Page:Recollections of My Boyhood.djvu/24

Rh were what they called percussion, with nipple and cap; they were all muzzle loaders.

Antelope and long-eared rabbits were everywhere. Father had two black dogs called grey hounds; they were very fast runners, and could soon pick up a rabbit, but when they chased an antelope it was quite different. One day an antelope had in some way been separated from the herd, and ran through the train. One of the dogs. Fleet by name, pursued the antelope, and the chase led across a level plain. The black dog as he sped on with all his might, looked like a crane flying along the plain. We were all excited, for the dog was gaining on the antelope at every bound, and would no doubt soon overtake him. The dog thought so too, for when he was within a few yards of the antelope and expected in another bound or two to seize his prey, he gave a yelp, but that yelp seems to have been a fatal mistake, for that antelope, in a few seconds after that bark, was fifty yards away from the dog, and flying over the plain as if he had been shot out of a gun. He actually passed over many yards before we could see the dust rise behind him. The dog was so astounded that he stopped short, and after gazing at the antelope for a moment, no doubt amazed beyond expression, turned about and trotted back to the train. It was said that dog would never chase an antelope afterwards.

At another time we were traveling over a level plain and on our right hand many miles away, were high mountain ridges, almost of uniform height, and almost or quite devoid of timber, stretching away southeasterly in the direction, as I have since imagined or been told, of Yellowstone Park. They said these were the Wind River Mountains. While we were traveling in sight of them there was a continuous and disagreeable wind blowing, which I in some way associated with the name of the mountains.

I cannot now locate the great sage plains, as we called them, but they were vast in extent and not well watered. In crossing them, at times we traveled until late at night to reach water, and a few times we had to camp without it. Those plains were thickly set wtih sage brush and greasewood shrubs, growing, generally nearly waist high to a man, and as we had no wagon road to follow, we had to break a road through this