406 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Juke 12, 1890. 



GUN AND ROD IN THE GREAT WEST. 



LA VEGA DE CAPULIN, 



'"pHAT means Cherry Hayrneadow in Mexican, and I 

 _L remember a very lively experience that I had at the 

 Capulin Ranch in 1874, and one which, though it is very 

 pleasant to look back on, was at the time too dime-novel- 

 ish to be enjoyed by a young man who had come to Colo- 

 rado for health and not to participate in fights or indulge 

 in promiscuous slaughter. 



I had occasion to go from my ranch on Rita Azul, 

 Colorado, to Ute Creek, New Mexico, to see if I could not 

 make a sale of some cow ponies to Dorsey's foreman, who 

 intended to go to Texas with a party of cowboys and 

 fetch home a herd of cattle. It was sixty miles straight 

 south over the Raton Mountains, and there were rumors 

 that the Cheyennes had broken out and were coming over 

 the range to kill off all the cowmen who were crowding 

 the buffalo on the west. So I saddled my black race 

 pony, which was fast and in perfect order, and reached 

 Ute Creek ranch easily that night. The outfit, which 

 was to start the next day, was short of horses and villain- 

 ously mounted, but the foreman did not seem inclined to 

 buy any horses, and so I devoted myself to taking care of 

 my horse and then went to bed, that is to say, I rolled 

 myself up in my saddle blanket and went to sleep before 

 the fire in the cook house, so that the cook would have to 

 kick me out before he got breakfast, and so insure me an 

 early start. 



I was roused before it was light; and after a remark- 

 ably good meal I saddled and started for home. My 

 pony i)ick, the old black rascal, had gotten loose in the 

 night, and some other pony had kicked him in the leg. 

 He was quite lame, and I hoped he would improve on 

 the road, but he did not, so at dark I had made only forty- 

 five miles and the horse was dead lame and very tired. 

 It was five miles to the Caveniss Ranch at Capulin Vega, 

 but I could not make it. And so when I came to water 

 I stopped, unsaddled, took a large drink of the alkali 

 stuff and chew of tobacco for supper and lay down, after 

 picketing the black on good grass. 



I did not sleep well the first part of the night. The 

 horse was uneasy, came as close to me as his picket rope 

 would permit, and got frightened several times. I had a 

 good rifl % a .45 six-shooter and plenty of cartridges, but 

 a man feels small and weak alone on the prairie at night, 

 especially without fire or supper; but I went to sleep 

 toward morning, and it was about S o'clock before I woke 

 up. There was not a thing in sight but my pony, who 

 had puhVd up his picket pin. as usual, and'a few range 

 cattle about a mile away. So I caught Dick, saddled 

 him, made my toilet— washed face and hands in the 

 alkali water and wiped them on my handkerchief — and 

 started for the Caveniss ranch for breakfast, as it was on 

 my road home. The horse was not so lame now, and we 

 got to the ranch in about an hour. When I rode up, 

 Marion Bone, one of Cavoniss's nephews, a young man of 

 25, was sitting flat on the ground near the cabin door 

 with his rifle near him. 



He asked eagerly, "Where did you come from?" 



"Ute Creek." 



"Seen any Injuns?" 



"No " 



"Well, they are around. We heard of them coming up 

 the Cimarron canon yesterday. Bill is out with Tige 

 getting a load of wood, and left me to take care of the 

 house: I wish they was back." 



By t his time I had unsaddled Dick, and Marion told me 

 to put him in the stable and feed him. I soon had the faith- 

 ful old fellow chewing away at a big feed of corn, and 

 went to the house to get some breakfast. Mrs. Caveniss, 

 who was very hospitable, as all Texas women are, met me 

 at the cabin door, and tranquilly removing her long brier- 

 wood pipe from her mouth asked, "Hullo, Dick, have 

 you had any breakfast?" "No, nothing since yesterday 

 morning." She at once seemed to wake up and told Ma- 

 rion to step to the milk house and fetch her a slice of 

 steak, quick. Inside of fifteen minutes I sat down to a 

 big broiled beefsteak, some hot coffee and biscuit, with 

 butter and milk. 



I had hardly begun eating before I saw a change come 

 over Marion's face. He was looking out of the door in a 

 sleepy way, when suddenly his eyes opened wide, and he 

 gave a bound litre a panther for his gun. I jumped and 

 had my Winchester in a second, ran to the door and here 

 they came— Bill Caveniss and Tige Bone, on the running 

 gear of a wagon hitched to two sorrel colts. They had 

 gone to get a load of wood about a mile from the house 

 and had met twelve mounted Indians just before they got 

 to the timber. Of course they whirled round and started 

 for the ranch, and of course Lo started after them. From 

 the house out the ground was smooth for 200yds., and then 

 came a malpais prairie {mal pais means bad place), scat- 

 tered over with rocks from some as large as a big marble 

 to some as big as one's head; and the wagon mad ran 

 through it like a letter S. They had driven out slowly 

 following the crooked road, but when they came back 

 they came straight. The horses raced at full run , Caveniss 

 on the front part and Tige hanging on for dear life over 

 the hmd wheels with his face to the foe— the whole con- 

 cern bounding about three feet in the air everv jump 



The Indians were 400yds. behind them, and running to 

 catch. They seemed not to want to shoot yet; and Ti°-e 

 couldn't, because he was too busy holding on to his Win- 

 chester and the bounding running gear. As soon as the 

 colts struck level prairie the wagon ran smoothly and 

 Tige opened fire as fast as he could shoot, and Bill be°-an 

 to yell "Here we come!" The colts straightened out and 

 came like the wind straight for the stable door, and 

 Marion and I ran out and turned loose. I shot twice at 

 a big buck with a feather war bonnet on his head The 

 first shot I missed, but when I pulled again I had the sat- 

 xsf action of seeing him pull his horst around and ride off 

 at a lope, bent over and reeling as he rode. And subse- 

 quent proceedings interested him no more. By that time 

 the six-shooter balls were patting all around us, but the 

 Indians were getting out of range or taking to cover as 

 tm as they could, Caveniss could not stop the colts and 



they ran right into the stable door. The wagon stopped 

 when it hit both sides of the door. The colts broke loose 

 and banged up against the other side of the stable. 

 Caveniss shot after them and piled up on the colts. Tige 

 flew six feet in the air and landed on his head. 



As soon as they pulled themselves together they ran for 

 the house, and just about that time there came, a rain of 

 bullets from the Indians and we all went in. I ran to a 

 small window, broke out a pane of glass by poking the 

 muzzle of my gun through it, and commenced shooting 

 whenever I saw anything to shoot at. The Indians were 

 concealed in the rocks ac distances of 300 to 400yds., and 

 were shooting occasionally. Don't imagine that the rest 

 were idle. Marion had broken a porthole, and was mak- 

 ing it interesting for a big buck behind a rock that was 

 two sizes too small for him; finally it got too hot for Lo, 

 and he ran for a hollow some distance further back, 

 Marion shooting as he went; but I don't think he hit him, 

 though I know that he hurt his feelings, for he jumped 

 sideways and yelled every time a ball struck near him. 

 Caveniss was shooting some and rubbing the side of his 

 head, and swearing industriously the rest of the time. 

 He had had a terrible jar when he landed on the colts, 

 and one of them had stepped on his head a little. For- 

 tunately the stable was never cleaned out and the colt 

 was barefooted, so it didn't injure him seriously. At 

 last the Indians stopped firing and we could not get a 

 glimpse of them. 



Caveniss said, "Well, old woman, that was a close call; 

 but I am hungry, so get us something to eat." 



"All the meat is in the milk house, except that piece on 

 the table, and that belongs to Dick. He has had nothing 

 to eat since yesterday; and he fights as well on an empty 

 stomach as you uns do on a full one," remarked Mrs. 

 Caveniss smoking. "I'll get you some coffee and biscuit 

 though." 



Marion said, "I'll go and get meat. I guess the Injuns 

 is gone." 



Tige took off his big white hat and put it before the 

 open door on a stick for a reply; and a dozen bullets hit 

 around it in a second. "Do ye want to go out there, 

 Bud?" he asked with a wolfish grin. 



"I ain't afraid to," responded Marion, "and I can fix it 

 so I won't get hit neither." 



"All right, get the meat then," said Mrs. C, "but I am 

 afraid you will get shot; and we can't afford to lose a 

 man." 



Marion without reply proceeded to make up a man 

 with a shirt, a pair of overalls and his hat. Then he un- 

 folded his plan to us. Tige was to shove out the dummy 

 and draw the enemies' fire. Caveniss and I were to return 

 it, and Marion was to run to the milk house. When he 

 wanted to come back he was to put his hand out so that 

 we could see it, and we were to go to firing while he ran 

 for the house. He took only a butcher knife. We drew 

 their fire by exposing the dummy, and then we went to 

 cracking away at the smoke of the guns while he ran for 

 the milk house. He got there without a scratch, but 

 when his hand came up and we showed the doll again, 

 Lo wotddn't shoot, and when Marion started they made it 

 very interesting for him. He had a steak in one hand 

 and a can of peaches ia the other, and when he got into 

 the house he said with a horrified expression on his face, 

 "lam shot in the hand." He held up the peach can hand 

 and then looked silly. One of the gentle red men had 

 put a ball through the can, not touching him at all. and 

 when the juice ran into his hand he thought it was blood. 

 We joked him a little, but saw he was mortified and Mrs! 

 Caveniss proceeded to get dinner. Two ate at a time", 

 and just as all were done Ross Blackburn rode up. He 

 was another cowboy who belonged at the ranch. He had 

 been out horse hunting and no one had disturbed him. 

 So we concluded that the Indians had left. Caveniss got 

 on Blackburn's horse, rode out, reconnoitred and reported 

 all gone. 



We then held a council of war; and decided to go to 

 the Mexican town on Cimarron Canon, six miles distant. 

 The boys put the hayrack on the wagon, then some hay' 

 and made a nest of blankets with a breastwork of sacks 

 full of flour all around it; patched up the harness, which 

 was not much broken; and hitched up the sorrel colts 

 again. Mrs. Caveniss had kept the four children behind 

 the stove during the fight; and they did not cry nor offer 

 to stir, from the time she told them to sit down there till 

 she told them to get up. We put Mrs. Caveniss and the 

 children into the nest on the wagon; locked the house, 

 and started. Caveniss drove; two of us rode on ahead as 

 advance guard; two came behind driving twenty saddle 

 horses. We reached Black Plaza in about half an hour; 

 and found the Mexicans forted up and terribly fright- 

 ened. A band of twelve Indians, probably the same ones 

 who ran Caveniss in, had charged into the town killed 

 one man and broken a boy's leg with a ball; and then 

 had flown 



We stayed there that night and the next day. The 

 next night I started for home after it was pitch dark, for 

 I was anxious about my horses and Mexicans. I found 

 everything quiet. 



The Indians on that raid did all they could in two or 

 three days in the way of killing men and stealing horses 

 and retreated east toward Camp Supply. There were 

 about two hundred on the warpath, and thev struck 

 twenty places simultaneously. I heard of ten men killed 

 by them whom I knew personally; and I don't know of 

 any one that killed an Indian. I do know I tried to 



The timid deer still haunts the hillsides around the 

 Capulin Vega, and the wild turkey gobbles every morn- 

 ing in the lonesome canon behind the house. I camped 

 in the deserted cabin one night while hunting last 

 November. I knew I was safe from Indians, but the 

 place seemed peopled with whispering ghosts For 

 Caveniss and Tige were killed long ago at a horse race in 

 Arizona. Ross was killed by a lot of Mexicans and jews 

 shortly after. Marion Bone is settled in Texas, a rich 

 farmer. Mrs. Caveniss mourned herself to death after 

 Bill was killed. And I— well, I am quite well at present, 

 thank you, w. J. Dison. 



IN THE ROCKIES. 



PROVO and I had been camping in the valley for some 

 days. Before our camp ran the stream whose clear 

 cold water ran swiftly along over rock and boulder, with 

 many a leaping fall into purling pools. Its sight re- 

 freshed us homeward returning, and its musical song 

 soothed us at night as we lay in our tent. It was an ideal 

 mountain stream, but alas! it was like the great poet's 

 masterpiece with the Prmce left out— it contained no 

 trout. 



Our camp was just at the head of the great canon, into 

 which the stream fell; from a point above the tents, its 

 frowning walls with their sheer descent of 2,000ft. could 

 easily be seen, a gruesome place into which to venture. 

 Behind us stretched a wide valley, guarded round with 

 tall mountains, whose brown and rugged peaks cut a 

 jagged outline against the clouds and sky. In front, to 

 the north, across the little river, the land rose gradually 

 in bewidering swells of foothills, mile after mile, until 

 like waves of the ocean they broke against the mighty 

 B^artooth Range. Even at our distance from it the 

 effects of the powerful agents of time and weathering 

 could be plainly seen upon this great range, and the 

 carving of its rugged ribs of gneiss into cliff and cha.-m 

 and canon, and the white setting of its ancient icefields 

 formed on the northern horizon a wondrous picture, of 

 which the eye never tired. Here we had lived for a 

 week, exploring the country, climbing the mountains, 

 riding our horses into distant valleys and through great 

 forests of pine, but as yet no adventure of particular note 

 had befallen us. 



It was in the early fall, up here amid the mountains 

 the frosts were falling every night, and all the aspen 

 copses in the foothills were flaunting gorgeous shades of 

 copper red and golden yellow. The country was very 

 dry; dead sticks, brush and leaves rattled under our own 

 and our horses' feet; it was almost impossible to get a 

 sight of game, go we never so carefully. It had been 

 much hunted and was very shy. And yet we needed 

 meat badly in camp, we had been long out of it. We 

 and our men had had huge appetites in that dry cold 

 atmosphere, and our stock of provisions was suffering 

 seriously. 



One morning Provo and I started out to climb the 

 mountain nearest to our camp. It had two peaks and a 

 rounded, intervening ridge; and from afar off we had 

 dubbed it Lynx, from a fancied resemblance to the back 

 of a cat's head and two erect ears. We rode our horses up- 

 ward for several hundred feet, then dismounted and led 

 them up a sharp spur, and then rode again up a long slope. 

 There was an excellent game trail going up, and now 

 and then an old elk track to be seen, but nothing fresh 

 as we would wish. By riding up the long slopes and 

 climbing the sharp spurs we gradually came to the very 

 foot of the peak. Here our course led us upward on a 

 talus of fine limestone pebbles. It was tiresome work, 

 feet slid and tumbled in the yielding mass; our horses 

 showed their disapproval of the path, but we led them 

 on, for they carried our loads for us. Up past rising 

 cliffs we toiled, until finally the top was gained. A mag- 

 nificent view of the valleys below us and the mighty 

 ranges around us immediately broke upon the sight. The 

 crown of the peak scarcely rose above timber line; and 

 we now saw a long, wooded slope stretching down to the 

 ridge and the other peak rising beyond. After taking 

 our fill of the view before us we mounted our horses and 

 rode down through the woods toward the ndge, intending 

 to cross by it to the peak beyond. Provo rode ahead 

 making trail, and I fohowed. 



The country looked promising for game, and we rode 

 carefully and kept a sharp lookout. Presently we came 

 to the edge of the wood, and saw the long brown grass- 

 covered ridge before us. Through the trees we could see 

 that it made a sudden drop, forming a little hill to the 

 left, and then swept down in a charming little park on 

 the mountain side. 



As Provo rode out of the woods ahead of me I saw him 

 suddenly jerk his horse back and glance at his side where 

 his rifle usually hung. He had lent it to one of our men 

 that morning, that our chance of getting game might be 

 increased by dividing our parties. The next instant 

 brought me out of the timber, and glancing in the direc- 

 tion he pointed I saw tnree black-tailed bucks coming- 

 out of the woods on the hillside below us. 



In an instant I was off my horse, had my gun out and 

 shoved up the sight to the 250yds. mark, dropped behind 

 a dead tree and fired. The deer were very much below 

 me on the steep hillside, and I over-estimated the dis- 

 tance. I saw the dust fly behind them, and immediately 

 fired again, holding lower, but with what result i could 

 not tell. I had selected the center buck as he was the 

 largest. 



The deer discovered us at the moment I fired and stood 

 fast, looking wondermgly up the hill. At the second 

 shot one of them turned as if to run. and as he offered so 

 much better a mark I instantly fired again, striking him 

 in the neck and shoulder. He tumbled forward and the 

 other two instantly fled into the wood. This, which takes 

 time in the telling, occurred in a moment, while I was 

 loading and firing as rapidly as possible. 



The fallen deer immediately began to struggle, trying 

 to regain his feet. I darted down the hill loading as I 

 ran, and arrived in time to dispatch him before he suc- 

 ceeded. In the meantime Provo had dismounted and 

 now came leading the horses down the hill, singing joy- 

 fully a low song of content. We got to work at once 

 and soon had the buck bled and dressed. Then we 

 dragged him to the edge of the woods and hung him up 

 in the shade of a tree. After discussing the matter it 

 was agreed that Provo should take my rifle and continue 

 his exploration, while I rode back to camp and got one 

 of our men and a mule to pack the meat into camp. , It 

 would have been very difficult if not impossible to have 

 kept it on behind a horse over such a steep, rough coun- 

 try. The programme was carried out. 



Before leaving I paced the distance from the spot at 

 which I fired to where the deer fell, and found it about 

 200 paces or about 175yds. I ought to have obtained the 

 buck with less shooting, but I find it difficult to estimate 

 distances down a steep hill, and under such circumstan- 

 ces I am apt to shoot over. That night we fed on fresh 

 deer's Hver with great content. 



While we were seated at the table I happened te look 

 up and saw one of those pests, a skunk, headed directly 

 for our larder in some bushes by the stream. The cook 

 jn his excitement wished to shoot him, but we gently bu 



