The Elk of the Pacific Coast 173 



grizzlies by the light of the moon and dragged 

 them bound on rawhide to fight the wild bull of 

 the hills at their numerous fiestas. To them the 

 gun was ridiculous for such work, and generally 

 the last thing they used on game. They had 

 their pick of horses which, for their weight and for 

 swift work on rough ground, have had no superiors 

 in the world. To run down an elk and rope it 

 was for them a trick so simple that they never did 

 it unless for a change of meat. They had thou- 

 sands of cattle raised only for their hides and 

 tallow ; and why kill an elk when no more skill 

 was required than to rope a cow? They rarely 

 failed to uncoil the rope for a deer if they could 

 catch one far enough from the hills, and they 

 loved to match their fleetest horses against the 

 antelope ; while they rarely failed to make a dash 

 at a coyote or a wolf when the plain gave a good 

 chance for a race. The great herds of elk, how- 

 ever, they rode by, not in disdain, but with none 

 of the American's love of murder. 



But the miners came, and they brought a string 

 of camp followers, with gamblers and loafers of 

 every kind who loved play better than mining. 

 These speedily went to work like swine in a 

 garden of roses. Delighted to find that he could 

 ride into a band of elk without tumbling off the 

 horse, the new American cowboy rioted in herds 

 where he could put a pistol against the flank of 



