Colorado, Wyoming,
and Montana, in which three strong veterans have killed one. The feat
can only be performed by big dogs of the highest courage, who all
act together, rush in at top speed, and seize by the throat; for the
strength of the quarry is such that otherwise he will shake off the
dogs, and then speedily kill them by rabid snaps with his terribly armed
jaws. Where possible, half a dozen dogs should be slipped at once, to
minimize the risk of injury to the pack; unless this is done, and unless
the hunter helps the dogs in the worry, accidents will be frequent, and
an occasional wolf will be found able to beat off, maiming or killing,
a lesser number of assailants. Some hunters prefer the smooth greyhound,
because of its great speed, and others the wire-coated animal, the rough
deer-hound, because of its superior strength; both, if of the right
kind, are dauntless fighters.

Colonel Williams' greyhounds have performed many noble feats in
wolf-hunting. He spent the winter of 1875 in the Black Hills, which
at that time did not contain a single settler, and fairly swarmed with
game. Wolves were especially numerous and very bold and fierce, so that
the dogs of the party were continually in jeopardy of their lives. On
the other hand they took an ample vengeance, for many wolves were caught
by the pack. Whenever possible, the horsemen kept close enough to take
an immediate hand in the fight, if the quarry was a full-grown wolf,
and thus save the dogs from the terrible punishment they were otherwise
certain to receive. The dogs invariably throttled, rushing straight at
the throat, but the wounds they themselves received were generally in
the flank or belly; in several instances these wounds resulted fatally.
Once or twice a wolf was caught, and held by two greyhounds until the
horsemen came up but it took at least five dogs to overcome and slay
unaided a big timber wolf. Several times the feat was performed by
a party of five, consisting of two greyhounds, one rough-coated
deer-hound, and two cross-bloods; and once by a litter of seven young
greyhounds, not yet come to their full strength.

Once or twice the so-called Russian wolf-hounds or silky coated
greyhounds, the "borzois," have been imported and tried in wolf-hunting
on the western plains; but hitherto they have not shown themselves
equal, at either running or fighting, to the big American-bred
greyhounds of the type produced by Colonel Williams and certain oth