The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-01-12
A MEMORABLE STAMPEDE.
Fifteen Thousand Cattle Were in it, and
 Two Thousand Seven Hundred Were


 Two Thousand Seven Hundred Were Lost.
 One of the most desperate stampedes of cattle ever witnessed by Texas cow boy, says the Rev, J. E. Cranflll of Waco, occurred in 1876 on the prairie in the center of which now stands the town of McGregor. Fifteen thousand cattle and twenty-five cowboys partici- pated in the exciting event. MT. Cran- fill was not participant, but he tells the story as he got it from an eye-wit- ness. Late in the afternoon of July there had been a lively thunderstorm that made the cattle nervous. At 10 o'clock at night, however, they seemed to be sleeping profoundly. Then the narrative proceeds as follows:
 "The stars were all shining, and there was no cause at all for the arousing 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 sad dles and bridles on, and as fast as the bits could be placed in their mouths they mounted and galloped to the Hanks of the now disappearing mass, headed in flrn <%ft tlnn
 '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 circle. This attempt was made in this case. Some cattle can outrun oth- sand in this case there was bunch of about fifty fully twenty yards in advance. When MT. Wilson and his compan- ion 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 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 painfully; but they were rushing on, be- cause the front cattle at this time knew as a matter of fact their only safety was in keeping up the run. Those be- hind were coming, and they were in | the majority and the leaders were compelled to run. There was real dan | ger for the forward members of the | stampede.
 Tn the invoice articles contained in 10 11fi finr, ;e, al, aye some kind of stimulants; and but for the stimulants contained in MT. Will sons outfit. it is possible that the stam- | pede would have been halted without disaster. He had Mexican along, one | of the best cowboys in the southwest 1 This Mexican and his horse always re- | minded those who saw him ride of the l fabled Centaur. He rode far forward and bent over, so that he and his horse l appeared to be one animal. No horse however rugged, wild and woolly,' hae ever been able to unseat him. This Az. l tee had been to the little brandy runlet too often and had filled 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 fumblet l with his bridle a good deal he was fai | in the rear, and the stampede had gone | past him, so that when he overlook tht l rear end he passed to the front on tn, | other side, and rode on the wrong flank | When he reached the head of the hero | he was just in time to defeat the man eelyre then under execution of bending i the moving mass from straight line tt l a semi-circle. Revolver in hand, disre | garding the other men, he began shoot | ing in the faces of the wild steers, ant the effect of this was to straighten tn, run and bring the advance straight to ward precipice. This precipice was wash in the prairie, forming a deel ravine fully thirty yards wide, and in |; shorter time than it takes to tell of thi contretemps, the head of the column was pouring over, horrible cascad of beef plunging madly to destruction while fleeing from an imaginary danger
 When MT. Wilson and his lieutenant saw that it was impossible to save thei cattle they saved themselves by dexter ously turning at right angles at ful | speed and riding out of the way. The. | 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 beini to build breastwork of carcasses am save the rear end from the desructio that had overtaken the front. Tn gully was nearly full of cattle by thi time They were snorting and below ing, crashing and tearing. and sti heaping up; and when the firing bega the wounded ones tumbled over on tn others, and in a short time the gully like the sunken road at Waterloo, wa bridged by carcasses. The herd surge up in pillows, like an ocean, and ben now, because 1t could not do otherwise The semi-circle was formed, and Wilso and his men crossed the gully below an rode around the opposite side and re crossed and in short time they ha the cattle halted, forming an incompIet letter 0, and there they stood, blowing believing and shivering. All hands re mained on watch all night, and in tn morning. when a count was made. was ascertained that 2,700 head wer missing. There were afterward 2,7C pairs of horns taken from that gull, It was called Stampede Gully for man years afterward. and perhaps will al ways, with some people, be remembere by that name,
 
 COLOR IN FLOWERS.