A Peculiar Trestle Rescue in Yakima
A band of horses entangled in a railroad trestle near North Yakima forced an overland train to stop, leading to a strange and careful rescue mission.
Becoming entangled in a trestle near North Yakima at night, a band of horses delayed the Northern Pacific overland train. Two of the animals broke their legs between the ties, but the majority escaped in various miraculous ways. One was found hanging to the trestle, one of its hoofs having become jammed between a spike and the side of the rail, and it had then floundered over the side of the track twelve feet from the bottom of the gulch. After its foot was released it was eased to the ground, and from a good licking up, it was none the worse for its experience. But the actions of the horses was still interesting to the passengers. It was found with its legs poked in between the ties and in a position to end its usefulness by breaking its legs. As soon as it was raised up and given a chance to walk, it put its nose down close to the ties and began picking its way across the trestle, 'just like a person.'
“As soon as it was raised up and given a chance to walk, it put its nose down close to the ties and began picking its way across the trestle, 'just like a person.'”
This incident occurred in the era when the expansion of railroads through wild terrain regularly brought humans into bizarre conflict with local livestock. Today, animal-train encounters in the Yakima Valley are more likely to involve road-vehicle traffic or modern highway fencing, but the image of a horse navigating a bridge 'like a person' remains a vivid, uncanny piece of local lore.
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