A NIGHT AMONG WOLVES.
"I have not seen a brighter or more stirring city in my line of march than Des Moines," writes Captain Glazier in his Journal. He wandered over the city in company with two or three of the leading citizens, admiring its numerous fine buildings and the evidences of its rapid progress; and the next day the Des Moines Leader came out with the following notice of his visit:
"Captain Willard Glazier, the horseback traveler across the continent, took in the Exposition on Saturday evening with intense gratification. He says he has seen no place, on his route from Boston, more promising than Des Moines. Among the calls he received at the Jones House was one from Captain Conrad, a prominent attorney from Missouri, and now settled in his profession in this city, who was a fellow-captive with Captain Glazier in Libby Prison during the rebellion. He continued his journey westward yesterday, with the best wishes of the friends he has made during his short stay here."
Captain Glazier speaks very highly of the extremely courteous treatment he received while at Des Moines.
Adel, and Dale City, and Minden were passed, and arriving at Neola, we find the following entry in the journal: "Weather most disagreeable. A drizzling rain made my ride to this place decidedly gloomy. My journey to-day, as usual, since entering Iowa, has been over the boundless, never-ending prairie. I have never in my life beheld a grander sight than this afternoon, when I reached the summit of an immense tableland between Avoca and Minden."
Wishing to reach Anita before halting for the night, he ventured to continue on the road after dark, although for some time before sunset he had been unable to see a farm-house or even a tree as far as the eye could reach. Giving "Paul" the rein, he followed a blind road, after crossing a sluice-way, which ultimately led them to a haystack on the prairie, where the captain decided to spend the night. A pack of prairie wolves, or coyotes, soon came upon the scene, several of which he shot, but he was shortly after reinforced by a friendly dog, who came to his rescue and kept the coyotes at bay for the remainder of the night. In the morning at daybreak he was glad enough to say adieu to the haystack where he had passed one of the most unpleasant nights of his journey.
It may here be mentioned that the coyote partakes of the natures of the dog and the wolf, and is less dangerous to encounter in the summer than in the winter, which is a characteristic of its wolfish nature. In the winter, when food is scarce, these animals will attack man, but if a bold resistance is offered, they speedily decamp.
Hastening forward on his journey through various small and more or less enterprising cities of the prairie, our traveler reached Council Bluffs at eight o'clock in the evening of October twentieth. This promising city is located three miles east from the Missouri River, and contains an enterprising population of some 20,000; its history dating from 1804. The locality is surrounded by high bluffs, and hence the name given to the city.