128 AN AMERICAN HUNTER 



him. In the case of the large one, however, I reckoned 

 without my host, as the wolf had as much go left as the 

 horse, so I tried slowing down to a walk and let the wolf 

 go ; he . . . came down to a little trot and soon placed 

 a half mile between us, and finally went out of sight over 

 a high hill. I took my time and on reaching top of hill 

 saw wolf about four hundred yards off, and as I now 

 had a down grade managed to get my tired horse on a 

 lope and was soon up to the wolf, which seemed all stiff- 

 ened up, and one shot from my Winchester finished him. 

 We always had poison out, as wolves and coyotes killed 

 a great many calves. Never poisoned but two wolves, 

 and those were caught with fresh antelope liver and 

 entrails (coyotes were easily poisoned)." 



In the early nineties the ravages of the wolves along 

 the Little Missouri became so serious as thoroughly to 

 arouse the stockmen. Not only colts and calves, and 

 young trail stock, but in midwinter full-grown horses 

 and steers were continually slain. The county authori- 

 ties put a bounty of three dollars each on wolf scalps, to 

 which the ranchmen of the neighborhood added a further 

 bounty of five dollars. This made eight dollars for every 

 wolf, and as the skin was also worth something, the busi- 

 ness of killing wolves became profitable. Quite a number 

 of men tried poisoning or trapping, but the most success- 

 ful wolf hunter on the Little Missouri at that time was 

 a man who did not rely on poison at all, but on dogs. 

 He was named Massingale, and he always had a pack 

 of at least twenty hounds. The number varied, for a wolf 

 at bay is a terrible fighter, with jaws like those of a steel 



