr. Wilson and his lieutenants
That 1t was impossible to save their
le they saved themselves by dexter. Til
y 'orhlns az right angles at full decai
~ "nu rlolhs out OF the way. They born
'uiheu 10 the Hank and held infan
1cll OF war. A few seconds decided Mrs.
~ anu an hahds commenced shoot. Bran(
INTO the herd, the object now being nacle
ulld a breastWork of carcasses and know
l .no rear end from the destruction broug
had overtaken the front The pnl. early
as nearly full of cattle by this ana h;
y Ihey were snorting and below. which
crashing and tearing, and still of the
ing up, and when tho firing began hewed
nounuea ones tumbled over on the long
- "a anu ~ snort time the gully, closely
inc sunken road at Waterloo, was
'ea by carcasses. The herd surged
pillows, like an ocean, and bent "1t
se,,,;a;uo ~ could not DO otherwise laying
ND h;@ was formed, and Will keeper
nu MS men crossed the gully be- yopnp
hd rode around the opposite side calling
ecrossed, and in short time thew "He
inc cattle halted, forming an in. ment 1,
lete letter 0, and there thew stood aware
ng, believing, shiverine All oinnat;
remained on watch all night and
morning, when count was made,
ascertained that 2, 700 head were
lg. There were afterward 2,700 IT,,
called stamnoaa jill 'nae gully. In the
afterward ma 81, sly ior many people
with some noor,a p1ln VIII al. which |
name - 'p'' 70 reinempered of thos
weather
churches of Naples are so over. ton to
IN mice that most Of the pastors the sto
cen obliged to keep cats in them Under