The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1901-06-20
QUEER STORY OF a HORSE
Followed Its Master Behind . Fast
Train-Fell Into An Open Trestle-
A Herd Of wild Horses Cane to
the Rescue.

Train-Fell Into an Open TFestle-
A Herd Of wild Horses Came to
| the Rescue.
| A remarkable story Of horses affec-
ton for its master, the details AZ to how
| the animal imperfled its life In following
him. and Its subsequent rescue by bunch
! of horses, were recited at the State house
in Denver by a man from New Mexico.
The author Of the tale was James H.
i George, a cattle and sheep grower who lives
i near Chama. and he says the truth of 1t
can be vouched tor by q dozen or more
citizens of Conejos and Archuleta counties,
as well as a number Of employees Of the
/. Rio Grande road running through that sec
! ton.
Last Thursday, while on my way up
! from Chama to Denver, just after the train
started down the eastern slope of Cumbres
pass, a stop was made at one of the side
| track stations to allow a passenger to get
| on board" proceeded Mr.. George.
II looked out OF the window and saw
9 man dismount from big black horse.
He hurriedly unbuckled the saddle, took
! 1t off the horses back, and threw 1t into
| the baggage car.
Then he went over to the animal. rub
bed its nose bit. patted 1t on the back,
and as the train moved OF he ran and
boarded the rear car.
HE was a cow man and was on his way
| to Alamosa. and he told me afterward that
it was his custom when making such trips
to ride over from the ranch, take care of
the saddle and let the horse go back home
alone.
But he had never ridden this particular
horse on such a journey before. Instead of
turning around and scampering away into
the hills toward the ranch, as others Of the
mounts had one, the horse began to follow
the train. At first it acted just like dog
that persists in following its master against
the latters wishes l ran away up the
track. then stopped, and gazed ahead visit
fully. Finally the trains speed began to
increase, and the horse ceased his rests and
tried to keep up. Sometimes he got within
20 feet of the car, but fell back as the speed
of the train increased, and came up again
as it slackened. The animal was running
in the middle of the track and at an awful
rate. The owner was still on the rear plat
form. He was perceptibly worried about
the horse, for 1t was difficult to tell where
the animal would wind up He tried in
every way to get the animal to go the other
way, even going into the car out of sight,
but the animal followed just the same. BY
this time nearly all of the passengers heard
of 1t and were attracted to the rear car
to witness the remarkable instinct and forth
tude of that horse.
After the train had proceeded about four
miles down the eastern slope Of the pass
the speed was suddenly slackened to keep
from crashing into a herd of horses that
had got through fence and strayed on
the track, They quickly got out Of the
nd, however, but not before the horse in
~ 4eer was enabled to reach the hind car
e1h the platform with his nose The
1SUxl AS almost breathless but 1t gave
tnny and danced about In appar-
d at getting 50 CiUse to It's master
M1o4 Its happiness was cut short by the
1T1ar moving OF at a lively gait. The
G5o1e vas sleeper now and the progress
OF the train down the mountain became
very rapid. The faithful horse began to
fall farther and farther behind, but it was
still following the train. The bunch of 16
horses that were in the track ahead were
grazing along the side Of the roadbed when
the other horse came along. But the ami
NAL paid not attention to them and con-
tinued it's course down the track. Pres
emily we distinguished in the distance the
entire 16 horses coming down the track in
single file, the one ahead being about 300
yards in the rear of the lone animal.
1--WE were on straight track now. Sud-
denly the train reached high trestle and
passed over it with a roar. Everybody on
the train was then on the tiptoe of excite
ment to see what our horse would do when
1t reached the spot The animal came dash
ing on, however, and never stopped at the
brink of the bridge. 1t was evident that it
either did not see the danger ahead or was
determined to risk its life in thee chase after
it's master. At any rate the passengers
were horror stricken in a moment to see
the horse go down between the ties on the
trestle.
1.-THE bunch of horses that was follow
ing 1t were not far away. Just as the train
struck curve they reached the scene, but
we were too quickly out of sight to see
what was going to happen next. This
trestle was six miles from where the horses
master boarded the train.
"a mile further along the engine stop
ped for water, and the man in charge of
the tank was instructed by the conductor
to go back and get the horse out of the
trestle SO that the track would not be block
ed. The horses master was much affected
by the accident and he decided that he
would go back with the tank man. I be-
came so much interested that wanted to
do something to save the horses life, so
/ went, too
"As we got around the curve we saw
that the track ahead of us was black with
horsefesh. The nearer we approached the
more we realized that the bunch of horses
were in dire distress over the misfortune
that had come to their new acquaintance.
when within so feet OF the scene we
we're surprised to find that the horses did
not scare at our approach. In two minutes
from this we were on the trestle. There
was our old friend with its legs dangling
below the ties and it's body above, entirely
surrounded by the other horses. Two of
them had hold of his name with their teeth,
two others were Juggling away at his tail
and four others we're pushing their heads
down between the horses body and the
ties in an effort to turn the position of
the animal so that the others could get it's
legs clear.
1.-THE balance of the horses were standing
on the ground end of the trestle, as il ready
to catch and support the horse as soon as
the rescuers could get it ON its feet.
1T was marvellous that the horses on the
trestle retained their footing SO well and
did not fall through themselves.
1.-THE eight horses that were doing the
heavy work began to make progress, and
the imprisoned morse seemed to have plenty
Of patience It grunted and snorted and
was evidently in pain, but 1t saw that every
thing that could be done was being done.
Presently with q tremendous effort the
horses body was lifted about two feet and
rolled over on its side. This enabled the
animal to get its front feet from between
the ties and mount them on tie. No
bones were broken, in the front legs at
least The horse was still In a perilous
position and nobody knew It better than
itself. The front feet were on the trestle
and the hind feet and legs below it, the
body appearing in standing position. Four
of the horses, two on one side and two on
the other, then put their heads under the
animals body and assisted by two others
that had the tail In their teeth the hind
part of the animal was lifted up until its
hoofs touched the surface Of the ties.
Then the horse got hold and stuck
there. No bones were broken in these legs
| either The animal was very badly cut and
! bruised about the body and was bleeding
profusely from Its wounds. We were all
visibiy affected BY the scene that had just
been enacted.
With the initiative AMI referendum
the people get any reform majority
s,ftl vnfn FIR Nnw 80 oot avv 49, ~