Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1909-02-12

n ~ LIE hunter must some
ks-.s.-ss..xI times face thirst, as well
HSlLIUaA as fire and frost The
EAifgk7$s only time | ever really
suffered from thirst was
while hunting prong-buck.
1t was late in the summer. l was
with the ranch wagon on the way to
Join 4 roundup, and as we were out
of meat l started for a days hunt
After two or three hours ride up
winding coulies. and through the
scorched desolation of patches of Bad
Lands. | reached the rolling prairie
The heat and drought had long burned
the short grass dull brown the bot
toms of what had been pools were
covered with hard, dry, cracked earth.
The day was cloudless, and the heat
oppressive. There were many ante
lope, but l got only one shot, breaking
9 bucks leg; and though | followed it
for couple of hours | could not over
take it, By this time it was late in
the afternoon, and l was far away
from the river; so pushed for creek,
in the bed of which had always
found pools of water. especially to-
wards the head, as is usual with plains
watercourses. To my chagrin, how
ever, they all proved to be dry; and
though l rode up the creek bed to-
ward the head, carefully searching for
any sign Of water, night closed on me
before l found any. For two or three
hours 1 stumbled on leading my horse,
in my fruitless search; then tumble
over a cut bank in the dark warned
me that | might as well stay where |
was for the rest of the warm night.
Accordingly l unsaddled the horse,
and tied him to a sage brush; after
awhile he began to feed on the dewy
grass. At first l was too thirsty to
sleep. Finally l fell into sumber,
and when l awoke at dawn I felt no
thirst. For an hour or two more |
continued my search for water in the
creek bed; then abandoned it and rode
straight for the river. By the time
we reached it my thirst had come
back with redoubled force, my mouth
was parched, and the horse was in
quite as bad plight; we rushed down
to the brink. and it seemed as if we
could neither of us ever drink our fill
of the tepid. rather muddy water. OF
course this experience was merely I'M
pleasant: thirst is not a source of real
danger in the plains country proper
whereas in the hideous deserts that
extend from southern Idaho through
Utah and Nevada to Arizona. it ever
menaces with death the hunter and ex-
plorer.
In the plains the weather is apt to
be in extremes; the heat is tropical,
the cold arctic, and the droughts are
relieved by furious foods. These are
generally more severe and lasting in
the spring. after the melting of the
snow; and fierce local freshets follow
the occasional cloudbursts. The large
rivers then become wholly impassa-
Bile. and even the smaller are formi-
dable obstacles. 1t is not easy to get
cattle across a swollen stream, where
the current runs like a turbid mill-race
over the bed of shifting quicksand. |
Once five of us took a thousand head |
of trail steers across the Little Mis- |
souri, when the river was up. and it |
was no light task. The muddy current |
was boiling past the banks covered |
with driftwood and foul yellow froth,
and the frightened cattle shrank from
entering it. At last. by hard riding
with much loud shouting and swing
ing of ropes. we got the leaders in, and
the whole herd followed After them
we went in our turn. the horses swim
ming at one moment, and the next
staggering and fioundering through
the qucksand / was riding my pet
cutting horse. Muley, which has the
provoking habit of making great
bounds where the water Is just not
deep enough for swimming; once he
almost unseated me. Some Of the cat
tie were caught by the currents and
rolled over and over: most of these we
were able with the help Of our ropes
to put on their feet again; only one
was drowned. or rather choked In a
uuicksand. Many swan down stream,
and in consequence struck difficult
landing where the river ran under
cut bank: these we had to haul out
with our ropes.
Although I have often had horse
/
swollen river. and have had to work
hard to save him. | have never myself
lost one under such circumstances.
Yet once | saw the horse of one OF my
men drown under him directly in front
of the ranch house. while he was try
ing TO cross the river. This was in
early spring, soon after the Ice had
broken.
When making long wagon trips over {
the great plains, antelope often ofer
the only source of meat supply. save
for occasional water fowl, sage fowl, I
md prairie fowl - the sharp-talled
prairie fowl. be 1t understood. This
IS the characteristic grouse of the cat. d
lie country; the true prairie fowl Is
bird of the farming land farther east.
Towards the end of the summer OF II
% | found II necessary TO travel from Il