Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-03-12

was pressed for horses. Brigham was
hitched to scraper. Brigham buck
ed and Cody was about to unbitch
him when a cry went up that a herd
of buffalo was coming over the hill
Brigham and the scraper parted com
pany instantly and Cody mounted him
bareback. the saddle being at the
camp, a mile away. Shouting an or
der for the men 10 follow with a
wagon he galloped toward the game.
There were other hunters that day.
Five officers rode out from Fort Wal
lace and Joined Cody while waiting
for the buffalo to come up.
They were recent arrivals an !
their shoulder straps indicated that
one was a captain and the others
lieutenants They did not know Buff
falo BILL They saw nothing but a
good looking young fellow in the
dress OF a working man. astride a not
handsome horse and no saddle. "Hel-
To-" called out the captain, Il see you
are after the same game we are"
Yes, sir" returned Bill; "our camp
out of fresh meat" The captain ran
a critical eye over Brigham. DO you
expect to run down buffalo with a
Iorse like that?" he said. why
said Bill, innocently, "are buffaloes
pretty speedy?" SPEEDY! 1t takes a
fast horse to overhaul those animals
on an open prairie"
There were eleven buTaloes in the
bunch and the officers started after
them as II they had sure thing on
the entire number. Cody noticed the
game was pointed toward the creek
and understanding the nature of the
beast, he started for the water to
head them of AS the herd went by
with the military quintet in the rear
500 yards, he gave Brigham's blind
bride twitch and in few jumps
the trained hunter was at the rear
buffalo. Luchetia Borgia spoke and
the buffalo fell dead. without even
a bride signal Brigham was at the
side of the next buffalo, ten feet away
and this too fell dead at the first shot
The maneuver was repeated until the
last buffalo went down. Twelve shots
had been fired. Then Brigham, who
never wasted his strength, stopped
The officers had not even shot at
the game. Astonisnment was writ
ten on their faces as they rode up.
The Early Conquest of king Corn
1t Is generally believed that corn
originated in Central Mexico. where
the Mayas, the oldest race on the
American continent, developed its
seed bearing qualities. Corn has
probably been grown longer in Mex.
leo than any other country. Records
of exploring voyages OF early mission
aries show that as early as 1862 corn
was found growing abundantly in
of the western and southern states
Its cultivation was crude. In a vague
way Indians selected those ears for
seed which were the easiest to pre-
pare for food selecting those contain
ing the greatest number of kernels
and the least amount OF husk. Dur
ing this time a natural selection was
wedding out the undesirable types.
Frosts OF early winter destroyed all
the seed that did not mature in the
short season of the northern land
Ears that were borne on weak stalks
snow and were destroyed Kernels
weakened by conditions or succumb
ing to some disease were not likely to
develop under the Indians careless
method Of planting. Such types were
quickly destroyed and lost The Ell,
tire tendency was TO produce hardy
plant, This led to the development
of the flint corns which are grown
today in an improved state in New
England and many northern coun.
tries
From the evidence of Indian
mounds and houses it is likely that
Indian corn was brought north from
Mexico directly into what is now Ari.
iona and New Mexico. In some OF
The cave dwellers' homes in Arizona
and New Mexico Indian corn stalks
are found imbedded in clay, serving
as rafters to these rude houses. These
rafters have been embedded In this
clay and in the very dry climate of
this region have remained preserved
10 the present day. From this terri
tory the Indians. by exchange and bar.
ter, carried Indian corn TO the region
which now constitutes the states OF
Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska.
From here corn was carried across
the Mississippi to Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio and from these states by easy
stages to the region of New England.
In the mounds OF Ohio and surround
ing states corn has been found among
st