The age-herald., 1901-11-28

the water holes. They are as wild as you can imagine and run like deer. They move in great bodies and after water Ing return to the mountains as though hunted Once a day the Journey of from twenty to twenty-five miles is made. and the range is torn to pieces by the sharp, saucer-shapcd hoofs. Down at La osa ranch. which Is the oldest ranch in that part of Arizona, we are thinking of going into the sheep busi- ness just to rid the rage of the wild horses. It's pretty hard for a cowman to go into raising sheep, but we have to do something for our own protection. Horses will not eat where sheep roab."
 The Boboquavari country is wild and uninhabited. A few Indians live there, but if it were not for the rich cattle ranges there would be little to attract a white man to that wilderness. Bobo- quavari Mountain, which is one of the highest in Arizona. is the habitant of thousands of wild animals that are kept alive by wild bands of horses. The cougar, or mountain lion, is fast in- creasing in numbers there, owing to the presence of the wild horses. and bears come down from the mountain to share in the harvest of killing the young stock.
 At Buenos Ayres ranch there is an im- mense lake where the wild horses find water. Every evening just as the sun is setting a great cloud of dust rises in the foothills, speeding on like a tremen- dous sandspout, and the vaqueros know what Is coming If they are in the path of the approaching storm of dust they lose no time in getting out of the way. Often punches or cattle are caught in the storm and then there is a believing which is echoed by the canyons for miles and miles.
 The moving force of this dust storm is the bands of wild horses. Thousands and thousands of them are punched together in a snorting, neighing mass, and the line extends far back into the mountains in caravan of endless horsehesh, nov ing at breakneck speed down the sides of the mountain on to the range lands.
 When the mesa lands are reached the horses spread out in stampede which brings terror to the vaqueros as well as the great herds of range cattle. Often the cattle are slow to get out of the way and are crushed beneath the broncos in the mad rush for water. They are never seen trotting, but are always running as fast as they can go, tearing the brush before them and crushing the grasses of the range in their trail.
 Several years ago a few enterprising Westerners went into the horse business on a large scale and shipped thousands upon thousands of the little wild horses East, where, known as Indian ponies," they were broken and sold at prices rang ing from $5 to $50 each. On one occasion Col. Ed Redmond. famous character in early Western days, held an imm ense roundup of mustangs in Eastern New Mexico and Western Texas, and gathered in over 5000 horses.
 Redmond made a clean profit of $10000 on his roundup, and tried the same thing several times afterwards in Utah, Texas and Wyoming, but never with such re- suits.
 A few years ago black stallion the leader of a herd of wild horses in north ern Arizona, was finally shot, after re- peatedly showing his heels to the best horses In the country. On his flank was the brand of the Bar l.. ranch, large horse and cattle establishment owned by the Perrin Company. It was learned then that three years before. when~a half grown colt, just from Kentucky, he had escaped from the ranch and had joined the wild herd. The stallion recovered from the bullet wound and for three years won races in Arizona, New Mexico and California, the combination of good breed ing and the early life with the wild herd giving him speed and stamina, which sent him to the front in many a hard-fought finish. He beat the best horses on the frontier and administered the sarae t-eai ment to imported animals brought in by army officers and others. At Payson, a mere hamlet in northern Arizona, where for generations the mountain-bred horses have raced with ranch and cattle horses, Black Eagle met his Waterloo A ringer from New Orleans beat the black stallion by a head, and on that race hinged the ownership of not less than 1900 steers and 10000 sheep, a couple of ranches and fortune in cash. Black Eagle never won again. He died in the stud ten years later, the originator of a line of stock that has put the Arizona horse in heavy demand in the east and in the British md