Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-05-13
PLAGUE OF WILD HORSES.
Menace to Large Ranches Of tho
Southwest.

Menace to Large Ranches Of the
Southwest.
''Droves Of wild horses have caused
more annoyance to the ranchmen OF
southern Texas in the past winter than
ever before. The season has been dry,
food scarce, and hunger has made these
marauders unusually bold. Every
night stacks of hay and fodder on my
ranch have suffered, and often my pri-
vate stock has been run off by them.
wild horses" continued Col. Dick
Dillon of Kansas City, whose ranches
are spread all over southern Texas,
will stampede the soberest nag that
ever rubs noses with them. The pros
pect of freedom is very tempting to
the tame animals, and one can easily
be induced to take his departure and
to forget all the civilization he ever
knew.
I'VE ranchmen determined to make
an organized effort to rid ourselves OF
these tormentors, and we set about 1t
in a systematic way.
1--WE built a corral Of poles eight feet
high and very strong. Leading into
this was V shaped chute, which ran
out into the prairie about mile and
had a width Of half a mile at its mouth.
"The plan was to form gigantic
circle Of horsemen surrounding the
entire horseridden territory, and grad
ually close in around the mouth of the
chute. It was thought that the horses
in their terror at finding themselves
surrounded would dash into the corral.
Once there 1t would be a very easy
matter to lasso and tie any worth
breaking, and shoot the rest.
"The scheme was better in its plan.
however, than in its fulflment, for
the ranchmen failed to make allowance
for the nerve and craft of their oppo-
nents.
"The wild horses were not nearly as
much frightened as had been expected
and they preferred making a bolt for
liberty through the ranks Of the men
surrounding them to trusting them
selves to the unfamiliar bars of the
corral. And, although we rounded up
several hundred horses. but very
small percentage Of them were captur-
ed. In fact, at every point they out
witted their would-be captors."
With the breaking up Of winter the
open season for the wild horse Of the
plains begins. The rigors of the past
season have brought them into COM
parative subsection, and their capture
is easier now than when months OF
plentiful food and water have made
them wary and crafty.
Wild horses have gone from the west
with the buffalo. Once almost as plen-
tiful as that animal. they are now al
most as rare. Only in remote parts OF
Texas, and in the four corners where
| Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mex
leo join, are they found. The remain
der of their old haunts have been
treated to process Of horse civiliza-
ton that has robbed the plains of one
of it's most picturesque features.
Catching wild horses was part OF
the life of the early settler. From being
an expedient to fill Up depleted emf
grant train or cattle ranch outfit, II
came tu be a regular business, and
profitable one at that, with fully equip
ped outfits and. men trained to catch
the willy creatures.
The wild horses of the west are the
degenerate offspring Of horses that es-
capped from the early explorers, mixed
at a later date with American strays
AS a matter of fact most Of the So
called wild horses are not wild at all
In every drove that roams the plains
are animals of widely varying breeds
build and size, which would not be
the case if they all belonged to breed
native to the country.
Before the Territory of Kansas fig
ured in history it was principally
known for the Santa Fe trail, the thor
oughfare between the East and the
West. Oxen were most often used by
the freighters, but horses too made ur
part of every wagon train. Not in
frequently these horses escaped from
their owners, but they were not thought
to capture them.
From these wanderers sprang the
wild horses of Kansas, and from them
too, sprang the wild horses of Colorado
than
otherwise horses captured there have
borne saddle or harness marks, and In
many droves all the characteristics OF
Kentucky thoroughbreds have been
discovered.
The meanest smartest and widest
wild horses that have survived the
settler are found in the band or monde
script little ponies that average little
more than 700 pounds in weight
which range over the Yellowjacket
Breaks, that part of Colorado and New
Mexico once densely peopled by the
cliff dwellers. The country is high
rolling mesa, intersected by network
of deep canons.
1t is so rough that horsemen rarely
venture into it. so that the ponies
broomtails they are called-feel them
selves fairly safe from pursuit, and SO
have 1t their own way. The Navajo
Indians say that ponies of this same
breed have roamed the Breaks ever
since the time Of the cliff dwellers. II
10 ,o,op,oply understood that the