4^6 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
This gave me a little room to work my hand and arm, and 
by a desperate eftort I finally thrust it out at the end of 
the rolL I then got hold oi the edge of the skin at the 
corner and forced it back. I could reach no further than 
just the corner, though, and this did little good. 
In groping about my hand rested on my rifle. I got 
hold of it and worked the muzzle around and got it 
under the edge of the skin, and using it as a pry tinally 
got it loose all along. A couple of my fingers were 
frozen during this operation, but I did not mind that. 
With the outside fold loose, I exerted all my strength 
and spread the inside fold until I could crawl out. 
The storm proved to be a regular blizzard, but I got 
to camp all right. Henry did just as I thought he 
would, and stayed in the shelttr ol the caiion until after 
the storm. If I had failed in breaking my bondage by 
my own effort I should unquestionably have made a new 
world's record in styles of getting over the mystic river. 
When 1 told my story in camp that night there was a 
lot of cross-questioning indulged in and an evident in- 
clination to make light of the danger that had beset 
me. Adam Shiek went so far as to call me a chump, and 
asked why I had not ripped the hide open with my knife; 
to which I answered, "What, spoil a $3 hide that way?" 
Adam was one of your thrifty men, and that settled him. 
It was evident all evening that Ace Hutton had some- 
thing unusual on his mind, and at last he filled his pipe, 
stretched himself before the fire and remarked: "That 
adventure o' yourn is mighty parallel to one that hap- 
pened to me a few years ago. I was huntin' buffler over 
on the south side o' the Platte, when I killed a big bull 
'long 'bout noon. After I had got him skinned an' et a 
little lunch. ] tho't I'd take a nap. 
"I rolled in that buffler skin same as you did in your 
elk skin. It was one o' them balmy sort o' weather 
breedin' days one often sees in midwinter, an' in 'botit 
an hour I was waked up, like you, by the roarin' of the 
wind. I tried to raise up, same as you did, but couldn't 
stir a peg. That buffler skin was froze harder'u a stone, 
same as your'n. 
"There happened to be a hole near my head 'bout as 
..big as a silver dollar. Lookin' out thro' it I saw the 
snow eddyin' in the air about as thick as mud in a whirl- 
pool in the Missouri River; you couldn't see no further 
into it. 
"Maybe I didn't do some heayin' to get out o' there 
when I see that snow, but I might as well o' tried to 
upset Pike's Peak with a broom straw fer all the good 
it done me; that ole bull hide was drawed as tight as if 
it might have been drawed up by a jack-screw. I'd left 
my knife layin' 'side the bufifler carcase, an' if I'd had it 
I couldn't inove hand or foot the fraction of an inch to 
use it. 
'A'ter I had tried a coitplc o' times an' seen how hope- 
less it was I just laid still and give it up, for I well knew 
that in an hour I'd be buried under two feet of snow an' 
smothered to death. You may talk all you want to 'bout 
bein' froze ^with horror on bein' brought close to the 
gates of the hereafter, but it don't work that way in 
actual experience. 
"I had been purt' nigh froze ever since I woke up 
-until I realized what a death trap I was in; then my 
heart began to jump an' the blood went shootin' thro' 
ray veins hot as the lead in the ladle when you're expectin' 
to mould a dozen bullets at one heatin'." 
Like all good story-tellers, Hutton knew when he 
had his audience on the anxious seat, and stopped to re- 
iill and light his pipe, and then he sat down and looked 
into the fire in silence. At last Ike George could stand it 
no longer, and said, "As you are here to tell the story. 
Ace, we should like to know how you got out." 
"Oh, easy enough," said Ace, "and it's proof of the 
wonderful care nature takes to preserve the things she 
■ has created. You know I kept gettin' hotter an' hotter, an' 
in five minutes I could smell the huffier hair a-singein'. 
In ten that old bull hide was limp as a rag, and all I 
had to do was to get up and go back to camp." 
'Twas ever thus, with my most desperate adventures; 
they were always made .sport of by the envious who 
never had the color of adventure in their own lives. 
My story was true, with substantial evidence at hand; 
Hutton's was made out of "whole cloth," as he sat there 
before the fire, yet he had succeeded in making himself 
the hero of the evening. 
Moral: Facts may be stubborn things, but fiction, 
skillfully handled, invariably bests them in the end. 
The Parson. 
The '^Baby'' Monkey. 
In one of the cages of the Philadelphia Zoo are a young 
monkey and its mother, the actions of whom, on a recent 
occasion, would, I am persuaded, have caused the most 
determined disbeliever in the Darwinian theory to grow 
thoughtful. 
With a look of care and solicitude, so very familiar and 
affecting, the mother sat on the floor while the baby 
played about. In the center of the cage was a branch- 
ing pole, and this the sportive mite took it into its head to 
chmb. After it had got tip a yard or two, either it missed 
its hold or its strength gave out, for it came, tumbling 
down. Whimpering, it ran to its mother, Avho took it itp 
in her arms and looked it over anxiously, each hand and 
foot being examined separately. Satisfied that no hurt 
had been sustained, the mother jabbered something 
(doubtless advice) and put the baby down. After the 
manner of youth the latter seemed soon to forget its mis- 
hap and began playing about as before, but it did not 
rettirn to the pole, 
A troop of schoolboys, led bv two female teachers, now 
entered the building. Immediately the cry arose from 
the boys, "Oh, look at the baby monkey!" while the 
teachers joined in with. "How cunning! How sweet!" 
The baby, as if impel'ed by an irre i';tible symoathv, 
rushed up to the bars and sat watching the eager boyish 
fac^S, • I suppose because it had been given dainties 
'before, it put out a little hand, but this crowd had evi- 
dently too much capacity of its own for dainties to have 
any to spare. However, one mischievous looking boy, 
after rummaging in his pocket {that receptacle of objects 
the most diverse ) , pulled out a piece of broken glass, which 
he put in the baby's hand. All the other boys, thinking 
this an excellent joke, laughed aloud, and laughed the 
louder when the baby, after raising the glass to its 
mouth and finding it was not edible, began whimpering, as 
it had done afccr its fall, only not so distressingly. The 
iTiother, who sat aloof up to this, now sprang forward, and 
seeing the glittering object in the baby's hand, snatched it, 
tried her teeth on it and incontinently flung it out of the 
cage. She then gathered up her baby and fled aloft; 
scolding the while if ever any indignant parent scolded. 
It may be mentioned that the baby referred to was a 
hybrid . between Macacos leonintis, male, and M. 
nemes.trinus, female. There were two other babies in the 
gardens, one of M. Rhesus and the other of M. maurus, 
but pressed for time I AWas tinable to observe these except 
passingly. Frank. Moo nan. 
Eaton Stone's Buffalo* 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Many oi your readers among the old-timers can recall 
their wonderment at the horseback feats of Eaion Stone 
in the circus ring. He was the first performer to turn 
somersaults on a bare-backed horse. He tamed and 
trained a wild horse from the Western plains, winch he 
calleel Selim, whose swift running around the ring under 
the complete control of his master was very remarkable. 
S.one exhibited in all the principal cities of the United 
States, in Cuba and in Europe, and achieved a world-wide 
repute as the finest equestrian of his day. He is living 
a quiet life at a very advanced age on his farm at Nutley, 
N. J. Herewith is an interesting episode in his career, 
descriptive in his own words of the capture, tammg and 
training of a herd of buffalo for exhibition at the East 
and in "foreign countries. H. H. Thompson. 
In i860 I left St. Louis for Leavenworth with my wife, 
a groom and two horses. 1 hence we traveled by stage to 
Riageway, Kan., where I made my headquarter^ with my 
brotner, Den Stone, who owned a fine farm of 400 acres. 
Fitting out a double wagon with stores, I journeyed with 
one man and a good dog to Council Grove, then a wilder- 
ness, where I was fortunate in making the acquaintance 
of a man by the name of Muncas, a fine business fellow 
of few words and well posted in all parts of the buffalo 
ranges, who joined my expedition with a couple of 
yearling buffalo cows. We traveled thence no miles to 
Diamond Springs, where we found a man who had three 
yearling buffalo running with his cattle, which I bought 
and left for the return trip. Thence we traveled ninety 
miles to Allison's Ranch, a noted place for good feed and 
water, where hundreds of wagons often halted for days to 
secure buffalo meat and fuel in the form of buffalo 
droppings, called chips. Thence we went over 100 miles 
to the Hollow Hills, our objective point, where we ex- 
pected to obtain all the buffalo I was in search of. 
Taking an old Indian whom Muncas knew, the horses 
and the two cows, we traveled ten miles further and found 
a herd of wild buffalo and cut out half a dozen, turning 
them toward ihe cows, which had been posted for the 
purpose, and they halted as soon as they saw the cows, 
whereupon Muncas rode up and lassooed a fine yearling, 
which was easily led to the cows. The other buffalo 
rejoined the herd, which ran about two miles and stopped. 
The next day we found fifteen miles from our camp a 
settler who had among his cattle three buffalo, which I 
bought. 
Learning that Muncas would be able to capture as many 
animals as were wanted, I returned to Ridgeway to make 
preparations for taking care of them, Muncas agreeing to 
bring ten head to that place for $500 in gold. I built a 
strong pen 100 feet by 60 feet with a stout fence 15 feet 
high. I made some iron-bound stakes and got a coil of 
inch rope from Kansas City and made some very strong 
halters with heavy snap rings, so that I could lariat the 
buffalo out on the prairie to feed. 
Muncas brought in a dozen head of cattle and eleven 
buffalo, which we drove into the pen, where it took two 
hours to separate them, and then the fun commenced. 
I thought the buffalo would kill themselves. They would 
actually climb near to the top of the fence. _ We cut an 
immense quantity of prairie grass and put it into the pen. 
We found them next morning a little quieter, and Muncas 
went into the inclosure and lassooed one at a time, taking 
them out and fastening them to stakes driven firmly 
into the ground. I never saw such plunging, and surely 
thought they would break their necks. After they be- 
came in a day or two more quiet, I began talking to 
them, so that they might get to recognize my voice. 
In a week or so one or two of them would allow me to 
lay my hands on them. I found that any change of my 
clothing rendered them shy. They are exceedingly keen 
of sight and of scent. While on the plains I captured a 
calf so small that astride of him and without touching 
his back my feet would rest upon the ground. His 
mother having been killed, the youngster took kindly to me 
at once, and followed me around like a dog. I taught him 
to drink milk and eat grass. I bought a domesxic 
cow, which after a while allowed him to suckle her. 
When he was six weeks old I sawed out two wheels a 
foot in diameter and fitted an axletree to them with light 
shafts on which was mounted a canelle box, and then made 
a little harness of dried hide and trained Jim to draw his 
little cart. The herd being lariated half a mile from 
my house, Jim would draw me to them and be turned 
loose while I changed the lariats, and on call would be 
harnessed again for the return trip. After he was weaned 
from the cow, Mrs. Stone gave him milk twice a day. It 
was very amusing when he was a long distance off to see 
him stick up his head and rush for the house when my 
wife called him. He would follow me even into the store 
and lie down like a dog, but if any dog except mine ven- 
tured near, Jim would knock him down without ceremonv. 
This was a matter of instinct. A pack of wolves will 
follow a herd of bison and tackle any cow that lags 
behind with her tired calf. If there be only a few wolves 
the cow will in defense of her offspring gore and stamp 
them to death. 
About sunset the lariated animals would begin to play 
and cut up all sorts of capers. They would run the 
length of their tethers and tumole head over heels a \ 
dozen times. They wouid stand stock still and jump i 
directly upward to the height of a man's head. A-tter a \ 
while two of them could be handled quite well, and I ' 
made a dozen yokes and bows with rings and snaps, and ) 
girths with loops on each side, through which long traces ■ 
were rigged, enabling me to hitch up the buffalo tandem ' 
fashion. After patient and skillful training for about 
three months I could hitch up the whole eleven. My ; 
greatest trouble was in watering them. It was half a mile ;i 
to the stream, and six men could manage the string until 
they were within two or three hundred yards of the water, ' 
when it would be impossible to control them in their rush 
for the stream. After they had drunk their fill we would j 
manage to get hold of the leaders' halters and generally j 
could get ihem out of the water quietly and back to their 
feeding grounds. Jim would never consort with them, and 
rain or shine persisted upon lying at my door, and I built < 
a shanty for his accommodation. 
My next move was to train the buffalo to work in 
shafts. First I hitched a three-year-old heifer to an ox 
sled loaded with stones, with four men to aid me in 
fastening ropes to her harness and in her mouth, and she 
ran away with all of us. They have double the strength 
of ordinary catJe. A three-year-old bull at Kansas City 
killed three bullocks at work with him. I found them too 
wild and nervous to bear separation, and began working 
two at a time and got them pulling a cart with very low 
wheels, and they soon worked well with the rest of the 
herd ahead of them. Severi.y "cuts no ice" with buffalo, 
and when angered they will fight so long as they have life. 
My treatment was very kind and considerate, and they 
seemed to like me. 
While we were at Ridgeway a terrible drought set in, and 
my animals proved a godsend in procuring water from a 
distance over the fine prairie roads. Finally I hired a 
man to dig a well, who struck water at a dep^h of 36 feet. 
At about 20 feet down he found petrified buffalo chips 
and bones of some small animal. The sim scorched the 
grass so that the settlers could not cut hay for the 
winter. I paid $40 a ton for corn stalks and $2 a bushel 
for corn. During a year of my hard work in breaking the 
herd I captured three young antelope, which took six 
hours of chase before becoming tired out. I built a pen 
and yard for them and they soon got domesticated and' 
became the finest possible pets. Some hunters with fast 
greyhounds used to visit the camp, and I would let the 
antelope out for a run before their dogs. Giving them a 
start of 200 yards, the hounds vvould be loosed and afford 
a race of a mile or so. The swift creatures would circle 
and reach home a quarter of a mile ahead every time. At 
their top speed one could see nothing but a blur under 
their little bodies. 
In the following spring I left Ridgeway for Leaven- 
worth with a two-horse wagon and nine men, keeping the 
buffalo in harness and making about twenty miles a day. 
Mrs. Stone and I slept in the wagon, while the men 
would build a fire, wrap themselves in blankets and sle^p 
on the ground, taking turns at watching. Fortunately,^ I 
found a steamboat at LeavenworJi bound for St. Lpuisj 
The captain would not undertake to load my freight, npi 
would he be responsible for the buffalo on board, assur- 
ing me that they would go overboard at the first chance 
I assumed all risks, telling him to put out a strong gang 
plank and keep his crew out of sight while I attended tc 
the loading. The buffalo were conducted to a hill about 
300 yards from the boat. I led Jim on to the boat, a^c 
standing in full view of the animals gave a yell they wer< 
familiar with, the men let them loose, anel they starteo 
in single file at full speed and ran up the gangplank righi 
to me, and as soon as possible 1 got them hitched in i 
place prepared for them on the boiler deck. The wharver 
were crowded with people, and the gangplank had to hi 
taken in to prevent their rushing on board. 
The news of Eaton Stone's coming with a herd Q\ 
trained buffalo preceded us, and at St. Louis the wharve; 
were black with people, and the captain, not daring tc; 
make his usual landing, discharged the cargo at Eas 
St. Louis, where I shipped the herd to Pittsburg on tht 
steamer Ohio Belle, whose arrival at the river towns ei 
route brought out the whole population, so that in somi 
cases freight had to be landed above or below the 'plac« 
in order to avoid the rush of people anxious to see tht 
buffalo. At Cincinnati a guard was kept on duty al 
night, .and only a few at a time were allowed on board 
At Steubenville the people, in spite of efforts to restraii 
them, crowded on until the guards touched the water an<> 
the captain shoved off and landed the crowd fifteen mile 
above at a wood yard. At Wheeling, while I was sittinj; 
in the editorial room of a printing office, the first new 
came of the firing upon Fort Sumter. We all got Oi 
board quickly as possible and made no more stops on th 
Virginia side. 
We found the river at Pittsburg very high, and in land 
ing the buffalo we had to rig a very high gangplank. The; 
had been on their feet about two weeks and had becom 
very playful. An inmiense crowd had gathered. Fron 
the bow of the boat 1 made a speech to them, emphasizini 
my fear that some of them would get hurt if they go 
close to the animals. They all made way except a brawn 
Irishman, whose horse and cart stood in the water nea 
the foot of the plank. He would not budge. With Jim i 
the lead, Jeroms and I got the buffalo on the bow c 
the boat, and with Jim I made a rush down the gane 
way. As soon as we ncared tlie obstinate son of Erin Jii' 
gave a bound and bucked him heels over head into tlx| 
water, and rushed back to me like a flash. This perforrr 
ance caused the crowd to keep a proper distance, wbil 
the buffalo, recognizing my whistle, followed c;lose to m, 
heels. I got the'herd into the cars by taking in one at 
lime in company with Jim, -and we started next mornin 
for New York. _ 
My brother had gone on in advance and arranged fd 
keeping the herd in Harlem. We took them through th 
streets at midnight, hoping to escane observation, but th_ 
streets were lined with crowds, which, however, gave tW 
animals a wide berth on account of their_ kicking an* 
plunging when closely arproached. _ Declining severs 
good offers for my collection. I exhibited under canvs 
at Jone'^' Wood. New York citv. through the summer, an 
in the fall joined J?mes N'xnn's circus at the corner c 
Sixth avenue and Fourteenth street. I mde my note 
Indian act in costume, with the eleven buffalo stake 
within the rinsr. and then hitching them up led then| 
around while Robert Ellingham, from the center of Ui 
