The Washington weekly post., 1900-10-02
Narrow Escapes from Death
of a Texas Rancher.
SOME HAIR.RAISlNG EXPERIENCES
An Old Texas Trail Boss Tells of Tive Ter-
ribie Incidents on the Plains When the
Carcass Of . Buffalo saved His Life fr nm
Prairie Fire; and BaiI's Hide CaH.e
Near fseins the Death of Hin BY FreeziEE q
and Holding Him Prisoner.

3
both cowboys and cook amused them
selves rolling and smoking the inevitable
cigarette. while they swapped yarns more
or less remarkable
One of the men had just finished a
rather hair-raising experience. when the
cook, an old Texas trail boss, in a drawl-
ing voice, began: Well that reminds ME
OF tie winter stayed up here and had a
close call. / trailed cattle up from Texas
that summer for the Three V Company
ana getting a good offer from the f0kC-
man 10 stay with them as cook l decided
to try Northern winter. There were a
few scattering punches Of buffalo around
here then, and as winter wore on. and
having nothing to do but lie round and
wait fo- spring, We got to going out on
little expeditions just for amusement
Bufaloes were scarce enough at that tine
to be pretty valuable game. and it was
great honor to the one who could briag
| In hide
Il got a good start one morning i'm
| February. determined TO Stay out until |
could bring at least one skin back with
me- There was very little snow on the
ground, but the weather was nipping
zero. | must have gone thirty miles at
least before sighting my game, when Il
was wearing on into the afternoon ana
seemed to be growing colder all the time.
Gettlng up closer to the group and count
ing Iour COW buffalOes and ore bull. / be-
gan 10 poIr lead into them. | got the
puhch' and now to skin them. Giving my
morse MS mead to Craze, l sailed in. but
! was he" business for me. and slow II
oesdn 10 get dusk by the time | had fin
isheo the job and on looking around there
In Gfrrhr
wen as 1 could, it began to look as though
I'd have to hoof it in to the rancn but
now about the hides?
sealed Up in Frozen Hides.
Leaving them for the oovotas and
wolves TO tear up was out of the Gus
ton, and being cloudy there was never a
star TO help me in my course home. were
TO try and foot ii. After studying over
the matter for while and cursing nv
luck at the horrible cold and darkness. /
laid two OF the hides down fiat together
the marry side up, stretched myself at one
edge' ard began 10 roll up. careful all The
"hile TO leave an air hole at the top for
breathing purposes. The hides were so
Emp that they cOnfOrmed well to the
shape of my body, and the comfortable
feeling OF being good and warm soon put
me TO sleep.
Il don't know the time, but it was not
lar from morning when | awoke and tried
TO stretch and turn over, which was i'm
possible. | tried to move nv arms. bIt
that was no more to be done than IL |
mad been bound and rebound with rome
L tried 70 crawl up, l tried to crawl
down, but II was no use. | could twist
my body and limbs little, but that little
twist was all. 1t then dawned on me
what mad happened. | had rolled myself
up in two green hides and they had
frozen hard, making me prisoner.
Il lay still long while trying to think
OF some means OF escape. The idea of
cutting my way out with knife occurred
to me, but try as | might | could not
reach my pocket. | could twist my hes
up just enough to see out of my air hole,
and realize that ii was a sUnshiny moril-
ing, but | was getting hungry now, aitl
awful stiff and sore from lying i'm one
position so long II was like being tied
TO plank. oh. how my bones did ache!
When would relief get TO me, or would it
come at all? The boys knew about what
direction l had taken, but they might not
be alarmed enough to start out and look
me up in time. 1t seemed uncomfortable
felt numb. My head throbbed. and with
d SldIl litdl IL WAS kIUAllk
dark. Was the sun going down. or only
under a cloud? Yes, it was getting dusk
again, ana another night .: torture was
before me. Could put in a long night Of
it and live? l yelled and yelled again. If
could reach my gun and shoot, the boys
might be near enough TO hear me.
Had TO BE Thawed Ont.
These thoughts raced through my
brain in rapid succession, when, could
it be, / heard voices. No, / was doomed
TO disappointment. 1t was the yelps of
coyotes, calling and answering TO each
other in the distance. Soon they would
be looking around the buffalo carcasses.
| and probably be my companions for the
night 1t seemed 10 me that their yelps
never had such lonesome sound before
Soon they gathered for their feast But
| their jangle suddenly cea sed. What was
1t? Probably some greys had sauntered
up and claimed the layout No oh. jOyl
/ could hear the tramp of horses feet
and soon | was helioing and being an
swered- The fellows could not find me
al first, but following the sound of my
| voice traced me and took in the situa-
ton at glance. They pulled grass and
piled II on each side OF me. set il a-fire
| and in less than a quarter OF an hour
| was free. They had to give me a drink
and rub me a long while before I was
able TO stand up. and then they helped
me into my saddle, and we got 10 the
ranch before daylight.
'Buffaloes came near being the finish
of me then, but I mind the time when
an old dry carcass of bull saved me- IT
was like this: l was helping TO trail
bunch Of Texas cattle north. and We were
in the Indian Territory. The weather
was dry and hot, and we were work ing
so short handed as 10 make It d0ub,y
hard on all Of US. For this reason we got
in the way, If the herd were bedded down.
OF taking a snO9Ze on night watch
fellow By the name Of Brantly and
were out together on the second shift
The day had been very warm and still,
but the wind was bloWing a s0-mile gait
that night The cattle. however. were
squiet and bedded down all right. Brantiy
rode around 10 where i was and pro-
posed his taking nap on the opposite
side OF the bunch. and in the course of a
couple of hours for me 10 awaken him
and take turn al IL while he watched.
Chased by n Prairie Pire.
Il was all right for awhile, but soon 90,
| terribly sleepy. Finally. slipped OF my
horse and stretched out on the grass
4
Well. you can guess what the resuls Of
that would be. Before i knew IL I was
sound asleep. I don't know how long |
slept. but / was awakened by the sound OF
stampeding cattle. That sound, you know.
wakes man up powerfully quick. a.
jumped 10 my feet ard ran. with the cat
tie away ahead Of me. and my horse
gone. and behind me a raging prairie
fire. Such a night for fire-dry grass
and a high wind. / spurted. but sOon be-
gan to realize IL was a hopeless race, for
the flames We're gaining On me. What
had become Of Branily ! did not have the
heart to think, and began 10 feel the hot
breath OF the flames spurrIng me on 10
greater effort. A fellow don't know how
fast or how far be can run until he il
pushed 10 IL by IRE behind him. ] was
not thinking Of this. however. my one
idea being 10 keen ahead OF that roaring