![]() The deerhound was bred to hunt red deer, or stags, in Scotland and was one of the early arrivals on the Great Plains. The Scottish deerhounds Custer used to hunt a young buffalo on the Washita campaign were members of one of the tallest gaze- hound breeds, resembling greyhounds but larger (more than 30 inches at the shoulder), heavier boned (about 100 pounds on a muscular frame) and with rougher, longhaired coats. Although American staghounds have been bred for years, the AKC (American Kennel Club) has yet to recognize the breed. They have gone by many names-shag dogs, Russian and Irish wolfhounds, deerhounds, long dogs, Celtic greyhounds, Highland greyhounds or wolfhounds, sight dogs, wolf dogs and shaggy greyhounds-but staghound was the general term used in the 19th century, and it remains in use today. A blend of nationalities, this truly American dog was strong, exceptionally fast and courageous, and capable of performing the hunting tasks necessary to settle the Wild West. These breeds, and the gazehound hybrids they produced, evolved into the so-called American staghound. Three major breeds of gazehounds accompanied their owners to the American West in the 1800s-the Scottish deerhound, the greyhound and the Russian wolfhound, or borzoi. Ranging in size from the whippet (25–40 pounds) to the Irish wolfhound (160 pounds), gazehounds share common physical traits-deep chests, long legs, strong hindquarters. The hounds used by these men and many other frontier hunters and ranchers belong to a canine group called gazehounds, or sight hounds, which hunt primarily by sight and speed rather than smell and endurance, as scent hounds do. Phil Sheridan and Buffalo Bill Cody, he brought along Russian wolfhounds. When Grand Duke Alexis, fourth son of Russian Emperor Alexander II, hunted out West in 1872 with Custer, Lt. Custer, who would achieve posthumous fame by losing the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory eight years later, was one of the best-known Westerners to use hounds, although future President Theodore Roosevelt also became acquainted with hounds during his Dakota Territory ranching days in the 1880s. Having dogs hunt buffalo was not common practice on the frontier, but this was not the first or last time a hunter used hounds to pursue large game. The bull at last collapsed in the snow, and Custer ended the hunt by dispatching it with his revolver. ![]() “Fearing for the safety of my dogs,” he wrote, “I leaped from my horse and ran to the assistance of the staghounds.” In European stag-hunting fashion, he used his knife to sever the buffalo’s hamstrings. At this point Custer stopped being a spectator. ![]() Blücher, now half buried in snow, refused to release the bull’s vulnerable throat. Maida, the female dog, planted her muscular frame against the buffalo’s front shoulder, but it remained upright. Blücher, the male dog, latched onto its throat, but this beast was not as easily subdued as a deer or even a wolf. The hounds pressed on through increasingly higher snowdrifts till the buffalo, perhaps realizing it couldn’t outrun its pursuers, came to a halt. The chase continued over the snow-covered prairie. Custer drew his revolver but didn’t fire for fear of hitting one of his darting hounds. The blows they received only served to excite the tenacious dogs. Each time the dogs attacked, they met a counterattack of hoof and horn. But a buffalo was a much larger, more aggressive animal. The dogs were not new to the chase, having previously run down and dispatched deer. Then the horseman and his hounds sped after their quarry. He was eager to test the mettle of his two constant companions on this campaign-Blücher and Maida, a pair of Scottish deerhounds he referred to as “staghounds.”Ĭolonel Custer worked his mount closer to the small herd until he was able to split a young bull from the others. He was a hunter at heart, and a dog lover, too. But Indians were not on his mind at the moment. Riding at the head of the column was 7th Cavalry Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, who would soon attack a Cheyenne village on the Washita. It was 1868, and the shaggy beasts were not alarmed they had seen mounted men before. Grazing buffalo moved slowly out of a draw as a procession of military wagons and soldiers approached over the vast grass- lands of southern Kansas and northern Indian Territory. Big, strong, fast and courageous, these dogs of many names cornered quarry for such famed frontier hunters as George Custer and Teddy Roosevelt.
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