The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-12-26

1 the Information that the nero was
right at hand, in the valley of the
Powder Horn.
I'VE had come prepared for a
desperate undertaking. At our camp
the Cheyennes had made long fire
ropes Of the dry grass OF the creek
bottom. These weapons OF the stam
peder they had held patiently over
the blaze Of fire In final process
OF drying out. - ~
"Our attack was now planned UNI
der direction OF Hallett who. with
Pratt and eight Indians, was to make
a detour and rush upon the cattle
stampeding them down the river. |
and one Indian were to take our sta
tions in the valley just above the
mouth OF the creek which we had de-
scended 1t was our business to turn
the cattle up the creek and so toward
the agency.
"On guard in the darkness ]
passed couple of uncomfortable
hours An end to suspense came at
last A shrill ki-yi-ying, which | first
mistook for the racket OF coyotes,
broke up the river Then of sudden
the flat up there was abIaZe with
shooting stars and writhing snakes
OF fire, and the fireworks were ans
wered by flashes Of guns. The yelling
and shooting rose to a fierce clamor,
but even this was quickly drowned
in a grumbling mutter, which grew
into the roar of stampede. AS this
noise rumbled down upon us, | fanci-
ed that it was like the growl OF an
earthquake, and that the ground
shook under my pony's feet.
''The dust raised by the running
cattle quickly obscured the fire
works and now my Indian appeared
close at hand shouting and waving
an arm When sure he had attract
ed my attention he motioned for me
to follow, turned and galloped to-
ward the hills.
ITO my mind the young Cheyenne
was afraid and it did not occur to me
at the moment that there could be
any danger in front of herd of
little more than a thousand head.
1t was not until my pony began to
pitch and try to break away, and
saw almost upon us the solid front
of the stampede, extending indefi-
nitely in the darkness to right and
left, that l realized the need of get
ting quickly out Of the way.
Il tried to ride across the front of
the herd, but the wall of cattle was
upon me instantly, and my pony
began to run straight away. | was
not frightened, although | knew of
the peril of badger and prairie dog
holes Yet the cayuse did not share
my confidence. He ran like a scared
coyote.
81 was looking over my shoulder
TO note If the time had come when
might veer away from the van of
the stampede. Suddenly the cayuse
set his feet and ! was hurled from
the saddle like q stone from cata-
putt. ! felt my face whipped sting
ingly and then | plunged head fore
most into shallow current, grind
ing my fists and head upon gravel
ly bottom.
81 got to my feet, chokA
deep. | was standing under a high
bank, with a fringe Of willows over
head My horse had baked at this
bank and the roar of the herd was
, III my ears. | scrambled into a slop-
ing rim of earth at the edge of the
: water and. finding shelving bank
above my head, covered against the
earth, so scared that II there had
been time, I could not have moved
another step.
But there was no time to think
or to act before deluge OF living
bodies rolled over the bank and into
the stream.
Il could see nothing, for turf and
loose earth rolled down upon and
.. over me, blinging my eyes and we'll
nigh choking off my breath. But
could hear the tremendous salashing
the impact Of body upon body, as
the leap or the impetus OF each crea-
ture carried it over my head, and
the groans and coughings of the dis
: tressful struggle in the stream.
Had not my hand clutched will
low root and my feet been consid-
erably above the level of the water,
must quickly have been trampled
under foot AS it was the current
was choked when the rain OF cattle
ceased. Yet as soon as those unmain-
ed gained the opposite bank the
} stampede went roaring and bawling
on.
II crawled from my cover, plaster
ed with mud and debris. to find the
current afloat with dead and strug-
: Cling creatures. I managed to climb
the bank. and then went to clear
!
I was alternately washing my
clothes and nursing sprained wrist
heard shouts on the bank and look
: ed up to see the Indian who had
tried to warn me and then fled from
the front of the stampede.
THE Cheyenne seemed much
pleased to find me alive. He insisted
on my mounting his pony, and we
followed on after the herd, keeping
the trail by his keen sight. We came
up with the cattle, exhausted and In
charge of our men, about daylight.
And then we discovered that the
herd numbered more than twice
what had been run off the reserva-
u ton.
The rustlers had been collecting
cattle in small punches from the out
lying ranges, and had gathered their
latch In the north fork. There were
more than twenty brands. The
. thieves had evidently thought that
my whole tribe of Cheyennes were
after them and had fled In, great