Bisbee daily review., 1907-04-11
OLD BALDY' AND AN ARAPAHOE
 KID
Story of Old Days of Cowboy Supremacy Brought to Mind By Tournament Being Held at Douglas,


 Apropos to the presence in Douglas
 during the week of half hundred
 cowboys, attending the reunion, the
 following story of pioneer and old
 cowboy supremacy days, taken from an exchange, will not be out of place | here:
 "Oid Baldy" was known among the boys on the Prowers ranch as an out law. When he was sold he went to
 the Jim Jones ranch up the river Two or three crack riders atemped to ride "Old Baldy" but they all gave it up in disgust after they had been sent fly ing up among the angels a few times and the old horse was relegated to the cook to help pull the mess wagon One spring about 1872 the Prowers | foreman had business at Las Animas and he spent @ few days with the
 roundup near the mouth of Horse creek
 All the creeks of the country were running bank full. The Arkansas was swift and muddy and roaring so that its voice could be heard miles away.
 Late one evening the kid on the horse herd came in and said he thought a baby was on an island hundred yards out in the river. With field glasses the men found the boy had told the truth. How to get the youngster of
 the island was the next question. The river was so turbulent that no one cared to ford it, but the cowboys were
 all too good-hearted to leave the year l ling. to die of starvation.
 Several of the boys tried to make 1 their ponies ford the stream. but they all turned back after getting a few | feet from the bank, the water proving altogether too much for them. Fi-
 nally, the visiting member of the fra ! ternity remembered "Old Baldy" and his swimming habit which had devel- oped on a memorable chase after
 horse thieves few years before He said if they would bring "Old Baldy" | in he would make him swim out and get the baby back to safety. Half a dozen of them galloped over to the 1 cavallard and in a few minutes were | leading tho old skate back to the | banks snorting in indignation and as-
 tonishment at being called to do a trick after he had dragged the mess
 wagon around all day.
 The foreman stripped the saddle 1 from the pony he was riding, let out ! the ciuch, for 'Old Baldy" was a horse
 weighing 1900 pounds. and was soon ready to mount. "Baldy" recognized ] his old master and actually worked 1 his ears backward and forward with | pleasure as he was being saddled.
 The foreman stripped down to a pair
 of oyeralls, kicked off his boots, threw 1 of his hat and heading the old horse 1 100 yards above the head of the island. l jumped him into twenty feet of water. l They went down together as if a | stone and the boys groaned in dis
 may and swore that a good cowboy i had been sacrificed, all for the sake | of a measly kid. After a few seconds "Old Baldy" and his rider came to i the surface again. well out in the i stream considerably below where they ] had jumped of.
 ! Then the old horse took a trace or 1 himself and swimming with only his
 nose out of the water. headed brayeiy | for the island. Just as it seemed the i trip would be made without mishap. a ] big cottonwood trunk which had caught in the undertow butted in and l knocked the horses pins from under i him. Then they went down our of sight and again every one thought the
 race had been run. They came to the 1 surface again, both blowing muddy water out of their mouths and noses. l Within half dozen more strokes the end of the island was reached and then l strong swirl of water tapping around | the lands end, took the horse of his | feet again and started him drifting 1 down stream.
 1 The current swung horse and rider
 against the bank with some oyerhang- | ing willows which were grasped and /, the rider swung himself onto the bank
 in safety. He hung to the bridle and
 running down stream few yards soon found landing. The little kid turned
 out to be an Arapahoe Indian and true
 t6 life was awfuliy hungry. but un- hurt, save where magpies had picked ! holes in his back. He was at least
 three years old. His mother had been caught in the river three or four days
 before and she and her horse had been drowned. The cowpuncher took the papoose under his left arm, remounted and struck out for shore where he ar rived safely fully half a mile below