Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-05-10
H1iseeltaneuas 8eading.
MAD STEER TRAGEDY.


with the freakish tendency of large
body or herd of cattle to become
frightened and stampede, often upon
apparently slight provocation. It is
also well-known by "cow-punchers"
that when herd has once started on
its mad flight 1t Is as Irresistible and
dangerous as a Kansas cyclone. In
this connection Col. William P. Blunt,
of the Indian Territory, now In Wash
ington for the purpose Of promoting
the cause Of single Statehood for that
Territory and Oklahoma, Is authority
for the following description Of what
was in all probability the biggest and
most disastrous stampede Of Texas
steers ever recorded.
"In the early summer Of 1885," said
Col. Blunt, II was employed with a
dozen or more 'cow-punchers' from
the Territory and western Kansas by
the Wilson Brothers, who were noted
Texas cattlemen, to assist in driving
upward of 10000 head Of the big Texas
steers from ranches in northern Texas
across the Indian Territory to the vi
cinity Of lodge City, Kan. The pace
at which we were obliged to travel
was quite slow as a matter of course,
for the reason that we allowed the cat
tie to Craze along the entire route,
and from eight to ten miles were a
fair days journey. This immense herd
was being taken up to Kansas to pas
ern markets.
I'VE had been on our northward
journey for about two and a half or
three weeks, perhaps, and had crossed
when one evening just before dark we
encamped near a small stream of wa
ter on a sort Of rolling prairie where
there was an abundance Of grass. In
the distance to the west about eight or
ten miles could be seen the shadowy
outlines Of a low line of hills, and be-
tween our camp and these hills, about
three miles distant, was one Of those
canon peculiar to that region and
which was not visible until one ap-
preached to within a half-mile Of it,
and even then no adequate idea could
be obtained of its width or depth. All
of the members Of our party knew of
it's existence and locality, and for this
reason we had given it, as we thought,
sufficiently wide berth. This canon at
the point nearest to our camp that
night was fully $50 feet deep, from so
to 60 feet wide, and its walls were
nearly perpendicular. Its direction In
that locality was nearly north and
south.
During the entire afternoon the air
had been hot and 'muggy,' with not a
suspicion Of breeze. The sky was over
cast with lowhanging foglike clouds,
which in the distance appeared to touch
the earth. AS darkness came on the
cattle ceased feeding and all lay down
as quietly and contentedly as so many
milch COWS, and everything bade fair
for a quiet night. The animals appear
ed to feel the oppressive heat quite as
much as we did. I had staked my
horse some distance from the herd,
spread my blanket near him, and gone
to bed so to speak, using my saddle
for pillow. I couldn't go to sleep for
some unaccountable reason, although
it may have been on account Of the cX-
hausting heat of the days work. l
was awake at 10 o'clock, when one of
the Wilson boys came over where
was lying and said:
Bill, don't exactly like this death
ly quiet. 1t makes me nervous. 1t
seems as if something out of the ordi-
nary was going to happen. I've no
ticed a considerable amount of heat
lightning, and it's beginning to make
the steers restless. I wouldn't be bit
surprised ii there was a big thunder
storm here before morning, and if
there is there's going to be trouble
with them critters. I've told all the
boys to saddle their ponies and be
ready at a moments notice, if the
steers get on a rampage, to turn them
eastward away from that big hole in
the ground over there, pointing in the
direction of the canon.
The atmospheric lightning, as I had
already observed while Wilson was
talking to me, was becoming more fire.
quent and lighted up the smooth, pol
ished horns of the reclining animals
with d sort of ghostly glow, producing
decidedly wierd effect 1 could see
that the steers were becoming more
and more uneasy, and here and there
l noticed a big steer rise up and act
us if he shifted danger of some sort.
In the meantime l had saddled my
horse, and was waiting whatever
might turn up. The silence still re-
mained unbroken except by the low,
intermittent, maulden grumblings of a
young Mexican half-breed, who had
broken into the stores in the commits
sary wagon and helped himself to an
overload of red liquor which the Will
sons had brought along as an antidote
for snake bites.
1T is a fact we'll known to all old
cattlemen that whenever animals
stampede there are always a score OF
more Of steers known as leaders" "