Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains: An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far WestDrannan, William F.
History
Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains: An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West
Drannan, William F.
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America -- Wars
I remained in the city three months, not knowing what to do or
where to go. During this time I spent much of it in training Black
Bess, as I found her to be a very intelligent animal, and she
would follow me like a dog wherever I would go when she had the
saddle on, and during that winter I taught her to perform many
tricks, such as to lie down, kneel down, count ten, and tell her
age. I could throw my gloves or handkerchief down and leave her
for hours without tying her and she would stand there until I
would return, and no one could come near them or take them away,
nor would she allow a stranger to put his hand on her. One day I
came to the barn and Mr. Kinnear asked what I would take to saddle
Black Bess up and let her follow me to Wells, Fargo & Co.'s express
office and back to the stable again without touching her on the
way.
I said: "Mr. Kinnear, if it will be any accommodation to you I
will have her follow me up there and back and it will not cost you
anything."
"All right," he said, "about one o'clock come to the stable, for I
have made a bet of fifty dollars with a man from the country, that
you could make her follow you from the stable to Wells, Fargo &
Co.'s express office and back to the stable and not touch her."
Wells, Fargo & Co.'s express office was a distance of eight blocks
from the stable, and on my return I found quite a crowd there
waiting to see the performance. I threw the saddle on the mare,
put the bridle on her just as though I was going to ride, took my
whip in my hand, and started down the sidewalk and the mare walked
down the street. Montgomery street was always full of teams at
this time of the day, and also the sidewalk crowded with people,
but I walked near the outer edge. She would pick her way along the
street among those teams as well, apparently as though I was on
her back and at the same time would keep her eyes on me all the
time. On arriving at the place mentioned, I took my handkerchief
from my pocket and threw it down at the edge of the sidewalk,
walked into the office and remained five minutes or more, and when
I came out she was still standing with her head over the
handkerchief as though she was tied. I picked the handkerchief up,
started back down the sidewalk, and she took the street, keeping
her eyes on me all the time until we reached the stable. The
farmer was somewhat wiser, but about fifty dollars short in actual
cash, but vowed he would not bet again on a man's own game.
On my return several different men asked me what I would take for
her, but I informed them money would not buy her from me. Before
putting her in the stable I had her perform several tricks, and
then bow to the crowd, which by this time had grown to more than a
hundred people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account