Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-19
WILD HOGS OF COLORADO
A Hunter Has to Rustic for the Tall
Trees.
If His Shot Misses He Must Run-Ex-
citing Story of These FerOciOus
Fighters.
from the st. Louis Globe-Democrat.

DANGEROUS wild hogs? Holy smoke, they
are the most tremendous, powerful and
fiercest beasts in the whole United states.
You never saw or heard anything like
them. Why, the old boars can kill grizzly
bear in no time. They are quicker than
chain lightning, never see human beings
more than once in a few years, and would
tackle drove of elephants without sec
ond's thought. They'd charge the very
devil. Don't know anything but fight for a
living. They've got tusks that are over
half a foot long and sharp as needles. They
could rip open a rhinoceros quicker than
you can think. and they have the biggest
mouths full of the most awful teeth I've
ever seen in any menagerie. When they
are wounded. 1t is like an animated cyclone
If any of you people go down the Colorado
to hunt, and you shoot one OF the WHO
boars, you've got to shoot to Kill or hunt
big tall tree in the best time any human
being ever made, or you are goner, sure
Don't climb a saping, for boar would
soon dig it up by the roots and then rip
you to pieces. Don't forget when hunting
old boars to keep near tree Whlch you can
climb quick"
Colonel Dan Waters stopped here to
draw his breath. He was telling folk OF
Pomona Cal, of the droves of wild hogs
along the tulelandS OF the lower Coiofduo
river. He continued:
.Three Yuma half-breeds and l went up
into a sparsely settled footh1l district 10
drop over, as 1 supposed, hog or two IN
the course of the day. 1t was plain when
we got among the trees that some swine
had been feeding there, but we could not
see hide nor bristle of them. We turned
the big dogs loose, and in less than twenty
minutes heard a deep bay over on the
right about quarter of mile away.
I'm few minutes l heard crash In the
underground and a savage grunt and snort,
and out started big SOW and Two mar
T,,cf hn a
slight elevation about $50 feet away -!
fired and keeled her over. The pigs stood
still minute until they caught sight OF
me, when they charged furiously. l Knock
ed one of them over before they had made
twenty-five feet, but the other kept right
on, the picture of demoniacal rage, with
foam dropping from his jaws and teeth
and tusks swapping like castanets. Luck
ly had placed myself under a low branch
ed live oak tree, and lost no time in put
ting myself out of the reach of the savage
beast The tree was thick, spreading
oak and [ was safe enough to take things
easy. | had swung my Winchester over my
shoulder before l assembled the tree, ana
one shot from my gun settled the hog;
About 300 yards away l could see Jack,
my Yuma savage. leaning against a sapling
which was not over five or six inches in
diameter. Attracted by the rush Of the
hogs. Jack drew away from the tree just
as a tremendous old boar darted out or the
underbrush about fifty yards distant. Jack
saw him coming like cyclone, and, with
out considering. shot at him. The shot
struck the boar fairly between the eyes,
but it might as well have been fired into
monitor for all the harm it did. The bullet
tlattened like putty, and did no other dam
age than more thoroughly to enrage the
boar. When he saw the Indian he gave a
fierce snort and started for him. with the
foam flying from his mouth and his fierce
little eyes glinting with devilish ferocity.
Jack had not time to reload his gun. He
skinned up tree, but, unluckly, it was a
r1It y IS1I III,
weight. The boar didn't stop in his charge,
but full tilt into the sapling. shaking it
so badly that the Indian had all he could do
to hang
the tree down by sheer force he deliberately
went to work in another way. He walked
around the tree three four times until
he seemed to have found a spot in which to
begin operations, when he stopped and be
gan to dig and tear up the ground with his
long snout and to tear and bite off the
roots with his long tusks. 1t was plainly
evident that something would have to be
done pretty quick, or our mess would be
one short. Poor Jack was hanging on and
yelling with all his might and every yell
appeared to add to the rage Of the old boar.
Calling to Jack to stop yelling and to
hang onto the tree, 1 prepared to let the
brute have a bullet. The distance was
about $50 yards. and as it took close shot
to effect anything against the tough hide
of an old boar. l made preparations by
standing on a big limb of the live oak tree
and resting my gun on another, about on a
level with my shoulders. My first shot
struck the boar behind the shoulder but
as he had stood qulrtering toward me the
only result was to tear out a big piece of
his hide along his side, inflictng a painful
but not dangerous wound. When the boar
felt the sting of the bullet he made for the
tree l was in. He must either have caught
glimpse of me or have seen the smoke of
the shot. Calling to the Indian to sin
down out of the little tree and make for a
big one, / turned my attention to the boar
Ihe Whlp-like cracks of guns off to the
left told plainly that Ben and John. my
other half-breed Indian companions. were
also having their share of the sport. I got
down and went to the tree where Jack was
roostlnS, and told him to come down. as the
Old boar was dead. We quietly approached
tne quarter from which the sound of the
smoothing came and about 500 yards distant
we suddenly saw little opening about 100
yards IN circumference. On the opposite
Slde OF this opening We saw a widespread
lVe OAK, from which Duffs of smoke were
slowly drifting upward. Beneath and
around the tree were about dozen wild
hoss, snorting and grunting with rage. and
creating a pandemonium Of sounds as thew
huhS themselves at the tree and tried to
reach the men by jumping upward Three
OF the lot We're tremendous boars, while the
DINERS We're soWS and haIf-groWn pigs
Selecting a tree within easy SNORING dis
tance. Jack and l climbed into its branches
and opened fire. In a few minutes NOT a
living hog could be seen, and as none Of
them ever had undertaken to run away
we knew that between US we had wiped G Mt
the lot, seventeen in all