Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/224



212 QUINCY ^AJDAMS BROOKS

At noon-day we were quietly pursuing our way along the route; the prairies were clothed in a carpet of green inter- spersed with beautiful flowers ; the face of the earth was as level as a floor ; not a single tree, hill or shrub could be seen to vary the monotony of sky and grass. The wagons, jogging along leisurely, were separated some distance from each other, so that the whole line of the train was about a mile long. There was a young mare belonging to one of our company, running loose, and eating grass leisurely along by the road side, at some distance behind the train. Finding that she was getting left behind, she quit eating to catch up with the other horses, and feeling, no doubt, very happy on the occasion, thought she would try how fast she could run. After kicking up her heels and snorting, away she started pelmell as fast as she could run. The clattering of her hoofs, as she neared the loose cattle be- hind the train, startled them, and when she came a little closer away they started too; as they came nearer to the train the oxen in the hindmost wagon became unmanageable, and when they came up, each ox gave a frightful bawl, and started out, with elongated tail, at full speed. I shall never forget that ter- rific bawl; it spread from wagon to wagon along the whole line with the velocity of a telegraph dispatch. The ox, you know, has the reputation of being rather a slow animal, but, upon my honor, in a stampede, I don't think I ever saw any- thing run so fast. The proper way to manage oxen when they take a stampede in the wagon is not to attempt to manage them at all "Let them rip." If you do not attempt to control them they will run in a straight line; but if you attempt to stop or control them, they will take a short turn, when at full speed, upset the wagon, dash everything to atoms, break their own necks, and kill the driver. I was in advance of the train when the affair occurred, and could see everything. As soon as I saw what was up, I dismounted mighty quick, and it was with great difficulty that I could hold my horse. It was indeed a strange spectacle to see such unwieldy animals, that seemed formed by nature to move at no faster pace than a snail's gal- lop, travelling so rapidly then to see the drivers endeavoring