Army Letters from an Officers Wife, 1871-1888 | Page 6

corral to their homes;
and very glad one of them was to get home, too! Hereafter I shall
confine myself to horseback riding--for, even if John is frisky at times,
I prefer to take my chances with the one horse, to four little long-eared
government mules! But I have learned to ride very well, and have a
secure seat now. My teachers, Faye and Lieutenant Baldwin, have been
most exacting, but that I wanted. Of course I ride the army way, tight in
the saddle, which is more difficult to learn. Any attempt to "rise" when
on a trot is ridiculed at once here, and it does look absurd after seeing
the splendid and graceful riding of the officers. I am learning to jump
the cavalry hurdles and ditches, too. I must confess, however, that

taking a ditch the first time was more exciting than enjoyable. John
seemed to like it better than I did.
FORT LYON, COLORADO TERRITORY, November, 1871.
IN many of my letters I have written about learning to ride and to shoot,
and have told you, also, of having followed the greyhounds after
coyotes and rabbits with Faye and Lieutenant Baldwin. These hunts
exact the very best of riding and a fast horse, for coyotes are very swift,
and so are jack-rabbits, too, and one look at a greyhound will tell
anyone that he can run--and about twice as fast as the big-eared
foxhounds in the East. But I started to write you about something quite
different from all this--to tell you of a really grand hunt I have been
on--a splendid chase after buffalo!
A week or so ago it was decided that a party of enlisted men should be
sent out to get buffalo meat for Thanksgiving dinner for
everybody--officers and enlisted men--and that Lieutenant Baldwin,
who is an experienced hunter, should command the detail. You can
imagine how proud and delighted I was when asked to go with them.
Lieutenant Baldwin saying that the hunt would be worth seeing, and
well repay one for the fatigue of the hard ride.
So, one morning after an early breakfast, the horses were led up from
the stables, each one having on a strong halter, and a coiled picket rope
with an iron pin fastened to the saddle. These were carried so that if it
should be found necessary to secure the horses on the plains, they could
be picketed out. The bachelors' set of quarters is next to ours, so we all
got ready together, and I must say that the deliberate way in which each
girth was examined, bridles fixed, rifles fastened to saddles, and other
things done, was most exasperating. But we finally started, about seven
o'clock, Lieutenant Baldwin and I taking the lead, and Faye and
Lieutenant Alden following.
The day was very cold, with a strong wind blowing, so I wore one of
Faye's citizen caps, with tabs tied down over my ears, and a large silk
handkerchief around my neck, all of which did not improve my looks
in the least, but it was quite in keeping with the dressing of the officers,
who had on buckskin shirts, with handkerchiefs, leggings, and
moccasins. Two large army wagons followed us, each drawn by four
mules, and carrying several enlisted men. Mounted orderlies led extra
horses that officers and men were to ride when they struck the herd.

Well, we rode twelve miles without seeing one living thing, and then
we came to a little adobe ranch where we dismounted to rest a while.
By this time our feet and hands were almost frozen, and Faye suggested
that I should remain at the ranch until they returned; but that I refused
to do--to give up the hunt was not to be thought of, particularly as a
ranchman had just told us that a small herd of buffalo had been seen
that very morning only two miles farther on. So, when the horses were
a little rested, we started, and, after riding a mile or more, we came to a
small ravine, where we found one poor buffalo, too old and emaciated
to keep up with his companions, and who, therefore, had been
abandoned by them, to die alone. He had eaten the grass as far as he
could reach, and had turned around and around until the ground looked
as though it had been spaded.
He got up on his old legs as we approached him, and tried to show fight
by dropping his head and throwing his horns to the front, but a child
could have pushed him over. One of the officers tried to persuade me to
shoot him, saying it would be a humane act, and at the same time give
me the prestige of having killed a buffalo! But the