204 HUNTING THE GRISLY. 



in the grapple the other dogs joined in the 

 fray and dispatched the quarry without much 

 danger to themselves. 



During the last decade many ranchmen in 

 Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, have de- 

 veloped packs of greyhounds able to kill a 

 wolf unassisted. Greyhounds trained for this 

 purpose always seize by the throat ; and the 

 light dogs used for coursing jack-rabbits are 

 not of much service, smooth or rough-haired 

 greyhounds and deer-hounds standing over 

 thirty inches at the shoulder and weighing 

 over ninety pounds being the only ones that, 

 together with speed, courage, and endurance, 

 possess the requisite power. 



One of the most famous packs in the West 

 was that of the Sun River Hound Club, in 

 Montana, started by the stockmen of Sun 

 River to get rid of the curse of wolves which 

 infested the neighborhood and worked very 

 serious damage to the herds and flocks. The 

 pack was composed of both greyhounds and 

 deerhounds, the best being from the kennels 

 of Colonel Williams and of Mr. Van Hummel, 

 of Denver; they were handled by an old 

 plainsman and veteran wolf-hunter named 

 Porter. In the season of '86 the astonishing 

 number of 146 wolves were killed with these 

 dogs. Ordinarily, as soon as the dogs seized 

 a wolf, and threw or held it, Porter rushed in 

 and stabbed it with his hunting-knife ; one 

 day, when out with six hounds, he thus killed no 

 less than twelve out of the fifteen wolves start- 

 ed, though one of the greyhounds was 



