The Oregon daily journal., July 22, 1906, SECTION THREE, Image 36

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A MERICA has just seen its last
'--y Fea round-up, of wild horses.
-y. Onlfabdut 200 of these fine ani- ;
tnals now roam the great' Northwestern
ranges, still free from the humiliating cap-
trviiy of me naucr, ana u is aouoica
1liy Ortantzed attempt Will be made to Cat-
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ture themir-- - . ;
; Whatjwill probably go down into his-,
" tory, therefore, as the last bit hunt of this
kind took tilace a lew Weeks a?0 in the .
-lasteTnarrfhrttateffrashingto
XThree thousand -animals,- many of them .
't.LJ, ,,M J 1 ' "
VOtuaoie, were caprurea. , ,
- (This chase was oie of the most notable
U the annals of the Northwest. Two hun- '
dred daring horsemen Set .OUt tO run down
,jhe quarry. 'Throwing a long living chain '
, attr ws Te i wmf I ve raeaT irt 919 isirw
tainous country, they gradually rounded in
until thousands of struggling, frightened
animals had been herded together in huge'
corrals upon the banks of the Columbia
river. '" , ' .:--: v .;. K
Ranchers, cattlemen,' adventurers and
: Indians took part in this horse hunt. For. ;
, days the younger men had great sport in
I roping and breaking the many excellent
specimens ofladUe animals found in iKe
. wild bands. , .-r ri ' . ' .-
, Notwithstanding this success and the - y ''
care with which the round-up was made, "
the real prize that had inspired the horse' ,'
'hunt was lost. The famous Wild Goose
hand some 200 splendid animals of al
most pure Arabian blood broke through
every cordon and escaped. No horse of the, -hunters
was swift enough to cote with -their
rnatchlesi speed', nojider bold enoughp
to face their mad, concerted rush for. Ijb-
rty. :; :p,y:
M
ANT years ago an Ohio mad embarked in the
horse and dog show business. In hie outfit
were eight Imported Arabian horses of al-
. aaoat. pura- blood,-royal spirit and great'
.beauty.'- ; ' ' ; ;
From place to placa through the West the strew
ansn Journeyed with varying success, until he reached'
BpokajWl!There the financial oollapse came.
- and Ms property waa sola.-
Purchased In one lot by a ranchman, the Arabians
sent to his place, In DouglH oounty. T-v
years ago the barn in which they were sheltered
burned, and the frightened animals fled headlong Into '
the canyons and pratrte-a, ' .
Since then thry have run '.wild, and Increased
amasingly la numbers. They .have alwsya. kept to.
goiter, and, so far as known,, tiave never afllllatsd
with the numerous other bands of wild horses la that
region. '
Because of their uniform dapple-grsy color and
the slralshtaway runs from danaer that they msde.
thle lot hss for years been known as the Wild Goose
band, and many unsuccessful efforts have been made
y upsu
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to corral -them. .-Their 'frrat pe(I ttea lwye eiv
bled them to outstrip Ore fMteat boreea that purauera
could put upon their trait , , . . i, '
-It waa for tho purpose, prlnclpaUr, ot eapturtng
theaa fleet-footed deaceadanta of the Arablana .that
. the recent hunt waa organised. At the aame time, the
demand for horsea promlMd large rewarda, ahould
rej in. .. 1.1:. ; - -
' Eatn Waahlnaton haa for VaUra been known aa ;
the home of the wild range horae, and man are. tltaj
- market Tf -tMCentraT and "Eastern States to which .
. those horses hare neon shipped for sale. Walla Walla,
one of the largest horse markets of the Weat, la leas '
. than mo miles from Douglas county, and scores otanl-
' found their way thither, nlany to pass Into,
vaUeys. Not only did thU Invasion drive the hrda
of wild liolsei fauliw into tne mduhUbous coun
try, but the demand for work animals Increased the
prtoe. - . - i-.r'
ATi!
the wild animals, and a brisker demand than usual
" eeason resulted In the first big organised rund-
.last
A So per and James Hill, old range riders of Doug- .
las county, and William McCarty and Porter Town
send, both of Dickinson, K. D, began the organ lxa-
t . " ' .
tlow. Thomas Burgen, ' of EuphrsU, Wash., was .
elected foreman of the great drive. Brands and rights
in brands were purchased, i It-was decided to collect
if riders and sweep avery wild horse In ' the region '
Into huge corrals at one end of the drive. , -.
On the Sunday before the drive began a series of
cowboy games, new to Washington, were held at
Euphrala. There were races of all sorts, unUmid
hnrans were "busted," and a barbecue and old-fasa-loned
vaqtiero danoeelosed the festivities. '
At daylight the next- morning the cavalcade .
tsrted for the rarre. There were cook waaons and
txd wagons and plenty of provender. A number of
Nespelim Indiana Joined the party, and their camp
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outfit waa In strange contrast to that of Burgen'a men.
! ' in Crab' Creek Canyon nearly-every man' la the '
party, killed a rattlesnake, . winding the skin around.
his saddle, to which It stuck,' when dried,. aa though
' glued. The rattle-t-was-tied to the-hat ss vaaueros
: always, hold that. these "buttons" will prevent head-.
ache. i
After' two dstr riding, ' the first search for range .
. horses began. Saddle Mountain had been reached,'
and seventy-five good riders were told off to1 ride.
; westward to the mouth of Crab creek and start the
i animals- toward the main party.. . Thla meant forty
.Bailee) of rough mountain riding. "'
. All. kinds of ' troubles were encountered by . the
KCSTCTCG, JULY - 22, 'VZS
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vlth the cook1 waguiis. Tiaiiueiiuy1 two
saddle ponies.: hitched' by lariats fastened ' to the
wheels,, helped the draught horsea to pull' them from
a bog. 'But at last the great Columbia was reached.
,.Here were large corrals, and. the result 'of "the ride ':
7over the mountains by the smaller crew was eagerly, ,
awaited. ' r : - ' ' ; " " '
' e ..v h -lhln atid
WUllllllli V UVI SlilU rVl Vs vvusaa-.a-w -
that the hard rtde had not been fruitless. Aa the great
drove of tired, frightened , horsea eame ( sweeping
through the dust of a ravine, ' It . seemed they had
eome from the clouds. ""'.". !'v ' ' ' ' J-
Down' to the cooling 'water -rushed . the horsea.'
'"Artervthey had drunk their tll.: It, Waa '.ft compara
" tlvely easy task' to .drlve them Into the corTauVx'--
' More thsa tOO horses were obtained by this day
round-up. ' It had been nerve-racking . worki that ride
over the mountains, and several of the toughen od cow
! ponies had given out'.""'"' ' . "' ' " :;.''-i '
. Fully 1600 wild horsea had been started buf when
, amaU 'bunchea would break from the ranks, the herd
era ponies were too tired to bead them oft, and they
JIany weary little colts were left orphans by these
stampedes. Mors than fifty colts were shot during the
; afternoon, after : their scared mothers r had 'broken
way. It seemed a cruel thing to do. but it waa mora.
: merciful than to leave -the exhausted 'eolta behind to
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brought Into" camp, and nearby settlers took 'them . "-"1-. JJZL, "
home to feed tNem Tcows' milk until they-Are able-to, the big river oorrals. . . .
forage for themselves. - . f- Then came days Of picking out and ' branding. . .
It was two days after thla that the famous Wild B?1" specimens of saddle horses were found, and "
Oooe band was'slghted. Saddle Mountain was- rid-' they 'were speedily roped and saddled. -vl'lenty of
den over Main. Forty men went up. Into ithe hUla'to - sport .was had In subduing these anlmala for eervloe. r e
start the horses, while another-party -took . number . Those who took pnrt in the hunt said It was ft,;
of fresh mounts around one end of the range of. hills. "ot picturesque spectacle to see hundreds of these'
Karly one morning the scouts discovered" a herd ' animals 1 sweeping gracefully across a plain, all sevm- v.-
. . . . ' ii. L .1 er l A m 1 a i fAsv -ft a wgt I ass a a sal swea e 1 4 lass flffe I ssst n skPgi
hodv. of riders was aummoned. and they quietly formed
. un nUlli.-,id e tha val ev. Awsr fled the
frightened animals, with the herders In close pursuit
' all endeavoring "to 'prevent' atragglera from breaking-,
away , , .. .. . ,,,v . . ---- ---...
".:"1"''-' v 'W-'- :
On the :
It was soon noticed that one bunch of ISO to X
horses, all of the same dapple-gray color, kept to
gether and seemed to be following a leader, a mag
nificent stalUon, ..with a long, dark mane. ' The pur
suers could scarcely believe that they had at last
found the much-talked-of Wild Oooao band, but there
was no mistake.'.'. . : - . '. r
For three hours the Arabians trotted along togeth
er, keeping near the other horses, and the men were
congratulating themselves on their, unxpectedly fine
capture. Suddenly, however, the big stallion wheeled
and headed straight for a ravine running off at right
angips from the direction Vein- kr-iiv
The others' obeyed the command of the leader aa
though following a preconcerted plan.. Each horse
wheeled and headed for the ravine, the' troop break
ing through the moss of other fleeing horsea Ilka a
football rush. , - ' ' . '
In vain, the herders tried to head them o(t Tw
were shot in sn effort to' turn the avalanche headed
t ..... ". "n
Like a solid wede, tha
Araniana went through and on down the rough ravine,
running easily, but so swiftly that pursuit was out of
the question.' r . ,
' The ravins -ended suddenly t the brink of another
and; much deeper canyon. The herders, following. -thought
this must surely, turn , back the runaways.
u. noj wiwput . ft. look-backward,--the-big leader
plunged over, the steep bank, and each horse of the
reariy too followed. They seemed as sure-footed aa .
goats, and slid and leaped with most remarkable agll-
Ity. all the time traveling at a terrlflo speed, eonald- '
ring the ground. .;. ! ; . ;v.., ; ,.:
Then up this deep canyon they scurried to safety. ! '.
When last seen they were headlna- toward the rlntmt
n0I M though.acorning man and hU lasso. , Ko affort -1
was made to pursue them further, and it Is probable
that none will be made, at least far some years to
COme. r v ' ,v ." ' ... ' ' ,
: During the following dsVa. the herders swept the - -
' country in every direction, bringing in ' ft - larger or ""
smaller number of captives with-each ride, until at '
I.... mi ..m . .v .1 i i.i.i. .
r - It was pathetic, too, to tnmic orsq many fine
. creatures acout to exenange tneir ireenom
for the
esnackiea of servitude, never more lo iooa
upon the - i-
fertile., grase-covered -valle
roamed In happiness. -: -
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whlch thsyj
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