The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-25
WILD HosREs ARE DISAPPEARING.
Fencing in Texas Is Decimating the
Roaming Herds.

Fencing in Texas Is Decimatins the
Roaming Herds.
From the Galveston News.
The wild horses which used to roam
the Texas prairies are about all gone.
! asked an old resident what had be-
come of them, and he told me that only
a very few remained and that they
were being killed as often as shot
could be had at them. l asked him
the reason for this destruction, and
he said that they were worthless. in
the first place, and that, in the second,
they stole other horses which
were good and carried them
me also that of all the wild
animals a horse or mule which had
formerly been under the dominion OF
man was the widest when once it be
came part of a wild herd. The star
lions of the wild herd were always
ambitious to keep their bunch" filled
and would steal a mare or horse, or
even mule, from the settlements or
COW ranches when the occasion pre-
scented itself. When once tame horse
or mule got with a wild herd he be-
came the widest and most cunning
up the territory of the wild horses con-
tracted. Finally all that remained
were in the large pastures.
I was told that before the pastures
came it was the custom to walk
| down. the wild herds and reduce them
to servitude. One man I met here told
me how this walking down. was done.
He said that the wild herd which one
was determined to capture always had
| a certain range. This range was
| known from men who secuted the pral-
| ries. For instance, one man may have
! seen the bunch" for that is what the
| herd is called, UP near some particular
- Trr hl n
| die. Another ranger may have seen
| the same bunch SO miles southeast
| of where the first man saw it. Others
| may have seen it along the route be-
| tween the two points.
Thus it would be concluded that the
range was between the two points men
| toned. Four or five men would enter
| the expedition to walk down the
bunch" A man would be stationed
| every 20 or 80 miles along the range
route, and then the bunch would be
started. For the first day the wild
horses would scamper off, throwing
| their names and tails to the breeze,
making a sight that would whet the
| desire of those pursuing them to cap
ture them, for there Is nothing prettier
| in the world than a troop of wild
| horses at a distance. They look per-
lection when they throw up their heads
| and sniff the wind and then scamper
| away. l have seen one or two punches
| myself. The man who starts them on
! their trips follows them for a day on
a pony, taking his time. His place is
taken by the second man about night
fall, presuming that the bunch was
started in the morning. The second
man follows them all night, for the
| hunt is made W1len there is full moon,
so that the bunch can be tracked at
night as well as during the day. On
the morning when the third man takes
the trail, the stallion, or master of the
bunch, is behind the herd, biting and
kicking the laggards in it. The third
day, or even the evening of the second
day, finds the bunch strung out in a
straight line, each following the other
in Indian file. They are getting very
tired.
They are allowed no time to eat OF
drink The pursuer, knowing that they
are firing, forces them and thus the
chase continues for about five days
when the whole herd is so tired that il
is easily taken.
But, so said my informant, when the
work is done and every horse taken
the pursuers are always unanimous il
their verdict that the game was no
worth the labor expended, for thu
horses taken are a measley set ant
never good for anything.
"Creasing' means shooting the ami
NAL just below the name, not low
enough to break the neck, and yet low
enough so that a shock sufficient tt
bring down the animal will be inflicted
1t requires the best craftsmanship to d,
this, and as the distance al which tn
shooting must be done Is usually grea
very few animals have been taken il
this way