Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1902-09-18

chosen to direct the hunt by reason Of
their reputation and skill as hunters,
| had never attended buffalo hunt
of this character before, and this GUS
tom OF electing two men to direct op-
erations was something new to me. l
learned that in the event an Indian
killed any game without first securing
permission to do so from these mas
ters of the hunt he was forthwith
stripped Of all his clothing and belong
ings, his horse killed and himself driv-
en- out of the party for the ofense ne
had thus committed. The members
of an Indian hunting party place I'M
plicit reliance and faith in the judg-
ment and sagacity of those whom they
elect on an occasion of this sort, and
obey them as the peasants of Russia
do the Gar.
"The first two days after We left the
reservation were uneventful, but on
the morning of the third I saw a bear,
and later few antelope, and being
anxious to try my luck, I sent word
by Little Robe, an Indian with whom
I happened to be riding, to one Of the
huntmasters for permission for him
and me to take a little hunt along
stream, the course of which We were
then following. This being granted,
we went out and succeeded in bagging
three antelope. On our way back to
Join the main column, Little Robe re-
marked that he was hungry, and,
cutting open one of the antelOpes, he
took out the liver and began eating it.
On the fourth day the masters Of the
hunt sent out runners, who returned
the day following bringing buffalo
meat.
THAT night we spent in busy prep
aration for the next days hunt. Ev-
cry buck took fresh horse, and when
morning dawned we were in the sad
die and on the move. 1t was rolling
praire country, and along about II
o'clock we sighted an enormous herd
of buffalo feeding along the top Of
plateau. We rode around the base Of
this rising ground, sending every now
and then someone to the top to glance
over and see how near we were draw
ing to the herd. At last we circled
around until we were quite close to
them, when one Of the huntmasters
gave short, quick order that brought
the columns up abreast, in which
fashion we rode to the top of the rise
and in full view of the animals.
"As we did so l could see one buff
falo after another throw up his head,
look about until he saw our party and
set off at a slow, rolling gallOp. This,
however, was only for an instant, for
as we drew up to the crest Of the rise
the order that all were eager for and
expecting rang out simultaneously
from both huntmasters, and away, the
whole column charged at full speed
on the buffalo, shooting them down
on every side. l rode on with the
rest for mile or so, doing my share
of the shooting, when, tiring Of the
sport, turned back.
"On my way back to camp l met
the squaws skiuning and cutting up
the animals that the males had killed
and which were lying about every
where. We remained among the buff
falo for two weeks before we thought
of returning, killing in all total Of
1000 animals. One Of the curious
things that | saw on this trip was an
old buffalo with a deformed right
front hoof that one Of the Indians had
killed. He had been shot and wounded
in this hoOf when he was quite young
and one side Of the cloven hoof had
grown in a circle completely around
the other to the length Of fully a foot
and several inches.
When we were about ready to re.
turn the squsws began loading the
meat on the ponies, and was sur
prised to see what an enormous load
these hardy little animals could carry.
It seemed to me that they would load
the meat of one buffalo on one pony,
a weight of fully 400 or 500 pounds.
I have seen these ponies loaded so
heavily that they have to stand braced
with their legs standing out like tri-
pod in order to support the frightful
burden imposed by their unfeeling
masters. Then on top of this load
some Indian would climb to ride back
to the reservation.
when we got back to the agency
the squaws set about cutting the meat
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