Htmtijtg with Hotmds. z^i 



deer-hound. For half a century the army officers posted 

 in the far West have occasionally had greyhounds with 

 them, using the dogs to course jack-rabbit, coyote, and 

 sometimes deer, antelope, and gray wolf. Many of them 

 were devoted to this sport, — General Custer, for instance. 

 I have myself hunted with many of the descendants of 

 Custer's hounds. In the early 70's the ranchmen of the 

 great plains themselves began to keep greyhounds for 

 coursing (as indeed they had already been used for a con- 

 siderable time in California, after the Pacific coast jack- 

 rabbit), and the sport speedily assumed large proportions 

 and a permanent form. Nowadays the ranchmen of the 

 cattle country not only use their greyhounds after the 

 jack-rabbit, but also after every other kind of game ani- 

 mal to be found there, the antelope and coyote being es- 

 pecial favorites. Many ranchmen soon grew to own fine 

 packs, coursing being the sport of all sports for the plains. 

 In Texas the wild turkey was frequently an object of the 

 chase, and wherever the locality enabled deer to be fol- 

 lowed in the open, as for instance in the Indian territory, 

 and in many places in the neighborhood of the large plains 

 rivers, the whitetail was a favorite quarry, the hunters 

 striving to surprise it in the early morning when feeding 

 on the prairie. 



I have myself generally coursed with scratch packs, 

 including perhaps a couple of greyhounds, a wire-haired 

 deer-hound, and two or three long-legged mongrels. 

 However, we generally had at least one very fast and 

 savage dog — a strike dog — in each pack, and the others 

 were of assistance in turning the game, sometimes in tiring 



