The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-02-26

piece Of the work-and start it to run
made in this case. Some cattle can
was bunch Of about fifty fully twenty
yards In advance, and toward this lead
ing group the two rescuers rode. OF
the leading group also some were faster
than others, and this group ran in a
diamond shape. with two immense
steers leading ell. When Mr.. Wilson
and mis- companion reached the two
leading steers they began shooting re-
volvers close to them, and In that 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 getting
tired Nearly five miles had been COW
cred, and the breath of the leaders was
coming short and painfully, but they
were rushing ON because the front cat
tie at this time knew as a matter of
fact that their only safety was in keep
coming. and they were in the majority,
There was real danger for the forward
members of the stampede.
I'm the invoice 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 stam-
pede would have been halted without
disaster. He had a Mexican along, one
of the best cowboys in the Southwest.
This Mexican and his horse always re-
r,o1n h Tid n
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
woolIy,' had ever been able to unseat
him. This Aztec had been to the lit
tie brandy runlet too often, and had
filled and emptied his tin cup with sur
reptitious intoxicants so that his usual
excellent judgment went awry. When
he succeeded in getting 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 bending the
moving mass from straight line to a
semi-circle. Revolver in hand, disre-
garding the other men, he began shoot
ing in the faces of the wild steers, and
the effect of this was to straighten the
run and bring the advance straight to-
ward a precipice. This precipice was
a wash in the prairie forming deep
ravine fully thirty yards wide, and in
a. shorter time than it takes to tell of
this contretemps the head of the col
umn was pouring over, horrible cas-
cade of beef plunging to destruction
while fleeing from an imaginary enemy
when Mr.. Wilson and his ieuten-
ants saw that it was impossible to save
their cattle they saved themselves by
dexterously turning at right angles at
full speed and riding out of the way
They next returned to the flank and
held a council of war. A few SECONDS
decided them, and all hands began
shooting into the herd, the object now
being to build breastwork OF car
cases and save the rear end from the
destruction that had overtaken the
front The gully was nearly full OF
cattle by this time. They were snort
ing and believing, crashing and tear
ing. and still heaping up; and when
the firing began the wounded ones
tumbled over the others, and in a 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 semi-circle was
formed, and Wilson and his men
crossed the gully below and RODE
around the opposite side and recrossed'
and in a short time they had the cat
tie halted, forming an incomplete letter
o. and there they stood, blowing, bel
lowing and shivering All hands re-
manned on watch all night, and in the
morning, when a count was made, II
was ascertained that 100 head We're
missing. There were afterward Z,Ioo
nair 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 -Waco Independent.