Hunting at High Altitudes 



did not realize that the packs were following me. 

 The elk doubled back, however, dashed by me like 

 a whirlwind, passed through and among the pack 

 horses, and swept them along in the general stam- 

 pede. It was so sudden that at first we scarcely 

 realized the extent of the misfortune. All we pos- 

 sessed was in those packs, and there was no telling 

 what loss might result from their being scattered 

 about among the sage brush. We soon overtook 

 old "Red," one of the pack horses that was par- 

 tially blind, and on this account afraid to go fast. 

 We felt sure that Elk Creek, then covered with 

 ice, which was a mile behind us, would stop them, 

 but it did not do so, for they had crossed the fifty 

 yards of smooth ice without falling, and were now 

 standing exhausted only a short distance beyond. 

 Herendeen at once examined the packs, and 

 strangely enough found very few things missing. 

 Only two of the packs had to be relashed. 



In all my experience of life in the Northwest, I 

 have never heard of a similar incident. These 

 horses were not frightened, but were just carried 

 away by the excitement caused by the rush of the 

 elks. I have heard of horses being carried along 

 for days by a rushing band of buffalo, but in that 

 case they probably could not help themselves. 



We were soon in good shape, and made a good 

 180 



