Wagons West Chronicles October Issue 2016 October Issue | Page 5

Wagons West Chronicles October 2016 5
Rounding Up Outlaws from page 4
Territory Where The Outlaws Roam .
fairly surpassed himself . Ripping out a string of oaths that would reach from Dan to Beersheba he jumped from his horse and dogged behind a boulder .
He waited for twenty minutes and then the cowboy shot the outlaw ’ s horse , which had been grazing in the open . That was more than “ Butch ” could stand . Throwing caution to the winds he ran toward the clump of bushes , with a pistol in each hand barking at every step .
But Hughes , considering discretion the better part of valor , had jumped on his horse and succeeded in making good his escape . But the vindictive nature of “ Butch ” Cassidy asserted itself . He had recognized his assailant , and every member of the band received instructions to be on the watch for him . Hughes left the Green River months later that he was located , on the north fork of the Powder River , up in Wyoming .
Cassidy was notified , and with a dozen picked men he reached the ranch where Hughes was working . It was during the spring roundup . The two men met face to face . Hughes knew what was coming and pulled his gun . But he wasn ’ t quick enough . Cassidy ’ s pistol cracked first , and the cowboy dropped from his saddle with a bullet through his right eye .
“ That ’ s the way I serve any bad skunk that tries to shoot me in the back ,” remarked Cassidy . “ If any of his friends want to take up the quarrel I ’ m ready .”
But if the dead cowboy had any friends they failed to respond . “ Butch ” Cassidy was well known , and it wasn ’ t safe to pick quarrels with him . So he rode away with his escort , cursing the cowboys for a pack of cowardly coyotes .
Cattle-stealing is the chief source of income to Cassidy and his followers . One company alone in Central Utah has lost 2000 head during the past two years , worth at present prices $ 80,000 . These were driven through Colorado and into New Mexico . It is in driving these stolen cattle from one State to another and out of the country that their system of co-operation is beneficial .
However , any operation that promises adventure and financial reward is never overlooked . Trains are held up , express companies
and banks are robbed , and even individuals , when known to have money in their possession , are relieved of their possessions in true road-agent style . There are women among these outlaws , too , who ride with them on their wild forays and take pride in their association with these bold and daring freebooters . Even “ Calamity Jane ,” in the old days of her association with Deadwood Dick ,” could not surpass these picturesque females in their wild career .
About a year ago “ Butch ” Cassidy and “ Bill ” Ferguson , one of his trusted lieutenants , dashed into the town of Price in broad daylight , held up the paymaster of the coal company and rode off with $ 8000 before the crowd of bystanders realized what had happened . This is but a sample exploit .
Bank robberies are but side issues with them ; merely incidental to their grand chief occupation of cattle-stealing . If a victim resists or an officer pursues murder is regarded as a professional duty , to be cheerfully performed , but they are not given to wanton slaughter . In several instances foolhardy officers who have invaded their strongholds have been disarmed , dismounted and sent home .
An instance of this kind occurred just after the raid on the coal company at Price , two deputy ’ s traced Cassidy and Ferguson to the lair at “ Robbers ’ Roost .” They were fully twenty-four hours behind , and their approach was known long before they arrived at the narrow trail leading up into the rendezvous . Cassidy was in a jovial mood and he conceived that it would be more fun to capture the deputies and make sport of them than to kill them . So he acted accordingly .
The deputies were about half way up the trail when , just at aa bend around a sharp point of rocks , they heard the sharp command “ Hands Up !”
Half a dozen guns were staring them in the face not twenty paces away . The deputies realized not to obey meant sudden death . Up went their hands . Cassidy stepped up to them , roaring with laughter .
“ You ’ re a couple of fine dubs to come and catch peaceable citizens , ain ’ t you ?” he cried . “ Gimme your guns . Here , Buck ,” calling to one of his men , “ search these tenderfeet , and if they ’ ve got any tobacco you can keep it .”
The outcome of it was that the deputies , relieved of everything but their clothing , were bound hand and foot to their horses , conducted to the foot of the pass and sent about their business . To add to their discomfiture a rudely scrawled note was pinned on the breast of each , which read : WE ARE DEPUTY SHERIFFS , Sent Out to Capture Butch Cassidy and His Gang . When Found Send Us Home .
Cutting Out A Steer .
The Round Up III from page 3
place . Each man , of course , brings in every head of cattle he can see .
These long , swift rides in the glorious spring mornings are not soon to be forgotten . The sweet , fresh air , with a touch of sharpness this early in the day , and the rapid motion of the fiery little horse combine to make a man ’ s blood thrill and leap with sheer buoyant light-heartedness and eager , exultant pleasure in the boldness and freedom of the life he is leading .
As we climb the steep sides of the first range of buttes , wisps of wavering mist still cling in the hollows of the valley ; when we come out on the top of the first great plateau , the sun flames up over its edge , and in the level , red beams the galloping horsemen throw long fantastic shadows . But care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough ; at any rate when he first feels the horse move under him .
Sometimes we trot or pace , and again we lope or gallop . The few who are to take the outside circle must needs ride both hard and fast . Although only grass-fed , the horses are tough and wiry ; and , moreover , are each used but once in four days , or thereabouts , so they stand the work well .
The course out lies across great grassy plateaus , along knife-like ridge crests , among winding valleys and ravines , and over acres of barren , sun-scorched buttes , that look grimly grotesque and forbidding , while in the Bad Lands the rides unhesitatingly go down and over places where it seems impossible that a horse should even stand .
The line of horsemen will quarter down the side of a butte , where every pony has to drop from ledge to ledge like a goat , and will go over the shoulder of a soapstone cliff , when wet and slippery , with a series of plunges and scrambles which if unsuccessful would land horses and riders in the bottom of the canonlike washout below . In descending a clay butte after a rain , the pony will put all four feet together and
Continued on page 6