Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-05-15
COTA'S DEFENSE
575l51G1RS7RG. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

EdGIEISGa555.5 GS5AS5SE9G1E
When l was in Lower California,
several years ago, | found employ
ment with an American who was
erecting a stamp-mill at Aqua Dulce,
a small mining-camp forty miles east
of Ensenada. Among the freighters
engaged in hauling the machinery was
& Mexican named Jose Gotta, a noted
hoTseman and hunter.
One evening, when the wagons were
camped at the mine, joined the team
sters and swampers who sat round the
fire telling stories. Gotta told this one.
An apology is due for not reproduc-
ing him in his own quaint vernacular.
Gotta was on his way to visit a
relatiYe-quite a distant one, he ma
lively explained, being the cousin of
his mother-in-law-who lived at the
end of a trail across three hundred
miles of mountain and desert.
Not wishing to leave all his family
behind, he rode the calico-colored
Pinto, this animal being just like a
brother" and besides, according to
Gotta. the best horse in all Mexico.
For the fox-trot of Pinto excelled in
soft-fOoted ease of effort that of the
1.-the bushy-tail for whom the gait was
named.
Then, too, Pinto would eat brush
and grow fat like a burro; all this
despite the fact that he was in years
past twenty. The narrator elaborat-
ed these points in order that we might
better understand him further down
the story.
Travelling with the excellent Pinto
and in addition Gotta had a pack
mule that followed like a dog or
dinarily insured a safe and pleasant
Journey. Doubtless the jacal of the
distant relative would have been
reached without adventure had it
not been for an untoward meeting
lust over the Pichango divide.
Gotta was riding along trail that
cut into the face of bullying precf'
bice of dizzying height, and driving
his mule before him in order that he
might keep an eye on the pack, when
both animals halted abruptly and
stood snorting.
Looking ahead, the traveller saw a
big grizzly bear coming toward him
round amount of rock about so yards
distant. Even on the narrow trail il
would have been a simple matter fol
beast with claws to right-about-face
and retreat, and Cato fired his re
Volver IN the air, fully expecting the
bear to make off in alright.
But it is hard to divine the moods
and motives of a grizzly. This one
chose to consider himself cornereC
or attacked, and started forward or
a swinging shuttle. Then both Of the
travellers animals tried to whirl Oh
a trail where there was no room tC
whirl. and on the brink of a sheer
descent into a canon where the cot
tonwoOds dwindled TO the size of sage
brush.
1t CHANGED that Gotta had his riata
in hand, having used it to urge the
pack-animaI across dangerous places
and no sooner did the mules ears say
az turn" than the bite of the raw
hide rope struck him on the cheek.
The blow turned him to the cliff
and the mule, blinking, stiff-neckeC
and desperate, began scuttling re
treat
Gotta gave way rapidly, holding Pin
to to the wall, and pulling him back
back, back on trail where falls
movement of his hind legs could meal
nothing less than a mangled pill
at the base of the precipice. Wit
every step to the rear the mule al
tempted to head about, but his vigilan
master literally held him in place b,
q shower of singing blows with tn
doubled RATA
Fast and furiously he swung tn
rawhide, with delicate dexterity b
refined and spurred Pinto, and tremb
ing and snorting and sweating fror
fright. the animals were kept in OF
DERBY retreat.
Then a wheezy grunt from the al
proaching bear drove the mule entire
" frantic. and sQuarely against tn
raining blows he turned DOuling hin
self. he whirled nimbly sidewise, draw
ing his forefeet far under him i
an attempt pivot. But his rump BUMP
al the face OF the cliff and topple
him forward. With muscles tense a
cables. the scared brute struggled 70
a moment to recover his balance, an
then fell headlong.