RECREATION. 



Volumk II. MAY, 1895. 



G. O. SHIELDS (COQUINA), Editor and Manager. 



NUMRER 5, 



Tlie American News Co., Agents for the U. S. and Canada. The International News Co., General Agents for Europe. 

 Offices: Breams Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, E. C, England ; Stephanstrasse 18, Leipsig, Germany. 



BIG FOOT WALLACE. 



Hon. B. B. Brooks. 



In the spring of 84, as the Platte 

 valley round-up was working down 

 the south side of the Platte river, 

 about eight miles west of my ranch, 

 three of the C. Y. cow-boys, making a 

 circle after cattle in the foot hills of 

 Casper mountain, encountered a large 

 silver-tip bear, that was slowly making 

 his way up a shallow ravine. None of 

 the boys were armed, so they decided to 

 rope him. 



Now, lassoing a bear may seem a 

 rather hazardous undertaking, to peo- 

 ple not familiar with cow-boy sports, 

 and s) it proved on this occasion ; yet 

 it is a feat frequently accomplished, on 

 our yearly round ups, and with com- 

 paratively slight danger to the boys. 

 Usually, as soon as the rope tightens 

 about the bear's neck, he begins to tug 

 and hang back ; the long hair about 

 the neck prevents the noose from loosen- 

 ing, after once being tightened, and in 

 five or ten minutes the bear chokes to 

 death. A buffalo will do the same 

 thing. I have known several instances 

 of cov-boys roping and killing, in this 

 manner, full grown bear and buffalo. 



In this case, two of the boys were 

 riding well trained cow ponies. As 

 soon as they saw the bear they made a 

 dash to head him off from the moun- 

 tain-;, uncoiling their long grass ropes 

 as they went. The third boy, named 

 Wallace, was riding a large half-broken 

 colt, and had to stop and get his rope 

 uncoiled from the saddle before start- 

 ing. By the time he was ready his 

 companions had turned the bear down 

 a gulch, so Wallace struck out diagonally 

 clown another gully, which joined the 

 one the bear was in, about a quarter of 

 a m.le below The colt got rattled at 

 tne free use of the spurs and at the 

 daiiulin<r noose which Wallace held in 



his right hand, and made extra fast 

 time down the gulch. In, fact, Wallace 

 was scarcely able to control him at all. 



Rider and bear reached the point 

 where the two gullies joined at the 

 same moment. Both gulches were 

 narrow, with steep banks. Wallace 

 tried in vain to check his horse. The 

 bear reared up on his haunches. Horse 

 and rider shot by and turned up the 

 gulch down which he had just come. 

 T';ey passed so close to the bear that 

 Wallace actually struck him on the head 

 with his right hand. The bear struck 

 both horse and rider with his paws, 

 tearing the horse's flank with one, and 

 the boy's leather chaps with the other. In 

 striking at the bear's head, Wallace had 

 unintentionally dropped the open loop 

 about its body. 



When the bear struck the bronco, he 

 commenced bucking, and threw Wallace 

 off. The boy was unhurt, and, scram- 

 bling to his feet, made a dash up the 

 side of the gulch ; while the bear turned 

 up the ravine which Wallace had just 

 ridden down. 



The other end of the rope was, of 

 course, made fast to the horn of the 

 saddle, and when the bucking horse ran 

 out on it, the weight of the bear threw 

 him. In struggling to get up, he broke 

 the front cinch of the saddle, and soon 

 bucked through the flank cinch. Away 

 went the bear up the gulch, dragging 

 the saddle behind him. The other two 

 boys met the runaway horse and roped 

 him. Wallace explained as rapidly as 

 possible, and held his own horse while 

 the other two boys went after the grizzly. 



Going up the gulch about half a mile, 

 they found the saddle wedged in be- 

 tween two boulders. The bear had 

 bitten the rope off, and was gone. They 

 carried the saddle, which was somewhat 



