WILD BRONCOS IN THE CAVALRY. 



Margaret Gray Brooks. 



That reminds me of the herd of 

 wild horses I once brought 58 

 miles overland, in Dakota." 



The man who spoke was a young 

 officer, of fine physique, belonging to 

 Uncle Sam's fi Regulars," and one of a 

 good sized group of West Pointers who 

 were seated around a blazing camp-fire 

 on the Missouri river. They were at the 

 beginning of a march, that it was ex- 

 pected, would cover several months. 



" I've heard of that lot," said Captain 

 Jack, the veteran of the circle, as he 

 slowly filled his pipe. " Its reputation 

 reached us down at Sill the same year. 

 Were the horses really as bad as rumor 

 made them out ?" 



" Quite as bad, I am sure, for a 

 meaner lot of brutes I have never seen." 



'* Let's hear about them." " Go 

 ahead." " Spin your yarn," came from 

 various places in the circle. 



" All right, though it isn't much of a 

 yarn. It only serves to show how the 

 best of us may be badly bitten in what 

 we think is good horse flesh. It was 

 this way : 



" After the long march we made in 

 '88, the oue I mean in which the whole 

 regiment moved from Texas to Dakota, 

 a distance of 2,000 miles, and covering 

 over four months, our two troops found 

 themselves in need of about 33 horses. 



The number required was bought by 

 an officer detailed for that duty, and he 

 supposed they were good ; for while 

 they were in the hands of the"vaqueros," 

 who owned them and were kept under 

 control, as you know these cow-boys 

 have the knack of doing, they seemed as 

 good as the average horse in that section. 



I was ordered by the post commander 

 to go up to the railroad, receive and 

 bring down the horses. 



I picked out ten of the best riders 

 from the two troops, intending each man 

 to ride one horse and lead two others, on 

 the return trip. Besides the ambulance 

 which I used, I took along a big escort 

 wagon, for the men, camp outfit and thirty 

 odd saddles. The first night we camped 

 near the half-way-house, and the next 

 day proceeded to the post on the river, 



seven miles from the railroad, where we 

 made camp, and I then rode over to the 

 point, on the tracks, where the horses 

 were in the freight cars. 



This was four miles west of the sta- 

 tion. It was then 6 o'clock, and in a 

 little while we had the animals in the 

 corral. You know on those western 

 roads there is always a small enclosure, 

 with a sort of incline adjoining, to facili- 

 tate the unloading of stock from the 

 trains. After the horses were in the 

 corral it wasn't long before we found 

 what a bad lot we had to deal with. 

 They were just from the plains of Mon- 

 tana ; half-broken, fori found several 

 not even bridle-wise. They were tall, 

 gaunt and altogether out of form for 

 cavalry use. I lassoed one after another, 

 for the soldiers, and after mounting, 

 they were each bucked off and scat- 

 tered in the dust of the corral. One man, 

 a little the worse for drink approached 

 a horse from the side : I shouted to him, 

 but in drunken stubborness he did not 

 obey quickly. In another minute a 

 pair of flying heels laid him out uncon- 

 scious on the ground. We carried him 

 out, poured water over and revived 

 him. 



I picked out, in the dusk, what I 

 supposed was rather a decent black 

 horse, but on counting his teeth and 

 finding him a four-year-old I decided 

 not to ride him. I didn't relish the idea 

 of mounting a wild colt that I knew 

 nothing of, especially in the dark and 

 on strange ground. 



The last animal to be caught was a 

 demon. He was long-legged and slen- 

 der-bodied. As I threw the rope over 

 him he jumped straight through it and 

 made a dash at me. I didn't stop to 

 see what he would do, for I had seen 

 that kind of horse before. I ran to the 

 high gate of the corral, and leaped on 

 it, just out of reach of the maddened 

 brute, as he raised his fore feet and 

 beat at the bars a trifle lower down 

 than where I sat. The soldiers at once 

 named him the " Man-eater," a name 

 that clung to him during all his short 

 term of army life. 



416 



