Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-08-18
NO. 66.
THE INDIAN TRAcKER.
He Is q Real Wizard In His Ability
| to Follow a Trail.

| Ine WeSterner pulleQ MS morse INTO ",
walk and lit cigar dropping tina
match carefully on to a wet place In
the trail, for fear Of prairie fires.
YES" he said, there are lot o.
people, not only in the old country, but
right here In the colonies, who think
that because man has spent couple
Of years on a ranch and wears cow
boy hat and long spurs he's sort o.
combination Of Leatherstocking and
Sherlock Homes. Now, man may b.,
good enough scout to avoid walking
into trap and to find his way about in
a strange country and to take cover,
but when 1t comes to tracking he's o.
sucking babe compared with some o.
the Indians and half breeds. A Scout
may be made, but tracl5er must be-
born so. Let me tell you the kind OF
thing ! mean. ets
II was managing the x ranch some
years ago, about 12o miles from the
American border. One night some
horse thieves dropped In suddenly and
carried off sixteen Clydesdalss-'heayy
horses we call them here. Next morn.
ing early I started in pursuit with O.
couple Of my cowboys. The trail wasn't
dificult at first, and we managed
to pick 1t out all right at walk, bur
the men we were hunting were ridlnG
at gallop, and saw we should have
our work cut out to catch them. Wo
talked the matter over for a bit, and
then made up my mind that ! knew
the locality they were making for,
about hundred miles away, so drop
ped the trail altogether. and we rode
to the point as hard as we could 30 to-
cut them off.
when we got there we camped and
strung out lot Of sentries and walt
ed Well, we waited and waited. anta
nothing turned up, so we saddled ur
again and went home, feeling a bit
sick. Then we did what we should
have done at first. We went on to the
Indian reserve and asked for Colonel
NJ, the Indian agent I got him to act
as interpreter. and put 5000 into his
hands, asking him to explain that this
sum would be paid to any Indian who
should bring me In sight OF my lost
horses. That was all wanted them to
do. I could attend to the rest Of the
business myself. They held bit Of g.
powwow, and then three Of them,
White Wings and two more. whom J.
called Jack and Chariie-I couldn't
tackle their Indian names stepped cut,
and volunteered to accompany u.s.
"It was about the first week In Au-
gust, and the prairie grass was long
dEy and yellow. They took up the trail
at a smart canter and made for the
border not quite straight, but so that
they struck 1t about $50 miles or 14e
miles southwest from the ranch. Tho
country was mostly prairie. some fiat
some rolling. There were some deep
valleys and coulee and one or two
ranges of hills. He followed them at o.
fast trot, but sometimes they were SC
far ahead that we had to fire shots to-
attract their attention and make them
stop. We had some difficulty in max
ing them understand, and they Travelled
at such a pace that couldn't believe
they were on the line at all We
couldn't make out anything, not even a.
bruised blade Of grass. But every now
and then we came to soft place
where the hoof marks were discernible
and some Of the stolen horses played
out here and there, and we passed
them, still following the main body.
One mare was confirmed jibber.
never could do anything with her my
self, and they turned her loose, so that
when we struck the border there were
only nine horses left in the bunch.
There were three horse thieves, and
they had taken q long rope and fasten-
ed It to the saddle of the leader. At the
other end rode second man. trying to
keep It as taut as possible. The stolen
horses were haltered along this rope,
eight on each side, and the third man
rode alongside, with whip, to keep
them moving. Now and then the lead
ing pony and the trailing pony would
stop and change pia, -. Whenever this
had happened the Indians called our
attention to 1t. They always knew the
exact position Of each Of the men we
were hunting. We rode eighty miles
the first day and reached the border on
the second, and after that we struck
q trail that was as much Travelled as
/ Al In, ofr nf q
1--WE followed that for thirty milss
or more, and we hardly slackened speed
either. One of the hunted horses had
broken shoe, and the Indians would
point out that particular track When-
ever we were In doubt OF their being
on the right line. At last we came to q
place where the band had divided, SIX
horses going In one direction and three
in the other. We followed the six.
"Well, to cut long story short, we
came on three horses at last In tne
Yellowstone park tied up to trees ana
400 miles from their starting point,
having averaged over eighty miles
day during the chase. We communica-
| ted with the local authorities, and the
men were arrested almost Immediate
| ly and taken to Fort Beaufort, while
sent back to Canada for Sheriff Chap
leau to come and extradite them, Un-
luckily In those days there was extra
dition for pretty nearly every form or
crime except horse thieving, and the
sheriff turned UP, q much disgusted
man, to say that he could do nothing
I'm the matter. There was q band or
vigilantes there at the time however,
and their chief-a French count, by the
way-told the sheriff that II he could
arrange to wait over for q day ne
should see how they dealt with horse
thieves in the States. The culprits
were let out Of Jail that night, and
early next morning Chapleau saw their
three bodies hanging from trees with
in 800 yards Of the fort.
Now, that was tracking. I've seen
some very wonderful tracking ability
exhibited by the Blackfeet and Assint-
bions and others. You won't find 1t
among white men. How can they COM
pete with hunters whose forefathers
for generations have been following the
the trail Of soft moccasins over all
kinds of ground till they can almost run
by scent? Only be sure to select the
right men. I've known too many Eng
lishmen come out to this country to
shoot moose and get into conversation
with some loafer in hotel 'rotunda,
who invariably know all about It and
has just the right man to recommend
for the job Then the Englishman
spends weeks following stale moose
tracks In charge of some drunken half