810 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Nov. 19, 1910. 
Spencer carbines, for the Comanches were still 
troublesome on the Western border, their ex¬ 
ploits, however, being usually confined to horse 
stealing and intercepting herds of driven cattle 
at the Horsehead crossing of the Pecos, which 
they then drove south and bartered to the Mexi¬ 
cans. 
Our supplies were shipped to Houston, near 
which town wg expected to make our headquar¬ 
ters, and while gathering the herd we made 
camp on the ranch cJf a wealthy old Texan 
named Wayrnan Wells, who had a pasture of 
several hundred acres strongly fenced. In this 
inclosure we put the cattle bought in the neigh¬ 
boring counties, Mason Llano and San Saba 
furnishing the greater portion. Owing to- the 
length of the drive, only full grown steers of 
four years old or more were purchased, all being 
of the long-horned variety, as at that time there 
were no others to be had. From ten to twenty 
head of this class were about as many as the 
ordinary rancher had to dispose of, and it was, 
therefore, a full month before the requisite 1.500 
head could be corraled and branded. A fixed 
price of $10 a head was paid for all delivered. 
Meanwhile we had also been buying horses 
and engaging men for the drive, and the last 
proved the most difficult of all. Austin was filled 
with a heterogeneous population drawn from all 
parts of the Union. Lawless characters and the 
general riffraff from both the great armies had 
drifted off to the border in search of locations 
less amenable to the restrictions of law and 
order, and as it was mostly from this class that 
we were forced to make our selections, it is not 
surprising that we discovered later on that our 
judgment had not been infallible. 
These preparations consumed so much time 
that it was nearly the middle of May before we 
were ready to move, and the herd, followed by 
two chuck wagons drawn by cattle and flanked 
by twenty men and sixty horses, finally strung 
out upon the great plains that extended like a 
sea into the limitless West. 
It was a glorious country we were passing 
over. Vast grass-covered prairies thinly studded 
with mesquite that reminded me of a vast strag¬ 
gling peach orchard, with bands of antelope, deer 
and wild horses occasionally in sight, while the 
timbered banks of the streams were invariably 
the roosting places of large flocks of wild tur¬ 
keys that furnished us many a delicious meal. 
I was especially interested in the wild horses, 
as I had never seen them before, although 
familiar with all the other anima's mentioned, 
and having read Washington Irving’s glowing 
description of their beauty in “Bonneville’s Ad¬ 
ventures,” I naturally expected to see many like 
those he described. The reality was rather dis¬ 
appointing. They were mostly weedy, big-headed, 
scrubby and small; of all colors, but claybanks 
or buckskins predominated. One chestnut stal¬ 
lion, however, that I saw leading a band of about 
twenty mares excited my admiration by the 
beauty of his form, his splendid carriage and the 
luxuriance of his mane and tail. 
In the first few weeks I realized all that my 
ardent imagination had pictured. I did most of 
the hunting for the outfit and the cook was 
generally well supplied with wild meat, although 
the buffalo had all gone north. I revelled in this 
ideal life, little dreaming of the troubles the 
future had in store for us when hostile Indians, 
nightly stampedes, sick and dying men and 
broken down horses rendered life a hideous 
nightmare to us all, but of which the limits of 
this article admit but a bare mention. 
One day when we were about 300 miles out, 
and the cattle were all strung along the trail, 
some 200 head of the largest and strongest beeves 
took the lead, and by fast traveling were soon 
far in advance of the main herd, but as they 
were strictly following the trail, this did not 
excite any particular alarm, although I remem¬ 
ber wondering what had got into their heads. 
It was not until we made camp that night that 
we found they were all missing. Among the 
men were two native Texans named Taylor and 
Coffey, who were by far the best cattlemen in 
the outfit, and although it was nearly sunset, 
these two were sent back on the trail to- investi¬ 
gate matters. They returned late at night and 
reported that the cattle, after getting far enough 
in advance to escape observation, had suddenly 
turned due south around a knoll and then taken 
the back track for the settlements. During the 
night a heavy rain fell, obliterating the trail so 
the attempt made the next day to follow them 
was a failure, and they all escaped. 
This was our first misfortune, but proved to 
be only the prelude of what was to foilow. 
Some of the men had already shown signs of 
insubordination, and there were two in particu¬ 
lar whom I will call Smith and Jones, as I have 
forgotten the names under which they enrolled, 
that excited our attention and suspicions by their 
close companionship to the exclusion of all other 
members of the outfit. 
Half of the men stood guard each night until 
12 o’clock, when the other watch to which these 
two men belonged were called. One night about 
a week after the loss of the cattle the whole 
camp was aroused y at midnight, when the guard 
came in to be relieved, by the report that Smith 
and Jones were not to be found. Investigation 
immediately followed revealing the fact that not 
only had the two men disappeared, but that with 
them had also gone two of the horses, saddles, 
rifles, one of which was my own, two revolvers, 
a few dollars in money and a number of small 
articles with some provisions. 
The men detailed for the morning watch laid 
their blankets wherever they chose, but were ex¬ 
pected to stake the horses they were to ride 
conveniently near, so they could be saddled and 
mounted with the least possible delay, and the 
two men had taken alvantage of this to locate 
close to the brush that lined the creek near 
which we were encamped, and as soon as all 
was quiet had led their horses into the thicket, 
probably about 10 o’clock, thrown on their loads, 
and then gone east until they were out of hear¬ 
ing, where they had dismounted in the middle 
of the road, recinched their saddles and ar¬ 
ranged their packs securely for their long ride. 
No sooner was this discovered than Taylor and 
Coffey volunteered to start at once in pursuit, 
although both had been on guard up to midnight. 
Bayley quickly accepted the offer, and within 
twenty minutes after the discovery of the loss 
they started, fully armed and equipped for the 
chase. It was a beautiful night; the full moon 
riding in the clear, dry southern atmosphere 
rendered everything as distinctly visible as in 
daylight, but the fugitives were too cunning to 
take the direct trail back, but had ridden along 
either side a short distance from it, crossing it 
occasionally in order to keep it in touch. 
Two features developed during the chase that 
were of the greatest assistance to their pursuers. 
In places the grass was very rank, and by this 
time in the night it was heavily laden with dew 
upon which the flying hoofs of the renegades’ 
horses threw quantities of dust, and in these 
places Taylor and Coffey could follow as fast 
as they cared to ride. Taylor rode a gray mare 
of his own that he had trained from a colt, and 
as soon as the sagacious animal realized what 
was wanted, she followed the trail like a hound, 
and giving her a loose rein, they pushed ahead 
without any delay. 
Daylight found them loping along hot upon 
the trail. Nothing was yet in sight, but the in¬ 
dications led them to believe that they were 
rapidly gaining on their quarry, and they began 
to move with more caution, carefully surveying 
the country ahead from every elevation, and 
then riding rapidly to the next rise. 
It was about an hour after sunrise when they 
first caught sight of the fugitives, who were just 
disappearing in a fringe of timber that lined the 
banks of a creek crossed by the trail. As soon 
as they were beyond this, Taylor and Coffey 
rode at full speed to the timber. Coming out 
on the other side they saw the two men only a 
short distance ahead, riding leisurely along, evi¬ 
dently taking it for granted that no pursuit would 
be attempted before morning, by which time they 
intended to be so far away that the chances of 
their being overtaken would be very, small. 
The approach had been so skillfully made that 
Taylor and Coffey were within rifle shot before 
their presence was discovered. Escape was then 
hopeless, the country was open ahead and offered 
no chance either for concealment or barricades, 
and with a yell of defiance the two men turned 
their horses and opened fire upon their pursuers. 
It was a man to man fight, short, sharp and 
decisive. Taylor and Coffey were much the bet¬ 
ter marksmen, and also had the advantage of 
being mounted on horses that were perfectly 
steady under fire, which the others were not; and 
probably not more than a dozen shots had been 
fired from both sides when two riderless horses 
went galloping frantically over the plain. 
Both horses were soon captured, and lashing 
the bodies upon their backs the two Texans went 
back to the creek that furnished the only place 
where, with their limited facilities, they could 
give the thieves anything approaching a decent 
burial. Here by the aid of a frying pan and 
sharp sticks they excavated beneath an overhang¬ 
ing bank a shallow grave in which both bodies 
were placed, and covering them as well as they 
could with brush and logs to keep off the wolves 
and buzzards, this incident so characteristic of 
the old far Southwest was brought to a close. 
Late in the afternoon Taylor and Coffey rode 
into camp, bringing with them every article that 
had been stolen, but it was many days before we 
got the full particulars of the affair. They left 
us at Fort Arbuckle in the Indian Territory 
after the Indians had stopped us at the head of 
the Concho, the last water on the east side of 
the Staked Plains, and we had been forced to 
drive to Kansas. Then and not till then did 
they give the full details that I have endeavored 
to prepare for your readers. It was the general 
impression in camp that the two men intended 
to follow the runaway cattle back to the range, 
gather them up by the brand, sell them and divide 
the proceeds, a scheme both feasible and safe. 
