Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1901-10-18


Side OF the station at I.apeer's. This
North Platte eosntry was a middle
ground common to Pawnee, Sioux.
Cheyenne, Ute. Arapaho and Kloway.
Hither all these came to chase the
buffalo. to steal horses, or to fight
the white men or one another; and
here the adventurer. OF whatever
sort. carried his life in his hand.
One day there came to Lapeer's, irem
the western mountains. Sandy Van
SAINT, formerly mule whacker for
freighting outfit, young. stunted in
growth and short in one leg His saw
ings consisted Of an enormous mule
and three Nez Perce ponies. ore OF
which was calico OF picturesque
hess not to pass without remark. The
genuine calico pony is usually Of but
two colors, a ground Of white with
liberal markings OF red or black; but
Sandy's animal had all three colors
laid on very promiscuously.
Sandy desired above all things to Sc
cure place as an express rider. and
he asked for relay at Iapeer's. When
for answer the boss pinned a playing
card upon his shooting post" Sandy's
countenance fell. He had failed in
that test before. Hoping against hope,
he mounted his steadlest animal and
trotted several times past the mark.
He failed to hit the post. In the
words Of Blue Bob" the station
horse wrangler, that mule whacker
couldn't hit the mule he rode on"
But Sandy, not desiring to ride far
ther toward the tame east, rested from
his travel at Lapeer's. His stock ran
With Blue Bob's bunch and without
comment until the wrangler came in
to supper one evening, with wrath in
his powder stained vlsage.
Say, mule whack," he said, ''if you
don't tie out those pintoes of yours,
I'll sure roll your bunch into the
Platte"
Been tryin' to rope 'cm, Bob?" San
dy asked, with good natured twinkle
in his eye.
'I'll sure rope that hea-bitten calico
Of yours, and I'll sure ride him to-
morrow, Blue Bob announced in
keat. which greatly tlckled the men at
I.apeer's.
"Sure?' asked Sandy santslizingly.
"Sure," declared the wraugler, his
face flushing under its pits Of blue.
The next morning at sunrise the sta
tion boss. Jim Devine, his three gun
men and Sandy sat upon a corral fence
and enjoyed themselves. The fun be-
gan inside the corral. but was soon
transferred to the open.
At Bob's first confident throw the
calico pony dropped its head between
its knees and lodged with the facility
Of weasel. Bob ran a wider loop, and
approached until he could almost lay
hand upon the pony's flank. The
calico stood with its ears laid back.
The wrangler poised his moose and
made a quick jump forward. When
his rope struck the ground the calico
PONY was behind him. Then. while
shout of laughter went up from the
onlookers that painted" pony leaped
the. high corral fence with the ease OF
a cat going over chair.
Blue Bob mounted the swiftest ami.
mai in his bunch and gave chase. Much
to his astonishment the calico pony
made no attempt to run away. II now
had plenty of room for lodging. and
wheeled about the corral in erratic cir
cles, darting ahead, leaplng sidewise,
or stopping short. as the nature of
Bob's throw demanded. In a dozen
casts Bob's moose did not once fall
upon the pony.
"Who taught the pinto such tricks?"
Bob demanded OF the men on the
fence, when at last he acknowledged
defeat.
''Nez Perces-best horse trainers In
the world, reckon" said Jim Devine.
Sandy nodded. That's what" he
said.
Then others are Just as bad adj
mitted Bob to Sandy. as they walked
back to the station. 81 don't see the
use in such as that"
1t was some weeks before Blue Bob
saw and admitted the wisdom of Nez
Perce training. In the meantime San
dy's ponies continued TO run with the
bunch, and when he wished to ride
the calico the wrangler had only to
call to it. as Sandy had taught him,
in the cultural accents of its former
Nez Perce 'Ksok, Ksel.
ksok."
One day at noon the men at La
peers watched an east bound express
rider race down a long north slope
with cloud OF horsemen at his heels
The gun men were about to dash to
his rescue when the Indians turned
back. The rider came up badly hurt
and reeling in his saddle
''The Cheyennes have done up them
skinners," he managed to calculate.
and then he tainted and was carried in
The "skinners" alluded to were a
camp of buffalo hide hunters, whom the
Indians had killed and scalped be-
side his trail.
So 1t came about that, because there
was no one else for the place, Sandy
wss assigned to a short and temporary
run on the express route. Riding his
own ponies. the young freighter COW
cred, twice each day. the 12-mile
stretch which lay between Lapeer's
and Cow Creek As the calico was his
swiftest runner, Sandy rode this ami
NAL one way each day.
The dead buffalo hunters were bur
led by a detachment of troops from
Fort Laramie. The soldiers also
secured the region in search of the
Cheyenne trail, but the wary Indians
had scattered one by one and es-
capped. None Of them were ever pun
ished.
For two lneyentful weeks Sandy
rode his beat, a round trip each fore
noon, the riders at either end of his
trail taking extra laps until the wound
ed man should recover.
The Indian raid had well nigh passed
out Of mind when Sandy, riding the
calico on his return trip from Cow
Creek one sunny morning. was sur