Rainbow Chronicle and Review
February 23, 1883
Conrad Fredrick of Rainbow is the champion wolfslayer of the country.
One day last week he got after a large grey wolf and, noticing he
was of superior finish, desired to secure his hides without shooting
it full of holes. He put a charge of powder in the musket and
instead of a bullet rammed in a tenpenny nail. Getting within
shooting distance of the wolf, Conrad let loose and succeeded in
sending the nail through the animal’s tail and into a small bull
pine, securely fastening the wolf to the tree. He then approached
slowly giving voice to a succession of yells which so scared the wolf
that in its frantic efforts to escape caused the skin to break away
from around its mouth letting the jaws protrude.
Increasing the volume of his yells Conrad made a rush at the wolf,
which united its efforts for one grand pull. The skin began to pull
away from the head and in a few moments, the animal divested of his
covering was speeding away to the hills leaving his skin in a heap by
the tree. Conrad picked it up and carried it home. We are not
vouching for the truth of all this story but Conrad can be seem at
any time and he will convince the skeptic that the facts in the case
at least are true whether the allegations are or not.
Who can say from the distance whether or not it was fact or
allegation, which weighed the heaviest? There still are wolves in
plenty, and a bounty paid on them. That part of the story is at
least factual because White's County was among the last of Montana to
be settled by reason of its rugged mountain properties. Vast
expanses with frequent groves and forbidding rock to mark and
landmark it than other counties and the loneliness of it must certainly appeal to wolves, skin, or no. Those numerous acres too, at first
were of course, mostly unfenced.
A bit of whimsey but a nice introduction to White's County and the town of Rainbow, Montana.
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