Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-05-13

always on the move.
An emigrant crossing Nebraska In
the days when wild horses were part
Of the landscape, awoke one morning
to discover that his span Of mules, his
dependence, were browsing serenely
over on the next hilltop with a drove
Of wild horses led by magnificent
black stallion. All efforts to beguile
the mules back to their manifest duty
failed, so, taking a wiry mustang, his
only remaining beast Of burden, the
settler started in pursuit, picking on
horse with his rifle whenever oppor-
tunity offered.
He continued these tactics until only
the stallion and the erring mules re-
manned. 1t took him a whole day to
get near enough to shoot the stallion
but he finally succeeded, and the mules,
bereft of their leader, Immediately
walked up to him and began to rub
noses with their old friend. the mus
tang
Probably in no western state were
there more wild horses than In Kan
sas during the '70's. 1t was there that
Neb Johnson, the most famous OF all
the men in the wild horse business,
made his fortune.
He had heard of the droves of wild
horses that ranged the prairie, and,
with three younger brothers from Pike
county, Mo-, went there equipped with
half dozen race horses. His Idea
was to run down and rope the horses
as the cowboys did cows.
He made what Is now Cove county,
on the Smoky river, the base Of his
operations. He won not only a for
tune, but the name of Wild Horse
Johnson, which still clings to him In
his western Kansas home.
We soon gave up trying to run
horses down and changed to walking
them down." Mr.. johnson said Of his
experience at that time. 1--WE got a
light wide-track blackboard. fitted with
with provisions and tent, and went
to work.
wild horses, like all prairie ami
mails, travel in a circle. 1t was on that
that we based our calculations. Our
plan was to locate them, and then one
of US would follow them the first round
till they came back to the, starting
point.
"He then gave way to a second man
and he to a third, until we had worn
the wild horses out. We could then
drive them easily into big chute
we had constructed for that purpose
Zone morning we located bunch OF
!. forty, led by a powerful, shaggy named
stallion, and I Immediately started with
the blackboard, arranging that my
brother should meet me In five days al
the point from where I started. The
stallion came out to examine me, at
respectful distance, and then, returning
to his band, herded them together and
started at a sweeping trot over the
hill.
Il located the trail and followed them
in a walk. I never changed the gait
but continued in the same everlasting
walk, walk, walk. I overlook them
only once more that day.
| 1.-THE stallion came out to make q
more thorough inspection, and I rec
ognized him as one that hunters had
repeatedly tried to capture. No one
had ever seen him break trot. He
could trot faster than any other horse
in the bunch could run. I certainly
did want to get that stallion.
1.-THE second day the stallion showed
fight and I had to fire blank cartridge
at him to insure his respect. He did
not stop for thirty miles.
1.-The third day overlook them quite
often and the fourth day oftener still
My team was not tired, for they had
had regular feed and never went ou,
Of a walk. The sixth day came back
to the place where we had first dis
covered them, having described a cir
Gle of more than 300 miles.
Before night my brother took up the
trail with a fresh team. This time the
circle was shorter and got back in four
days.
"Then another brother took 1t ur
and brought them back in four again
The fourth circle took but three
days to cover, and by that time the
herd was so tired and worn that they
hadn't enough nerve to do anything
"Now was the time to strike. Mount
ed on racehorses and armed with blank
cartridges and a few loaded ones, we
started out to finish the work. Dash
ing in among the horses we ran them
in and out and around like lot OF
chicker8
"The only one that had any spunk
at all was the stallion. He showed fight
and didn't pay any attention to the
blank cartridges. Finally he started
in to whip US all.
| He began by grabbing one OF our
ponies by the neck and shaking him
There could be but one end, but tell
you / shut my eyes when l saw my
brothers rifle go up.
"It was easy then to corral the re-
mainder of the herd and to drive them
into the chute and then into the pen
Within three months those same horses
were used for mounts for United States
cavalrymen, and they were just about
as tractable as any other horses In the
regiment" York Sun.
| Wheat Superseding Rice.