The Anaconda standard., 1899-12-10
He Was Chased by Wolves
on the Way to His Wedding

Wilhelm Windle was a stout youne
German. who, 20 years ago, lived at
Pelham, insthe Montana cattle region.
ana called himself Wilhelm Nindle"
which was his business. He was wait
er at Hoffman's restaurant and was
engaged to marry the moon faced,
peach-skinned German beauty, Georgi-
ana Mulheis, daughter of old Mulheis,
the brewer, of Stone Mountain He
was not up to the Mulheis social stand
ard old Mulheis having grown wealthy
from selling the spirit Of the hop. But
Georgiana was the eldest of 10 daugh-
ters, ''und 20 der vas no objections -
Wilhelm could make noosic on der
clarionet, und vas a member of der
band at Pelham, and he was proud
and happy when he walked with
Georgiana.
He and Georgiana We're to be married
on Christmas eve, so at noon the day
before Christmas, mounted on HoT-
mans red mule, he left Pelham for
Stone Mountain, Where the wedding
was to be held at the home of the
brewer, Mulheis. Stone Mountain was
in the foothills, 25 miles from Pelham.
Ten miles interviewed between Pelham
and the hills, and then the road skrted
the base line for the rest of the dist
ance. The wedding was to be marked
by pomp and ceremony. and the in
cidental festivity should extend over
Christmas, and in honor of the unique
occasion Wilhelm went forth from Pei
ham in magnificent attire, wearing a
bean-pot hat, cream colored pants, a
white vest and a sky-blue necktie-a
sartorial combination that would have
made the red mule shy had he given
it his attention.
1t was an eerie, uncheerful dayto ride
across the frozen prairie to ones we'd
ding, for the sky was sometimes over
cast and sometimes sunlit and huge
shadows flickered and danced over the
grim landscape, While an occasional
wind devil swept the snow crust. But.
as is mentioned in the philosophy of
the long dead, man bound to his own
wedding Wots little of a dark day, and
W1ihelm's route opened to him merely
a typical Montana scene in the Christ
mas season. and was neither unfamil-
lar nor depressing.
But it was a harsh winter upon the
Montana plains. and the wild things
about Pelham found food scarce Lack
of feed had forced the cattlemen to re-
move their herds to other feeding
grounds, and this had made matters
worse for them-the wolves and coy
oteS and the Wildcats-for they partly
lived by pulling down stray steers
There We're many wolves on the plains
that winter the gnaWing tooth of hun
ger driving the brutes from their fast
neSses in the hills, and they harred
the open country in fierce packs. Many
of them had gathered together in one
great band, and this ranged far and
wide. and became so bold that the few
cattle still on the plains could hardly
be kept from its raVening jaws. Hun
ger made the band desperate and mur-
derous, and presently it began to STAY
men. On the way between Stone Noun
tain and Pelham it pulled down tho
horse of Jew peddler, dragged the
Jew from his cart and davoured both
him and his beast. Then. licking it's
chops over the bones of it's victims. it
scattered the Jews pack TO the four
winds. And it killed and licked clean
the bones of old Joe Bowen, the cow
boy. who, having tumbled frCm his
saddle while drunk, lay sleeping off his
potations on the open prairie. How
ever, Joe gave good account of himself
before he died, and the bullet-pierced
skeletons of half dozen wolves lit
tered the ground where he was slain.