Army Letters from an Officers Wife, 1871-1888 | Page 7

very thought of
pointing a pistol at anything so weak and utterly helpless was revolting
in the extreme. He was such an object of pity, too, left there all alone to
die of starvation, when perhaps at one time he may have been leader of
his herd. He was very tall, had a fine head, with an uncommonly long
beard, and showed every indication of having been a grand specimen of
his kind.
We left him undisturbed, but only a few minutes later we heard the
sharp report of a rifle, and at once suspected, what we learned to be a
fact the next day, that one of the men with the wagons had killed him.
Possibly this was the most merciful thing to do, but to me that shot
meant murder. The pitiful bleary eyes of the helpless old beast have
haunted me ever since we saw him.
We must have gone at least two miles farther before we saw the herd
we were looking for, making fifteen or sixteen miles altogether that we
had ridden. The buffalo were grazing quietly along a meadow in
between low, rolling hills. We immediately fell back a short distance
and waited for the wagons, and when they came up there was great
activity, I assure you. The officers' saddles were transferred to their
hunters, and the men who were to join in the chase got their horses and

rifles ready. Lieutenant Baldwin gave his instructions to everybody,
and all started off, each one going in a different direction so as to form
a cordon, Faye said, around the whole herd. Faye would not join in the
hunt, but remained with me the entire day. He and I rode over the hill,
stopping when we got where we could command a good view of the
valley and watch the run.
It seemed only a few minutes when we saw the buffalo start, going
from some of the men, of course, who at once began to chase them.
This kept them running straight ahead, and, fortunately, in Lieutenant
Baldwin's direction, who apparently was holding his horse in, waiting
for them to come. We saw through our field glasses that as soon as they
got near enough he made a quick dash for the herd, and cutting one out,
had turned it so it was headed straight for us.
Now, being on a buffalo hunt a safe distance off, was one thing, but to
have one of those huge animals come thundering along like a steam
engine directly upon you, was quite another. I was on one of Lieutenant
Baldwin's horses, too, and I felt that there might be danger of his
bolting to his companion, Tom, when he saw him dashing by, and as I
was not anxious to join in a buffalo chase just at that time, I begged
Faye to go with me farther up the hill. But he would not go back one
step, assuring me that my horse was a trained hunter and accustomed to
such sights.
Lieutenant Baldwin gained steadily on the buffalo, and in a
wonderfully short time both passed directly in front of us--within a
hundred feet, Faye said. Lieutenant Baldwin was close upon him then,
his horse looking very small and slender by the side of the grand
animal that was taking easy, swinging strides, apparently without effort
and without speed, his tongue lolling at one side. But we could see that
the pace was really terrific--that Lieutenant Baldwin was freely using
the spur, and that his swift thoroughbred was stretched out like a
greyhound, straining every muscle in his effort to keep up. He was
riding close to the buffalo on his left, with revolver in his right hand,
and I wondered why he did not not shoot, but Faye said it would be
useless to fire then--that Lieutenant Baldwin must get up nearer the
shoulder, as a buffalo is vulnerable only in certain parts of his body,
and that a hunter of experience like Lieutenant Baldwin would never
think of shooting unless he could aim at heart or lungs.

My horse behaved very well--just whirling around a few times--but
Faye was kept busy a minute or two by his, for the poor horse was
awfully frightened, and lunged and reared and snorted; but I knew that
he could not unseat Faye, so I rather enjoyed it, for you know I had
wanted to go back a little!
Lieutenant Baldwin and the buffalo were soon far away, and when our
horses had quieted down we recalled that shots had been fired in
another direction, and looking about, we saw a pathetic sight.
Lieutenant Alden was on his horse, and facing him was an immense
buffalo, standing perfectly still with chin drawn in and horns to the
front,