IV
A WINTER ROUND-UP
An hour before daybreak one Christmas morning in the Cherokee Strip,six hundred horses were under saddle awaiting the dawn. It was aclear, frosty morning that bespoke an equally clear day for the wolf_rodeo_. Every cow-camp within striking distance of the Walnut Grove,on the Salt Fork of the Cimarron, was a scene of activity, taxing tothe utmost its hospitality to man and horse. There had been a heartyresponse to the invitation to attend the circle drive-hunt of thiswell-known shelter of several bands of gray wolves. The cowmen hadsuffered so severely in time past from this enemy of cattle that theCherokee Strip Cattle Association had that year offered a bounty oftwenty dollars for wolf scalps.
The lay of the land was extremely favorable. The Walnut Grove wasa thickety covert on the north first bottom of the Cimarron, andpossibly two miles wide by three long. Across the river, and extendingseveral miles above and below this grove, was the salt plain--analkali desert which no wild animal, ruminant or carnivorous, wouldattempt to cross, instinct having warned it of its danger. At thetermination of the grove proper, down the river or to the eastward,was a sand dune bottom of several miles, covered by wild plum brush,terminating in a perfect horseshoe a thousand acres in extent, theentrance of which was about a mile wide. After passing the grove, thisplum-brush country could be covered by men on horseback, thoughthe chaparral undergrowth of the grove made the use of horsesimpracticable. The Cimarron River, which surrounds this horseshoe onall sides but the entrance, was probably two hundred yards wide atan average winter stage, deep enough to swim a horse, and cold androlling.
Across the river, opposite this horseshoe, was a cut-bank twenty feethigh in places, with only an occasional cattle trail leading down tothe water. This cut-bank formed the second bottom on that side, andthe alkaline plain--the first bottom--ended a mile or more up theriver. It was an ideal situation for a drive-hunt, and legend,corroborated by evidences, said that the Cherokees, when they usedthis outlet as a hunting-ground after their enforced emigration fromGeorgia, had held numerous circle hunts over the same ground afterbuffalo, deer, and elk.
The rendezvous was to be at ten o'clock on Encampment Butte, a plateauoverlooking the entire hunting-field and visible for miles. An hourbefore the appointed time the clans began to gather. All the campswithin twenty-five miles, and which were entertaining participantsof the hunt, put in a prompt appearance. Word was received early thatmorning that a contingent from the Eagle Chief would be there, andbegged that the start be delayed till their arrival. A number of oldcowmen were present, and to them was delegated the duty of appointingthe officers of the day. Bill Miller, a foreman on the Coldwater Pool,an adjoining range, was appointed as first captain. There were alsoseveral captains over divisions, and an acting captain placed overevery ten men, who would be held accountable for any disorder allowedalong the line under his special charge.
The question of forbidding the promiscuous carrying of firearms metwith decided opposition. There was an element of danger, it was true,but to deprive any of the boys of arms on what promised an excitingday's sport was contrary to their creed and occupation; besides, theirjudicious use would be an essential and valuable assistance. To denyone the right and permit another, would have been to divide theirforces against a common enemy; so in the interests of harmony it wasfinally concluded to assign an acting captain over every ten men."I'll be perfectly responsible for any of my men," said Reese, ared-headed Welsh cowman from over on Black Bear. "Let's just turn ourwild selves loose, and those wolves won't stand any more show than acoon in a bear dance."
"It would be fine satisfaction to be shot by a responsible man likeyou or any of your outfit," replied Hollycott, superintendent of the"LX." "I hope another Christmas Day to help eat a plum pudding on thebanks of the Dee, and I don't want to be carrying any of your straylead in my carcass either. Did you hear me?"
"Yes; we're going to have egg-nog at our camp to-night. Come down."
The boys were being told off in squads of ten, when a suppressed shoutof welcome arose, as a cavalcade of horsemen was sighted coming overthe divide several miles distant. Before the men were allotted andtheir captains appointed, the last expected squad had arrived, theirhorses frosty and sweaty. They were all well known west end Strippers,numbering fifty-four men and having ridden from the Eagle Chief,thirty-five miles, starting two hours before daybreak.
With the arrival of this detachment, Miller gave his orders for theday. Tom Cave was given two hundred men and sent to the upper endof the grove, where they were to dismount, form in a half circleskirmish-line covering the width of the thicket, and commence thedrive down the river. Their saddle horses were to be cut into twobunches and driven down on either side of the grove, and to be inreadiness for the men when they emerged from the chaparral, four ofthe oldest men being detailed as horse wranglers. Reese was sent witha hundred and fifty men to left flank the grove, deploying his men asfar back as the second bottom, and close his line as the drive movedforward. Billy Edwards was sent with twenty picked men down the riverfive miles to the old beef ford at the ripples. His instructions wereto cross and scatter his men from the ending of the salt plain to thehorseshoe, and to concentrate them around it at the termination of thedrive. He was allowed the best ropers and a number of shotguns, tobe stationed at the cattle trails leading down to the water at theriver's bend. The remainder, about two hundred and fifty men underLynch, formed a long scattering line from the left entrance of thehorseshoe, extending back until it met the advancing line of Reese'spickets.
With the river on one side and this cordon of foot and horsemen on theother, it seemed that nothing could possibly escape. The location ofthe quarry was almost assured. This chaparral had been the breedingrefuge of wolves ever since the Cimarron was a cattle country.Every rider on that range for the past ten years knew it to be therendezvous of El Lobo, while the ravages of his nightly raids were inevidence for forty miles in every direction. It was a common sight,early in the morning during the winter months, to see twenty andupward in a band, leisurely returning to their retreat, logy andinsolent after a night's raid. To make doubly sure that they would beat home to callers, the promoters of this drive gathered a number ofworthless lump-jawed cattle two days in advance, and driving them tothe edge of the grove, shot one occasionally along its borders, thus,to be hoped, spreading the last feast of the wolves.
* * * * *
By half past ten, Encampment Butte was deserted with the exception ofa few old cowmen, two ladies, wife and sister of a popular cowman, andthe captain, who from this point of vantage surveyed the field witha glass. Usually a languid and indifferent man, Miller had so set hisheart on making this drive a success that this morning he appearedalert and aggressive as he rode forward and back across the plateau ofthe Butte. The dull, heavy reports of several shotguns caused him towheel his horse and cover the beef ford with his glass, and a momentlater Edwards and his squad were seen with the naked eye to scale thebank and strike up the river at a gallop. It was known that the fordwas saddle-skirt deep, and some few of the men were strangers to it;but with that passed safely he felt easier, though his blood coursedquicker. It lacked but a few minutes to eleven, and Cave and hisdetachment of beaters were due to move on the stroke of the hour. Theyhad been given one hundred rounds of six-shooter ammunition to theman and were expected to use it. Edwards and his cavalcade wereapproaching the horseshoe, the cordon seemed perfect, thoughscattering, when the first faint sound of the beaters was heard, andthe next moment the barking of two hundred six-shooters was reechoingup and down the valley of the Salt Fork.
The drive-hunt was on; the long yell passed from the upper end ofthe grove to the mouth of the horseshoe and back, punctuated with anoccasional shot by irrepressibles. The mounts of the day were the pickof over five thousand cow-horses, and corn-fed for winter use, inthe pink of condition and as impatient for the coming fray as theirriders.
Everything was moving like clockwork. Miller
forsook the Butte androde to the upper end of the grove; the beaters were making slow butsteady progress, while the saddled loose horses would be at hand fortheir riders without any loss of time. Before the beaters were onethird over the ground, a buck and doe came out about halfway down thegrove, sighted the horsemen, and turned back for shelter. Once morethe long yell went down the line. Game had been sighted. When aboutone half the grove had been beat, a flock of wild turkeys came out atthe lower end, and taking flight, sailed over the line. Pandemoniumbroke out. Good resolutions of an hour's existence were converted intopaving material in the excitement of the moment, as every carbine orsix-shooter in or out of range rained its leaden hail at the flyingcovey. One fine bird was accidentally winged, and half a dozen menbroke from the line to run it down, one of whom was Reese himself.The line was not dangerously broken nor did harm result, and on theirreturn Miller was present and addressed this query to Reese: "Who isthe captain of this flank line?"
"He'll weigh twenty pounds," said Reese, ignoring the question andholding the gobbler up for inspection.
"If you were a vealy tow-headed kid, I'd have something to say to you,but you're old enough to be my father, and that silences me. Buttry and remember that this is a wolf hunt, and that there are enoughwolves in that brush this minute to kill ten thousand dollars' worthof cattle this winter and spring, and some of them will be your own.That turkey might eat a few grasshoppers, but you're cowman enough toknow that a wolf just loves to kill a cow while she's calving."
This lecture was interrupted by a long cheer coming up the line frombelow, and Miller galloped away to ascertain its cause. He met Lynchcoming up, who reported that several wolves had been sighted, while atthe lower end of the line some of the boys had been trying their gunsup and down the river to see how far they would carry. What caused therecent shouting was only a few fool cowboys spurting their horsesin short races. He further expressed the opinion that the line wouldhold, and at the close with the cordon thickened, everything would beforced into the pocket. Miller rode back down the line with himuntil he met a man from his own camp, and the two changing horses, hehurried back to oversee personally the mounting of the beaters whenthe grove had been passed.
Reese, after the captain's reproof, turned his trophy over to someof the men, and was bringing his line down and closing up with theforward movement of the drive. On Miller's return, no fault could befound, as the line was condensed to about a mile in length, while thebeaters on the points were just beginning to emerge from the chaparraland anxious for their horses. Once clear of the grove, the beatershalted, maintaining their line, while from either end the horsewranglers were distributing to them their mounts. Again secure intheir saddles, the long yell circled through the plum thickets andreechoed down the line, and the drive moved forward at a quickerpace. "If you have any doubts about hell," said Cave to Miller, as thelatter rode by, "just take a little _pasear_ through that thicket onceand you'll come out a defender of the faith."
The buck and doe came out within sight of the line once more, lowerdown opposite the sand dunes, and again turned back, and a half hourlater all ears were strained listening to the rapid shooting from thefarther bank of the river. Rebuffed in their several attempts to forcethe line, they had taken to the water and were swimming the river.From several sand dunes their landing on the opposite bank near theending of the salt plain could be distinctly seen. As they came outof the river, half a dozen six-shooters were paying them a salute inlead; but the excitability of the horses made aim uncertain, and theyrounded the cut-bank at the upper end and escaped.
While the deer were making their escape, a band of antelope weresighted sunning themselves amongst the sand dunes a mile below;attracted by the shooting, they were standing at attention. Now whenan antelope scents danger, he has an unreasonable and unexplainabledesire to reach high ground, where he can observe and be observed--ata distance. Once this conclusion has been reached, he allows nothingto stop him, not even recently built wire fences or man himself, andlike the cat despises water except for drinking purposes. So whenthis band of antelope decided to adjourn their _siesta_ from the warm,sunny slope of a sand dune, they made an effort and did break thecordon, but not without a protest.
As they came out of the sand dunes, heading straight for the line,all semblance of control was lost in the men. Nothing daunted by theyelling that greeted the antelope, once they came within range fiftymen were shooting at them without bringing one to grass. With gunsempty they loosened their ropes and met them. A dozen men made casts,and Juan Mesa, a Mexican from the Eagle Chief, lassoed a fine buck,while "Pard" Sevenoaks, from the J+H, fastened to the smallest onein the band. He was so disgusted with his catch that he dismounted,ear-marked the kid, and let it go. Mesa had made his cast with solarge a loop that one fore leg of the antelope had gone through, andit was struggling so desperately that he was compelled to tie the ropein a hard knot to the pommel of his saddle. His horse was a wheeler onthe rope, so Juan dismounted to pet his buck. While he held on to therope assisting his horse, an Eagle Chief man slipped up and cut therope through the knot, and the next moment a Mexican was burning thegrass, calling on saints and others to come and help him turn theantelope loose. When the rope had burned its way through his glovedhands, he looked at them in astonishment, saying, "That was one bravobuck. How come thees rope untie?" But there was none to explain,and an antelope was dragging thirty-five feet of rope in a franticendeavor to overtake his band.
The line had been closing gradually until at this juncture it hadbeen condensed to about five miles, or a horseman to every fifty feet.Wolves had been sighted numerous times running from covert to covert,but few had shown themselves to the flank line, being contented withsuch shelter as the scraggy plum brush afforded. Whenever the beaterswould rout or sight a wolf, the yelling would continue up and down theline for several minutes. Cave and his well-formed circle of beaterswere making good time; Reese on the left flank was closing andmoving forward, while the line under Lynch was as impatient as it washilarious. Miller made the circle every half hour or so; and had onlyto mention it to pick any horse he wanted from the entire line for achange.
By one o'clock the drive had closed to the entrance of the pocket,and within a mile and a half of the termination. There was yet enoughcover to hide the quarry, though the extreme point of this horseshoewas a sand bar with no shelter except driftwood trees. Edwards andhis squad were at their post across the river, in plain view of theadvancing line. Suddenly they were seen to dismount and lie down onthe brink of the cut-bank. A few minutes later chaos broke out alongthe line, when a band of possibly twenty wolves left their cover andappeared on the sand bar. A few rifle shots rang out from the oppositebank, when they skurried back to cover.
Shooting was now becoming dangerous. In the line was a horseman everyten or twelve feet. All the captains rode up and down begging themen to cease shooting entirely. This only had a temporary effect,for shortly the last bit of cover was passed, and there within fourhundred yards on the bar was a snarling, snapping band of gray wolves.
The line was halted. The unlooked-for question now arose how to makethe kill safe and effective. It would be impossible to shoot from theopposite bank without endangering the line of men and horses. Finallya small number of rifles were advanced on the extreme left flank towithin two hundred yards of the quarry, where they opened fire atan angle from the watchers on the opposite bank. They proved poormarksmen, overshooting, and only succeeded in wounding a few andforcing several to take to the water, so that it became necessary torecall the men to the line.
These men were now ordered to dismount and lie down, as the oppositeside would take a hand when the swimming wolves came within range ofshotguns and carbines, to say nothing of six-shooters. The currentcarried the swimming ones down the river, but every man was inreadiness to give them a welcome. The fusillade which greeted them waslike a skirmish-line in action, but the most effective execution waswith buckshot as they came staggering and water-soaked out
of thewater. Before the shooting across the river had ceased, a yell ofalarm surged through the line, and the next moment every man wasclimbing into his saddle and bringing his arms into position foraction. No earthly power could have controlled the men, for coming atthe line less than two hundred yards distant was the corralled band ofwolves under the leadership of a monster dog wolf, evidently a leaderof some band, and every gun within range opened on them. By the timethey had lessened the intervening distance by one half, theentire band deserted their leader and retreated, but unmindful ofconsequences he rushed forward at the line. Every gun was belchingfire and lead at him, while tufts of fur floating in the air told thatseveral shots were effective. Wounded he met the horsemen, strikingright and left in splendid savage ferocity. The horses snorted andshrank from him, and several suffered from his ugly thrusts. Anoccasional effective shot was placed, but every time he forced his waythrough the cordon he was confronted by a second line. A successfulcast of a rope finally checked his course; and as the roper wheeledhis mount to drag him to death, he made his last final rush at thehorse, and, springing at the flank, fastened his fangs into a stirrupfender, when a well-directed shot by the roper silenced him safely atlast.
During the excitement, there were enough cool heads to maintain theline, so that none escaped. The supreme question now was to make thekill with safety, and the line was ransacked for volunteers who couldshoot a rifle with some little accuracy. About a dozen were secured,who again advanced on the extreme right flank to within a hundred andfifty yards, and dismounting, flattened themselves out and opened onthe skurrying wolves. It was afterward attributed to the glaring ofthe sun on the white sand, which made their marksmanship so shamefullypoor, but results were very unsatisfactory. They were recalled, andit was decided to send in four shotguns and try the effect of buckshotfrom horseback. This move was disastrous, though final.
They were ordinary double-barreled shotguns, and reloading was slowin an emergency. Many of the wolves were wounded and had sought suchcover as the driftwood afforded. The experiment had barely begun, whena wounded wolf sprang out from behind an old root, and fastened uponthe neck of one of the horses before the rider could defend himself,and the next moment horse and rider were floundering on the ground. Toa man, the line broke to the rescue, while the horses of the two ladyspectators were carried into the melee in the excitement. The dogs ofwar were loosed. Hell popped. The smoke of six hundred guns arosein clouds. There were wolves swimming the river and wolves trottingaround amongst the horses, wounded and bewildered. Ropes swishedthrough the smoke, tying wounded wolves to be dragged to death ortrampled under hoof. Men dismounted and clubbed them with shotguns andcarbines,--anything to administer death. Horses were powder-burnt andcried with fear, or neighed exultingly. There was an old man or twowho had sense enough to secure the horses of the ladies and lead themout of immediate danger. Several wolves made their escape, and squadsof horsemen were burying cruel rowels in heaving flanks in an endeavorto overtake and either rope or shoot the fleeing animals.
Disordered things as well as ordered ones have an end, and when sanityreturned to the mob an inventory was taken of the drive-hunt. Byactual count, the lifeless carcases of twenty-six wolves graced thesand bar, with several precincts to hear from. The promoters of thehunt thanked the men for their assistance, assuring them that thebounty money would be used to perfect arrangements, so that in otheryears a banquet would crown future hunts. Before the hunt dispersed,Edwards and his squad returned to the brink of the cut-bank, and whenhailed as to results, he replied, "Why, we only got seven, but theyare all _muy docil_. We're going to peel them and will meet you at theford."
"Who gets the turkey?" some one asked.
"The question is out of order," replied Reese. "The property is notpresent, because I sent him home by my cook an hour ago. If any of youhave any interest in that gobbler, I'll invite you to go home withme and help to eat him, for my camp is the only one in the Strip thatwill have turkey and egg-nog to-night."