Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-11-26
Hlisesllaaeuus Rsading.
BANDIT HUNTING HORSES.
Tales of Equine Instinct They Tell In
Texas.

Ysleta, Tex, Nov. 13.-Can horses
be trained to chase criminals? Almost
any reace officer in the west will re-
ply that an intelligent horse can tell
lawlc 80 man the moment 1t gets the
scent of him: that 1t Is an instinct
with some animals to be good criminal
detectives. That is why member OF
i the State Ranger force is particular In
selecting a horse for his personal use
The same is true Of the sheriffs Of the
western counties, who frequently have
| to take long rides on horseback after
outlaws.
The subject came up for discussion
among a group of frontiersmen here
the other day. Some one mentioned
that he had been told that sheriffs in
some parts of Texas were using auto
mobiles to get around in.
"The automobile is well enough to
ride over the country in when you are
serving civil processes, but in real
chase after a criminal give me horse
every time" said Jim Haley, a govern
ment mounted customs inspector who
patrols a stretch of the Rio Grande In
the lower part of Preside county. Il
have been employed in the work OF
rounding up smugglers and other kinds
of bad men on this part Of the border
for the last thirty years and it has
been my experience that II you are
mounted on the right kind Of horse you
are relieved Of one-half Of the work
that you otherwise would be required
to do.
"I have owned horses that could fol-
low the trail Of a criminal over the
bare rocks Of the Chinati mountains
the darkest night without my touching
the reins. How did the animal do it?
1 can't tell you. Instinct, suppose.
Il know it to be a fact that some
horses have a sense Of smell as keen
as any deer and that they can distin-
guished between the odor of an out
law and a man who is not guilty of
crime. That they follow the trail Of
a criminal by the scent cannot be
doubted"
Capt. John R Hughes, who has
been in the State Ranger service for
more than thirty years and is now
stationed at Ysleta with his company,
Is also a firm believer in the ability OF
sensible horse to trail criminals. His
own mount is a beautiful white mare
which has demonstrated on number
of occasions ability to run down fu-
gitives.
II had a nerve racking experience a
few years ago in the Big Bend section
of the Rio Grande, all due to the i'm
plicit trust which I placed in horse
/ was riding" said Lew Pruitt, who
has big ranch below Valentine.
There is big open range in the Big
Bend and one winter I was running
some Of my cattle down there. That
region has always been a refuge for
fugitives from justice from various
parts Of Texas and the southwest, but
I had lived down on the border long
enough to know how to get along with
men of that class. I simply let 'em
alone and minded my own business.
1T was the thieving Mexicans /
feared, and I hadn't been down there
very long when one Of my range boss
es came into camp one evening and re-
ported that the night previous a gang
Of Mexicans had made raid upon my
cattle and driven off big bunch of
them. I was seventy-five miles from
the nearest peace officer, so there was
nothing for me to do but take the law
in my own hands and go after the cat
tie.
Il wasn't particularly anxious about
getting the thieves. There were too
many Of them to tackle in a square,
standup fight, but knew they would
abandon the cattle and get away If
they found that I was within reach of
them. could not spare more than
two Of my cowboys, as the other men
in the outfit were needed to look after
the remaining cattle.
I'm those days / had a big sorrel
hcrse-Leathers was his name. He
was a product Of the mountain coun-
try near Valentine, and had the best
staying qualities ever saw in an ami
NAL. I bought him from a deputy
United States marshal who had ridden
him for a year or two hunting down
Mexican smugglers and other border
outlaws.
This horse simply hated Mexican;
he could smell one five miles away,
it seemed to me. II a Mexican enter
ed the corral where he was staying he
would break his neck to get at him.
| Well, mounted this horse, and taking
the two cowboys with me we started
in pursuit Of the Mexican thieves and
the stolen bunch of cattle.
I'VE hit the trail at the head of Tor
neros creek, and you ought to have
seen the capers old Leathers cut when
he got the scent Of them Mexican dew
lis. He pricked up his ears, gave a
few flirting kicks into the air, and, taxi
ing the bit between his teeth started
off. His nose was in the air, and my
pulling on the reins did not have a
particle Of effect on him. He raced
along for several miles, and as fast as
we were going l could see by the
broken shrubs and other signs scat
tered along that we were on the trail
! finally got Leathers slowed down and
managed to hold him up until my two
cowboys caught up with me. They
were mounted on ordinary COW ponies
which did not seem to know what kind
of job they were out on.
I'VE followed the crooked course OF
| Torneros creek for several miles and
came to a deep canon. The surface OF
the ground was covered with broken
rock and it was impossible for me to
tell which direction the trail had TAX
en-. We stopped a minute to discuss the
situation.
why don't you let Leathers pick
out the course?' suggested one Of the
boys.
That's a good idea replied. He
knows which way to go much better