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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1916)
East Org zoning Round-Up Souvenir Edition Pendleton, Oregon, Saturday, September 23, 1916 Twenty-Four Paget .'. THE MOST THRILLING INCIDENTS OF THE ROUND-UP Very First Event on First Program Was Unexpected Thiller Roy Hunter's Fight With Vicious Steer Proved Memorable Other Interesting Feature. Innumerable. fee Pae Six H M. K. C. Wbt.: o the most thrilling thing you ever saw at a Hound-l'p? 1 hve often btwn .inked that ques tion and 1 have often tried to answer H. 4iit as often 1 have failed, for, no sooner have 1 evimlteed a de scription ol the "most thrilling" thing than the remembrance of another just us thrilling conies unbidden to ray nlnd and 1 cannot help but speak of it, llcfore I liax-e tir-eel my Question er out I have recalled so many thrill ing moments that 1 have practically shifted to him the responsibility of d:gn.nng- any one with the char-setwlz-itlon of "most thrilling." There have own six Hound-L"ps in Pendleton and there have been three afternoon exhibitions of each, eigh teen full exhibitions beside the ab breviated mornlnjr exhibitions held the pant four years on Fridays for the snJte of eliminating contestants. I have seen all of them and all of the ' Iaby Round-Cps" and many of the tryouu. If 1 have miased any part of any exhibition it vas because my attention was just then completely absorbed by some otner incident con nected with the exhibition. And right here I want to say, by way of digression, that I have not yet been j surfeited of frontier enlertainni'i.t and ih.it I anticipate each succeed-1 I.i'.:nd4'p with as much e:v;i r.eas and pbusure as 1 did the first and enjoy It equally as much. ; Having qualified from a standpoint' of experience at least, to write some-' thins of the incidents of past Round- , Up that stand out in memory vividly; because of the elements of the thrill-, ing. the spectacular, the exciting or' sensational to an extraordinary de-, tree, I would like to explain the great difficulty encountered in essay-1 ing this task. To anyone who has seen a Round-Up this explanation! will be entirely superfulous but I am assuming that there may be readers who have never seen anything of the nature of Pendleton's big cowboy carnival. A Round-Up program is so sur charged with the essence of the thrill ing, so teeming with exciting events, o replete with moments that test tre's nerves that many incidents,' which witnessed by themselves, would! tamp themselves indelibly upon the! viewer's memory, are lost in the mul- j t:plicity of similar Incidents. There! Is never anything staid or sedate, pro- j aaic or pedantic, coldly entertaining I or quietly impressive about any part! of any Round-Up program. It is a j program with a punch and for any one incident to stand out pre-eminent ly above all nthAr in m It must be unusual, indeed. I Viewing in retrospect the Round-' Vps that have passed into history, l note a half dosen or more such lncl- jiujililifiliiiiliii F.HI ",-"'mm 1 II I inn I,, - , . , ! ililliHiimiiiiiiiiiriruiiffnT Ilia u (I ill (160 1 WE are located right in the heart of the livestock industry of, eastern Oregon. Our stock for market is brought direct from the range and fields, slaughtered and packed in a modern, tanitory concrete plant not shipped here under varying conditions. Everything protected and handled in a perfect manner at shown by the inspector's published report Every dol lar you send out of town for products than can be purchased here, is not only bid good-bye, but flies away with a value that rightfully belongs to your own community's development. Spend it at home, where its value stays with you and helps to build up your interests. ( You Get Better Meats for Less Money and Your Dollar Stays Home Where It Can Come Back to You, When You Buy from the Following Modern Markets Who Sell Our Products 607 Main Street Frank Greulich, Pres. J. H. Loeding, Sec. ;"?,u..,Hi..iMi.mMiMm.Mnmitimiimwfflmiiiiim n.iiip; ii : iiiiiiiii.ii.iiM t - tU ms. They come under two classes, th,.v which happened in the natural oevelopment and progression of some 'chedjied event and those whioh'hap I pened quite outside the scheduleu j program or as an Interruption to a scheduled event. The one should irojerly be called incidents and the other accidents. Thus a particularly spectacular ride upon a particularly s,'ii tacular bucking noise may im press itself strongly upon the mind ti.J be remembered much more dis tinctly than any oi me other rid:. And then again the horse in being mounted may rear up and fall over m the rider, and the incident or ac cident may so electrify that it cannot be forgotten. The one Impressive in degree, the other in character. ISoth are exciting enough. Those oi the one class are more or less antici-1-ated and come as rue fulfillment o. hopes. The others are unexpecte 1 and startling and come as the realiza tion of vague fears. Of the two the latter are the more thrilling and ex citing, perhaps, because they are-unexpected and because they emphasize the reality of the dangers which .at tend the reckbless sports of the cow boy. Thus the cuwltoy race wfiich I re member best was tie one that inaug urated the Kound-l'p. It was the nrst event of the first exhibition of the first Kound-Up. The track was small, then, and not adapted to horse racing. A group or twenty shouting cowboys on madly galloping ponies came dashing down the straightaway in front of the big grandstand. They were closely buncheu, each trying to gain a lead. Suddenly one of the ponies in advance stepped in a small depression in the track. He stum bled and pitched forward. Immedi ately the pony behind stumbled over him and forming an obstacle to oth era. In much leas, time than it takes to write it, there were eight or ten ponies and riders sprawling on the track in a struggling, confused mass. There was a broken collar bone, a sprained ankle or two and many bruises as a result, but that was all The pile-up was the first real thrill the Round-Up furnished and those who saw it will never forget it. Perhaps the event of all events that has been featured by the hap pening of the unexpected Is the stage coach ace. These lumbering old car riers were never built for racing on a quarter mile track and, four horse stage teams, capable of running at top speed in perfect unison, are not de veloped these days as in th days when upon such a team depen&ed the safety of driver and passengers. Thus the accidents which have attended these races are not io be wondered at. The most spectacular incident of any stagecoach race, and undoubted ".MMMiMiMiiiMimiiiiHuuiyuiiiMmmiiuiNinnNmiiiHJiMJU.HiiiH An Institution of Pendleton Capital and Enterprise Our Specialties 7 Hams Bacon Lard 'Its the flavor" Empire Meat Co. Telephone 18 Peter De Young, Vice-Pres. Henry W. Schwarz, Treats. n.w,aJrr. - i"rji -lMMMfll "liriff lliifn ly one of the must spectacular of any Kound-l'p was the "upset" In oue of the race ol the l14 Round-Up, was driving fou.' fine horses and they nad drawn their coach well to the lead in the first lap." I As the coach roundest the last turn at ihe west end of the track, careening and swaying while traveling full speed ahead, It suddenly tilted too lar traveled a short distance on two wheels and turned ot-r, throwing driver and pussengcrs to the ground, flagged a moment on Its side, the co.icn suddenly upended, was drawn u.r a short space in this position, then turned clear over and righted Itsell. Ail thU tune the hoist's were plung ing ail w u a and, :ien the old ve nule linaily righted itself, they con tinued down the track. Without din er uiey tore around the track, mak ing another lull lap and completing me laoe winner despite the accident traden lierking, who was. whip-plier on the stage, at the upset was tnrown clear over the arena rente and sus tained a broken collar bone. Anotner stage-coach race that is well lemeniiieied is one of the I'JM .iound-l p. While running down the back straightaway, one of the lean horses ol a .team suddenly stumbled and tell, piling up ail tour horses in a heap. rlhe coacn was Drought to an i'uiupi hail aitU Hie- tni'ee men on top were catapulted irom their seats out upon the noises as if shot from a torpedo tube. An event thul was particularly ex citing to me and to many others who chanced to see it, occurred, during ute lull or Round-Up. Hank McGrath, mammoth cowboy from Union county, figured conspicuously in it. He was in the center of the arena and had been assisting in the saddling of buckers for the cowgirls' bucking contest. A long-horned Mexican steer had eluded the topers in the preceding event and had been permitted to remain on the track for a short time in order not to interrupt the contest. At the conclusion of the event cowboys attempted to herd it Into the corrals. Down the back stretch of the track It raced but suddenly swerved from its course and dashed its horns at a pair of gaudy orange chaps on the arena fence. Impaling them the brute leaped the fence and made for a cow boy standing beside a bucker that had Just been saddled. This cowboy,! believing that discretion is the better! part of valor, dodged around behind' the horse and made his escape. McGrath at the moment was some 26 yards away and with his back to the steer. He had been watching other things. He wore a bright red shirt and, when the infuriated steer caught sight of it, he lowered his horns and charged. McGrath, all un 0 -' ..V'- "If 1 108 East Alta Street Rose E. Carney, Pres. rilWY HUT conscious of the onrushing danger, stood unconcernedly gazing toward the east end of the arena. A thou sand voices yelled forth a warning to him just as the steer was upon hint W ithout a moment's hesitation lt threw himself flat uihjii the ground and the steer passed over him, ; completely. McGrath started to arise ; but the sieer wheled sharply and 'started a second charge. McGrath i again flattened himself against the i earth and the steer approached him, smelted of him und snorted angrily, i Hut McGrath refused to move a mus ; cle, experience In cowland having taught him that a steer will not at ! tack a body apparently lifeless. When j cowboys with whirling lariats impiis ! oned the long-horned brute, McGrath arose and, with an unconcern that I could not have been more perfect it ; studied, went about his bu.-iness. The steers of that year, imported by the Round-Up from Mexico, were I unusually wild and vicious. At one ol the performances one of the steers j charged a horse and rider on the far side of thetrack and gored the horse so badly that It was necessary toi shoot It. After goring the one horse, 1 the animal charged Director Sam i Thompson who was assisting in the efforts to run the animal from thei track. The director was mounted nnj a spirited horse that, sensing the1 danger, wheeled and dashed madly I around the track pursued by the steer. The rider could not manage! his fear-stricken mount until It had! left the danger well to the rear. j The bulldogging event is always one t fraught with danger and excitement j and there have been thrilling hand-! to-hand fights aplenty at the Kound L'pA But of them ail none Is remem bered more vividly or recounted so often as the furious fight waged in 1912 by Corporal Hoy Hunter of j Vancouver Barracks. Hunter is a reckless cowboy soldier and has se cured a furlough several years to at tend the Round-Up. in 1912 he at-' tempted for the first time to wln the big money in the bulldogging event. He swung from bis saddie to the! head of the fleeing steer just In front of the grandstand and while the; strength of the animal was still un-1 spent. For a full minute he was; dragged, tossed and shaken but held on grimly to the murderous horns. Its first frantic efforts to shake loose Its. human foe defeated, the steer finally j ceased its struggles and stood rtill. Then Hunter began nis offensive. Se curing a good leverage upon the animal's horns he began to twist the steer's head. It was gruelling work and he exerted every ounce of his strength. Finally wrth a last mighty effort he threw himself backward and Ptilled the animal from its feet. The latter, however, instantly arose and LETOK WHOLESALE PACKERS .JTT i L- The Central Market Telephone 455 Chas. Tullis, Jr., Sec and Treas. renewed the battle, putting the cow boy on the defensive again. At this time the man was directly in front oi the steer's horns and, to save himself from being gored, threw both aims and legs about the steers head and literally bound his tnnly to it. With! head held low by the weight of the! clinging body, the steer dashed him! into the ground and then into the arena fence, with such force that ihe board broke. Still Hunter held on I and, taking advantage of the ster'i temporary exhaustion, secured an-' other hold on the norns and began to twist Its sinewy neck. He had - most succeeded in thrown it when ft .-..Mil. . , m - . ' . . h4 I '"-WW i S3xri MEAT -"sT ' Hl-H f.-y Sold upon their merit the steer gave a lunge, broke the hold and dashed away, leaving his van quished lying face downward in the dust. Other cowboys quickly picked him up and the audience waited with biited breath. Dirty and bloody the game soldier turned to the grand stand, smiled as he shook his heud In his disappointment and waved hi hand In acknowledgement of (he tre mendous tribute of applause paid him tijr his gritty battle. Of the bucking horse rides I re member none better than those made in the finals of the 1911 Round-Up when members of the Uaucaglon. Kthopian and Indian races fought for HI , i- t- -s W T - "..! k i Sin WW r JM Hotel Pendleton II. W. Collhtfl, Pres. Fred T. Blorh, Sec. and Mgr. Pendleton Oregon Bunch Grass Beet and Mutton Wheat Fed Pork Fine Sausages Pendleton Cash Market 303 East Court Street Telephone 101 L B. Ramsdell, Pres. H. R. Richardson, Vice-Pres. Mrs. Nellie Horton, Sec. and Treas. H. P. Whitman, Mgr. supremacy. John Spain, white, George Fletcher, black, and Jackson Sundown, red, were chosen to ride for the championship and for them the three hardest buckers of ths Kound-l'p string weer chosen, Long Tom, Hotfoot and IJghtfoot. Spain drew Long Tom and that big brute pounded across the arena and crashed through the fence, ft was not the most spectacular ride of ths day but It was a good one. Then Sundown mounted Llghtfoot to stay with him through all bis pitching and plunging until the little animal datih- Continued on page seven. " i,