152 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



be advancing- at a gallop from the east, and every available 

 man present, except the camp guard, went out to meet 

 them, and, seeking- shelter in a ravine, waited until the 

 painted braves came within rifle range, when they opened 

 a deadly fire on them. This was evidently a most unexpected 

 encounter to the red thieves, for they were thrown into a 

 momentary panic, but they soon recovered themselves, and 

 while some drove the horses away towards the right flank, the 

 others opened a brisk fire to cover their retreat, and kept 

 it up for half an hour, when they broke away terror-stricken. 

 The cause of their flight was soon made evident by the 

 appearance of a body of cavalry, who had been pursuing them 

 for several days, and on seeing these, the miners and ranchers 

 ran from cover, mounted their horses, and dashed after the 

 foe. A running fight was kept up for three miles, when a 

 vigorous charge from opposite quarters finished the contest 

 by scattering the Indians in every direction, and forcing them 

 to leave nearly all their plunder behind. The captured horses 

 were driven towards the village, while the cavalry pursued the 

 fugitives, and kept them running until they sought the 

 shelter of the Wind lliver Mountains, sadly depleted in num- 

 bers and perfectly demoralized. I received, as the result of my 

 coyote hunt and subsequent Indian hunt, a slight flesh wound 

 in the side, and two months of as hard campaigning as 

 any person would care to have ; and these have so indelibly 

 marked that chase in my mind, that 1 doubt if I shall soon 

 forget it. 



One of the most exciting, interesting, and laughable hunts 

 after the coyote that I ever enjoyed came off on the great 

 plains of the Columbia lliver, east of the Cascade Range. 

 The region in which it occurred afforded ample scope for 

 testing the pace, endurance, and cunning of the long-tailed 

 quadruped, and also the sagacity of its very near and dear 

 kindred, the Indian cur, for the former is frequently the size 

 of the latter, and the two are more likely to play with each 

 other than to quarrel, unless hounded on by man, or the coyote 

 is too intrusive in its familiarity. 1 have known even the 

 civilized doirs, of the leminine j.;vnder, belonging- to tin 1 



