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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36654-8.txt b/36654-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca70ff5 --- /dev/null +++ b/36654-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7872 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Cruisings in the Cascades, by George O. Shields + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Cruisings in the Cascades + A Narrative of Travel, Exploration, Amateur Photography, + Hunting, and Fishing + +Author: George O. Shields + +Release Date: July 7, 2011 [EBook #36654] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + [Illustration: G. O. Shields] + + CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES. + + A NARRATIVE OF + + Travel, Exploration, Amateur Photography, Hunting, and Fishing, + + WITH SPECIAL CHAPTERS ON + + HUNTING THE GRIZZLY BEAR, THE BUFFALO, ELK, ANTELOPE, ROCKY MOUNTAIN + GOAT, AND DEER; ALSO ON TROUTING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; ON A MONTANA + ROUND-UP; LIFE AMONG THE COWBOYS, ETC. + + BY G. O. SHIELDS, + ("COQUINA") + + AUTHOR OF + "RUSTLINGS IN THE ROCKIES," + "HUNTING IN THE GREAT WEST," + "THE BATTLE OF THE BIG HOLE," ETC. + + CHICAGO AND NEW YORK: + RAND, MCNALLY & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. + 1889. + + + COPYRIGHT, 1889, BY RAND, MCNALLY & CO. + +The articles herein on Elk, Bear, and Antelope Hunting are reprinted by +the courtesy of Messrs. Harper & Brothers, in whose Magazine they were +first published; and those on Buffalo Hunting and Trouting are +reproduced from "Outing" Magazine, in which they first appeared. + + "Come live with me and be my love. + And we will all the pleasures prove + That hills and valleys, dales and fields, + Woods or steepy mountains, yield." + --_Marlowe._ + + "Earth has built the great watch-towers of the mountains, and they + lift their heads far up into the sky, and gaze ever upward and + around to see if the Judge of the World comes not." + --_Longfellow._ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +And now, how can I suitably apologize for having inflicted another book +on the reading public? I would not attempt it but that it is the custom +among authors. And, come to think of it, I guess I won't attempt it +anyway. I will merely say, by way of excuse, that my former literary +efforts, especially my "Rustlings in the Rockies," have brought me in +sundry dollars, in good and lawful money, which I have found very useful +things to have about the house. If this volume shall meet with an +equally kind reception at the hands of book buyers, I shall feel that, +after all, I am not to blame for having written it. + + THE AUTHOR. + +CHICAGO, MARCH, 1889. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + The Benefits, Mental and Physical, of Mountain Climbing--A + Never-failing Means of Obtaining Sound Sleep and a Good + Appetite--The Work to be in Proportion to the Strength of the + Climber--People Who Would Like to See, but are Too Lazy to + Climb--How the Photograph Camera May Enhance the Pleasures and + Benefits of Mountain Climbing--Valuable Souvenirs of Each + Ascent--How "These Things are Done in Europe"--An Effective Cure + for Egotism. + + CHAPTER II. + + The Cascade Mountains Compared with the Rockies--Characteristics + and Landmarks of the Former--The Proper Season for Cruising in + the Cascades--Grand Scenery of the Columbia--Viewing Mount + Tacoma from the City of Tacoma--Men Who Have Ascended this + Mysterious Peak--Indian Legends Concerning the Mountain--Evil + Spirits, Who Dwell in Yawning Caverns--The View from the + Mountain--Crater Lake and the Glaciers--Nine Water-falls in + Sight from One Point. + + CHAPTER III. + + The City of Seattle--A Booming Western Town--Lumbering and Salmon + Canning--Extensive Hop Ranches--Rich Coal and Iron Mines--Timber + Resources of Puget Sound--Giant Firs and Cedars--A Hollow Tree + for a House--Big Timber Shipped to England--A Million Feet of + Lumber from an Acre of Land--Novel Method of Logging--No Snow in + Theirs--A World's Supply of Timber for a Thousand Years. + + CHAPTER IV. + + Length, Breadth, and Depth of Puget Sound--Natural Resources of + the Surrounding Country--Flora and Fauna of the Region--Great + Variety of Game Birds and Animals--Large Variety of Game and + Food Fishes--A Paradise for Sportsman or Naturalist--A Sail + Through the Sound--Grand Mountains in Every Direction--The Home + of the Elk, Bear, Deer, and Salmon--Sea Gulls as Fellow + Passengers--Photographed on the Wing--Wild Cattle on Whidby + Island--Deception Pass; its Fierce Current and Wierd + Surroundings--Victoria, B. C.--A Quaint Old, English-looking + Town. + + CHAPTER V. + + Through English Bay--Water Fowls that Seem Never to Have Been + Hunted--Rifle Practice that was Soon Interrupted--Peculiarities + of Burrard Inlet--Vancouver and Port Moody--A Stage Ride to + Westminster--A Stranger in a Strange Land--Hunting for a + Guide--"Douglass Bill" Found and Employed--An Indian Funeral + Delays the Expedition. + + CHAPTER VI. + + The Voyage up the Frazier--Delicious Peaches Growing in Sight of + Glaciers--The Detective Camera Again to the Front--Good Views + from the Moving Steamer--A Night in an Indian Hut--The Sleeping + Bag a Refuge from Vermin--The Indian as a Stamping Ground for + Insects--He Heeds Not Their Ravages. + + CHAPTER VII. + + A Breakfast with the Bachelor--Up Harrison River in a Canoe--Dead + Salmon Everywhere--Their Stench Nauseating--The Water Poisoned + with Carrion--A Good Goose Spoiled with an Express + Bullet--Lively Salmon on the Falls--Strange Instinct of this + Noble Fish--Life Sacrificed in the Effort to Reach its Spawning + Grounds--Ranchmen Fishing with Pitchforks, and Indians with + Sharp Sticks--Salmon Fed to Hogs, and Used as Fertilizers; the + Prey of Bears, Cougars, Wild Cats, Lynxes, Minks, Martins, + Hawks, and Eagles. + + CHAPTER VIII. + + The River Above the Rapids--A Lake Within Basaltic Walls--Many + Beautiful Waterfalls--Mount Douglas and its Glaciers--A Trading + Post of the Hudson Bay Fur Company--The Hot Springs; an Ancient + Indian Sanitarium--Anxiously Waiting for "Douglass Bill"--Novel + Method of Photographing Big Trees. + + CHAPTER IX. + + An Early Morning Climb--A Thousand Feet Above the Lake--Fresh + Deer Signs in Sight of the Hotel--Three Indians Bring in Three + Deer--"Douglass Bill" Proves as Big a Liar as Other + Indians--Heading off a Flock of Canvas Backs--A Goodly Bag of + these Toothsome Birds--A Siwash Hut--A Revolting Picture of + Dirt, Filth, Nakedness, and Decayed Fish--Another Guide + Employed--Ready on Short Notice--Off for the Mountain. + + CHAPTER X. + + Characteristics of the Flathead Indians--Canoeists and Packers by + Birth and Education--A Skillful Canoe Builder--Freighting + Canoes--Fishing Canoes--Traveling Canoes--Two Cords of Wood for + a Cargo, and Four Tons of Merchandise for Another--Dress of the + Coast Indians. + + CHAPTER XI. + + Climbing the Mountain in a Rainstorm-Pean's Dirty Blankets--His + Careful Treatment of His Old Musket--A Novel Charge for Big + Game--The Chatter of the Pine Squirrel--A Shot Through the + Brush--Venison for Supper--A Lame Conversation: English on the + One Side, Chinook on the Other--The Winchester Express Staggers + the Natives--Peculiarities of the Columbia Black Tail Deer. + + CHAPTER XII. + + The Chinook Jargon; an Odd Conglomeration of Words; the Court + Language of the Northwest; a Specimen Conversation--A Camp on + the Mountain Side--How the Indian Tried to Sleep Warm--The + Importance of a Good Bed when Camping--Pean is taken Ill--His + Fall Down a Mountain--Unable to go Further, We Turn Back--Bitter + Disappointment + + CHAPTER XIII. + + The Return to the Village--Two New Guides Employed--Off for the + Mountains Once More--The Tramp up Ski-ik-kul Creek Through + Jungles, Gulches, and Caņons--And Still it Rains--Ravages of + Forest Fires--A Bed of Mountain Feathers--Description of a + Sleeping Bag; an Indispensable Luxury in Camp Life; an Indian + Opinion of It + + CHAPTER XIV. + + Meditations by a Camp Fire--Suspicions as to the Honesty of My + Guides; at Their Mercy in Case of Stealthy Attack--A Frightful + Fall--Broken Bones and Intense Suffering--A Painful and Tedious + Journey Home--A Painful Surgical Operation--A Happy Denouement + + CHAPTER XV. + + The Beauties of Ski-ik-kul Creek; a Raging Mountain Torrent; + Rapids and Waterfalls Everywhere; Picturesque Tributaries--Above + the Tree Tops--The Pleasure of Quenching Thirst--A Novel + Spear--A Fifteen-Pound Salmon for Supper--The Indians' Midnight + Lunch--A Grand Camp Fire--At Peace with All Men + + CHAPTER XVI. + + Seymour Advises a Late Start for Goat Hunting; but His Council is + Disregarded--We Start at Sunrise--A Queer Craft--Navigating + Ski-ik-kul Lake--A "Straight-up" Shot at a Goat--Both Horns + Broken Off in the Fall--More Rain and Less Fun--A Doe and + Kid--Successful Trout Fishing--Peculiarities of the Skowlitz + Tongue; Grunts, Groans and Whistles--John has + Traveled--Seymour's Pretended Ignorance of English + + CHAPTER XVII. + + En Route to the Village Again--A Water-Soaked Country--"Oh, What + a Fall was There, My Countrymen!"--Walking on Slippery + Logs--More Rain--Wet Indians--"Semo He Spile de Grouse"--A + Frugal Breakfast--High Living at Home--A Bear He did a Fishing + Go; but He was Caught Instead of the Fish, and His Skin is + Bartered to the Unwashed Siwashes. + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + John and His Family "At Home"--An Interesting Picture of Domestic + Economy--Rifle Practice on Gulls and Grebes--Puzzled + Natives--"Phwat Kind of Burds is Them?"--A day on the + Columbia--The Pallisades from a Steamer--Photographing Bad Lands + from a Moving Train. + + CHAPTER XIX. + + Deer Hunting at Spokane Falls--Ruin Wrought by an Overloaded + Shotgun: A Tattered Vest and a Wrecked Watch--Billy's Bear + Story--The Poorest Hunter Makes the Biggest Score--A Claw in + Evidence--A Disgusted Party. + + CHAPTER XX. + + A Fusilade on the Mule Deer--Two Does as the Result--A Good Shot + Spoiled--View from the Top of Blue Grouse Mountain--A Grand + Panorama; Lakes, Mountains, Prairies and Forests--Johnston's + Story--Rounding Up Wild Hogs--A Trick on the Dutchman--A Bucking + Mule and a Balky Cayuse--Falls of the Spokane River. + + CHAPTER XXI. + + Hunting the Grizzly Bear--Habitat and Characteristics--A Camp + Kettle as a Weapon of Defense--To the Rescue with a + Winchester--Best Localities for Hunting the Grizzly--Baiting and + Still-Hunting--A Surprise Party in the Trail--Two Bulls-eyes and + a Miss--Fresh Meat and Revelry in Camp. + + CHAPTER XXII. + + Elk Hunting in the Rocky Mountains--Characteristics of the + Elk--His Mode of Travel--A Stampede in a Thicket--The Whistle of + the Elk, the Hunter's Sweetest Music--Measurements of a Pair of + Antlers--Saved by Following an Elk Trail--The Work of + Exterminators--The Elk Doomed. + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + Antelope Hunting in Montana--A Red Letter Day on Flat + Willow--Initiating a Pilgrim--Sample Shots--Flagging and + Fanning--Catching Wounded Antelopes on Horseback--Four + Mule-Loads of Meat. + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + Buffalo Hunting on the Texas Plains--A "Bull Train" Loaded with + Skins--A Sensation in Fort Worth--En Route to the Range--Red + River Frank's Mission--A Stand on the Herd--Deluged with Buffalo + Blood--A Wild Run by Indians--Tossed into the Air and Trampled + into the Earth. + + CHAPTER XXV. + + Hunting the Rocky Mountain Goat--Technical Description of the + Animal--Its Limited Range--Dangers Incurred in Hunting It--An + Army Officer's Experience--A Perilous Shot--A Long and Dangerous + Pursuit--Successful at Last--Carrying the Trophies to + Camp--Wading up Lost Horse Creek--Numerous Baths in Icy + Water--An Indian's Fatal Fall--Horses Stampeded by a Bear--Seven + Days on Foot and Alone--Home at Last. + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + Trouting in the Mountains--Gameness of the Mountain Trout--A Red + Letter Day on the Bitter Root--Frontier Tackle and Orthodox + Bait--How a Private Soldier Gets to the Front as an Angler--A + Coot Interrupts the Sport, and a Rock Interrupts the + Coot--Colonel Gibson takes a Nine-Pounder--A Native Fly + Fisherman--Grand Sport on Big Spring Creek--How Captain Hathaway + does the Honors--Where Grand Sport may be Found. + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + Deer Hunting in Northern Wisconsin--On the Range at Daylight--The + Woods Full of Game--Missing a Standing "Broadside" at Thirty + Yards--Several Easy Shots in Rapid Succession; the only Fruits + Shame and Chagrin--Nervousness and Excitement Finally Give Way + to Coolness and Deliberation--A Big Buck at Long Range--A Steady + Aim and a Ruptured Throat--A Blind Run Through Brush and Fallen + Trees--Down at Last--A Noble Specimen--His Head as a Trophy + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + Among the Pines--A Picture of Autumnal Loveliness--Cordial + Welcome to a Logging Camp--A Successful Shot--The Music of the + Dinner Horn--A Throat Cut and a Leg Broken--A Stump for a + Watch-Tower--The Raven Homeward Bound--A Suspicious Buck--A + Mysterious Presence--Dead Beside His Mate--Three Shots and Three + Deer + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + A Typical Woodsman--Model Home in the Great Pine Forest--A + Lifetime in the Wilderness--A Deer in a Natural + Trap--Disappointment and Despondency--"What, You Killed a + Buck!"--Sunrise in the Woods--An Unexpected Shot--A Free Circus + and a Small Audience--A Buck as a Bucker--More Venison + + CHAPTER XXX. + + Cowboy Life--The Boys that Become Good Range Riders--Peculiar + Tastes and Talents Required for the Ranch--Wages Paid to + Cowboys--Abuse and Misrepresentation to which They are + Subjected--The "Fresh Kid," and the Long-Haired "Greaser"--The + Stranger Always Welcome at the Ranch--A Dude Insulted--A Plaid + Ulster, a Green Umbrella, and a Cranky Disposition--Making a + Train Crew Dance--An Uncomplimentary Concert--No Sneak Thieves + on the Plains--Leather Breeches, Big Spurs, and a Six-Shooter in + a Sleeping Car--Fear Gives Way to Admiration--The Slang of the + Range--The "Bucker," and the "Buster"--The Good + Cow-Horse--Roping for Prizes--Snaking a Bear with a Lariat--A + Good School for Boys--Communion with Nature Makes Honest + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + A Montana Roundup--Ranges and Ranches on Powder River; Once the + Home of the Buffalo, the Elk, the Antelope; now the Home of the + Texas Steer and the Cowboy--The Great Plains in Spring Attire--A + Gathering of Rustlers--"Chuck Outfits" to the Front--Early + Risers--Taming an "Alecky" Steer--A Red-Hot Device--Branding and + Slitting--The Run on the Mess Wagon--"Cutting Out" and "Throwing + Over"--A Cruel Process. + + + + +CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery." + --RUSKIN. + + +For anyone who has the courage, the hardihood, and the physical strength +to endure the exercise, there is no form of recreation or amusement +known to mankind that can yield such grand results as mountain climbing. +I mean from a mental as well as from a physical standpoint; and, in +fact, it is the mind that receives the greater benefit. The exertion of +the muscular forces in climbing a high mountain is necessarily severe; +in fact, it is more than most persons unused to it can readily endure; +and were it not for the inspiration which the mind derives from the +experience when the ascent is made it would be better that the subject +should essay some milder form of exercise. But if one's strength be +sufficient to endure the labor of ascending a grand mountain peak, that +extends to or above timber line, to the regions of perpetual snow and +ice, or even to a height that gives a general view of the surrounding +country, the compensation must be ample if one have an eye for the +beauties of nature, or any appreciation of the grandeur of the Creator's +greatest works. + +[Illustration: MOUNT HOOD.] + +Vain, self-loving man is wont to consider himself the noblest work of +God, but let him go to the top of one of these lofty mountains, +surrounded by other towering peaks, and if he be a sane man he will soon +be convinced that his place in the scale of creation is far from the +top. Let him stand, for instance, on the summit of Mount Hood, Mount +Tacoma, or Mount Baker, thousands of feet above all surrounding peaks, +hills, and valleys, where he may gaze into space hundreds of miles in +every direction, with naught to obstruct his view, face to face with his +Creator, and if he have aught of the love of nature in his soul, or of +appreciation of the sublime in his mental composition, he will be moved +to exclaim with the Apostle, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him, +or the son of man that Thou visitest him?" He will feel his littleness, +his insignificance, his utter lack of importance, more forcibly perhaps +than ever before. It seems almost incredible that there should be men in +the world who could care so little for the grandest, the sublimest +sights their native land affords, as to be unwilling to perform the +labor necessary to see them to the best possible advantage; and yet it +is so, for I have frequently heard them say: + +"I should like very much to see these grand sights you describe, but I +never could afford to climb those high mountains for that pleasure; it +is too hard work for me." + +And, after all, the benefits to be derived from mountain climbing are +not wholly of an intellectual character; the physical system may be +benefited by it as well. It is a kind of exercise that in turn brings +into use almost every muscle in the body, those of the legs being of +course taxed most severely, but those of the back do their full share of +the work, while the arms are called into action almost constantly, as +the climber grasps bushes or rocks by which to aid himself in the +ascent. The lungs expand and contract like bellows as they inhale and +exhale the rarified atmosphere, and the heart beats like a trip-hammer +as it pumps the invigorated blood through the system. The liver is +shaken loose from the ribs to which it has perchance grown fast, and the +stomach is aroused to such a state of activity as it has probably not +experienced for years. Let any man, especially one of sedentary habits, +climb a mountain 5,000 feet high, on a bright, pleasant day, when + + "Night's candles are burnt out and jocund day + Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops." + +[Illustration: MOUNT TACOMA.] + +There let him breathe the rare, pure atmosphere, fresh from the portals +of heaven, and my word for it he will have a better appetite, will eat +heartier, sleep sounder, and awake next morning feeling more refreshed +than since the days of his boyhood. + +Although the labor be severe it can and should be modulated to the +strength and capabilities of the person undertaking the task. No one +should climb faster than is compatible with his strength, and halts +should be made every five or ten minutes, if need be, to allow the +system ample rest. In this manner a vast amount of work may be +accomplished in a day, even by one who has had no previous experience +in climbing. + +[Illustration: ON THE COLUMBIA.] + +The benefits and pleasures of mountain climbing are much better +understood and appreciated in Europe than in this country. Nearly every +city of England, France, Spain, Germany, and other European countries +has an Alpine, Pyrenese, or Himalayan club. The members of these clubs +spend their summer outings in scaling the great peaks of the mountains +after which the societies are named, or other ranges, and the winter +evenings in recounting to each other their experiences; and many a man, +by his association with the clubs and by indulgence in this invigorating +pastime develops from a delicate youth into a muscular, sturdy, athletic +man in a few years. + +The possible value of mountain climbing as a recreation and as a means +of gaining knowledge, has been greatly enhanced, of late years, by the +introduction of the dry-plate system in photography, and since the +small, light, compact cameras have been constructed, which may be easily +and conveniently carried wherever a man can pack his blankets and a +day's supply of food. With one of these instruments fine views can be +taken of all interesting objects and bits of scenery on the mountain, +and of the surrounding country. The views are interesting and +instructive to friends and to the public in general, and as souvenirs +are invaluable to the author. And from the negatives thus secured +lantern slides may be made, and from these, by the aid of the calcium +light, pictures projected on a screen that can only be excelled in their +beauty and attractiveness by nature herself. + +[Illustration: GLACIERS ON MOUNT TACOMA.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Each succeeding autumn, for years past, has found me in some range of +mountains, camping, hunting, fishing, climbing, and taking views. The +benefits I have derived from these expeditions, in the way of health, +strength, and vigor, are incalculable, and the pleasures inexpressible. +My last outing was in the Cascade Range, in Oregon and Washington +Territory, where I spent a month in these delightful occupations, and it +is with a view of encouraging and promoting a love for these modes of +recreation that this record is written. + + "I live not in myself, but I become + Portion of that around me; and to me + High mountains are a feeling, but the hum + Of human cities torture." + +[Illustration: A VIEW IN THE CASCADES.] + +The Cascade Range of mountains extends from Southern Oregon through +Washington Territory, away to the northward in British Columbia. In +width, from east to west, it varies from fifty to one hundred miles. It +is the most densely-timbered range on the continent, and yet is one of +the highest and most rugged. It may not possess so many ragged, +shapeless crags and dark caņons as the Rocky Range, and yet everyone who +has ever traversed both accords to the Cascades the distinction of +being the equal, in picturesqueness and grandeur, of the Rockies, or, in +fact, of any other range in the country. As continental landmarks, +Mounts Pitt, Union, Thielson, Jefferson, Hood, Adams, St. Helens, +Tacoma, Baker, Stuart, Chiam, Douglass, and others are unsurpassed. +Their hoary crests tower to such majestic heights as to be visible, in +some instances, hundreds of miles, and their many glaciers feed mighty +rivers upon whose bosoms the commerce of nations is borne. Mount +Jefferson is 9,020 feet high; Mount Adams, 9,570; Mount St. Helens, +9,750; Mount Baker, 10,800, Mount Hood, 11,025, and Mount Tacoma, +14,444. There are many other peaks that rise to altitudes of 7,000 to +9,000 feet, and from these figures one may readily form something of an +idea of the general height and beauty of the Cascade Range. The +foot-hills are generally high, rolling, and picturesque, and so heavily +timbered that in many places one cannot see a hundred yards in any +direction. Higher up the range, however, this heavy timber is replaced +by smaller trees, that stand farther apart, and the growth of underbrush +is not so dense; consequently, the labor of travel is lightened and the +range of vision is extended. The geological formation in the Cascades is +varied. Igneous rock abounds; extensive basaltic cliffs and large bodies +of granite, limestone, sandstone, etc., are frequently met with, and +nearly all the table-lands, in and about the foot-hills, are composed of +gravel drift, covered with vegetable mold. The Cascades may be explored +with comfort later in the fall than the Rockies or other more eastern +ranges, the winter setting in on the former much later than on the +latter, although the winter rains usually come in November. September +and October are the most pleasant months for an outing in the Cascades. + +[Illustration: ONEONTA GORGE, COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON.] + +* * * It was late in October when my wife and I started from Chicago for +a tour of a month among the bristling peaks of the Cascades and the +picturesque islands of Puget Sound. A pleasant ride of fifteen hours on +the Wisconsin Central Railroad to St. Paul, and another of three days +and nights on the grand old Northern Pacific, brought us face to face +with the glittering crests and beetling cliffs that were the objects of +our pilgrimage. As the tourist goes west, the first view of the range is +obtained at the Dalles of the Columbia river, from whence old Mount +Hood, thirty-five miles distant, rears its majestic head high into the +ethereal vault of heaven, and neighboring peaks, of lesser magnitude, +unfold themselves to the enraptured vision. As the train whirls down the +broad Columbia river, every curve, around which we swing with dazzling +speed, reveals to our bewildered gaze new forms of beauty and new +objects of wonder. So many descriptions of the scenery along this mystic +stream have been written, that every reading man, woman, and child in +the land must be familiar with it, and I will not repeat or attempt to +improve upon any of them. To say the most extravagant representations +are not exaggerated, is to speak truly, and no one can know how +beautiful some of these towers and cliffs are until he has seen them. + +The train arrived at Portland, that old and far-famed metropolis of the +North Pacific coast, at half past ten o'clock in the morning, and after +twenty-four hours pleasantly spent in viewing its many points of +interest and the snow-covered mountains thereabouts, we again boarded +the Northern Pacific train and sped toward Tacoma, where we arrived at +six o'clock in the evening. Here we passed another day in looking over a +booming Western city, whose future prosperity and greatness have been +assured by its having been chosen as the tide-water terminus of the +Northern Pacific Railway. Tacoma is situated on Commencement Bay, an arm +of Puget Sound, and has a harbor navigable for the largest ocean +steamships. The vast forests of pine, fir, and cedar, with which it is +surrounded, give Tacoma great commercial importance as a lumbering town, +and the rich agricultural valleys thereabout assure home production of +breadstuffs, vegetables, meats, etc., sufficient to feed its army of +workingmen. Rich coal fields, in the immediate neighborhood, furnish +fuel for domestic and manufacturing purposes at merely nominal prices. +All the waters hereabouts abound in salmon, several varieties of trout +and other food-fishes, while in the woods and mountains adjacent, elk, +deer, and bears are numerous; so the place will always be a popular +resort for the sportsman and the tourist. The chief attraction of the +city, however, for the traveler, will always be the fine view it affords +of Mount Tacoma. This grand old pinnacle of the Cascade Range, +forty-five miles distant, lifts its snow-mantled form far above its +neighbors, which are themselves great mountains, while its +glacier-crowned summit rises, towers, and struggles aloft 'til---- + + "Round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, + Eternal sunshine settles on its head;" + +and its crown is almost lost in the limitless regions of the deep blue +sky. + +From the verandas of the Tacoma House one may view Mount Tacoma until +wearied with gazing. The Northern Pacific Railway runs within fifteen +miles of the base of it, and from the nearest point a trail has been +made, at a cost of some thousands of dollars, by which tourists may +ascend the mountain on horseback, to an altitude of about 10,000 feet, +with comparative comfort; but he who goes above that height must work +his passage. There are several men who claim the distinction of being +the only white man that has ever been to the top of this mountain. +Others declare that it has been ascended only twice; but we have +authentic information of at least three successful and complete ascents +having been made. Indian legends people the mountain with evil spirits, +which are said to dwell in boiling caldrons and yawning caverns-- + + "Calling shapes, and beck'ning shadows dire, + And airy tongues that syllable men's names." + +Tradition says their wild shrieks and groans may be heard therein at all +times; and no Indians are known ever to have gone any great distance up +Mount Rainier, as they call it. White men have tried to employ the +native red men as guides and packers for the ascent, but no amount of +money can tempt them to invade the mysterious caņons and cliffs with +which the marvelous pile is surrounded. They say that all attempts to do +so, by either white or red men, must result in certain destruction. +Undoubtedly the first ascent was made about thirty years ago, by General +(then Lieutenant) Kautz, and Lieutenant Slaughter, of the United States +Army, who were then stationed at Steilacoom, Washington Territory. They +took pack animals, and with an escort of several men ascended as far as +the animals could go. There they left them and continued the climb on +foot. They were gone nine days, from the time of leaving their mules +until they returned to the animals, and claimed, no doubt justly, to +have gone to the top of Liberty Cap, the highest of the three distinct +summits that form the triplex corona; the others being known as the +Summit and the Dome. The next ascent, so far as known, was made in 1876 +by Mr. Hazard Stevens, who gave an account of his experiences in the +_Atlantic Monthly_ for November, of that year. In 1882, Messrs. Van +Trump and Smith, of San Francisco, made a successful ascent, and in the +same year an Austrian tourist who attempted to ascend the mountain, got +within three hundred feet of the top, when his progress was arrested by +an avalanche, and he came very near losing his life. Mr. L. L. Holden, +of Boston, went to within about six hundred feet of the summit in 1883, +and Mr. J. R. Hitchcock claims to have reached it in 1885. + +From the point gained by the trail above mentioned, the tourist may look +down upon the glaciers of the North Fork of the Puyallup River, 3,000 +feet below, while on the other hand, the glaciers of the caņon of the +Carbon may be seen 4,000 feet beneath him. Away to the north, glimmering +and glinting under the effulgent rays of the noonday sun, stretches that +labyrinth of waters known as Puget Sound-- + + "Whose breezy waves toss up their silvery spray;" + +while the many islands therein, draped in their evergreen foliage, look +like emeralds set in a sheet of silver. Many prominent landmarks in +British Columbia are seen, while to the north and south stretches the +Cascade Range, to the west the Olympic, and to the southwest the Coast +Range. All these are spread out before the eye of the tourist in a grand +panorama unsurpassed for loveliness. Crater Lake forms one of the +mysteries of Mount Tacoma. About its ragged, ice-bound and rock-ribbed +shores are many dark caverns, from which the Indians conceived their +superstitious fears of this mysterious pile. An explorer says of one of +these chambers: + +"Its roof is a dome of brilliant green, with long icicles pendant +therefrom; while its floor is composed of the rocks and débris that +formed the side of the crater, worn smooth by the action of water and +heated by a natural register, from which issue clouds of steam." + +The grand caņon of the Puyallup is two and a half miles wide, and from +its head may be seen the great glacier, 300 feet in thickness, which +supplies the great volume of water that flows through the Puyallup +river. From here no less than nine different waterfalls, varying in +height from 500 to 1,500 feet, are visible; and visitors are sometimes +thrilled with the magnificent spectacle of an avalanche of thousands of +tons of overhanging ice falling with an overwhelming crash into the +caņon, roaring and reverberating in a way that almost makes the great +mountain tremble. Fed by the lake, torrents pour over the edge of the +cliff, and the foaming waters, forming a perpetual veil of seemingly +silver lace, fall with a fearful leap into the arms of the surging +waves below. Mount Tacoma will be the future resort of the continent, +and many of its wondrous beauties yet remain to be explored. + +[Illustration: VIEW ON GREEN RIVER NEAR MOUNT TACOMA.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The Oregon Railway & Navigation Company's steamers leave Tacoma, for +Seattle, at four o'clock in the morning, and at six-thirty in the +evening, so we were unable to see this portion of the sound until our +return trip. Seattle is another of those rushing, pushing, thriving, +Western towns, whose energy and dash always surprise Eastern people. The +population of the city is 15,000 souls; it has gas-works, water-works, +and a street railway, and does more business, and handles more money +each year than many an Eastern city of 50,000 or more. + +The annual lumber shipments alone aggregate over a million dollars, from +ten saw-mills that cost over four millions, and the value of the +salmon-canning product is nearly a million more. The soil of the valleys +adjacent to Seattle is peculiarly adapted to hop-raising, and that +industry is extensively carried on by a large number of farmers. Some of +the largest and finest hop-ranches in the world are located in the +vicinity, and their product is shipped to various American and European +ports, over 100,000 tons having been shipped in 1888, bringing the +growers the handsome sum of $560,327. + +During the fifteen years since the beginning of this important +cultivation, the hop crop is said never to have failed, nor has it been +attacked by disease, nor deteriorated by reason of the roots being kept +on the same land without replanting. It is believed that the Dwamish, +the White River, and the Puyallup Valleys could easily produce as many +hops as are now raised in the United States, if labor could be obtained +to pick them. Indians have been mainly relied upon to do the picking, +and they have flocked to the Sound from nearly all parts of the +Territory, even from beyond the mountains. Many have come in canoes from +regions near the outlet of the Sound, from British Columbia, and even +from far off Alaska, to engage temporarily in this occupation; then to +purchase goods and return to their wigwams. They excel the whites in +their skill as pickers, and, as a rule, conduct themselves peaceably. + +Elliot Bay, on which Seattle is built, affords a fine harbor and good +anchorage, while Lakes Union and Washington, large bodies of fresh +water--the former eleven and the latter eighteen feet above tide +level--lie just outside the city limits, opposite. There are rich coal +mines at hand, which produce nearly a million dollars worth each year. +Large fertile tracts of agricultural lands, in the near vicinity, +produce grain, vegetables, and fruits of many varieties, and in great +luxuriance. Iron ore of an excellent quality abounds in the hills and +mountains back of the city, and with all these natural resources and +advantages at her command, Seattle is sure to become a great metropolis +in the near future. The climate of the Puget Sound country is temperate; +snow seldom falls before Christmas, never to a greater depth than a few +inches in the valleys and lowlands, and seldom lies more than a few days +at a time. My friend, Mr. W. A. Perry, of Seattle, in a letter dated +December 6, says: + +"The weather, since your departure, has been very beautiful. The morning +of your arrival was the coldest day we have had this autumn. Flowers are +now blooming in the gardens, and yesterday a friend who lives at Lake +Washington sent me a box of delicious strawberries, picked from the +vines in his garden in the open air on December 4, while you, poor +fellow, were shivering, wrapped up in numberless coats and furs, in the +arctic regions of Chicago. Why don't you emigrate? There's lots of room +for you on the Sumas, where the flowers are ever blooming, where the +summer never dies, where the good Lord sends the _tyee_ (great) salmon +to your very door; and where, if you want to shoot, you have your choice +from the tiny jacksnipe to the cultus bear or the lordly elk." + +There are thousands of acres of natural cranberry marshes on the shores +of the sound, where this fruit grows wild, of good quality, and in great +abundance. It has not been cultivated there yet, but fortunes will be +made in that industry in the near future. + +But the crowning glory of Puget Sound, and its greatest source of +wealth, are the vast forests of timber. It is scarcely advisable to +tell the truth concerning the size to which some of the giant firs and +cedars grow in this country, lest I be accused of exaggeration; but, for +proof of what I say, it will only be necessary to inquire of any +resident of the Sound country. There are hundreds of fir and cedar trees +in these woods twenty to twenty-five feet in diameter, above the spur +roots, and over three hundred feet high. A cube was cut from a fir tree, +near Vancouver, and shipped to the Colonial Exhibition in London in +1886, that measured nine feet and eight inches in thickness each way. +The bark of this tree was fourteen inches thick. Another tree was cut, +trimmed to a length of three hundred and two feet, and sent to the same +destination, but this one, I am told, was only six feet through at the +butt. + +[Illustration: PUGET SOUND SAW-LOGS.] + +From one tree cut near Seattle six saw-logs were taken, five of which +were thirty feet long, each, and the other was twenty-four feet in +length. This tree was only five feet in diameter at the base, and the +first limb grew at a height of two feet above where the last log was cut +off, or over one hundred and seventy feet from the ground. A red cedar +was cut in the same neighborhood that measured eighteen feet in diameter +six feet above the ground; and there is a well-authenticated case of a +man, named Hepburn, having lived in one of these cedars for over a year, +while clearing up a farm. The tree was hollow at the ground, the cavity +measuring twenty-two feet in the clear and running up to a knot hole +about forty feet above. The homesteader laid a floor in the hollow, +seven or eight feet above the ground, and placed a ladder against the +wall by which to go up and down. On the floor he built a stone +fireplace, and from it to the knot hole above a stick and clay chimney. +He lived upstairs and kept his horse and cow downstairs. It may be well +to explain that he was a bachelor, and thus save the reader any anxiety +as to how his wife and children liked the situation. + +The "Sumas Sapling" stands near Sumas Lake, northeast of Seattle. It is +a hollow cedar, twenty-three feet in the clear, on the ground, and is +estimated to be fifteen feet in diameter twenty feet above the ground. I +have, in several instances, counted more than a hundred of these mammoth +trees on an acre of land, and am informed that one tract has been out +off that yielded over 1,000,000 feet of lumber per acre. In this case +the trees stood so close together that many of the stumps had to be dug +out, after the trees had been felled, before the logs could be gotten +out. The system of logging in vogue here differs widely from that +practiced in Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, and elsewhere. No snow or ice +are required here, and, in fact, if snow falls to any considerable depth +while crews are in the woods a halt is called until it goes off. + +Corduroy roads are built into the timber as fast as required, on which +the teams travel, so that it is not necessary that the ground should be +even frozen. Skids, twelve to eighteen inches thick, are laid across, +these roads, about nine feet apart, and sunk into the ground so as to +project about six inches above the surface; the bark is peeled off the +top, they are kept greased, and the logs are "snaked" over them with +four to seven yoke of cattle, as may be required. The wealthier +operators use steam locomotives and cars, building tracks into the +timber as fast and as far as needed. This great timber belt is +co-extensive with Puget Sound, the Straits of Georgia, and the Cascade +Mountains. I believe that at the present rate at which lumber is being +consumed, there is fir, pine, and cedar enough in Washington Territory +and British Columbia to last the world a thousand years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Puget Sound is a great inland sea, extending nearly 200 miles from the +ocean, having a surface of about 2,000 square miles, and a shore line of +1,594 miles, indented with numerous bays, harbors, and inlets, each with +its peculiar name; and it contains numerous islands inhabited by +farmers, lumbermen, herdsmen, and those engaged in quarrying lime and +building stone. Nothing can surpass the beauty of these waters and their +safety. Not a shoal exists within the Sound, the Straits of Juan de +Fuca, Admiralty Bay, Hood's Canal, or the Straits of Georgia, that would +in any way interrupt their navigation by a seventy-four-gun ship. There +is no country in the world that possesses waters equal to these. The +shores of all the inlets and bays are remarkably bold, so much so that a +ship's side would touch the shore before her keel would touch the +ground. The country by which these waters are surrounded has a +remarkably salubrious climate. + +The region affords every advantage for the accommodation of a vast +commercial and military marine, with conveniences for docks, and there +are a great many sites for towns and cities, which at all times would be +well supplied with water, and the surrounding country, which is well +adapted to agriculture, would supply all the wants of a large +population. No part of the world affords finer islands, sounds, or a +greater number of harbors than are found within these waters. They are +capable of receiving the largest class of vessels, and are without a +single hidden danger. From the rise and fall of the tide (18 feet), +every facility is afforded for the erection of works for a great +maritime nation. The rivers also furnish hundreds of sites for +water-power for manufacturing purposes. On this Sound are already +situated many thriving towns and cities, besides those already +mentioned, bidding for the commerce of the world. + +The flora of the Sound region is varied and interesting. A saturated +atmosphere, constantly in contact with the Coast Range system of +upheaval, together with the warm temperature, induces a growth of +vegetation almost tropical in its luxuriance. On the better soils, the +shot-clay hills and uplands, and on the alluvial plains and river +bottoms, grow the great trees, already mentioned, and many other species +of almost equal beauty, though of no commercial value. + +"The characteristic shrubs are the cornels and the spiræas, many +species. These, with the low thickets of salal (_Gaultheria shallon_), +Oregon grape (berries), and fern (chiefly pteris, which is the most +abundant), and the tangle of the trailing blackberry (_Rubus pedatus_) +make the forests almost impenetrable save where the ax or the wild beast +or the wilder fire have left their trails. + +"The dense shade of the forest gives little opportunity for the growth +of the more lowly herbs. Where the fire has opened these shades to the +light the almost universal fireweed (_epilobium_) and the lovely brown +fire-moss (_funaria_) abound. In swamps and lowlands the combustion of +decay, almost as quick and effective as fire itself, opens large spaces +to the light; and here abound chiefly the skunk cabbage of the Pacific +coast (_lysichiton_) and many forms of the lovliest mosses, grown beyond +belief save by those who have looked upon their tropical congeners. +_Hypnums_ and _Mniums_ make the great mass which meet the eye; and among +the many less obvious forms a careful search will reveal many species +characteristic of this coast alone. The lower forms of the cryptogams, +the lichens and the fungi, abound in greatest profusion as might be +expected. The chief interest in these, in the present state of our +knowledge of them, springs from their disposition to invade the more +valuable forms of vegetation which follow advancing civilization." + +[Illustration: VIEWS ON PUGET SOUND.] + +I measured one fungus, which I found growing upon the decaying trunk of +a mammoth fir, that was thirteen inches thick and thirty-four inches +wide. I have frequently seen mosses growing on rotten logs, in the deep +shades of these lonely forests, that were twelve to sixteen inches deep, +and others hanging from branches overhead three feet or more in length. +There are places in these dense forests where the trees stand so close +and their branches are so intertwined that the sun's rays never reach +the ground, and have not, perhaps for centuries; and it is but natural +that these shade and moisture loving plants should grow to great size in +such places. + +The fauna of this Territory includes the elk, black-tailed deer, +_Cervus columbianus_; the mule-deer, _Cervus macrotus_; the Virginia +deer, _Cervus virginianus_; the caribou, the Rocky Mountain goat, Rocky +Mountain sheep, the grizzly and black bear. Among the smaller mammals +there are the raccoon, the cougar, wild cat, gray wolf, black wolf, +prairie wolf or coyote, gray and red fox, fisher, mink, martin, beaver, +otter, sea otter, red squirrel, ermine, muskrat, sea lion, fur and hair +seals, wolverine, skunk, badger, porcupine, marmot, swamp hare, +jack-rabbit, etc. Of birds and wild fowls there is a long list, among +which may be mentioned several varieties of geese and brant, including +the rare and toothsome black brant, which in season hovers in black +clouds about the sand spits; the canvas back, redhead, blue bill, teal, +widgeon, shoveler, and various other ducks; ruffed, pinnated, and blue +grouse; various snipes and plovers; eagles, hawks, owls, woodpeckers, +jays, magpies, nuthatches, warblers, sparrows, etc. There are many +varieties of game and food fishes in the Sound and its tributaries, in +addition to the salmon and trout already mentioned. In short, this whole +country is a paradise for the sportsman and the naturalist, whatever the +specialty of either. + +We left Seattle, _en route_ for Victoria, at seven o'clock on a bright, +crisp November morning. The air was still, the bay was like a sheet of +glass, and only long, low swells were running outside. We had a charming +view of the Cascade Mountains to the east and the Olympics to the west, +all day. The higher peaks were covered with snow, and the sunlight +glinted and shimmered across them in playful, cheery mood. Deep shadows +fell athwart dark caņons, in whose gloomy depths we felt sure herds of +elk and deer were nipping the tender herbage, and along whose raging +rivers sundry bears were doubtless breakfasting on salmon straight. Old +Mount Baker's majestic head, rising 10,800 feet above us and only fifty +miles away, was the most prominent object in the gorgeous landscape, and +one on which we never tired of gazing. We had only to cast our eyes from +the grand scene ashore to that at our feet, and _vice versa_, to-- + + "See the mountains kiss high heaven, + And the waves clasp one another." + +A large colony of gulls followed the steamer, with ceaseless beat of +downy wings, from daylight till dark, and after the first hour they +seemed to regard us as old friends. They hovered about the deck like +winged spirits around a lost child. Strange bird thus to poise with +tireless wing over this watery waste day after day! Near the route of +the vessel one of the poor creatures lay dead, drifting sadly and alone +on the cold waves. Mysterious creature, with-- + + "Lack lustre eye, and idle wing, + And smirched breast that skims no more, + Hast thou not even a grave + Upon the dreary shore, + Forlorn, forsaken thing?" + +Our feathered fellow-passengers greeted us with plaintive cries whenever +we stepped out of the cabin, dropping into the water in pursuit of every +stray bit of food that was thrown overboard from the cook-room. My wife +begged several plates of stale bread from the steward, and, breaking it +into small pieces, threw handfuls at a time into the water. + +[Illustration: OUR FEATHERED FELLOW-PASSENGERS.] + +Twenty or thirty of the birds would drop in a bunch where the bread +fell, and a lively scramble would ensue for the coveted food. The lucky +ones would quickly corral it, however, when the whole flight, rising +again, would follow and soon overtake the vessel. Then they would +cluster around their patron, cooing, and coaxing for more of the welcome +bounty. I took out my detective camera and made a number of exposures on +the gulls, which resulted very satisfactorily. Many of the prints show +them sadly out of focus, but this was unavoidable, as I focused at +twenty feet, and of course all that were nearer or farther away, at the +instant of exposure, are not sharp. Many, however, that were on wing at +the time of making the exposure, and at the proper distance from the +lens, are clearly and sharply cut. + +These pictures form a most interesting study for artists, anatomists, +naturalists, and others, the wings being shown in every position assumed +by the birds in flight. The shutter worked at so high a pressure that +only one or two birds in the entire series show any movement at all, and +they are but very slightly blurred. When we consider that the steamer, +as well as the gulls, was in motion--running ten miles an +hour--trembling and vibrating from stem to stern, and that, in many +cases, the birds were going in an opposite direction from that of the +vessel, the results obtained are certainly marvelous. It may interest +some of my readers to know that I used an Anthony detective camera, +making a four-by-five-inch picture, to which is fitted a roll holder, +and in all the work done on this trip, I used negative paper. I also +obtained, _en route_, several good views of various islands, and points +of interest on the mainland, while the boat was in motion. + +There are many beautiful scenes in and about the Sound; many charming +islands, clothed in evergreen foliage, from whose interiors issue clear, +sparkling brooks of fresh water; while the mainland shores rise +abruptly, in places, to several hundreds of feet, bearing their burdens +of giant trees. There are perpendicular cut banks on many of the islands +and the mainland shores, thirty, forty, or fifty feet high, almost +perpendicular, made so by the hungry waves having eaten away their +foundations, and the earth having fallen into the brine, leaving exposed +bare walls of sand and gravel. On Whidby Island, one of the largest in +the Sound, there was, up to a few years ago, a herd of wild cattle, to +which no one made claim of ownership, and which were, consequently, +considered legitimate game for anyone who cared to hunt them. They were +wary and cunning in the extreme. The elk or deer, native and to the +manor born, could not be more so. But, alas, these cattle were not to be +the prey of true, conscientious sportsmen; for the greed of the market +hunter and the skin hunter exceeded the natural cunning of the noble +animals, and they have been nearly exterminated; only ten or twelve +remain, and they will soon have to yield up their lives to the +insatiable greed of those infamous butchers. + +[Illustration: DECEPTION PASS, PUGET SOUND.] + +One of the most curious and interesting points in the sound is Deception +Pass. This is a narrow channel or passage between two islands, only +fifty yards wide, and about two hundred yards long. On either side rise +abrupt and towering columns of basaltic rock, and during both ebb and +flow the tide runs through it, between Padilla and Dugalla Bays, with +all the wild fury and bewildering speed of the maelstrom. This pass +takes its name from the fact of there being three coves near--on the +west coast of Whidby Island--that look so much like Deception that they +are often mistaken for it at night or during foggy weather, even by +experienced navigators. All the skill and care of the best pilots are +required to make the pass in safety, and the bravest of them heave a +sigh of relief when once its beetling cliffs and seething abysses are +far astern. Gulls hover about this weird place, and eagles soar above it +at all hours, as if admiring its pristine beauties, yet in superstitious +awe of the dark depths. Mount Erie, two miles away, rising to a height +of 1,300 feet, casting its deep shadows across the pass and surrounding +waters, completes a picture of rare beauty and grandeur. + +We reached Victoria, that quaint, old, aristocratic, ultra-English town, +just as the sun was sinking beneath the waves, that rolled restlessly on +the surface of Juan de Fuca Strait. We were surprised to see so +substantial and well-built a town as this, and one possessing so much of +the air of age and independence, so far north and west. One might +readily imagine, from the exterior appearance of the city and its +surroundings, that he were in the province of Quebec instead of that of +British Columbia. My wife felt that she must not remain longer away from +home at present, and we were to part here; therefore, in the early +morning she embarked for home, while I transferred my effects and self +to the steamer Princess Louise, bound for Burrard Inlet. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +At daylight in the morning we entered English Bay, having crossed the +strait during the night. The sun climbed up over the snow-mantled +mountains into a cloudless sky, and his rays were reflected from the +limpid, tranquil surface of the bay: + + "Blue, darkly, deeply, beautifully blue," + +as if from the face of a mirror. A few miles to the east, the +triple-mouthed Frazer empties its great volume of fresh, cold, +glacier-tinted fluid into the briny inland sea, and its delta, level as +a floor, stretches back many miles on either side of the river to the +foot-hills of the Cascades. Thousands of ducks sat idly and lazily in +the water, sunning themselves, pruning their feathers, and eyeing us +curiously but fearlessly, as we passed, sometimes within twenty-five or +thirty yards of them. A few geese crossed hither and thither, in low, +long, dark lines, uttering their familiar honk, honk; but they were more +wary than their lesser cousins, and kept well out of range. I asked the +purser if there was any rule against shooting on board, and he said no; +to go down on the after main deck, and shoot until I was tired. I took +my Winchester express from the case, went below and opened on the ducks. +They at once found it necessary to get out of the country, and their +motion, and that of the vessel combined, caused me to score several +close misses, but I finally found the bull's-eye, so to speak, and +killed three in rapid succession. Then the mate came down and said: + +"We don't allow no one to be firin' off guns on board." + +"I have the purser's permission," I said. + +"Well," he replied, "the captain's better authority than the purser on +this here boat," whereupon he returned to the cabin deck, and so did I. +I was not seriously disappointed, however, for I cared little for the +duck shooting; I was in quest of larger game, and only wanted to +practice a little, to renew acquaintance and familiarity with my weapon. +Early in the day we entered Burrard Inlet, a narrow, crooked, and +peculiarly shaped arm of the salt water, that winds and threads its way +many miles back into the mountains, so narrow in places, that a boy may +cast a stone across it, and yet so deep as to be navigable for the +largest ocean steamship. The inlet is so narrow and crooked that a +stranger, sailing into it for the first time, would pronounce it a great +river coming down from the mountains. Through this picturesque body of +water our good boat cleft the shadows of the overhanging mountains until +nearly noon, when we landed at Vancouver, the terminus of the Canadian +Pacific Railway. In consequence of this important selection, the place +is a busy mart of trade. The clang of saw and hammer, the rattle of +wheels, the general din of a building boom, are such as to tire one's +nerves in a few hours. Later in the day we reached Port Moody. This town +was originally designated as the tide-water terminus of the road, and +had its brief era of prosperity and speculation in consequence; but now +that the plan has been changed it has been reduced to a mere way +station, and has relapsed into the dullest kind of dullness. + +From here I staged across the divide to New Westminster, on the Frazer +river, the home of Mr. J. C. Hughs, who had invited me there to hunt +Rocky Mountain goats with him. I was grieved beyond measure, however, to +learn on my arrival that he was dangerously ill, and went at once to his +house, but he was unable to see me. He sank rapidly from the date of his +first illness, died two days after my arrival, and I therefore found +myself in a strange land, with no friend or acquaintance to whom I could +go for information or advice. + +My first object, therefore, was to find a guide to take me into the +mountains, and although I found several pretended sportsmen, I could +hear of no one who had ever killed a goat, except poor Hughs, and a Mr. +Fannin, who had formerly lived there, but had lately moved away, so of +course no one knew where I could get a guide. Several business men, of +whom I asked information, inquired at once where I was from, and on +learning that I was an American, simply said "I don't know," and were, +or at least pretended to be, too busy to talk with me. They seemed to +have no use for people from this side of the boundary line, and this +same ill-feeling toward my Nation (with a big N) was shown me in other +places, and on various occasions, while in the province. I found, +however, one gracious exception, in New Westminster, in the person of +Mr. C. G. Major, a merchant, who, the moment I made known to him my +wish, replied: + +"Well, sir, the best guide and the best hunter in British Columbia left +here not three minutes ago. He is an Indian who lives on Douglass Lake, +and I think I can get him for you. If I can, you are fixed for a good +and successful hunt." + +This news, and the frank, manly, cordial greeting that came with it, +were surprising to me, after the treatment I had been receiving. Mr. +Major invited me into his private office, gave me a chair by the fire, +and sent out a messenger to look for "Douglass Bill," the Indian of whom +he had spoken. This important personage soon came in. Mr. Major told him +what I wanted, and it took but a few minutes to make a bargain. He was a +solid, well-built Indian, had an intelligent face, spoke fair English, +and had the reputation of being, as Mr. Major had said, an excellent +hunter. Mr. Major further said he considered Bill one of the most +honest, truthful Indians he had ever known, and that I could trust him +as implicitly as I could any white man in the country. + +This arrangement was made on Saturday night, but Bill said he could not +start on the hunt until Wednesday morning, as his mother-in-law had just +died, and he must go and help to bury her on Tuesday. The funeral was to +take place on the Chilukweyuk river, a tributary of the Frazer, about +fifty miles above New Westminster, and it was arranged that I should go +up on the steamer, and meet him at the mouth of Harrison river, another +tributary stream, on Wednesday morning. We were then to go up the +Harrison to the hunting grounds. I was delighted at the prospect of a +successful hunt, with so good a guide, and cheerfully consented to wait +the necessary three days for the red man to perform the last sad rites +of his tribe over the remains of the departed _kloochman_, but I was +doomed to disappointment. + +[Illustration: A VIEW ON THE FRAZER.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +For many years I had read, heard, and dreamed of the Frazer, that +mysterious stream which flows out from among the icy fastnesses of the +Cascades, in the far-off confines of British Columbia. For many years +had I longed to see with my own eyes some of the grand scenery of the +region it drains, and now, at last, that mighty stream flowed at my +feet. How eagerly I drank in the beauty of the scene! How my heart +thrilled at the thought that I stood face to face with this land of my +dreams and was about to explore a portion, at least, of the country in +which this great river rises. The beautiful lines penned by Maria +Brooks, on the occasion of her first visit to the St. Lawrence, came +vividly to my mind: + + "The first time I beheld thee, beauteous stream, + How pure, how smooth, how broad thy bosom heaved; + What feelings rushed upon my heart! a gleam + As of another life my kindling soul received." + +I left New Westminster at seven o'clock Monday morning on the steamer +Adelaide, for the mouth of Harrison river, sixty miles up the Frazer. +There were over twenty Indians on board, going up to the mouth of the +Chilukweyuk, to attend the funeral of Douglass Bill's deceased relative. +As soon as I learned their destination I inquired if he were among +them, but they said he was not. He had come aboard before we left, but +for some reason had decided to go on another boat that left half an hour +ahead of the Adelaide. The voyage proved intensely interesting. The +Frazer is from a quarter to half a mile wide, and is navigable for large +steamers for a hundred miles above its mouth. There are portions of the +valley that are fertile, thickly settled, and well cultivated. The +valleys of some of its tributaries are also good farming districts, and +grain, fruits, and vegetables of various kinds grow in abundance. At the +mouth of the Chilukweyuk I saw fine peaches that had grown in the +valley, within ten miles of perpetual snow. The river became very +crooked as we neared the mountains, and finally we entered the gorge, or +caņon, where the rocky-faced mountains rise, sheer from the water's +edge, to heights of many hundreds of feet, and just back of them tower +great peaks, clad in eternal snows. The little camera was again brought +into requisition and, as we rounded some of these picturesque bends and +traversed some of the beautiful reaches, I secured many good views, +though the day was cloudy and lowery. The boat being in motion, I was, +of course, compelled to make the shortest possible exposures, and was, +therefore, unable to get fine details in the shadows; yet many of the +prints turned out fairly well. + +We saw several seals in the river on the way up, and the captain +informed me that at certain seasons they were quite plentiful in the +Frazer and all the larger streams in the neighborhood. They go up the +Frazer to the head of navigation and he could not say how much farther. +He said that on one occasion a female seal and her young were seen +sporting in the water ahead of the steamer, and that when the vessel +came within about fifty yards they dove. Nothing more was seen of the +puppy, and the captain thought it must have been caught in the wheel and +killed, for the mother followed the vessel several miles, whining, +looking longingly, pitifully, and beseechingly at the passengers and +crew. She would swim around and around the steamer, coming close up, +showing no fear for her own safety, whatever, but seeming to beg them to +give back her baby. She appeared to have lost sight of it entirely, +whatever its fate, and to think it had been captured and taken on board. +Her moaning and begging, her intense grief, were pitiable in the +extreme, and brought tears to the eyes of stout, brawny men. Finally she +seemed completely exhausted with anguish and her exertions and gradually +sank out of sight. My informant said he hoped never to witness another +such sight. + +We arrived at the mouth of Harrison river at six o'clock in the evening. +There is a little Indian village there called by the same name as the +river, and Mr. J. Barker keeps a trading post on the reservation, he +being the only white man living there. He made me welcome to the best +accommodations his bachelor quarters afforded, but said the only +sleeping-room he had was full, as two friends from down the river were +stopping with him for the night, and that I would have to lodge with one +of the Indian families. He said there was one _kloochman_ (the Chinook +word for squaw) who was a remarkably neat, cleanly housekeeper, who had +a spare room, and who usually kept any strangers that wished to stop +over night in the village. While we were talking the squaw in question +came in and Mr. Barker said to her: + +"Mary, yah-kwa Boston man tik-eh moo-sum me-si-ka house po-lak-le." +(Here is an American who would like to sleep in your house to-night.) To +which she replied: + +"Yak-ka hy-ak" (he can come), and the bargain was closed. + +I remained at the store and talked with Mr. Barker and his friends until +ten o'clock, when he took a lantern and piloted me over to the Indian +rancherie, where I was to lodge. I took my sleeping-bag with me and +thanked my stars that I did, for notwithstanding the assurances given me +by good Mr. Barker that the Indian woman was as good a housekeeper as +the average white woman, I was afraid of vermin. I have never known an +Indian to be without the hemipterous little insect, _Pediculus_ +(_humanus_) _capitis_. Possibly there may be some Indians who do not +wear them; I simply say I have never had the pleasure of knowing one, +and I have known a great many, too. I seriously doubt if one has ever +yet lived many days at a time devoid of the companionship of these +pestiferous little creatures. In fact, an Indian and a louse are natural +allies--boon companions--and are as inseparable as the boarding-house +bed and the bedbug. The red man is so inured to the ravages of his +parasitic companion, so accustomed to have him rustling around on his +person and foraging for grub, that he pays little or no attention to the +insect, and seems hardly to feel its bite. + +You will rarely see an Indian scratch his head or, in fact, any portion +of his person, as a white man does when he gets a bite. Lo gives forth +no outward sign that he is thickly settled, and it is only when he sits +or lies down in the hot sun that the inhabitants of his hair and +clothing come to the front; then you may see them crawling about like +roaches in a hotel kitchen. Or, when he has lain down on a board, or +your tent canvas, or any light-colored substance and got up and gone +away, leaving some of his neighbors behind, then you know he is--like +others of his race--the home of a large colony of insects. + +When Mary and her husband, George, saw my roll of bedding, which they +supposed to be simply blankets, they protested to Mr. Barker that I +would not need them, that there was "hy-iu mit-lite pa-se-se" (plenty of +covering on the bed). I told them, however, that I could sleep better in +my own blankets and preferred to use them. I took the bundle into my +room, spread the sleeping-bag on the bed and crawled into it. The outer +covering of the bag being of thick, hard canvas, I hoped it would prove +an effectual barrier against the assaults of the vermin, and that they +might not find the portal by which I entered, and so it proved. + +George and Mary live in a very well-built, comfortable, one-story frame +cottage, divided into two rooms; the kitchen, dining-room, parlor and +family sleeping-room all in one, and the spare room being the other. +The house has four windows and one door, a shingle roof and a board +floor. They have a cooking-stove, several chairs, a table, cupboard, +etc. The bedstead on which I slept was homemade, but neat and +substantial. It was furnished with a white cotton tick, filled with +straw, feather pillows, several clean-looking blankets, and a pair of +moderately clean cotton sheets. I have slept in much worse-looking beds +in hotels kept by white people. + +[Illustration: GEORGE AND MARY.] + +This Indian village, Harrison river, or Skowlitz, as the Indians call +both the river and the village, is composed of about twenty families, +living in houses of about the same class and of the same general design +as the one described, although some are slightly larger and better, +while others are not quite so good. All have been built by white +carpenters, or the greater part of the work was done by them, and the +lumber and other materials were manufactured by white men. None of the +dwellings have ever been painted inside or out, but there is a neat +mission church in the village that has been honored with a coat of white +paint. There are a few log shacks standing near, that look very much as +if they had been built by native industry. The frame houses, I am +informed, were erected by the Government and the church by the Catholic +Missionary Society. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +I was not compelled to eat with George and Mary, for Mr. Barker had +kindly invited me to breakfast with him, and when I reached his store, +at the breakfast hour in the morning, I found a neat inviting-looking +table in the room back of the store, loaded with broiled ham, baked +potatoes, good bread and butter, a pot of steaming coffee, etc.; all of +which we enjoyed intensely. Mr. Barker informed me there was a cluster +of hot springs ten miles up the river, at the foot of Harrison Lake, the +source of Harrison river, near which a large hotel had lately been +built. Upon inquiry as to a means of getting up there, I learned that he +had employed a couple of Indians to take some freight up that morning in +a canoe, and that I could probably secure a passage with them. As +Harrison Lake, or rather the mountains surrounding it, were the +hunting-grounds which Douglass Bill had selected, and as we would have +to pass these hot springs en route, I decided to go there and wait for +him. I therefore arranged with Barker to send him up to the springs, +when he should call for me at the store, and took passage in the freight +canoe. + +The Harrison river is a large stream that cuts its way through high, +rugged mountains, and the water has a pronounced milky tinge imparted +by the glaciers from which its feeders come, away back in the Cascades. +It is a famous salmon stream, and thousands of these noble fishes, of +mammoth size, that had lately gone up the river and into the small +creeks to spawn, having died from disease, or having been killed in the +terrible rapids they had to encounter, were lying dead on every sand +bar, lodged against every stick of driftwood, or were slowly floating in +the current. Their carcasses lined the shore all along the lower portion +of the river, and the hogs, of which the Indians have large numbers, +were feasting on the putrid masses as voraciously as if they had been +ears of new, sweet corn. The stench emitted by these festering bodies +was nauseating in the extreme; and the water, ordinarily so pure and +palatable, was now totally unfit for use. I counted over one hundred of +these dead fishes on a single sand bar of less than half an acre in +extent. Cruising amid such surroundings was anything but pleasant, and I +was glad the current was slow here so that, though going up stream, we +were able to make good progress, and soon got away from this nauseating +sight. + +About a mile above the village we rounded a bend in the river, where it +spread out to nearly a quarter of a mile in width, and on a sand bar in +the middle of the stream, sat a flock of geese. I picked up my rifle and +took a shot at them, but the ball cut a ditch in the water nearly fifty +yards this side, and went singing over their heads into the woods +beyond. They did not seem lo enjoy such music, and taking wing started +for some safer feeding-ground, carrying on a lively conversation in +goose Latin, probably about any fool who would try to kill geese at that +distance. I turned loose on them again, and in about a second after +pulling the trigger one of them seemed to explode, as if hit by a +dynamite bomb. For a few seconds the air was full of fragments of goose, +which rained down into the water like a shower of autumn leaves. My red +companions enjoyed the result of this shot hugely, and a canoe load of +Indians from up river, who were passing at the time, set up a regular +war whoop. We pulled over and got what was left of the goose, and found +that my express bullet had carried away all his stern rigging, his +rudder, one of his paddles, and a considerable portion of his hull. The +water was covered with fragments of sail, provisions of various kinds, +and sundry bits of cargo and hull. Charlie picked up so much of the +wreck as hung together, and said in his broken, laconic English: + +[Illustration: DEAD SALMON ON HARRISON RIVER.] + +"Dat no good goose gun. Shoot him too much away." + +There were plenty of ducks, coots, grebes, and gulls on the river, and I +had fine sport with them whenever I cared to shoot. + +A mile above where I killed the goose we entered a long reach of shoal +rapids, where all the brawn and skill of the Indians were required to +stem the powerful current and the immense volume of water. The rapids +are over a mile long, and it took us nearly two hours to reach their +head. As soon as we were well into them we came among large numbers of +live, healthy salmon. Many of them were running down the stream, some +up, while others seemed not to be going anywhere in particular, but +just loafing around, enjoying themselves. They were wild, but, owing to +the water being so rough and rapid, we frequently got within two or +three feet of them before they saw us, and the Indians killed two large +ones with their canoe poles. Occasionally we would corner a whole school +of them in some little pocket, where the water was so shallow that their +dorsal fins would stick out, and where there was no exit but by passing +close to the canoe. When alarmed they would cavort around like a herd of +wild mustangs in a corral, until they would churn the water into a foam; +then, emboldened by their peril, they would flash out past us with the +velocity of an arrow. They were doing a great deal of jumping; +frequently a large fish, two or three feet long, would start across the +stream, and make four or five long, high leaps out of the water, in +rapid succession, only remaining in the water long enough after each +jump to gain momentum for the next. I asked Charlie why they were doing +this, if they were sick, or if something was biting them. + +[Illustration: WRECKED BY AN EXPRESS BULLET.] + +"No," he said. "Play. All same drunk--raise hell!" + +These salmon run up the rivers and creeks to deposit their spawn, and +seem possessed of an insane desire to get as far up into the small +brooks as they possibly can. They frequently pursue their mad course up +over boiling, foaming, roaring rapids, and abrupt, perpendicular falls, +where it would seem impossible for any living creature to go--regardless +of their own safety or comfort. They are often found in dense schools in +little creeks away up near their sources, where there is not water +enough to cover their bodies, and where they become an easy prey to man, +or to wild beasts. In such cases, Indians kill them with spears and +sharp sticks, or even catch and throw them out with their hands. + +Or if their journeyings take them among farms or ranches, as is often +the case, the people throw them out on the banks with pitch-forks, and +after supplying their household necessities, they cart the noble fish +away and feed them to their hogs, or even use them to fertilize their +fields. I have seen salmon wedged into some of the small streams until +you could almost walk on them. The banks of many creeks, far up in the +foot-hills, are almost wholly composed of the bones of salmon. In +traveling through dense woods I have often heard, at some distance +ahead, a loud splashing and general commotion in water, as if of a dozen +small boys in bathing. This would, perhaps, be the first intimation I +had that I was near water, and, on approaching the source of the noise, +I have found it to have been made by a school of these lordly salmon, +wedged into one of the little streams, thrashing the creek into suds in +their efforts to get to its head. + +After depositing their spawn the poor creatures, already half dead from +bruises and exhaustion incurred in their perilous voyage up stream, +begin to drift down. But how different, now, from the bright, silvery +creatures that once darted like rays of living light through the sea. +Unable to control their movements in the descent, even as well as in the +ascent, they drift at the cruel mercy of the stream. They are driven +against rough bowlders, submerged logs and snags, or through raging +rapids by the fury of the torrent, until hundreds, yes thousands, of +them are killed outright, and thousands more die from sheer exhaustion. + +I have seen salmon with their noses broken and torn off; others with a +lower jaw torn away; some with sides, backs, or bellies bruised and +bleeding; others with their tails whipped and split into shreds, and +still others with their entrails torn out by snags. In this sad plight +they are beset at every turn in the river by their natural enemies. +Bears, cougars, minks, wild cats, fishers, eagles, hawks, and worst and +most destructive of all, men, await them everywhere, and it would be +strange, indeed, if one in each thousand that left the salt water should +live to return. The few that do so, are, of course, so weak that they +fall an easy prey to the seals, sharks, and other enemies, that wait +with open mouths to engulf them. So, all the leaping, rushing multitude +that entered the river a few months ago, have, ere this, gone to their +doom, but their seed is planted in the icy brook, far away in the +mountains, and their young will soon come forth to take the place of the +parents that have passed away. The instinct of reproduction must, +indeed, be an absorbing passion in poor dumb creatures, when they will +thus sacrifice life in the effort to deposit their ova where the +offspring may best be brought into being. + +[Illustration: INDIAN SPEARING SALMON.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Above the rapids we had a lovely reach of river, from a quarter to half +a mile wide, with no perceptible current. Impelled by our united +efforts, our light cedar canoe shot over the water as lightly and almost +as swiftly as the gulls above us sped through the air. I took one of the +poles and used it while the Indians plied their paddles, and for a +distance of nearly two miles the depth of water did not vary two inches +from four and a half feet. The bottom was composed of a hard, white +sand, into which the pole, with my weight on it, sunk less than an inch; +in fact, the current is so slight, the width of the river so great, and +the general character of the water such, that it might all be termed a +lake above the falls; though the foot of the lake, as designated on the +map, has a still greater widening five miles above the head of the +falls. + +Abrupt basaltic walls, 500 to 1,000 feet high and nearly perpendicular, +rise from the water's edge on either side. On the more sloping faces of +these, vegetation has obtained root-room, little bunches of soil have +formed, and various evergreens, alders, water hazels, etc., grow +vigorously. Half a foot of snow had lately fallen on the tops of these +mountains, and a warm, southwest wind and the bright sun were now +sending it down into the river in numerous plunging streams of crystal +fluid. For thousands of years these miniature torrents have, at frequent +intervals, tumbled down here, and in all that time have worn but slight +notches in the rocky walls. + +[Illustration: A TRIBUTARY OF THE HARRISON.] + +Shrubs have grown up along and over these small waterways, and as the +little rivulets come coursing down, dodging hither and thither under +overhanging clumps of green foliage, leaping from crag to crag and +curving from right to left and from left to right, around and among +frowning projections of invulnerable rock, glinting and sparkling in the +sunlight, they remind one of silvery satin ribbons, tossed by a summer +breeze, among the brown tresses of some winsome maiden. I took several +views of these little waterfalls, but their transcendent beauty can not +be intelligently expressed on a little four-by-five silver print. + +Several larger streams also put into the Harrison, that come from remote +fastnesses, and seem to carve their way through great mountains of +granite. Their shores are lined with dense growths of conifers, and +afford choice retreats for deer, bears, and other wild animals. + +At three o'clock in the afternoon we rounded a high point of rocks that +jutted out into the river, and another beautiful picture--another +surprise, in this land of surprises--lay before us. Harrison Lake, +nestling among snowy peaks and dotted with basaltic islands, reflected +in its peaceful depths the surrounding mountains as clearly as though +its placid surface had been covered with quicksilver. This lake is about +forty miles long, is fed by the Lillooet river and numerous smaller +streams. Silver creek, which comes in on the west side, twenty miles +north of the hot springs, is a beautiful mountain stream of considerable +size. A quarter of a mile above its mouth, it makes a perpendicular fall +of over sixty feet. It is one of the most beautiful falls in the +country. Near the head of the lake, and in full view from the springs, +old Mount Douglass, clad in perpetual snow and glacial ice, towers into +the blue sky until its brilliancy almost dazzles one's eyes. Though +forty miles away, one who did not know would estimate the distance at +not more than five, so clearly are all the details of the grand picture +shown. It is said that from the glaciers on this peak come the streams +whose waters give their peculiar milky cast to Harrison Lake and +Harrison river. Near the base of Mount Douglass is an Indian village of +the same name, and the Hudson Bay Fur Company formerly had a trading +post in the neighborhood, which they called Fort Douglass. This Indian +village is the home of my prospective guide, and from it he has adopted +his unpoetic cognomen. + +Half a mile to the right of where we entered the lake, the famous hot +springs, already mentioned, boil out from under the foot of a mountain, +and discharge their steaming fluid into the lake. The curative power of +these waters has been known to the natives for ages past, and the sick +have come from all directions, and from villages many miles away, to +bathe in the waters and be healed. All about the place are remains of +Indian encampments, medicine lodges, etc. The tribes in this vicinity +are greatly exercised over the fact of the white man having lately +asserted ownership of their great sanitarium, and having assumed its +control. Mr. J. R. Brown has erected over the springs a large +bath-house, and near that a commodious hotel. He has cut a road through +a pass in the mountains to Agassiz station, on the Canadian Pacific +Railway, five miles distant, so that the springs may now be easily +reached by invalids wishing to test their curative properties. Soon +after my arrival at the springs, I climbed the mountain to the east of +the hotel, and passed the time pleasantly, until sunset, viewing the +beautiful scenery in the neighborhood. + +On the following morning I took a boat and rowed up the east shore of +the lake, in hope of getting a shot at a deer, but though I saw plenty +of fresh signs all along the shore no game was visible. I spent the +afternoon looking anxiously for my promised guide, but he came not. I +again amused myself, however, taking views of the scenery, but found on +developing the negatives that I had not been eminently successful with +either Mount Douglass or Mount Chiam. Snowy mountains are about the most +difficult objects in all nature to photograph, especially if you attempt +to include anything beside the snowy peaks in the picture; for they are +so intensely white, and the sky or even clouds that form the background +are so light and afford so slight contrast, that it is next to +impossible to get good sharp pictures of them. The landscape about the +mountains is sure to offer some dark objects, perhaps deep shadows, and +even the mountain itself nearly always has bare rocks and dark, gloomy +caņons, and to get these and the dazzling whiteness of the snow and ice +on the same plate is decidedly difficult. Of course we see many fine +photographs of snow-covered mountains, but if taken with a clear sky or +with light clouds for background, there is generally more or less +retouching necessary, and more or less doctoring in printing, with +tissue paper, glass screens, etc., in order to obtain the results we see +in the prints. I made some fair views of both these peaks, but not such +as an enthusiastic amateur might wish. Of the lower mountains, where at +that time there was no snow, of the lake, the islands, etc., I got very +satisfactory pictures. I went up the road, toward the railway station, a +mile or more, where it passes through one of those grand forests for +which this country is so famous, where-- + + "Those green-robed senators of mighty woods + Dream, and so dream all night without a stir." + +There I made views of some of the giant cedars, the dense moss-hung +jungles, the great fir trees, etc. In these dark, densely-shaded woods I +had to take off the flying shutter and make time exposures. I gave three +to five seconds to each plate. In the prints the trees and other objects +nearest to the lens are of course over-exposed, but the details in the +shadows and objects in the extreme distance are clearly and beautifully +brought out. For these time exposures I placed the camera on some +convenient log, stump, or stone, in lieu of a tripod. In two instances I +seated the rear end of the instrument on the ground, with the lens +bearing up through the tops of the trees. The whitened trunk and broken, +straggling arms of one great old dead fir--one that has flourished in +this rich soil and drawn sustenance from the moist, ozone-laden +atmosphere of these mountains for hundreds of years, but has lived out +his time and is now going the way of all things earthly--forms the +subject of one of the best and most interesting pictures of the whole +series. The tops of several other trees--birch, maple, etc., that stood +near the fir--are also shown in the picture. It can best be seen and +appreciated by holding it above your head, looking up at it, and +imagining yourself there in the forest, looking up through the tops of +the giant trees into the blue ethereal dome of heaven. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +In the morning I got up early to look for Douglass Bill, thinking and +hoping he might have landed during the night, but no one had seen him +and there was no strange canoe in the harbor. After breakfast, in order +to kill time, I climbed the mountain east of the hotel to a height of +about a thousand feet. It is heavily timbered, and I found plenty of +fresh deer-signs within plain sound of the hammers wielded by the +carpenters at work on the hotel, but failed to get a shot. I returned at +eleven o'clock, but Bill had not yet shown up. Three other Indians were +there, however, with three deer in their canoe, which they had killed on +the opposite side of the lake the day before. I now concluded that Mr. +Major's confidence in Bill was misplaced; that he was not going to keep +his contract, and was, in short, as treacherous, as unreliable, and as +consummate a liar as other Indians; so I entered into negotiations with +these three Indians to get one or two of them to go with me. But they +had planned a trip to New Westminster, to sell their venison, and I +could not induce any one of them to go, though I offered big wages, and +a premium on each head of game I might kill, besides. They said that if +I wished they would take me to their village--which is five miles down +the river--and that there were several good goat hunters there whom I +could get. I accepted their offer of transportation, stepped into the +canoe, and we pulled out. As we entered the shoal water in the river I +asked for a pole, and impelled by it and the three paddles we sped down +the stream at a rapid rate. + +There was a cold, disagreeable rain falling and a chilly north wind +blowing. This storm had brought clouds of ducks into the river, among +them several flocks of canvas backs. The Indians, who were using +smooth-bore muskets, killed several of these toothsome fowls. One flock +rose ahead of us and started directly down the river, but by some kind +of native intuition the Indians seemed to know that they would come back +up the opposite shore. They dropped their guns, caught up the paddles +and plied them with such force that every stroke fairly lifted the light +cedar canoe out of the water, and we shot across the river with the +speed of a deer. Sure enough, after flying a hundred yards down stream +the ducks turned and, hugging the shore, undertook to pass up the river +on the other side, but we cut them off, so that they had to pass over +our heads. At this juncture the two muskets carried by the two young men +cracked and three canvas backs dropped, limp and lifeless, into the +water within a few feet of us. + +We arrived at the hut occupied by this family at noon. It stands on the +bank of the river, half a mile above the village of Chehalis, and as we +pulled up, two old and two young squaws and nine small Indians, some of +them mere papooses in arms (but not in long clothes--in fact, not in +any clothes worth mentioning), came swarming out to meet us. Their abode +was a shanty about twelve feet square, made by setting four corner posts +into the ground, nailing cross-ribs on, and over these clapboards riven +from the native cedars, and the roof was of the same material. The adult +members of this social alliance had been engaged in catching and drying +salmon during the recent run; the heads, entrails and backbones of which +had been dumped into the river at their very door. There being no +current near the shore they had sunk in barely enough water to cover +them, and lay there rotting and poluting the water used by the family +for drinking and cooking. Cart-loads of this offal were also lying about +the dooryard, and had been trampled into and mixed up with the mud until +the whole outfit stunk like a tanyard. + +Within was a picture of filth and squalor that beggars description. The +floor of the hut was of mother earth. A couple of logs with two +clapboards laid across them formed the only seats. On one side was a +pile of brush, hay, and dirty, filthy blankets, indiscriminately mixed, +on which the entire three families slept, presumably in the same +fashion. Near the centre of the hut a small fire struggled for +existence, and that portion of the smoke that was not absorbed by the +people, the drying fish and other objects in the room, escaped through a +hole in the centre of the roof. The children, barefooted and half-naked, +came in out of the rain, mud, and fish carrion, in which they had been +tramping about, and sat or lay on the ground about the fire, looking as +happy as a litter of pigs in a mud hole. On poles, attached by cedar +withes to the rafters, were hung several hundred salmon, absorbing +smoke, carbonic acid gas from the lungs of the human beings beneath, and +steam from the cooking that was going on. It is understood that after +this process has been prolonged for some weeks these once noble fishes +will be fit for the winter food of the Siwash. + +Some of the houses in Chehalis are neat frame cottages; in fact, it is a +better-built town, on the whole, than the village of Harrison River +already described; but these better houses all stand back about a +quarter of a mile from the river, and the inhabitants have left them and +gone into the "fish-houses," the clapboard structures, on the immediate +river bank. Some of these shanties are much larger than the one +mentioned above, and in some cases four, five, or even six families hole +up in one of these filthy dens during the fish-curing season. + +As a matter of fact, there are salmon of one variety or another in these +larger rivers nearly all the year, but sometimes the weather is too +cold, too wet, or otherwise too disagreable in winter for the noble red +man to fish with comfort, and hence all these preparations for a rainy +day. After the fishes are cured they are hung up in big out-houses set +on posts, or in some cases built high up in the branches of trees, in +order to be entirely out of the reach of rats, minks, or other vermin, +and the members of the commune draw from the stock at will. The coast +Indians live almost wholly on fish, and seem perfectly happy without +flesh, vegetables, or bread, if such be not at hand, though they can eat +plenty of all these when set before them. If one of them kills a deer he +seldom or never eats more of it than the liver, heart, lungs, etc. He +sells the carcass, if within a three days' voyage of a white man who +will buy venison. + +[Illustration: SALMON BOXES IN TREES.] + +One of the young men already mentioned went with me down to one of the +big fish-houses and called out Pean, a man about fifty years of age, who +he said was a good goat hunter and a good guide. They held a hurried +conversation in their native tongue, at the close of which the young +man said Pean would go with me for two dollars a day. I asked Pean if he +could talk English, and he said "yes," but this proved, in after +experience, to be about the only English word he could speak. He rushed +into the hut, and in about three or four minutes returned with his gun, +powder-horn, bullet-pouch, pipe, and a small roll of blankets, and was +ready for a journey into the mountains of, he knew not how many days. +His canoe was on the river bank near us, and as we were stepping into it +I asked him a few questions which he tried to answer in English, but +made a poor stagger at it, and slid off into Chinook. + +Just then another old Indian came up with a canoe-load of wood. I asked +him if he could speak English--"wah-wah King George"; and he said "Yes." + +I then told him I had hired this other man to go hunting with me and +asked him if he knew him. + +"Oh, yes," he said; "me chief here. All dese house my house. All dese +people my people. No other chief here." I said I was delighted to know +him, shook hands with him, gave him a cigar, and inquired his name. + +"Captain George," he said; "me chief here." + +"Is he a good hunter?" pointing to Pean. + +"Yes, Pean good hunter; good man. He kill plenty sheep, deer, bear." +With this additional certificate of efficiency and good character I felt +more confidence in Pean, and stepping into the canoe was once more _en +route_ to the mountains. + +Still, I felt some misgivings, for my past experience with the fish +eaters had taught me not to place implicit faith in their statements or +pretensions, and the sequel will show how well grounded these fears +were. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The Flathead nation, to which nearly all the Puget Sound Indians belong, +may almost be termed amphibians; for though they can, and do in some +cases, live inland exclusively, they are never happy when away from the +water. They are canoeists by birth and education. A coast Indian is as +helpless and miserable without a canoe as a plains Indian without a +horse, and the Siwash (Chinook for coast Indian) is as expert in the use +of the canoe as the Sioux, Crow, or Arapahoe in the use and control of +his cayuse. Almost the sole means of travel, of intercommunication among +these people, and between themselves and the whites, is the canoe. + +There are very few horses owned in any of the coast tribes, and these +are rarely ridden. When a Siwash attempts to ride a horse he climbs onto +it kicking and grunting with the effort, much as an Alabama negro mounts +his mule, and sits him about as gracefully. But let the Siwash step into +his canoe, and he fears no rapid, whirlpool, nor stormy billow. He faces +the most perilous water and sends his frail cedar shell into it with a +skill and a consciousness of mastery that would put to the blush any of +the prize winners in our Eastern canoe-club regattas. The canoes are +models of nautical architecture. They are cut and carved from the cedar +trees which bounteous Nature, in wise provision for the wants of Her +children, has caused to grow so plentifully and to such prodigious size +in the Sound country. They are of various sizes and lengths, owing to +the uses for which they are intended. If for spearing salmon or for +light traveling, they are cut from a tree twenty to twenty-four inches +in diameter, and are not more than twelve to fifteen feet long. If for +attending nets and bringing in the catch, they are generally longer, and +if for freighting and long-distance traveling, they are of immense size +and capable of carrying great burdens. A tree of the size wanted is +selected, perfectly sound and free from knots, and a log of the desired +length cut off. The log is hollowed, carved out to the desired shape, +then trimmed and tapered outside until it is a mere shell, scarcely more +than an inch thick anywhere. + +[Illustration: AN OCCIDENTAL GONDOLA.] + +It is then filled with water, a fire is built near in which rocks are +heated and thrown into the canoe until the water boils. This is +continued until the wood is thoroughly cooked and softened, when the +water is turned out, the canoe is spread at the centre, braced out to +nearly twice its natural width or diameter, and left to dry. This gives +it "sheer" and enables it to ride a heavy sea like a lifeboat. +Handsomely carved figureheads are attached to some of the large canoes, +and the entire craft is painted, striped, and decorated in gay colors. +I measured one of these cedar canoes that was thirty-four feet long and +five and a half feet beam, and was told by its owner that he had carried +in it four tons of freight on one trip, and two cords of green wood on +another. It would carry fifty men comfortably and safely. There are not +many of the Indians that can make the larger and better grade of canoes, +and the trade is one that but few master. + +There is one famous old canoe builder near Vancouver, to whom Indians go +from distances of a hundred miles or more when they want an extra fine, +large, light canoe. For some specimens of his handiwork he gets as high +as $80 to $100. The Indians throughout Washington Territory and British +Columbia do considerable freighting for whites, on streams not navigable +for steamers, and they take freight up over some of the rapids where no +white man could run an empty canoe. + +Some of these Flatheads are industrious and are employed by the whites +in salmon canneries, lumbering and logging operations, farming, etc. +Steamboat men employ them almost exclusively for deck hands, and they +make the best ones to be had in the country; better than either whites +or Chinamen. They are excellent packers by education. In this +densely-timbered country horses can not, as a rule, be used for packing, +and the Indians, in going across country where there is no watercourse, +pack all their plunder on their backs. Whites traveling in the woods +also depend on Indians to pack their luggage; consequently it is not +strange that the latter become experts at the business, and it is this +schooling that makes them valuable as deck hands. They are not large +men, but are tough, sinewy, and muscular. An average Siwash will pick up +a barrel of flour or pork, a case of dry goods, or other heavy freight +weighing three hundred pounds or more, roll it onto his back, and walk +up a gang-plank or a steep river-bank as easily as a white man would +with a barrel of crackers. + +No work is too dirty or too hard for them. They are obedient to orders +and submissive to discipline, but their weak point, like that of all +Indians, is their inordinate love of whisky. Quite frequently, after +working a few weeks or months, they quit and go on a drunken debauch +that ends only when their money is gone. Their dress is much the same, +in general, as that of the whites in this region, with the exception +that the Indians wear moccasins when hunting. This footgear is little in +favor here with white hunters, owing to there being so much rainfall, +and so much wading to do. Rubber boots are indispensable for hunting in +most seasons, and a rubber coat should also be included in every +hunter's outfit. I found the Hannaford ventilated rubber boot the most +comfortable and perfect footgear I have ever worn. You can scarcely walk +a mile in any direction in this country at any time of year, on +mountains or lowlands, without encountering water. Moccasins soon become +soaked, and are then the most uncomfortable things imaginable. I asked +one of my guides why he did not wear rubber boots instead of moccasins, +and he replied: + +"O, I dunno. De moxicans cheaper, mebbe. I mek him myself. Can't mek de +boots." + +This is about the only use the Indians make of buckskin. It is not +popular with them as a material for clothing, on account of the vast +amount of rainy weather. + +It has been said they make cloth from the wool of the goat, but, so far +as I could learn, they make very little, if any of it, of late years. I +saw some blankets that Indians had woven from this wool, but they were +very coarse. They have no machinery for spinning; the yarn is merely +twisted by hand, and is so coarse and loose that it would not hold +together a week if made into a garment and worn in the woods. Of course, +a fair article of yarn, and even cloth, may be, and has been, made +entirely by hand, but these people have neither the skill, the taste, +nor the industry to enable them to do such work. A coarse hair grows +with the wool on the goat, and the squaws do not even take the trouble +to separate it, but work both up together, making a very uncouth-looking +fabric, even if thick, warm, and serviceable. + +As a class, these Indians appear to be strictly honest, toward each +other at least. They leave their canoes, guns, game, or in fact, any +kind of property, anywhere they choose, without the slightest effort at +concealment, and always feel perfectly sure of finding it on their +return. About the only case of pilfering I ever heard of, while among +them (and I took special pains to investigate) was when John asked me +for some fish-hooks, and said in explanation: + +"I had plenty hooks, but I reckon Seemo he steal all my hooks." + +"Why, does Seymour steal?" I inquired. He looked all around to see if +Seymour was within hearing, and not seeing him, replied: + +"You bet. He steal my hooks, too." + +[Illustration: A SIWASH AND HIS MORNING'S CATCH.] + +[Illustration: AN INDIAN SALMON FISHERY.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +I had left my bedding at the Hot Springs Hotel, and returning to get it +staid there all night. Early next morning (Friday, November 12) we +crossed Harrison Lake, in a drenching rain, to the foot of a high +mountain, about two miles from the springs, on which Pean, Captain +George, and other Indians said there were plenty of goats. We beached +our canoe, and made up packs for the climb up the mountain. The outfit +consisted of our guns, my sleeping-bag, Pean's gun and blankets, a few +sea biscuits, a piece of bacon, and some salt. + +My sleeping-bag was wrapped up in a piece of canvas, and when I handed +it to Pean, he commenced to unroll it to put his blankets in with it, +but I objected. Visions of the insects with which I knew his bedding was +inhabited rose up before me. I thought of the rotary drill, key-hole +saw, and suction pump with which they are said to be armed, and I did +not want any of them in my bag. So I unrolled the canvas only a part of +its length, laid his blankets in and rolled it up again, hoping the +remaining folds might prevent the vermin from finding their way in, and +my reckoning proved correct. One of his blankets had been white in its +day, but had long since lost its grip on that color, and was now about +as pronounced a brunette as its owner. The other blanket was gray, but +even through this sombre shade, as well as through the rank odor it +emitted, gave evidence that it had not been washed for many years. Pean +brought with him a cotton bedspread that had also once been white, but +left this with the canoe. In my pack I carried the grub, and an extra +coat for use on the mountain, where we expected to encounter colder +weather. + +We started up the mountain at ten o'clock in the forenoon. For the first +two miles we skirted its base to the eastward, through dense timber, +crossing several deep, dark jungles and swamps. Then we began the ascent +proper, and as soon as we got up a few hundred feet on the mountain +side, we found numerous fresh deer-signs. We halted to rest, when Pean +took from its case his gun, which up to this time he had kept covered, +and which I naturally supposed to be a good, modern weapon. It proved, +however, an old smooth bore, muzzle-loading, percussion-lock musket, of +.65 calibre, with a barrel about fifty inches long. He drew out the +wiping stick, on the end of which was a wormer, pulled a wad of paper +from the gun and poured a charge of shot out into his hand. This he put +carefully into his shot-bag. Then he took from another pouch a No. 1 +buckshot, and dropped it into the muzzle of his musket. It rolled down +onto the powder, when he again inserted the bunch of paper, rammed it +home with the rod, put on a cap, and was loaded for bear, deer, or +whatever else he might encounter. He then replaced the musket in its +sealskin cover as carefully as if it had been a $300 breech-loader. + +Nearly all these Indians use just such old muskets, bought from the +Hudson Bay Company, and yet they keep them in covers made of the skin of +the seal, which they kill in the rivers hereabout, or of deer or other +animals. They take excellent care of their guns in this respect, but I +have never seen one of them clean or oil his weapon, and several of them +told me they seldom do so. + +My Winchester express, with fancy stock, Lyman sight, etc., was a +curiosity to them. None of them had ever seen anything like it, and one +of them asked me what kind of a rifle it was. When told it was a +Winchester, he said: + +"I didn't know Winchester so big like dat. Didn't know he had stock like +dat." He had only seen the little .44 Winchester, with a plain stock, +and innocently supposed it was the only kind made. + +Pean and I had a hard day's work toiling up the mountain through fallen +timber, over and around great ledges of jutting rock, across deep, +rugged caņons and gulches, and through dense jungles of underbrush. +About two o'clock in the afternoon we halted, lay down for a rest, and +had been there but a few minutes when I heard the sharp, familiar +chatter of the little pine squirrel. I looked around quickly, expecting +to see one within a few feet of me, but instead saw Pean lying close to +the ground, beckoning to me and pointing excitedly up the game trail in +which we had been walking. Looking through the thick, intervening brush, +I saw two deer, a buck and a doe, looking toward us. They had not seen +nor scented us, but had merely heard the chatter of the little squirrel, +as they supposed, and, though apparently as completely deceived by it as +I had been, they had stopped to listen, as they do at almost every sound +they hear in the woods. But there was no squirrel there. Pean had taken +this method of calling my attention, and had imitated the cry of the +familiar little cone-eater so perfectly that even the deer had been +deceived by it. + +I cautiously and slowly drew my rifle to my shoulder, and taking aim at +the breast of the buck, fired. Both deer bounded away into thicker +brush, and were out of sight in an instant. Pean sprang after them, and +in a few minutes I heard the dull, muffled report of his musket. He +shouted to me, and going to him I found the buck dead and the Indian +engaged in butchering it. My bullet had gone a little farther to the +left than I intended, breaking its shoulder, and had passed out through +the ribs on the same side. The deer had fallen after going but a few +yards, but was not quite dead when Pean came up and shot it through the +head. We took out the entrails, cut a choice roast of the meat for our +supper and breakfast, and hurried on our way. + +We camped at four o'clock on a small bench of the mountain, and you may +rest assured, gentle reader, that our conversation in front of the camp +fire that night was novel. Pean, you will remember, could not speak half +a dozen words of English. He spoke entirely in Chinook, and I knew but a +few words of that jargon. I had a Chinook dictionary with me, however, +and by its aid was able to pick out the few words necessary in what +little talking I had to do, and to translate enough of Pean's answers to +my questions to get along fairly well. The great trouble with him seemed +to be that he was wound up to talk, and whenever I made a remark or +asked a question in his adopted language he turned loose, and talked +until I shut him off with "Halo kumtucks" (I don't understand). No +matter how often I repeated this he seemed soon to forget it, and would +open on me again whenever he got a cue. He was a fluent talker, and if I +had only been well up in the jargon, I could have got lots of pointers +from him. + +The deer of this region is the true black-tail (_Cervus columbianus_), +not the mule-deer (_Cervus macrotis_), that is so often miscalled the +black-tail. The black-tail is smaller than the mule-deer, and its ears, +though not so large as those of the latter, are larger than those of the +Virginia deer (_Cervus virginianus_). Its tail is white underneath, dark +outside, shading to black at the lower end, and while longer than that +of the mule-deer, is not so long as that of the Virginia deer. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Chinook is a queer jargon. It is said to have been manufactured many +years ago by an employé of the Hudson Bay Fur Company, who taught the +principal chiefs of various Indian tribes to speak it in order to +facilitate traffic with them. From that time it has grown and spread +until almost every Indian of the North Pacific Coast, and many inland +tribes of Washington, British Columbia, and Oregon speak it. White men +of all nations who live in this country speak it, and even the +almond-eyed Chinaman learns it soon after locating here. In short, it is +the court language of the Northwest, as the sign language is of the +plains. It is made up from various Indian tongues, with a few English, +or rather pigeon-English, French, and Spanish words intermixed. There +are only about 1,500 words in the language and it is very easy to learn. +Of course, it is woefully lacking in strength and beauty. You will often +want to say something that can not be said in Chinook, because there are +no words in that jargon with which to say it. But it is made to answer +the purposes of trade, travel, and barter, in common forms. For +instance: + +"Kah-tah si-ah ko-pa Frazer chuck?" would be, "How far is it to the +Frazer river?" + +"Yutes kut klat-a-wa la-pe-a," "Only a short walk." If you wish to say +good-morning or good-evening to an Indian you say: + +"Kla-how-ya, six." + +"Chah-co yah-wa" is "Come here." + +"Mi-ka tik-eh mam-ook?" "Do you want to work?" + +"Ik-ta mi-ka mam-ook?" "At what?" + +"Mam-ook stick." "Cut some wood." + +"Na-wit-ka." "Certainly." + +"Kon-si dat-la spose mi-ka mam-ook kon-a-way o-koke stick?" "What do you +want for cutting that lot of wood?" + +"Ikt dol la." "One dollar." + +The numerals are ikt (one), mox (two), klone (three), lock-it (four), +kwin-num (five), tagh-kum (six), sin-na mox (seven), sto te-kin (eight), +twaist (nine), tah-tlum (ten), tah-tlum pee-ikt (eleven), tah-tlum +pee-mox (twelve), mox-tah tlum (twenty), klone tah-tlum (thirty), ikt +tali-kamo-nux (one hundred), tah-tlum to-ka mo-mik (one thousand), etc. +It is often difficult to get accurate information from these Indians as +to distances or time, as they have little idea of English miles or of +the measurements of time, and very few of them own or know how to read a +watch or clock. Under Pean's tutelage I learned rapidly, and was soon +able to carry on quite an interesting conversation by the aid of the +little dictionary. + +By the light of a rousing camp-fire I cut a large quantity of cedar +boughs and made for myself a bed a foot deep. On this I spread my +sleeping-bag, crawled into it and slept the sleep of the weary hunter. +Pean cut only a handful of boughs, spread them near the fire, threw his +coat over them, and lay down. Then he folded his two blankets and spread +them over him, mostly on the side away from the fire, leaving that part +of his body next to the fire exposed so as to catch its heat direct. +During the night, whenever he turned over, he would shift his blankets +so as to keep them where most needed. At frequent intervals he would get +up and replenish the fire from the large supply of dry wood we had +provided. The night was bitter cold, at this high altitude, and snow +fell at frequent intervals. A raw wind blew, and the old man must have +suffered from the cold to which he exposed himself. + +There are few of these savages that understand and appreciate fully the +value of a good bed when camping. In fact, many white hunters and +mountaineers go on long camping trips with insufficient bedding, simply +because they are too lazy to carry enough to keep them comfortable. I +would rather get into a good warm, soft bed at night without my supper, +than eat a feast and then sleep on the hard ground, without covering +enough to keep me warm. After a hard day's work a good bed is absolutely +necessary to prepare one for the labor and fatigue of the following day. + + "In bed we laugh, in bed we cry, + And born in bed, in bed we die; + The near approach, a bed may show, + Of human bliss to human woe." + +Any ablebodied man may endure a few nights of cold, comfortless sleep, +but it will tell on him sooner or later; while if he sleep comfortably +and eat heartily, he may endure an incredible amount of labor and +hardship of other kinds. You may tramp all day with your feet wet, and +all your clothing wet, if need be, but be sure you crawl into a good, +warm, dry bed at night. + +Old Pean complained of feeling unwell during the evening, and in the +morning when we got up said he was sick. I prepared a good breakfast, +but he could not, or at least would not, eat. Then he told me that he +had once fallen down a mountain; that his breast-bone had been crushed +in by striking on a sharp rock, and that it always hurt him since when +doing any hard work. He said the climb up the mountain with the pack was +too hard for him and he was played out, that he could go no farther. + +Here was another bitter disappointment, as we were yet two miles from +the top of the mountain, and in going that distance a perpendicular +ascent of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet must be made. I deliberated, +therefore, as to whether I should go up the mountain alone and let Pean +go back, but decided it would be useless. I could not carry more load +than my sleeping-bag, gun, etc., and therefore could bring no game down +with me if I killed it, not even a head or skin. Beside, if he went back +he would take his canoe, and I would be left with no means of crossing +the lake. So the only thing to be done was to pack up and retrace our +steps. On our way down we stopped and took the head and skin off of the +deer killed the day before, and I carried them to the canoe. Arriving at +the lake, we pulled again for Chehalis in a cold, disagreeable rain. I +stopped at the hot springs on my way down, and took my leave of my +host, Mr. Brown, who had been so kind to me, and who regretted my ill +luck almost as much as I did. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +On our return to Chehalis--that town of unsavory odors and +salmon-drying, salmon-smoking Siwashes--I at once employed two other +Indians, named John and Seymour, and, on the following day we started up +Ski-ik-kul Creek, to a lake of the same name, in which it heads ten +miles back in the mountains. The Indians claimed that goats, or sheep, +as they call them, were plentiful on the cliffs surrounding this lake, +and that we could kill plenty of them from a raft while floating up and +down along the shores. Seymour claimed to have killed twenty-three in +March last, just after the winter snows had gone off, and a party of +seven Siwashes from Chehalis had killed ten about two weeks previous to +the date of my visit. + +Such glowing accounts as these built up my hopes again to such a height +as to banish from my mind all recollection of the bitter disappointment +in which the former expedition had ended, and, although the rain +continued to fall heavily at short intervals, so that the underbrush +reeked with dampness and drenching showers fell from every bush we +touched, I trudged cheerily along regardless of all discomforts. + +The first two miles up the creek, we had a good, open trail, but at the +end of this we climbed a steep, rocky bluff, about 500 feet high, and +made the greater portion of the remaining distance at an average of +about this height above the stream. There was a blind Indian trail all +the way to the lake, but it led over the roughest, most tortuous, +outlandish country that ever any fool of a goat hunter attempted to +traverse. There are marshes and morasses away up among these mountains, +where alders and water beeches, manzanitas, and other shrubs grow so +thick that their branches intertwine to nearly their full length. Many +of these have fallen down in various directions, and their trunks are as +inextricably mixed as their branches, forming altogether a labyrinthine +mass, through which it was with the utmost difficulty we could walk at +all. + +There were numberless little creeks coming down from the mountain into +the main stream, and each had in time cut its deep, narrow gulch, or +caņon, lined on both sides with rough, shapeless masses of rock, and all +these we were obliged to cross. In many cases, they were so close +together that only a sharp hog-back lay between them, and we merely +climbed out of one gulch 300 or 400 feet deep, to go at once down into +another still deeper, and so on. Fire had run through a large tract of +this country, killing out all the large timber, and many trees have +since rotted away and fallen, while the blackened and barkless trunks of +others, with here and there a craggy limb, still stand as mute monuments +to the glory of the forest before the dread element laid it waste. + +We camped that night at the base of one of these great dead firs around +which lay a cord or more of old dry bark that had fallen from it, and +which, with a few dry logs we gathered, furnished fuel for a rousing, +all-night fire. Within a few feet of our camp, a clear, ice-cold little +rivulet threaded its serpentine way down among rocks and ferns, and made +sweet music to lull us to sleep. After supper, I made for myself the +usual bed of mountain feathers (cedar boughs), on which to spread my +sleeping-bag. + +This old companion of so many rough jaunts, over plains and mountains, +has become as necessary a part of my outfit for such voyages as my +rifle. Whether it journey by day, on the hurricane deck of a mule, in +the hatchway of a canoe, on my shoulder blades or those of a Siwash, it +always rounds up at night to house me against the bleak wind, the +driving snow, or pouring rain. I have learned to prize it so highly that +I can appreciate the sentiments of the fallen monarch, Napoleon, on the +lonely island of St. Helena, when he wrote: + +"The bed has become a place of luxury to me. I would not exchange it for +all the thrones in the world." + +These Indians, like Pean, and, in fact, all others who have seen the +bag, are greatly interested in it. They had never seen anything like it, +and watched with undisguised interest the unfolding and preparing of the +article, and when I had crawled into it, and stowed myself snugly away, +they looked at each other, grunted and uttered a few of their peculiar +guttural sounds, which I imagined would be, if translated: + +"Well, I'll be doggoned if that ain't about the sleekest trick I ever +saw. Eh?" + +"You bet it's nice to sleep in, but heavy to carry." + +[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF SLEEPING-BAG.] + +By the way, some of my readers may never have seen one of these valuable +camp appendages, and a description of it may interest them. The outer +bag is made of heavy, brown, waterproof canvas, six feet long, three +feet wide in the centre, tapered to two feet at the head and sixteen +inches at the foot. Above the head of the bag proper, flaps project a +foot farther, with which the occupant's head may be completely covered, +if desired. These are provided with buttons and button-holes, so that +they may be buttoned clear across, for stormy or very cold weather. The +bag is left open, from the head down one edge, two feet, and a flap is +provided to lap over this opening. Buttons are sewed on the bag, and +there are button-holes in the flaps so it may also be buttoned up +tightly. Inside of this canvas bag is another of the same size and +shape, less the head flaps. This is made of lamb skin with the wool on, +and is lined with ordinary sheeting, to keep the wool from coming in +direct contact with the person or clothing. One or more pairs of +blankets may be folded and inserted in this, as may be necessary, for +any temperature in which it is to be used. + +If the weather be warm, so that not all this covering is needed over the +sleeper, he may shift it to suit the weather and his taste, crawling in +on top of as much of it as he may wish, and the less he has over him the +more he will have under him, and the softer will be his bed. Beside +being waterproof, the canvas is windproof, and one can button himself up +in this house, leaving only an air-hole at the end of his nose, and +sleep as soundly, and almost as comfortably in a snowdrift on the +prairie as in a tent or house. In short, he may be absolutely at home, +and comfortable, wherever night finds him, and no matter what horrid +nightmares he may have, he can not roll out of bed or kick off the +covers. + +Nor will he catch a draft of cold air along the north edge of his spine +every time he turns over, as he is liable to do when sleeping in +blankets. Nor will his feet crawl out from under the cover and catch +chilblains, as they are liable to do in the old-fashioned way. In fact, +this sleeping-bag is one of the greatest luxuries I ever took into camp, +and if any brother sportsman who may read this wants one, and can not +find an architect in his neighborhood capable of building one, let him +communicate with me and I will tell him where mine was made. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Long after the Indians went to sleep I lay there, looking into the fire +and thinking. Many and varied were the fancies that chased each other +through my restless brain--some pleasant, some unpleasant. I pondered on +the novelty, even the danger, of my situation. I was away up there in +that wild, trackless, mountain wilderness, alone, so far as any +congenial companionship was concerned. Yes, I was worse than alone, for +the moment I might close my eyes and sleep I would be at the mercy of +these two reckless red men. True, they are not of a courageous, warlike +race, but what might they not do for the sake of plunder? They could +crush my skull at a blow and conceal my body beyond all possibility of +discovery; or they could leave it and, saying I had killed myself by a +fall, reveal its resting place to anyone who might care to go in search +of me. I had some property with me, especially my rifle, sleeping-bag, +and a small sum of money, that I knew they coveted, and I reflected that +they might already have concocted some foul scheme for disposing of me +and getting possession of my effects. + +In their native tongue of strange, weird gutturals, hisses, and +aspirations, they had conversed all the evening of--I knew not what. +John had rather an honest, frank face, that I thought bespoke a good +heart, but Seymour had a dark, repulsive countenance that plainly +indicated a treacherous nature. From the first I had made up my mind +that he was a thief, if nothing worse. He pretended not to be able to +speak or understand English, although I knew he could. John spoke our +tongue fairly, and through him all communication with either or both was +held. Should they contemplate any violence I would welcome them both to +an encounter, if only I could have notice of it a second in advance. +Their two old smooth-bore muskets would cut no figure against the deadly +stream of fire that my Winchester express could pour forth. But I +dreaded the treachery, the stealth, the silent midnight assault that is +a characteristic of their race. Yet, on further consideration, I +dismissed all such forebodings as purely chimerical. These were +civilized Indians, living within the sound of the whistle of a railroad +engine, and would hardly be willing to place themselves within the toils +of the law, by the commission of such a crime, even if they had the +courage or the desire to do it, and I hoped they had neither. + +Then my fancies turned to the contemplation of pleasanter themes. I +thought of the dear little black-eyed woman, whom I had parted with on +board the steamer nearly a week ago. She is homeward-bound and must now +be speeding over the Dakota or Minnesota prairies, well on toward St. +Paul. Will she reach home in safety? God grant it--and that in due time +I may be permitted to join her there. Then other familiar images passed +and repassed my mental ken. The kind acts of dear friends, the +hospitalities shown me by strangers and passing acquaintances in distant +lands and in years long agone came trooping through my memory, and a +feeling of gratitude for those kindnesses supplanted for the time that +of solitude. Gradually and sweetly I sank into a profound slumber and +all was stillness and oblivion. + +Several hours, perhaps, have passed, and I am thirsty. I get up and +start to the little brook for water; to reach it a log, lying across a +deep fissure in the rocks, must be scaled. With no thought of danger I +essay the task by the dying fire's uncertain light and that of the +twinkling stars. I have not counted on the heavy covering of frost that +has been deposited on the log since dark, and stepping out upon the +barkless part of the trunk, my moccasins slip, and with a shriek and a +wild but unsuccessful grasp at an overhanging limb I fall twenty feet +and land on the mass of broken and jagged granite beneath! The Indians, +alarmed by my cries, spring to my relief, carry me to the fire, give me +stimulants, bind up my broken arm, and do all in their power to +alleviate my sufferings. + +They are not the crafty villains and assassins that my fancy had +painted. They are kind, sympathetic friends. I realize that my right +collar-bone and three ribs on the same side are broken, and when I +remember where I am, the deplorableness and utter helplessness of my +condition appal me. + +[Illustration: EN ROUTE TO THE INDIAN VILLAGE.] + +The long hours until daylight drag slowly by, and at last, as the sun +tips the distant mountain tops with golden light, we start on our +perilous and painful journey to the Indian village and to the steamboat +landing. The two red men have rigged a litter from poles and blankets, +on which they carry me safely to their homes, and thence in a canoe to +the landing below. How the long, tedious journey thence, by steamer and +rail, to my own home is accomplished; how the weary days and nights of +suffering and delirium which I endure _en route_ were passed, are +subjects too painful to dwell upon. I am finally assisted from the +sleeper at my destination. My wife, whom the wire has informed of my +misfortune and my coming, is there. She greets me with that fervent +love, that intensity of pity and emotion that only a wife can feel. Her +lips move, but her tongue is paralyzed. For the time she can not speak; +the wells of her grief have gone dry; she can not weep; she can only +act. I am taken to my home, and the suspense, the anxiety, having been +lived out, the climax having been reached and passed I swoon away. Again +the surgeon appears to be racking me with pain in an effort to set the +broken ribs, and seems to be making an incision in my side for that +purpose, when I awake. + +The stars shone brightly above me, the frost on the leaves sparkled +brightly in the fire-light. It took me several minutes to realize that I +had been dreaming. I searched for the cause of the acute pain in my +side, and found it to be the sharp point of a rock that my cedar boughs +had not sufficiently covered and which was trying to get in between two +of my ribs. I got up, removed it and slept better through the remainder +of the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Ski-ik-kul, or Chehalis Creek, as the whites call it, is surely one of +the most beautiful streams in the whole Cascade Range. Its size may be +stated, approximately, as two feet in depth by fifty feet in width, at +or near the mouth, but its course is so crooked, so tortuous, and its +bed so broken and uneven that the explorer will seldom find a reach of +it sufficiently quiet and undisturbed to afford a measurement of this +character. At one point it is choked into a narrow gorge ten feet wide +and twice as deep, with a fall of ten feet in a distance of thirty. +Through this notch the stream surges and swirls with the wild fury, the +fearful power, and the awe-inspiring grandeur of a tornado. At another +place it runs more placidly for a few yards, as if to gather strength +and courage for a wild leap over a sheer wall of frowning rock into a +foaming pool thirty, forty, or fifty feet below. At still another place +it seems to carve its way, by the sheer power of madness, through piles +and walls of broken and disordered quartz, granite, or basalt, even as +Cortes and his handful of Spanish cavaliers hewed their way through the +massed legions of Aztecs at Tlascala. + +Farther up, or down, it is split into various channels by great masses +of upheaved rock, and these miniature streams, after winding hither and +thither through deep, dark, narrow fissures for perhaps one or two +hundred yards, reunite to form this headlong mountain torrent. Viewing +these scenes, one is forcibly reminded of the poet's words: + + "How the giant element, + From rock to rock, leaps with delirious bound." + +Series of cascades, a quarter to half a mile long, are met with at +frequent intervals, which rival in their beauty and magnificence those +of the Columbia or the Upper Yellowstone. Whirlpools occur at the foot +of some of these, in which the clear, bright green water boils, +sparkles, and effervesces like vast reservoirs of champagne. The +moanings and roarings emitted by this matchless stream in its mad career +may be heard in places half a mile. At many points its banks rise almost +perpendicularly to heights of 300, 400, or 500 feet. You may stand so +nearly over the water that you can easily toss a large rock into it, and +yet you are far above the tops of the massive firs and cedars that grow +at the water's edge. Looking down from these heights you may see in the +crystal fluid whole schools of the lordly salmon plowing their way up +against the almost resistless fury of the current, leaping through the +foam, striking with stunning force against hidden rocks, falling back +half dead, and, drifting into some clear pool below, recovering strength +to renew the hopeless assault. + +The time will come when an easy roadway, and possibly an iron one, will +be built up this grand caņon, and thousands of tourists will annually +stand within its walls to gaze upon these magic pictures, absorbed in +their grandeur and romantic beauty. Nor does the main stream afford the +only objects of beauty and interest here. It is a diamond set in a +cluster of diamonds, for many of the little brooks, already mentioned as +coming down the mountain on either side, are only less attractive +because smaller. Many of them tumble from the tops of rocky walls, and +dance down among the branches of evergreen trees, sparkling like ribbons +of silver in the rays of the noonday sun. + +Theodore Roosevelt, in his excellent work, "Hunting Trips of a +Ranchman;" says: "Thirst is largely a matter of habit." So it may be, +but I am sadly addicted to the habit, and I found it one from which, on +this trip, I was able to extract a great deal of comfort, for we crossed +one or more of these little brooks every hour, and I rarely passed one +without taking a copious draught of its icy fluid. The days, were +moderately warm, and the hard labor we performed, walking and climbing, +made these frequent opportunities to quench thirst one of the most +pleasant features of the journey. I was frequently reminded of Cole's +beautiful tribute to the mountain brook: + + "Sleeping in crystal wells, + Leaping in shady dells, + Or issuing clear from the womb of the mountain, + Sky-mated, related, earth's holiest daughter; + Not the hot kiss of wine, + Is half so divine as the sip of thy lip, inspiring cold water." + +We arrived at our destination, the foot of Ski-ik-kul Lake (and the +source of the creek up which we had been traveling), at four o'clock in +the afternoon of the second day out. We made camp on the bank of the +creek, and John and I engaged in gathering a supply of wood. After we +had been thus occupied for ten or fifteen minutes, I noticed that +Seymour was nowhere in sight, and asked John where he was. + +"He try spear salmon." + +"What will he spear him with?" I said. "Sharp stick?" + +"No. He bring spear in him pocket," said John. + +We were standing on the bank of the creek again, and as he spoke there +was a crashing in the brush overhead, and an immense salmon, nearly +three feet long, landed on the ground between us. Seymour had indeed +brought a spear with him in his pocket. It was made of a fence-nail and +two pieces of goat horn, with a strong cord about four feet long +attached. There was a sort of socket in the upper end of it, and the +points of the two pieces of horn were formed into barbs. As soon as +Seymour had dropped his pack he had picked up a long, dry, cedar pole, +one end of which he had sharpened and inserted between the barbs, +fastening the string so that when he should strike a fish the spear +point would pull off. With this simple weapon in hand he had walked out +on the vast body of driftwood with which the creek is bridged for half a +mile below the lake, and peering down between the logs, had found and +killed the fish. We made a fire in the hollow of a great cedar that +stood at the water's edge. The tree was green, but the fire soon ate a +large hole into the central cavity, and, by frequent feeding with dry +wood, we had a fire that roared and crackled like a great furnace, all +night. It + + "Kindled the gummy bark of fir or pine, + And sent a comfortable heat from far, + Which might supply the sun." + +[Illustration: SUPPER FOR THREE-SAUMON RÔTI.] + +Seymour cut off the salmon's head, split the body down the back, and +took out the spine. Then he spread the fish out and put skewers through +it to hold it flat. He next cut a stick about four feet long, split it +half its length, tied a cedar withe around to keep it from splitting +further, and inserting the fish in the aperture, tied another withe +around the upper end. He now stuck the other end of the stick into the +ground in front of the fire, and our supper was under way. + +I have often been reduced to the necessity of eating grub cooked by +Indians, both squaws and men, and can place my hand on my heart and say +truthfully I never hankered after Indian cookery. In fact, I have always +eaten it with a mental reservation, and a quiet, perhaps unuttered +protest, but I counted the minutes while that fish cooked. I knew +Seymour was no more cleanly in his habits than his kin--in fact, he +would not have washed his hands before commencing, nor the fish after +removing its entrails, had I not watched him and made him do so; but +even if he had not I should not have refused to eat, for when a man has +been climbing mountains all day he can not afford to be too scrupulous +in regard to his food. When the fish was thoroughly roasted on one side +the other was turned to the fire, and finally, when done to a turn, it +was laid smoking hot on a platter of cedar boughs which I had prepared, +and the savory odors it emitted would have tempted the palate of an +epicure. I took out my hunting knife, and making a suggestive gesture +toward the smoking fish, asked John if I should cut off a piece; for not +withstanding my consuming hunger, my native modesty still remained with +me, and I thus hinted for an invitation to help myself. + +"Yes," he said. "Cut off how much you can eat." + +You can rest assured I cut off a ration that would have frightened a +tramp. Good digestion waited on appetite, and health on both. I ate with +the hunger born of the day's fatigue and the mountain atmosphere, and +the Indians followed suit, or rather led, and in half an hour only the +head and spine of that fifteen-pound salmon remained, and they were not +yet in an edible condition. Near bedtime, however, they were both +spitted before the fire, and in the silent watches of the night, as I +awoke and looked out of my downy bed, I saw those two simple-minded +children of the forest, sitting there picking the last remaining morsels +of flesh from those two pieces of what, in any civilized camp or +household, would have been considered offal. But when a Siwash quits +eating fish it is generally because there is no more fish to eat. After +such a supper, charmed by such weird, novel surroundings, lulled by the +music of the rushing waters, and warmed by a glowing camp-fire, I slept +that night with naught else to wish for, at peace with all mankind. Even +"mine enemy's dog, though he had bit me, should have stood that night +against my fire." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +Before going to bed, Seymour cautioned me through his interpreter, the +faithful John, against getting out too early in the morning. He said the +goats did not commence to move around until nine or ten o'clock, and if +we started out to hunt before that time we were liable to pass them +asleep in their beds. + +But I read the hypocrite's meaning between his words; he is a lazy +loafer and loves to lie and snooze in the morning. It was his own +comfort, more than our success in hunting, that he was concerned about. +Goats, as well as all other species of large game, are on foot at +daylight, whether they have been out all night or not, and from that +time until an hour after sunrise, and again just before dark in the +evening, are the most favorable times to hunt. The game is intent on +feeding at these times and is not so wary as at other times. I told +Seymour we would get up at four o'clock, get breakfast, and be ready to +move at daylight. And so we did. + +The night had been clear and cold; ice had formed around the margin of +the lake, and a hoar frost a quarter of an inch deep covered the ground, +the logs, and rocks that were not sheltered by trees. Ski-ik-kul or +Willey's Lake, as it is termed by the whites, is a beautiful little +mountain tarn about a quarter of a mile wide and four miles long. It is +of glassy transparency, of great depth, and abounds in mountain trout, +salmon, and salmon trout. It is walled in by abrupt, rocky-faced +mountains that rise many hundreds of feet from the water's edge, and on +which a scanty growth of laurel, currant bushes, and moss furnish food +for the goats. Stunted cedars, balsams, spruces, and pines also grow +from small fissures in the rocks that afford sufficient earth to cover +their roots. + +The craft on which we were to navigate this lake was an interesting +specimen of Indian nautical architecture. It was a raft Seymour had made +on a former visit. The stringers were two large, dry, cedar logs, one +about sixteen feet long, the other about twenty; these were held +together by four poles, or cross-ties, pinned to the logs, and a floor +composed of cedar clapboards was laid over all. Pins of hard, dry birch, +driven into the logs and tied together at the tops, formed rowlocks, and +the craft was provided with four large paddles, or oars, hewed out with +an ax. In fact, that was the only tool used in building the raft. The +pins had been sharpened to a flat point and driven firmly into sockets +made by striking the ax deeply into the log, and instead of ropes, cedar +withes were used for lashing. These had been roasted in the fire until +tough and flexible, and when thus treated they formed a good substitute +for the white sailor's marline or the cow-boy's picket rope. + +We boarded this lubberly old hulk and pulled out up the north shore of +the lake just as the morning sun gave the first golden tints to the +mountain tops. Our progress was slow despite our united strength applied +to the oars, but it gave us more time to scan the mountain sides for +game. I did not find it so plentiful as I had been promised, for I had +been told by the Indians that we should see a dozen goats in the first +hour, but we had been out more than that length of time before we saw +any. Finally, however, after we had gone a mile or more up the lake +shore, I saw a large buck goat browsing among the crags about four +hundred feet above us. He had not seen us, and dropping the oar I caught +up my rifle. The men backed water, and as the raft came to a standstill, +I sent a bullet into him. He sprang forward, lost his footing, came +bounding and crashing to the foot of the mountain, and stopped, stone +dead, in the brush at the water's edge not more than twenty feet from +the raft. We pushed ashore and took him on board, when I found, to my +disappointment, that both horns had been broken off in the fall, so that +his head was worthless for mounting. + +We cruised clear around the lake that day and could not find another +goat. In the afternoon it clouded up and set in to rain heavily again in +the caņon, while snow fell on the mountains a few hundred feet above us. +The next morning I went up a narrow caņon to the north, and ascending a +high peak hunted until nearly noon, when I found two more goats, a +female and her kid (nearly full grown), both of which I killed, and +taking the skins and one ham of the kid, I returned to camp. It +continued to rain at frequent intervals, which robbed camp life and +hunting of much of their charm, so I decided to start for home the +following morning. In the afternoon I rigged a hook and line, cut an +alder pole, and caught five fine trout, the largest seventeen and a half +inches long. Seymour speared three more salmon and roasted one of them, +so that we had another feast of fish that night. We also roasted a leg +of goat for use on our way home, and spent the evening cleaning and +drying the three skins as best we could by the camp-fire, to lighten +their weight as much as possible. + +Meanwhile, I questioned John at considerable length regarding the nature +of his language, but could get little information, as he seemed unable +to convey his ideas on the subject in our tongue. The language of the +Skowlitz tribe, to which he and Seymour belong, is a strange medley of +gutturals, aspirates, coughs, sneezes, throat scrapings, and a few +words. I said: + +"Your language don't seem to have as many words as ours." + +"No; English too much. Make awful tired learn him." + +"Where did you learn it?" + +"O, I work in pack train for Hudson Bay one year, and work on boat one +year." + +"Where did the boat run?" + +"She run nort from Victoria," he said. + +"Where to, Alaska?" + +"O, I dunno." + +"How far north?" + +"O, I dunno. Take seven day. We go to de mout of de river." + +"What river? What was the name of the town?" + +"O, I dunno know what you call 'em." + +And thus I learned, by continued questioning, that he did not know or +remember the English names of the places he had visited, but that they +were probably in Alaska. He always appealed to Seymour to reply to any +of my questions that he could not himself answer, and a question or +remark that in our tongue had taken a dozen words to express he would +repeat in a cough, a throat-clearing sound, and a grunt or two. +Seymour's answer would be returned in a half sneeze, a lisp, a +suppressed whistle, a slight groan, and an upturning of the eye. Then +John would look thoughtful while framing the answer into his pigin +English, and it would come back, for instance, something like this: + +"Seymo say he tink we ketch plenty sheep up dat big mountain, on de +top." Or, "He say he tink maybe we get plenty grouse down de creek. +To-morrow we don't need carry meat," etc. John seemed to regard Seymour +as a perfect walking cyclopedia of knowledge, and, in fact, he was well +informed on woodcraft, the habits of birds and animals, Indian lore, and +other matters pertaining to the country in which he lived, but outside +of these limits he knew much less than John. + +I was disgusted with his pretended inability to speak or understand +English, for on one of my former visits to the village I had heard him +speak it, and he did it much better than John could. Beside, Pean had +told me that Seymour had attended school at the mission on the Frazer +river, and could even read and write, but now that he had an interpreter +he considered it smart, just as a great many Indians do, to affect an +utter ignorance of our language. I asked him why he did not talk; told +him I knew he could talk, and reminded him that I had heard him speak +good English; that I knew he had been to school, etc. He simply shook +his head and grunted. Then I told him he was a boiled-down fool to act +thus, and that if he really wanted to appear smarter even than his +fellows, the best way to do it was to make use of the education he had +whenever he could make himself more useful and agreeable by so doing. I +saw by the way he changed countenance that he understood every word I +said, though he still remained obstinate. On several occasions, however, +I suddenly fired some short, sharp question at him when he was not +expecting it, and before stopping to think he would answer in good +English. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +After making a hearty breakfast on Rocky Mountain kid, salmon, and sea +biscuits, we began our return journey down the creek in a drizzling +rain. Our burdens were increased by the weight of the three goat skins, +and the walking was rendered still more precarious than before by the +logs, grass, soil, pine needles, and everything else having become so +thoroughly watersoaked. If we had had hard climbing up the steep pitches +on our outbound cruise, we had it still harder now. We could not stick +in our toe nails as well now as before, and even if we stuck in our +heels going down a hill, they would not stay stuck any better than a +second-hand postage-stamp. I remembered one hill, or caņon wall, that in +the ascent made us a great deal of hard work, and much perturbation of +spirit, because it was steep, rocky, and had very few bushes on it that +we could use as derricks by which to raise ourselves. I dreaded the +descent of this hill, now that the rocks were wet, but we made it +safely. Not so, however, the next one we attempted; it was not so rocky +as the other, and had a goodly bed of blue clay, with a shallow covering +of vegetable mold for a surface, with a little grass and a few weeds. +It was very steep, I think about what an architect would call a +three-quarter pitch, but we essayed it boldly and fearlessly. Seymour +was in the lead, his faithful partisan, John, followed, and I +constituted the tail end of the procession. We had just got well over +the brow, when the end of a dry hemlock stick caught in the mansard roof +of my left foot; the other end was fast in the ground, and, though I +tried to free myself, both ends stuck; the stick played a lone hand, but +it raised me clear out in spite of my struggles. I uttered a mournful +groan as I saw myself going, but was as helpless as a tenderfoot on a +bucking cayuse. My foot was lifted till my heel punched the small of my +back, and my other foot slid out from under me; I spread out like a step +ladder, and clawed the air for succor, but there was not a bush or +branch within reach. I think I went ten feet before I touched the earth +again, and then I landed head first among John's legs. He sat down on +the back of my neck like a trip-hammer, and we both assaulted Seymour in +the rear with such violence as to knock him clear out. For a few seconds +we were the worst mixed up community that ever lived, I reckon. Arms, +legs, guns, hats, packs, and human forms were mingled in one writhing, +squirming, surging mass, and groans, shouts, and imprecations, in +English, Chinook, and Scowlitz, rent the air. Every hand was grabbing +for something to stop its owner, but there were no friendly stoppers +within reach; if one caught a weed, or a stunted juniper, it faded away +from his herculean grasp like dry grass before a prairie fire. I seemed +to have the highest initial velocity of any member of the expedition, +and, though in the rear at the start, I was a full length ahead at the +finish. We finally all brought up in a confused mass at the foot of the +hill, and it took some time for each man to extricate himself from the +pile, and reclaim his property from the wreck. Strange as it may seem, +however, but little damage was done. There was a skinned nose, a bruised +knee or two, a sprained wrist, and everybody was painted with mud. All +were, however, able to travel, and after that, when going down steep +hills, the Siwashes kept looking back to see if I were coming. + +[Illustration: TRYING TO GET UP.] + +We performed several dangerous feats that day and the next, walking +along smooth, barkless logs, that lay across some of the deep gorges; in +places we were thirty feet or more above the ground, or rather rocks, +where a slip would have resulted in instant death. My hair frequently +stood on end, what little I have left, but John and Seymour always went +safely across and I could not afford to be outdone in courage by these +miserable, fish-eating Siwashes, so I followed wherever they led. We +read that the wicked stand on slippery places, but I can see these +wicked people, and go them about ten better, for I have stood, and even +walked, on many of these wet logs, and they are about the all-firedest +slipperyest things extant, and yet I have not fallen off. I fell only +that once, when I got my foot in the trap, and that would have downed a +wooden man. Just before going into camp that night, John shot a grouse, +but we were all too tired and hungry to cook it then, and made our meal +on cold kid, fish, and biscuits. After supper, however, John dressed +the bird and laid it aside for breakfast, saying we would each have a +piece of it then. The rain ceased falling at dark, and the stars came +out, which greatly revived our drooping spirits. We gathered large +quantities of dry wood and bark, so we were able to keep a good fire all +night. I drew from a half-rotten log, a flat, slab-like piece of pine, +which at first I failed to recognize. John saw it and said: + +[Illustration: TRYING TO GET DOWN.] + +"Good. Dat's beech." + +"Beech," I said. "Why, there's no beech in this country." + +"No, beech wood, make good fire, good kindle, good what you call him? +Good torch." + +"Oh," I said, "pitch pine, eh?" + +"Yas, beech pine." And this was as near as he could get to pitch. + +About two o'clock in the morning, it commenced to rain heavily again, +and the poor Indians were soon in a pitable condition, with their +blankets and clothing wet through. They sat up the remainder of the +night, feeding the fire to keep it alive and themselves warm, for they +had neither canvas or rubber coats, or any other kind of waterproof +clothing. They put up some of the longer pieces of the bark we had +gathered for fuel, and made a passable shelter, but it was so small, and +leaked so badly, that it was far from comfortable. I pitied the poor +fellows, but had nothing I could give or even share with them for +shelter. I got up at five o'clock, and we commenced preparations for +breakfast. I told John he had better cook the grouse, but he shook his +head, and said sadly: + +"Seymo, he spile de grouse." + +"How did he do that?" I inquired. + +"He say put him on stick by fire to cook in de night. Then he go to +sleep and stick burn off. Grouse fall in de fire and burn." + +"That's too thin," I said. "Seymour cooked that grouse and ate it while +you and I were asleep." + +Seymour glared at me, but had not the courage to resent or deny the +charge. An Indian does not let sleep interfere with his appetite; he +eats whatever there is first, and then sleeps. I divided the last of the +bacon and biscuits equally between us, and with a remnant of cold +broiled salmon, we eked out a scant breakfast on which to begin a day's +work. John was clawing some white greasy substance from a tin can with +his fingers, and spreading it on his biscuits with the same tools. He +passed the can to me, and said: + +"Have butta?" + +"No, thanks," I answered; "I seldom eat butter in camp." + +"I like him all time," he replied; "I never git widout butta for brade +at home." This by way of informing me that he knew what good living was, +and practiced it at home. It rained heavily all day, and our tramp +through the jungle was most dreary and disagreeable. + + "The day was dark, and cold, and dreary; + It rained, and the wind was never weary." + +[Illustration: _EN FAMILLE_] + +About three o'clock in the afternoon, we sat down to rest on the bank of +the creek. We had been there but a few minutes, when a good sized black +bear came shambling along up the bank of the creek, looking for salmon. +The Indians saw him when a hundred yards or more away, and flattened +themselves out on the ground to await his nearer approach. I raised my +rifle to my shoulder, but they both motioned me to wait, that he was yet +too far away. I disregarded their injunction, however, and promptly +landed an express bullet in the bear's breast. He reared, uttered a +smothered groan, turned, made one jump, and fell dead. Now arose the +question of saving his skin; it was late, and we were yet three miles +from the Indian village; to skin the bear then meant to camp there for +the night, and as the rain still came down in a steady, heavy sheet, I +at once decided that I would not stay out there another night for the +best bear skin in the country. Seymour and John held a short +consultation, and then John said they would come back and get the skin +next day, and take it in lieu of the money I owed them for their +services. We struck a bargain in about a minute, and hurried on, +arriving at the village just as it grew dark. My rubber coat and high +rubber boots had kept me comparatively dry, but the poor Indians were +wet to the skin. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +On arriving at Chehalis John kindly invited me to stop over night with +him, but I declined with thanks. I went into his house, however, to wait +while he got ready to take me down to Barker's. It was the same type of +home that nearly all these Indians have--a large clapboard building +about eight feet high, with smoked salmon hung everywhere and a fire in +the centre of the room, which, by the way, was more of a smoke than +fire, curing the winter provender. A pile of wood lay in one corner of +the room, some empty barrels in another, fish-nets were hung in still +another, and the family lived, principally, in the fourth. John lives +with his father-in-law, mother-in-law, two brothers-in-law, one +sister-in-law, his wife and three papooses. Blankets, pots, tinware and +grub of various kinds were piled up promiscuously in this living corner, +and the little undressed kids hovered and shivered around the dull fire, +suffering from the cold. We were soon in the canoe again, _en route_ to +the steamboat landing, where we arrived soon after dark. I regretted to +part with John, for I had found him a good, faithful servant and staunch +friend. I was glad to get rid of Seymour, however, for I had learned +that he was a contemptible sneak, and told him so in as many words. + +_En route_ home I had about two hours to wait at Port Moody for the +boat. There were great numbers of grebes and ducks in the bay, and I +asked the dock foreman if there was any rule against shooting there. He +said he guessed not; he had never seen anyone shooting there, but he +guessed there wouldn't be any objection. I got out my rifle and two +boxes of cartridges and opened on the birds. The ducks left at once, but +the grebes sought safety in diving, and as soon as the fusillade began a +number of gulls came hovering around, apparently to learn the cause of +the racket. I had fine sport between the two, and a large audience to +enjoy it with me. In ten minutes from the time I commenced shooting all +the clerks in the dock office, all the freight hustlers in the +warehouse, all the railroad section men, the ticket-agent and +baggage-master, numbering at least twenty men in the aggregate, were +clustered around me, and their comments on my rifle and shooting were +extremely amusing. Not a man in the party had ever before seen a +Winchester express, and the racket it made, the way in which the balls +plowed up the water, and the way the birds, when hit, vanished into thin +air and a few feathers, were mysteries far beyond their power to solve. +At the first lull in the firing half a dozen of them rushed up and +wanted to examine the rifle, the fancy finish and combination sights of +which were as profoundly strange to them as to the benighted Indians. +They soon handed it back to me, however, with the request to resume +hostilities against the birds; they preferred to see the old thing work +rather than to handle it. The gulls were soaring in close, and six +shots, rapidly delivered, dropped three of them into the water, +mutilated beyond recognition. This was the climax; the idea of killing +birds on the wing, with a rifle, was something these men had never +before heard of, and two or three examined my cartridges to see if they +were not loaded with shot, instead of bullets. When they found this +suspicion was groundless they were beside themselves with wonder and +admiration of the strange arm. As a matter of fact, it required no +particular skill to kill the gulls on the wing, for they were the large +gray variety, and frequently came within twenty or thirty feet of me, so +that anyone who could kill them with a shotgun could do so with a rifle. + +Finally the steamer came in and I went aboard. The train arrived soon +after and several of its passengers boarded the boat. The gulls were now +hovering about the steamer, picking up whatever particles of food were +thrown overboard from the cook-room. One old Irishman, who had come in +on the train from the interior wilds, walked out on the quarter deck and +looking at them intently for a few minutes, turned to me and inquired: + +"Phwat kind of burds is thim--geese?" + +"Yes," I said, "thim's geese, I reckon." + +"Well, be gorry, if I had a gun here I'd shoot some o'thim"; and he went +and told his companions "there was a flock of the tamest wild geese out +thare ye iver sawed." + +[Illustration: A SNAP SHOT WITH A DETECTIVE CAMERA.] + +The return journey to Portland was without incident. There I boarded the +steamer and spent another delightful day on the broad bosom of the +Columbia river, winding up among the grand basaltic cliffs and +towering mountain peaks of the Cascade Range. Again the little camera +came into requisition, and though the day was cloudy and blusterous, +though snow fell at frequent intervals, and though the steamer trembled +like a reed shaken by the wind, I made a dozen or more exposures on the +most interesting and beautiful subjects as we passed them, and to my +surprise many came out good pictures. Most of them lack detail in the +deeper shadows, but the results altogether show that had the day been +clear and bright all would have been perfect. In short, it is possible +with this dry-plate process to make good pictures from a moving +steamboat, or even from a railway train going at a high rate of speed. I +made three pictures from a Northern Pacific train, coming through the +Bad Lands, when running twenty-five miles an hour, and though slightly +blurred in the near foreground, the buttes and bluffs, a hundred yards +and further away, are as sharp as if I had been standing on the ground +and the camera on a tripod; and a snap shot at a prairie-dog town--just +as the train slowed on a heavy grade--shows several of the little +rodents in various poses, some of them apparently trying to look pretty +while having their "pictures took." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +I stopped off at Spokane Falls, on my way home, for a few days' deer +hunting, and though that region be not exactly in the Cascades, it is so +near that a few points in relation to the sport there may be admissible +in connection with the foregoing narrative. I had advised my good +friend, Dr. C. S. Penfield, of my coming, and he had kindly planned for +me a hunting trip. On the morning after my arrival his brother-in-law, +Mr. T. E. Jefferson, took me up behind a pair of good roadsters and +drove to Johnston's ranch, eighteen miles from the falls, and near the +foot of Mount Carleton, where we hoped to find plenty of deer. We hunted +there two days, and though we found signs reasonably plentiful and saw +three or four deer we were unable to kill any. Mr. Jefferson burned some +powder after a buck and a doe the first morning after our arrival, but +it was his first experience in deer hunting, so it is not at all strange +that the game should have escaped. Mr. Jefferson was compelled to return +home at that time on account of a business engagement, but Mr. Johnston, +with characteristic Western hospitality and kindness, said I must not +leave without a shot, and so hooked up his team and drove me twenty-five +miles farther into the mountains, to a place where he said we would +surely find plenty of game. On the way in we picked up old Billy +Cowgill, a famous deer hunter in this region, and took him along as +guide. We stopped at Brooks' stage ranch, on the Colville road to rest +the team, and the proprietor gave us an amusing account of some +experiments he had been making in shooting buckshot from a +muzzle-loading shotgun. He had made some little bags of buckskin, just +large enough to hold twelve No. 2 buckshot, and after filling them had +sewed up the ends. He shot a few of them at a tree sixty yards away, but +they failed to spread and all went into one hole. Then he tried leaving +the front end of the bag open, and still they acted as a solid ball; so +he had to abandon the scheme, and loaded the charge loose, as of old. He +concluded, however, not to fire this last load at the target, and hung +the gun up in its usual place. A few days later he heard the dog barking +in the woods a short distance from the house, and supposed it had treed +a porcupine. Mr. Brooks' brother, who was visiting at the time, took the +gun and went out to kill the game, whatever it might be. On reaching the +place, he found a ruffed grouse sitting in a tree, at which he fired. +The ranchman said he heard the report, and his brother soon came back, +carrying a badly-mutilated bird; he threw it into the kitchen, and put +the gun away; then he sat down, looked thoughtful, and kept silent for a +long time. Finally he blurted out: + +[Illustration: THE STAGE RANCH.] + +"Say, Tom; that gun got away from me." + +"How was that?" queried the ranchman. + +"I don't know; but I shot pretty near straight up at the grouse, and +somehow the gun slipped off my shoulder and done this." And opening his +coat he showed his vest, one side of which was split from top to bottom; +he then took out a handful of his watch and held it up--one case was +torn off, the crystal smashed, the dial caved in, and the running gear +all mixed up. The ranchman said he guessed he had put one of the +buckskin bags of shot into that barrel, and forgetting that fact, had +added the loose charge. He said he reckoned twenty-four No. 2 buckshot +made too heavy a load for an eight-pound gun. + +We reached "Peavine Jimmy's" mining cabin, which was to be our camp, at +three o'clock in the afternoon, and busied ourselves till dark in the +usual duties of cooking, eating, and gathering wood. Old Billy proved a +very interesting character; he is a simple, quiet, honest, unpretentious +old man, and unlike most backwoodsmen, a veritable coward. He has the +rare good sense, however, to admit it frankly, and thus disarms +criticism. In fact, his frequent admission of this weakness is amusing. +He says that for fear of getting lost he does not like to go off a trail +when hunting, unless there is snow on the ground, so that he can track +himself back into camp. He rides an old buckskin pony that is as modest +and gentle as its master. Billy says he often gets lost when he does +venture away from the trail, but in such cases he just gives old Buck +the rein, hits him a slap, and tells him to go to camp and he soon gets +there. He told us a bear story that night, worthy of repetition. +Something was said that reminded him of it, and he mentioned it, but +added, modestly, that he didn't know as we cared for any bear stories. +But we said we were very fond of them, and urged the recital. + +"Well, then," he said, "if you will wait a minute, I'll take a drink of +water first and then I'll tell it to you," and he laughed a kind of +boyish titter, and began: + +"Well, me and three other fellers was up north in the Colville country, +huntin', and all the other fellows was crazy to kill a bear. I didn't +want to kill no bear, and didn't expect to. I'm as 'feard as death of a +bear, and hain't no use for 'em. All I wanted to kill was a deer. The +other fellers, they wanted to kill some deer, too, but they wanted bear +the worst. So one mornin' we all started out, and the other fellers they +took the best huntin' ground, and said I'd better go down along the +creek and see if I couldn't kill some grouse, for they didn't believe I +could kill any thing bigger'n that; and I said, all right, and started +off down the creek. Purty soon I come to an old mill that wasn't runnin' +then. And when I got purty near to the mill I set down on a log, for I +didn't think it was worth while to go any furder, for I didn't think I +would find any game down the creek, and I didn't care much whether I did +or not. Well, I heard a kind of a racket in the mill, and durned if +there wasn't a big black bear right in the mill. And I watched him a +little bit, and he started out towards me. And I said to myself, says I, +'Now Billy, here's your chance to kill a bear.' + +"I hadn't never killed no bear before, nor never seed one before, and +durned if I wasn't skeered nearly to death. But I thought there wasn't +no use of runnin', for I knowed he could run faster'n I could, so I took +out my knife and commenced cuttin' down the brush in front of me, for I +wanted to make a shure shot if I did shoot, if I could. And the bear, +he come out of the mill and rared up, and put his paws on a log and +looked at me, and I said to myself, says I, 'Now Billy, this is your +time to shoot'; but I wasn't ready to shoot yit. They was one more bush +I wanted to cut out of the way before I shot, so I cut if off and laid +down my knife, and then I took up my gun and tried to take aim at his +breast, but doggoned if I didn't shake so I couldn't see the sights at +all. And I thought one time I wouldn't shoot, and then I knowed the +other fellers would laugh at me if I told 'em I seed a bear and didn't +shoot at him, and besides I was afraid some of 'em was up on the +hillside lookin' at me then. So I just said to myself, says I, 'Now +Billy, you're goin' to get eat up if you don't kill him, but you might +as well be eat up as to be laughed at.' So I jist took the best aim I +could for shakin', an' shet both eyes an' pulled. + +"Well, I think the bear must a begin to git down jist as I pulled, for I +tore his lower jaw off and shot a big hole through one side of his neck. +He howled and roared and rolled around there awhile and then he got +still. I got round where I could see him, after he quit kickin', but I +was afeared to go up to him, so I shot two more bullets through his head +to make sure of him. And then I set down and waited a long while to see +if he moved any more; for I was afeard he mightn't be dead yit, and +might be playin' possum, jist to get ahold of me. But he didn't move no +more, so I went up to him with my gun cocked and pointed at his head, so +if he did move I could give him another one right quick. An' then I +punched him a little with my gun, but he didn't stir. An' when I found +he was real dead I took my knife and cut off one of his claws, an' then +I went back to camp, the biggest feelin' old cuss you ever seed. + +"Well, arter while the other fellers they all come in, lookin' mighty +blue, for they hadn't any of 'em killed a thing, an' when I told 'em I'd +killed a bear, they wouldn't believe it till I showed 'em the claw. An' +then they wouldn't believe it, neither, for they thought I'd bought the +claw of some Injin. And they wouldn't believe it at all till they went +out with me and seed the bear and helped skin 'im, and cut 'im up, and +pack 'im into camp. An' they was the dog-gondest, disappointedest lot of +fellers you ever seed, for we hunted five days longer, an' nary one of +'em got to kill a bear nor even see one. They thought I was the poorest +hunter and the biggest coward in the lot, but I was the only one that +killed a bear that clip." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +We were out at daylight the next morning and hunted all day with fair +success. Johnston and Billy jumped a bunch of five mule-deer, a buck, +two does, and two fawns. Johnston fired fourteen shots at them before +they got out of the country, and killed the two does. In speaking of it +afterward Billy said he was just taking a good aim at the old buck's eye +when Johnston's gun cracked the first time, and of course the buck ran, +so he did not get a shot. + +"But why didn't you shoot at him running?" I inquired. + +"Because I can't hit a jumpin' deer," he replied, frankly, "and I hate +like thunder to miss." + +I spent the day about a mile from camp on top of Blue Grouse Mountain, a +prominent landmark of the country. A heavy fog hung about the mountain +and over the surrounding country until about three o'clock in the +afternoon, when it lifted and disclosed a view of surpassing loveliness. +Away to the west and southwest there was a level tract of swampy, +heavily timbered country about thirty miles long and ten miles wide. I +looked down on the tops of the trees composing this vast forest, and +they appeared at this distance not unlike a vast field of half-grown +green grain. Beyond this tract to the west a chain of hills wound in +serpentine curves from north to south, their parks and bits of prairie +gleaming in the sun like well-made farms. To the north lay Loon Lake +nestling among the pine-clad hills, its placid bosom sparkling in the +setting sun like a sheet of silver. Farther to the north and northeast +were two other lakes of equal size and beauty, while far distant in the +east were several large bodies of prairie separated by strips of pine +and fir. I longed for my camera, but on account of the unfavorable +outlook of the morning, I had not brought the instrument. + +[Illustration: ONE OF JOHNSTON'S PRIZES.] + +The following morning promised no better, for the fog hung like a pall +over the whole country; but I took the little detective with me, hoping +the mist would lift as before; in this, however, I was disappointed. I +staid on the mountain from early morning till half-past three, and there +being then no prospect of a change went down. Just as I reached the base +I saw a rift in the clouds, and supposing the long-wished change in the +weather was about to take place, I turned and began the weary climb, but +again the fog settled down, and I was at last compelled to return to +camp without the coveted views. I made several exposures during the day +on crooked, deformed, wind-twisted trees on the top of the mountain, +which, strange to say, came out good. The fog was so dense at the time +that one could not see fifty yards. I used a small stop and gave each +plate from five to twenty seconds, and found, when developed, that none +of them were over exposed, while those given the shorter time were under +exposed. That day's hunting resulted in three more deer, and as we then +had all the meat our team could take out up the steep hills near camp, +we decided to start for home the next morning. While seated around our +blazing log fire in the old cabin that night, Mr. Johnston entertained +us with some interesting reminiscences of his extensive experience in +the West. He has been a "broncho buster," a stock ranchman, and a +cow-boy by turns, and a recital of his varied experiences in these +several lines would fill a big book. Among others, he told us that he +once lived in a portion of California where the ranchmen raised a great +many hogs, but allowed them to range at will in the hills and mountains +from the time they were littered until old enough and large enough for +market; that in this time they became as wild as deer and as savage as +peccaries, so that the only way they could ever be reclaimed and +marketed was to catch them with large, powerful dogs, trained to the +work. Their feet were then securely tied with strong thongs, and they +were muzzled and packed into market or to the ranches, as their owners +desired, on horses or mules. + +[Illustration: ARE YOU LOOKING FOR US?] + +Johnston had a pair of these dogs, and used to assist his neighbors in +rounding up their wild hogs. In one case, he and several other men went +with an old German ranchman away up into the mountains to bring out a +drove of these pine-skinners, many of whom had scarcely seen a human +being since they were pigs, and at sight of the party the hogs stampeded +of course, and ran like so many deer. The dogs were turned loose, took +up a trail, and soon had a vicious critter by the ears, when the packers +came up, muzzled and tied it securely. The dogs were then turned loose +again, and another hog was rounded up in the same way. These two were +hung onto a pack-animal with their backs down, their feet lashed +together over the pack-saddle, and their long, sharp snouts pointing +toward the horse's head. They were duly cinched, and the horse turned +loose to join the train. This operation was repeated until the whole +herd was corralled and swung into place on the horses, and the +squealing, groaning, and snorting of the terrified brutes was almost +deafening. One pair of hogs were loaded on a little mule which had +never been accustomed to this work, and, as the men were all engaged in +handling the other animals, the old ranchman said he would lead this +mule down the mountain himself. Johnston and his partner cinched the +hogs on in good shape, while the Dutchman hung to the mule. + +[Illustration: A BUCKING MULE.] + +As they were giving the ropes the final pull, Johnston gave his chum a +wink, and they both slipped out their knives, cut the muzzles off the +porkers when the old man was looking the other way, and told him to go +ahead. He started down the trail towing the little mule, which did not +relish its load in the least, by the halter. The hogs were struggling to +free themselves, and, as the thongs began to cut into their legs, they +got mad and began to bite the mule. + +Then there was trouble; stiff-legged bucking set in, and mule and hogs +were churned up and down, and changed ends so rapidly that for a few +minutes it was hard to tell which of the three animals was on the +outside, the inside, the topside, or the bottom-side. The poor little +mule was frantic with rage and fright, and what a mule can not and will +not do under such circumstances, to get rid of a load can not be done by +any four-footed beast. He pawed the air, kicked, and brayed, jumped +backward, forward, and sidewise, and twisted himself into every +imaginable shape. The old Dutchman was as badly stampeded as the mule; +he shouted, yanked, and swore in Dutch, English, and Spanish; he yelled +to the men above to come and help him, but they were so convulsed and +doubled up with laughter that they could not have helped him if they +would. + +Finally, the mule got away from the old man and went tearing down into +the caņon; he overtook and passed the balance of the pack-train, +stampeded them almost beyond control of the packers, and knocked the +poor hogs against trees and brush until they were almost dead. He ran +nearly six miles, and being unable to get rid of his pack, fell +exhausted and lay there until the men came up and took charge of him. +The old man accused Johnston of cutting the muzzles off the hogs, but he +and his partner both denied it, said they certainly must have slipped +off, and they finally convinced him that that was the way the trouble +came about. + +[Illustration: THE BUCKER AND THE BUSTER.] + +This, with sundry other recitals of an equally interesting nature, +caused the evening to pass pleasantly, and at a late hour we turned into +our bunks. We were up and moving long before daylight the next morning, +and as soon as we could see the trail hooked up the team and attempted +to go, but, alas for our hopes of an early start, one of the horses +refused to pull at the very outset--in short, he balked and no mule ever +balked worse. Johnston plied the buckskin until the horse refused to +stand it any longer and began to rear and to throw himself on the +tongue, back in the harness, etc. Johnston got off the wagon, went to +the animal's head and tried to lead it, but the brute would not be led +any more than it would be driven, and commenced rearing and striking at +its master as if trying to kill him. This aroused the ire of the +ranchman and he picked up a piece of a board, about four inches wide and +three feet long, and fanned the vicious critter right vigorously. I took +a hand in the game, at Johnston's request, and warmed the cayuse's +latter half to the best of my ability with a green hemlock gad. He +bucked and backed, reared and ranted, pawed, pitched, plunged and +pranced, charged, cavorted and kicked, until it seemed that he would +surely make shreds of the harness and kindling wood of the wagon; but +the whole outfit staid with him, including Johnston and myself. + +We wore out his powers of endurance if not his hide, and he finally got +down to business, took the load up the hill and home to the ranch, +without manifesting any further inclination to strike. We reached the +ranch about nine o'clock at night, and the next day Johnston drove me +into Spokane Falls, where, in due time, I caught the train for home. + +[Illustration: VIEW IN THE SPOKANE VALLEY.] + +Spokane Falls is a growing, pushing town, and the falls of the Spokane +river, from which the town takes its name, afford one of the most +beautiful and interesting sights on the line of the Northern Pacific +road. There are over a dozen distinct falls within a half a mile, one of +which is over sixty feet in perpendicular height. Several of these falls +are split into various channels by small islands or pillars of basaltic +rock. At one place, where two of these channels unite in a common plunge +into a small pool, the water is thrown up in a beautiful, shell-like +cone of white foam, to a height of nearly six feet. It is estimated by +competent engineers that the river at this point furnishes a water-power +equal in the aggregate to that of the Mississippi at St. Anthony's +Falls. Every passenger over this route should certainly stop off and +spend a few hours viewing the falls of the Spokane river. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +HUNTING THE GRIZZLY BEAR. + + +The bear, like man, inhabits almost every latitude and every land, and +has even been translated to the starry heavens, where the constellations +of the Great Dipper and the Little Dipper are known to us as well as to +the ancients as _Ursi Major_ and _Minor_. But North America furnishes +the largest and most aggressive species in the grizzly (_Ursus +horribilis_), the black (_Ursus americanus_), and the polar (_Ursus +maritimus_) bears, and here the hunter finds his most daring sport. Of +all the known plantigrades (flat-footed beasts) the grizzly is the most +savage and the most dreaded, and he is the largest of all, saving the +presence of his cousin the polar bear, for which, nevertheless, he is +more than a match in strength and courage. Some specimens measure seven +feet from tip of nose to root of tail. The distinctive marks of the +species are its great size; the shortness of the tail as compared with +the ears; the huge flat paws, the sole of the hind foot sometimes +measuring seven and a half by five inches in a large male; the length of +the hind legs as compared with the fore legs, which gives the beast his +awkward, shambling gait; the long claws of the fore foot, sometimes +seven inches in length, while those of the hind foot measure only three +or four; the erect, bristling mane of stiff hair, often six inches long; +the coarse hair of the body, sometimes three inches long, dark at the +base, but with light tips. He has a dark stripe along the back, and one +along each side, the hair on his body being, as a rule, a +brownish-yellow, the region around the ears dusky, the legs nearly +black, and the muzzle pale. Color, however, is not a distinctive mark, +for female grizzlies have been killed in company with two cubs, one of +which was brown, the other gray, or one dark, the other light; and the +supposed species of "cinnamon" and "brown" bears are merely color +variations of _Ursus horribilis_ himself. + +This ubiquitous gentleman has a wide range for his habitat. He has been +found on the Missouri river from Fort Pierre northward, and thence west +to his favorite haunts in the Rockies; on the Pacific slope clear down +to the coast; as far south as Mexico, and as far north as the Great +Slave Lake in British America. He not only ranges everywhere, but eats +everything. His majesty is a good liver. He is not properly a beast of +prey, for he has neither the cat-like instincts, nor the noiseless tread +of the _felidæ_, nor is he fleet and long-winded like the wolf, although +good at a short run, as an unlucky hunter may find. But he hangs about +the flanks of a herd of buffalo, with probably an eye to a wounded or +disabled animal, and he frequently raids a ranch and carries off a +sheep, hog, or calf that is penned beyond the possibility of escape. + +Elk is his favorite meat, and the knowing hunter who has the good luck +to kill an elk makes sure that its carcass will draw Mr. Grizzly if he +is within a range of five miles. He will eat not only flesh, fish, and +fowl, but roots, herbs, fruit, vegetables, honey, and insects as well. +Plums, buffalo-berries, and choke-cherries make a large part of his diet +in their seasons. + +[Illustration: DEATH AND THE CAUSE OF IT.] + +The grizzly bear possesses greater vitality and tenacity of life than +any other animal on the continent, and the hunter who would hunt him +must be well armed and keep a steady nerve. Each shot must be cooly put +where it will do the most good. Several are frequently necessary to +stop one of these savage beasts. A single bullet lodged in the brain is +fatal. If shot through the heart he may run a quarter of a mile or kill +a man before he succumbs. In the days of the old muzzle-loading rifle it +was hazardous indeed to hunt the grizzly, and many a man has paid the +penalty of his folly with his life. With our improved breech-loading and +repeating rifles there is less risk. + +The grizzly is said to bury carcasses of large animals for future use as +food, but this I doubt. I have frequently returned to carcasses of elk +or deer that I had killed and found that during my absence bears had +partially destroyed them, and in their excitement, occasioned by the +smell or taste of fresh meat, had pawed up the earth a good deal +thereabout, throwing dirt and leaves in various directions, and some of +this débris may have fallen on the bodies of the dead game; but I have +never seen where any systematic attempt had been made at burying a +carcass. Still, Bruin may have played the sexton in some cases. He +hibernates during winter, but does not take to his long sleep until the +winter has thoroughly set in and the snow is quite deep. He may +frequently be tracked and found in snow a foot deep, where he is roaming +in search of food. He becomes very fat before going into winter +quarters, and this vast accumulation of oil furnishes nutriment and heat +sufficient to sustain life during his long confinement. + +The newspapers often kill grizzlies weighing 1,500, 1,800, or even 2,000 +pounds, and in any party of frontiersmen "talking grizzly" you will find +plenty of men who can give date and place where they killed or helped +to kill at least 1,800 pounds of Bruin. + +"Did you weigh it?" + +"No, we didn't weigh 'im; but every man as seed 'im said he would weigh +that, and they was all good jedges, too." + +And this is the way most of the stories of big bear, big elk, big deer, +etc., begin and end. Bears are usually, though not always, killed at +considerable distances from towns, or even ranches, where it is not easy +to find a scales large enough to weigh so much meat. + +The largest grizzly I have ever killed would not weigh more than 700 or +800 pounds, and I do not believe one has ever lived that would weigh +1,000 pounds. The flesh of the adult grizzly is tough, stringy, and +decidedly unpalatable, but that of a young fat one is tender and juicy, +and is always a welcome dish on the hunter's table. + +The female usually gives birth to two cubs, and sometimes three, at a +time. At birth they weigh only about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds each. The +grizzly breeds readily in confinement, and several litters have been +produced in the Zoological Gardens at Cincinnati. The female is +unusually vicious while rearing her young, and the hunter must be doubly +cautious about attacking at that time. An Indian rarely attacks a +grizzly single-handed at any time, and it is only when several of these +native hunters are together that they will attempt to kill one. They +value the claws very highly, however, and take great pride in wearing +strings of them around their necks. + +The grizzly usually frequents the timbered or brush-covered portions of +mountainous regions, or the timbered valleys of streams that head in the +mountains. He occasionally follows down the course of these streams, and +even travels many miles from one stream to another, or from one range of +mountains to another, across open prairie. I once found one on a broad +open plateau in the Big Horn Mountains, about half a mile from the +nearest cover of any kind. He was turning over rocks in search of worms. +At the report of my rifle he started for the nearest caņon, but never +reached it. An explosive bullet through his lungs rendered him unequal +to the journey. + +Few persons believe that a grizzly will attack a man before he is +himself attacked. I was one of these doubting Thomases until a few years +ago, when I was thoroughly convinced by ocular demonstration that some +grizzlies, at least, will attempt to make a meal off a man even though +he may not have harmed them previously. We were hunting in the Shoshone +Mountains in Northern Wyoming. I had killed a large elk in the morning, +and on going back to the carcass in the afternoon to skin it we saw that +Bruin had been there ahead us, but had fled on our approach. Without the +least apprehension of his return, we leaned our rifles against a tree +about fifty feet away, and commenced work. There were three of us, but +only two rifles, Mr. Huffman, the photographer, having left his in camp. +He had finished taking views of the carcass, and we were all busily +engaged skinning, when, hearing a crashing in the brush and a series of +savage roars and growls, we looked up the hill, and were horrified to +see three grizzly bears, an old female and two cubs about two-thirds +grown, charging upon us with all the savage fury of a pack of starving +wolves upon a sheepfold. + +To make a long story short, we killed the old female and one cub; the +other escaped into the jungle before we could get a shot at him. The +resolute front we put on alone saved our lives. + +In another instance, when hunting deer in Idaho, I came suddenly upon a +female grizzly and two cubs, when the mother bear charged me savagely +and would have killed me had I not fortunately controlled my nerves long +enough to put a couple of bullets through her and stop her before she +got to me. + +I have heard of several other instances of grizzlies making unprovoked +attacks on men, which were so well substantiated that I could not +question the truth of the reports. + +The grizzly is partially nocturnal in his habits, and apparently divides +his labor of obtaining food and his traveling about equally between day +and night. It is not definitely known to what age he lives in his wild +state, but he is supposed to attain to twenty-five or thirty years. +Several have lived in domestication to nearly that age, and one died in +Union Park, Chicago, a few years ago, that was known to be eighteen +years old. + +Notwithstanding the great courage and ferocity of this formidable beast, +he will utter the most pitiable groans and howls when seriously or +mortally wounded. + +Two brothers were prospecting in a range of mountains near the +headwaters of the Stinking Water river. The younger of the two, though +an ablebodied man, and capable of doing a good day's work with a pick or +shovel, was weak-minded, and the elder brother never allowed him to go +any distance away from camp or their work alone. He, however, sent him +one evening to the spring, a few rods off, to bring a kettleful of +water. The spring was in a deep gorge, and the trail to it wound through +some fissures in the rock. As the young man passed under a shelving +rock, an immense old female grizzly, that had taken up temporary +quarters there, reached out and struck a powerful blow at his head, but +fortunately could not reach far enough to do him any serious harm. The +blow knocked his hat off, and her claws caught his scalp, and laid it +open clear across the top of his head in several ugly gashes. The force +of the blow sent him spinning around, and not knowing enough to be +frightened, he attacked her savagely with the only weapon he had at +hand--the camp kettle. + +The elder brother heard the racket, and hastily catching up his rifle +and hurrying to the scene of the disturbance, found his brother +vigorously belaboring the bear over the head with the camp kettle, and +the bear striking savage blows at him, any one of which, if she could +have reached him, would have torn his head from his shoulders. Three +bullets from the rifle, fired in rapid succession, loosened her hold +upon the rocks, and she tumbled lifelessly into the trail. The poor +idiotic boy could not even then realize the danger through which he had +passed, and could only appease his anger by continuing to maul the bear +over the head with the camp kettle for several minutes after she was +dead. + +Some years ago I went into the mountains with a party of friends to hunt +elk. Our guide told us we should find plenty of grouse along the trail, +from the day we left the settlements; that on the third day out we +should find elk, and that it would therefore be useless to burden our +pack-horses with meat. We accordingly took none save a small piece of +bacon. + +Contrary to his predictions, however, we found no grouse or other small +game _en route_, and soon ate up our bacon. Furthermore, we were five +days in reaching the elk country, instead of three as he said. All this +time we were climbing mountains and had appetites that are known only to +mountain climbers. We had plenty of bread and potatoes, but these were +not sufficient. We hankered for flesh, and though we filled ourselves +with vegetable food, yet were we hungry. + +Finally we reached our destination at midday. While we were unloading +the horses, a "fool hen" came and lit in a tree near us. A rifle ball +beheaded her, and almost before she was done kicking she was in the +frying pan. + +A negro once had a bottle of whisky, and was making vigorous efforts to +get outside of it, when a chum came up and asked for a pull at it. "O, +g'long, nigger," said the happy owner of the corn juice. "What's one +bottle of whisky 'mong one man?" And what was one little grouse among +five half-starved men? The smell and taste only made us long for more. + +After dinner we all went out and hunted until dark. Soon after leaving +camp some of us heard lively firing up the caņon, where our guide had +gone, and felt certain that he had secured meat, for we had heard +glowing accounts, from him and his friends, of his prowess as a hunter. +The rest of us were not so despondent, therefore, when we returned at +dusk empty handed, as we should otherwise have been, until we reached +camp and found the guide there wearing a long face and bloodless hands. + +He told a doleful story of having had five fair shots at a large bull +elk, who stood broadside on, only seventy-five yards away, but who +finally became alarmed at the fusilade and fled, leaving no blood on his +trail. The guide of course anathematized his gun in the choicest terms +known to frontiersmen, and our mouths watered as we thought of what +might have been. + +Our potatoes, having been compelled to stand for meat also, had vanished +rapidly, and we ate the last of them for supper that night. Few words +were spoken and no jokes cracked over that meal. We ate bread straight +for breakfast, and turning out early hunted diligently all day. We were +nearly famished when we returned at night and no one had seen any living +thing larger than a pine squirrel. It is written that "man shall not +live by bread alone," and we found that we could not much longer. And +soon we should not have even that, for our flour was getting low. But we +broke the steaming flat-cake again at supper, and turned in to dream of +juicy steaks, succulent joints, and delicious rib roasts. + +We were up before daylight to find that six or eight inches of light +snow had fallen silently during the night, which lay piled up on the +branches of the trees, draping the dense forests in ghostly white. Our +drooping spirits revived, for we hoped that the tell-tale mantle would +enable us to find the game we so much needed in our business. We broke +our bread more cheerfully that morning than for two days previously, but +at the council of war held over the frugal meal, decided that unless we +scored that day we must make tracks for the nearest ranch the next +morning, and try to make our scanty remnant of flour keep us alive until +we could get there. + +Breakfast over we scattered ourselves by the four points of the compass +and set out. It fell to my lot to go up the caņon. Silently I strode +through the forest, scanning the snow in search of foot-prints, but for +an hour I could see none. Then, as I cautiously ascended a ridge, I +heard a crash in the brush beyond and reached the summit just in time to +see the latter end of a large bull elk disappear in the thicket. + +He had not heard or seen me, but had winded me, and tarried not for +better acquaintance. I followed his trail some three miles up the caņon, +carefully penetrating the thickets and peering among the larger trees, +but never a glimpse could I get and never a sound could I hear of him. +He seemed unusually wild. I could see by his trail that he had not +stopped, but had kept straight away on that long, swinging trot that is +such a telling gait of the species, and which they will sometimes keep +up for hours together. Finally I came to where he had left the caņon +and ascended the mountain. I followed up this for a time, but seeing +that he had not yet paused, and finding that my famished condition +rendered me unequal to the climb, was compelled to abandon the pursuit +and with a heavy heart return again to the caņon. I kept on up it, but +could find no other game or sign of any. Like the red hunter, in the +time of famine, who + + "Vainly walked through the forest, + Sought for bird, or beast, and found none; + Saw no track of deer or rabbit, + In the snow beheld no foot-prints, + In the ghostly gleaming forest + Fell and could not rise from weakness," + +so I trudged on until, wearied and worn out, I lay down beside a giant +fir tree, whose spreading branches had kept the snow from the ground, +and fell asleep. When I awoke my joints were stiff and sore, and I was +chilled to the bone. It was late in the afternoon, and a quiet, +drizzling rain had set in. + +I found the trail that led through the caņon, and started back to camp, +trudging along as rapidly as possible, for hunger was gnawing at my +vitals and my strength was fast failing. + + "Over snow-fields waste and pathless, + Under snow-encumbered branches, + Empty-handed, heavy-hearted," + +I toiled wearily on. The snow had become saturated with the rain, and +great chunks of it were falling from the trees with dull, monotonous +sounds. "Slush, slush," "Splash, splash," came the gloomy sounds from +all parts of the woods. I was nearing camp, and had abandoned all hope +of seeing game. My only object was to reach shelter, to rest, and feast +on the unsatisfying bread. I heard a succession of the splashings that +came from my left with such regular cadence as to cause me to look up, +when, great St. Hubert! there came a huge grizzly bear shambling and +splashing along through the wet snow. It was his footsteps that I had +been hearing for a minute or two past, and which I had, at first, +thought to be the falling snow. + +He had not yet seen me, and what a marvelous change came over me! I +forgot that I was tired; that I was weak; that I was hungry. The +instincts of the hunter reanimated me, and I thought only of killing the +grand game before me. I threw down my rifle, raising the hammer as the +weapon came into position, and the click of the lock reached his ear. It +was the first intimation he had of possible danger, and he stopped and +threw up his head to look and listen. My thoughts came and went like +flashes of lightning. I remembered then the famishing condition of +myself and friends. Here was meat, and I must save it. There must be no +nervousness--no wild shooting now. This shot _must_ tell. And there was +not a tremor in all my system. Every nerve was as of steel for the +instant. The little gold bead on the muzzle of the rifle instantly found +the vital spot behind the bear's shoulder, gleamed through the rear +sight like a spark of fire, and before he had time to realize what the +strange apparition was that had so suddenly confronted him, the voice of +the Winchester was echoing through the caņon and an express bullet had +crashed through his vitals. + +The shock was so sudden and the effect on him so deadly that he +apparently thought nothing of fight, but only of seeking a place to die +in peace. + +He wheeled and shot into a neighboring thicket with the speed of an +arrow. I fired at him again as he disappeared. He crashed through the +jungle out into the open woods, turned to the right and went across a +ridge as if Satan himself were after him. As the big gray mass shot +through a clear space between two trees I gave him another speeder, and +then he disappeared beyond a ridge. + +The snow had melted rapidly and the ground was bare in places, so that I +had some trouble in trailing the bear, but wherever he crossed a patch +of snow his trail was bespattered with blood. I followed over the ridge +and through scattering jack pines, about two hundred yards, and found +him lying dead near the trail. My first and third bullets had gone in +behind his shoulder only an inch apart. The first had passed clear +through him, and the other had lodged against the skin on the opposite +side. Several ribs were broken on either side, and his lungs and other +portions of his interior were ground into sausage; yet so great was his +vitality and tenacity to life that he was able to make this distance at +a speed that would have taxed the best horse in the country, and if he +had seen fit to attack me instead of running away he would probably have +made sausage of me. + +But what feasting and what revelry there was in camp that night. It was +a young bear, fat as butter, and rib roasts and cutlets were devoured in +quantities that would have shocked the modesty of a tramp. Not until +well into the night did we cease to eat, and wrap ourselves in our +blankets. We staid several days in the caņon after that, and killed +plenty of elk and other game. + + * * * * * + +The skin of the grizzly is one of the most valuable trophies a sportsman +can obtain on any field, and its rarity, and the danger and excitement +attending the taking of it, the courage it bespeaks on the part of the +hunter, render it a prize of which the winner may justly feel proud for +a lifetime. + +The best localities in which to hunt the grizzly bear--that is, those +most accessible and in which he is now most numerous--are the Big Horn, +Shoshone, Wind River, Bear Tooth, Belt, and Crazy Mountains, in Wyoming +and Montana, all of which may be easily reached by way of the Northern +Pacific road. + +The best time of year to hunt for this, as well as all the other species +of large game in the Rocky Mountains, is in the months of September, +October, and November, though in the latter month the sportsman should +not venture high up into the mountains where heavy snow-falls are liable +to occur. There is a great deal of bear hunting done in the summer +months, but it is contrary to the laws of nature, and should not be +indulged in by any true sportsman. The skins are nearly worthless then, +while in the autumn they are prime; the heat is oppressive, and the +flies and mosquitoes are great pests. + +The best arm for this class of game is a repeating rifle of large +calibre, 45 or 50, carrying a large charge of powder and a solid +bullet. The new Winchester express, 50/110, with solid ball, is perhaps +the best in the market, all things considered. + +There are several methods of hunting the grizzly, the most common being +to kill an elk, and then watch the carcass. Shots may frequently be +obtained in this way early in the morning or late in the evening, and on +bright moonlight nights it is best to watch all night, for the immense +size of the grizzly renders him an easy target at short range even by +moonlight. Another method is to still-hunt him, the same as is done with +deer. This is perhaps the most sportsmanlike of all, and if a coulee or +creek bottom be selected where there are plenty of berries, or an open, +hilly, rocky country, where the bears are in the habit of hunting for +worms, or any good feeding-ground where bear signs are plentiful, and +due care and caution be exercised, there is as good a chance of success +as by any other method. Many hunters set guns with a cord running from +the trigger to a bait of fresh meat, and the muzzle of the gun pointing +at the meat; others set large steel traps or deadfalls. But such +contrivances are never used by true sportsmen. + +Game of any kind should always be pursued in a fair, manly manner, and +given due chance to preserve its life if it is skillful enough to do so. +If captured, let it be by the superior skill, sagacity, or endurance of +the sportsman, not by traps which close on it as it innocently and +unsuspectingly seeks its food. + +Grizzly bear hunting is unquestionably the grandest sport that our +continent affords. The grizzly is the only really dangerous game we +have, and the decidedly hazardous character of the sport is what gives +it its greatest zest, and renders it the most fascinating of pursuits. +Many sportsmen proclaim the superiority of their favorite pastime over +all other kinds, be it quail, grouse, or duck shooting, fox-chasing, +deer-stalking, or what not; and each has its charm, more or less +intense, according to its nature; but no man ever felt his heart swell +with pride, his nerves tingle with animation, his whole system glow with +wild, uncontrollable enthusiasm, at the bagging of any bird or small +animal, as does the man who stands over the prostrate form of a monster +grizzly that he has slain. Let the devotee of these other classes of +sport try bear hunting, and when he has bagged his first grizzly, then +let him talk! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +ELK HUNTING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. + + +Of all the large game on the American continent, the elk (_Cervus +canadensis_) is the noblest, the grandest, the stateliest. I would +detract nothing from the noble game qualities of the moose, caribou, +deer, or mountain sheep. Each has its peculiar points of excellence +which endear it to the heart of the sportsman, but the elk possesses +more than any of the others. In size he towers far above all, except the +moose. In sagacity, caution, cunning, and wariness he is the peer, if +not the superior, of them all. He is always on the alert, his keen +scent, his piercing eye, his acute sense of hearing, combining to render +him a vigilant sentinel of his own safety. + +His great size and powerful muscular construction give him almost +unbounded endurance. When alarmed or pursued he will travel for twenty +or thirty hours, at a rapid swinging trot, without stopping for food or +rest. He is a proud, fearless ranger, and even when simply migrating +from one range of mountains to another, will travel from seventy-five to +a hundred miles without lying down. He is a marvelous mountaineer, and, +considering his immense size and weight, often ascends to heights that +seem incredible. He may often be found away up to timber line, and will +traverse narrow passes and defiles, climbing over walls of rock and +through fissures where it would seem impossible for so large an animal, +with such massive antlers as he carries, to go. He chooses his route, +however, with rare good judgment, and all mountaineers know that an elk +trail is the best that can possibly be selected over any given section +of mountainous country. His faculty of traversing dense jungles and +windfalls is equally astonishing. If given his own time, he will move +quietly and easily through the worst of these, leaping over logs higher +than his back as gracefully and almost as lightly as the deer; yet let a +herd of elk be alarmed and start on a run through one of these +labyrinthine masses, and they will make a noise like a regiment of +cavalry on a precipitous charge. + +I have stood on the margin of a quaking-asp thicket and heard a large +band of elk coming toward me that had been "jumped" and fired upon by my +friend at the other side, and the frightful noise of their horns +pounding the trees, their hoofs striking each other and the numerous +rocks, the crashing of dead branches, with the snorting of the +affrighted beasts, might well have struck terror to the heart of anyone +unused to such sights and sounds, and have caused him to seek safety in +flight. But by standing my ground I was enabled to get in a couple of +shots at short range, and to bring down two of the finest animals in the +herd. + +The whistle of the elk is a sound which many have tried to describe, +yet I doubt if anyone who may have read all the descriptions of it ever +written would recognize it on a first hearing. It is a most strange, +weird, peculiar sound, baffling all efforts of the most skillful +word-painter. It is only uttered by the male, and there is the same +variety in the sound made by different stags as in different human +voices. Usually the cry begins and ends with a sort of grunt, somewhat +like the bellow of a domestic cow cut short, but the interlude is a +long-drawn, melodious, flutelike sound that rises and falls with a +rhythmical cadence, floating on the still evening air, by which it is +often wafted with singular distinctness to great distances. By other +individuals, or even by the same individual at various times, either the +first or last of these abrupt sounds is omitted, and only the other, in +connection with the long-drawn, silver-toned strain, is given. + +The stag utters this call only in the love-making season, and for the +purpose of ascertaining the whereabouts of his dusky mate, who responds +by a short and utterly unmusical sound, similar to that with which the +male begins or ends his call. + +Once, when exploring in Idaho, I had an interesting and exciting +experience with a band of elk. I had camped for the night on a high +divide, between two branches of the Clearwater river. The weather had +been intensely dry and hot for several days, and the tall rye grass that +grew in the old burn where I had pitched my camp was dry as powder. +There was a gentle breeze from the south. Fearing that a spark might be +carried into the grass, I extinguished my camp-fire as soon as I had +cooked and eaten my supper. As darkness drew on, I went out to picket +my horses and noticed that they were acting strangely. They were looking +down the mountain side with ears pointed forward, sniffing the air and +moving about uneasily. + +[Illustration: THE _WAPITI_, OR AMERICAN ELK.] + +I gave their picket ropes a turn around convenient jack pines, and then +slipping cautiously back to the tent, got my rifle and returned. I could +see nothing strange and sat down beside a log to await developments. In +a few minutes I heard a dead limb break. Then there was a rustling in a +bunch of tall, dry grass; more snapping of twigs and shaking of bushes. +I ascertained that there were several large animals moving toward me and +feared it might be a family of bears. I feared it, I say, because it was +now so dark that I could not see to shoot at any distance, and knew that +if bears came near the horses the latter would break their ropes and +stampede. I thought of shouting and trying to frighten them off, but +decided to await developments. Presently I heard a snapping of hoofs and +a succession of dull, heavy, thumping noises, accompanied by reports of +breaking brush, which I knew at once were made by a band of elk jumping +over a high log. + +The game was now not more than fifty yards away and in open ground, yet +I could not see even a movement, for I was looking down toward a dark +caņon, many hundreds of feet deep. Slowly the great beasts worked toward +me. They were coming down wind and I felt sure could not scent me, but +they could evidently see my horses, outlined against the sky, and had +doubtless heard them snorting and moving about. + +The ponies grew more anxious but less frightened than at first, and +seemed now desirous of making the acquaintance of their wild visitors. + +Slowly the elk moved forward until within thirty or forty feet of me, +when I could begin to discern by the starlight their dark, shaggy forms. +Then they stopped. I could hear them sniffing the air and could see them +moving cautiously from place to place, apparently suspicious of danger. +But they were coming down wind, could get no indication of my presence, +and were anxious to interview the horses. + +They moved slowly forward, and when they stopped this time, two old +bulls and one cow, who were in the front rank, so to speak, stood within +ten feet of me. Their great horns towered up like the branches of dead +trees, and I could hear them breathe. + +Again they circled from side to side and I thought surely they would get +far enough to one quarter or the other to wind me, but they did not. +Several other cows and two timid little calves crowded to the front to +look at their hornless cousins who now stood close behind me, and even +in the starlight, I could have shot any one of them between the eyes. + +My saddle cayuse uttered a low gentle whinny, whereat the whole band +wheeled and dashed away; but after making a few leaps their momentary +scare seemed to subside, and they stopped, looked, snorted a few times +and then began to edge up again--this time even more shyly than before. + +It was intensely interesting to study the caution and circumspection +with which these creatures planned and carried out their investigation +all the way through. + +The only mistake they made, and one at which I was surprised, +considering their usual cunning and sagacity, was that some of them at +least did not circle the horses and get to the leeward. But they were in +such a wild country, so far back in the remote fastnesses of the +Rockies, that they had probably never encountered hunters or horses +before and had not acquired all the cunning of their more hunted and +haunted brothers. After their temporary scare they returned, step by +step, to their investigation, and the largest bull in the bunch +approached the very log behind which I sat. He was just in the act of +stepping over it when he caught a whiff of my breath and, with a +terrific snort, vaulted backward and sidewise certainly thirty feet. At +the same instant I rose up and shouted, and the whole band went tearing +down the mountain side making a racket like that of an avalanche. + +As before stated, I could have had my choice out of the herd, but my +only pack-horse was loaded so that I could have carried but a small +piece of meat, and was unwilling to waste so grand a creature for the +little I could save from him. + +The antlers of the bull elk grow to a great size. He sheds them in +February of each year. The new horn begins to grow in April. During the +summer it is soft and pulpy and is covered with a fine velvety growth of +hair; it matures and hardens in August; early in September he rubs this +velvet off and is then ready to try conclusions with any rival that +comes in his way. The rutting season over, he has no further use for +his antlers until the next autumn, and they drop off. Thus the process +is repeated, year after year, as regularly as the leaves grow and fall +from the trees. But it seems a strange provision of nature that should +load an animal with sixty to seventy-five pounds of horns, for half the +year, when weapons of one-quarter the size and weight would be equally +effective if all were armed alike. + +I have in my collection the head of a bull elk, killed in the Shoshone +Mountains, in Northern Wyoming, the antlers of which measure as follows: + +Length of main beam, 4 feet 8 inches; length of brow tine, 1 foot 6-1/2 +inches; length of bes tine, 1 foot 8-1/2 inches; length of royal tine, 1 +foot 7 inches; length of surroyal, 1 foot 8-1/2 inches: circumference +around burr, 1 foot 3-1/4 inches; circumference around beam above burr, +12 inches; circumference of brow tine at base, 7-1/2 inches; spread of +main beams at tips, 4 feet 9 inches. They are one of the largest and +finest pairs of antlers of which I have any knowledge. The animal when +killed would have weighed nearly a thousand pounds. + +The elk is strictly gregarious, and in winter time, especially, the +animals gather into large bands, and a few years ago herds of from five +hundred to a thousand were not uncommon. Now, however, their numbers +have been so far reduced by the ravages of "skin hunters" and others +that one will rarely find more than twenty-five or thirty in a band. + +In the fall of 1879, a party of three men were sight-seeing and hunting +in the Yellowstone National Park, and having prolonged their stay until +late in October, were overtaken by a terrible snowstorm, which +completely blockaded and obliterated all the trails, and filled the +gulches, caņons, and coulees to such a depth that their horses could not +travel over them at all. They had lain in camp three days waiting for +the storm to abate; but as it continued to grow in severity, and as the +snow became deeper and deeper, their situation grew daily and hourly +more alarming. Their stock of provisions was low, they had no shelter +sufficient to withstand the rigors of a winter at that high altitude, +and it was fast becoming a question whether they should ever be able to +escape beyond the snow-clad peaks and snow-filled caņons with which they +were hemmed in. Their only hope of escape was by abandoning their +horses, and constructing snow-shoes which might keep them above the +snow; but in this case they could not carry bedding and food enough to +last them throughout the several days that the journey would occupy to +the nearest ranch, and the chances of killing game _en route_ after the +severe weather had set in were extremely precarious. They had already +set about making snow-shoes from the skin of an elk which they had +saved. One pair had been completed, and the storm having abated, one of +the party set out to look over the surrounding country for the most +feasible route by which to get out, and also to try if possible to find +game of some kind. He had gone about a mile toward the northeast when he +came upon the fresh trail of a large band of elk that were moving toward +the east. He followed, and in a short time came up with them. They were +traveling in single file, led by a powerful old bull, who wallowed +through snow in which only his head and neck were visible, with all the +patience and perseverance of a faithful old ox. The others followed +him--the stronger ones in front and the weaker ones bringing up the +rear. There were thirty-seven in the band, and by the time they had all +walked in the same line they left it an open, well-beaten trail. The +hunter approached within a few yards of them. They were greatly alarmed +when they saw him, and made a few bounds in various directions; but +seeing their struggles were in vain, they meekly submitted to what +seemed their impending fate, and fell back in rear of their file-leader. +This would have been the golden opportunity of a skin hunter, who could +and would have shot them all down in their tracks from a single stand. +But such was not the mission of our friend. He saw in this noble, +struggling band a means of deliverance from what had threatened to be a +wintry grave for him and his companions. He did not fire a shot, and did +not in any way create unnecessary alarm amongst the elk, but hurried +back to camp and reported to his friends what he had seen. + +In a moment the camp was a scene of activity and excitement. Tent, +bedding, provisions, everything that was absolutely necessary to their +journey, were hurriedly packed upon their pack animals; saddles were +placed, rifles were slung to the saddles, and leaving all surplus +baggage, such as trophies of their hunt, mineral specimens and curios of +various kinds, for future comers, they started for the elk trail. They +had a slow, tedious, and laborious task, breaking a way through the deep +snow to reach it, but by walking and leading their saddle animals +ahead, the pack animals were able to follow slowly. Finally they reached +the trail of the elk herd, and following this, after nine days of +tedious and painful traveling, the party arrived at a ranch on the +Stinking Water river, which was kept by a "squaw man" and his wife, +where they were enabled to lodge and recruit themselves and their stock, +and whence they finally reached their homes in safety. The band of elk +passed on down the river, and our tourists never saw them again; but +they have doubtless long ere this all fallen a prey to the ruthless war +that is constantly being waged against them by hunters white and red. + +It is sad to think that such a noble creature as the American elk is +doomed to early and absolute extinction, but such is nevertheless the +fact. Year by year his mountain habitat is being surrounded and +encroached upon by the advancing line of settlements, as the fisherman +encircles the struggling mass of fishes in the clear pond with his long +and closely-meshed net. The lines are drawn closer and closer each year. +These lines are the ranches of cattle and sheep raisers, the cabins and +towns of miners, the stations and residences of employés of the +railroads. All these places are made the shelters and temporary abiding +places of Eastern and foreign sportsmen who go out to the mountains to +hunt. Worse than this, they are made the permanent abiding places, and +constitute the active and convenient markets of the nefarious and +unconscionable skin hunter and meat hunter. Here he can find a ready +market for the meats and skins he brings in, and an opportunity to +spend the proceeds of such outrageous traffic in ranch whisky and +revelry. The ranchmen themselves hunt and lay in their stock of meat for +the year when the game comes down into the valleys. The Indians, when +they have eaten up their Government rations, lie in wait for the elk in +the same manner. So that when the first great snows of the autumn or +winter fall in the high ranges, when the elk band together and seek +refuge in the valleys, as did the herd that our fortunate tourists +followed out, they find a mixed and hungry horde waiting for them at the +mouth of every caņon. Before they have reached the valley where the +snow-fall is light enough to allow them to live through the winter their +skins are drying in the neighboring "shacks." + +[Illustration: WORK OF THE EXTERMINATORS.] + +This unequal, one-sided warfare, this ruthless slaughter of inoffensive +creatures, can not last always. Indeed, it can last but little longer. +In ranges where only a few years ago herds of four or five hundred elk +could be found, the hunter of to-day considers himself in rare luck when +he finds a band of ten or twelve, and even small bands of any number are +so rare that a good hunter may often hunt a week in the best elk country +to be found anywhere without getting a single shot. All the Territories +have good, wholesome game-laws which forbid the killing of game animals +except during two or three months in the fall; but these laws are not +enforced. They are a dead letter on the statute-books, and the illegal +and illegitimate slaughter goes on unchecked. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ANTELOPE HUNTING IN MONTANA. + + +Of all the numerous species of large game to be found in the far West, +there is none whose pursuit furnishes grander sport to the expert +rifleman than the antelope (_Antilocapra americana_). His habitat being +the high, open plains, he may be hunted on horseback, and with a much +greater degree of comfort than may the deer, elk, bear, and other +species which inhabit the wooded or mountainous districts. His keen +eyesight, his fine sense of smell, his intense fear of his natural +enemy, man, however, render him the most difficult of all game animals +to approach, and he must indeed be a skillful hunter who can get within +easy rifle range of the antelope, unless he happens to have the +circumstances of wind and lie of ground peculiarly in his favor. When +the game is first sighted, even though it be one, two, or three miles +away, you must either dismount and picket your horse, or find cover in +some coulee or draw, where you can ride entirely out of sight of the +quarry. But even under such favorable circumstances it is not well to +attempt to ride very near them. Their sense of hearing is also very +acute, and should your horse's hoof or shoe strike a loose rock, or +should he snort or neigh, the game is likely to catch the sound while +you are yet entirely out of sight and faraway, and when you finally +creep cautiously to the top of the ridge from which you expect a +favorable shot, you may find the game placidly looking for you from the +top of another ridge a mile or two farther away. + +But we will hope that you are to have better luck than this. To start +with, we will presume that you are an expert rifleman; that you are in +the habit of making good scores at the butts; that at 800, 900, and +1,000 yards you frequently score 200 to 210 out of a possible 225 +points. We will also suppose that you are a hunter of some experience; +that you have at least killed a good many deer in the States, but that +this is your first trip to the plains. You have learned to estimate +distances, however, even in this rare atmosphere, and possess good +judgment as to windage. You have brought your Creedmoor rifle along, +divested, of course, of its Venier sight, wind-guage, and spirit-level, +and in their places you have fitted a Beach combination front sight and +Lyman rear sight. Besides these you have the ordinary open step sight +attached to the barrel just in front of the action. This is not the best +arm for antelope hunting; a Winchester express with the same sights +would be much better; but this will answer very well. + +We camped last night on the bank of a clear, rapid stream that gurgles +down from the mountain, and this morning are up long before daylight; +have eaten our breakfasts, saddled our horses, and just as the gray of +dawn begins to show over the low, flat prairie to the east of us, we +mount, and are ready for the start. The wind is from the northeast. That +suits us very well, for in that direction, about a mile away, there are +some low foot-hills that skirt the valley in which we are camped. In or +just beyond these we are very likely to find antelope, and they will +probably be coming toward the creek this morning for water. + +We put spurs to our horses and gallop away. A brisk and exhilarating +ride of ten minutes brings us to the foot-hills, and then we rein up and +ride slowly and cautiously to near the top of the first one. Here we +dismount, and, picketing our ponies, we crawl slowly and carefully to +the apex. By this time it is almost fully daylight. We remove our hats, +and peer cautiously through the short, scattering grass on the brow of +the hill. + +Do you see anything? + +No; nothing but prairie and grass. + +No? Hold! What are those small, gray objects away off yonder to the +left? I think I saw one of them move. And now, as the light grows +stronger, I can see white patches on them. Yes, they are antelope. They +are busily feeding, and we may raise our heads slightly and get a more +favorable view. One, two, three--there are five of them--two bucks, a +doe, and two kids. And you will observe that they are nearly in the +centre of a broad stretch of table-land. + +"But," you say, "may we not wait here a little while until they come +nearer to us?" + +Hardly. You see they are intent on getting their breakfast. There is a +heavy frost on the grass, which moistens it sufficiently for present +purposes, and it may be an hour or more before they will start for +water. It won't pay us to wait so long, for we shall most likely find +others within that time that we can get within range of without waiting +for them. So you may as well try them from here. + +Now your experience at the butts may serve you a good turn. After taking +a careful look over the ground, you estimate the distance at 850 yards, +and setting up your Beach front and Lyman rear sights, you make the +necessary elevation. There is a brisk wind blowing from the right, and +you think it necessary to hold off about three feet. We are now both +lying prone upon the ground. You face the game, and support your rifle +at your shoulder by resting your elbows on the ground. The sun is now +shining brightly, and you take careful aim at that old buck that stands +out there at the left. At the report of your rifle a cloud of dust rises +from a point about a hundred yards this side of him, and a little to the +left, showing that you have underestimated both the distance and the +force of the wind--things that even an old hunter is liable to do +occasionally. + +We both lie close, and the animals have not yet seen us. They make a few +jumps, and stop all in a bunch. The cross-wind and long distance prevent +them from knowing to a certainty where the report comes from, and they +don't like to run just yet, lest they may run toward the danger instead +of away from it. You make another half-point of elevation, hold a little +farther away to the right, and try them again. This time the dirt rises +about twenty feet beyond them, and they jump in every direction. That +was certainly a close call, and the bullet evidently whistled +uncomfortably close to several of them. They are now thoroughly +frightened. You insert another cartridge, hurriedly draw a bead on the +largest buck again, and fire. You break dirt just beyond him, and we +can't tell for the life of us how or on which side of him your bullet +passed. It is astonishing how much vacant space there is round an +antelope, anyway. This time they go, sure. They have located the puff of +smoke, and are gone with the speed of the wind away to the west. But +don't be discouraged, my friend. You did some clever shooting, some +_very_ clever shooting, and a little practice of that kind will enable +you to score before night. + +We go back to our horses, mount, and gallop away again across the +table-land. A ride of another mile brings us to the northern margin of +this plateau, and to a more broken country. Here we dismount and picket +our horses again. We ascend a high butte, and from the top of it we can +see three more antelope about a mile to the north of us; but this time +they are in a hilly, broken country, and the wind is coming directly +from them to us. We shall be able to get a shot at them at short range. +So we cautiously back down out of sight, and then begins the tedious +process of stalking them. We walk briskly along around the foot of a +hill for a quarter of a mile, to where it makes a turn that would carry +us too far out of our course. We must cross this hill, and after looking +carefully at the shape and location of it, we at last find a low point +in it where by lying flat down we can crawl over it without revealing +ourselves to the game. It is a most tedious and painful piece of work, +for the ground is almost covered with cactus and sharp flinty rocks, and +our hands and knees are terribly lacerated. But every rose has its +thorn, and nearly every kind of sport has something unpleasant connected +with it occasionally; and our reward, if we get it, will be worth the +pain it costs us. With such reflections and comments, and with frequent +longing looks at the game, we kill time till at last the critical part +of our work is done, and we can arise and descend in a comfortable but +cautious walk into another draw. + +[Illustration: A PORTRAIT.] + +This we follow for about two hundred yards, until we think we are as +near our quarry as we can get. We turn to the right, cautiously ascend +the hill, remove our hats, and peer over, and there, sure enough, are +our antelope quietly grazing, utterly oblivious to the danger that +threatens them. They have not seen, heard, or scented us, so we have +ample time to plan an attack. You take the standing shot at the buck, +and together we will try and take care of the two does afterward. At +this short distance you don't care for the peep and globe sights, and +wisely decide to use the plain open ones. This time you simply kneel, +and then edge up until you can get a good clear aim over the apex of the +ridge in this position. The buck stands broadside to you, and at the +crack of your rifle springs into the air, and falls all in a heap, +pierced through the heart. + +And now for the two does. They are flying over the level stretch of +prairie with the speed of an arrow, and are almost out of sure range +now. You turn loose on that one on the right, and I will look after the +one on the left. Our rifles crack together, and little clouds of dust +rising just beyond tell us that, though we have both missed, we have +made close calls. I put in about three shots to your one, owing to my +rifle being a repeater, while you must load yours at each shot. At my +fourth shot my left-fielder doubles up and goes down with a broken neck; +and although you have fairly "set the ground afire"--to use a Western +phrase--around your right-fielder, you have not had the good fortune to +stop her, and she is now out of sight behind a low ridge. + +But you have the better animal of the two, and have had sport enough for +the first morning. We will take the entrails out of these two, lash them +across our horses behind our saddles, go to camp, and rest through the +heat of the day; for this September sun beams down with great power in +midday, even though the nights are cool and frosty. + +And now, as we have quite a long ride to camp, and as we are to pass +over a rather monotonous prairie country _en route_, I will give you a +point or two on flagging antelope, as we ride along, that may be useful +to you at some time. Fine sport may frequently be enjoyed in this way. +If you can find a band that have not been hunted much, and are not +familiar with the wiles of the white man, you will have little trouble +in decoying them within rifle range by displaying to them almost any +brightly-colored object. They have as much curiosity as a woman, and +will run into all kinds of danger to investigate any strange object they +may discover. They have been known to follow an emigrant or freight +wagon, with a white cover, several miles, and the Indian often brings +them within reach of his arrow or bullet by standing in plain view +wrapped in his red blanket. A piece of bright tin or a mirror answers +the same purpose on a clear day. Almost any conspicuous or +strange-looking object will attract them; but the most convenient as +well as the most reliable at all times is a little bright-red flag. + +On one occasion I was hunting in the Snowy Mountains, in Northern +Montana, with S. K. Fishel, the government scout, and Richard Thomas, +the packer, from Fort Maginnis. We had not been successful in finding +game there, and on our way back to the post camped two days on the head +of Flat Willow creek, near the foot of the mountains, to hunt antelopes. +As night approached several small bands of them came toward the creek, +but none came within range of our camp during daylight, and we did not +go after them that night, but were up and at them betimes the next +morning. + +I preferred to hunt alone, as I always do when after big game, and went +out across a level flat to some low hills north of camp. When I ascended +the first of these I saw a handsome buck antelope on the prairie half a +mile away. I made a long detour to get to leeward of him, and meantime +had great difficulty in keeping him from seeing me. But by careful +maneuvering I finally got into a draw below him, and found the wind +blowing directly from him to me. In his neighborhood were some large, +ragged volcanic rocks, and getting in line with one of these I started +to stalk him. He was feeding, and as I moved cautiously forward I could +frequently see his nose or rump show up at one side or the other of the +rock. I would accordingly glide to right or left, as necessary, and move +on. Finally, I succeeded in reaching the rock, crawled carefully up to +where I could see over it, and there, sure enough, stood the handsome +old fellow not more than fifty yards away, still complacently nipping +the bunch-grass. + +"Ah, my fine laddie," I said to myself, "you'll never know what hurt +you;" and resting the muzzle of the rifle on the rock, I took a fine, +steady aim for his heart and turned the bullet loose. There was a +terrific roar; the lead tore up a cloud of dust and went screaming away +over the hills, while, to my utter astonishment, the antelope went +sailing across the prairie with the speed of a greyhound. I sprang to my +feet, pumped lead after him at a lively rate, and, though I tore the +ground up all around him, never touched a hair. And what annoyed me most +was that, owing to some peculiar condition of the atmosphere, the smoke +of each shot hung in front of me long enough to prevent me from seeing +just where my bullets struck, and, for the life of me, I could not tell +whether I was shooting over or under the game! + +I went back over the hill to my horse, with my heart full of +disappointment and my magazine only half full of cartridges. I loaded +up, however, mounted, and, as I rode away in search of more game, I +could occasionally hear the almost whispered "puff, puff" of Fishel's +and Thomas's rifles away to the south and west, which brought me the +cheering assurance that they were also having fun, and also assured me +that we should not be without meat for supper and breakfast. + +I soon sighted a band of about thirty antelopes, and riding into a +coulee dismounted, picketed my horse, and began another crawl. In due +time I reached the desired "stand," within about eighty yards of them, +and, picking out the finest buck in the bunch, again took a careful, +deliberate aim and fired, scoring another clear miss. The band, instead +of running away, turned and ran directly toward me, and, circling, +slightly, passed within thirty yards of me, drawn out in single file. It +was a golden opportunity and I felt sure I should kill half a dozen of +them at least; but, alas! for fleeting hopes. I knew not the frailty of +the support on which I built my expectations. I fanned them as long as +there was a cartridge in my magazine, and had to endure the intense +chagrin of seeing the last one of them go over a ridge a mile away safe +and sound. + +I was dumb. If there had been anyone there to talk to, I don't think I +could have found a word in the language to express my feelings. As +before, the smoke prevented me from seeing just where my bullets struck +the ground, but I felt sure they must be striking very close to the +game. I sat down, pondered, and examined my rifle. I could see nothing +wrong with it, and felt sure it must be perfect, for within the past +week I had killed a deer with it at 170 yards and had shaved the heads +off a dozen grouse at short range. I was, therefore, forced to the +conclusion that I had merely failed to exercise proper care in holding. +I returned to my horse, mounted, and once more set out in search of +game, determined to kill the next animal I shot at or leave the country. + +I rode away to the west about two miles, and from the top of a high hill +saw another band of forty or fifty antelopes on a table-land. I rode +around till I got within about two hundred yards of them, when I left my +horse under cover of a hill and again began to sneak on the unsuspecting +little creatures. They were near the edge of the table, and from just +beyond them the formation fell abruptly away into the valley some fifty +feet. I crawled up this bluff until within about forty yards of the +nearest antelope, and then, lying flat upon the ground, I placed my +rifle in position for firing, and, inch by inch, edged up over the apex +of the bluff until within fair view of the game. Again selecting the +best buck--for I wanted a good head for mounting--I drew down on his +brown side until I felt sure that if there had been a silver dollar hung +on it I could have driven it through him. Confidently expecting to see +him drop in his tracks, I touched the trigger. But, alas! I was doomed +to still further disgrace. When the smoke lifted, my coveted prize was +speeding away with the rest of the herd. + +I simply stood, with my lower jaw hanging down, and looked after them +till they were out of sight. Then I went and got my horse and went to +camp. Sam and Dick were there with the saddles of three antelopes. When +I told them what I had been doing, they tried to console me, but I +wouldn't be consoled. After dinner, Sam picked up my rifle and looked it +over carefully. + +"Why, look here, you blooming idiot," said he. "No wonder you couldn't +kill at short range. The wedge has slipped up under your rear sight two +notches. She's elevated for 350 yards, and at that rate would shoot +about a foot high at a hundred yards." I looked and found it even so. +Then I offered him and Dick a dollar each if they would kick me, but +they wouldn't. + +Sam said good-naturedly: "Come, go with me and get the head of the buck +I killed. It's a very handsome one, and only two miles from camp." + +I said I didn't want any heads for my own use unless I could kill their +owners myself, but would take this one home for a friend, so we saddled +our horses and started. + +As we reached the top of a hill about a mile from camp a large buck that +was grazing ahead of us jumped and ran away to what he seemed to +consider a safe distance, and stopped to look at us. Sam generously +offered me the shot, and springing out of my saddle I threw down my +rifle, took careful aim and fired. At the crack the buck turned just +half way round, but was unable to make a single jump and sank dead in +his tracks. + +Sam is ordinarily a quiet man, but he fairly shouted at the result of my +shot. I paced the distance carefully to where the carcass lay, and it +was exactly 290 steps. The buck was standing broadside to me and I had +shot him through the heart. Of course, it was a scratch. I could not do +it again perhaps in twenty shots, and yet when I considered that I shot +for one single animal and got him I could not help feeling a little +proud of it. As we approached the animal, not knowing just where I had +hit him, I held my rifle in readiness, but Sam said: + +"Oh, you needn't be afraid of his getting up. One of those Winchester +express bullets is all an antelope needs, no matter what part of the +body you hit him in." + +This old fellow had a fine head, and we took it off, and now as I write +it gazes down upon me with those large, lustrous black eyes, from its +place on the wall, as proudly and curiously as it did there on the +prairie when I looked at it through the sights of my Winchester. His +portrait adorns page 199 of this book, and though the artist has treated +it with a master's hand, it does not possess the lordly beaming, the +fascinating grace, the timid beauty that distinguished the living +animal. + +It was so late when we got this one dressed that we decided to return to +camp at once. + +The curiosity which is so prominent a feature in the antelope's nature +costs many a one of them his life, and is taken advantage of by the +hunter in various ways. When we reached camp that afternoon Dick told us +how he had taken advantage of it. He had seen a small band on a level +stretch of prairie where there was no possible way of getting within +range of them, and having heard that if a man would lie down on his +back, elevate his feet as high as possible, and swing them back and +forth through the air, that it would attract antelopes, decided to try +it. But the antelopes of this section had evidently never seen soap +boxes or bales of hay floating through the air, and had no desire to +cultivate a closer acquaintance with such frightful looking objects as +he exhibited to their astonished gaze. And Dick said that when he turned +to see if they had yet come within shooting distance they were about a +mile away, and judging from the cloud of dust they were leaving behind +them seemed to be running a race to see which could get out of the +country first. + +The next morning Sam and I went together and Dick alone in another +direction. During the forenoon I shot a buck through both fore legs, +cutting one off clean and paralyzing the other. Sam said not to shoot +him again and he would catch him, and putting spurs to his horse was +soon galloping alongside of the quarry. He caught him by one horn and +held him until I came up. The little fellow pranced wildly about, and +bleated pitifully, but a stroke of the hunting knife across his throat +soon relieved his suffering. + +We then got the head from the buck Sam had killed the day before, and +returned to camp about 11 o'clock a. m. + +In the afternoon we rode out together again, and had not gone far when +we saw five of the bright little animals we were hunting on a hill-side. +They were too far away for anything like a sure shot, but were in such a +position that we could get no nearer to them. They stood looking at us, +and Sam told me to try them. I had little hope of making a hit, but +dismounting took a shot off hand, holding for the shoulder of a good +sized buck. When the gun cracked there was a circus. I had missed my aim +so far as to cut both his hind legs off just below the knee. The buck +commenced bucking. First he stood on his fore feet, got his hind legs up +in the air and shook the stumps. Then he tried to stand on them and paw +the air with his fore feet, but lost his balance and fell over backward. +He got up, jumped first to one side, then to the other, then forward. +Meantime Sam rode toward him, and he tried to run. In this his motions +were more like those of a rocking horse than of a living animal. The +race was a short one. Sam soon rode up to him, caught him by a horn and +held him till I came up and cut the little fellow's throat. Then Sam +said that was a very long shot, and he would like to know just what the +distance was. He went back to where I stood when I shot, stepped the +distance to where the antelope stood, and found it to be 362 paces. + +We rode on a mile further and saw a young antelope lying down in some +tall rye-grass. We could just see his horns and ears, and though he +appeared to be looking at us he seemed to think himself securely hidden, +for he made no movement toward getting up. I told Sam to shoot this +time, but he said, "No, you shoot. I live in this country and can get +all the shooting I want any time. You have come a long way out here to +have some fun. Turn loose on him." And slipping off my horse I knelt +down to get a knee rest, but found that from that position I could not +see the game at all, and was compelled to shoot off hand again. Raising +up I drew a bead on one of the horns, and then lowering the muzzle to +where I thought the body should be, pressed the trigger. There was a +lively commotion in the grass, but the buck never got out of his bed. +The ball went in at one shoulder and out at the opposite hip. On +stepping the distance we found it to be only 125 yards. + +And now, having in a measure wiped out the disgrace of the previous +day's work and secured all the meat, skins, and heads that our +pack-mules could carry, we returned to camp and the next day went back +to Fort Maginnis. + +These bright little creatures, though naturally timid, sometimes show +great courage in defense of their young. I once saw a coyote sneak from +behind a hill toward a herd of antelope. Instantly there was a grand +rush of all the adult members of the band, male and female, toward the +intruder, and when they had gotten in front of the kids they stopped, +with bristles erect, ears thrown forward, and heads lowered, presenting +a most warlike and belligerent appearance. The coyote, when he saw +himself confronted with this solid phalanx, suddenly stopped, eyed his +opponents for a few moments, and then, apparently overawed at the +superiority of numbers and warlike attitude of his intended prey, slunk +reluctantly away in search of some weaker victim. When he was well out +of sight, the older members of the band turned to their young, caressed +them, and resumed their grazing. + +The speed of the antelope is probably not excelled by that of any other +animal in this country, wild or domestic, except the greyhound, and, in +fact, it is only the finest and fleetest of these that can pull down an +antelope in a fair race. + +In the little village of Garfield, Kansas, there lived a man some years +ago--the proprietor of a hotel--who had two pet antelopes. The village +dogs had several times chased them, but had always been distanced. One +day a Mexican came to town who had with him two large, handsome +greyhounds. Immediately on riding up to the hotel he saw the antelopes +in the yard, and told the proprietor gruffly that he had better put +"them critters" in the corral, or his dogs would kill them. The +proprietor said he guessed the "critters" were able to take care of +themselves, especially if the dogs did not spring upon them unawares. +This aroused the Mexican's ire, and he promptly offered to wager a +goodly sum that his dogs would pull down one or both of the antelopes +within a mile. The challenge was accepted, the stakes deposited, the +antelopes turned into the street, and the "greaser" told his dogs to +"take'em." + +The dogs sprang at the antelopes, but the latter had by this time +reached a vacant lot across the street. They started off down the river. +For a distance of four miles the river bottom was an open prairie, and +as level as a floor. As the quartette sped over this grand natural +race-course, the whole populace of the town turned out _en masse_ to see +the race. Men and boys shouted, and ladies waved their handkerchiefs. +Betting was rife, the natives offering two to one on the antelopes, the +Mexican and the few other strangers in town being eager takers. It was +nip and tuck, neither animals gaining nor losing perceptibly, and when +at last the four went round a bend in the river four miles away, and +were hidden by a bluff, the game was, as nearly as could be seen by the +aid of good field-glasses, just about the same distance ahead of the +dogs as when they left town. + +Some hours later the dogs returned, so tired they could scarcely walk. +The Mexican eagerly looked for hair on their teeth, and although he +could find none, was confident that his dogs had killed the antelopes. A +mounted expedition to search for the carcasses and settle the question +was agreed upon, but as it was too near night to start when the dogs +returned, it was arranged to go in the morning. But when the parties +got up the next morning they found the antelopes quietly grazing in the +hotel yard. The Mexican left town in disgust followed by his lame, +sore-footed dogs, and muttering that he "never seed no varmints run like +them things did." + +The antelope, one of the brightest and most graceful and beautiful of +all our Western game animals, is fast disappearing from our broad +plains, owing to the ceaseless slaughter of it that is carried on by +"skin hunters," Indians, "foreign noblemen," and others who come to this +country year after year and spend the entire summer in hunting. Hundreds +of them are killed every summer by this latter class, and left to rot +where they fall, not a pound of meat, a skin, or even a head being taken +from them. I have seen with my own eyes this butchery carried on for +years past, and know whereof I speak. + +Nearly all the Territories have stringent laws intended to prohibit this +class of slaughter, but in these sparsely settled countries the +provisions for enforcing them are so meagre that these men violate them +day after day and year after year with impunity. This is one of the +instances in which prohibition does not prohibit. And what I have said +of the antelope is true of all the large game of the great West. The +elk, deer, mountain sheep, etc., are being slaughtered by the hundreds +every year--tenfold faster than the natural increase. And the time is +near, _very_ near, when all these noble species will be extinct. The +sportsman or naturalist who desires to preserve a skin or head of any of +them must procure it very soon or he will not be able to get it at all. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +BUFFALO HUNTING ON THE TEXAS PLAINS. + + +The "Texas boom" was at its height in 1876, and there was a grand rush +of emigrants of all nationalities and conditions of people to the then +New Eldorado. Thousands of men went down there to make money. Many of +them had not the remotest idea how this was to be done, but from the +glowing stories afloat regarding the resources of that wonderful +country, they felt sure it could be done in some way. The little town of +Fort Worth was then on the frontier--that is, it was one of the most +westerly towns having railroad communication, and was therefore one of +the important outfitting points for parties going into the wilds. A +great many were going further west, on all kinds of expeditions, some in +search of minerals, some in search of choice lands, some to hunt the +large game which was then abundant. + +The village consisted of a public square, around and fronting on which +were a row of cheap, one-story, log and frame buildings, most of which +were occupied as saloons and gambling houses. But there were a few +respectable general stores, half a dozen so-called hotels, shops, etc. +The town was full to overflowing with gamblers, rustlers, hunters, +cowboys, Mexican rancheros, northern sight-seers, adventurers, +commercial travelers, etc. + +[Illustration: AT BAY.] + +All day and all night could be heard the call of the _croupier_ at the +gambling-table as he announced the numbers and combinations that the +wheel or cards produced in the course of the manipulations to which his +deft fingers subjected them. + +Hot words often came from fortunate and unfortunate gamesters, and the +short, sharp report of the six-shooter, the shouts of combatants, the +groans of wounded or dying men, the clatter of heavy boots or spurs on +the feet of stampeded spectators were sounds that, nearly every night, +greeted the ears of the populace. + +Mob law reigned supreme, and there was little effort on the part of the +village authorities to punish offenders. Sometimes Judge Lynch's court +was convened on short notice, and someone who had committed an unusually +flagrant violation of the "law of honor" and had killed a man without +due provocation, was hurriedly tried and strung up to the nearest tree. + +One evening in the month of November, the excitement was varied by the +arrival of a "bull-train"[1] of ten wagons loaded with buffalo skins. +They drove to the warehouse of the largest trader in the place to +unload, and were quickly surrounded by a crowd of eager inquirers who +sought for news from the front. + +[1] What is known on the frontier as a "bull-train" is a number +of ponderous wagons, drawn by from six to ten yoke of oxen each, used +for hauling heavy freight across the plains. + +Some inquired as to the nature of the country, some as to the progress +of settlements, some as to friends who were at the front, and many as to +the buffalo herd from which the five thousand skins brought in by this +train had been taken. + +"The main herd," said the wagon boss, "is two hundred miles west on the +headwaters of the Brazos river." + +"How large a herd is it?" + +"Nobody knows that, for none of 'em has took time to ride to the west +end of it." + +"Are there many hunters there?" inquired a young St. Louis lawyer. + +"Wall, you'd reckon," said the boss. "Tha's 'bout a hundred and fifty +white hunters, and more'n a thousand red-skins." + +"When do you start back?" + +"To-morrow mornin', if I can keep my bull punchers from gettin' full of +pizen." + +The crowd gradually scattered, while a little knot of the more +respectable element repaired to the hotel to discuss the question of +organizing a hunting party to go to the buffalo range. In an hour they +agreed to go, the time for the start being fixed for the morning of the +second day following. + +And then the busy notes of preparation were heard throughout the town. +But few of the men who decided to go were prepared for such a trip, and +it was necessary for most of them to buy or hire complete outfits. +Horses were the first and most important requisite. The corral (the +frontier livery stable) was first visited, and spirited bidding was +indulged in for the choicest animals. The stock here was soon exhausted, +and the demand was not yet supplied. Then all the horses and ponies +standing tied to the railing around the public square were inspected, +and any that were for sale were tested. Word having been circulated that +a hunting party was outfitting, a large number of ponies were brought in +from neighboring camps and ranches. The party was soon creditably +mounted, though the number had increased to double that originally +planned. + +Next, teams must be employed. A number of these were also found, and +five were engaged, their owners agreeing to work for seven dollars a day +"and found." + +Guns and ammunition were also in demand, and enough were offered to arm +a regiment. A number of hunters had recently come in from the front and +were selling off their outfits. Every store and hotel had from one to +half a dozen guns in pawn, and one dealer had a number of new ones. +Anything in the shape of a rifle could be had. Old Kentucky +muzzle-loaders, "five feet long in the barrel;" condemned army carbines +of Spencer, Sharps, and other patterns; Springfield muskets; Henry and +Winchester rifles; and a few of the old reliable Sharps "buffalo guns" +of 45 and 50 calibre, and using 100 to 120 grains of powder. These +latter were taken at good figures by the more knowing ones, and the best +of the others selected by the less intelligent buyers until all were +fairly well armed. + +Then a guide was needed, and a Chicago newspaper correspondent, who was +to be a member of the expedition, was deputed to employ one. As usual in +frontier towns, there were plenty of them, each one of whom, in his own +estimation, was the best in the whole country. Each claimed to know +every foot of the ground in question, to be able to speak the language +of every Indian tribe on the frontier, to be a crack shot and intrepid +horseman, afraid of nothing, and ready for any undertaking, no matter +how hazardous. + +Inquiry among the more reliable citizens of the town as to who was best +suited for the uses of the present enterprise resulted in the choice of +a rather quiet and attractive-looking young man bearing the euphonious +pseudonym of "Red River Frank." He was clad in the conventional buckskin +suit, and his long glossy black hair hung in heavy curls down to his +shoulders. He was six feet two inches in height, straight as an arrow, +and had a deep, clear gray eye; rode a good sized spirited mustang, and +sat in his saddle like a life-trained trooper. + +At the time appointed for the departure, the party, which had now +swelled to thirty-two men all told, assembled in the public square. The +wagons were loaded with the tents, bedding, food, and other necessary +provisions for the trip, which, it was arranged, should occupy about six +weeks. At ten o'clock the party rode out of town on the road leading +west, taking with them the hearty good wishes of the assembled throng. +They crossed a narrow belt of timber and emerged upon a stretch of +gently undulating prairie, which was densely covered with a luxuriant +growth of gramma grass, and over which they traveled at a lively gait +until after sundown before again reaching timber and water. Then they +camped on a small creek where food, fuel, and good water were abundant. +The tents were pitched, supper prepared and eaten, and then the party +assembled around a large camp fire. + +The lawyer arose, and requesting the attention of the men, said that, as +they were going on a long journey into a wild country, which was +infested with hostile Indians and lawless white men, where it might be +necessary for this party to defend themselves and their property by +force of arms, it was thought best to effect a permanent and binding +organization, which would insure unity of action throughout the trip, +and especially in the event of any such trouble as he had intimated +might arise. He therefore nominated as chief executive officer of the +expedition, Captain W. H. Enders, who, he said, had done good and +faithful service during the late war; who, since the war, had traveled +extensively in the West, and who was now engaged in cattle raising in +Kansas. Several men seconded the nomination, and Captain Enders was +unanimously chosen by acclamation. + +He arose and thanked his friends, modestly and gracefully, for this mark +of their esteem and confidence, stating that he had no desire to +exercise any arbitrary or unnecessary authority over them, but should +only order them in so far as safety and success in their undertaking +seemed necessary. He asked that all who were willing to stand by him and +obey his orders to this extent should so pledge themselves by rising to +their feet. The entire party arose. Then their leader thanked them +again, and their informal deliberation ended. + +The captain detailed four men to act as a guard over the camp and stock +during the night, each watching two hours and then calling up the one +who was to relieve him, and this precaution was followed up throughout +the expedition. + +The men were tired from their long ride, and sought the comfort of their +blankets at an early hour. As they had a ten days' journey before them +to reach the buffalo range, it was agreed that they should start early +each morning, and the camp fires were therefore ordered to be lit at +four o'clock. + +The journey was uneventful for several days. The road upon which the +party had first traveled bearing off to the southwest, and the course of +our party being due west, they left it. "Red River Frank" now sustained +his good reputation as a guide by selecting with excellent skill and +judgment the best portion of the country to travel in, avoiding the +numerous swamps and sandy plains, finding safe and easy fords across the +streams, and selecting good camp sites for each night. + +They were now in a country where deer and turkeys were abundant, and +their tables were bountifully supplied with fresh meat. They camped on +the night of November 12 in a clump of tall cottonwood trees that +skirted a small creek. Just at dusk a great rush of wings was heard in +the air, and, looking in the direction from whence the sound came, a +large flock of wild turkeys was seen sailing directly toward their camp, +and, a moment later, they lit in the trees amongst which our party was +camped. Instantly every rifle was brought forth, and the whole camp was +ablaze with burning powder. The smoke floated up amongst the dazed and +panic-stricken birds, who fluttered wildly and aimlessly from tree to +tree, knocking their wings against each other and the dead limbs, and +making a most frightful noise. + +The hunters scattered and tongues of flame shot up from every quarter. +Volley after volley was fired. The roar of the rifles interspersed with +the "thud" and "crash" of falling birds, the shouts of the excited +throng, the neighing of terrified horses, the barking of dogs, turned +the quiet camp of a few moments ago into a veritable pandemonium. The +slaughter went on for, perhaps, twenty minutes, when the more humane +became ashamed of themselves and quit. Finally they prevailed upon their +friends to desist, and the dead game was gathered up. Sixty-three of +these noble birds had met their death, and the survivors were allowed to +sit quietly and watch the camp fires till morning, when they sailed away +toward the east. + +In the afternoon of that day, Frank and the journalist were riding in +advance of the column across a level, monotonous stretch of country, +where there was little to attract attention or excite remark. They had +already become warm friends and talked confidentially on many subjects, +but Frank had said nothing of his past history, yet his strange demeanor +at times had excited in the mind of the newspaper man an anxiety to know +what had moved this refined, generous, scholarly young man to adopt a +life so uncivilized as the one he was living. + +"Frank," he finally said, "I have no wish to question you on a subject +that you may not wish to speak on, yet I have observed many traits in +you that are not found in other men of your calling. I am of the opinion +that you have been bred in a very different sphere of life from this in +which you now live. If you have no objection, I should like to know what +motive prompted you to adopt this wild life." + +He bit his lip and hesitated. Finally, after some moments, he said: + +"Well, I'll tell you how it came about, and I'll make the story brief. +It is similar to that of many another scout, in general, but different +in detail, perhaps, from any of them. I was born and bred in an Eastern +city, and was being educated for the ministry. My father failed in +business and I was compelled to leave school. He gathered what little +was left of his shattered fortune, and with his family emigrated to the +far West. There he engaged in farming on what was then the frontier, but +before we had been there six months we were awakened one morning at +daylight by the yells of savage Indians, and, looking out, beheld them +all around us. They were Comanches. + +"Our house was burned. My father was tomahawked and scalped before our +eyes, and my mother, my sister (who was older than I), and myself were +carried into captivity. I was fortunate enough to escape. I returned and +organized a pursuing party, but our efforts were fruitless, and a few +months later I learned from a half-breed that death had relieved the +sufferings of my mother and sister. That was twenty years ago. I was +fifteen years old then, and from that day to this I have been on the +trail of that tribe. I boast of nothing, but each year I feel better +satisfied with my work. I hope that, in time, I may feel content to +return East and engage in some lawful and more congenial pursuit." + +At that instant a deer bounded up out of the tall grass a hundred yards +ahead and went prancing away to the left. Frank caught his rifle from +the sling at his saddle bow and sent a bullet through its head. + +Early the next morning the hunters came upon fresh buffalo signs, and in +the afternoon a few stragglers were seen. One was killed in the evening, +and on the creek where they camped that night fresh Indian camp signs +were found. A small herd of buffalo came to the creek to drink, a mile +below, just after sundown, and various facts indicated that they were +near the main herd. All through the next day they were in sight of small +bands, and several hunting parties were sighted, some white and some +red. The feed was getting scarce, owing to its having been eaten down by +the game, and at two o'clock the party camped on Willow creek, a small +tributary of the Brazos river. The main herd was yet about ten miles +away, but the hunters could not consistently go any nearer for a +permanent camp, and decided to make it here. Two white hunters visited +them in the evening, and told them that a party of ten Comanches were +camped on Turtle creek seven miles further west. At this intelligence +Frank's face darkened and his eye gleamed, but he said nothing. Soon +after dark, however, he was missing, and did not turn up again till near +noon the next day. He had a different horse from the one he rode away; +not so good a one, it is true, and there were two bullet holes in his +coat. He was reticent and uncommunicative as to where he had been, but +wore a very pleased expression on his countenance, and was occasionally +seen to smile when not talking with anyone. + +[Illustration: NATIVE BUFFALO HUNTERS.] + +The majority of the hunters mounted and rode southwest early in the +morning. Seven men in one party sighted a herd of buffaloes numbering +about 200, and dismounting, when within a mile, cached their horses in a +coulee, and began a cautious advance. + +They found a deep and crooked ravine into which they crawled, and in +which they were able to approach to within about 400 yards of the +nearest animals. A gentle breeze blew from the game toward the hunters, +and taking advantage of the most favorable point, they crawled up the +steep bank to where they could command a good view of the game. The +"tenderfeet" in the party were in favor of firing a volley, but an old +hunter who had led them advised them to fire singly, and at intervals of +a minute or two, this plan being much less likely to frighten the game. +He cautioned them to take very careful aim, to make every shot count, +and to wound as few animals as possible. One slightly wounded animal, he +said, would create more uneasiness among the herd than ten dead or +fatally wounded ones. + +Several of this party were good marksmen, and had good strong-shooting, +long-range rifles. Though, they shot heavy charges, yet, the wind in +their favor, at this long distance, the animals would scarcely hear the +reports. The leader advised them to shoot only at animals broadside, and +gave them careful directions as to elevation and where to aim. Evans +opened the fire with a sixteen-pound 50-calibre Sharp's. Immediately +after the report the emphatic "thud" of the bullet came back and a large +cow was seen to drop on her knees, get up again, stagger away a few rods +and lie down. + +"Good," said the old hunter. "Now, Pete, you go." + +"Pete fired, and an old bull whisked his tail, walked sullenly away, +turned around a few times, and fell dead. Another complimentary remark +from the old hunter, and then he said: + +"Now I guess I'll try one." + +He fired, but to his great chagrin did just what he had cautioned the +others not to do, broke a fore leg below the knee. This cow commenced to +bellow and "buck," and in an instant the whole herd was in commotion. + +"Stop her, somebody, stop her, or she'll stampede the hull bizness!" he +said, as he pushed another bullet into his muzzle loader. By this time +she had stopped broadside, for a moment, at the edge of the herd, and +the journalist, at the order of the boss, drew a bead on her. The "spat" +of the heavy bullet told of a palpable "hit". She no longer felt like +running, but was not yet down and it took two more bullets to lay her +out. The next shot was a clean miss, so far as it concerned the animal +shot at, but it wounded one somewhere in the herd. Then there was more +commotion and it was evident the "stand" was at an end. + +"Give it to 'em, everybody," the old hunter now said, and a fusillade +followed that soon put them under full speed. + +The hunters now mounted their horses and made a "run" on the band that +resulted in some very exciting sport and the death of three more +buffaloes. This over, they returned to the scene of the first firing and +gralloched the seven animals killed "on the stand." Then they mounted +their tired beasts again and were on the point of starting for camp when +they heard strange noises, and looking toward the west beheld a great +black surging mass, waving and rolling up across the prairie, half +hidden by great clouds of dust which were only occasionally blown away +by the brisk autumn wind. It was the great herd of buffalo, and they had +been stampeded by the Indian hunters. The roar of the hoofs upon the dry +earth was like the low and sullen thunder. The vanguard of the herd was +yet more than a mile away, but the dark line stretched to right and left +almost as far as the eye could reach, and our hunters saw that instant +and precipitate flight was necessary in order to save their lives. They +specially chose the northward as offering the shortest and best +direction by which to escape the coming avalanche, and sinking the spurs +deep into their terror-stricken beasts, they flew with the velocity of +an arrow across the wild prairie. A mile was covered in a few seconds, +and yet they were not past the herd, which was rapidly closing in upon +them. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST RUN.] + +They turned their horses' heads partly in the direction the buffaloes +were going and, urging them to their utmost speed, finally passed the +outer line of the herd just as the leaders passed by. Then, having +reached a place of safety, they dismounted, and throwing their bridle +reins over their arms commenced to load and fire into the herd with all +possible rapidity, nearly every shot killing or disabling an animal. It +took nearly half an hour for the rolling, surging, angry horde to pass +the point where our hunters stood, and as the rear guard came in sight +there came a new and still more terrible scene in the great tragedy. + +More than a hundred Indians were in hot pursuit of the savage beasts. +They were mounted on wild and almost ungovernable bronchos, who were +frothing at the mouth, charging and cavorting amongst the fleeing game. +The white foam dropped in flakes and bubbles from all parts of their +bodies. Their nostrils were distended, their eyes flashed fire, and they +seemed as eager as their wild masters to deal death to the buffaloes. +The savage riders seemed beside themselves with mad, ungovernable +passion. + +Their faces were painted in the most glaring colors, their bright and +many-colored blankets fluttered in the wind secured to the saddle only +by an end or a corner, their long black hair streaming back like the +pennant at the mast head of a ship, and their deep black eyes gleamed +like coals of fire in a dungeon. Arrow after arrow flew from deep-strung +bows and sunk to the feathered tip in the quivering flesh of the shaggy +monsters. + +Ponderous spears were hurled with the power and precision of giants and +struck down the defenceless victims as a sturdy woodman strikes down the +frail sapling in his path. + +"Crack!" "crack!" came from rifles, and "ping!" "ping!" from carbines +and revolvers. Hundreds of shots were fired by those who carried +firearms, and before these murderous weapons, the poor bison sank like +ripened grain before the reaper's blade. + +One young warrior, more ardent and fearless than the rest, had forced +his high-strung steed far into the midst of the solid phalanx, where the +horse was finally impaled upon the horns of a monster bull. He and his +rider were tossed like sheaves of wheat into the air; then both sank to +earth, and were instantly trodden into the dust. + +At last the great storm had passed, and our friends watched until it +faded away in the distance and finally disappeared from their view. + +Then came the squaws, the boys, and the old men, to dispatch the wounded +and to skin and cut up the dead. These were strewn all over the prairie, +and not a tithe of them were, or could be, saved by all the people, +white and red, assembled there. + +Our hunters returned to camp at sunset, where they met those of their +companions who had been out during the afternoon, and over the evening +camp fire, each related the thrilling incidents which he had witnessed, +or in which he had participated during the day. + +On the following morning they again started out in several parties of +five or six each and going in various directions. Frank and the +newspaper man started with three others, but soon separated from them to +go after a small band which they had sighted about two miles south of +camp. + +When within a proper distance, they dismounted, picketed their horses in +a swale, and stalking to within about a hundred yards opened fire. A +young cow dropped at the first shot, to all appearances dead, and the +remainder of the band scurried away, one old bull being badly wounded. +The hunters started to run to the top of a ridge, over which the game +had gone, to get another shot. As they passed the cow the guide called +to his companion to look out for her, as she was only "creased" and +liable to get up again and charge them. They had gone but a few rods, +when, sure enough, she did spring to her feet and make a dash at Frank. +He turned to shoot her, but his gun missed fire, and as he attempted to +throw out the cartridge, the action failed to work, and his gun was, for +the moment, disabled. By this time she was almost on him, and as his +only means of escape, he sprang into a "washout" (a ditch that had been +cut by the water, some ten feet deep), the sides of which were +perpendicular. + +He called loudly for help, but his friend had not seen the charge, and +was by this time a hundred yards away. He turned and saw the cow, almost +blind with rage, rapidly jumping back and forth across the washout, in a +mad effort to get at the guide, but she seemed unwilling to jump down +into it. She was shot through the throat, and the blood, flowing from +her in torrents, had deluged poor Frank, until he looked as if he had +been at work in a slaughter-house. The scribe ran back, killed the cow, +and drew his friend from his sanguinary retreat. + +The guide then repaired his gun, and mounting their horses they pursued +the wounded bull. They soon found him at bay, and riding up close to +him, commenced firing at him with their revolvers. Quick as a flash of +lightning he made a frightful charge at the journalist, who, taken by +surprise, was unable to avoid the rush. Both horse and rider were dashed +to the earth. The horse was so badly injured as to be unable to rise, +and as the burly antagonist made another rush at him, the man was +enabled to seek safety in flight, and before the bull again turned his +attention to the fugitive, the rapid and well-directed fire of the scout +had brought the shaggy beast to the earth. + +The horse was fatally injured and had to be shot, so our friends, with +one horse between them, took turns riding and walking to camp. + +This day's killing by the party was large, and supplied all their wants +as to meat, skins, and sport. The next few days were devoted to jerking +meat, dressing and drying skins, and preparing for the return journey, +and in ten days from the date of their arrival on the hunting ground, +the teams were all loaded up, camp was broken, and the homeward march +was begun, which progressed uneventfully from day to day, and was made +in safety in about the same time occupied in going out. + +Twice during the hunt the party were alarmed by the discovery of Indians +lurking about their camp, late in the night. The guards discovered them +in both instances, and fired on them, when they beat a hasty retreat and +disappeared in the darkness. It was not known that their object was +anything worse than pilfering, and yet there was little doubt that had +they found the party all off guard and asleep, a massacre would have +resulted. But, true to their aboriginal instincts, they did not wish to +engage in a fight with a formidable foe, whom they found ever ready for +such an emergency. + +[Illustration: PROWLERS.] + +Such scenes and such sport as this party enjoyed were common almost +anywhere on the great plains west of the Missouri river up to a few +years ago. Herds of buffalo extending over a tract of land, as large as +one of the New England States, and numbering hundreds of thousands of +heads, might be found any day in what was then "buffalo country." An +army officer told me that, when crossing the plains in 1867 with a +company of cavalry, he encountered a herd that it took his command three +days to ride through, marching about thirty miles a day. + +When two of our transcontinental railways were first built it was no +uncommon thing for herds of buffalo to delay trains for several hours in +crossing the tracks, the animals being packed in so close together that +the train could not force a passage through them. + +But, alas, those days are passed forever. This noble creature, provided +to feed the human multitude who should people the prairies, is to-day +practically extinct; slaughtered and annihilated by that jackal of the +plains, that coyote in human shape, the "skin hunter." Hundreds of +thousands of buffaloes were annually killed, their skins sold at from +seventy-five cents to a dollar and a half each, and the meat which, when +properly taken care of, is equal, if not superior, to the finest +domestic beef, was left to rot on the ground. + +There are scarcely a hundred buffaloes left on the continent to day in +their wild state. A very few stragglers are known to be in the Panhandle +of Texas, a small bunch in the Yellowstone National Park, and a few in +the British Northwest, but they are being remorselessly pursued by large +numbers of hunters, and it is safe to say that a year hence not one will +be left in the whole broad West unless it be those in the park, and they +will escape only in case they stay within the park limits where they are +protected by United States soldiers. Should they ever stray beyond the +bounds of the park they will all be killed in less than a week. + +Several small bunches have been domesticated by Western cattlemen, and +it is hoped the species may, by this means, be saved from total +extinction. They are being successfully cross-bred with domestic +cattle, and an excellent strain of stock is thus produced, but the grand +herds that for ages roamed at will over the great plains are a thing of +the past. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +HUNTING THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. + + +There is, perhaps, no large mammal in this country of which the +scientific world and the reading public in general knows so little as of +the Rocky Mountain goat (_Aplocerus Montanus_). There are several +reasons for this. First, its limited range. It is confined to a small +area of the Rocky Mountains, principally west of the main divide; to +Western Montana, Eastern Idaho, the Cascade Range in Washington +Territory, a small portion of British Columbia, and to Alaska. Secondly, +its habitat is the tops or near the tops of the highest and most rugged +peaks and cliffs, where none but the hardiest and most daring hunter may +venture in pursuit of it, and so comparatively very few are ever killed +and brought into the settlements. Third, it can not be successfully +domesticated. Its favorite food is so different from that generally +growing in or near any settlement, the atmosphere it breathes, the mean +temperature in which it lives, and the ground, or rather rocks, on which +it is accustomed to walk, so widely different from those surrounding any +human habitation, that the few young that have been captured and +brought down to the settlements have soon died. So that none of them are +found in parks and zoological gardens, as are specimens of nearly all +other large wild animals. + +There are fewer mounted skins of this animal in Eastern museums than of +any other species indigenous to this country, and hence the public and +naturalists have had fewer opportunities to study and become familiar +with it than with other wild mammals. Yet it is one of the most +beautiful and interesting of all our American quadrupeds, and probably +no sportsman or naturalist has ever yet mustered courage and hardihood +enough to go where he could kill a Rocky Mountain goat without feeling +amply repaid for all the labor and hardship encountered by being able to +behold this mystic creature in his lofty mountain home. In view of the +limited facilities people have had for studying this animal a somewhat +minute description of it may not be amiss here. + +In size it is but a trifle larger than the Merino sheep, which, in fact, +it closely resembles in many respects. The form of its body is robust, +fore parts rather thicker than hinder parts, with a slight hump over +shoulders, similar to that of the American bison. Its color is entirely +white, or, in some instances, of a light creamy shade. Hair long and +pendant. A beard-like tuft of hair on the chin. Long coarse hair, more +abundant, on shoulders, neck, and back. Under and intermixed with this +long hair there is a close coat of fine, silky, white wool, equal in +fineness to that of the Cashmere goat. Hair on face and legs short and +without wool. Horns (which are present in both sexes) jet black, small, +conical, nearly erect, polished, and curving slightly backward; ringed +or wrinkled at the base, much like those of the chamois. Muzzle and +hoofs also black. False or accessory hoofs present. Dentition: Incisors, +8 lower; canines, none; molars, 12 upper, 12 lower; total 32. The +mountain goat brings forth two or three young at a time, usually late in +May or early in June. Slightly gregarious, being frequently found in +small bands in winter, but in summer season not more than a single +family is usually seen together, and in summer and fall the older males +may frequently be found entirely alone. The nose is nearly straight, +ears rather long, pointed, and lined with long hair. Tail six to eight +inches long, clothed with long hair. Legs thick and short. Hoofs grooved +on sole and provided with a thick spongy mass of cartilage in centre, +projecting below the outer edges of hoof, enabling the animal to cling +firmly to steep or smooth rocks. The dimensions of one adult male +specimen measured are as follows: Length from tip of nose to root of +tail, 3 feet 7 inches; length of tail, 7 inches; length of head, 11-3/4 +inches; length of horns, 8-1/2 inches; diameter of horns at base, 1 +inch. Its estimated gross weight is 130 pounds. + +The food of the mountain goat consists principally, in summer, of the +leaves of the alder and of various mountain shrubs, and in winter of +mosses and lichens that grow on the rocks. + +_Aplocerus Montanus_ is much more closely allied to the antelope than to +the domestic goat, and has few characteristics in common with the +latter genus. He is an agile, fearless climber, and appears to delight +in scaling the tallest, grandest, and most rugged crags and cliffs to be +found in the ranges which he inhabits, not so much in quest of his +favorite food, for this grows abundantly lower down, but apparently from +a mere spirit of daring; from a desire to breathe the rarest and purest +atmosphere obtainable, and to view the grandest scenery under the sun +without having his vision in the least obstructed by intervening +objects. These forbidding and almost inaccessible crags are the +favorite, and nearly the exclusive, haunts of this strange creature, and +the hunter who follows it thither must indeed be a daring mountaineer. +The goat is frequently found at altitudes of 10,000 to 14,000 feet, +where the atmosphere is so rare as to render it difficult indeed for man +to climb, yet this fearless creature nimbly leaps from crag to crag, +over deep yawning chasms, with no more fear than the domestic lamb feels +when bounding over the greensward in an Eastern farmyard. + +The hunter literally takes his life in his hand when pursuing the goat, +for he must pass over many places where a misstep or a slip of a few +inches would plunge him over a precipice, where he would fall thousands +of feet, or be hurled into some narrow and deep fissure in the rocks +whence escape would be impossible. + +Over such rugged and perilous ground he may climb, hour after hour, +until he has passed the highest ranges of the elk, the mountain sheep, +and all the other game, for the mountain goat, "the American chamois," +as he has been aptly termed, ranges higher than any of them. He may +toil on until he is far above timber line, and is working his way over +and around vast drifts and beds of perpetual snow and ice. Finally he +sights his game--a fine handsome specimen--standing fearlessly on some +jutting crag, deliberately feeding on some tender lichens or, perhaps, +peering proudly out over the lower world. The hunter now changes his +course until he can conceal himself behind some neighboring rock, and +then crawls stealthily and cautiously up to within rifle range of the +game. Then, peering cautiously from behind his cover, he takes careful +aim and fires. He is a dead shot and the rifle ball pierces the heart of +the quarry, but to his dismay it makes a convulsive bound and down it +goes over the precipice, rebounding from crag to crag, until it finally +reaches a resting place hundreds of feet below. It may go to where he +can never reach it, or may land where he can recover it on his return +down the mountain side; but if the latter, it may be torn to fragments +and scattered here and there until the hide is useless, the horns are +broken off, the skull crushed so that the head is unfit to mount, and +the flesh so bruised and mangled that he can scarcely save enough of it +to make him a dinner. + +A few years ago an officer of the United States army and a party of +friends were hunting goats in the Bitter Root Mountains, near Missoula, +Mont. They followed two--a male and female--to the top of a rough and +dangerous peak, when the game, before they could get a shot at it, +started down the opposite side and took refuge from the hunters under a +shelving rock. Here it was, owing to the nature of the rocks and ice, +absolutely impossible for the hunters to follow them on foot, but the +intrepid officer, not to be baffled in the pursuit, tied a long rope +securely around his body, just under his arms, laid down, and grasping +his rifle slid quietly down, on a bed of ice, some sixty or seventy +feet, while his companions held on to the other end of the rope and +controlled his perilous descent. Finally, when he had gone far enough to +be able to see the game, he signaled his friends, who stopped him, and +raising on his elbows he fired and killed both goats, and was then drawn +up again in safety. Such, however, was the nature of the rocks between +him and the carcasses that it was utterly impossible to reach them after +he had killed them, and he was compelled reluctantly to abandon them. +Several members of the party tried to reach them from other points, but +were unable to do so, and they were all obliged to return empty-handed +to camp. + +In another instance this same officer, upon crawling out on the edge of +a shelving rock and looking down over a precipice hundreds of feet +below, saw two goats near the base, but they were actually inside of a +perpendicular line running down from the edge of the rock he occupied, +and he was therefore unable to bring his rifle to bear upon them without +projecting his body out over the edge of the rock further than was safe. +After discussing the matter for some minutes, one of his friends offered +to hold his feet and thus enable him to extend his head and shoulders +far enough out to get his aim. By this means both of the goats were +killed, but a party had to go around and ascend the mountain from the +other side in order to secure them. + +The same party, while climbing the rugged and almost perpendicular face +of Little Mountain to bring down some goats they had already killed, +came suddenly upon a large buck in a narrow V-shaped fissure in the +rock, from which there was no escape but by the opening at which they +had entered, and across this they formed a skirmish line. The goat +climbed upon a narrow projection on one of the walls of the fissure just +out of reach of the tallest man in the party, and as they had no rifles +with them (having left them below to lighten the labor of the ascent), +they tried to dislodge him by throwing rocks at him, but their footing +was so insecure and there was such great danger of their falling that +they could not hurl these with sufficient force to bring him down though +several of them hit him. If they had had a rope they could easily have +lassoed him, but there was no such thing at hand. They finally decided +to leave one of the men to guard their prisoner, and on their return to +camp another man took a rifle, went back, killed the goat, and the two +bore him triumphantly down to camp. The gentleman says: "Had I not been +an eye witness, and had I subsequently been shown the place where the +goat stood thus at bay, I could scarcely have believed it possible for +anything larger than a fly to have found footing there." + +Fortunately, however, the successful hunting of the goat is not always +thus perilous, for though he habitually selects for his home the +roughest and most inaccessible peaks to be found in the mountains, yet +he sometimes ranges on more favorable ground, and if the sportsman be so +fortunate as to find him there he may be killed and saved. They range +somewhat lower in winter than in summer, but never even then venture +down into the caņons or valleys, as do all the other large mountain +animals. They only come down upon the lower peaks and ridges, and remain +about the rocky walls, which are so precipitous that the snow can not +lie on them to any considerable depth. Their power of climbing over and +walking on these almost perpendicular rock walls is utterly astounding. +They will walk along the side of an upright projecting ledge that towers +hundreds of feet above and below them where a shelf projects not more +than four or five inches wide. They will climb straight up an almost +perpendicular wall, if only slightly rough and irregular, so that they +can get a chance to hold on with their spongy hoofs here and there. And +they seem to select these difficult passes in many instances when a +good, easy passage could be had to the place to which they are bound by +going a little further around. They seem to delight in scaling a +dangerous cliff as a courageous boy does in climbing the tallest tree. I +once saw where a goat had walked straight up over a smooth flat slab of +granite ten feet wide, that laid at an angle of about fifty degrees, and +that was covered with about two inches of wet snow and slush. I could +not climb up it with moccasins on my feet, and no dog could have +followed him there. This faculty is accounted for by the peculiar shape +and quality of their hoofs before described. + +The skin of the Rocky Mountain goat has never had any regular commercial +value. The stiff, coarse, brittle hair that is mixed with the wool +renders them unsuitable for robes or rugs, and this hair can not readily +be plucked out. The only demand for them is for mounting. Very few white +hunters and none of the Indians understand how to skin and preserve them +properly for this purpose, and this fact, taken in connection with that +of the rough and dangerous nature of the ground they inhabit, makes it +difficult to secure good skins, or even heads for mounting. + +The flesh of the goat is edible, but in the adult animal is dry and +tasteless. When kids of less than a year old can be obtained, their +flesh is tender and toothsome. They are not hunted, therefore, for meat, +for in the ranges where they are found, deer, mountain sheep, or elks +can be obtained much lower down and are much more desirable for the +table. + +During a sojourn of a month in the Bitter Root Mountains, near Missoula, +Mont., last fall I had some very exciting, not to say dangerous, +experiences in hunting this animal. We were camped in Lost Horse Caņon, +through which flows a typical mountain stream. The walls on both sides +are very abrupt and from three to four thousand feet in height. That on +the north is covered from bottom to top with great masses of granite +that have been broken loose from the cliffs at the top by earthquakes, +the action of frost, or other agency, and have tumbled down, breaking +into irregular-shaped fragments, of all sizes, lodging and piling on top +of each other in such a manner as to form a gigantic sort of pavement +from the top of the mountain to the foot. There were narrow strips of +the mountain side that had escaped these fallen masses. Here the +outcropping granite remained in its natural shape--irregular ledges with +small patches of earth intervening. Pines, hemlocks, cedars, and various +kinds of shrubs grew in these places as far up the mountain side as the +timber line. + +I ascended this north wall one morning and after a weary and toilsome +climb of about two miles, and when in snow about six inches deep, I came +upon the track of a very large goat. It was some hours old, but he had +been feeding deliberately along the mountain side, and as they are not +rapid travelers in any case, I knew he was not a great distance away. I +took up the trail and followed it. It led over a succession of these +vast rock piles, which, owing to their being covered with snow, made the +traveling doubly dangerous. A slight misstep at any point, or an +unfortunate slip would be liable to let my foot drop in between two of +these rocks and throw me in such a way as to break a leg, an arm, or +possibly my head. The greatest care was therefore necessary in picking +my way over this dangerous country, and I was frequently struck with the +wise provisions which Nature makes for fulfilling her ends when I saw +where the animal I was pursuing had bounded lightly from rock to rock +over chasms many feet in width; or where he had walked up the sharp edge +of some slab of granite not more than three or four inches wide and +lying at a high angle; or where he had walked up over a flat slab of it, +tilted so steep that no other large animal in the mountains could have +followed him. There were many of his passages in which I could not +follow, but I had to make slow and tortuous detours, coming upon his +trail again beyond these most dangerous points. + +Had he traveled straight ahead I could never have overtaken him, but the +time he consumed in frequently stopping to nip the tender leaves of the +mountain alder or the juicy lichens that grow upon the rocks proved +fatal to him, and finally, after a chase of probably two miles and when +near the top of the peak close to timber line, I came in sight of him. +He was truly a beautiful creature. There he stood, unconscious of +approaching danger, looking calmly out across a neighboring caņon as if +enjoying the grand scenery about him. Occasionally he turned to take a +mouthful of some delicate mountain herb that stood near him. The pale +creamy white of his fleece contrasted delicately and beautifully with +the green of the cedars, the golden autumn-colored leaves of the shrubs, +the dull gray of the granite rocks, and the pure white of the early +autumn snow. The sunlight glistened upon the polished black of his +proudly curved and beautifully rounded horns, and his large black eyes +gleamed as with conscious innocence and pride. I contemplated his +majestic mien for several minutes before I could nerve myself to the +task of taking his life, but finally the hunter's instinct conquered my +more delicate feelings. I put my rifle to my shoulder, pressed the +gently yielding trigger, and in an instant more his life blood crimsoned +the driven snow. + +After making temporary disposition of his remains, I returned as rapidly +as possible to camp to get my photographic outfit and some help to +carry him in, for we were short of meat at the time. It was three +o'clock in the afternoon when I reached camp, and, eating a hasty lunch, +I started back up the mountain with three of my friends. + +When we again reached the carcass it was five o'clock, and our work must +be done hastily in order to get down the mountain as far as possible +before dark. To add to the discomfort of our undertaking a drizzling +rain set in just as I was ready to make the views. I exposed a couple of +plates, however, which fortunately turned out fairly. We then set to +work to skin him as rapidly as possible, and as soon as this was +accomplished we started on our return to camp, two of the men taking the +two hind quarters of the animal, another my camera, and I the skin and +head. With these loads, weighing from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds +each, besides our rifles, and considering the difficult and dangerous +nature of the ground we had to travel over and the fact that it was +already beginning to grow dark, we had, indeed, a perilous journey +before us. Climbing over these rock piles when covered with snow was +difficult enough work in daylight, but to attempt it in the darkness and +now that it was raining heavily, the snow having become wet and slushy +and the rocks more slippery than before, it was doubly perilous. + +Our course lay diagonally down and along the side of the mountain, and +as long as the light was sufficient to at all see where we were stepping +we made fair progress. Frequently, however, someone would slip and fall, +but fortunately without receiving any serious injury. We were often +compelled to hold to some shrub or tree and let ourselves down over +projecting rocks several feet, where we could not possibly have stood up +without such aid. + +Finally, when we were yet less than half way down the mountain side, it +became pitch dark. Here we sat down to rest. The rain was falling in +torrents, and but for the snow on the ground we could not now have seen +a step ahead of us. We had entered one of those more favored strips of +land where the falling rocks had not covered the ground entirely, and +where there was a considerable growth of timber, both large trees and +underbrush. I was in favor of going straight down through this into the +creek bottom where we could at least walk in safety, even if our +progress should be slower. One of my friends--Mr. Overturf--agreed with +me, but the other two--Mr. McWhirk and Mr. Hinchman--preferred to +continue over the rocks in a direct line to camp. We therefore decided +to separate, Frank and I going straight down through this strip of +timber and over the smoother ground, and the other two following the +more direct course. + +We two reached the foot of the mountain in about an hour more; not, +however, without encountering serious difficulties in grasping and +finding our way down over precipitous rocks and earth, hanging on to one +limb or shrub until we came in reach of another, and thus letting +ourselves down safely. We were then about a mile and a half from camp. +The creek bottom was densely timbered. There was a dim game trail +leading through it up to our camp, but it was impossible to follow it in +the darkness, and, in fact, it required the closest attention of +experienced woodsmen and hunters to follow it in daylight. We were +therefore utterly at sea. We were safe, however, and we heaved a sigh of +relief when we found ourselves on level ground, for none of us had +relished the idea of having a bone broken in that country, so far from +medical aid and home comforts. + +Great snow slides had for ages been coming down these mountain sides +bringing their débris, such as rocks, and logs, and whole trees with +them. These had frequently gone some distance into the creek bottom, +breaking and felling all the trees in their path. Tornadoes had raged +through the caņon, also, breaking and lopping trees in various +directions, so that we now encountered a body of woods through which the +most expert woodsman could not possibly travel more than a mile an hour +in daylight. Add to this the cimmerian darkness in which we were now +groping (for there was no snow here in the bottom of the caņon) and the +reader may well imagine that our progress was slow and tedious in the +extreme. + +We sat down and held another consultation. I favored building a fire and +staying there till morning, but Frank preferred pushing on to camp, so I +acquiesced. We soon found, however, that it was utterly impossible for +us to get through these windfalls in the darkness and with our heavy +loads, and decided as a last resort to get into the bed of the creek and +wade up it. We were already wet to the skin from head to foot, and this +wading could be no worse than clambering over logs and through jungles +of wet underbrush. We soon reached the creek and our hearts sank within +us as we listened to its tumultuous roar and looked upon its angry +bosom, for here we were enabled to see slightly, owing to the faint +light admitted through the narrow opening in the trees overhead, how +rough and boisterous it was! Its bed was a succession of bowlders from +the size of a man's head to that of a small house, and its waters, +coming direct from the snow, were ice cold. Yet to camp here was to +suffer all night from wet and cold, and we preferred to push on. + +By keeping near the shore we could nearly all the time have brush to +hang to and steady ourselves, but where there were none of these in +reach our rubber boots slipped on the smooth wet rocks, and several +times we fell into the icy flood up to our chins. Once, in particular, I +fell in water nearly three feet deep, dropped my gun and it went to the +bottom. I fished it out, however, staggered to my feet, and struggled +on. + +After nearly two hours of this terrible trudging, wading, and +staggering, we at last reached camp at eleven o'clock at night and +triumphantly deposited our burdens within the tent. + +Our two friends, from whom we had separated _en route_, had arrived only +half an hour ahead of us, and notwithstanding the rain, which still fell +heavily, Dr. Hale, who had remained in camp, had a great log-heap fire +blazing in front of the tent. A pot of coffee steamed by the fire, and a +sumptuous supper of broiled bear steaks, baked potatoes, and hot +biscuits awaited us, but I was too tired to eat. I drank a pint of hot +coffee, put on dry flannels, crawled into my blankets, and slept soundly +till morning. + +As further illustrating the habits of the mountain goat and the perils +attending its capture, I may be permitted to narrate the experience of +Mr. Westlake, a ranchman in Eastern Idaho, who attempted to procure a +pair of skins for a friend in the East a few years ago. He employed a +Flathead Indian as guide and assistant, who claimed to know the country +thoroughly in which they purposed hunting, and to have had considerable +experience in hunting goats. Mr. Westlake provided himself with a good +saddle-horse and one pack-horse, a rifle, camp outfit, including a small +tent, and provisions for himself and the Indian for twenty days. The +Indian was fairly mounted on a small but tough Indian pony and well +armed. They set out on September 2, and traveled across the country to +the Clearwater river, up which they rode several days, over a very +difficult and tedious trail, and when well up toward the head of the +stream they reached the mouth of one of its tributaries which debouches +from a deep and rugged caņon. Up this they decided to go, for it was +their intention to reach the Bitter Root Mountains, one of the best +known ranges for the goat. + +This caņon proved, like many others in that region, almost impassable +for man or beast, and it was with the utmost difficulty and by the +endurance of untold and incredible hardships that they were able to make +seven or eight miles a day. They encountered plenty of game in the +caņon, however, among which were elks, bears, and mule-deer, and the +creek which ran through the caņon yielded them an abundance of trout, so +that they fared sumptuously so far as food was concerned. + +Finally, after several days in this caņon, they reached the head of it +and came out on a high plateau which was covered with heavy pine timber +interspersed with beautiful parks or meadows and thickets of aspen and +alder. Numerous springs boiling up here coursed down into the caņon from +which they had just emerged, and fed the creek which ran through it. +Pressing forward across this formation for a distance of about ten +miles, they reached the base of one of the great snow-capped peaks, near +the top of which they expected to find the particular game of which they +were in search. But this mountain was so precipitous and so rough that +it was impossible for them to get their horses up it in any way. They +discussed various plans of accomplishing their object. It was highly +dangerous to leave their horses here alone, lest the bears or mountain +lions, which were so numerous in the vicinity, should stampede and run +them off. It was impossible for either man to go alone and bring down +two of the skins and heads suitably prepared for mounting, as they, with +the other load which it was necessary to take along, would be more than +any one man could carry. It would take two days to make the ascent, have +a few hours for hunting, and return to where they then were, and in +order to pass the night at all comfortably in that high altitude a +liberal supply of blankets must be carried. + +They therefore decided, as the only feasible plan, to make camp where +they were and start up early the next morning, leaving their horses +behind. They made all possible preparations that night, and the next +morning arose at four o'clock. By sunrise they had breakfasted, and +with their packs, consisting of two pairs of blankets each and a two +days' supply of cooked food, they started. They did not dare picket or +hobble their horses, as either would give the wild beasts a chance to +attack and kill them, and could only trust to luck, an abundant supply +of good grass and water, and the well-known attachment which nearly all +Western horses feel for a camp, to keep them there until their return. + +After a hard day's climb they came upon abundant signs of goats about +the middle of the afternoon, and, preparing a temporary bivouac under a +shelving rock, they deposited their loads, made a pot of coffee, ate a +hearty dinner, and started out to look for the game. They had not gone +far when Mr. Westlake sighted a large, handsome male goat standing on +the top of a cliff, and approaching within easy rifle range he fired and +killed it. It fell some twenty or thirty feet, and lodged behind a +projecting slab of granite. It was secured after considerable hard work, +hastily skinned, and the skin and some of the best cuts of the meat +carried to their temporary camp. Night was now approaching, and the +hunters set about preparing a supply of wood. There were numerous dead +pine and cedar trees, of stunted growth and peculiar shapes, standing +and lying among the rocks, and a generous supply was soon provided. +Next, a large quantity of cedar boughs were cut, brought in and spread +under the overhanging rock, to a depth of a foot or more. On these the +blankets were spread, and the hunters had a bed which many a tired +lodger in Eastern city hotels might well envy them. By building a +rousing fire in front, which was reflected against the rock wall behind +them, and by occasionally replenishing it during the night, they slept +comfortably, though the temperature ran several degrees below zero. + +Early the next morning both men started out in search of a female goat +to complete their undertaking. Nearly two hours had been spent in +hunting, when the Indian found a fresh track in the snow some distance +above their temporary camp. He followed it until it led in among a +forest of rent and jagged cliffs of granite, and Westlake, who was some +distance away, seeing by the Indian's motions that he was on a trail, +started toward him. When within a few feet of where he had last seen the +Indian he heard the report of his rifle, and a shout announced that his +shot had been successful. Mr. Westlake followed on into the chasm from +whence the report came and saw the Indian attempting to scale the side +of a nearly perpendicular wall of rock, stepping cautiously from niche +to niche and shelf to shelf; holding on with his hands to every +projecting point that afforded him any assistance. He finally reached +the top of the ledge, and reaching over caught hold of the now lifeless +body of the goat that he had killed, and drew it toward him. But when it +swung off from the top of the ledge its weight and the consequent strain +on his muscular power was greater than the Indian had anticipated, and +before he had time to let go of the carcass and save himself his slight +hold on the rock was torn loose, and uttering a wild shriek he fell a +distance of nearly sixty feet, striking on a heap of broken rocks! He +was instantly killed. + +Here was a sad blow to poor Westlake. His only companion, his faithful +guide, and the only human being within fifty miles of him, lay a corpse +at his feet. He had no means whatever of getting the body back to their +camp, much less of returning it to the unfortunate red man's friends. He +had not even a tool of any kind to dig a grave with, and the only thing +he could do in that direction was to build a wall of rocks around the +body, lay some flat slabs across the top, and then carry and lay on top +of these a number of the largest and heaviest rocks he could handle, to +protect it from the ravages of wild beasts. When this sad duty was +completed he returned with a heavy heart to their temporary camp, and +with as much of their luggage as he was able to carry started down the +mountain. Arriving about noon at the tent, he was horrified to find the +tracks of a large bear in and about it, the greater portion of his +supplies eaten up or destroyed, and his horses nowhere in sight. A hasty +examination showed that the bear had passed through the little park in +which they had last been grazing--evidently early that morning--that +they had taken flight and fled in the direction of the head of the caņon +up which they had come. Westlake followed them several miles until +convinced that they had really started on their back trail, and then he +returned to camp. By this time night was again approaching and it was +with a heavy heart that he prepared to pass it there, all alone, and +still further depressed with the thought that he had now a journey of a +hundred miles or more before him, to the nearest settlement, which he +must undoubtedly make on foot. He ate his supper alone and in sadness, +and as the camp fire blazed in front of his tent it cast fitful shadows +into the gloom, which was unbroken by any sound save the occasional +soughing of the wind through the pine trees or the cry of some wild +animal. He finally retired to rest, but his sleep was broken by troubled +dreams. As the sun arose he prepared a hasty meal, which was eaten in +silence, and with a pair of blankets, a few pounds of flour, salt, and +coffee, and his rifle, he started, leaving his tent standing and all +else in it as a monument to the memory of his friend and a landmark to +future hunters and mountaineers to locate the scene of his great +misfortune. He traveled seven days before seeing the face of a human +being or sleeping under a shelter of any kind, when he finally reached a +ranch where his horses had preceded him and had been corraled to await +an owner. + +It is fortunate that all goat hunters do not meet with such disasters as +did poor Westlake and his young friend, or the noble sport would have +still fewer votaries than it now has. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +TROUTING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. + + +In September, 1884, I joined a party of genial sportsmen at Fort +Missoula, Mont., for a month's outing in the Bitter Root Mountains. Our +special mission was to hunt large game; but while perfecting +arrangements for the trip, which occupied two days, and during the +mornings and evenings of the several days occupied in traveling up and +down the river to and from the hunting grounds, those of us who had our +fishing tackle with us turned what would otherwise have been long hours +of impatient waiting into merrily-fleeing moments, by luring the grand +mountain trout (_Salmo purpuratus_) with which this river abounds from +their crystalline retreats and transferring them to our creels and our +camp table. + +The Bitter Root is a typical mountain stream, rising among the snow-clad +peaks in the vicinity of the Big Hole basin and flowing with the mighty +rush imparted to it by a fall of 200 to 300 feet per mile, fed by the +scores of ice-cold brooks that tumble out of the high ranges on either +side from its source to its mouth. After traversing a distance of +perhaps 200 miles, it empties its pure waters into the Hellgate river, +just west of Missoula. + +[Illustration: THE RISE.] + +Its valley is two to four miles wide, and the lower portion of this is +occupied by numerous ranches. The soil is tilled by well-to-do farmers +or "ranchmen," to speak in the vernacular of the country, so that the +angler, while within a mile or two of rugged mountain peaks, is still in +the midst of civilization, where his larder may daily be replenished +with nearly all the varieties of good things that grow on any New +England farm. The banks of the stream are fringed with stately pines and +cottonwoods, and in places with thickets of underbrush. + +From a tiny brook at its source the stream grows rapidly to a veritable +river of thirty to fifty yards in width as it passes on toward its +destination. It sweeps and whirls in its course, here running straight +and placidly for a hundred yards, then turning abruptly to right or left +and returning almost parallel to itself, forming "horse-shoe bends," +"ox-bow bends," compound S's, right angles, etc. + +In many cases it tumbles down over a long, steep pavement of granite +bowlders, working itself into a very agony of bubbles and foam, and when +the foot of this fall is reached it whirls and eddies in a great pool +ten or twenty feet deep and covering half an acre of ground, almost +surrounded by high-cut banks, and seeming to have lost its way. It +eventually finds an exit, however, through an opening in the willows and +masses of driftwood, and again speeds on. + +In many of these large, deep pools whole trees, of giant size, brought +down by the spring freshets, have found lodgment beyond the power of +the mighty current to drive them further, and underneath these drifts +the angler is liable to hook a lusty trout that will make short work of +his tackle if he be not very gentle and expert in manipulating it. + +[Illustration: SOLID COMFORT.] + +This river may be fished from a canoe or boat, if it be manned by a +master of the art of fresh-water cruising; but no amateur oarsman or +canoeist should ever attempt it or he will surely come to grief. It may +also be fished from the bank or by wading; and I have even known it to +be fished from the hurricane-deck of a cayuse, so that all lovers of the +gentle art may be accommodated. + +A large bump of caution would also be a good thing for the man to take +along who essays to wade it, for he will find places--slippery +places--where even the wicked can not stand; for over the surface +thereof flows such a mighty torrent of waters that his pride will surely +have a fall, even if he do not; and if he get out with a dry thread on +his back he will regard it as a miracle and not owing to any skill or +strength of his. I think a day on that stream will take the conceit out +of any living man and show him what a poor, weak worm he is, _if_ he get +into some of the places I have been in. He will find himself in +positions from whence he would give half his worldly possessions to be +delivered; where he would forgive his bitterest enemy the meanest thing +he ever did if he were only there and would cast him a friendly line. +The bed of the stream is composed of glacial drift, all the rapids being +paved with bowlders varying in size from an inch to two or three feet in +diameter. These are worn smooth by the action of the water and coated +with a light growth of fungus, so that they furnish a very precarious +footing at best, and when the power of the raging torrent is brought to +bear against one's nether limbs, he is, indeed, fortunate who is not +swept into the pool below. + +On the riffles or more placid portions of the stream wading is not +attended with so much danger or difficulty. And while the angler +beguiles the hours in dalliance with these beauties of the river, gazing +into its crystalline depths and toying with its poetic denizens, a +glance to east or west reveals to him scenes of even grander and more +inspiring loveliness; for there, so close as to reveal their every rock +and shrub, tower the shapely peaks, the shattered crags and beetling +cliffs which constitute the Bitter Root range of mountains. And even in +midsummer the fresh, pure breezes sweeping down from these snow-clad +summits fan his parched brow and render existence, under such +circumstances, the realization of a poet's dream. + +[Illustration: MID RUSHING WATERS.] + +On a bright, cheery September morning, Private Westbrook, of the Third +Infantry, and myself left camp as soon as the sun had expelled the +frost from the vegetation. On the way down we caught a number of +grasshoppers--the orthodox bait in this region--to fall back on in case +of necessity; for there are days when the mountain trout, as well as his +cousin, the brook trout of the East, declines the most seductive fly on +the bill of fare, and will have nothing but his favorite every-day diet. + +Arriving at the river, Westbrook skirmished through the brush until he +found an alder about an inch and a quarter in diameter at the ground and +ten or twelve feet high. This he cut, trimmed up, and attached his line, +a number two Sproat hook and a split shot, put on a "hopper," and was +ready for business. I remonstrated gently with him on the heathenish +character of his tackle, but he said, pleasantly and politely, that it +was the kind that generally got to the front when trout-fishing was the +business in hand. He said the fancy rods and reels and flies were all +well enough for those who wanted to use them, but he preferred something +with which he could round up his fish and corral them without losing any +time. He said it was all right for any gentlemen to spend half an hour +monkeying a trout after he had hooked it, if he wanted to, but for his +part, he never could see much fun in that sort of fishing. He thought it +was decidedly more interesting to yank a fish in out of the wet the +instant he bit, and then lay for another. + +He walked boldly out into the stream, waded down a little way below the +ford, on a riffle, till he reached a point where the water was about +two feet deep and where it rolled sullenly and gloomily over a series +of large bowlders. + +Here he made a cast, and his bait had barely touched the water when +there was a vicious rush, a swirl and a dash downstream, but the cruel +pole was brought to bear in the opposite direction. Then there was a +flop, a splash, a hop, skip and a jump, and a three-pound trout took a +header and went down into the soldier's haversack. + +The bait was renewed, another cast made, and the act was repeated on a +half-pounder. Then another weighing one-and-a-half pounds and a couple +of about a pound each followed in rapid succession, when this portion of +the stream failed to yield, and Westbrook moved on down. I followed +along the bank and watched him for half an hour before attempting to rig +my tackle at all. To watch the play of the various emotions on his hard, +brown, honest face; to study the effect of the intense enthusiasm which +possessed him; to note the utter disregard of personal safety and +comfort with which he would plunge into the surging rapids and eddies up +to his waist, or even to his arm-pits, wherever he thought he could +catch a trout by so doing, was a genuine treat. + +Finally I went back to the ford, jointed up my rod, put on a gray +professor, and walking down the bank to a sudden bend in the river where +the current had cut a deep hole near the bank, I made a cast. The fly +dropped on the riffle just above the eddy, and as it floated gracefully +on the little wavelets down and out upon the bosom of the deep-blue +miniature ocean, it turned hither and thither with the capricious +currents that played there, for perhaps five minutes. I was just in the +act of reeling up for another cast, when a gleam of silvery light +flashed upon my vision, flecked with settings of jet and gold. There was +a mighty commotion upon the surface and a monster trout leaped full into +the air as he seized the feathered bait and then shot down, down into +the crystal fluid, leaving the water in the vicinity of his exploit +bubbling, effervescing, and sparkling like the rarest old champagne. For +the nonce I was paralyzed with the suddenness and viciousness of his +coming and going, and my reel was singing merrily when I awoke to a +realization of what it all meant. + +Then I thumbed the cylinder and checked him in his wild flight, but he +continued to fight his way clear down to the lower end of the pool, a +distance of twenty yards. Then he turned and came toward me with the +speed of an arrow, but the automatic reel took up the slack as rapidly +as he gave it. When within twenty feet of me he turned out into the +stream, and as I checked him he again vaulted into the air and the +sun-light glistened on his beautifully-colored sides and fins as he +struggled to free himself. Finding this impossible he started for the +bank, where brush and roots projected into the water; but by a vigorous +and fortunate sweep of the rod I was enabled to check him again. Again +he sounded and again rushed up, down, and out into the river, but the +steel was securely set, and he was compelled at last to succumb. +Gradually I reeled him in, and as I brought him up to the bank he turned +on his side exhausted. He weighed two and three-quarter pounds and +measured seventeen inches in length. + +[Illustration: AN ANXIOUS MOMENT] + +I took two others, nearly as large, out of the same hole, and then +proceeding down fifty yards, I saw a large cottonwood tree lying in the +middle of the stream where it had lodged and been securely anchored, +probably a year or two before. The current had scooped out a great +cavity about its roots and I felt sure there must be a giant old trout +lying amongst them, but I could not reach it with a cast from the shore. +To attempt to wade to it I saw would be hazardous, for the channel +between me and it was waist deep and ran with all the velocity of a mill +tail. But what danger will not an enthusiastic angler brave when in +pursuit of a trout? I started in, and when half way to the trunk, would +gladly have retreated, but was actually afraid to attempt to turn in the +midst of this current, so I pressed forward, finally reached the trunk +of the tree and climbed upon it. I made a cast up near the root and +hooked a handsome fellow, but after playing him until I had him +completely under control and almost ready to land, the hook, which had +been but slightly caught, tore out and he drifted down the river on his +side. + +Another effort secured a two-pounder, and failing to get any further +encouragement, I climbed into the icy torrent and with great difficulty +again reached the shore. + +A little further down I saw another very deep pool, into which a small, +green cottonwood tree had lately fallen and hung by its roots to the +bank. I felt sure of making a good catch here, for the hole was ten or +twelve feet deep, and the driftwood that had lodged about this tree +afforded excellent cover for the wary old fellows that always seek such +secluded and impregnable strongholds. The fly settled gracefully on the +surface at the upper end of the pool, and as it floated listlessly down +toward the drift, Westbrook, who had come down and was fishing from the +bank opposite, said: + +"You'll get a good one there, sir. That's a splendid hole for a big old +fellow." + +"I think so; but he seems backward about coming forward." + +"Maybe that blasted bird has scared him," said he, referring to a coot +that floated unconcernedly and even impudently about the pool, eyeing us +without a symptom of fear, but evincing the liveliest curiosity as to +who and what we were. + +I reeled up and made another cast farther out on the pool. As the fly +fell, Mrs. Coot swam up to it as if inclined to pick it up. I almost +hoped she would, for I should really have enjoyed yanking her a few +times. But she thought better of it, and turned away. After exhausting +all my ingenuity on this pool, and finding it impossible to induce a +rise, I laid down my rod, picked up a rock, and threw it at the +ill-omened bird, whom I blamed for my lack of success. + +Westbrook took his cue from this and also sent a rock after her. Both +made close calls for her, but she only scurried about the livelier, +making no effort to get away. She, however, swam behind a projection in +the bank, so that I could not see her, and I told Westbrook to continue +the attack and drive her out. + +He picked up another bowlder as large as a league baseball and hurled it +at her, when the dullest and most "thudful" sound I ever heard, +accompanied by a faint squawk, came from behind the bank. + +"Well, bleach my bones if I haven't killed her!" said Westbrook, as he +threw down his hat and jumped on it. + +Sure enough, he had made a bull's-eye, and a mass of feathers floated +off downstream, followed by the mortal remains of the deceased. And now +the trout were jumping at these stray feathers, and returning to the +siege, we each caught a good one at the lower end of the pool. + +We had now about as many fish as we cared to carry to camp, and started +back up river. On our way we met Lieutenant Thompson, of the Third +Infantry--also a member of our party--who had left camp about the same +time we did, and we stopped and watched him fish awhile. The lieutenant +is a veteran fly-fisherman, and it is a pleasure to see him wield his +graceful little split bamboo rod, and handle the large vigorous trout +found in this stream. I had my camera with me and exposed a plate on him +in the act of playing a two-pounder while holding a string of six others +in his left hand, and though I did not give it quite enough time, it +turned out fairly well. He had also filled his creel, and on our return +to camp we hung our total catch, with several others that General Marcy +had taken, on a pair of elk horns and got a good negative of the whole +outfit. + +Trout grow to prodigious sizes in the Bitter Root, as well as in several +other streams in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington Territory. The +Indians frequently spear them through the ice, or take them in nets, +some of these weighing ten to twelve pounds each. But these large ones +rarely rise to the fly. However, Colonel Gibson, of the U. S. A., +commanding at Fort Missoula, took one on a fly that weighed nine pounds +and two ounces, and other instances have been recorded in which they +have been taken by this method nearly as large. They have frequently +been taken on live bait, and have been known to attack a small trout +that had been hooked on a fly, before he could be landed. + +While I was hunting in the Bitter Root Mountains in the fall of '83, a +carpenter, who was building a bridge across the Bitter Root, near +Corvallis, conceived the idea of fishing for trout with a set hook. He +rigged a heavy hook and line, baiting with a live minnow, tied it to a +willow that overhung one of the deep pools, and left it over night. By +this means he secured three of these monster trout in a week, that +weighed from nine to eleven and a half pounds each. + +The supply of trout in the Bitter Root seems to be almost unlimited, for +it has been fished extensively for ten years past, and yet a man may +catch twenty-five to fifty pounds a day any time during the season, and +is almost sure to do so if he is at all skillful or "lucky." I know a +native Bitter Rooter who, during the summer and fall of '84, fished for +the market, and averaged thirty pounds a day all through the season, +which he sold in Missoula at twenty-five cents a pound. Of course, the +majority of the ranchmen along the stream do little or no fishing, but +the officers and men at Fort Missoula do an immense amount of it, as do +the residents of the town of Missoula; and visiting sportsmen from the +East take out hundreds of pounds every season. But the stream is so +large and long, and its net-work of tributaries so vast, and furnish +such fine spawning and breeding grounds, that it is safe to say there +will be trout here a century hence. The heathen Chinee has never been +permitted to ply his infamous dynamite cartridge here, or in any of the +streams of this vicinity, as he has long been doing in Colorado, Nevada, +and elsewhere, and this fact alone would account for the unimpaired +supply in these streams. + +The reproductive power of the mountain trout is equal to all the tax +likely to be levied against it here by legitimate sportsmen, and if +dynamiting and netting are prohibited hereafter as heretofore, no fear +need be felt as to the future supply. + +The market fisherman of whom I spoke was a faithful devotee to the fly, +and never would use any other lure. A white or gray hackle was his +favorite. He used a stiff, heavy pole, however, about ten feet long, cut +from the jungles that grow on the river bottom, and a heavy line, a foot +shorter, with double gut for attaching the fly. He fished from the shore +or waded, as was necessary to reach the best water. He cast with both +hands, and the instant the fly touched the water he would raise the tip +so that the line would just clear, and then trail or skitter the fly +gently, but rapidly, toward him. Thus, the line being taut, when the +fish arose to the fly he would simply hook himself. Then he was +ignominiously "yanked," and either landed high and dry on mother earth +or in the ranchman's gunny-sack. + +Although devoid of sport and requiring little skill, it was the most +effective method of filling a "bag" that I have ever seen practiced. I +have seen him take ten to twenty-five trout in an hour's fishing and not +miss a single rise. I had this man with me on a hunting trip, and +whenever we came within two miles of a trout stream our table was sure +to be supplied with an abundance of fish. + +I visited Fort Maginnis in September, 1883, and during my stay, Capt. F. +H. Hathaway kindly invited me to spend a day trouting with him on Big +Spring creek, a beautiful stream that flows out of the Snowy Mountains +about twenty-five miles from the post. We left the captain's quarters at +noon, comfortably seated on his buckboard, while Sam, Fishel, and Dick +Thomas rode their horses and drove a pack-mule, which carried a part of +our provisions, the remainder being carried on the buckboard. + +We covered the twenty-five miles by six o'clock, camping at the base of +the Snowies, within two miles of the source of the creek, which source +is a cluster of large cold springs. We pitched our tent on the bank of +the creek, where it murmured sweet music in its course over the rugged +bottom and lulled us into quiet and refreshing sleep with its rhythmical +sounds. When we awoke the next morning the foot-hills all about us +glistened with frost, and the high peaks, three or four miles away, were +draped in a mantle of spotless white, which the storm-king had spread +upon them a few days ago. + +Notwithstanding the lateness of the season, a few musquitoes began to +sing about our ears as soon as the sun came up. Fishel, who was full of +droll good nature, observed them. + +"Well, look here," he said, as he broke the ice in the water pail and +dipped out a basinful to wash in, "I'll be doggoned if here aint a lot +of these measley musquitoes buzzing around here with buffalo overcoats +on." + +The keen mountain air at this low temperature, and the grand scenery +with which we were surrounded, combined to sharpen our appetites, and +our breakfast beside a rousing camp-fire was enjoyed as only a meal can +be enjoyed amid such surroundings. As soon as the sun had risen high +enough to banish the frost and warm the air slightly, the grass all +about us was set in motion by thousands of grasshoppers who gamboled +playfully, in order, apparently, to warm up their benumbed limbs and get +an appetite for breakfast. All hands then turned out and harvested a +goodly supply of them, for we had been advised that the trout in that +stream would not take a fly so late in the season. + +Then we proceeded to business; the captain and Dick fishing up the +stream and I down, while Sam took his rifle and went across the hills in +search of game. The stream, where we started in, was not more than three +to four feet wide and two feet deep in the deepest holes, yet at the +first cast I hooked a trout that after a few vigorous plunges took the +barb off my hook and departed. I put on a new one and had better luck +next time, for in another hole a few rods farther down I took one that +weighed a pound and a half. + +In the meantime the captain shouted to me, and looking up the stream I +saw him displaying one of about the same size. We each followed our +courses, and did not meet again for some hours, when the captain came +down to see how I was getting on. He had eight and I had six, the +average weight of which was over a pound each. He relieved me of my load +and returned to camp, and from that time on did but little fishing +himself, preferring, in the fullness of his generous nature, to devote +the most of his time to accompanying me, showing me the most favorable +points, exulting in my success, and in every way possible promoting my +comfort. Whenever he left me for a short time he would send one of his +men to take my fish to camp, dress them, and do anything and everything +else possible for me. + +I fished down the creek nearly two miles during the day, going over +parts of the stream two or three times, not ceasing from the fascinating +sport long enough to even eat a lunch that I carried in my pocket. Nor +did I turn my steps toward camp until it became so dark that the fish +would no longer rise. Then, when I started campward, I met Dick coming +with an extra saddle horse which the captain had kindly sent for me to +ride. + +After supper came the always charming social intercourse around the +camp-fire, the exchange of personal notes of the day's sport--the +experience meeting, so to speak. No one had misgivings to record so far +as the fishing was concerned. Each had enjoyed his full measure of the +grand sport, as was evidenced by the display of the several strings of +salmon-colored beauties which hung around the camp-fire. There was not a +fingerling in the entire catch. No one had caught a trout during the day +of less than four ounces in weight, and very few of that size had been +taken. The majority of them ranged between half a pound and two pounds, +and the numbers were only limited by the amount of work each had done. +My friends, being residents and accustomed to this kind of sport +whenever they choose to enjoy it, had not cared to fish all day, and +consequently had not taken so many as I, but had taken all they wanted. + +The only man in the party who had anything to regret in the day's +experience was Sam. He had started a large bull elk early in the morning +and had followed him several miles, but had not been able to get a +favorable shot, though he had twice caught sight of him. We all +sympathized deeply with him in his misfortune, for Sam is an expert shot +with the rifle, and if he had ever drawn a bead on the game we should +have had elk steak on our table at the next meal, sure. + +We broke camp early the next morning and prepared to start for home, but +decided to fish down the creek till near noon before leaving it. We +drove down about a mile, when I alighted and started in, the others +distributing themselves at other points along the stream. The trout rose +as rapidly and gamily as on the previous day, and I soon had a load in +my creel that pulled down uncomfortably. Among them was one old +nine-spot which turned the scales at two and a quarter pounds after +having been out of the water over two hours. He measured seventeen and a +half inches in length. + +The captain told me of a certain deep hole where he said an old pioneer +made his headquarters, who had taken off two hooks and leaders for him +on two different days during the summer. When I reached the hole I +recognized it in a moment by the captain's description. It was in a +short bend or angle of the creek. On the opposite side from where I +stood, and on the lower angle of the square, the channel had cut a deep +hole under an overhanging bank, which was covered with willows. These +drooped over the water and shaded it nicely. There was a slight eddy +there and the surface of the water was flecked with bits of white foam +which came from the rapids just above. What a paradise for a wary old +trout! + +I stopped about forty feet above the hole and put on one of the largest +hoppers in my box; then I reeled out ten or fifteen feet of line and +cast into the foot of the rapid. As the current straightened out my line +I reeled off more of it and still more until it floated gently and +gracefully down into the dark eddy, and when within two feet of the edge +of the bank there was a whirl, a surge, a break in the water, as if a +full-grown beaver had been suddenly frightened from his sun bath on the +surface and had started for the bottom. I saw a long, broad gleam of +silvery white, my line cut through the water, and the old-timer started +for his bed under the bank. + +I struck at the proper instant, and, bending my little split bamboo +almost double, brought him up with a short turn. He darted up the +stream a few feet, and again turning square about started for his den. I +snubbed him again. This time he shot down the creek, and, turning, made +another dive for his hiding place. Again I gave him the butt, but this +time he was determined to free himself, and with a frantic plunge he +tore the hook from his mouth and disappeared in his dark retreat. + +My heart sank within me, when I realized that he was gone. He was truly +a monster, fully two feet long, and I think would have weighed four +pounds or over. I reeled up and made two or three more casts in the same +hole. His mate, a comely-looking fellow, but not nearly so large, came +out once and smelt of the bait but declined to take it. He had evidently +seen enough to convince him that it was not the kind of a dinner he was +looking for. I fished down the creek for an hour and then returned and +tried the old fellow again, but he had not yet forgotten his recent +set-to with me, and refused to come out. I presume he is still there, +and will probably reign for some years to come, the terror of tackle +owners, unless someone gets a hook firmly fastened in his jaw, and has +tackle sufficiently derrick-like to land him; and whoever that lucky +individual may be, I congratulate him in advance. My tackle would have +held him if I had been fortunate enough to get the proper _cinch_ on +him, and the only thing I have to regret in thinking of the trip, is +that I was not so fortunate. + +We had enough, however, without him. We took home forty-eight trout that +weighed, when dressed, sixty pounds, and of all the many days I have +spent fishing in the many years long gone, I never enjoyed any more +intensely, never had grander sport than in these two days on Big Spring +creek. + +It has been stated that the mountain trout lacks the game qualities of +our Eastern brook trout. I have not found it so. They are quite as gamy, +as vicious in their fighting, and as destructive to fine tackle as the +brook trout, the only perceptible difference being that they do not +fight so long. They yield, however, only after a stubborn resistance, +sufficiently prolonged to challenge the admiration of any angler. I have +caught a number of two and three pounders that required very careful and +patient handling for twenty to thirty minutes before they could be +brought to the landing net. + +There are various other streams along the line of the Northern Pacific +Railroad which afford almost equally as fine sport as the Bitter Root, +and some of them that are even more picturesque and beautiful. In fact, +nearly every stream reached by the road, between Billings and Puget +Sound, teems with these graceful beauties. By leaving the road at almost +any point on the Rocky Mountain or Pend d'Orielle Divisions and pushing +back into the mountains twenty to one hundred miles, the enterprising +angler may find streams whose banks have seldom been profaned by the +foot of a white man; where an artificial fly has seldom or never fallen +upon the sparkling blue waters, and yet where millions of these +beautiful creatures swarm, ready to rush upon anything that reaches the +surface of their element bearing the least resemblance to their natural +food, with all the fearless enthusiasm of untainted and unrestrained +nature. In these wilder regions the tourist will also find frequent use +for his rifle, for elk, bear, deer, mountain sheep, and other large game +may yet be found in reasonable quantities in all such undisturbed +fastnesses. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +DEER HUNTING IN WISCONSIN. + + +Northern Wisconsin is one vast and almost unbroken deer range. It is +penetrated by several railroads, along the immediate lines of which are +a few small farms and some fair-sized towns and villages; but on going a +few miles back from these roads, in almost any direction, one passes the +confines of civilization and enters a wilderness that is broken only by +the numerous logging camps, and these as a rule are occupied only in +winter. Thousands of acres of these pine lands have been chopped over, +and the old slashings, having grown up to brush, brambles, and briars of +various kinds, furnish excellent cover and feeding grounds for _Cervus +Virginianus_. + +True, it is difficult to see the game at any great distance in these +thickets, unless the hunter take his stand on a high stump or log and +wait until the deer come in sight. This is a favorite and very +successful method of hunting with many who know how to choose location +and time of day. But adjacent to these slashings are usually large +tracts of open woods, frequently hardwood ridges, through which the +game passes at intervals while moving from one feeding ground to +another. In such localities a deer may be seen at a considerable +distance, and shots are often taken at 150 to 200 yards. + +I remember one of my first trips to these hunting grounds, many years +ago, before I knew how to sneak on the game, and before I had gained +sufficient control of my nerves to be able to stop a deer while vaulting +over a fallen tree trunk, turning suddenly from left to right and _vice +versa_, as a wary old buck will frequently do when fleeing from a +hunter. I stopped at a hotel in Merrill, on the Wisconsin Valley +Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and, having +learned something of the nature of the surrounding country by a hasty +tramp in the afternoon, I got up the next morning and started at four +o'clock to what seemed to be a favorable piece of ground. By daylight I +was on the margin of a large slash that, since being chopped off, had +burned over and then grown up to brush and weeds. There were many +blackened trunks of trees lying everywhere, and some still standing that +had been scorched and roasted in the great conflagration that had swept +over the country, but had not been entirely consumed. These latter, +stripped of bark and limbs, looked like gloomy monuments placed there to +mark the resting places of their hapless fellows, and the whole aspect +of the landscape in the gray of dawn was weird and chilly in the +extreme. There was scarcely a breath of air stirring, and by listening +intently I could hear the rustling of dry leaves and the occasional +snapping of twigs in various directions, that indicated the near +presence of the game and set my blood tingling and my nerves twitching. + +So soon as there was sufficient light to show the front sight of my +rifle against a gray stump fifty yards away, I started to move, as +cautiously as I knew how, toward a clump of wild-cherry bushes that I +had seen moving and from which came slight but suspicious sounds. When +within thirty yards of it I stepped on a stick that snapped, and +simultaneously with the sound a monster buck leaped high in the air, and +landing twenty feet away, uttered a shrill whistle and stopped, with his +head thrown up, to try and locate the danger. I brought my rifle to my +shoulder with a convulsive jerk, pointed it at him and fired without +thinking of the sights, and of course scored an ignominious miss. + +Well, I wish every friend I have on earth could have been there at that +moment. That whole tract of country, as far as I could see, seemed alive +with deer. Thrash! Crash! Bumpety-bump! Phew! Phew! + +There was jumping, thrashing through the brush, whistling, flipping and +flapping of white flags, and the air seemed full of glistening gray +coats. The buck I had shot at sailed away, and was soon followed in his +flight by a doe and two fawns. A doe and fawn went in another direction, +three fawns in another, two does and a buck in another, and so on _ad +infinitum_. + +I stood there; like a mile-post by the roadside, until they had all +vanished, forgetting that I had other cartridges in my belt. Finally I +recovered consciousness and began to wonder where some of those deer +would stop. If I could only get another chance such as I had on that +buck, wouldn't I down him in fine style? I would plant a bullet in the +center of his shoulder next time sure. No dime-novel scout was ever more +unerring in his aim than I would be if I could only get another aim. I +started on toward the top of a ridge, over which one of the large bucks +had disappeared, and on reaching it I saw him, or some other one, just +behind an oak grub on the opposite side-hill. I raised my rifle and took +careful aim this time, but was so nervous that I could not hold the bead +on him, and when I pulled he made another series of those daring leaps +that soon carried him out of sight. I fired a second shot at him as he +went, but with no better result than the first. + +I now crossed over to the farther edge of the slash, and, seeing no more +game, started through a body of large pines to an old burn that I had +been told lay a mile to the east. I was walking hurriedly through this +green timber, not expecting to see game, and stepped upon a large log, +when a doe and two fawns, that had been lying down in the top of a +fallen tree, jumped and ran across in front of me, offering an excellent +opportunity for a good shot to have killed all three of them. I slung +lead after them at a lively rate, firing five or six shots before they +got out of sight, but did no further harm than to accidentally clip an +ear off one of the fawns close down to its head. + +After they were gone I went and picked up this trophy and stopped to +meditate on my ill-luck, or want of skill. I then remembered that though +I had striven to hold the front sight on one or the other of the deer +at each shot after the first, I had entirely forgotten to look through +the notch in the rear sight. Chagrined and mortified beyond all power to +describe, I trudged along and finally reached the burn I was in search +of. The sun was now high in the heavens and shining brightly, so that +the game was no longer on foot, but had sought the seclusion of various +bits of dense cover and lain down. My only chance for a shot was, +therefore, in walking them up, which I proceeded to do. The brush was +dense all over this burn, so that I could rarely see twenty yards in any +direction, yet I hoped against hope for another chance. I was desperate +over the disgraceful failures I had made, and yet I knew I could shoot. +I had killed quantities of small game with the same rifle I was then +using and had killed one deer years ago with an old muzzle loader. I +could always depend upon making a good fair score at the target at 200 +yards, or even longer ranges, and yet I had shot away a dozen cartridges +this morning at deer, some of which were standing within a few yards of +me, and had not stopped one of them. I was furious, and determined that +the next shot should tell. + +I walked down an old logging-road several hundred yards, hoping that +some belated traveler might be found crossing or walking in it, but, +failing in this, I turned out and walked along the crest of a ridge, +looking down both sides of it. Struggling through briers and brush, +making a good deal of noise, unavoidably, I still failed to jump a deer +until I left the ridge and started toward a "draw" in which was a +small meadow or slough. When half way down the hill I came to a large +stump, about four feet high, from which a tree had been cut when the +snow was deep. I climbed upon this to take a look at the surrounding +country. As I did so, a large buck that had been been lying just below +it, sprang from his bed and bounded away through the brush, showing here +and there a flash of his white flag and a gleam of his majestic antlers, +but not enough of his body to shoot at. I was perfectly cool now. My +nervousness had all disappeared. In short, I was mad. I stood watching +his course and awaiting developments with all the confidence and +coolness of a veteran, instead of the novice I really was. He ran down +the long hill, across the swale, and up the hill on the opposite side, +and, on reaching the top of it and coming out upon open ground, turned +broadside and stopped to look at me, doubtless deeming himself perfectly +safe at that great distance. Standing erect on that high stump I was +clear above the surrounding underbrush and had a fine view of the +magnificent quarry. His head was thrown high up and well back; his ears +erect, nostrils distended, and even at that distance I imagined I could +see the defiant gleam of his jet black eye. His glossy coat glistened in +the brilliant autumn sunlight, and his spreading antlers and powerful +muscular development characterized him as a giant among his kind. As I +raised my rifle slowly to my shoulder, I felt that at last I had perfect +control of my nerves and that I was in some measure to redeem myself +from the ignominy of past failures. I had elevated my rear sight for 250 +yards, and as I looked through the delicate notch in it and saw the +little golden front bead glimmer on the buck's shoulder, the muzzle of +the rifle was as steady and immovable as if screwed in a vice. There was +no tremor, no vibration now; and holding well up to the spine and +showing the full size of the bead, to allow for the distance, I pressed +the trigger. + +At the report the deer bounded into the air as if a dynamite cartridge +had exploded under him, and, lowering his head to a line with his body, +started to run. There was none of those lofty, airy leaps now, no +defiant waving to and fro of the white flag. That emblem was closely +furled. His pride was broken and his sole object in life seemed to be to +get out of the country as soon as possible. The course he had taken lay +along the top of the ridge and I had a fine view of the run from start +to finish. He at once began to waver in his course, turning slightly +from left to right and from right to left. He stumbled and staggered +like a blind horse. He ran crashing and smashing into the dead top of a +fallen tree, breaking the dry limbs, some of them three or four inches +in diameter, as if they had been rye straws. When he had gone as far +into this labyrinth of branches as he could get, he sank to the ground +as if exhausted, but suddenly rose again, extricated himself by a few +desperate struggles to the right, and sped on. He ran squarely against a +good-sized sapling with such force as to throw him prostrate upon his +side. Still, his great vitality was not spent, and, struggling to his +feet, he dashed on again. Next he ran against a log that lay up from the +ground some three feet and was set back upon his haunches. He quickly +recovered, took it in good shape, and now dashed into a clump of oak +grubs that still held their dry leaves. Tearing and forcing his way +through these, he forged ahead with all his remaining strength and +plunged headlong into another fallen tree-top. In this he struggled, +trying to force his way out until he sank upon the ground from sheer +loss of blood and expired. From where he stood when I shot, to where he +finally fell was about 300 yards. + +I stepped the distance from where I stood to where the deer was when I +fired and found it to be 267 yards. Taking up his trail, I found the +ground copiously sprinkled with blood where he came down at the end of +his first jump, and the leaves and brush were crimsoned with it from +there to where he gave up the struggle. On coming up to him I found that +my bullet had drifted slightly to the left, owing to the force of a +strong wind which was blowing at the time, and cut his throat almost as +neatly as I could have done it with my hunting-knife. The oesophagus was +entirely severed and the thorax nearly so. His body was sadly bruised +and lacerated by the terrible ordeal through which he had passed, and I +concluded that he must have gone stone blind when the bullet struck him. +In no other way can I account for his strange conduct. I saved his head +and had it mounted as a memento of one of the most remarkable scratch +shots I ever made. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THREE OF A KIND. + + +Early autumn's frosts had tinged the foliage of the birch, maple, oak, +and elm trees, that intermingle in the great pine forests, with a +thousand rich colors and shades of gold, brown, olive, pink, and +crimson, while the pines, the hemlocks, the firs, and the cedars still +wore their dark mantels of perennial green, and all Nature was clad in +her sweetest smiles. A solitary woodpecker, perched on the topmost +branch of a dead giant of the forest, reaching out far above the +surrounding network of leafy branches, from which he might survey the +surrounding country, sounded his morning reveille and awaited the coming +of his mate. The dry leaves with which mother earth was carpeted, +rustled now and again to the bound of the saucy red squirrel, the +darting hither and thither of the shy wood-mouse, or the tread of the +stupid, half-witted porcupine. The chill October wind soughed through +the swaying tree-tops, laden with the rich ozone that gives life, +health, and happiness to all animate beings that are permitted to inhale +it. + +On such a morning, and amid such a scene of natural loveliness, I left +the train at Junction City, on the Wisconsin Central Railway, started +on a three-mile jaunt to a logging camp, for a day or two on a deer +roundup. I reached my destination at nine o'clock. The men had long +since gone to their work, but the "boss" had returned to camp to attend +to some business in hand, and, welcoming me with the generous +hospitality that is always shown by these sturdy sons of the forest to +strangers, bade me make myself at home as long as I cared to stay. To my +inquiry as to the presence of game in the vicinity, he said there was +plenty of it, and that the men saw one or more deer nearly every day +while going to or returning from their work, which was only a mile away. + +I lost no time in getting out and entering an old slashing to the east +of the camp where the foreman said signs were plentiful. I had not gone +more than half a mile, when, turning to the left, on an old logging +road, I saw several fresh tracks of deer that had been feeding there +that morning. It was now eleven o'clock in the forenoon and I had no +hope of finding the game on foot at that late hour, but depended +entirely upon jumping a deer from its bed and upon having to risk, in +all probability, a running shot. I moved very cautiously, however, and +was on the _qui vive_ for any straggler that might perchance be moving. +Every foot of ground that came within the scope of my vision was +carefully scanned and every sound or movement of leaf or shrub, no +matter how slight, received the most careful attention, during long and +frequent pauses, before proceeding on my way. + +I followed the road through various turns, along the bed of a slight +ravine, and as I rounded one of its abrupt bends that gave me a view of +a considerable expanse of hill-side, I stopped again to reconnoitre. The +ground was covered with a dense growth of weeds, raspberry briers, and +wild-cherry bushes that had sprung up since the timber had been cut off, +all of which had been stricken by recent frosts, and dried by subsequent +sun and wind. In these dry weeds I saw a slight movement, and on careful +examination was able to distinguish a faint outline of a doe, standing +partially behind a large stump, a hundred yards away. Her head and +shoulders were entirely hidden by the stump, and I had to step back some +distance before I could get sight of a vital part to shoot at. As her +shoulder came in view I knelt on my right knee, rested my left elbow on +my left knee, and, drawing a fine bead on her shoulder, fired. She +dropped in her tracks. My aim was a little higher than I intended, and +the bullet, passing through her shoulder blades high up, severed the +spine between them on its way, killing her as suddenly as if it had +entered the brain. At the report of the rifle a young buck bounded out +of the brush near by and waved me a vaunting farewell as he disappeared +over the ridge, not giving me even a fair running shot. I dressed the +doe and went back to camp for dinner, the welcome notes of the huge old +tin horn, floating in musical cadence through the forest, summoning me +at that moment to that much needed repast. + +After dinner I went out on another old unused logging road, leading to +the south, and, following it a few hundred yards, branched off to +another which led to the southwest. A number of fallen trees, lying +across these, gave me frequent opportunities to mount their prostrate +trunks and look over large tracts of surrounding country. In thus +sauntering and looking I had spent an hour or more when, on passing an +unusually dense clump of tall dry weeds that stood near the road, I was +startled by a sudden crashing and rattling among them, and an instant +later two large does broke cover at the farther side and started across +a narrow open space. But before they reached the farther side of it the +voice of my Winchester express was reverberating among the lofty pines, +and a cloud of smoke hung between me and where I had last seen them. I +sprang to one side to avoid this, but they had both disappeared in the +thicket, and I could still hear one of them crashing away toward the +green woods. I felt sure that I had hit the other, and, going to where I +had last seen her, I found blood, hair, and several small bits of flesh +on the ground and the neighboring weeds. Following the trail a distance +of fifty feet, I found her lying dead with her throat cut, and, in fact, +a considerable portion of it shot away. The express bullet, driven by a +heavy charge of powder, has such a high velocity that when it strikes +flesh it invariably makes a big hole in it. One hind leg was also broken +squarely off at the knee and the bone protruded through the skin. + +I stood pondering and puzzling over this strange phenomenon. How in the +name of wonder could one bullet break her hind leg and cut her throat? I +stooped down and examined the wound. To my surprise, I found that it had +not been made with a bullet at all. The joint was dislocated and the +skin torn away until the disjointed member hung only by a narrow +segment. Then the mystery was deeper than ever. What could possibly have +caused this violent and terrible wound? It had been made after I shot, +for at that time the agile creature was bounding over logs and through +clumps of brush with all the grace and airiness of her sylph-like +nature. I turned, took up her back track, and, following it thirty or +forty feet, came to a fallen tamarack sapling about six inches in +diameter, that laid up about a foot from the ground. The track showed +that the poor creature, in one of her frantic leaps, just after being +hit, came down with her fore feet on one side of this pole and her hind +feet on the other; that one hind foot had slipped on the soft earth and +slid under the pole to her knee, and that the next bound had brought it +up against the pole in the form of a lever--much as a logger would place +his handspike under it in attempting to throw it out of his way--and the +pole, being far too long and heavy to yield to her strength, the leg had +been snapped short off. + +I describe this incident merely as one of the many strange and +mysterious ones that come under the observation of woodsmen, and not +with any desire to give pain to sensitive and sympathetic readers. + +The beautiful animal did not suffer long from this hurt, however, for +she was dead when I reached her, within perhaps three or four minutes +after I fired the fatal shot. I saved her head and had it mounted and it +hangs beside that of the buck whose taking off has been described and +whose throat was also neatly severed by the bullet. They were two +remarkable shots. + +After dressing this deer I returned to the old burn in which I had +killed the doe in the morning, and took a stand on a high, flat-top +stump, which commanded a good view of a large tract of surrounding +country. I felt certain that the young buck that was with her when I +killed her would come back toward night to look up his companion, for he +probably did not realize that she was dead. I stood within thirty yards +of her carcass and for an hour kept a close watch in every direction, +turning slowly from one position to another, so that any game that came +in sight could not detect the movement and would, if seeing me at all, +consider me one of the numerous old high stumps with which the landscape +was marked. Toward sundown a large, handsome buck came out of the green +woods half a mile away, walking deliberately toward me. I could see only +a proud head and spreading antlers, and an occasional glimpse of his +silvery-gray back as he marched with stately but cautious tread through +the dry weeds. He stopped frequently to look and listen for danger, or +the coy maidens of his kind, of whom he was in search. Oh, how I longed +for a shot at him! With bated breath and throbbing heart I watched his +slow progress across the open country. But, alas! the wind (what little +there was) was wrong. When within about 200 yards of me he scented me +and bounded squarely sidewise as though a rattlesnake had bitten him, +uttering at the same time one of those peculiarly thrilling whistles +that might have been heard in the stillness of the evening a mile or +more. He struck a picturesque attitude and scanned the country in every +direction, trying to locate the danger but could not. After a few +seconds he made another high bound, stopped, and whistled again. I stood +perfectly still, and he could make nothing animate out of the inanimate +objects about him. He leaped hither and thither, snorted, whistled, and +sniffed the air as we have seen a wild colt do when liberated in a +pasture field after long confinement in his stall. + +Although still unable to satisfy himself as to the whereabouts of his +foe, he finally seemed to decide that that was not a healthy +neighborhood for him, and, taking his back trail, started to get out of +it by a series of twenty-foot leaps. I was tempted to hazard a shot at +him, but could see such a small portion of his body when standing that +the chances were against making a hit. Besides, as already stated, I +felt sure of a shot at shorter range by keeping still. I watched and +listened closely in every direction. The sun had gone down. Night was +silently wrapping her somber mantle over the vast wilderness, and the +only sounds that broke the oppressive stillness were the occasional +croakings of the raven as he winged his stately flight to his rookery, +and the low, solemn sighing of the autumn breezes through the pine tops. +I was benumbed with cold, and was tempted to desert my post and make a +run for camp. I raised my rifle to my shoulder to see if I could yet see +the sights, for stars were beginning to sparkle in the firmament. Yes; +the little gold bead at the muzzle still gleamed in the twilight, with +all the brilliancy of one of the lamps of heaven. I turned to take a +last look in the direction of the carcass of my morning's kill, +and--imagine my astonishment if you can--there stood the young buck, +licking the body of his fallen mate! How he ever got there through all +those brush and weeds without my hearing or seeing him will always +remain a profound mystery to me. But a ball from my express entering his +shoulder and passing out at his flank laid him dead by the side of his +companion, and completed the best score I ever made on deer--three in +one day--and I had fired but three shots in all. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Mr. George T. Pease lives in a log shanty, in the heart of the great +Wisconsin pine woods, five miles west of Wausaukee station, on the +Milwaukee & Northern Railroad. A beautiful little lake stretches out in +front of his door, in which numerous black bass make their home, and +several brooks meander through the wilderness not far away, all of which +abound in the sprightly, sparkling brook trout. Deer roam over the hills +far and near, and when the first "tracking snow" comes, in the van of +icy winter, their hoof-prints may be found within a hundred yards of the +cabin any morning. Pease is a genial, kind-hearted old man, in whose +humble quarters the true sportsman is always welcome. Reared in these +woods, and bred in the pure atmosphere that abounds here, a hunter by +trade and from necessity, he is a simple, honest child of nature. With +the exception of four or five years spent in the service of his country, +during the war of the Rebellion, he has lived and hunted in this region +since the days of his boyhood, and his gray hairs bespeak for him the +respect men always feel for the honest old woodsman. + +I spent several days hunting with him in November, 1885, and the +intervening nights--or a large portion of each--in talking with him. I +learned in that short time to esteem and value him as one of the best +guides and hunters I ever knew, and one of the truest friends I have. +Although he has been hunting so many years and has always been a close +observer of the habits of game; although thoroughly posted on woodcraft +in all its details, he is not egotistical as are so many old woodsmen. +He never intrudes his opinions on any subject unless asked for them; +never dictates what anyone under his guidance shall do. He modestly +suggests, and if you do not agree with him, defers cheerfully to your +judgment. + +He is intelligent, well-informed generally, full of interesting +reminiscences of his life in the wilderness, and relates many thrilling +episodes in his experience in hunting deer, bear, wolves, etc. He told +me that once, when hunting on the Menominee river, he saw a doe lying +down, and raised his rifle to shoot her. But before firing he noticed +that she had seen him and was struggling to get up. As she did not +succeed in this, he concluded that she must have been wounded, and +started toward her. She kept struggling, but was unable to rise, and on +going to her he found that she had lain down near a large hemlock root, +that had curved out of the ground, forming an arch or loop three or four +inches high. One of her hind legs had slipped under this root to the +knee, and when she had attempted to get up she had probably been thrown +violently on her side, dislocating the hip joint and thus rendering it +utterly impossible for her to draw the imprisoned leg from under the +root. He said the poor creature had apparently been in this pitiable +plight several days; that she was starved and emaciated almost to a +shadow, and had tramped and pawed a hole in the earth more than a foot +deep, over the entire space reached by her fore feet. Had she not been +discovered, the poor creature must soon have died from starvation. As it +was, she was so weak that when he released her leg from this strange +trap she was unable to stand, and he reluctantly killed her, as the +speediest, most humane, and, in fact, the only means of ending her +misery. + + * * * * * + +I reached the old man's cabin at about noon. We hunted diligently all +the afternoon, and though we saw plenty of fresh tracks everywhere in +the newly-fallen snow, neither of us could get sight of a deer, and when +we met at the shanty at dark and exchanged notes, Pease was sorely +disappointed. The next forenoon was a repetition of this experience, and +when we met again at the cabin for dinner, both empty-handed, his +disappointment was intensified into despondency. We separated after the +noon meal, and when we came in at night, I looked even more dejected and +disgusted than ever, and asserted, with a good deal of emphasis, that I +did not believe the "blasted" country was any good for game; that I +thought he or someone had hunted the deer and shot at them until they +were so wild that no man could get within 500 yards of one. He insisted +that such was not the case; that he had been killing plenty of deer that +fall, and that others had killed a few in the neighborhood, but not +enough to spoil the hunting, as I claimed. He said our want of success +utterly astonished him; that he was truly sorry; that he could not +account for it, and that we should surely make a killing on the morrow. + +"Have you seen any fresh tracks to-day?" I asked. + +"Oh, yes, plenty of them; haven't you?" + +"Well, yes, two or three; but I think the deer that made them were ten +miles away when I got there." + +"Why," said he, "when I started out this afternoon I skirted along that +big swamp, where you hunted in the morning, and I saw where four deer +had crossed your track since you went along. One of them was an awful +big buck. I took up his trail and followed it in hopes of overtaking him +and getting a shot. He roamed and circled around among the hills and +through the swamps for, I reckon, more than five miles. I walked just as +still as I possibly could, for I knew we were mighty nigh out of meat, +and I am gettin' mighty tired of bacon anyhow. But somehow that buck +heard me or smelt me, or something, and the first and last I saw of him +was just one flip of his tail as he went over a ridge about three +hundred yards away. I sat down on a log and waited and studied a long +time what to do or where to go next; and finally I concluded I'd just +come in and get supper ready by the time you got here. Set up, sir, and +have a cup of coffee and some of these baked potatoes and some of this +bacon. It ain't much of a supper, but maybe we'll feel a little better +after we eat it, anyway." + +I surrounded one side of the rough pine table suddenly, and when I got +my mouth so full I couldn't talk plain, I said, in a careless, +uninterested sort of a way: + +"I saw where you sat down on that log." + +"Did you?" + +"Yes; I sat down and rested there, too. I was just about as tired and as +disgusted and as mad as I am now; but after sitting there ten or fifteen +minutes, I trudged along through that maple thicket just below there, +and when I got through it I saw a big buck smelling along on a doe's +track, up on the side-hill, and I killed him and then started on after +the doe, and----" + +Pease had dropped his knife and fork and was looking at me with his +mouth half open and his eyes half shut. + +"What did you say?" he inquired in a dazed, half-whispered tone. + +"I say I killed the buck and then started----" + +"You killed a buck?" + +"Yes." + +"When?" he gasped, with his mouth and eyes a little wider open. + +"This afternoon," said I, calmly and complacently. + +"Where?" + +"Why just below that thicket; just below where you sat down on the log." + +The old man sat and gazed at me for two or three minutes while I +continued to eat as if nothing unusual had happened. + +"Are you joking?" he said at last. + +"No; I'm telling you the straight truth. The liver and heart are hanging +out there on the corner of the cabin; go out and look at them." + +"Well, I'll be dad blasted!" shouted the old man, as he jumped up and +grasped me by the hand. "Why on earth didn't you say so when you first +came in? What did you want to deceive me for? Why did you want to do all +that kicking about the hunting being so poor?" + +"Oh, I just wanted to have a little fun with you." + +Throughout that evening Pease was one of the happiest men I ever saw. He +seemed, and, in fact, said he was, twice as proud to have me, his guest, +kill a deer as he would have been to have killed it himself. + +He chatted cheerfully until eleven o'clock before showing any signs of +sleepiness. This was about all the game I cared to kill, so I asked +Pease to go into the station and get a team to come out and take my meat +in. In order to pass the forenoon pleasantly, I took my rifle and +started into the woods again. I went at once to the buck I had killed, +reaching the carcass shortly after sunrise. I cut down a jack pine, and, +trimming off the boughs, made a bed. Then I laid down, took out a book +and commenced to read, while waiting for the team and for any deer that +might happen along. + +But I had not read half a dozen lines when I heard a slight rustling and +cracking in the frozen snow, and, looking in the direction of the noise, +I saw a young spike buck walking slowly and deliberately down the hill +not a hundred yards away. I caught up my express and made a snap shot at +him, but in my haste and surprise missed him clear. At the report he +stopped, threw up his head and presented a beautiful picture, as well +as a fair, easy target. + +"Now, my lad," I said to myself, "you are my meat sure." + +I was so confident of success this time that I scarcely took any aim at +all. Again I scored an inglorious miss and the deer started away on a +series of long, high bounds. I threw in another cartridge, held ahead of +him, and as he struck the ground the second time I pulled for the third +time. Then there was a circus of a kind that a hunter rarely sees. The +buck fell to bucking, bleating, and kicking. His hind feet would go into +the air like a couple of arrows and with such force that they would snap +like a whip cracker. Then he would rear on his hind feet and paw the +air; then jump sidewise and backward. He threw himself twice in his +gyrations, and each time was on his feet again almost before I could +realize that he had gone down. This gymnastic exhibition lasted perhaps +two or three minutes, during which time I was so paralyzed with laughter +that I could not have shot within six feet of him if I had tried. +Besides, I wanted to see the performance out. Finally the bucker +recovered his wits and skipped out. I followed and found that he was +discharging blood at such a rate that he could not go far. He went into +a large thicket. I jumped him three times before I could get a fair shot +at him, and could hear him wheeze every time I came near him. Finally I +saw him lying a few yards away, but his head was still up and I sent a +bullet through his neck. On examination I found that my first shot had +cut the point of his breastbone off and had ruptured both his +oesophagus and trachea. I dragged him out and laid him by the side of +the big buck, and when Pease came in with the team an hour later he +said: + +"Well, I'll be dad blasted if he hain't got another one." + +I shall always remember that hunt as one of the pleasantest of my life, +considering the length of time it occupied. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +COWBOY LIFE. + + +The workings of the law of evolution are plainly discernible in the +development of the "cowboy," a certain prominent and now well-defined +character of the far West--one that was made necessary by, and has grown +out of, the vast cattle interests which have, in the past two or three +decades, spread over that mystic region. His counterpart is scarcely to +be found anywhere else in the civilized world, for the very good reason +that such a species of manhood is not required anywhere else. True, +cattle-raising is carried on extensively in many States of our Union and +in various other countries, but nowhere under the same conditions and on +the same plan as in the West; hence, though herders, drovers, and the +like are employed elsewhere, there is no locality in which a class of +men endowed with such characteristics and requiring such peculiar tastes +and faculties are to be found as are combined in the cowboy of our +Western plains. The life he leads and the services he is required to +perform call into the business young men possessing tastes and traits +different from those of average human nature, and such as are not found +in men following any other vocation, as a class. It is an occupation +that entails, generally speaking, a life of isolation from society, and +in many cases from civilization. It is one in which home comforts must +be dispensed with; it is one requiring its devotees to live on plain +food, in log huts, and to sleep in blankets at best; it is one in which +there is often intense hardship and suffering, and which exposes its +disciples to dangers of various kinds. + +When all these facts and peculiarities of the calling are considered we +must readily perceive that men of ordinary tastes and inclinations would +not seek to engage in it. Cowboys are not "native and to the manor +born." They do not follow in the footsteps of their fathers as do young +men on Eastern farms. The business is yet too young in our Western +Territories to have brought about this state of affairs, though it will +come to exist in future. But at present cowboys are all exotics, +transplanted from Eastern soil. Let us consider, then, what manner of +boy or young man would adopt such a calling. Certainly not he who +considers a well-spread table, a cozy, cheerful room, a good soft bed, +and neat, tasty clothing essential to his health and happiness; nor he +who is unwilling to sever his connection with the social circle or the +family group; nor he who must have his daily paper, his comfortable +office chair and desk; his telegraph and other commercial facilities and +comforts; nor yet he who, when he travels, must needs ride in a +comfortable carriage on the highway, or a Pullman coach on the railway. +But the young man who is willing to engage in the occupation of +"rustling cattle" on the plains, who is willing to assume the title of +"cowboy," must be he who, although he may love all these luxuries, and +may perhaps have been accustomed to enjoy them, has in his nature enough +of romance, enough love for outdoor life, enough love of sport, +excitement, and adventure, enough enthusiasm for the wild freedom of the +frontier, to be willing to deny himself all these luxuries and to allow +such pleasures as the ranch and range can afford, to compensate for +them. + +The love of money can not enter largely into the consideration of the +question, for while the work is often of the hardest kind a man can +endure and the hours of labor only limited by the men's power of +endurance, the wages usually paid are low. From $25 to $35 a month is +the average rate of wages for all good men on the range except the +foreman, who commands from $60 to $75 a month, according to his ability, +the number of men he is to have charge of, and the responsibility of his +position generally. Ambition to succeed to this dignity, or a desire to +learn the cattle-growing business with a view of engaging in it on their +own account, may induce some boys to engage as herders, but the young +man who deliberately chooses this occupation is usually one with a +superabundance of vim, energy, and enthusiasm; one who chafes under the +restraints of society, who is bored and annoyed by the quiet humdrum +life of the Eastern village, city, or farm house; one who longs to go +where he can breathe fresh air, exercise his arms, legs, and lungs, if +need be, without disturbing the peace; one who, in short, requires more +room to live in than his birthplace affords. + +Many a cowboy of to-day was, in his childhood or youth, the street +gamin, the newsboy, the "hard nut" at school; the dare-devil of the +rural districts; the hero of daring exploits; the boy who did not fear +to climb to the top of the highest tree to punch a squirrel out of his +hole; who led the raid on an orchard or watermelon patch on a dark +night; who at college was at the head of all wild, reckless frolics, and +was also well up in his classes; who led the village marshal or the city +policeman many a wild-goose chase and caused them many a sleepless night +by his innocent though mischievous pranks. He is the boy who was always +ready for a lark of any kind that could produce excitement, fun, or +adventure without bringing serious harm to anyone. He was not the +vicious, thieving, lying, sneaking boy, but the irrepressible, +uncontrollable, wild, harum-scarum chap who led the gang; the champion +of the weak; the boy who would fight "at the drop of the hat" in defense +of a friend of his own sex or of even a stranger of the opposite sex. +These are the boys of ten, twenty, or thirty years ago whom to-day you +may find riding wild cayuses on the cattle ranges of the boundless +plains. + +As a class, they have been shamefully maligned. That there are bad, +vicious characters amongst them can not be denied, but that many of the +murders, thefts, arsons, and other depredations which are committed in +the frontier towns and charged to cowboys, are really committed by +Indians, bummers, superannuated buffalo hunters, and other hangers on, +who never do an honest day's work of any kind, but who eke out a +miserable, half-starved existence by gambling, stealing, poisoning +wolves, etc., is a fact well known to every close student of frontier +life. And yet, crimes and misdemeanors are occasionally committed by men +who are, for the time being at least, regularly employed in riding the +range. Fugitives from justice, thieves, cut-throats, and hoodlums of all +classes from the large cities have drifted West, and have sought +employment on the ranges because nothing better or more congenial +offered; but such are seldom employed, and if employed at all, are +generally discharged as soon as their true character is learned and +their places can be filled by worthier men. + +[Illustration: THE "WOOLLY COWBOY."] + +Neither do I wish to defend the "fresh" young man from the East who goes +West to "paralyze" the natives, who gets a job on the ranch, makes a +break for "loud togs," arms, and knives, large nickel-plated spurs, +raises a crop of long hair and "catches on" to all the bad language of +the country, fills up on bad whisky at every opportunity and then +asserts that "he's a wolf, it's his night to howl." + +Nor do I wish to defend the swarthy, loud-oathed, heavily-armed +"greaser" of Mexico and the Texan ranges, who accounts himself a +"cowboy" _par excellence_, but who much prefers the filthy atmosphere of +the gambling den, or the variety dive of frontier towns, to the pure air +of the prairies. These are the exceptions, and fortunately are in a +"distinguished minority," and it is but just that all such swaggering +humbugs should be loaded with the obloquy they deserve, and should be +appropriately branded, even as their master's beasts are branded, that +all the world might know them, wherever found, for the infamous humbugs +that they are. My purpose here is to champion the frank, honest, +energetic, industrious young fellows who engage in this calling from +pure motives, most of whom have fair educations, and some of whom are +graduates of Eastern colleges--who are brimful of pure horse-sense, and +who are ambitious to earn an honest living, and to make themselves +useful to their employers in every possible way, aside from their +ability to snare a bullock. Many of these are Nature's noblemen, and +their good qualities shine through their rough garb, as the sunlight of +heaven shines through a rift in a dark cloud. Their hearts, though +encased in blue flannel or water-proof canvas, are as light as the air +they breathe; their minds as pure and clear as the mountain brooks from +which they love to drink; their whole natures as generous and liberal as +the boundless meadows upon which their herds graze, and their +hospitality only limited by the supply of food and other comforts they +have with which to entertain a visitor. Strangers are always welcome at +their shacks, and no matter at what time of day or night you arrive, you +and your horses are promptly taken care of, you are invited to stay and +eat, to sleep if you will, and are promptly given to understand that the +best the ranch affords is at your command. I have known many of these +men intimately, and have never known one who would not cheerfully share +his last ounce of food, his last dollar, or his only blanket with a +needy stranger; or who would not walk and allow an unfortunately +dismounted traveler to ride his horse half way to camp, or the ranch, +even though that might be a hundred miles away. They invariably refuse +all remuneration for services or accommodations of such nature, and if +it be pressed upon them, the stranger is liable to be told in language +more expressive than elegant they don't make their living by taking care +of tenderfeet. + +As a class, they are brimful and running over with wit, merriment, and +good humor. They are always ready for any bit of innocent fun, but are +not perpetually spoiling for a fight, as has so often been said of them. +They are at peace with all men, and would not be otherwise from choice. +As a rule, if a man quarrel with one of them, he forces the war and is +himself to blame. Their love of fun often leads to trouble, though +generally because the victim of it does not know how, or is not willing, +to either "chip in" or excuse himself. They are fond of "piping off" +anything that is particularly conspicuous, or _vice versa_, no matter to +whom it belongs, and they dislike to see snobbish airs assumed in their +country, though such might pass current in any Eastern city. + +I once saw a dude step out of a hotel in Cheyenne, wearing a silk hat, +cut-away coat, lavender pants, high pressure collar, scarlet velvet +scarf, patent leather shoes, etc. Several cowboys were riding through +the street and spied him. + +"Say, Dick," said one of them, "what de ye s'pose it is?" + +"Let's tackle it and see," said Dick; "it looks alive." + +"Pard, hadn't you better put them togs on ice?" queried another of the +party. "They're liable to spile in this climate." + +The youth was highly offended, gave them a haughty, withering look, and +without deigning a reply of any kind turned to walk back into the hotel. + +"Let's brand it," said Dick, and as quick as a flash a lariat fell about +the dude, closed round his slender waist, and he was a prisoner. The +boys gathered round him, chaffed him good-naturedly, took his hat and +rubbed the nap the wrong way, put some alkali mud on his shoes, and then +released him, bidding him "go in and put on some clothes." A little +good-natured repartee on his part, or an invitation to drink or smoke, +or a pleasant reply of any kind, would have let him out without any +unpleasant treatment; but he scorned them, and they considered it a duty +to society to post him on how to act when away from home. + +A friend relates having seen an eccentric individual, with a long plaid +ulster, walking along the principal street in Miles City, and as the sun +came out from behind a cloud and commenced to beam down with a good deal +of force, he raised a green umbrella. A "cow puncher" rode up and, +pointing at the umbrella, asked: + +"What is she pard? Fetch her in and put a drink in 'er." + +The man was both scared and mad. He thought he had been insulted by one +of those "notorious, ruffianly cowboys." He called "police." But the +police was not at hand, and in the disturbance that followed his +umbrella was spirited away, he knew not whither or by whom, and his +plaid ulster was somewhat damaged by contact with mother earth. All he +would have had to do to preserve the peace and his self-respect, would +have been to answer the fellow good-naturedly in the first place, either +declining or accepting his invitation, and he could have gone on his way +unmolested; but he brought a small-sized riot on himself by assuming a +dignity that was out of place in that country and under such +circumstances. + +In common with all other human beings, the cowboy requires and must have +amusement of some kind, and his isolated condition, depriving him of the +privileges of theatres, parties, billiards, and other varieties of +amusement that young men in the States usually indulge in; of the +refining and restraining influences of the female sex, it is but natural +that his exuberance of spirit should find sport of other kinds. His only +sources of amusement on the ranch are his rifle, revolver, bronco, +lariat, and cards, and in course of time he tires of these and seeks a +change. He goes to town and meets there some of his comrades or +acquaintances, and they indulge in some wild pranks, which to Eastern +people, and especially those who happen to fall victims to their +practical jokes, appear ruffianly. Their love of excitement and +adventure sometimes gets the better of their judgment, and they carry +their fun to excess. They corral the crew of a train which has stopped +at the station, and amuse themselves and the passengers by making the +conductor, brakeman, baggageman, engineer, and fireman dance a jig to +the music of six-shooters. In one instance they boarded the train and +made the Theo. Thomas orchestra (which happened to be aboard) give them +an extemporaneous concert. They have even been known to carry their +revels to a still worse stage than this, and to resort to acts of real +abuse and injury against defenseless people. But such acts on the part +of genuine cowboys are rare. They are usually perpetrated by the class, +already mentioned, of "fresh" young chaps or objectional characters who +drift into the business from other than pure motives, and frequently by +pretended cowboys who are not such in any sense of the term. But by +whomsoever perpetrated, such acts are highly offensive to and vigorously +condemned by the respectable element in the business, both employers +and employés. Much odium has attached to the fraternity by such conduct, +and much more by reason of crimes committed by others and charged to +this class, so that the cowboy is in much worse repute among Eastern +people than he would be if better known by them. And notwithstanding all +the hard things with which these men have been charged, I had much +rather take my chances, as to safety of life and personal property, in a +country inhabited only by them than in any Eastern town or city with all +their police "protection." When sojourning in cattle countries, I have +left my camp day after day and night after night, with valuable property +of various kinds lying in and about it, without any attempt at +concealment. I have left my horses and mules to graze, wholly unguarded, +several days and nights together, and though on my return I may have +seen that my camp had been visited, probably by several men, not a thing +had been disturbed, except that perchance some of them had been hungry +and had eaten a meal at my expense. It is the custom of the country to +leave camps and cabins at any time, and for as long a time as necessary, +without locking up or concealment of any kind, and instances of stealing +under such circumstances are almost unheard of, while he who would leave +personal property similarly exposed within the bounds of civilization +would scarcely hope to find it on his return. + +[Illustration: ON THE TRAIL.] + +An incident may serve to illustrate how suddenly Eastern people change +their opinions of cowboys on close acquaintance. I was going west a few +years since on the Northern Pacific Railroad, and stepping off the train +at Dickinson, Dak., met Howard Eaton, an old-time friend and fellow +hunter, a typical cowboy, who has charge of a ranch and a large herd of +cattle in the "Bad Lands" on the Little Missouri river. He was dressed +in the regulation costume of the craft--canvas pants and jacket, leather +_chaparejos_, blue flannel shirt, and broad-brimmed white felt hat. His +loins were girt about with a well-filled cartridge-belt, from which hung +the six-shooter, which may almost be termed a badge of the order. Large +Mexican spurs rattled at his heels as he walked. He had ridden +thirty-five miles under the spur, arriving at the station just in time +to catch the train, and having no time to change his apparel, even if he +had wished to do so. He was going some distance on the same train, and I +invited him into the sleeper. As he entered and walked down the aisle +the passengers became suddenly alarmed at the apparition--imagining that +the train had been corraled by a party of the terrible cowboys of whom +they had heard such blood-curdling tales, and that this was a committee +of one sent in to order them to throw up their hands. They looked +anxiously and timidly from the windows for the rest of the gang and +listened for the popping of revolvers, but when I conducted him to our +section and introduced him to my wife they began to feel easier. He +remarked casually that he was hungry. We had a well-filled lunch-basket +with us, and, ordering a table placed in position, my wife hastily +spread its contents before him. He ate as only a cowboy can eat, +especially after having lately ridden thirty-five miles in three hours. +Our fellow passengers became interested spectators, and after our friend +had finished his repast we introduced him to several of them. They were +agreeably surprised to discover in conversation his polished manners, +his fluent and well-chosen language. His handsome though sunburned face, +and his kind, genial nature revealed the fact that his rough garb +encased the form of an educated and cultured gentleman; and before we +had been an hour together they had learned to respect and admire the +wild, picturesque character whom at first they had feared. + +The skill which some of these men attain in their profession challenges +the admiration of everyone who is permitted to witness exhibitions of +it. As riders they can not be excelled in the world, and I have seen +some of them perform feats of horsemanship that were simply marvelous. A +cowboy is required to ride anything that is given him and ask no +questions. A wild young bronco that has never been touched by the hand +of man is sometimes roped out of a herd and handed over to one of the +boys with instructions to "ride him." With the aid of a companion or two +he saddles and mounts him, and the scene that ensues baffles +description. A bucking cayuse must be seen under the saddle, under a +limber cowboy, and on his native heath, in order to be appreciated at +his true worth. His movements are not always the same--in fact, are +extremely varied, and are doubtless intended to be a series of surprises +even to an old hand at the business. The bronco is ingenious--he is a +strategist. Sometimes the first break a "fresh" one makes is to try to +get out of the country as fast as possible. If so, the rider allows him +to go as far and as fast as he likes, for nothing will tame him quicker +than plenty of hard work. But he soon finds that he can not get out from +under his load in this way, and generally reverses his tactics before +going far. Sometimes he stops suddenly--so suddenly as to throw an +inexperienced rider a long ways in front of him. But a good cowboy, or +"bronco buster," as he would be termed while engaged in this branch of +the business, is a good stayer and keeps his seat. The horse may then +try to jump out from under his rider--first forward then backward, or +_vice versa_. Then he may spring suddenly sidewise, either to right or +left, or both. Then he may do some lofty tumbling acts, alighting most +always stiff-legged; sometimes with his front end the highest and +sometimes about level, but usually with his hinder parts much the +highest and with his back arched like that of a mad cat. He keeps his +nose as close to the ground as he can get it. Sometimes he will utter an +unearthly squeal that makes one's blood run cold, and will actually eat +a few mouthfuls of the earth when he gets mad enough. Sometimes he will +throw himself in his struggles, and again as a last resort he will lie +down and roll. This must free him for a moment, but the daring and agile +rider is in the saddle again as soon as the beast is on his feet. Then +the horse is likely to wheel suddenly from side to side and to spin +round and round on his hind feet like a top; to snort and bound hither +and thither like a rubber ball. During all this time the valiant rider +sits in his saddle, loose-jointed and limp as a piece of buckskin, his +body swaying to and fro with the motions of his struggling steed like a +leaf that is fanned by the summer breeze. He holds a tight rein, keeping +his horse's head as high as possible, and plunges the rowels into his +flanks, first on one side and then on the other, until frequently the +ground is copiously sprinkled with the blood of the fiery steed. The +duration of this scene is limited simply by the powers of endurance of +the horse, for in nearly every instance he will keep up his struggles +until he sinks upon the ground exhausted, and, for the time being at +least, is subdued. Then he is forced upon his feet again and may +generally be ridden the remainder of that day without further trouble. + +He is awkward, of course, but rapidly learns the use of bit and spur, +and soon becomes useful. Many of these ponies, however, are never +permanently subdued, and will "buck" every time they are mounted. Others +will, all through life, start off quietly when first mounted, but +suddenly take a notion to buck any time in the day. This class is the +most dangerous, for the best rider is liable to be caught at a +disadvantage when off his guard and thrown, and many a poor cowboy has +been crippled for life, and many killed outright by these vicious +brutes. + +I have seen "pilgrims" inveigled into riding "bucking cayuses," either +for the sake of novelty, or because they wanted a mount and there was no +other to be had; but in every instance the trial of skill between the +man and the pony was of short duration. For an instant there would be a +confused mass of horse, hat, coat-tails, boots, and man, flying through +the air. The horse, on his second upward trip would meet the man coming +down on his first; the man would see whole constellations--whole +milkyways of stars; the horse would meander off over the prairie free +and untrameled, and as we would gather up the deformed and disfigured +remains of the pilgrim and dig the alkali dirt out of his mouth, ears, +and eyes, he would tell us, as soon as he recovered sufficiently to be +able to speak, that in future he "had rather walk than ride." + +But, fortunately for the poor cowboys, there are many of these ponies +who are not vicious, and let us do full honor to the genuine, noble +cow-horse who is so sure and fleet of foot that he will speedily put his +rider within roping distance of the wildest, swiftest, longest-horned +Texan on the range. Such a horse always knows when the _riata_ falls +right for head or heels, and if it does not will never slacken his +speed, but keep right on until his rider can recover and throw again. +But when it does fall fair, he puts it taut, wheels to right or left as +directed by a gentle pressure of his rider's knee, takes a turn on it +or gives it slack as may be required to down the beef, and, when this is +accomplished, stands stiff-legged, firm, and immovable as a rock, +holding him down by the strain on the rope, and watching, with eyes +bulged out and ears set forward like those of a jack rabbit, every +struggle of the captive bullock, and stands pat even when his rider +dismounts and leaves him to brand the steer. When this is done, and his +rider remounts he is ready to repeat the operation on another animal. + +[Illustration: "SNARED."] + +I have frequently known a cowboy to rope a wild cow, throw her and milk +her while his horse held her down at the other end of a forty foot rope. +Such a horse is worth his weight in gold to a cattleman, and his +kind-hearted and appreciative rider would go supperless to bed any +night, if necessary, in order that his faithful steed should be well fed +and made comfortable in every possible way. + +The skill that some of these men attain in the use the lariat is also +most marvelous. An expert will catch a steer by the horns, the neck, the +right or left fore foot or hind foot, whichever he may choose--and +while running at full speed--with almost unerring certainty. I have even +seen them rope jack rabbits and coyotes after a long run, and there are +well authenticated instances on record of even bears being choked to +death by the fatal noose when wielded by a daring "knight of the +plains." + +At a "tournament" in a Black Hills town some months ago, a cowboy +caught, threw, and securely tied a wild steer in fourteen minutes from +the time he was let out of the corral. A similar exhibition of skill, +but on a bronco instead of a steer, which lately took place in a New +Mexico town, is thus described by an eye witness. + +"After an hour of discussion and pleasant wrangling, the judge, himself +a fine rider, called out the name of an Arizona cowboy, a champion +puncher and rustler from Apache County; at the same moment, a wild-eyed +bronco was released from the pen and went bounding and bucking over the +miniature plain. According to the rule, the Apache County man had to +saddle his own bronco, rope the fleeing horse, and tie him for branding +in a certain time. Being a "rustler", he rustled around so lively that +before the bronco was two hundred feet away, he had saddled and bridled +his own animal, swung himself onto it, and was off, gathering up his +lariat as he went. The other bronco, seeing the coming enemy, doubled +his pace, dodging here and there, but at every turn he was met by his +pursuer, who was evidently directed by his rider's legs, and in an +incredibly short space of time the fugitive was overhauled; the rope +whistled through the air, and dropped quickly over the bronco's head, +notwithstanding the toss he had made. The instant it fell, the pursuing +bronco rushed and headed off the other, winding the rope about his legs; +then suddenly sitting back upon his haunches he waited, with ears back, +for the shock. It came with a rush, and the little horse at the other +end of the rope, as was the intention, went headlong onto the field, the +cowboy's bronco holding him down by the continual strain that he kept +up. The moment the horse went down the cowboy vaulted from the saddle, +untying a rope from his waist as he ran, and was soon over the prostrate +animal, lashing the hoofs with dextrous fingers, so that it could have +been branded then and there. This accomplished, up went his hands as a +signal to the judges, who now came galloping over the field, a roar of +cheers and yells greeting the Apache County man, who had done the entire +work in twelve minutes, thereby securing the prize of sundry dollars." + +These men use large, heavy, strongly-built saddles, and by setting the +cinch up tight and taking a turn or two of the rope around the saddle +horn they will snake a large animal, either dead or alive, any desired +distance. I once got one of them to drag a large bear that we had killed +out of a thicket into an open space, so that we could photograph him. + +Few men take more chances or endure more hardships than cowboys. In +addition to the dangers they have to contend with from riding vicious +horses and from riding into stampeding herds of wild cattle, in both of +which lines of duty many of them are crippled and some killed outright, +it is frequently necessary for them to lay out on the open prairie for +several days and nights together, perhaps in cold, rough weather, with +no other food or bedding than they can carry on their saddle. + +The slang of the fraternity is highly amusing to a stranger. It is +decidedly crisp, racy, and expressive. Words are coined or adopted into +their vernacular that will convey their meaning with the greatest +possible force and precision. In addition to the few illustrations +already given in this sketch there are many others that would be utterly +unintelligible to an Eastern man unless translated. For instance, when +they brand an animal they put the "jimption" to him; when they want a +hot drink they say "put some jimption in it"; when they warm up a horse +with the spurs or quirt they "fan" him; when they throw lead from a +six-shooter or a Winchester after a flying coyote they "fan" him. And +"goose hair"--ever sleep on goose hair? This is a favorite term for any +kind of a "soft snap." When they want to ridicule a tenderfoot, and +especially one who is fond of good living, they say "he wants a +goose-hair bed to sleep on"; when a cowboy is in luck he is described as +having "a goose-hair pillar," or as "sleepin' with the boss," or as +"ridin' ten horses," etc. Altogether, cowboys are a whole-souled, +large-hearted, generous class of fellows, whom it is a genuine pleasure +to ride, eat, and associate with, and it is safe to say that nine-tenths +of the hard things that have been said of them have come from men who +never knew, intimately, a single one of them. + +I contend that a year spent on the hurricane deck of a cow-pony is one +of the most useful and valuable pieces of experience a young man can +possibly have in fitting himself for business of almost any kind, and if +I were educating a boy to fight the battles of life, I should secure him +such a situation as soon as through with his studies at school. A term +of service on a frontier cattle-ranch will take the conceit out of any +boy. It will, at the same time, teach him self-reliance; it will teach +him to endure hardships and suffering; it will give him nerve and pluck; +it will develop the latent energy in him to a degree that could not be +accomplished by any other apprenticeship or experience. I know of many +of the most substantial and successful business men in the Western towns +and cities of to-day who served their first years on the frontier as +"cow punchers," and to that school they owe the firmness of character +and the ability to surmount great obstacles that have made their success +in life possible. + +I claim that the constant communion with Nature, the study of her broad, +pure domains, the days and nights of lonely cruising and camping on the +prairie, the uninterrupted communion with and study of self which this +occupation affords, tends to make young men honest and noble--much more +so than the same men would be if deprived of these opportunities, +confined to the limits of our boasted "civilization," and compelled to +constantly breathe the air of adroitness, of strategy, of competition, +of suspicion and crime. I claim that in many instances a man who is +already dishonest and immoral may be, and I know that many have been +made good and honest by freeing themselves from the evil influences of +city life, and betaking themselves to a life on the plains; by living +alone, or nearly so, and habitually communing with themselves, with +Nature, and with Nature's God. If every young man raised in town or city +could have the advantages of a year or two of constant study of Nature, +untrammeled by any air of vice, and at the proper time in life, we +should have more honest men, and fewer defaulters, thieves, and +criminals of every class. + +[Illustration: A BEEF-GATHERING SOIREE.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A MONTANA ROUNDUP. + + +Descriptions of cattle roundups in the far West have been written, and +yet many of the characteristic scenes that the spectator at one of these +semi-annual "beef-gathering parties" will observe have not been +described. There is so much to interest and excite the denizen of the +States who first attends a roundup on the great plains that I am tempted +to speak of some of the more prominent points in this "greatest show on +earth," for the benefit of such as have not had the pleasure of +witnessing it. + +The interests of cattlemen in general are so closely linked, and there +is such urgent need of a concert of action among them, that in all +Western cattle-growing districts they have organized into local or +general associations, in which the most perfect harmony and good +fellowship exists, and in which the interests of every individual member +are closely guarded and fostered by the organization as a whole. These +associations meet in the spring and fall of each year and fix the dates +for holding the roundups, usually prescribing the general boundaries in +which each local outfit shall work. The spring roundup, which is the one +now under consideration, is held in the latter part of April or early +part of May in Wyoming and Montana, and earlier or later in other States +and Territories, according to the nature of the climate, weather, etc. A +roundup district is usually limited to the valley of some large stream, +or its boundaries are designated by other prominent and well-known +landmarks. + +From five to fifteen miles, or even more, each way from the ranch, are +claimed by each owner or company as a range, though no effort is made +usually to keep the stock within these boundaries. They are allowed the +freedom of the hills and table-lands in every direction, the foreman +merely being required to know about where to find them when wanted, and +to prevent them from going, for instance, west of the Tongue and north +of the Yellowstone rivers or south into Wyoming. + +As a typical spring roundup, let us observe the one recently conducted +on the Powder river in Montana, for it furnished, perhaps, as many +interesting episodes and incidents as are usually seen at one of these +entertainments. This stream rises in the Big Horn Mountains in Northern +Wyoming and flows northeast through Southern Montana to the Yellowstone, +into which it empties its wealth of crystal fluid just east of Miles +City. Up to a few years ago its valley and adjacent table-lands were +peopled only by roving bands of Sioux, Cheyenne, Pegan, or Crow Indians, +while vast herds of buffaloes and antelopes grazed upon its nutritious +grasses. The lordly elk and the timid, agile deer roamed at will through +the groves of cottonwood and box-elder that fringe its banks, and the +howl of the coyote made night musical to the ear of the savage in his +wigwam. But how changed the scene of to-day! An iron railroad bridge, +that of the great Northern Pacific, spans the stream near its mouth, +over which roll trains of palace coaches at short intervals, while +commercial freights _en route_ from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or +_vice versa_, pass over it almost every hour. From the mouth of the +stream to the foot-hills of the mountain range, amid whose snow-capped +peaks it rises, is now a well-beaten road over which supplies for the +various ranches in the valley are carried, and over which the gallant +knights of the plains--the cowboys--dash to and fro in the performance +of their various duties. + +At intervals of ten to fifteen miles along the valley, the traveler +passes ranches, the headquarters of the wealthy cattlemen whose herds +roam all over the valleys, the hills, and table-lands for many miles in +every direction, designating the companies or individual owners merely +by the brands their herds bear (which is the custom of the country). We +shall encounter on our way the "MC" outfit, whose herd numbers fourteen +thousand head; the "WL" brand, six thousand head; "7OL," one thousand +head; "S-I," twenty-five thousand head; "_N_," twenty-five thousand +head; "[3-rail]," five thousand head; and many other smaller and some +larger herds. The buildings and improvements consist generally of +substantial, roomy log houses, stables for the horses, corrals or strong +yards in which large herds of cattle may be confined for branding, etc. +The Montana Stock Growers' Association has also built public +branding-pens at intervals of four to six miles along the river. The +owners of the stock seldom live on the ranches themselves, many of them +being residents of Eastern cities, and others having their homes in the +railroad towns within convenient distance of the ranches. The occupants +of the "shack," as the ranch house is called, are the foreman, the cook, +and a sufficient number of cowboys or herders to look after and handle +the stock properly. Some of the choice bits of natural meadow are fenced +and hay cut on them, and each ranch has more or less hay land about the +heads of creeks on its range, for it is necessary to make hay enough +each season to feed at least the calves and some of the weaker cattle +through the severe blizzards that so frequently occur in winter. The +cattle belonging to each of these ranches are allowed to range almost at +will over the adjacent hills and table-lands, though the limits proper +of each range are supposed to extend ten to fifteen miles in each +direction from the ranch house. + +The Montana Stock Growers' Association, at its meeting in March, +designated the seventh day of May as the day for beginning the roundup +in the Powder river district this year, and selected a foreman to take +charge of it who had seen many years of service in the saddle, who has a +happy faculty of controlling the men under his charge perfectly, and yet +of putting himself on free and friendly terms with them all. He can +throw a _riata_ with such precision as to take a steer by the head or by +either foot he wishes in almost every instance, and beasts as well as +men soon learn to obey his wishes. + +Anyone who has only seen the great plains late in summer or in the +autumn, after the grass has become sere and yellow and the foliage along +the streams has faded, can have little idea of the pristine beauty +presented by such a valley as that of the Powder river in early +springtime, when the earth is carpeted with verdure, the river banks +lined with newly-clothed trees and shrubs, and the meadows blooming with +flowers, the beauty and brilliancy of which can not be excelled +anywhere. The winter snows have melted; the spring rains have come and +gone, leaving the earth fresh and moist; the climate is mild and +delightful. Under all these charming conditions who would not enjoy the +scene unfolding before our eyes as we mount our spirited broncos and +ride out to the place of rendezvous which has been appointed near the +mouth of the river, and where the clans are already gathering. Temporary +camps have been established by those who have arrived in advance of us, +around which groups of cowboys are lounging. A band of horses and ponies +which they have liberated is contentedly grazing on the river bank, and +several small bands of cattle may be seen in various directions, most of +them at considerable distances away, for they are wild and avoid the +presence of human beings. A cloud of dust is faintly visible on top of +the divide nearly three miles to the south, and on examining it +carefully with our glasses we find it is being raised by a jolly band of +five cowboys, who are riding like mad, each leading four or five horses. +Looking away to the north we see a mess-wagon, or "chuck outfit," +approaching, drawn by four horses, and from the slow and labored gait at +which they toil along they doubtless bring abundant store of good +things. Behind this, two riders are driving ten head of loose horses. +And these small detachments continue to come in from every point of the +compass all the forenoon, until, when all the ranches in this roundup +district have furnished their levies, the force numbers one hundred and +thirty-five men and about twelve hundred horses. Each rider has his +"string" of horses, numbering from five to seven, and changes two or +three times a day, riding one horse twenty to forty miles, and sixty to +seventy-five miles a day is considered a fair day's work for a man. The +reserve herd is placed in charge of a herder or "wrangler," who is +required to keep them under perfect control, and to be able to produce +such of them as are wanted on short notice, the _riata_ being frequently +used in taking them out of the herd. The foreman has arrived and takes +charge of the entire outfit, placing it on a thoroughly effective and +working basis for the morrow. + +At 3.30 o'clock in the morning the men are called. They are out of their +blankets and dressed in less time than it takes an Eastern man to rub +his eyes and yawn; each catches and saddles his horse; breakfast is +hastily eaten, and at the first dawn of day, they ride out in twos or +fours in every direction. These men present a decidedly picturesque, not +to say brigandish, appearance as they dash out across the prairie; their +red, blue, and gray flannel shirts, canvas pants, leather _chaparejos_, +broad sombreros, colored silk handkerchiefs knotted around their necks; +well-filled cartridge-belts, from which hang their six-shooters; their +high-top cowhide boots and large Mexican spurs, making up a _tout +ensemble_ that a band of Texan rangers might envy. Their work, their +fun, their excitement now begin, for small bunches of cattle are sighted +in every direction, which are to be rounded up and driven along, and +there is no time to lose. As they dash hither and thither after the +fleeing, scurrying creatures, the proverbial good nature, high spirits, +and enthusiasm of these "knights of the plains" find vent in a series of +hoots, yells, jokes, "ki-yis," bits of song, and grotesque slang +expressions, many of which are strikingly expressive when understood, +but which would be utterly unintelligible to a fresh tenderfoot. The +majority of these Western cattle are almost as wild as the native +buffaloes whose place they have usurped, having never been subjected to +the dominion of man, and rarely, in fact, have they ever come face to +face with him. At the first approach of the riders, therefore, they +throw up their heads and tails, look wild, sniff the air, and then turn +and run like a herd of antelopes. But by fast riding and skillful +maneuvering they are soon rounded up and herded. It is a bit of the true +spice of life for these dare-devil riders to find a vicious, rebellious, +"alecky" young critter who concludes that he won't be rounded up; and no +sooner has the belligerent shaken his burly head, pawed the earth a few +times, turned tail to his pursuers, broken through the skirmish line and +sailed away across the prairie, than three, four, or perhaps half a +dozen cayuses, who are also now in their elements, are headed for him. +Lariats are loosened from the saddle horn, spurs rattle as they pierce +the flanks of the already willing and eager steeds, and there ensues a +wild, headlong, reckless race that can have but one result. The steer +may be fleet of foot, and may lead, through a half-mile dash, but sooner +or later is headed off and turned. He may make a fresh break in another +direction, but his pursuers are down on him again like a pack of hungry +wolves on a stray sheep. And now, as the riders close in on him, they +belabor him unmercifully with their heavy coils of rope, or with rawhide +"quirts" carried for this purpose. If particularly wild, obstinate, or +obstreperous, he still keeps breaking away, and refusing to come into +camp. A _riata_ glistens in the sunlight, whistles through the air and +falls over his head. Another follows and puts a foot in the stocks. +Taking two or three turns of the lariat around the horn of the saddle, +the men ride in opposite directions till the ropes come taut, the steer +is fairly lifted from the earth and falls with a dull and thudful sound +that may be heard a hundred yards. Then another rope is thrown over his +head, the spurs are put to the faithful ponies, they are transposed for +the time into draft horses, and the luckless victim is ignominiously +"snaked" toward the herd, while the other boys "bang" him with coils of +rope from behind. A few yards of this mode of travel is usually +sufficient to tame the wildest long-horn Texan on the range, and a few +vigorous bellows soon announce an unconditional surrender. The ropes are +then taken off, he is let up, and it is short work to put him in the +herd. + +The valiant riders scour the country hither and thither, far and near, +"gathering beef" from east, west, north, and south. Every hoof found, +regardless of the brand it bears, or whether it bears any, is picked up +by this human cyclone and carried along. Toward noon the herds already +gathered are driven into the branding pens, where they are corraled. The +calves are snatched out and the "jimption is socked to 'em," as the boys +express it. So with any yearlings or older stock that have escaped the +branding-iron in former seasons. One or more irons for each owner are +kept hot, and when a roper has "downed" an animal he or the foreman +calls for the iron wanted, and setting his foot upon the victim's neck +places the red-hot device on its ribs, and throws his weight upon it, +leaving a deep, indelible, and time-enduring trade-mark which even he +who runs may read. Its ears, dew lap, or the loose skin on its jaw are +then slit and it is turned loose again. + +When a band is branded it is turned out; the party who brought it in +change horses, and away they go for another run. No special branders are +now provided, every man in the outfit, the cook and wrangler excepted, +being required to "swaller dust" and "wrestle calves" in the pens. Near +the middle of the day each squad comes in after finishing their catch, +make a run on the mess-wagons and devour the substantial provender with +which they are loaded, with appetites born only of the labor and +excitement in which they are engaged. + +The afternoon is usually devoted to branding the last bunches brought +in, and to "cutting out," returning or throwing over such stock as does +not belong to any of the ranchmen in this district. Strays are +frequently picked up whose brands show them to be a hundred miles or +more from home. When a number of these are collected they are cut out +and a squad of men drive them onto their proper ranges. This process is +called "throwing over." + +The cooks, teamsters, and wranglers usually move camp up the river every +morning to the next branding pen, or to some other spot designated by +the foreman, to which rounders bring their cattle during the day. A +portion of the stock collected, called the "cavoy," is carried along +with the camp all the time and herded by the "holders," but large +numbers after being branded are bunched and again thrown off onto the +range each day. Thus the outfit moves slowly up the stream, making a +clean sweep of everything to the middle of the divides on the east and +west, until the Wyoming roundup on the same stream is met coming down. +And now, having completed the work in hand, the outfit breaks up, and +the men return to the respective ranches on which they are employed or +go to other roundups where their services are needed. + +The object of the fall roundup is to gather in and cut out the fat +steers and drive them to the railroad stations for shipment to Eastern +markets. The work being almost entirely on adult animals is even more +laborious and hazardous than that of the spring, where the majority of +animals actually handled are calves. Hard riding, vigorous "cutting," +and daring dashes into headstrong, panic-stricken, stampeding herds are +necessary here, and roping and dragging out by main strength are hourly +occurrences. Branding-irons are also carried along, and any calves +missed on the spring roundup, or dropped after it, are subjected to the +fiery ordeal, just as their brothers and sisters were at the Mayday +party. + +Stray cattle, either calves or adults, bearing no brand and found alone +or herded with others already branded, but whose parentage can not be +definitely determined, are called "Mavericks," and in some districts are +sold at auction and the proceeds given to the school fund. In others, +they become the property of the man or company upon whose range they are +found. This privilege, however, is seriously abused by dishonest +ranchmen and cattle thieves, who infest every Western cattle-growing +district. These men ride out over the ranges at times when they are not +likely to be observed, carrying their branding-irons along, and rope and +brand every animal they can find that does not already bear a brand. In +some cases these are allowed to remain where found, for the time being, +but are usually driven onto the range claimed by the pirate who does the +work. In other instances, these men first drive the unbranded stock onto +their own ranges, and then, under cover of the Maverick law, openly +claim and brand it as their own. Many large herds have been accumulated +almost wholly by this system of thievery, and there are wealthy +cattlemen in the West to-day who never bought or honestly owned a dozen +head of the thousands that bear their brand. A certain cowboy, when +asked by an Eastern man what constitutes a Maverick, replied: "It's a +calf that you find and get your brand on before the owner finds it and +gets his on." + +But it is risky business, this cattle stealing, and many a man who has +been caught at it has been left on the prairies as food for the +coyotes, or has ornamented the nearest cottonwood tree until the magpies +and butcher birds have polished his bones. + +Branding is a decidedly cruel proceeding, and would doubtless come under +the bane of Mr. Bergh's displeasure were he here to witness it. Yet it +seems a necessary evil, there being no other known means of marking +cattle so effectually and indelibly. + +Parties of ladies frequently go out from the towns or cities to see the +roundup, not knowing or thinking of the painful features of it. They +enjoy the ride across the prairies and through the valleys. The +beautiful scenery, the grotesque "Bad Lands," the red, scoria-capped +hills, the beautiful green meadows, and the fringes of green trees that +mark the meanderings of the streams, all delight and interest them; they +enjoy the displays of horsemanship given by the valorous cowboys as they +wheel and cavort hither and thither in pursuit of scurrying bands of +cattle; they enjoy the stampeding and wild flight, the "knotting" and +"holding" of the large herds, all so skillfully and cleverly performed; +they enjoy the sight of the thousand and more loose horses, grazing and +scampering over the plains; they enjoy the fresh, pure air, the +wholesome noon repast in the shade of the great cottonwood trees, and +many other pleasant phases of the affair. But when the fire is lit and +the murderous irons inserted in it; when the captive creatures are +dragged forth lowing, murmuring, and bellowing; when the red-hot iron is +pressed into their quivering, smoking sides until the air is laden with +the odor of burning hair and roasting flesh, and the poor creature +writhes and struggles in its agony, the roundup is robbed of its +romance, and the ladies are ready to start for home at once. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + +Italics indicated _like this_. + +Small caps indicated LIKE THIS. + +Minor punctuation errors corrected without note. + +Words with multiple and archaic spellings left as in original. + +p. 329 [3-rail] used to represent a branding symbol with three parallel +bars. + + +Spelling changes: + +Table of Contents Chapter 1. "Enchance" changed to "Enhance". + +p. 63 "barrrier" changed to "barrier". + +p. 67 "ordinarly" changed to "ordinarily". + +p. 123 "fuanace" changed to "furnace". + +p. 167 "playad" changed to "played". + +p. 171 "catchng" changed to "catching". + +p. 201 "conspicious" changed to "conspicuous". + +p. 204 "intstead" changed to "instead". + +p. 237 "similiar" changed to "similar". + +p. 294 "firmanent" changed to "firmament". + +p. 296 "Novemver" changed to "November". + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Cruisings in the Cascades, by George O. 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Shields + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Cruisings in the Cascades + A Narrative of Travel, Exploration, Amateur Photography, + Hunting, and Fishing + +Author: George O. Shields + +Release Date: July 7, 2011 [EBook #36654] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img id="coverpage" border="0" src="images/frontcover.png" alt="Cover" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">CRUISINGS <span class="smcap">in the</span> +CASCADES <span class="smcap">and other</span> HUNTING ADVENTURES</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="caption">G. O. SHIELDS</p> + +<p class="h5">(COQUINA)</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img border="0" src="images/illo_002.jpg" alt="illo_002" /></div> + +<p class="caption">G. O. Shields</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<h1 id="booktitle"><span class="smcap">Cruisings in the Cascades.</span></h1> + +<p class="h5">A NARRATIVE OF</p> + +<p class="h4">Travel, Exploration, Amateur Photography,<br /> +Hunting, and Fishing,</p> + +<p class="h6">WITH SPECIAL CHAPTERS ON</p> + +<p class="h5">HUNTING THE GRIZZLY BEAR, THE BUFFALO, ELK, ANTELOPE,<br /> +ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT, AND DEER; ALSO ON TROUTING IN<br /> +THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; ON A MONTANA ROUND-UP;<br /> +LIFE AMONG THE COWBOYS, ETC.</p> + +<p class="h3"><span class="smcap">By G. O. SHIELDS</span>,<br /> +("COQUINA")</p> + +<p class="h5">AUTHOR OF "RUSTLINGS IN THE ROCKIES," "HUNTING IN THE GREAT +WEST," "THE BATTLE OF THE BIG HOLE," ETC.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h4">CHICAGO AND NEW YORK:<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rand, Mcnally & Company, Publishers</span>.<br /> +1889. +</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="h5"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1889, by Rand, Mcnally & Co.</span></p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p style="font-size:.7em; font-weight:bold">The articles herein on Elk, Bear, and Antelope Hunting are reprinted by the courtesy +of Messrs. Harper & Brothers, in whose Magazine they were first published; and those +on Buffalo Hunting and Trouting are reproduced from "Outing" Magazine, in which +they first appeared.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="inset16"> +<p> +"Come live with me and be my love.<br /> +And we will all the pleasures prove<br /> +That hills and valleys, dales and fields,<br /> +Woods or steepy mountains, yield."</p> + +<p class="right">—<i>Marlowe.</i></p> +</div> + +<p>"Earth has built the great watch-towers of the mountains, +and they lift their heads far up into the sky, and gaze ever upward +and around to see if the Judge of the World comes not."</p> + +<p class="right"> +—<i>Longfellow.</i><br /> +</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[7]</span></p> + +<p class="h2">PREFACE.</p> + +<p>And now, how can I suitably apologize for having +inflicted another book on the reading public? I +would not attempt it but that it is the custom among +authors. And, come to think of it, I guess I won't +attempt it anyway. I will merely say, by way of +excuse, that my former literary efforts, especially +my "Rustlings in the Rockies," have brought me +in sundry dollars, in good and lawful money, which +I have found very useful things to have about the +house. If this volume shall meet with an equally +kind reception at the hands of book buyers, I shall +feel that, after all, I am not to blame for having +written it.</p> + +<p class="right"> +THE AUTHOR.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Chicago, March, 1889.</span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[9]</span></p> + +<p class="h2">CONTENTS.</p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER I.</p> + +<p class="out">The Benefits, Mental and Physical, of Mountain Climbing—A +Never-failing Means of Obtaining Sound Sleep and a Good +Appetite—The Work to be in Proportion to the Strength of +the Climber—People Who Would Like to See, but are Too +Lazy to Climb—How the Photograph Camera May Enhance +the Pleasures and Benefits of Mountain Climbing—Valuable +Souvenirs of Each Ascent—How "These Things are Done in +Europe"—An Effective Cure for Egotism. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">17</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER II.</p> + +<p class="out">The Cascade Mountains Compared with the Rockies—Characteristics +and Landmarks of the Former—The Proper Season for +Cruising in the Cascades—Grand Scenery of the Columbia—Viewing +Mount Tacoma from the City of Tacoma—Men Who +Have Ascended this Mysterious Peak—Indian Legends Concerning +the Mountain—Evil Spirits, Who Dwell in Yawning +Caverns—The View from the Mountain—Crater Lake and +the Glaciers—Nine Water-falls in Sight from One Point. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">25</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER III.</p> + +<p class="out">The City of Seattle—A Booming Western Town—Lumbering +and Salmon Canning—Extensive Hop Ranches—Rich Coal +and Iron Mines—Timber Resources of Puget Sound—Giant +Firs and Cedars—A Hollow Tree for a House—Big Timber +Shipped to England—A Million Feet of Lumber from an Acre +of Land—Novel Method of Logging—No Snow in Theirs—A +World's Supply of Timber for a Thousand Years. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">35</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="pagenum">[10]</span>CHAPTER IV.</p> + +<p class="out">Length, Breadth, and Depth of Puget Sound—Natural Resources +of the Surrounding Country—Flora and Fauna of the +Region—Great Variety of Game Birds and Animals—Large +Variety of Game and Food Fishes—A Paradise for Sportsman +or Naturalist—A Sail Through the Sound—Grand +Mountains in Every Direction—The Home of the Elk, Bear, +Deer, and Salmon—Sea Gulls as Fellow Passengers—Photographed +on the Wing—Wild Cattle on Whidby Island—Deception +Pass; its Fierce Current and Wierd Surroundings—Victoria, +B. C.—A Quaint Old, English-looking Town. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">42</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER V.</p> + +<p class="out">Through English Bay—Water Fowls that Seem Never to Have +Been Hunted—Rifle Practice that was Soon +Interrupted—Peculiarities of Burrard Inlet—Vancouver +and Port Moody—A Stage Ride to Westminster—A Stranger +in a Strange Land—Hunting for a Guide—"Douglass Bill" Found +and Employed—An Indian Funeral Delays the Expedition. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">53</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER VI.</p> + +<p class="out">The Voyage up the Frazier—Delicious Peaches Growing in Sight +of Glaciers—The Detective Camera Again to the Front—Good +Views from the Moving Steamer—A Night in an +Indian Hut—The Sleeping Bag a Refuge from Vermin—The +Indian as a Stamping Ground for Insects—He Heeds Not +Their Ravages. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">59</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER VII.</p> + +<p class="out">A Breakfast with the Bachelor—Up Harrison River in a +Canoe—Dead Salmon Everywhere—Their Stench Nauseating—The +Water Poisoned with Carrion—A Good Goose Spoiled with +an Express Bullet—Lively Salmon on the Falls—Strange Instinct +of this Noble Fish—Life Sacrificed in the Effort to +Reach its Spawning Grounds—Ranchmen Fishing with Pitchforks, +and Indians with Sharp Sticks—Salmon Fed to +Hogs, and Used as Fertilizers; the Prey of Bears, Cougars, +Wild Cats, Lynxes, Minks, Martins, Hawks, and Eagles. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">66</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="pagenum">[11]</span>CHAPTER VIII.</p> + +<p class="out">The River Above the Rapids—A Lake Within Basaltic Walls—Many +Beautiful Waterfalls—Mount Douglas and its Glaciers—A +Trading Post of the Hudson Bay Fur Company—The +Hot Springs; an Ancient Indian Sanitarium—Anxiously +Waiting for "Douglass Bill"—Novel Method of Photographing +Big Trees. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">75</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER IX.</p> + +<p class="out">An Early Morning Climb—A Thousand Feet Above the Lake—Fresh +Deer Signs in Sight of the Hotel—Three Indians Bring +in Three Deer—"Douglass Bill" Proves as Big a Liar as +Other Indians—Heading off a Flock of Canvas Backs—A +Goodly Bag of these Toothsome Birds—A Siwash Hut—A +Revolting Picture of Dirt, Filth, Nakedness, and Decayed +Fish—Another Guide Employed—Ready on Short Notice—Off +for the Mountain. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">82</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER X.</p> + +<p class="out">Characteristics of the Flathead Indians—Canoeists and Packers +by Birth and Education—A Skillful Canoe Builder—Freighting +Canoes—Fishing Canoes—Traveling Canoes—Two +Cords of Wood for a Cargo, and Four Tons of Merchandise +for Another—Dress of the Coast Indians. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">89</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XI.</p> + +<p class="out">Climbing the Mountain in a Rainstorm-Pean's Dirty Blankets—His +Careful Treatment of His Old Musket—A Novel Charge +for Big Game—The Chatter of the Pine Squirrel—A Shot +Through the Brush—Venison for Supper—A Lame Conversation: +English on the One Side, Chinook on the Other—The +Winchester Express Staggers the Natives—Peculiarities +of the Columbia Black Tail Deer. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">97</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XII.</p> + +<p class="out">The Chinook Jargon; an Odd Conglomeration of Words; the +Court Language of the Northwest; a Specimen Conversation—A +Camp on the Mountain Side—How the Indian Tried +<span class="pagenum">[12]</span> +to Sleep Warm—The Importance of a Good Bed when +Camping—Pean is taken Ill—His Fall Down a Mountain—Unable +to go Further, We Turn Back—Bitter Disappointment +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">102</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XIII.</p> + +<p class="out">The Return to the Village—Two New Guides Employed—Off for +the Mountains Once More—The Tramp up Ski-ik-kul Creek +Through Jungles, Gulches, and Cañons—And Still it +Rains—Ravages of Forest Fires—A Bed of Mountain +Feathers—Description of a Sleeping Bag; an Indispensable +Luxury in Camp Life; an Indian Opinion of It +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">107</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XIV.</p> + +<p class="out">Meditations by a Camp Fire—Suspicions as to the Honesty of +My Guides; at Their Mercy in Case of Stealthy Attack—A +Frightful Fall—Broken Bones and Intense Suffering—A +Painful and Tedious Journey Home—A Painful Surgical +Operation—A Happy Denouement +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">113</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XV.</p> + +<p class="out">The Beauties of Ski-ik-kul Creek; a Raging Mountain Torrent; +Rapids and Waterfalls Everywhere; Picturesque +Tributaries—Above the Tree Tops—The Pleasure of Quenching +Thirst—A Novel Spear—A Fifteen-Pound Salmon for Supper—The +Indians' Midnight Lunch—A Grand Camp Fire—At +Peace with All Men +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">118</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XVI.</p> + +<p class="out">Seymour Advises a Late Start for Goat Hunting; but His Council +is Disregarded—We Start at Sunrise—A Queer Craft—Navigating +Ski-ik-kul Lake—A "Straight-up" Shot at a Goat—Both +Horns Broken Off in the Fall—More Rain and Less +Fun—A Doe and Kid—Successful Trout Fishing—Peculiarities +of the Skowlitz Tongue; Grunts, Groans and Whistles—John +has Traveled—Seymour's Pretended Ignorance of +English +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">125</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XVII.</p> + +<p class="out"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> +En Route to the Village Again—A Water-Soaked Country—"Oh, +What a Fall was There, My Countrymen!"—Walking on Slippery +Logs—More Rain—Wet Indians—"Semo He Spile de +Grouse"—A Frugal Breakfast—High Living at Home—A +Bear He did a Fishing Go; but He was Caught Instead of +the Fish, and His Skin is Bartered to the Unwashed +Siwashes. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">132</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XVIII.</p> + +<p class="out">John and His Family "At Home"—An Interesting Picture of +Domestic Economy—Rifle Practice on Gulls and Grebes—Puzzled +Natives—"Phwat Kind of Burds is Them?"—A day +on the Columbia—The Pallisades from a Steamer—Photographing +Bad Lands from a Moving Train. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">141</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XIX.</p> + +<p class="out">Deer Hunting at Spokane Falls—Ruin Wrought by an Overloaded +Shotgun: A Tattered Vest and a Wrecked Watch—Billy's +Bear Story—The Poorest Hunter Makes the Biggest +Score—A Claw in Evidence—A Disgusted Party. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">146</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XX.</p> + +<p class="out">A Fusilade on the Mule Deer—Two Does as the Result—A Good +Shot Spoiled—View from the Top of Blue Grouse Mountain—A +Grand Panorama; Lakes, Mountains, Prairies and +Forests—Johnston's Story—Rounding Up Wild Hogs—A Trick on +the Dutchman—A Bucking Mule and a Balky Cayuse—Falls +of the Spokane River. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">153</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXI.</p> + +<p class="out">Hunting the Grizzly Bear—Habitat and Characteristics—A Camp +Kettle as a Weapon of Defense—To the Rescue with a +Winchester—Best Localities for Hunting the Grizzly—Baiting +and Still-Hunting—A Surprise Party in the Trail—Two +Bulls-eyes and a Miss—Fresh Meat and Revelry in Camp. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">164</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="pagenum">[14]</span> +CHAPTER XXII.</p> + +<p class="out">Elk Hunting in the Rocky Mountains—Characteristics of the +Elk—His Mode of Travel—A Stampede in a Thicket—The +Whistle of the Elk, the Hunter's Sweetest Music—Measurements +of a Pair of Antlers—Saved by Following an Elk +Trail—The Work of Exterminators—The Elk Doomed. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">181</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXIII.</p> + +<p class="out">Antelope Hunting in Montana—A Red Letter Day on Flat +Willow—Initiating a Pilgrim—Sample Shots—Flagging and +Fanning—Catching Wounded Antelopes on Horseback—Four +Mule-Loads of Meat. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">194</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXIV.</p> + +<p class="out">Buffalo Hunting on the Texas Plains—A "Bull Train" Loaded +with Skins—A Sensation in Fort Worth—En Route to the +Range—Red River Frank's Mission—A Stand on the Herd—Deluged +with Buffalo Blood—A Wild Run by Indians—Tossed +into the Air and Trampled into the Earth. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">213</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXV.</p> + +<p class="out">Hunting the Rocky Mountain Goat—Technical Description of +the Animal—Its Limited Range—Dangers Incurred in Hunting +It—An Army Officer's Experience—A Perilous Shot—A +Long and Dangerous Pursuit—Successful at Last—Carrying +the Trophies to Camp—Wading up Lost Horse Creek—Numerous +Baths in Icy Water—An Indian's Fatal Fall—Horses +Stampeded by a Bear—Seven Days on Foot and +Alone—Home at Last. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">236</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXVI.</p> + +<p class="out">Trouting in the Mountains—Gameness of the Mountain Trout—A +Red Letter Day on the Bitter Root—Frontier Tackle and +Orthodox Bait—How a Private Soldier Gets to the Front as +an Angler—A Coot Interrupts the Sport, and a Rock Interrupts +the Coot—Colonel Gibson takes a Nine-Pounder—A +Native Fly Fisherman—Grand Sport on Big Spring Creek—How +Captain Hathaway does the Honors—Where Grand +Sport may be Found. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">257</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="pagenum">[15]</span>CHAPTER XXVII.</p> + +<p class="out">Deer Hunting in Northern Wisconsin—On the Range at +Daylight—The Woods Full of Game—Missing a Standing +"Broadside" at Thirty Yards—Several Easy Shots in Rapid +Succession; the only Fruits Shame and Chagrin—Nervousness +and Excitement Finally Give Way to Coolness and +Deliberation—A Big Buck at Long Range—A Steady Aim +and a Ruptured Throat—A Blind Run Through Brush and +Fallen Trees—Down at Last—A Noble Specimen—His +Head as a Trophy +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">280</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXVIII.</p> + +<p class="out">Among the Pines—A Picture of Autumnal Loveliness—Cordial +Welcome to a Logging Camp—A Successful Shot—The +Music of the Dinner Horn—A Throat Cut and a Leg Broken—A +Stump for a Watch-Tower—The Raven Homeward +Bound—A Suspicious Buck—A Mysterious Presence—Dead +Beside His Mate—Three Shots and Three Deer +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">288</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXIX.</p> + +<p class="out">A Typical Woodsman—Model Home in the Great Pine Forest—A +Lifetime in the Wilderness—A Deer in a Natural +Trap—Disappointment and Despondency—"What, You Killed a +Buck!"—Sunrise in the Woods—An Unexpected Shot—A +Free Circus and a Small Audience—A Buck as a Bucker—More +Venison +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">296</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXX.</p> + +<p class="out">Cowboy Life—The Boys that Become Good Range Riders—Peculiar +Tastes and Talents Required for the Ranch—Wages +Paid to Cowboys—Abuse and Misrepresentation to which +They are Subjected—The "Fresh Kid," and the Long-Haired +"Greaser"—The Stranger Always Welcome at the Ranch—A +Dude Insulted—A Plaid Ulster, a Green Umbrella, and a +Cranky Disposition—Making a Train Crew Dance—An +Uncomplimentary Concert—No Sneak Thieves on the Plains—Leather +Breeches, Big Spurs, and a Six-Shooter in a Sleeping +<span class="pagenum">[16]</span> +Car—Fear Gives Way to Admiration—The Slang of the Range—The +"Bucker," and the "Buster"—The Good Cow-Horse—Roping +for Prizes—Snaking a Bear with a Lariat—A Good School for +Boys—Communion with Nature Makes Honest Men. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">304</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4">CHAPTER XXXI.</p> + +<p class="out">A Montana Roundup—Ranges and Ranches on Powder River; +Once the Home of the Buffalo, the Elk, the Antelope; now +the Home of the Texas Steer and the Cowboy—The Great +Plains in Spring Attire—A Gathering of Rustlers—"Chuck +Outfits" to the Front—Early Risers—Taming an "Alecky" +Steer—A Red-Hot Device—Branding and Slitting—The Run +on the Mess Wagon—"Cutting Out" and "Throwing +Over"—A Cruel Process. +<span class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">327</a></span></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h1">CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[17]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<div class="inset26"> +<p>"Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery."</p> +<p class="right">—<span class="smcap">Ruskin.</span></p> +</div> + +<img src="images/s_illo_017-3_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_017-3_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_017-3_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_017-3_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_017-3_4.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_017-3_5.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">OR</span> +anyone who has the courage, the +hardihood, and the physical strength +to endure the exercise, there is no form +of recreation or amusement known to +mankind that can yield such grand +results as mountain climbing. I mean +from a mental as well as from a physical +standpoint; and, in fact, it is the +mind that receives the greater benefit. The +exertion of the muscular forces in climbing a +high mountain is necessarily severe; in fact, it is +more than most persons unused to it can readily +endure; and were it not for the inspiration which +the mind derives from the experience when the +ascent is made it would be better that the subject +should essay some milder form of exercise. But +if one's strength be sufficient to endure the labor +of ascending a grand mountain peak, that extends +to or above timber line, to the regions of perpetual +snow and ice, or even to a height that gives a general +view of the surrounding country, the compensation +<span class="pagenum">[19]</span><span class="pagenum">[18]</span> +must be ample if one have an eye for the beauties +of nature, or any appreciation of the grandeur of the +Creator's greatest works.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_018.jpg" alt="018" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">MOUNT HOOD.</p> + +<p>Vain, self-loving man is wont to consider himself +the noblest work of God, but let him go to the top of +one of these lofty mountains, surrounded by other +towering peaks, and if he be a sane man he will soon +be convinced that his place in the scale of creation is +far from the top. Let him stand, for instance, on the +summit of Mount Hood, Mount Tacoma, or Mount Baker, +thousands of feet above all surrounding peaks, +hills, and valleys, where he may gaze into space hundreds +of miles in every direction, with naught to obstruct +his view, face to face with his Creator, and +if he have aught of the love of nature in his soul, or of +appreciation of the sublime in his mental composition, +he will be moved to exclaim with the Apostle, +"What is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the +son of man that Thou visitest him?" He will feel +his littleness, his insignificance, his utter lack of importance, +more forcibly perhaps than ever before. It +seems almost incredible that there should be men in +the world who could care so little for the grandest, +the sublimest sights their native land affords, as to +be unwilling to perform the labor necessary to see +them to the best possible advantage; and yet it is so, +for I have frequently heard them say:</p> + +<p>"I should like very much to see these grand +sights you describe, but I never could afford to climb +those high mountains for that pleasure; it is too +hard work for me."</p> + +<p>And, after all, the benefits to be derived from +mountain climbing are not wholly of an intellectual +<span class="pagenum">[21]</span> +character; the physical system may be benefited by +it as well. It is a kind of exercise that in turn +brings into use almost every muscle in the body, +those of the legs being of course taxed most severely, +but those of the back do their full share of +the work, while the arms are called into action almost +constantly, as the climber grasps bushes or rocks by +which to aid himself in the ascent. The lungs expand +and contract like bellows as they inhale and +exhale the rarified atmosphere, and the heart beats +like a trip-hammer as it pumps the invigorated blood +through the system. The liver is shaken loose from +the ribs to which it has perchance grown fast, and +the stomach is aroused to such a state of activity as +it has probably not experienced for years. Let any +man, especially one of sedentary habits, climb a +mountain 5,000 feet high, on a bright, pleasant day, +when</p> + +<div class="inset18"> +<p>"Night's candles are burnt out and jocund day<br /> +Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops."</p> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_020.jpg" alt="020" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">MOUNT TACOMA.</p> + +<p>There let him breathe the rare, pure atmosphere, +fresh from the portals of heaven, and my word for +it he will have a better appetite, will eat heartier, +sleep sounder, and awake next morning feeling more +refreshed than since the days of his boyhood.</p> + +<p>Although the labor be severe it can and should be +modulated to the strength and capabilities of the +person undertaking the task. No one should climb +faster than is compatible with his strength, and +halts should be made every five or ten minutes, if +need be, to allow the system ample rest. In this +manner a vast amount of work may be accomplished +<span class="pagenum">[22]</span> +in a day, even by one who has had no previous +experience in climbing.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_022.jpg" alt="022" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ON THE COLUMBIA.</p> + +<p>The benefits and pleasures of mountain climbing +are much better understood and appreciated in +Europe than in this country. Nearly every city of +England, France, Spain, Germany, and other European +countries has an Alpine, Pyrenese, or Himalayan +club. The members of these clubs spend their +<span class="pagenum">[23]</span> +summer outings in scaling the great peaks of the +mountains after which the societies are named, or +other ranges, and the winter evenings in recounting +to each other their experiences; and many a man, by +his association with the clubs and by indulgence in +this invigorating pastime develops from a delicate +youth into a muscular, sturdy, athletic man in a +few years.</p> + +<p>The possible value of mountain climbing as a recreation +and as a means of gaining knowledge, has been +greatly enhanced, of late years, by the introduction +of the dry-plate system in photography, and +since the small, light, compact cameras have been +constructed, which may be easily and conveniently +carried wherever a man can pack his blankets +and a day's supply of food. With one of these +instruments fine views can be taken of all interesting +objects and bits of scenery on the mountain, and of +the surrounding country. The views are interesting +and instructive to friends and to the public in general, +and as souvenirs are invaluable to the author. +And from the negatives thus secured lantern slides +may be made, and from these, by the aid of the +calcium light, pictures projected on a screen that +can only be excelled in their beauty and attractiveness +by nature herself.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_023.jpg" alt="023" /> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<span class="pagenum">[24]</span> +<img src="images/illo_024.jpg" alt="024" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">GLACIERS ON MOUNT TACOMA.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[25]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_025-3_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_025-3_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_025-3_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_025-3_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_025-3_4.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_025-3_5.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_025-3_6.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">ACH</span> +succeeding autumn, for years past, +has found me in some range of mountains, +camping, hunting, fishing, +climbing, and taking views. The +benefits I have derived from these +expeditions, in the way of health, +strength, and vigor, are incalculable, +and the pleasures inexpressible. My last +outing was in the Cascade Range, in Oregon +and Washington Territory, where I spent +a month in these delightful occupations, and it +is with a view of encouraging and promoting a love +for these modes of recreation that this record is +written.</p> + +<div class="inset16"> +<p> +"I live not in myself, but I become<br /> +<span class="in1">Portion of that around me; and to me</span><br /> +High mountains are a feeling, but the hum<br /> +<span class="in1">Of human cities torture."</span> +</p> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_026.jpg" alt="026" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A VIEW IN THE CASCADES.</p> + +<p>The Cascade Range of mountains extends from +Southern Oregon through Washington Territory, +away to the northward in British Columbia. In width, +from east to west, it varies from fifty to one hundred +miles. It is the most densely-timbered range on the +continent, and yet is one of the highest and most rugged. +It may not possess so many ragged, shapeless +crags and dark cañons as the Rocky Range, and yet +everyone who has ever traversed both accords to the +<span class="pagenum">[27]</span> +Cascades the distinction of being the equal, in picturesqueness +and grandeur, of the Rockies, or, in fact, +of any other range in the country. As continental +landmarks, Mounts Pitt, Union, Thielson, Jefferson, +Hood, Adams, St. Helens, Tacoma, Baker, Stuart, +Chiam, Douglass, and others are unsurpassed. Their +hoary crests tower to such majestic heights as to be +visible, in some instances, hundreds of miles, and +their many glaciers feed mighty rivers upon whose +bosoms the commerce of nations is borne. Mount Jefferson +is 9,020 feet high; Mount Adams, 9,570; Mount +St. Helens, 9,750; Mount Baker, 10,800, Mount Hood, +11,025, and Mount Tacoma, 14,444. There are many +other peaks that rise to altitudes of 7,000 to 9,000 +feet, and from these figures one may readily form +something of an idea of the general height and beauty +of the Cascade Range. The foot-hills are generally +high, rolling, and picturesque, and so heavily timbered +that in many places one cannot see a hundred +yards in any direction. Higher up the range, however, +this heavy timber is replaced by smaller trees, +that stand farther apart, and the growth of underbrush +is not so dense; consequently, the labor of travel +is lightened and the range of vision is extended. The +geological formation in the Cascades is varied. +Igneous rock abounds; extensive basaltic cliffs and +large bodies of granite, limestone, sandstone, etc., +are frequently met with, and nearly all the table-lands, +in and about the foot-hills, are composed of +gravel drift, covered with vegetable mold. The Cascades +may be explored with comfort later in the +fall than the Rockies or other more eastern ranges, +the winter setting in on the former much later than +<span class="pagenum">[29]</span> +on the latter, although the winter rains usually come +in November. September and October are the most +pleasant months for an outing in the Cascades.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_028.jpg" alt="028" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ONEONTA GORGE, COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON.</p> + +<p>* * * It was late in October when my wife and +I started from Chicago for a tour of a month among +the bristling peaks of the Cascades and the picturesque +islands of Puget Sound. A pleasant ride of +fifteen hours on the Wisconsin Central Railroad to +St. Paul, and another of three days and nights on the +grand old Northern Pacific, brought us face to face +with the glittering crests and beetling cliffs that were +the objects of our pilgrimage. As the tourist goes +west, the first view of the range is obtained at the +Dalles of the Columbia river, from whence old Mount +Hood, thirty-five miles distant, rears its majestic +head high into the ethereal vault of heaven, and +neighboring peaks, of lesser magnitude, unfold themselves +to the enraptured vision. As the train whirls +down the broad Columbia river, every curve, around +which we swing with dazzling speed, reveals to our +bewildered gaze new forms of beauty and new +objects of wonder. So many descriptions of the +scenery along this mystic stream have been written, +that every reading man, woman, and child +in the land must be familiar with it, and I will +not repeat or attempt to improve upon any of them. +To say the most extravagant representations are not +exaggerated, is to speak truly, and no one can know +how beautiful some of these towers and cliffs are +until he has seen them.</p> + +<p>The train arrived at Portland, that old and far-famed +metropolis of the North Pacific coast, at half +past ten o'clock in the morning, and after twenty-four +<span class="pagenum">[30]</span> +hours pleasantly spent in viewing its many +points of interest and the snow-covered mountains +thereabouts, we again boarded the Northern Pacific +train and sped toward Tacoma, where we arrived at +six o'clock in the evening. Here we passed another +day in looking over a booming Western city, whose +future prosperity and greatness have been assured by +its having been chosen as the tide-water terminus of +the Northern Pacific Railway. Tacoma is situated +on Commencement Bay, an arm of Puget Sound, +and has a harbor navigable for the largest ocean +steamships. The vast forests of pine, fir, and cedar, +with which it is surrounded, give Tacoma great +commercial importance as a lumbering town, and the +rich agricultural valleys thereabout assure home production +of breadstuffs, vegetables, meats, etc., sufficient +to feed its army of workingmen. Rich coal fields, +in the immediate neighborhood, furnish fuel for +domestic and manufacturing purposes at merely +nominal prices. All the waters hereabouts abound +in salmon, several varieties of trout and other food-fishes, +while in the woods and mountains adjacent, +elk, deer, and bears are numerous; so the place will +always be a popular resort for the sportsman and +the tourist. The chief attraction of the city, however, +for the traveler, will always be the fine view +it affords of Mount Tacoma. This grand old pinnacle +of the Cascade Range, forty-five miles distant, lifts its +snow-mantled form far above its neighbors, which are +themselves great mountains, while its glacier-crowned +summit rises, towers, and struggles aloft 'til——</p> + +<div class="inset18"> +<p>"Round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,<br /> +Eternal sunshine settles on its head;"</p> +</div> + +<p class="noin"> +<span class="pagenum">[31]</span> +and its crown is almost lost in the limitless regions +of the deep blue sky.</p> + +<p>From the verandas of the Tacoma House one may +view Mount Tacoma until wearied with gazing. The +Northern Pacific Railway runs within fifteen miles +of the base of it, and from the nearest point a trail +has been made, at a cost of some thousands of dollars, +by which tourists may ascend the mountain on +horseback, to an altitude of about 10,000 feet, with +comparative comfort; but he who goes above that +height must work his passage. There are several +men who claim the distinction of being the only +white man that has ever been to the top of this +mountain. Others declare that it has been ascended +only twice; but we have authentic information of at +least three successful and complete ascents having +been made. Indian legends people the mountain +with evil spirits, which are said to dwell in boiling +caldrons and yawning caverns—</p> + +<div class="inset20"> +<p>"Calling shapes, and beck'ning shadows dire,<br /> +<span class="in1">And airy tongues that syllable men's names."</span></p> +</div> + +<p>Tradition says their wild shrieks and groans may be +heard therein at all times; and no Indians are known +ever to have gone any great distance up Mount +Rainier, as they call it. White men have tried to +employ the native red men as guides and packers +for the ascent, but no amount of money can tempt +them to invade the mysterious cañons and cliffs +with which the marvelous pile is surrounded. They +say that all attempts to do so, by either white or +red men, must result in certain destruction. Undoubtedly +the first ascent was made about thirty +years ago, by General (then Lieutenant) Kautz, and +<span class="pagenum">[32]</span> +Lieutenant Slaughter, of the United States Army, +who were then stationed at Steilacoom, Washington +Territory. They took pack animals, and with an +escort of several men ascended as far as the animals +could go. There they left them and continued the +climb on foot. They were gone nine days, from the +time of leaving their mules until they returned to +the animals, and claimed, no doubt justly, to have +gone to the top of Liberty Cap, the highest of the +three distinct summits that form the triplex corona; +the others being known as the Summit and the +Dome. The next ascent, so far as known, was made +in 1876 by Mr. Hazard Stevens, who gave an account +of his experiences in the <i>Atlantic Monthly</i> for November, +of that year. In 1882, Messrs. Van Trump +and Smith, of San Francisco, made a successful +ascent, and in the same year an Austrian tourist +who attempted to ascend the mountain, got within +three hundred feet of the top, when his progress was +arrested by an avalanche, and he came very near +losing his life. Mr. L. L. Holden, of Boston, went +to within about six hundred feet of the summit in +1883, and Mr. J. R. Hitchcock claims to have +reached it in 1885.</p> + +<p>From the point gained by the trail above mentioned, +the tourist may look down upon the glaciers +of the North Fork of the Puyallup River, 3,000 +feet below, while on the other hand, the glaciers of +the cañon of the Carbon may be seen 4,000 feet +beneath him. Away to the north, glimmering and +glinting under the effulgent rays of the noonday +sun, stretches that labyrinth of waters known as +Puget Sound—</p> + +<div class="inset20"> +<p>"Whose breezy waves toss up their silvery spray;"</p> +</div> + +<p class="noin"> +<span class="pagenum">[33]</span> +while the many islands therein, draped in their +evergreen foliage, look like emeralds set in a sheet +of silver. Many prominent landmarks in British +Columbia are seen, while to the north and south +stretches the Cascade Range, to the west the Olympic, +and to the southwest the Coast Range. All these +are spread out before the eye of the tourist in a +grand panorama unsurpassed for loveliness. Crater +Lake forms one of the mysteries of Mount Tacoma. +About its ragged, ice-bound and rock-ribbed shores +are many dark caverns, from which the Indians conceived +their superstitious fears of this mysterious +pile. An explorer says of one of these chambers:</p> + +<p>"Its roof is a dome of brilliant green, with long +icicles pendant therefrom; while its floor is composed +of the rocks and débris that formed the side +of the crater, worn smooth by the action of water +and heated by a natural register, from which issue +clouds of steam."</p> + +<p>The grand cañon of the Puyallup is two and a half +miles wide, and from its head may be seen the great +glacier, 300 feet in thickness, which supplies the +great volume of water that flows through the Puyallup +river. From here no less than nine different +waterfalls, varying in height from 500 to 1,500 feet, +are visible; and visitors are sometimes thrilled with +the magnificent spectacle of an avalanche of thousands +of tons of overhanging ice falling with an +overwhelming crash into the cañon, roaring and +reverberating in a way that almost makes the great +mountain tremble. Fed by the lake, torrents pour +over the edge of the cliff, and the foaming waters, +forming a perpetual veil of seemingly silver lace,<span class="pagenum">[34]</span> +fall with a fearful leap into the arms of the surging waves +below. Mount Tacoma will be the future +resort of the continent, and many of its wondrous +beauties yet remain to be explored.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_034.jpg" alt="034" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">VIEW ON GREEN RIVER NEAR MOUNT TACOMA.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[35]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_035_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_1.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_4.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_5.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">HE</span> Oregon Railway & +Navigation Company's steamers +leave Tacoma, for Seattle, +at four o'clock in the morning, +and at six-thirty in the +evening, so we were unable to +see this portion of the sound +until our return trip. Seattle is another +of those rushing, pushing, thriving, Western +towns, whose energy and dash always +surprise Eastern people. The population of the city +is 15,000 souls; it has gas-works, water-works, and +a street railway, and does more business, and handles +more money each year than many an Eastern +city of 50,000 or more.</p> + +<p>The annual lumber shipments alone aggregate +over a million dollars, from ten saw-mills that cost +over four millions, and the value of the salmon-canning +product is nearly a million more. The soil of +the valleys adjacent to Seattle is peculiarly adapted +to hop-raising, and that industry is extensively carried +on by a large number of farmers. Some of the +largest and finest hop-ranches in the world are located +in the vicinity, and their product is shipped to +<span class="pagenum">[36]</span> +various American and European ports, over 100,000 +tons having been shipped in 1888, bringing the +growers the handsome sum of $560,327.</p> + +<p>During the fifteen years since the beginning of +this important cultivation, the hop crop is said +never to have failed, nor has it been attacked by +disease, nor deteriorated by reason of the roots being +kept on the same land without replanting. It is +believed that the Dwamish, the White River, and +the Puyallup Valleys could easily produce as many +hops as are now raised in the United States, if labor +could be obtained to pick them. Indians have been +mainly relied upon to do the picking, and they have +flocked to the Sound from nearly all parts of the +Territory, even from beyond the mountains. Many +have come in canoes from regions near the outlet of +the Sound, from British Columbia, and even from +far off Alaska, to engage temporarily in this occupation; +then to purchase goods and return to their +wigwams. They excel the whites in their skill as +pickers, and, as a rule, conduct themselves peaceably.</p> + +<p>Elliot Bay, on which Seattle is built, affords a fine +harbor and good anchorage, while Lakes Union and +Washington, large bodies of fresh water—the +former eleven and the latter eighteen feet above tide +level—lie just outside the city limits, opposite. +There are rich coal mines at hand, which produce +nearly a million dollars worth each year. Large +fertile tracts of agricultural lands, in the near +vicinity, produce grain, vegetables, and fruits of +many varieties, and in great luxuriance. Iron ore +of an excellent quality abounds in the hills and +<span class="pagenum">[37]</span> +mountains back of the city, and with all these +natural resources and advantages at her command, +Seattle is sure to become a great metropolis in the +near future. The climate of the Puget Sound country +is temperate; snow seldom falls before Christmas, +never to a greater depth than a few inches in +the valleys and lowlands, and seldom lies more +than a few days at a time. My friend, Mr. W. +A. Perry, of Seattle, in a letter dated December 6, +says:</p> + +<p>"The weather, since your departure, has been +very beautiful. The morning of your arrival was +the coldest day we have had this autumn. Flowers +are now blooming in the gardens, and yesterday a +friend who lives at Lake Washington sent me a box +of delicious strawberries, picked from the vines in +his garden in the open air on December 4, while +you, poor fellow, were shivering, wrapped up in +numberless coats and furs, in the arctic regions of +Chicago. Why don't you emigrate? There's lots of +room for you on the Sumas, where the flowers are +ever blooming, where the summer never dies, where +the good Lord sends the <i>tyee</i> (great) salmon to your +very door; and where, if you want to shoot, you +have your choice from the tiny jacksnipe to the +cultus bear or the lordly elk."</p> + +<p>There are thousands of acres of natural cranberry +marshes on the shores of the sound, where this fruit +grows wild, of good quality, and in great abundance. +It has not been cultivated there yet, but fortunes +will be made in that industry in the near future.</p> + +<p>But the crowning glory of Puget Sound, and its +greatest source of wealth, are the vast forests of +<span class="pagenum">[39]</span> +timber. It is scarcely advisable to tell the truth +concerning the size to which some of the giant firs +and cedars grow in this country, lest I be accused of +exaggeration; but, for proof of what I say, it will +only be necessary to inquire of any resident of the +Sound country. There are hundreds of fir and cedar +trees in these woods twenty to twenty-five feet in +diameter, above the spur roots, and over three +hundred feet high. A cube was cut from a fir tree, +near Vancouver, and shipped to the Colonial Exhibition +in London in 1886, that measured nine feet +and eight inches in thickness each way. The bark +of this tree was fourteen inches thick. Another +tree was cut, trimmed to a length of three hundred +and two feet, and sent to the same destination, but +this one, I am told, was only six feet through at +the butt.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_038.jpg" alt="038" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">PUGET SOUND SAW-LOGS.</p> + +<p>From one tree cut near Seattle six saw-logs were +taken, five of which were thirty feet long, each, and +the other was twenty-four feet in length. This tree +was only five feet in diameter at the base, and the +first limb grew at a height of two feet above where +the last log was cut off, or over one hundred and +seventy feet from the ground. A red cedar was cut +in the same neighborhood that measured eighteen +feet in diameter six feet above the ground; and +there is a well-authenticated case of a man, named +Hepburn, having lived in one of these cedars for over +a year, while clearing up a farm. The tree was hollow +at the ground, the cavity measuring twenty-two feet +in the clear and running up to a knot hole about +forty feet above. The homesteader laid a floor in +the hollow, seven or eight feet above the ground, and +<span class="pagenum">[40]</span> +placed a ladder against the wall by which to go up +and down. On the floor he built a stone fireplace, +and from it to the knot hole above a stick and clay +chimney. He lived upstairs and kept his horse and +cow downstairs. It may be well to explain that he +was a bachelor, and thus save the reader any anxiety +as to how his wife and children liked the situation.</p> + +<p>The "Sumas Sapling" stands near Sumas Lake, +northeast of Seattle. It is a hollow cedar, twenty-three +feet in the clear, on the ground, and is estimated +to be fifteen feet in diameter twenty feet +above the ground. I have, in several instances, +counted more than a hundred of these mammoth +trees on an acre of land, and am informed that +one tract has been out off that yielded over 1,000,000 +feet of lumber per acre. In this case the trees stood +so close together that many of the stumps had to be +dug out, after the trees had been felled, before the +logs could be gotten out. The system of logging in +vogue here differs widely from that practiced in +Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, and elsewhere. No +snow or ice are required here, and, in fact, if snow +falls to any considerable depth while crews are in +the woods a halt is called until it goes off.</p> + +<p>Corduroy roads are built into the timber as fast +as required, on which the teams travel, so that it is not +necessary that the ground should be even frozen. +Skids, twelve to eighteen inches thick, are laid across, +these roads, about nine feet apart, and sunk into the +ground so as to project about six inches above the +surface; the bark is peeled off the top, they are kept +greased, and the logs are "snaked" over them with +four to seven yoke of cattle, as may be required.<span class="pagenum">[41]</span> +The wealthier operators use steam locomotives and +cars, building tracks into the timber as fast and as +far as needed. This great timber belt is co-extensive +with Puget Sound, the Straits of Georgia, and the +Cascade Mountains. I believe that at the present +rate at which lumber is being consumed, there is fir, +pine, and cedar enough in Washington Territory and +British Columbia to last the world a thousand years.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_041.jpg" alt="041" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[42]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_042_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_042_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_042_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_042_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">UGET SOUND</span> is a great inland +sea, extending nearly 200 miles +from the ocean, having a surface +of about 2,000 square miles, +and a shore line of 1,594 miles, +indented with numerous bays, harbors, and inlets, +each with its peculiar name; and it contains numerous +islands inhabited by farmers, lumbermen, herdsmen, +and those engaged in quarrying lime and building +stone. Nothing can surpass the beauty of these +waters and their safety. Not a shoal exists within +the Sound, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Admiralty +Bay, Hood's Canal, or the Straits of Georgia, that +would in any way interrupt their navigation by a +seventy-four-gun ship. There is no country in the +world that possesses waters equal to these. The +shores of all the inlets and bays are remarkably bold, +so much so that a ship's side would touch the +shore before her keel would touch the ground. The +country by which these waters are surrounded has +a remarkably salubrious climate.</p> + +<p>The region affords every advantage for the accommodation +of a vast commercial and military marine, +with conveniences for docks, and there are a great +many sites for towns and cities, which at all times +would be well supplied with water, and the surrounding +country, which is well adapted to agriculture, +<span class="pagenum">[43]</span> +would supply all the wants of a large population. +No part of the world affords finer islands, sounds, +or a greater number of harbors than are found within +these waters. They are capable of receiving the +largest class of vessels, and are without a single hidden +danger. From the rise and fall of the tide (18 +feet), every facility is afforded for the erection of +works for a great maritime nation. The rivers also +furnish hundreds of sites for water-power for manufacturing +purposes. On this Sound are already situated +many thriving towns and cities, besides those +already mentioned, bidding for the commerce of the +world.</p> + +<p>The flora of the Sound region is varied and interesting. +A saturated atmosphere, constantly in contact +with the Coast Range system of upheaval, together +with the warm temperature, induces a growth +of vegetation almost tropical in its luxuriance. On +the better soils, the shot-clay hills and uplands, and +on the alluvial plains and river bottoms, grow the +great trees, already mentioned, and many other +species of almost equal beauty, though of no commercial +value.</p> + +<p>"The characteristic shrubs are the cornels and the +spiræas, many species. These, with the low thickets +of salal (<i>Gaultheria shallon</i>), Oregon grape (berries), +and fern (chiefly pteris, which is the most abundant), +and the tangle of the trailing blackberry (<i>Rubus +pedatus</i>) make the forests almost impenetrable save +where the ax or the wild beast or the wilder fire have +left their trails.</p> + +<p>"The dense shade of the forest gives little opportunity +for the growth of the more lowly herbs. +<span class="pagenum">[45]</span> +Where the fire has opened these shades to the light +the almost universal fireweed (<i>epilobium</i>) and the +lovely brown fire-moss (<i>funaria</i>) abound. In swamps +and lowlands the combustion of decay, almost as +quick and effective as fire itself, opens large spaces +to the light; and here abound chiefly the skunk +cabbage of the Pacific coast (<i>lysichiton</i>) and many +forms of the lovliest mosses, grown beyond belief +save by those who have looked upon their tropical +congeners. <i>Hypnums</i> and <i>Mniums</i> make the great +mass which meet the eye; and among the many less +obvious forms a careful search will reveal many +species characteristic of this coast alone. The lower +forms of the cryptogams, the lichens and the fungi, +abound in greatest profusion as might be expected. +The chief interest in these, in the present state of our +knowledge of them, springs from their disposition +to invade the more valuable forms of vegetation +which follow advancing civilization."</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_044.jpg" alt="044" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">VIEWS ON PUGET SOUND.</p> + +<p>I measured one fungus, which I found growing upon +the decaying trunk of a mammoth fir, that was thirteen +inches thick and thirty-four inches wide. I have +frequently seen mosses growing on rotten logs, in +the deep shades of these lonely forests, that were +twelve to sixteen inches deep, and others hanging +from branches overhead three feet or more in length. +There are places in these dense forests where the trees +stand so close and their branches are so intertwined +that the sun's rays never reach the ground, and have +not, perhaps for centuries; and it is but natural that +these shade and moisture loving plants should grow +to great size in such places.</p> + +<p>The fauna of this Territory includes the elk, black-tailed +<span class="pagenum">[46]</span> +deer, <i>Cervus columbianus</i>; the mule-deer, +<i>Cervus macrotus</i>; the Virginia deer, <i>Cervus virginianus</i>; +the caribou, the Rocky Mountain goat, +Rocky Mountain sheep, the grizzly and black bear. +Among the smaller mammals there are the raccoon, +the cougar, wild cat, gray wolf, black wolf, prairie +wolf or coyote, gray and red fox, fisher, mink, +martin, beaver, otter, sea otter, red squirrel, ermine, +muskrat, sea lion, fur and hair seals, wolverine, +skunk, badger, porcupine, marmot, swamp hare, +jack-rabbit, etc. Of birds and wild fowls there is +a long list, among which may be mentioned several +varieties of geese and brant, including the rare and +toothsome black brant, which in season hovers in +black clouds about the sand spits; the canvas back, +redhead, blue bill, teal, widgeon, shoveler, and various +other ducks; ruffed, pinnated, and blue grouse; +various snipes and plovers; eagles, hawks, owls, +woodpeckers, jays, magpies, nuthatches, warblers, +sparrows, etc. There are many varieties of game and +food fishes in the Sound and its tributaries, in addition +to the salmon and trout already mentioned. +In short, this whole country is a paradise for the +sportsman and the naturalist, whatever the specialty +of either.</p> + +<p>We left Seattle, <i>en route</i> for Victoria, at seven +o'clock on a bright, crisp November morning. The +air was still, the bay was like a sheet of glass, and +only long, low swells were running outside. We +had a charming view of the Cascade Mountains to +the east and the Olympics to the west, all day. The +higher peaks were covered with snow, and the sunlight +glinted and shimmered across them in playful,<span class="pagenum">[47]</span> +cheery mood. Deep shadows fell athwart dark +cañons, in whose gloomy depths we felt sure herds +of elk and deer were nipping the tender herbage, +and along whose raging rivers sundry bears were +doubtless breakfasting on salmon straight. Old +Mount Baker's majestic head, rising 10,800 feet above +us and only fifty miles away, was the most prominent +object in the gorgeous landscape, and one on +which we never tired of gazing. We had only to +cast our eyes from the grand scene ashore to that +at our feet, and <i>vice versa</i>, to—</p> + +<div class="inset14"> +<p>"See the mountains kiss high heaven,<br /> +And the waves clasp one another."</p> +</div> + +<p>A large colony of gulls followed the steamer, with +ceaseless beat of downy wings, from daylight till dark, +and after the first hour they seemed to regard us as +old friends. They hovered about the deck like +winged spirits around a lost child. Strange bird +thus to poise with tireless wing over this watery +waste day after day! Near the route of the vessel +one of the poor creatures lay dead, drifting sadly +and alone on the cold waves. Mysterious creature, +with—</p> + +<div class="inset18"> +<p>"Lack lustre eye, and idle wing,<br /> +<span class="in1">And smirched breast that skims no more,</span><br /> +Hast thou not even a grave<br /> +<span class="in1">Upon the dreary shore,</span><br /> +Forlorn, forsaken thing?"</p> +</div> + +<p>Our feathered fellow-passengers greeted us with +plaintive cries whenever we stepped out of the cabin, +dropping into the water in pursuit of every stray +bit of food that was thrown overboard from the cook-room. +My wife begged several plates of stale bread +<span class="pagenum">[48]</span> +from the steward, and, breaking it into small pieces, +threw handfuls at a time into the water.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_048.jpg" alt="048" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">OUR FEATHERED FELLOW-PASSENGERS.</p> + +<p>Twenty or thirty of the birds would drop in a bunch +where the bread fell, and a lively scramble would +ensue for the coveted food. The lucky ones would +quickly corral it, however, when the whole flight, +rising again, would follow and soon overtake the +vessel. Then they would cluster around their patron, +cooing, and coaxing for more of the welcome bounty. +I took out my detective camera and made a number +of exposures on the gulls, which resulted very satisfactorily. +Many of the prints show them sadly out +of focus, but this was unavoidable, as I focused at +<span class="pagenum">[49]</span> +twenty feet, and of course all that were nearer or +farther away, at the instant of exposure, are not +sharp. Many, however, that were on wing at the +time of making the exposure, and at the proper distance +from the lens, are clearly and sharply cut.</p> + +<p>These pictures form a most interesting study for +artists, anatomists, naturalists, and others, the +wings being shown in every position assumed by the +birds in flight. The shutter worked at so high a +pressure that only one or two birds in the entire +series show any movement at all, and they are but +very slightly blurred. When we consider that the +steamer, as well as the gulls, was in motion—running +ten miles an hour—trembling and vibrating +from stem to stern, and that, in many cases, the +birds were going in an opposite direction from that +of the vessel, the results obtained are certainly marvelous. +It may interest some of my readers to +know that I used an Anthony detective camera, +making a four-by-five-inch picture, to which is fitted +a roll holder, and in all the work done on this trip, +I used negative paper. I also obtained, <i>en route</i>, +several good views of various islands, and points of +interest on the mainland, while the boat was in +motion.</p> + +<p>There are many beautiful scenes in and about the +Sound; many charming islands, clothed in evergreen +foliage, from whose interiors issue clear, sparkling +brooks of fresh water; while the mainland shores +rise abruptly, in places, to several hundreds of feet, +bearing their burdens of giant trees. There are perpendicular +cut banks on many of the islands and +the mainland shores, thirty, forty, or fifty feet high, +<span class="pagenum">[51]</span> +almost perpendicular, made so by the hungry waves +having eaten away their foundations, and the earth +having fallen into the brine, leaving exposed bare +walls of sand and gravel. On Whidby Island, one +of the largest in the Sound, there was, up to a few +years ago, a herd of wild cattle, to which no one +made claim of ownership, and which were, consequently, +considered legitimate game for anyone +who cared to hunt them. They were wary and cunning +in the extreme. The elk or deer, native and to +the manor born, could not be more so. But, alas, +these cattle were not to be the prey of true, conscientious +sportsmen; for the greed of the market +hunter and the skin hunter exceeded the natural +cunning of the noble animals, and they have been +nearly exterminated; only ten or twelve remain, and +they will soon have to yield up their lives to the +insatiable greed of those infamous butchers.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_050.jpg" alt="050" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">DECEPTION PASS, PUGET SOUND.</p> + +<p>One of the most curious and interesting points in the +sound is Deception Pass. This is a narrow channel +or passage between two islands, only fifty yards +wide, and about two hundred yards long. On either +side rise abrupt and towering columns of basaltic rock, +and during both ebb and flow the tide runs through +it, between Padilla and Dugalla Bays, with all the +wild fury and bewildering speed of the maelstrom. +This pass takes its name from the fact of there +being three coves near—on the west coast of +Whidby Island—that look so much like Deception +that they are often mistaken for it at night or during +foggy weather, even by experienced navigators. +All the skill and care of the best pilots are required +to make the pass in safety, and the bravest of them +<span class="pagenum">[52]</span> +heave a sigh of relief when once its beetling cliffs +and seething abysses are far astern. Gulls hover +about this weird place, and eagles soar above it at all +hours, as if admiring its pristine beauties, yet in +superstitious awe of the dark depths. Mount Erie, +two miles away, rising to a height of 1,300 feet, casting +its deep shadows across the pass and surrounding +waters, completes a picture of rare beauty and +grandeur.</p> + +<p>We reached Victoria, that quaint, old, aristocratic, +ultra-English town, just as the sun was sinking +beneath the waves, that rolled restlessly on the surface +of Juan de Fuca Strait. We were surprised to see +so substantial and well-built a town as this, and +one possessing so much of the air of age and independence, +so far north and west. One might readily +imagine, from the exterior appearance of the city +and its surroundings, that he were in the province +of Quebec instead of that of British Columbia. My +wife felt that she must not remain longer away from +home at present, and we were to part here; therefore, +in the early morning she embarked for home, +while I transferred my effects and self to the steamer +Princess Louise, bound for Burrard Inlet.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_052.jpg" alt="052" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[53]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_053_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_053_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">T</span> daylight in the morning we entered English +Bay, having crossed the strait during the +night. The sun climbed up over the snow-mantled +mountains into a cloudless sky, +and his rays were reflected from the limpid, +tranquil surface of the bay:</p> + +<div class="inset24"> +<p><span class="in3">"Blue, darkly, deeply, beautifully blue,"</span></p> +</div> + +<p class="noin">as if from the face of a mirror. A few +miles to the east, the triple-mouthed Frazer +empties its great volume of fresh, cold, glacier-tinted +fluid into the briny inland sea, and its +delta, level as a floor, stretches back many miles +on either side of the river to the foot-hills of the +Cascades. Thousands of ducks sat idly and lazily +in the water, sunning themselves, pruning their +feathers, and eyeing us curiously but fearlessly, +as we passed, sometimes within twenty-five or +thirty yards of them. A few geese crossed hither +and thither, in low, long, dark lines, uttering their +familiar honk, honk; but they were more wary +than their lesser cousins, and kept well out of range. +I asked the purser if there was any rule against +shooting on board, and he said no; to go down on +the after main deck, and shoot until I was tired. I +took my Winchester express from the case, went +below and opened on the ducks. They at once found +<span class="pagenum">[54]</span> +it necessary to get out of the country, and their +motion, and that of the vessel combined, caused me +to score several close misses, but I finally found the +bull's-eye, so to speak, and killed three in rapid succession. +Then the mate came down and said:</p> + +<p>"We don't allow no one to be firin' off guns on +board."</p> + +<p>"I have the purser's permission," I said.</p> + +<p>"Well," he replied, "the captain's better authority +than the purser on this here boat," whereupon +he returned to the cabin deck, and so did I. I was +not seriously disappointed, however, for I cared +little for the duck shooting; I was in quest of larger +game, and only wanted to practice a little, to renew +acquaintance and familiarity with my weapon. +Early in the day we entered Burrard Inlet, a narrow, +crooked, and peculiarly shaped arm of the salt water, +that winds and threads its way many miles back +into the mountains, so narrow in places, that a boy +may cast a stone across it, and yet so deep as to be +navigable for the largest ocean steamship. The inlet +is so narrow and crooked that a stranger, sailing into +it for the first time, would pronounce it a great river +coming down from the mountains. Through this +picturesque body of water our good boat cleft the +shadows of the overhanging mountains until nearly +noon, when we landed at Vancouver, the terminus +of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In consequence of +this important selection, the place is a busy mart of +trade. The clang of saw and hammer, the rattle of +wheels, the general din of a building boom, are such +as to tire one's nerves in a few hours. Later in the +day we reached Port Moody. This town was originally +<span class="pagenum">[55]</span> +designated as the tide-water terminus of the +road, and had its brief era of prosperity and speculation +in consequence; but now that the plan has +been changed it has been reduced to a mere way +station, and has relapsed into the dullest kind of +dullness.</p> + +<p>From here I staged across the divide to New +Westminster, on the Frazer river, the home of Mr. +J. C. Hughs, who had invited me there to hunt +Rocky Mountain goats with him. I was grieved +beyond measure, however, to learn on my arrival that +he was dangerously ill, and went at once to his +house, but he was unable to see me. He sank rapidly +from the date of his first illness, died two days after +my arrival, and I therefore found myself in a strange +land, with no friend or acquaintance to whom I +could go for information or advice.</p> + +<p>My first object, therefore, was to find a guide to take +me into the mountains, and although I found several +pretended sportsmen, I could hear of no one who had +ever killed a goat, except poor Hughs, and a Mr. +Fannin, who had formerly lived there, but had lately +moved away, so of course no one knew where I could +get a guide. Several business men, of whom I asked +information, inquired at once where I was from, and +on learning that I was an American, simply said "I +don't know," and were, or at least pretended to be, +too busy to talk with me. They seemed to have no +use for people from this side of the boundary line, +and this same ill-feeling toward my Nation (with a +big N) was shown me in other places, and on various +occasions, while in the province. I found, however, +one gracious exception, in New Westminster, in the +<span class="pagenum">[56]</span> +person of Mr. C. G. Major, a merchant, who, the moment +I made known to him my wish, replied:</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, the best guide and the best hunter in +British Columbia left here not three minutes ago. +He is an Indian who lives on Douglass Lake, and I +think I can get him for you. If I can, you are fixed +for a good and successful hunt."</p> + +<p>This news, and the frank, manly, cordial greeting +that came with it, were surprising to me, after the +treatment I had been receiving. Mr. Major invited +me into his private office, gave me a chair by the fire, +and sent out a messenger to look for "Douglass Bill," +the Indian of whom he had spoken. This important +personage soon came in. Mr. Major told him what +I wanted, and it took but a few minutes to make +a bargain. He was a solid, well-built Indian, had +an intelligent face, spoke fair English, and had the +reputation of being, as Mr. Major had said, an excellent +hunter. Mr. Major further said he considered +Bill one of the most honest, truthful Indians he had +ever known, and that I could trust him as implicitly +as I could any white man in the country.</p> + +<p>This arrangement was made on Saturday night, +but Bill said he could not start on the hunt until +Wednesday morning, as his mother-in-law had just +died, and he must go and help to bury her on Tuesday. +The funeral was to take place on the Chilukweyuk +river, a tributary of the Frazer, about fifty +miles above New Westminster, and it was arranged +that I should go up on the steamer, and meet him at +the mouth of Harrison river, another tributary +stream, on Wednesday morning. We were then to +go up the Harrison to the hunting grounds. I was +<span class="pagenum">[57]</span> +delighted at the prospect of a successful hunt, with +so good a guide, and cheerfully consented to wait +the necessary three days for the red man to perform +the last sad rites of his tribe over the remains of +the departed <i>kloochman</i>, but I was doomed to disappointment.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_057.jpg" alt="057" /> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<span class="pagenum">[58]</span><img src="images/illo_058.jpg" alt="058" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A VIEW ON THE FRAZER.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[59]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_059_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_059_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_059_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_059_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_059_4.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">OR</span> many years I had read, heard, and +dreamed of the Frazer, that mysterious +stream which flows out from among +the icy fastnesses of the Cascades, in +the far-off confines of British Columbia. +For many years had I longed to see +with my own eyes some of the grand +scenery of the region it drains, and now, +at last, that mighty stream flowed at my +feet. How eagerly I drank in the beauty of +the scene! How my heart thrilled at the +thought that I stood face to face with this land +of my dreams and was about to explore a portion, +at least, of the country in which this great river +rises. The beautiful lines penned by Maria Brooks, +on the occasion of her first visit to the St. Lawrence, +came vividly to my mind:</p> + +<div class="inset22"> +<p>"The first time I beheld thee, beauteous stream,<br /> +<span class="in1">How pure, how smooth, how broad thy bosom heaved;</span><br /> +What feelings rushed upon my heart! a gleam<br /> +<span class="in1">As of another life my kindling soul received."</span></p> +</div> + +<p>I left New Westminster at seven o'clock Monday +morning on the steamer Adelaide, for the mouth of +Harrison river, sixty miles up the Frazer. There +were over twenty Indians on board, going up to the +mouth of the Chilukweyuk, to attend the funeral of +Douglass Bill's deceased relative. As soon as I +<span class="pagenum">[60]</span> +learned their destination I inquired if he were +among them, but they said he was not. He had +come aboard before we left, but for some reason had +decided to go on another boat that left half an hour +ahead of the Adelaide. The voyage proved intensely +interesting. The Frazer is from a quarter to half a +mile wide, and is navigable for large steamers for a +hundred miles above its mouth. There are portions +of the valley that are fertile, thickly settled, and +well cultivated. The valleys of some of its tributaries +are also good farming districts, and grain, +fruits, and vegetables of various kinds grow in +abundance. At the mouth of the Chilukweyuk I +saw fine peaches that had grown in the valley, within +ten miles of perpetual snow. The river became +very crooked as we neared the mountains, and +finally we entered the gorge, or cañon, where the +rocky-faced mountains rise, sheer from the water's +edge, to heights of many hundreds of feet, and just +back of them tower great peaks, clad in eternal +snows. The little camera was again brought into +requisition and, as we rounded some of these picturesque +bends and traversed some of the beautiful +reaches, I secured many good views, though the day +was cloudy and lowery. The boat being in motion, +I was, of course, compelled to make the shortest +possible exposures, and was, therefore, unable to get +fine details in the shadows; yet many of the prints +turned out fairly well.</p> + +<p>We saw several seals in the river on the way up, +and the captain informed me that at certain seasons +they were quite plentiful in the Frazer and all the +larger streams in the neighborhood. They go up +<span class="pagenum">[61]</span> +the Frazer to the head of navigation and he could +not say how much farther. He said that on one +occasion a female seal and her young were seen +sporting in the water ahead of the steamer, and that +when the vessel came within about fifty yards they +dove. Nothing more was seen of the puppy, and +the captain thought it must have been caught in +the wheel and killed, for the mother followed the +vessel several miles, whining, looking longingly, +pitifully, and beseechingly at the passengers and +crew. She would swim around and around the +steamer, coming close up, showing no fear for her +own safety, whatever, but seeming to beg them to +give back her baby. She appeared to have lost sight +of it entirely, whatever its fate, and to think it had +been captured and taken on board. Her moaning +and begging, her intense grief, were pitiable in the +extreme, and brought tears to the eyes of stout, +brawny men. Finally she seemed completely +exhausted with anguish and her exertions and gradually +sank out of sight. My informant said he +hoped never to witness another such sight.</p> + +<p>We arrived at the mouth of Harrison river at six +o'clock in the evening. There is a little Indian village +there called by the same name as the river, and +Mr. J. Barker keeps a trading post on the reservation, +he being the only white man living there. He +made me welcome to the best accommodations his +bachelor quarters afforded, but said the only sleeping-room +he had was full, as two friends from down +the river were stopping with him for the night, and +that I would have to lodge with one of the Indian +families. He said there was one <i>kloochman</i> (the +<span class="pagenum">[62]</span> +Chinook word for squaw) who was a remarkably +neat, cleanly housekeeper, who had a spare room, +and who usually kept any strangers that wished to +stop over night in the village. While we were talking +the squaw in question came in and Mr. Barker +said to her:</p> + +<p>"Mary, yah-kwa Boston man tik-eh moo-sum +me-si-ka house po-lak-le." (Here is an American +who would like to sleep in your house to-night.) +To which she replied:</p> + +<p>"Yak-ka hy-ak" (he can come), and the bargain +was closed.</p> + +<p>I remained at the store and talked with Mr. +Barker and his friends until ten o'clock, when he +took a lantern and piloted me over to the Indian +rancherie, where I was to lodge. I took my sleeping-bag +with me and thanked my stars that I did, for +notwithstanding the assurances given me by good +Mr. Barker that the Indian woman was as good a +housekeeper as the average white woman, I was +afraid of vermin. I have never known an Indian to +be without the hemipterous little insect, <i>Pediculus</i> +(<i>humanus</i>) <i>capitis</i>. Possibly there may be some +Indians who do not wear them; I simply say I have +never had the pleasure of knowing one, and I have +known a great many, too. I seriously doubt if one +has ever yet lived many days at a time devoid of the +companionship of these pestiferous little creatures. +In fact, an Indian and a louse are natural allies—boon +companions—and are as inseparable as the +boarding-house bed and the bedbug. The red man +is so inured to the ravages of his parasitic companion, +so accustomed to have him rustling +<span class="pagenum">[63]</span> +around on his person and foraging for grub, that he +pays little or no attention to the insect, and seems +hardly to feel its bite.</p> + +<p>You will rarely see an Indian scratch his head or, +in fact, any portion of his person, as a white man +does when he gets a bite. Lo gives forth no outward +sign that he is thickly settled, and it is only when +he sits or lies down in the hot sun that the inhabitants +of his hair and clothing come to the front; +then you may see them crawling about like roaches +in a hotel kitchen. Or, when he has lain down on a +board, or your tent canvas, or any light-colored substance +and got up and gone away, leaving some of +his neighbors behind, then you know he is—like +others of his race—the home of a large colony of +insects.</p> + +<p>When Mary and her husband, George, saw my +roll of bedding, which they supposed to be simply +blankets, they protested to Mr. Barker that I would +not need them, that there was "hy-iu mit-lite pa-se-se" +(plenty of covering on the bed). I told them, +however, that I could sleep better in my own +blankets and preferred to use them. I took the +bundle into my room, spread the sleeping-bag on +the bed and crawled into it. The outer covering of +the bag being of thick, hard canvas, I hoped it +would prove an effectual barrier against the +assaults of the vermin, and that they might not find +the portal by which I entered, and so it proved.</p> + +<p>George and Mary live in a very well-built, comfortable, +one-story frame cottage, divided into two rooms; +the kitchen, dining-room, parlor and family sleeping-room +all in one, and the spare room being the other.<span class="pagenum">[64]</span> +The house has four windows and one door, a shingle +roof and a board floor. They have a cooking-stove, +several chairs, a table, cupboard, etc. The bedstead +on which I slept was homemade, but neat and substantial. +It was furnished with a white cotton tick, +filled with straw, feather pillows, several clean-looking +blankets, and a pair of moderately clean cotton +sheets. I have slept in much worse-looking beds +in hotels kept by white people.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_064.jpg" alt="064" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">GEORGE AND MARY.</p> + +<p>This Indian village, Harrison river, or Skowlitz, +as the Indians call both the river and the village, is +composed of about twenty families, living in houses +<span class="pagenum">[65]</span> +of about the same class and of the same general design +as the one described, although some are slightly +larger and better, while others are not quite so good. +All have been built by white carpenters, or the +greater part of the work was done by them, and the +lumber and other materials were manufactured by +white men. None of the dwellings have ever been +painted inside or out, but there is a neat mission +church in the village that has been honored with a +coat of white paint. There are a few log shacks +standing near, that look very much as if they had +been built by native industry. The frame houses, I +am informed, were erected by the Government and +the church by the Catholic Missionary Society.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_065.jpg" alt="065" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[66]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_066_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_066_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_066_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"> was not compelled to eat with George and +Mary, for Mr. Barker had kindly invited +me to breakfast with him, and when I +reached his store, at the breakfast hour +in the morning, I found a neat inviting-looking +table in the room back of the +store, loaded with broiled ham, baked +potatoes, good bread and butter, a pot of +steaming coffee, etc.; all of which we +enjoyed intensely. Mr. Barker informed +me there was a cluster of hot springs ten miles up +the river, at the foot of Harrison Lake, the source of +Harrison river, near which a large hotel had lately +been built. Upon inquiry as to a means of getting +up there, I learned that he had employed a couple +of Indians to take some freight up that morning in +a canoe, and that I could probably secure a passage +with them. As Harrison Lake, or rather the mountains +surrounding it, were the hunting-grounds +which Douglass Bill had selected, and as we would +have to pass these hot springs en route, I decided +to go there and wait for him. I therefore arranged +with Barker to send him up to the springs, when he +should call for me at the store, and took passage +in the freight canoe.</p> + +<p>The Harrison river is a large stream that cuts its +way through high, rugged mountains, and the water +<span class="pagenum">[67]</span> +has a pronounced milky tinge imparted by the glaciers +from which its feeders come, away back in the +Cascades. It is a famous salmon stream, and thousands +of these noble fishes, of mammoth size, that +had lately gone up the river and into the small +creeks to spawn, having died from disease, or having +been killed in the terrible rapids they had to +encounter, were lying dead on every sand bar, +lodged against every stick of driftwood, or were +slowly floating in the current. Their carcasses lined +the shore all along the lower portion of the river, +and the hogs, of which the Indians have large numbers, +were feasting on the putrid masses as voraciously +as if they had been ears of new, sweet corn. +The stench emitted by these festering bodies was +nauseating in the extreme; and the water, ordinarily +so pure and palatable, was now totally unfit for use. +I counted over one hundred of these dead fishes on a +single sand bar of less than half an acre in extent. +Cruising amid such surroundings was anything but +pleasant, and I was glad the current was slow here +so that, though going up stream, we were able to +make good progress, and soon got away from this +nauseating sight.</p> + +<p>About a mile above the village we rounded a bend +in the river, where it spread out to nearly a quarter +of a mile in width, and on a sand bar in the middle +of the stream, sat a flock of geese. I picked up my +rifle and took a shot at them, but the ball cut a ditch +in the water nearly fifty yards this side, and went +singing over their heads into the woods beyond. +They did not seem lo enjoy such music, and taking +wing started for some safer feeding-ground, carrying +<span class="pagenum">[69]</span> +on a lively conversation in goose Latin, probably +about any fool who would try to kill geese at that +distance. I turned loose on them again, and in about +a second after pulling the trigger one of them seemed +to explode, as if hit by a dynamite bomb. For a few +seconds the air was full of fragments of goose, which +rained down into the water like a shower of autumn +leaves. My red companions enjoyed the result of this +shot hugely, and a canoe load of Indians from up +river, who were passing at the time, set up a regular +war whoop. We pulled over and got what was left of +the goose, and found that my express bullet had +carried away all his stern rigging, his rudder, one +of his paddles, and a considerable portion of his +hull. The water was covered with fragments of sail, +provisions of various kinds, and sundry bits of cargo +and hull. Charlie picked up so much of the wreck +as hung together, and said in his broken, laconic +English:</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_068.jpg" alt="068" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">DEAD SALMON ON HARRISON RIVER.</p> + +<p>"Dat no good goose gun. Shoot him too much +away."</p> + +<p>There were plenty of ducks, coots, grebes, and +gulls on the river, and I had fine sport with them +whenever I cared to shoot.</p> + +<p>A mile above where I killed the goose we entered +a long reach of shoal rapids, where all the brawn +and skill of the Indians were required to stem the +powerful current and the immense volume of water. +The rapids are over a mile long, and it took us nearly +two hours to reach their head. As soon as we were +well into them we came among large numbers of live, +healthy salmon. Many of them were running down +the stream, some up, while others seemed not to be +<span class="pagenum">[71]</span> +going anywhere in particular, but just loafing +around, enjoying themselves. They were wild, but, +owing to the water being so rough and rapid, we +frequently got within two or three feet of them +before they saw us, and the Indians killed two large +ones with their canoe poles. Occasionally we would +corner a whole school of them in some little pocket, +where the water was so shallow that their dorsal fins +would stick out, and where there was no exit but by +passing close to the canoe. When alarmed they +would cavort around like a herd of wild mustangs +in a corral, until they would churn the water into a +foam; then, emboldened by their peril, they would +flash out past us with the velocity of an arrow. +They were doing a great deal of jumping; frequently +a large fish, two or three feet long, would start across +the stream, and make four or five long, high leaps +out of the water, in rapid succession, only remaining +in the water long enough after each jump to gain +momentum for the next. I asked Charlie why they +were doing this, if they were sick, or if something +was biting them.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_070.jpg" alt="070" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">WRECKED BY AN EXPRESS BULLET</p> + +<p>"No," he said. "Play. All same drunk—raise +hell!"</p> + +<p>These salmon run up the rivers and creeks to +deposit their spawn, and seem possessed of an insane +desire to get as far up into the small brooks as they +possibly can. They frequently pursue their mad +course up over boiling, foaming, roaring rapids, and +abrupt, perpendicular falls, where it would seem +impossible for any living creature to go—regardless +of their own safety or comfort. They are often found +in dense schools in little creeks away up near their +<span class="pagenum">[72]</span> +sources, where there is not water enough to cover +their bodies, and where they become an easy prey to +man, or to wild beasts. In such cases, Indians kill +them with spears and sharp sticks, or even catch and +throw them out with their hands.</p> + +<p>Or if their journeyings take them among farms or +ranches, as is often the case, the people throw them +out on the banks with pitch-forks, and after supplying +their household necessities, they cart the noble +fish away and feed them to their hogs, or even use +them to fertilize their fields. I have seen salmon +wedged into some of the small streams until you could +almost walk on them. The banks of many creeks, +far up in the foot-hills, are almost wholly composed +of the bones of salmon. In traveling through dense +woods I have often heard, at some distance ahead, +a loud splashing and general commotion in water, +as if of a dozen small boys in bathing. This would, +perhaps, be the first intimation I had that I was near +water, and, on approaching the source of the noise, +I have found it to have been made by a school of +these lordly salmon, wedged into one of the little +streams, thrashing the creek into suds in their efforts +to get to its head.</p> + +<p>After depositing their spawn the poor creatures, +already half dead from bruises and exhaustion +incurred in their perilous voyage up stream, begin to +drift down. But how different, now, from the bright, +silvery creatures that once darted like rays of living +light through the sea. Unable to control their movements +in the descent, even as well as in the ascent, +they drift at the cruel mercy of the stream. They +are driven against rough bowlders, submerged logs +<span class="pagenum">[73]</span> +and snags, or through raging rapids by the fury of +the torrent, until hundreds, yes thousands, of them +are killed outright, and thousands more die from +sheer exhaustion.</p> + +<p>I have seen salmon with their noses broken and +torn off; others with a lower jaw torn away; some +with sides, backs, or bellies bruised and bleeding; +others with their tails whipped and split into shreds, +and still others with their entrails torn out by +snags. In this sad plight they are beset at every +turn in the river by their natural enemies. Bears, +cougars, minks, wild cats, fishers, eagles, hawks, +and worst and most destructive of all, men, await +them everywhere, and it would be strange, +indeed, if one in each thousand that left the salt +water should live to return. The few that do so, +are, of course, so weak that they fall an easy prey +to the seals, sharks, and other enemies, that wait +with open mouths to engulf them. So, all the leaping, +rushing multitude that entered the river a few +months ago, have, ere this, gone to their doom, but +their seed is planted in the icy brook, far away in +the mountains, and their young will soon come forth +to take the place of the parents that have passed +away. The instinct of reproduction must, indeed, +be an absorbing passion in poor dumb creatures, +when they will thus sacrifice life in the effort to +deposit their ova where the offspring may best be +brought into being.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_073.jpg" alt="073" /> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<span class="pagenum">[74]</span> +<img src="images/illo_074.jpg" alt="074" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">INDIAN SPEARING SALMON.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[74]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_075_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_4.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_5.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_6.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">BOVE</span> the rapids we had a lovely reach +of river, from a quarter to half a +mile wide, with no perceptible current. +Impelled by our united efforts, +our light cedar canoe shot over the +water as lightly and almost as +swiftly as the gulls above us sped +through the air. I took one of the +poles and used it while the Indians +plied their paddles, and for +a distance of nearly two miles the depth of +water did not vary two inches from four and a half +feet. The bottom was composed of a hard, white +sand, into which the pole, with my weight on it, +sunk less than an inch; in fact, the current is so +slight, the width of the river so great, and the general +character of the water such, that it might all be +termed a lake above the falls; though the foot of +the lake, as designated on the map, has a still +greater widening five miles above the head of the +falls.</p> + +<p>Abrupt basaltic walls, 500 to 1,000 feet high and +nearly perpendicular, rise from the water's edge +on either side. On the more sloping faces of +these, vegetation has obtained root-room, little +bunches of soil have formed, and various evergreens, +alders, water hazels, etc., grow vigorously. +<span class="pagenum">[77]</span> +Half a foot of snow had lately fallen on the tops of +these mountains, and a warm, southwest wind and +the bright sun were now sending it down into the +river in numerous plunging streams of crystal fluid. +For thousands of years these miniature torrents have, +at frequent intervals, tumbled down here, and in all +that time have worn but slight notches in the rocky +walls.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_076.jpg" alt="076" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A TRIBUTARY OF THE HARRISON.</p> + +<p>Shrubs have grown up along and over these +small waterways, and as the little rivulets come +coursing down, dodging hither and thither under overhanging +clumps of green foliage, leaping from crag +to crag and curving from right to left and from left +to right, around and among frowning projections of +invulnerable rock, glinting and sparkling in the sunlight, +they remind one of silvery satin ribbons, tossed +by a summer breeze, among the brown tresses of +some winsome maiden. I took several views of these +little waterfalls, but their transcendent beauty can +not be intelligently expressed on a little four-by-five +silver print.</p> + +<p>Several larger streams also put into the Harrison, +that come from remote fastnesses, and seem to carve +their way through great mountains of granite. Their +shores are lined with dense growths of conifers, and +afford choice retreats for deer, bears, and other wild +animals.</p> + +<p>At three o'clock in the afternoon we rounded a +high point of rocks that jutted out into the river, +and another beautiful picture—another surprise, in +this land of surprises—lay before us. Harrison +Lake, nestling among snowy peaks and dotted with +basaltic islands, reflected in its peaceful depths the +<span class="pagenum">[78]</span> +surrounding mountains as clearly as though its +placid surface had been covered with quicksilver. +This lake is about forty miles long, is fed by the +Lillooet river and numerous smaller streams. Silver +creek, which comes in on the west side, twenty miles +north of the hot springs, is a beautiful mountain +stream of considerable size. A quarter of a mile +above its mouth, it makes a perpendicular fall of +over sixty feet. It is one of the most beautiful falls +in the country. Near the head of the lake, and in +full view from the springs, old Mount Douglass, clad +in perpetual snow and glacial ice, towers into the +blue sky until its brilliancy almost dazzles one's +eyes. Though forty miles away, one who did not +know would estimate the distance at not more than +five, so clearly are all the details of the grand picture +shown. It is said that from the glaciers on this peak +come the streams whose waters give their peculiar +milky cast to Harrison Lake and Harrison river. +Near the base of Mount Douglass is an Indian village +of the same name, and the Hudson Bay Fur Company +formerly had a trading post in the neighborhood, +which they called Fort Douglass. This Indian +village is the home of my prospective guide, and +from it he has adopted his unpoetic cognomen.</p> + +<p>Half a mile to the right of where we entered the +lake, the famous hot springs, already mentioned, boil +out from under the foot of a mountain, and discharge +their steaming fluid into the lake. The curative +power of these waters has been known to the natives +for ages past, and the sick have come from all directions, +and from villages many miles away, to +bathe in the waters and be healed. All about the +<span class="pagenum">[79]</span> +place are remains of Indian encampments, medicine +lodges, etc. The tribes in this vicinity are greatly +exercised over the fact of the white man having +lately asserted ownership of their great sanitarium, +and having assumed its control. Mr. J. R. Brown +has erected over the springs a large bath-house, and +near that a commodious hotel. He has cut a road +through a pass in the mountains to Agassiz station, +on the Canadian Pacific Railway, five miles distant, +so that the springs may now be easily reached by +invalids wishing to test their curative properties. +Soon after my arrival at the springs, I climbed the +mountain to the east of the hotel, and passed the +time pleasantly, until sunset, viewing the beautiful +scenery in the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>On the following morning I took a boat and rowed +up the east shore of the lake, in hope of getting a shot +at a deer, but though I saw plenty of fresh signs all +along the shore no game was visible. I spent the +afternoon looking anxiously for my promised guide, +but he came not. I again amused myself, however, +taking views of the scenery, but found on developing +the negatives that I had not been eminently successful +with either Mount Douglass or Mount Chiam. +Snowy mountains are about the most difficult objects +in all nature to photograph, especially if you attempt +to include anything beside the snowy peaks in the +picture; for they are so intensely white, and the sky +or even clouds that form the background are so light +and afford so slight contrast, that it is next to impossible +to get good sharp pictures of them. The landscape +about the mountains is sure to offer some dark objects, +perhaps deep shadows, and even the mountain itself +<span class="pagenum">[80]</span> +nearly always has bare rocks and dark, gloomy cañons, +and to get these and the dazzling whiteness of the +snow and ice on the same plate is decidedly difficult. +Of course we see many fine photographs of snow-covered +mountains, but if taken with a clear sky or with +light clouds for background, there is generally more +or less retouching necessary, and more or less doctoring +in printing, with tissue paper, glass screens, etc., +in order to obtain the results we see in the prints. I +made some fair views of both these peaks, but not +such as an enthusiastic amateur might wish. Of the +lower mountains, where at that time there was no +snow, of the lake, the islands, etc., I got very satisfactory +pictures. I went up the road, toward the +railway station, a mile or more, where it passes +through one of those grand forests for which this +country is so famous, where—</p> + +<div class="inset20"> +<p>"Those green-robed senators of mighty woods<br /> +Dream, and so dream all night without a stir."</p> +</div> + +<p>There I made views of some of the giant cedars, the +dense moss-hung jungles, the great fir trees, etc. In +these dark, densely-shaded woods I had to take off +the flying shutter and make time exposures. I gave +three to five seconds to each plate. In the prints +the trees and other objects nearest to the lens are of +course over-exposed, but the details in the shadows +and objects in the extreme distance are clearly and +beautifully brought out. For these time exposures +I placed the camera on some convenient log, stump, +or stone, in lieu of a tripod. In two instances I seated +the rear end of the instrument on the ground, with +the lens bearing up through the tops of the trees. +The whitened trunk and broken, straggling arms of +<span class="pagenum">[81]</span> +one great old dead fir—one that has flourished in +this rich soil and drawn sustenance from the moist, +ozone-laden atmosphere of these mountains for hundreds +of years, but has lived out his time and is now +going the way of all things earthly—forms the subject +of one of the best and most interesting pictures +of the whole series. The tops of several other trees—birch, +maple, etc., that stood near the fir—are also +shown in the picture. It can best be seen and appreciated +by holding it above your head, looking up at +it, and imagining yourself there in the forest, looking +up through the tops of the giant trees into the +blue ethereal dome of heaven.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_081.jpg" alt="081" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[82]</span></p> + +<h2> +<a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_082_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_082_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_082_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">N</span> the morning I got up early to look for Douglass +Bill, thinking and hoping he might +have landed during the night, but no one +had seen him and there was no strange +canoe in the harbor. After breakfast, +in order to kill time, I climbed the +mountain east of the hotel to a height of +about a thousand feet. It is heavily +timbered, and I found plenty of fresh +deer-signs within plain sound of the +hammers wielded by the carpenters at work on the +hotel, but failed to get a shot. I returned at +eleven o'clock, but Bill had not yet shown up. +Three other Indians were there, however, with +three deer in their canoe, which they had killed +on the opposite side of the lake the day before. I +now concluded that Mr. Major's confidence in Bill +was misplaced; that he was not going to keep his +contract, and was, in short, as treacherous, as unreliable, +and as consummate a liar as other Indians; +so I entered into negotiations with these three Indians +to get one or two of them to go with me. But they +had planned a trip to New Westminster, to sell their +venison, and I could not induce any one of them to +go, though I offered big wages, and a premium on +each head of game I might kill, besides. They said +that if I wished they would take me to their village—which +<span class="pagenum">[83]</span> +is five miles down the river—and that there +were several good goat hunters there whom I could +get. I accepted their offer of transportation, stepped +into the canoe, and we pulled out. As we entered +the shoal water in the river I asked for a pole, and +impelled by it and the three paddles we sped down +the stream at a rapid rate.</p> + +<p>There was a cold, disagreeable rain falling and a +chilly north wind blowing. This storm had brought +clouds of ducks into the river, among them several +flocks of canvas backs. The Indians, who were using +smooth-bore muskets, killed several of these toothsome +fowls. One flock rose ahead of us and started +directly down the river, but by some kind of native +intuition the Indians seemed to know that they would +come back up the opposite shore. They dropped +their guns, caught up the paddles and plied them +with such force that every stroke fairly lifted the +light cedar canoe out of the water, and we shot across +the river with the speed of a deer. Sure enough, +after flying a hundred yards down stream the +ducks turned and, hugging the shore, undertook to +pass up the river on the other side, but we cut them +off, so that they had to pass over our heads. At +this juncture the two muskets carried by the two +young men cracked and three canvas backs dropped, +limp and lifeless, into the water within a few feet +of us.</p> + +<p>We arrived at the hut occupied by this family at +noon. It stands on the bank of the river, half a mile +above the village of Chehalis, and as we pulled up, +two old and two young squaws and nine small Indians, +some of them mere papooses in arms (but not +<span class="pagenum">[84]</span> +in long clothes—in fact, not in any clothes worth mentioning), +came swarming out to meet us. Their abode +was a shanty about twelve feet square, made by setting +four corner posts into the ground, nailing cross-ribs +on, and over these clapboards riven from the +native cedars, and the roof was of the same material. +The adult members of this social alliance had been +engaged in catching and drying salmon during the +recent run; the heads, entrails and backbones of which +had been dumped into the river at their very door. +There being no current near the shore they had sunk +in barely enough water to cover them, and lay there +rotting and poluting the water used by the family +for drinking and cooking. Cart-loads of this offal +were also lying about the dooryard, and had been +trampled into and mixed up with the mud until the +whole outfit stunk like a tanyard.</p> + +<p>Within was a picture of filth and squalor that +beggars description. The floor of the hut was of +mother earth. A couple of logs with two clapboards +laid across them formed the only seats. On one side +was a pile of brush, hay, and dirty, filthy blankets, +indiscriminately mixed, on which the entire three +families slept, presumably in the same fashion. Near +the centre of the hut a small fire struggled for existence, +and that portion of the smoke that was not +absorbed by the people, the drying fish and other +objects in the room, escaped through a hole in the +centre of the roof. The children, barefooted and half-naked, +came in out of the rain, mud, and fish carrion, +in which they had been tramping about, and sat or +lay on the ground about the fire, looking as happy +as a litter of pigs in a mud hole. On poles, attached +<span class="pagenum">[85]</span> +by cedar withes to the rafters, were hung several +hundred salmon, absorbing smoke, carbonic acid gas +from the lungs of the human beings beneath, and +steam from the cooking that was going on. It is +understood that after this process has been prolonged +for some weeks these once noble fishes will be fit for +the winter food of the Siwash.</p> + +<p>Some of the houses in Chehalis are neat frame +cottages; in fact, it is a better-built town, on the +whole, than the village of Harrison River already +described; but these better houses all stand back +about a quarter of a mile from the river, and the +inhabitants have left them and gone into the "fish-houses," +the clapboard structures, on the immediate +river bank. Some of these shanties are much larger +than the one mentioned above, and in some cases +four, five, or even six families hole up in one of +these filthy dens during the fish-curing season.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, there are salmon of one variety +or another in these larger rivers nearly all the year, +but sometimes the weather is too cold, too wet, or +otherwise too disagreable in winter for the noble red +man to fish with comfort, and hence all these preparations +for a rainy day. After the fishes are cured +they are hung up in big out-houses set on posts, or +in some cases built high up in the branches of trees, in +order to be entirely out of the reach of rats, minks, +or other vermin, and the members of the commune +draw from the stock at will. The coast Indians live +almost wholly on fish, and seem perfectly happy +without flesh, vegetables, or bread, if such be not at +hand, though they can eat plenty of all these when +set before them. If one of them kills a deer he seldom +<span class="pagenum">[86]</span> +or never eats more of it than the liver, heart, +lungs, etc. He sells the carcass, if within a three +days' voyage of a white man who will buy venison.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_086.jpg" alt="086" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">SALMON BOXES IN TREES.</p> + +<p>One of the young men already mentioned went with +me down to one of the big fish-houses and called out +Pean, a man about fifty years of age, who he said +was a good goat hunter and a good guide. They held a +hurried conversation in their native tongue, at the +<span class="pagenum">[87]</span> +close of which the young man said Pean would go +with me for two dollars a day. I asked Pean if he +could talk English, and he said "yes," but this +proved, in after experience, to be about the only +English word he could speak. He rushed into the +hut, and in about three or four minutes returned +with his gun, powder-horn, bullet-pouch, pipe, +and a small roll of blankets, and was ready for +a journey into the mountains of, he knew not how +many days. His canoe was on the river bank near +us, and as we were stepping into it I asked him a +few questions which he tried to answer in English, +but made a poor stagger at it, and slid off into Chinook.</p> + +<p>Just then another old Indian came up with a +canoe-load of wood. I asked him if he could speak +English—"wah-wah King George"; and he said +"Yes."</p> + +<p>I then told him I had hired this other man +to go hunting with me and asked him if he knew +him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," he said; "me chief here. All dese +house my house. All dese people my people. No +other chief here." I said I was delighted to know +him, shook hands with him, gave him a cigar, and +inquired his name.</p> + +<p>"Captain George," he said; "me chief here."</p> + +<p>"Is he a good hunter?" pointing to Pean.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Pean good hunter; good man. He kill plenty +sheep, deer, bear." With this additional certificate of +efficiency and good character I felt more confidence +in Pean, and stepping into the canoe was once more +<i>en route</i> to the mountains. +<span class="pagenum">[88]</span></p> + +<p>Still, I felt some misgivings, for my past experience +with the fish eaters had taught me not to place +implicit faith in their statements or pretensions, and +the sequel will show how well grounded these fears +were.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_088.jpg" alt="088" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[89]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_035_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_1.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_4.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_035_5.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">HE</span> +Flathead nation, to +which nearly all the Puget +Sound Indians belong, may +almost be termed amphibians; +for though they can, and do +in some cases, live inland exclusively, +they are never happy +when away from the water. They are +canoeists by birth and education. A coast +Indian is as helpless and miserable without +a canoe as a plains Indian without a horse, and +the Siwash (Chinook for coast Indian) is as expert in +the use of the canoe as the Sioux, Crow, or Arapahoe +in the use and control of his cayuse. Almost the sole +means of travel, of intercommunication among these +people, and between themselves and the whites, is +the canoe.</p> + +<p>There are very few horses owned in any of the +coast tribes, and these are rarely ridden. When a +Siwash attempts to ride a horse he climbs onto it +kicking and grunting with the effort, much as an +Alabama negro mounts his mule, and sits him about +as gracefully. But let the Siwash step into his +canoe, and he fears no rapid, whirlpool, nor stormy +billow. He faces the most perilous water and sends +<span class="pagenum">[91]</span> +his frail cedar shell into it with a skill and a consciousness +of mastery that would put to the blush any of +the prize winners in our Eastern canoe-club regattas. +The canoes are models of nautical architecture. +They are cut and carved from the cedar trees which +bounteous Nature, in wise provision for the wants of +Her children, has caused to grow so plentifully and +to such prodigious size in the Sound country. They +are of various sizes and lengths, owing to the uses +for which they are intended. If for spearing salmon +or for light traveling, they are cut from a tree +twenty to twenty-four inches in diameter, and are +not more than twelve to fifteen feet long. If for +attending nets and bringing in the catch, they are +generally longer, and if for freighting and long-distance +traveling, they are of immense size and capable +of carrying great burdens. A tree of the size wanted +is selected, perfectly sound and free from knots, and +a log of the desired length cut off. The log is hollowed, +carved out to the desired shape, then trimmed +and tapered outside until it is a mere shell, scarcely +more than an inch thick anywhere.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_090.jpg" alt="090" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">AN OCCIDENTAL GONDOLA.</p> + +<p>It is then filled with water, a fire is built near in +which rocks are heated and thrown into the canoe +until the water boils. This is continued until the +wood is thoroughly cooked and softened, when the +water is turned out, the canoe is spread at the +centre, braced out to nearly twice its natural width +or diameter, and left to dry. This gives it "sheer" +and enables it to ride a heavy sea like a lifeboat. +Handsomely carved figureheads are attached to +some of the large canoes, and the entire craft is +painted, striped, and decorated in gay colors. I +<span class="pagenum">[92]</span> +measured one of these cedar canoes that was thirty-four +feet long and five and a half feet beam, and was +told by its owner that he had carried in it four tons +of freight on one trip, and two cords of green wood +on another. It would carry fifty men comfortably +and safely. There are not many of the Indians that +can make the larger and better grade of canoes, and +the trade is one that but few master.</p> + +<p>There is one famous old canoe builder near Vancouver, +to whom Indians go from distances of a +hundred miles or more when they want an extra +fine, large, light canoe. For some specimens of his +handiwork he gets as high as $80 to $100. The Indians +throughout Washington Territory and British +Columbia do considerable freighting for whites, on +streams not navigable for steamers, and they take +freight up over some of the rapids where no white +man could run an empty canoe.</p> + +<p>Some of these Flatheads are industrious and are +employed by the whites in salmon canneries, lumbering +and logging operations, farming, etc. Steamboat +men employ them almost exclusively for deck +hands, and they make the best ones to be had in the +country; better than either whites or Chinamen. +They are excellent packers by education. In this +densely-timbered country horses can not, as a rule, +be used for packing, and the Indians, in going across +country where there is no watercourse, pack all +their plunder on their backs. Whites traveling in +the woods also depend on Indians to pack their luggage; +consequently it is not strange that the latter +become experts at the business, and it is this +schooling that makes them valuable as deck hands. +<span class="pagenum">[93]</span> +They are not large men, but are tough, sinewy, and +muscular. An average Siwash will pick up a barrel +of flour or pork, a case of dry goods, or other heavy +freight weighing three hundred pounds or more, roll +it onto his back, and walk up a gang-plank or a steep +river-bank as easily as a white man would with a +barrel of crackers.</p> + +<p>No work is too dirty or too hard for them. They +are obedient to orders and submissive to discipline, +but their weak point, like that of all Indians, is their +inordinate love of whisky. Quite frequently, after +working a few weeks or months, they quit and go +on a drunken debauch that ends only when their +money is gone. Their dress is much the same, in +general, as that of the whites in this region, with the +exception that the Indians wear moccasins when +hunting. This footgear is little in favor here with +white hunters, owing to there being so much rainfall, +and so much wading to do. Rubber boots are +indispensable for hunting in most seasons, and a rubber +coat should also be included in every hunter's +outfit. I found the Hannaford ventilated rubber +boot the most comfortable and perfect footgear I +have ever worn. You can scarcely walk a mile in +any direction in this country at any time of year, +on mountains or lowlands, without encountering +water. Moccasins soon become soaked, and are then +the most uncomfortable things imaginable. I asked +one of my guides why he did not wear rubber boots +instead of moccasins, and he replied:</p> + +<p>"O, I dunno. De moxicans cheaper, mebbe. I +mek him myself. Can't mek de boots."</p> + +<p>This is about the only use the Indians make of +<span class="pagenum">[94]</span> +buckskin. It is not popular with them as a material +for clothing, on account of the vast amount of rainy +weather.</p> + +<p>It has been said they make cloth from the wool +of the goat, but, so far as I could learn, they make +very little, if any of it, of late years. I saw some +blankets that Indians had woven from this wool, +but they were very coarse. They have no machinery +for spinning; the yarn is merely twisted by hand, and +is so coarse and loose that it would not hold together +a week if made into a garment and worn in the woods. +Of course, a fair article of yarn, and even cloth, may +be, and has been, made entirely by hand, but these +people have neither the skill, the taste, nor the +industry to enable them to do such work. A +coarse hair grows with the wool on the goat, and +the squaws do not even take the trouble to separate +it, but work both up together, making a very +uncouth-looking fabric, even if thick, warm, and +serviceable.</p> + +<p>As a class, these Indians appear to be strictly +honest, toward each other at least. They leave their +canoes, guns, game, or in fact, any kind of property, +anywhere they choose, without the slightest effort at +concealment, and always feel perfectly sure of finding +it on their return. About the only case of pilfering +I ever heard of, while among them (and I +took special pains to investigate) was when John +asked me for some fish-hooks, and said in explanation:</p> + +<p>"I had plenty hooks, but I reckon Seemo he steal +all my hooks."</p> + +<p>"Why, does Seymour steal?" I inquired. He +<span class="pagenum">[95]</span> +looked all around to see if Seymour was within hearing, +and not seeing him, replied:</p> + +<p>"You bet. He steal my hooks, too."</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_095.jpg" alt="095" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A SIWASH AND HIS MORNING'S CATCH.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<p><span class="pagenum">[96]</span></p> +<img src="images/illo_096.jpg" alt="096" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">AN INDIAN SALMON FISHERY.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[97]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_082_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_082_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_082_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"> had left my bedding at the Hot Springs +Hotel, and returning to get it staid there +all night. Early next morning (Friday, +November 12) we crossed Harrison Lake, +in a drenching rain, to the foot of a high +mountain, about two miles from the +springs, on which Pean, Captain George, +and other Indians said there were plenty +of goats. We beached our canoe, and +made up packs for the climb up the +mountain. The outfit consisted of our guns, my +sleeping-bag, Pean's gun and blankets, a few sea +biscuits, a piece of bacon, and some salt.</p> + +<p>My sleeping-bag was wrapped up in a piece of +canvas, and when I handed it to Pean, he commenced +to unroll it to put his blankets in with it, but I +objected. Visions of the insects with which I knew +his bedding was inhabited rose up before me. I +thought of the rotary drill, key-hole saw, and suction +pump with which they are said to be armed, and +I did not want any of them in my bag. So I +unrolled the canvas only a part of its length, laid his +blankets in and rolled it up again, hoping the remaining +folds might prevent the vermin from finding +their way in, and my reckoning proved correct. +One of his blankets had been white in its day, but +had long since lost its grip on that color, and was +<span class="pagenum">[98]</span> +now about as pronounced a brunette as its owner. +The other blanket was gray, but even through this +sombre shade, as well as through the rank odor +it emitted, gave evidence that it had not been +washed for many years. Pean brought with him +a cotton bedspread that had also once been +white, but left this with the canoe. In my pack I +carried the grub, and an extra coat for use on the +mountain, where we expected to encounter colder +weather.</p> + +<p>We started up the mountain at ten o'clock in the +forenoon. For the first two miles we skirted its +base to the eastward, through dense timber, crossing +several deep, dark jungles and swamps. Then we +began the ascent proper, and as soon as we got up a +few hundred feet on the mountain side, we found +numerous fresh deer-signs. We halted to rest, when +Pean took from its case his gun, which up to this +time he had kept covered, and which I naturally +supposed to be a good, modern weapon. It proved, +however, an old smooth bore, muzzle-loading, +percussion-lock musket, of .65 calibre, with a +barrel about fifty inches long. He drew out the +wiping stick, on the end of which was a wormer, +pulled a wad of paper from the gun and poured a +charge of shot out into his hand. This he put carefully +into his shot-bag. Then he took from another +pouch a No. 1 buckshot, and dropped it into the +muzzle of his musket. It rolled down onto the +powder, when he again inserted the bunch of paper, +rammed it home with the rod, put on a cap, and was +loaded for bear, deer, or whatever else he might +<span class="pagenum">[99]</span> +encounter. He then replaced the musket in its sealskin +cover as carefully as if it had been a $300 +breech-loader.</p> + +<p>Nearly all these Indians use just such old muskets, +bought from the Hudson Bay Company, and +yet they keep them in covers made of the skin of +the seal, which they kill in the rivers hereabout, or +of deer or other animals. They take excellent care +of their guns in this respect, but I have never seen +one of them clean or oil his weapon, and several of +them told me they seldom do so.</p> + +<p>My Winchester express, with fancy stock, Lyman +sight, etc., was a curiosity to them. None of them +had ever seen anything like it, and one of them +asked me what kind of a rifle it was. When told it +was a Winchester, he said:</p> + +<p>"I didn't know Winchester so big like dat. +Didn't know he had stock like dat." He had only +seen the little .44 Winchester, with a plain stock, +and innocently supposed it was the only kind +made.</p> + +<p>Pean and I had a hard day's work toiling up the +mountain through fallen timber, over and around +great ledges of jutting rock, across deep, rugged +cañons and gulches, and through dense jungles of +underbrush. About two o'clock in the afternoon we +halted, lay down for a rest, and had been there but +a few minutes when I heard the sharp, familiar +chatter of the little pine squirrel. I looked around +quickly, expecting to see one within a few feet of +me, but instead saw Pean lying close to the ground, +beckoning to me and pointing excitedly up the game +trail in which we had been walking. Looking +through the thick, intervening brush, I saw two +<span class="pagenum">[100]</span> +deer, a buck and a doe, looking toward us. They +had not seen nor scented us, but had merely heard +the chatter of the little squirrel, as they supposed, +and, though apparently as completely deceived by it +as I had been, they had stopped to listen, as they do +at almost every sound they hear in the woods. But +there was no squirrel there. Pean had taken this +method of calling my attention, and had imitated +the cry of the familiar little cone-eater so perfectly +that even the deer had been deceived by it.</p> + +<p>I cautiously and slowly drew my rifle to my +shoulder, and taking aim at the breast of the buck, +fired. Both deer bounded away into thicker brush, +and were out of sight in an instant. Pean sprang +after them, and in a few minutes I heard the dull, +muffled report of his musket. He shouted to me, +and going to him I found the buck dead and the +Indian engaged in butchering it. My bullet had +gone a little farther to the left than I intended, +breaking its shoulder, and had passed out through +the ribs on the same side. The deer had fallen after +going but a few yards, but was not quite dead when +Pean came up and shot it through the head. We +took out the entrails, cut a choice roast of the meat +for our supper and breakfast, and hurried on our +way.</p> + +<p>We camped at four o'clock on a small bench of +the mountain, and you may rest assured, gentle +reader, that our conversation in front of the camp +fire that night was novel. Pean, you will remember, +could not speak half a dozen words of English. He +spoke entirely in Chinook, and I knew but a few +words of that jargon. I had a Chinook dictionary +<span class="pagenum">[101]</span> +with me, however, and by its aid was able to pick +out the few words necessary in what little talking I +had to do, and to translate enough of Pean's answers +to my questions to get along fairly well. The great +trouble with him seemed to be that he was wound +up to talk, and whenever I made a remark or asked +a question in his adopted language he turned loose, +and talked until I shut him off with "Halo kumtucks" +(I don't understand). No matter how often +I repeated this he seemed soon to forget it, and +would open on me again whenever he got a cue. He +was a fluent talker, and if I had only been well up +in the jargon, I could have got lots of pointers from +him.</p> + +<p>The deer of this region is the true black-tail (<i>Cervus +columbianus</i>), not the mule-deer (<i>Cervus macrotis</i>), +that is so often miscalled the black-tail. +The black-tail is smaller than the mule-deer, and its +ears, though not so large as those of the latter, are +larger than those of the Virginia deer (<i>Cervus virginianus</i>). +Its tail is white underneath, dark outside, +shading to black at the lower end, and while +longer than that of the mule-deer, is not so long as +that of the Virginia deer.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_101.jpg" alt="101" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[102]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_102_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_102_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_102_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">HINOOK</span> +is a queer jargon. It is said +to have been manufactured many +years ago by an employé of the Hudson +Bay Fur Company, who taught the +principal chiefs of various Indian tribes to speak +it in order to facilitate traffic with them. From that +time it has grown and spread until almost every +Indian of the North Pacific Coast, and many inland +tribes of Washington, British Columbia, and Oregon +speak it. White men of all nations who live in this +country speak it, and even the almond-eyed Chinaman +learns it soon after locating here. In short, it +is the court language of the Northwest, as the sign +language is of the plains. It is made up from various +Indian tongues, with a few English, or rather +pigeon-English, French, and Spanish words intermixed. +There are only about 1,500 words in the +language and it is very easy to learn. Of course, it +is woefully lacking in strength and beauty. You +will often want to say something that can not be said +in Chinook, because there are no words in that +jargon with which to say it. But it is made to +answer the purposes of trade, travel, and barter, in +common forms. For instance:</p> + +<p>"Kah-tah si-ah ko-pa Frazer chuck?" would be, +"How far is it to the Frazer river?"</p> + +<p>"Yutes kut klat-a-wa la-pe-a," "Only a short +<span class="pagenum">[103]</span> +walk." If you wish to say good-morning or good-evening +to an Indian you say:</p> + +<p>"Kla-how-ya, six."</p> + +<p>"Chah-co yah-wa" is "Come here."</p> + +<p>"Mi-ka tik-eh mam-ook?" "Do you want to +work?"</p> + +<p>"Ik-ta mi-ka mam-ook?" "At what?"</p> + +<p>"Mam-ook stick." "Cut some wood."</p> + +<p>"Na-wit-ka." "Certainly."</p> + +<p>"Kon-si dat-la spose mi-ka mam-ook kon-a-way +o-koke stick?" "What do you want for cutting +that lot of wood?"</p> + +<p>"Ikt dol la." "One dollar."</p> + +<p>The numerals are ikt (one), mox (two), klone +(three), lock-it (four), kwin-num (five), tagh-kum +(six), sin-na mox (seven), sto te-kin (eight), twaist +(nine), tah-tlum (ten), tah-tlum pee-ikt (eleven), tah-tlum +pee-mox (twelve), mox-tah tlum (twenty), +klone tah-tlum (thirty), ikt tali-kamo-nux (one +hundred), tah-tlum to-ka mo-mik (one thousand), +etc. It is often difficult to get accurate information +from these Indians as to distances or time, as they +have little idea of English miles or of the measurements +of time, and very few of them own or know +how to read a watch or clock. Under Pean's tutelage +I learned rapidly, and was soon able to carry on +quite an interesting conversation by the aid of the +little dictionary.</p> + +<p>By the light of a rousing camp-fire I cut a large +quantity of cedar boughs and made for myself a +bed a foot deep. On this I spread my sleeping-bag, +crawled into it and slept the sleep of the weary hunter. +Pean cut only a handful of boughs, spread +<span class="pagenum">[104]</span> +them near the fire, threw his coat over them, and lay +down. Then he folded his two blankets and spread +them over him, mostly on the side away from the +fire, leaving that part of his body next to the fire +exposed so as to catch its heat direct. During the +night, whenever he turned over, he would shift his +blankets so as to keep them where most needed. At +frequent intervals he would get up and replenish +the fire from the large supply of dry wood we had +provided. The night was bitter cold, at this high +altitude, and snow fell at frequent intervals. A +raw wind blew, and the old man must have suffered +from the cold to which he exposed himself.</p> + +<p>There are few of these savages that understand +and appreciate fully the value of a good bed when +camping. In fact, many white hunters and mountaineers +go on long camping trips with insufficient +bedding, simply because they are too lazy to carry +enough to keep them comfortable. I would rather +get into a good warm, soft bed at night without my +supper, than eat a feast and then sleep on the hard +ground, without covering enough to keep me warm. +After a hard day's work a good bed is absolutely +necessary to prepare one for the labor and fatigue of +the following day.</p> + +<div class="inset18"> +<p>"In bed we laugh, in bed we cry,<br /> +And born in bed, in bed we die;<br /> +The near approach, a bed may show,<br /> +Of human bliss to human woe."</p> +</div> + +<p>Any ablebodied man may endure a few nights of +cold, comfortless sleep, but it will tell on him sooner +or later; while if he sleep comfortably and eat +<span class="pagenum">[105]</span> +heartily, he may endure an incredible amount of +labor and hardship of other kinds. You may tramp +all day with your feet wet, and all your clothing +wet, if need be, but be sure you crawl into a good, +warm, dry bed at night.</p> + +<p>Old Pean complained of feeling unwell during the +evening, and in the morning when we got up said +he was sick. I prepared a good breakfast, but he +could not, or at least would not, eat. Then he told +me that he had once fallen down a mountain; that +his breast-bone had been crushed in by striking on +a sharp rock, and that it always hurt him since +when doing any hard work. He said the climb up +the mountain with the pack was too hard for him +and he was played out, that he could go no +farther.</p> + +<p>Here was another bitter disappointment, as we were +yet two miles from the top of the mountain, and in +going that distance a perpendicular ascent of from +2,000 to 3,000 feet must be made. I deliberated, +therefore, as to whether I should go up the mountain +alone and let Pean go back, but decided it +would be useless. I could not carry more load than +my sleeping-bag, gun, etc., and therefore could +bring no game down with me if I killed it, not even +a head or skin. Beside, if he went back he would +take his canoe, and I would be left with no means +of crossing the lake. So the only thing to be done +was to pack up and retrace our steps. On our way +down we stopped and took the head and skin off of +the deer killed the day before, and I carried them +to the canoe. Arriving at the lake, we pulled again +for Chehalis in a cold, disagreeable rain. I stopped +<span class="pagenum">[106]</span> +at the hot springs on my way down, and took my +leave of my host, Mr. Brown, who had been so kind +to me, and who regretted my ill luck almost as +much as I did.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_106.jpg" alt="106" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[107]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<div class="i107"> +<div id="i107_0"> </div> +<div id="i107_1"> </div> +<div id="i107_2"> </div> +<div id="i107_3"> </div> +<div id="i107_4"> </div> +<div id="i107_5"> </div> +<div id="i107_6"> </div> +<div id="i107_7"> </div> +<div id="i107_8"> </div> +<div id="i107_9"> </div> +<div id="i107_10"> </div> +<div id="i107_11"> </div> +<div id="i107_12"> </div> +<div id="i107_13"> </div> +<div id="i107_14"> </div> +<div id="i107_15"> </div> +<div id="i107_16"> </div> +<div id="i107_17"> </div> +<div id="i107_18"> </div> +<div id="i107_19"> </div> + + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">N</span> +our return to Chehalis—that town of +unsavory odors and salmon-drying, +salmon-smoking Siwashes—I at once +employed two other Indians, named John +and Seymour, and, on the following day we +started up Ski-ik-kul Creek, to a lake of the +same name, in which it heads ten miles back in +the mountains. The Indians claimed that goats, or +sheep, as they call them, were plentiful on the cliffs +surrounding this lake, and that we could kill plenty +of them from a raft while floating up and down +along the shores. Seymour claimed to have killed +twenty-three in March last, just after the winter +snows had gone off, and a party of seven Siwashes +from Chehalis had killed ten about two weeks previous +to the date of my visit.</p> + +<p>Such glowing accounts as these built up my hopes +again to such a height as to banish from my mind all +recollection of the bitter disappointment in which the +former expedition had ended, and, although the +rain continued to fall heavily at short intervals, so +that the underbrush reeked with dampness and +drenching showers fell from every bush we touched, +I trudged cheerily along regardless of all discomforts.</p> + +<p>The first two miles up the creek, we had a good, +open trail, but at the end of this we climbed a steep,<span class="pagenum">[108]</span> +rocky bluff, about 500 feet high, and made the greater +portion of the remaining distance at an average of +about this height above the stream. There was a +blind Indian trail all the way to the lake, but it led +over the roughest, most tortuous, outlandish country +that ever any fool of a goat hunter attempted to +traverse. There are marshes and morasses away up +among these mountains, where alders and water +beeches, manzanitas, and other shrubs grow so thick +that their branches intertwine to nearly their full +length. Many of these have fallen down in various +directions, and their trunks are as inextricably mixed +as their branches, forming altogether a labyrinthine +mass, through which it was with the utmost difficulty +we could walk at all.</p> +</div> + +<p>There were numberless little creeks coming down +from the mountain into the main stream, and each +had in time cut its deep, narrow gulch, or cañon, +lined on both sides with rough, shapeless masses of +rock, and all these we were obliged to cross. In +many cases, they were so close together that only a +sharp hog-back lay between them, and we merely +climbed out of one gulch 300 or 400 feet deep, to go +at once down into another still deeper, and so on. +Fire had run through a large tract of this country, +killing out all the large timber, and many trees have +since rotted away and fallen, while the blackened +and barkless trunks of others, with here and there a +craggy limb, still stand as mute monuments to +the glory of the forest before the dread element laid +it waste.</p> + +<p>We camped that night at the base of one of these +great dead firs around which lay a cord or more +<span class="pagenum">[109]</span> +of old dry bark that had fallen from it, and which, +with a few dry logs we gathered, furnished fuel for +a rousing, all-night fire. Within a few feet of our +camp, a clear, ice-cold little rivulet threaded its serpentine +way down among rocks and ferns, and made +sweet music to lull us to sleep. After supper, I +made for myself the usual bed of mountain feathers +(cedar boughs), on which to spread my sleeping-bag.</p> + +<p>This old companion of so many rough jaunts, over +plains and mountains, has become as necessary a +part of my outfit for such voyages as my rifle. +Whether it journey by day, on the hurricane deck of +a mule, in the hatchway of a canoe, on my shoulder +blades or those of a Siwash, it always rounds up at +night to house me against the bleak wind, the driving +snow, or pouring rain. I have learned to prize +it so highly that I can appreciate the sentiments of +the fallen monarch, Napoleon, on the lonely island +of St. Helena, when he wrote:</p> + +<p>"The bed has become a place of luxury to me. +I would not exchange it for all the thrones in the +world."</p> + +<p>These Indians, like Pean, and, in fact, all others +who have seen the bag, are greatly interested in it. +They had never seen anything like it, and watched +with undisguised interest the unfolding and preparing +of the article, and when I had crawled into it, +and stowed myself snugly away, they looked at each +other, grunted and uttered a few of their peculiar +guttural sounds, which I imagined would be, if +translated:</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be doggoned if that ain't about the +sleekest trick I ever saw. Eh?"<span class="pagenum">[110]</span></p> + +<p>"You bet it's nice to sleep in, but heavy to carry."</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_110.jpg" alt="110" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">DIAGRAM OF SLEEPING-BAG.</p> + +<p>By the way, some of my readers may never have +seen one of these valuable camp appendages, and a +description of it may interest them. The outer bag is +made of heavy, brown, waterproof canvas, six feet +long, three feet wide in the centre, tapered to two +feet at the head and sixteen inches at the foot. +Above the head of the bag proper, flaps project a +foot farther, with which the occupant's head may be +completely covered, if desired. These are provided +with buttons and button-holes, so that they may be +buttoned clear across, for stormy or very cold +weather. The bag is left open, from the head down +one edge, two feet, and a flap is provided to lap over +<span class="pagenum">[111]</span> +this opening. Buttons are sewed on the bag, and +there are button-holes in the flaps so it may also be +buttoned up tightly. Inside of this canvas bag is +another of the same size and shape, less the head +flaps. This is made of lamb skin with the wool on, +and is lined with ordinary sheeting, to keep the +wool from coming in direct contact with the person +or clothing. One or more pairs of blankets +may be folded and inserted in this, as may be +necessary, for any temperature in which it is to be +used.</p> + +<p>If the weather be warm, so that not all this covering +is needed over the sleeper, he may shift it to +suit the weather and his taste, crawling in on top of +as much of it as he may wish, and the less he has +over him the more he will have under him, and the +softer will be his bed. Beside being waterproof, the +canvas is windproof, and one can button himself up in +this house, leaving only an air-hole at the end of his +nose, and sleep as soundly, and almost as comfortably +in a snowdrift on the prairie as in a +tent or house. In short, he may be absolutely +at home, and comfortable, wherever night finds +him, and no matter what horrid nightmares he +may have, he can not roll out of bed or kick off the +covers.</p> + +<p>Nor will he catch a draft of cold air along the +north edge of his spine every time he turns over, as +he is liable to do when sleeping in blankets. Nor +will his feet crawl out from under the cover and +catch chilblains, as they are liable to do in the old-fashioned +way. In fact, this sleeping-bag is one of +the greatest luxuries I ever took into camp, and if +<span class="pagenum">[112]</span> +any brother sportsman who may read this wants one, +and can not find an architect in his neighborhood +capable of building one, let him communicate with +me and I will tell him where mine was made.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_112.jpg" alt="112" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[113]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_113_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_113_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_113_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_113_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">ONG</span> +after the Indians went to sleep I lay there, +looking into the fire and thinking. Many and +varied were the fancies that chased +each other through my restless brain—some +pleasant, some unpleasant. I pondered on +the novelty, even the danger, of my situation. I +was away up there in that wild, trackless, mountain +wilderness, alone, so far as any congenial companionship +was concerned. Yes, I was worse +than alone, for the moment I might close my eyes and +sleep I would be at the mercy of these two reckless +red men. True, they are not of a courageous, warlike +race, but what might they not do for the sake of +plunder? They could crush my skull at a blow and +conceal my body beyond all possibility of discovery; +or they could leave it and, saying I had killed myself +by a fall, reveal its resting place to anyone who +might care to go in search of me. I had some property +with me, especially my rifle, sleeping-bag, and a +small sum of money, that I knew they coveted, and +I reflected that they might already have concocted +some foul scheme for disposing of me and getting +possession of my effects.<span class="pagenum">[114]</span></p> + +<p>In their native tongue of strange, weird gutturals, +hisses, and aspirations, they had conversed all the +evening of—I knew not what. John had rather +an honest, frank face, that I thought bespoke a +good heart, but Seymour had a dark, repulsive +countenance that plainly indicated a treacherous +nature. From the first I had made up my mind +that he was a thief, if nothing worse. He pretended +not to be able to speak or understand English, +although I knew he could. John spoke our +tongue fairly, and through him all communication +with either or both was held. Should they contemplate +any violence I would welcome them both to an +encounter, if only I could have notice of it a second +in advance. Their two old smooth-bore muskets +would cut no figure against the deadly stream of fire +that my Winchester express could pour forth. But +I dreaded the treachery, the stealth, the silent midnight +assault that is a characteristic of their race. +Yet, on further consideration, I dismissed all such +forebodings as purely chimerical. These were civilized +Indians, living within the sound of the whistle +of a railroad engine, and would hardly be willing to +place themselves within the toils of the law, by the +commission of such a crime, even if they had the +courage or the desire to do it, and I hoped they had +neither.</p> + +<p>Then my fancies turned to the contemplation of +pleasanter themes. I thought of the dear little +black-eyed woman, whom I had parted with on board +the steamer nearly a week ago. She is homeward-bound +and must now be speeding over the Dakota or +Minnesota prairies, well on toward St. Paul. Will +<span class="pagenum">[115]</span> +she reach home in safety? God grant it—and that +in due time I may be permitted to join her there. +Then other familiar images passed and repassed my +mental ken. The kind acts of dear friends, the +hospitalities shown me by strangers and passing +acquaintances in distant lands and in years long +agone came trooping through my memory, and a feeling +of gratitude for those kindnesses supplanted for +the time that of solitude. Gradually and sweetly I +sank into a profound slumber and all was stillness +and oblivion.</p> + +<p>Several hours, perhaps, have passed, and I am +thirsty. I get up and start to the little brook for +water; to reach it a log, lying across a deep fissure +in the rocks, must be scaled. With no thought of +danger I essay the task by the dying fire's uncertain +light and that of the twinkling stars. I have +not counted on the heavy covering of frost that has +been deposited on the log since dark, and stepping +out upon the barkless part of the trunk, my moccasins +slip, and with a shriek and a wild but unsuccessful +grasp at an overhanging limb I fall twenty feet +and land on the mass of broken and jagged granite +beneath! The Indians, alarmed by my cries, spring +to my relief, carry me to the fire, give me stimulants, +bind up my broken arm, and do all in their power +to alleviate my sufferings.</p> + +<p>They are not the crafty villains and assassins that +my fancy had painted. They are kind, sympathetic +friends. I realize that my right collar-bone and three +ribs on the same side are broken, and when I remember +where I am, the deplorableness and utter helplessness +of my condition appal me.</p> +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<p><span class="pagenum">[116]</span></p> +<img src="images/illo_116.jpg" alt="116" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">EN ROUTE TO THE INDIAN VILLAGE.</p> + +<p>The long hours until daylight drag slowly by, and +at last, as the sun tips the distant mountain tops with +golden light, we start on our perilous and painful +journey to the Indian village and to the steamboat +landing. The two red men have rigged a litter from +poles and blankets, on which they carry me safely +to their homes, and thence in a canoe to the landing +below. How the long, tedious journey thence, by +steamer and rail, to my own home is accomplished; +how the weary days and nights of suffering and +delirium which I endure <i>en route</i> were passed, are +subjects too painful to dwell upon. I am finally +assisted from the sleeper at my destination. My wife, +whom the wire has informed of my misfortune and my +coming, is there. She greets me with that fervent +love, that intensity of pity and emotion that only a +<span class="pagenum">[117]</span> +wife can feel. Her lips move, but her tongue is paralyzed. +For the time she can not speak; the wells of +her grief have gone dry; she can not weep; she can +only act. I am taken to my home, and the suspense, +the anxiety, having been lived out, the climax +having been reached and passed I swoon away. Again +the surgeon appears to be racking me with pain in +an effort to set the broken ribs, and seems to be +making an incision in my side for that purpose, when +I awake.</p> + +<p>The stars shone brightly above me, the frost on +the leaves sparkled brightly in the fire-light. It took +me several minutes to realize that I had been dreaming. +I searched for the cause of the acute pain in +my side, and found it to be the sharp point of a rock +that my cedar boughs had not sufficiently covered +and which was trying to get in between two of my ribs. +I got up, removed it and slept better through the +remainder of the night.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_117.jpg" alt="117" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[118]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_118_0.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_118_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_118_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_118_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">KI-IK-KUL,</span> +or Chehalis Creek, as the +whites call it, is surely one of the most +beautiful streams in the whole Cascade +Range. Its size may be stated, approximately, +as two feet in depth by fifty +feet in width, at or near the mouth, but +its course is so crooked, so tortuous, +and its bed so broken and uneven that +the explorer will seldom find a reach +of it sufficiently quiet and undisturbed to afford +a measurement of this character. At one point +it is choked into a narrow gorge ten feet wide +and twice as deep, with a fall of ten feet in a +distance of thirty. Through this notch the stream +surges and swirls with the wild fury, the fearful +power, and the awe-inspiring grandeur of a tornado. +At another place it runs more placidly for a few +yards, as if to gather strength and courage for a +wild leap over a sheer wall of frowning rock into +a foaming pool thirty, forty, or fifty feet below. +At still another place it seems to carve its way, by +the sheer power of madness, through piles and +walls of broken and disordered quartz, granite, or +basalt, even as Cortes and his handful of Spanish +cavaliers hewed their way through the massed +legions of Aztecs at Tlascala.</p> + +<p>Farther up, or down, it is split into various +<span class="pagenum">[119]</span> +channels by great masses of upheaved rock, and +these miniature streams, after winding hither and +thither through deep, dark, narrow fissures for +perhaps one or two hundred yards, reunite to form +this headlong mountain torrent. Viewing these +scenes, one is forcibly reminded of the poet's words:</p> + +<div class="inset20"> +<p>"How the giant element,<br /> +From rock to rock, leaps with delirious bound."</p> +</div> + +<p>Series of cascades, a quarter to half a mile long, are +met with at frequent intervals, which rival in their +beauty and magnificence those of the Columbia or +the Upper Yellowstone. Whirlpools occur at the +foot of some of these, in which the clear, bright +green water boils, sparkles, and effervesces like vast +reservoirs of champagne. The moanings and roarings +emitted by this matchless stream in its mad +career may be heard in places half a mile. At +many points its banks rise almost perpendicularly +to heights of 300, 400, or 500 feet. You may stand +so nearly over the water that you can easily toss a +large rock into it, and yet you are far above the +tops of the massive firs and cedars that grow at the +water's edge. Looking down from these heights +you may see in the crystal fluid whole schools of +the lordly salmon plowing their way up against the +almost resistless fury of the current, leaping through +the foam, striking with stunning force against hidden +rocks, falling back half dead, and, drifting into some +clear pool below, recovering strength to renew the +hopeless assault.</p> + +<p>The time will come when an easy roadway, and +possibly an iron one, will be built up this grand +cañon, and thousands of tourists will annually stand +<span class="pagenum">[120]</span> +within its walls to gaze upon these magic pictures, +absorbed in their grandeur and romantic beauty. Nor +does the main stream afford the only objects of +beauty and interest here. It is a diamond set in a +cluster of diamonds, for many of the little brooks, +already mentioned as coming down the mountain +on either side, are only less attractive because +smaller. Many of them tumble from the tops of +rocky walls, and dance down among the branches of +evergreen trees, sparkling like ribbons of silver in +the rays of the noonday sun.</p> + +<p>Theodore Roosevelt, in his excellent work, "Hunting +Trips of a Ranchman;" says: "Thirst is largely +a matter of habit." So it may be, but I am sadly +addicted to the habit, and I found it one from which, +on this trip, I was able to extract a great deal of +comfort, for we crossed one or more of these little +brooks every hour, and I rarely passed one without +taking a copious draught of its icy fluid. The days, +were moderately warm, and the hard labor we performed, +walking and climbing, made these frequent +opportunities to quench thirst one of the most +pleasant features of the journey. I was frequently +reminded of Cole's beautiful tribute to the mountain +brook:</p> + +<div class="inset22"> +<p> +<span class="in3">"Sleeping in crystal wells,</span><br /> +<span class="in3">Leaping in shady dells,</span><br /> +<span class="in3">Or issuing clear from the womb of the mountain,</span><br /> +<span class="in3">Sky-mated, related, earth's holiest daughter;</span><br /> +<span class="in3">Not the hot kiss of wine,</span><br /> +Is half so divine as the sip of thy lip, inspiring cold water."</p> +</div> + +<p>We arrived at our destination, the foot of Ski-ik-kul +Lake (and the source of the creek up which we +had been traveling), at four o'clock in the afternoon +<span class="pagenum">[121]</span> +of the second day out. We made camp on the bank +of the creek, and John and I engaged in gathering +a supply of wood. After we had been thus occupied +for ten or fifteen minutes, I noticed that Seymour +was nowhere in sight, and asked John where +he was.</p> + +<p>"He try spear salmon."</p> + +<p>"What will he spear him with?" I said. "Sharp +stick?"</p> + +<p>"No. He bring spear in him pocket," said John.</p> + +<p>We were standing on the bank of the creek again, +and as he spoke there was a crashing in the brush +overhead, and an immense salmon, nearly three feet +long, landed on the ground between us. Seymour +had indeed brought a spear with him in his pocket. +It was made of a fence-nail and two pieces of goat +horn, with a strong cord about four feet long +attached. There was a sort of socket in the upper +end of it, and the points of the two pieces of horn +were formed into barbs. As soon as Seymour had +dropped his pack he had picked up a long, dry, +cedar pole, one end of which he had sharpened and +inserted between the barbs, fastening the string so +that when he should strike a fish the spear point +would pull off. With this simple weapon in hand +he had walked out on the vast body of driftwood +with which the creek is bridged for half a mile below +the lake, and peering down between the logs, had +found and killed the fish. We made a fire in the +hollow of a great cedar that stood at the water's +edge. The tree was green, but the fire soon ate a +large hole into the central cavity, and, by frequent +feeding with dry wood, we had a fire that +<span class="pagenum">[123]</span> +roared and crackled like a great furnace, all night. +It</p> + +<div class="inset16"> +<p>"Kindled the gummy bark of fir or pine,<br /> +And sent a comfortable heat from far,<br /> +Which might supply the sun."</p> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_122.jpg" alt="122" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">SUPPER FOR THREE-SAUMON RÔTI.</p> + +<p>Seymour cut off the salmon's head, split the body +down the back, and took out the spine. Then he +spread the fish out and put skewers through it to +hold it flat. He next cut a stick about four feet +long, split it half its length, tied a cedar withe +around to keep it from splitting further, and inserting +the fish in the aperture, tied another withe +around the upper end. He now stuck the other end +of the stick into the ground in front of the fire, and +our supper was under way.</p> + +<p>I have often been reduced to the necessity of eating +grub cooked by Indians, both squaws and men, +and can place my hand on my heart and say truthfully +I never hankered after Indian cookery. In fact, +I have always eaten it with a mental reservation, +and a quiet, perhaps unuttered protest, but I counted +the minutes while that fish cooked. I knew Seymour +was no more cleanly in his habits than his +kin—in fact, he would not have washed his hands +before commencing, nor the fish after removing its +entrails, had I not watched him and made him do so; +but even if he had not I should not have refused to +eat, for when a man has been climbing mountains +all day he can not afford to be too scrupulous in +regard to his food. When the fish was thoroughly +roasted on one side the other was turned to the fire, +and finally, when done to a turn, it was laid smoking +hot on a platter of cedar boughs which I had +<span class="pagenum">[124]</span> +prepared, and the savory odors it emitted would +have tempted the palate of an epicure. I took out +my hunting knife, and making a suggestive gesture +toward the smoking fish, asked John if I should cut +off a piece; for not withstanding my consuming hunger, +my native modesty still remained with me, and +I thus hinted for an invitation to help myself.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "Cut off how much you can eat."</p> + +<p>You can rest assured I cut off a ration that would +have frightened a tramp. Good digestion waited on +appetite, and health on both. I ate with the hunger +born of the day's fatigue and the mountain atmosphere, +and the Indians followed suit, or rather led, and +in half an hour only the head and spine of that fifteen-pound +salmon remained, and they were not yet in an +edible condition. Near bedtime, however, they were +both spitted before the fire, and in the silent watches +of the night, as I awoke and looked out of my downy +bed, I saw those two simple-minded children of the +forest, sitting there picking the last remaining +morsels of flesh from those two pieces of what, in +any civilized camp or household, would have been +considered offal. But when a Siwash quits eating fish +it is generally because there is no more fish to eat. +After such a supper, charmed by such weird, novel +surroundings, lulled by the music of the rushing +waters, and warmed by a glowing camp-fire, I slept +that night with naught else to wish for, at peace with +all mankind. Even "mine enemy's dog, though he +had bit me, should have stood that night against my +fire."</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[125]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<div class="i125"> +<div id="i125_0"> </div> +<div id="i125_1"> </div> +<div id="i125_2"> </div> +<div id="i125_3"> </div> +<div id="i125_4"> </div> +<div id="i125_5"> </div> +<div id="i125_6"> </div> +<div id="i125_7"> </div> +<div id="i125_8"> </div> +<div id="i125_9"> </div> +<div id="i125_10"> </div> +<div id="i125_11"> </div> +<div id="i125_12"> </div> +<div id="i125_13"> </div> +<div id="i125_14"> </div> +<div id="i125_15"> </div> +<div id="i125_16"> </div> +<div id="i125_17"> </div> +<div id="i125_18"> </div> +<div id="i125_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">EFORE</span> +going to bed, Seymour cautioned +me through his interpreter, the faithful +John, against getting out too early +in the morning. He said the goats +did not commence to move +around until nine or ten o'clock, +and if we started out to hunt +before that time we were liable to +pass them asleep in their beds.</p> + +<p>But I read the hypocrite's meaning between +his words; he is a lazy loafer and loves to lie and +snooze in the morning. It was his own comfort, +more than our success in hunting, that he was concerned +about. Goats, as well as all other species of +large game, are on foot at daylight, whether they +have been out all night or not, and from that time +until an hour after sunrise, and again just before dark +in the evening, are the most favorable times to hunt. +The game is intent on feeding at these times and is +not so wary as at other times. I told Seymour we +would get up at four o'clock, get breakfast, and be +ready to move at daylight. And so we did.</p> + +<p>The night had been clear and cold; ice had formed +around the margin of the lake, and a hoar frost a +quarter of an inch deep covered the ground, the logs, +and rocks that were not sheltered by trees. Ski-ik-kul +or Willey's Lake, as it is termed by the whites, +<span class="pagenum">[126]</span> +is a beautiful little mountain tarn about a quarter of +a mile wide and four miles long. It is of glassy +transparency, of great depth, and abounds in mountain +trout, salmon, and salmon trout. It is walled +in by abrupt, rocky-faced mountains that rise many +hundreds of feet from the water's edge, and on +which a scanty growth of laurel, currant bushes, and +moss furnish food for the goats. Stunted cedars, +balsams, spruces, and pines also grow from small +fissures in the rocks that afford sufficient earth to +cover their roots.</p> + +<p>The craft on which we were to navigate this lake +was an interesting specimen of Indian nautical +architecture. It was a raft Seymour had made on a +former visit. The stringers were two large, dry, +cedar logs, one about sixteen feet long, the other +about twenty; these were held together by four +poles, or cross-ties, pinned to the logs, and a floor +composed of cedar clapboards was laid over all. +Pins of hard, dry birch, driven into the logs and tied +together at the tops, formed rowlocks, and the craft +was provided with four large paddles, or oars, hewed +out with an ax. In fact, that was the only tool used +in building the raft. The pins had been sharpened +to a flat point and driven firmly into sockets made +by striking the ax deeply into the log, and instead +of ropes, cedar withes were used for lashing. These +had been roasted in the fire until tough and flexible, +and when thus treated they formed a good substitute +for the white sailor's marline or the cow-boy's picket +rope.</p> +</div> + +<img src="images/s_illo_127_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_127_1.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> + +<p>We boarded this lubberly old hulk and pulled out +up the north shore of the lake just as the morning sun +<span class="pagenum">[127]</span> +gave the first +golden tints to the +mountain tops. Our +progress was slow +despite our united +strength applied to +the oars, but it gave +us more time to scan +the mountain sides +for game. I did not +find it so plentiful +as I had been promised, +for I had been +told by the Indians +that we should see +a dozen goats in +<span class="pagenum">[128]</span> +the first hour, but we had been out more than that +length of time before we saw any. Finally, however, +after we had gone a mile or more up the lake +shore, I saw a large buck goat browsing among the +crags about four hundred feet above us. He had not +seen us, and dropping the oar I caught up my rifle. +The men backed water, and as the raft came to a +standstill, I sent a bullet into him. He sprang +forward, lost his footing, came bounding and crashing +to the foot of the mountain, and stopped, stone +dead, in the brush at the water's edge not more than +twenty feet from the raft. We pushed ashore and +took him on board, when I found, to my disappointment, +that both horns had been broken off in the fall, +so that his head was worthless for mounting.</p> + +<p>We cruised clear around the lake that day and +could not find another goat. In the afternoon it +clouded up and set in to rain heavily again in the +cañon, while snow fell on the mountains a few hundred +feet above us. The next morning I went up a +narrow cañon to the north, and ascending a high +peak hunted until nearly noon, when I found two +more goats, a female and her kid (nearly full grown), +both of which I killed, and taking the skins and one +ham of the kid, I returned to camp. It continued +to rain at frequent intervals, which robbed camp life +and hunting of much of their charm, so I decided +to start for home the following morning. In the +afternoon I rigged a hook and line, cut an alder pole, +and caught five fine trout, the largest seventeen and +a half inches long. Seymour speared three more +salmon and roasted one of them, so that we had +another feast of fish that night. We also roasted +<span class="pagenum">[129]</span> +a leg of goat for use on our way home, and +spent the evening cleaning and drying the three +skins as best we could by the camp-fire, to lighten +their weight as much as possible.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, I questioned John at considerable +length regarding the nature of his language, but +could get little information, as he seemed unable to +convey his ideas on the subject in our tongue. The +language of the Skowlitz tribe, to which he and Seymour +belong, is a strange medley of gutturals, aspirates, +coughs, sneezes, throat scrapings, and a few +words. I said:</p> + +<p>"Your language don't seem to have as many +words as ours."</p> + +<p>"No; English too much. Make awful tired learn +him."</p> + +<p>"Where did you learn it?"</p> + +<p>"O, I work in pack train for Hudson Bay one +year, and work on boat one year."</p> + +<p>"Where did the boat run?"</p> + +<p>"She run nort from Victoria," he said.</p> + +<p>"Where to, Alaska?"</p> + +<p>"O, I dunno."</p> + +<p>"How far north?"</p> + +<p>"O, I dunno. Take seven day. We go to de +mout of de river."</p> + +<p>"What river? What was the name of the town?"</p> + +<p>"O, I dunno know what you call 'em."</p> + +<p>And thus I learned, by continued questioning, +that he did not know or remember the English +names of the places he had visited, but that they +were probably in Alaska. He always appealed to +Seymour to reply to any of my questions that he +<span class="pagenum">[130]</span> +could not himself answer, and a question or remark +that in our tongue had taken a dozen words to +express he would repeat in a cough, a throat-clearing +sound, and a grunt or two. Seymour's answer would +be returned in a half sneeze, a lisp, a suppressed +whistle, a slight groan, and an upturning of the eye. +Then John would look thoughtful while framing +the answer into his pigin English, and it would +come back, for instance, something like this:</p> + +<p>"Seymo say he tink we ketch plenty sheep up dat +big mountain, on de top." Or, "He say he tink +maybe we get plenty grouse down de creek. To-morrow +we don't need carry meat," etc. John +seemed to regard Seymour as a perfect walking +cyclopedia of knowledge, and, in fact, he was well +informed on woodcraft, the habits of birds and +animals, Indian lore, and other matters pertaining to +the country in which he lived, but outside of these +limits he knew much less than John.</p> + +<p>I was disgusted with his pretended inability to +speak or understand English, for on one of my +former visits to the village I had heard him speak +it, and he did it much better than John could. +Beside, Pean had told me that Seymour had +attended school at the mission on the Frazer river, +and could even read and write, but now that he had +an interpreter he considered it smart, just as a great +many Indians do, to affect an utter ignorance of our +language. I asked him why he did not talk; told +him I knew he could talk, and reminded him that I +had heard him speak good English; that I knew he +had been to school, etc. He simply shook his head +and grunted. Then I told him he was a boiled-down +<span class="pagenum">[131]</span> +fool to act thus, and that if he really wanted to +appear smarter even than his fellows, the best way +to do it was to make use of the education he had +whenever he could make himself more useful and +agreeable by so doing. I saw by the way he changed +countenance that he understood every word I said, +though he still remained obstinate. On several +occasions, however, I suddenly fired some short, +sharp question at him when he was not expecting it, +and before stopping to think he would answer in +good English.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_131.jpg" alt="131" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[132]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<img src="images/s_illo_075_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitfull" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_4.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_5.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_075_6.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">FTER</span> +making a hearty breakfast on +Rocky Mountain kid, salmon, and sea +biscuits, we began our return journey +down the creek in a drizzling rain. +Our burdens were increased by the +weight of the three goat skins, and +the walking was rendered still +more precarious than before by +the logs, grass, soil, pine needles, +and everything else having become +so thoroughly watersoaked. If we +had had hard climbing up the steep pitches on our +outbound cruise, we had it still harder now. We +could not stick in our toe nails as well now as +before, and even if we stuck in our heels going +down a hill, they would not stay stuck any better +than a second-hand postage-stamp. I remembered +one hill, or cañon wall, that in the ascent +made us a great deal of hard work, and much +perturbation of spirit, because it was steep, +rocky, and had very few bushes on it that we +could use as derricks by which to raise ourselves. +I dreaded the descent of this hill, now that the +rocks were wet, but we made it safely. Not so, +however, the next one we attempted; it was not so +rocky as the other, and had a goodly bed of blue +clay, with a shallow covering of vegetable mold for +<span class="pagenum">[133]</span> +a surface, with a little grass and a few weeds. It +was very steep, I think about what an architect +would call a three-quarter pitch, but we essayed it +boldly and fearlessly. Seymour was in the lead, +his faithful partisan, John, followed, and I constituted +the tail end of the procession. We had just +got well over the brow, when the end of a dry hemlock +stick caught in the mansard roof of my left foot; +the other end was fast in the ground, and, though I +tried to free myself, both ends stuck; the stick +played a lone hand, but it raised me clear out in +spite of my struggles. I uttered a mournful groan +as I saw myself going, but was as helpless as a tenderfoot +on a bucking cayuse. My foot was lifted +till my heel punched the small of my back, and my +other foot slid out from under me; I spread out like +a step ladder, and clawed the air for succor, but +there was not a bush or branch within reach. I think +I went ten feet before I touched the earth again, and +then I landed head first among John's legs. He sat +down on the back of my neck like a trip-hammer, +and we both assaulted Seymour in the rear with +such violence as to knock him clear out. For a few +seconds we were the worst mixed up community that +ever lived, I reckon. Arms, legs, guns, hats, packs, +and human forms were mingled in one writhing, +squirming, surging mass, and groans, shouts, and +imprecations, in English, Chinook, and Scowlitz, rent +the air. Every hand was grabbing for something to +stop its owner, but there were no friendly stoppers +within reach; if one caught a weed, or a stunted +juniper, it faded away from his herculean grasp like +dry grass before a prairie fire. I seemed to have the +<span class="pagenum">[135]</span> +highest initial velocity of any member of the expedition, +and, though in the rear at the start, I was a +full length ahead at the finish. We finally all +brought up in a confused mass at the foot of the hill, +and it took some time for each man to extricate himself +from the pile, and reclaim his property from the +wreck. Strange as it may seem, however, but little +damage was done. There was a skinned nose, a +bruised knee or two, a sprained wrist, and everybody +was painted with mud. All were, however, +able to travel, and after that, when going down steep +hills, the Siwashes kept looking back to see if I +were coming.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_134.jpg" alt="134" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">TRYING TO GET UP.</p> + +<p>We performed several dangerous feats that day +and the next, walking along smooth, barkless logs, +that lay across some of the deep gorges; in places +we were thirty feet or more above the ground, or +rather rocks, where a slip would have resulted in +instant death. My hair frequently stood on end, what +little I have left, but John and Seymour always went +safely across and I could not afford to be outdone in +courage by these miserable, fish-eating Siwashes, so +I followed wherever they led. We read that the +wicked stand on slippery places, but I can see these +wicked people, and go them about ten better, for I +have stood, and even walked, on many of these wet +logs, and they are about the all-firedest slipperyest +things extant, and yet I have not fallen off. I fell +only that once, when I got my foot in the trap, and +that would have downed a wooden man. Just before +going into camp that night, John shot a grouse, +but we were all too tired and hungry to cook it then, +and made our meal on cold kid, fish, and biscuits. +<span class="pagenum">[137]</span> +After supper, however, John dressed the bird and +laid it aside for breakfast, saying we would each +have a piece of it then. The rain ceased falling at +dark, and the stars came out, which greatly revived +our drooping spirits. We gathered large quantities +of dry wood and bark, so we were able to keep a +good fire all night. I drew from a half-rotten log, a +flat, slab-like piece of pine, which at first I failed to +recognize. John saw it and said:</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_136.jpg" alt="136" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">TRYING TO GET DOWN.</p> + +<p>"Good. Dat's beech."</p> + +<p>"Beech," I said. "Why, there's no beech in this +country."</p> + +<p>"No, beech wood, make good fire, good kindle, +good what you call him? Good torch."</p> + +<p>"Oh," I said, "pitch pine, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yas, beech pine." And this was as near as he +could get to pitch.</p> + +<p>About two o'clock in the morning, it commenced +to rain heavily again, and the poor Indians were soon +in a pitable condition, with their blankets and clothing +wet through. They sat up the remainder of the +night, feeding the fire to keep it alive and themselves +warm, for they had neither canvas or rubber +coats, or any other kind of waterproof clothing. +They put up some of the longer pieces of the bark we +had gathered for fuel, and made a passable shelter, +but it was so small, and leaked so badly, that it +was far from comfortable. I pitied the poor fellows, +but had nothing I could give or even share +with them for shelter. I got up at five o'clock, and +we commenced preparations for breakfast. I told +John he had better cook the grouse, but he shook +his head, and said sadly: +<span class="pagenum">[138]</span></p> + +<p>"Seymo, he spile de grouse."</p> + +<p>"How did he do that?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"He say put him on stick by fire to cook in de +night. Then he go to sleep and stick burn off. +Grouse fall in de fire and burn."</p> + +<p>"That's too thin," I said. "Seymour cooked +that grouse and ate it while you and I were asleep."</p> + +<p>Seymour glared at me, but had not the courage to +resent or deny the charge. An Indian does not let +sleep interfere with his appetite; he eats whatever +there is first, and then sleeps. I divided the last of +the bacon and biscuits equally between us, and with +a remnant of cold broiled salmon, we eked out a +scant breakfast on which to begin a day's work. +John was clawing some white greasy substance from +a tin can with his fingers, and spreading it on his +biscuits with the same tools. He passed the can to +me, and said:</p> + +<p>"Have butta?"</p> + +<p>"No, thanks," I answered; "I seldom eat butter +in camp."</p> + +<p>"I like him all time," he replied; "I never git +widout butta for brade at home." This by way of +informing me that he knew what good living was, +and practiced it at home. It rained heavily all day, +and our tramp through the jungle was most dreary +and disagreeable.</p> + +<div class="inset18"> +<p>"The day was dark, and cold, and dreary;<br /> +It rained, and the wind was never weary."</p> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_139.jpg" alt="139" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption"><i>EN FAMILLE</i></p> + +<p>About three o'clock in the afternoon, we sat down +to rest on the bank of the creek. We had been there +but a few minutes, when a good sized black bear +came shambling along up the bank of the creek, +<span class="pagenum">[139]</span> +looking for salmon. The Indians saw him when +a hundred yards or more away, and flattened themselves +out on the ground to await his nearer +approach. I raised my rifle to my shoulder, but they +both motioned me to wait, that he was yet too far +away. I disregarded their injunction, however, and +promptly landed an express bullet in the bear's +breast. He reared, uttered a smothered groan, +turned, made one jump, and fell dead. Now arose +the question of saving his skin; it was late, and we +were yet three miles from the Indian village; to skin +<span class="pagenum">[140]</span> +the bear then meant to camp there for the night, and +as the rain still came down in a steady, heavy sheet, I +at once decided that I would not stay out there +another night for the best bear skin in the country. +Seymour and John held a short consultation, and +then John said they would come back and get the skin +next day, and take it in lieu of the money I owed them +for their services. We struck a bargain in about a +minute, and hurried on, arriving at the village just as +it grew dark. My rubber coat and high rubber boots +had kept me comparatively dry, but the poor Indians +were wet to the skin.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_140.jpg" alt="140" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[141]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<div class="i107"> +<div id="i107b_0"> </div> +<div id="i107b_1"> </div> +<div id="i107b_2"> </div> +<div id="i107b_3"> </div> +<div id="i107b_4"> </div> +<div id="i107b_5"> </div> +<div id="i107b_6"> </div> +<div id="i107b_7"> </div> +<div id="i107b_8"> </div> +<div id="i107b_9"> </div> +<div id="i107b_10"> </div> +<div id="i107b_11"> </div> +<div id="i107b_12"> </div> +<div id="i107b_13"> </div> +<div id="i107b_14"> </div> +<div id="i107b_15"> </div> +<div id="i107b_16"> </div> +<div id="i107b_17"> </div> +<div id="i107b_18"> </div> +<div id="i107b_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">N</span> +arriving at Chehalis John kindly +invited me to stop over night with him, +but I declined with thanks. I went into +his house, however, to wait while he got +ready to take me down to Barker's. It +was the same type of home that nearly +all these Indians have—a large clapboard +building about eight feet high, with smoked +salmon hung everywhere and a fire in the centre +of the room, which, by the way, was more of a +smoke than fire, curing the winter provender. A +pile of wood lay in one corner of the room, some +empty barrels in another, fish-nets were hung in still +another, and the family lived, principally, in the +fourth. John lives with his father-in-law, mother-in-law, +two brothers-in-law, one sister-in-law, his wife +and three papooses. Blankets, pots, tinware and +grub of various kinds were piled up promiscuously in +this living corner, and the little undressed kids hovered +and shivered around the dull fire, suffering from +the cold. We were soon in the canoe again, <i>en route</i> +to the steamboat landing, where we arrived soon after +dark. I regretted to part with John, for I had found +him a good, faithful servant and staunch friend. I +was glad to get rid of Seymour, however, for I had +learned that he was a contemptible sneak, and told +him so in as many words.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[142]</span><i>En route</i> home I had about two hours to wait at +Port Moody for the boat. There were great numbers +of grebes and ducks in the bay, and I asked the dock +foreman if there was any rule against shooting there. +He said he guessed not; he had never seen anyone +shooting there, but he guessed there wouldn't be any +objection. I got out my rifle and two boxes of cartridges +and opened on the birds. The ducks left at +once, but the grebes sought safety in diving, and as +soon as the fusillade began a number of gulls came +hovering around, apparently to learn the cause of +the racket. I had fine sport between the two, and a +large audience to enjoy it with me. In ten minutes +from the time I commenced shooting all the clerks +in the dock office, all the freight hustlers in the +warehouse, all the railroad section men, the ticket-agent +and baggage-master, numbering at least +twenty men in the aggregate, were clustered around +me, and their comments on my rifle and shooting +were extremely amusing. Not a man in the party +had ever before seen a Winchester express, and the +racket it made, the way in which the balls plowed +up the water, and the way the birds, when hit, vanished +into thin air and a few feathers, were mysteries +far beyond their power to solve. At the first lull +in the firing half a dozen of them rushed up and +wanted to examine the rifle, the fancy finish and +combination sights of which were as profoundly +strange to them as to the benighted Indians. They +soon handed it back to me, however, with the request +to resume hostilities against the birds; they preferred +to see the old thing work rather than to handle +it. The gulls were soaring in close, and six shots, +<span class="pagenum">[143]</span> +rapidly delivered, dropped three of them into the +water, mutilated beyond recognition. This was +the climax; the idea of killing birds on the wing, +with a rifle, was something these men had never +before heard of, and two or three examined my cartridges +to see if they were not loaded with shot, +instead of bullets. When they found this suspicion +was groundless they were beside themselves with +wonder and admiration of the strange arm. As a +matter of fact, it required no particular skill to kill +the gulls on the wing, for they were the large gray +variety, and frequently came within twenty or thirty +feet of me, so that anyone who could kill them with +a shotgun could do so with a rifle.</p> +</div> + +<p>Finally the steamer came in and I went aboard. +The train arrived soon after and several of its passengers +boarded the boat. The gulls were now hovering +about the steamer, picking up whatever particles +of food were thrown overboard from the cook-room. +One old Irishman, who had come in on the train +from the interior wilds, walked out on the quarter +deck and looking at them intently for a few minutes, +turned to me and inquired:</p> + +<p>"Phwat kind of burds is thim—geese?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said, "thim's geese, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Well, be gorry, if I had a gun here I'd shoot +some o'thim"; and he went and told his companions +"there was a flock of the tamest wild geese out thare +ye iver sawed."</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_144.jpg" alt="144" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A SNAP SHOT WITH A DETECTIVE CAMERA.</p> + +<p>The return journey to Portland was without incident. +There I boarded the steamer and spent +another delightful day on the broad bosom of the +Columbia river, winding up among the grand basaltic +<span class="pagenum">[145]</span> +cliffs and towering mountain peaks of the Cascade +Range. Again the little camera came into requisition, +and though the day was cloudy and blusterous, +though snow fell at frequent intervals, and though +the steamer trembled like a reed shaken by the wind, +I made a dozen or more exposures on the most interesting +and beautiful subjects as we passed them, and +to my surprise many came out good pictures. Most +of them lack detail in the deeper shadows, but the +results altogether show that had the day been clear +and bright all would have been perfect. In short, it +is possible with this dry-plate process to make good +pictures from a moving steamboat, or even from a +railway train going at a high rate of speed. I made +three pictures from a Northern Pacific train, coming +through the Bad Lands, when running twenty-five +miles an hour, and though slightly blurred in the +near foreground, the buttes and bluffs, a hundred +yards and further away, are as sharp as if I had been +standing on the ground and the camera on a tripod; +and a snap shot at a prairie-dog town—just as the +train slowed on a heavy grade—shows several of the +little rodents in various poses, some of them apparently +trying to look pretty while having their "pictures +took."</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_145.jpg" alt="145" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<img src="images/s_illo_146left_0.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146right_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146left_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146right_1.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146left_2.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146right_2.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146left_3.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146left_4.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146left_5.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146left_6.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_146left_7.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> + +<br /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[146]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<p class="chapter"> +stopped off at +Spokane Falls, +on my way +home, for a few +days' deer hunting, +and though +that region be not exactly in the Cascades, +it is so near that a few points in +relation to the sport there may be +admissible in connection with the +foregoing narrative. I had +advised my good friend, Dr. +C. S. Penfield, of my coming, +and he had kindly +planned for me a hunting +trip. On the morning +after my arrival +his brother-in-law, Mr. +T. E. Jefferson, took +me up behind a pair of +good roadsters and +drove to Johnston's +ranch, eighteen miles +from the falls, and near +the foot of Mount Carleton, +where we hoped to find +plenty of deer. We hunted +<span class="pagenum">[147]</span> +there two days, and though we found signs reasonably +plentiful and saw three or four deer we were +unable to kill any. Mr. Jefferson burned some +powder after a buck and a doe the first morning +after our arrival, but it was his first experience in +deer hunting, so it is not at +all strange that the game +should have escaped. Mr. +Jefferson was compelled to +return home at that time on account of a business +engagement, but Mr. Johnston, with characteristic +Western hospitality and kindness, said I must +not leave without a shot, and so hooked up his +team and drove me twenty-five miles farther +into the mountains, to a place where he said we +would surely find plenty of game. On the way +in we picked up old Billy Cowgill, a famous deer +hunter in this region, and took him along as guide. +<span class="pagenum">[148]</span> +We stopped at Brooks' stage ranch, on the Colville +road to rest the team, and the proprietor gave us an +amusing account of some experiments he had been +making in shooting buckshot from a muzzle-loading +shotgun. He had made some little bags of buckskin, +just large enough to hold twelve No. 2 buckshot, +and after filling them had sewed up the ends. +He shot a few of them at a tree sixty yards away, +but they failed to spread and all went into one hole. +Then he tried leaving the front end of the bag open, +and still they acted as a solid ball; so he had to abandon +the scheme, and loaded the charge loose, as of old. +He concluded, however, not to fire this last load at +the target, and hung the gun up in its usual place. +A few days later he heard the dog barking in the +woods a short distance from the house, and supposed +it had treed a porcupine. Mr. Brooks' brother, who +was visiting at the time, took the gun and went out +to kill the game, whatever it might be. On reaching +the place, he found a ruffed grouse sitting in a tree, +at which he fired. The ranchman said he heard the +report, and his brother soon came back, carrying a +badly-mutilated bird; he threw it into the kitchen, +and put the gun away; then he sat down, looked +thoughtful, and kept silent for a long time. Finally +he blurted out:</p> + +<img src="images/s_illo_147_0.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_147_1.jpg" alt="" class="split" /> +<p class="split" style="font-weight:bold; width:400px; text-indent:100px"> +THE STAGE RANCH</p> + +<p>"Say, Tom; that gun got away from me."</p> + +<p>"How was that?" queried the ranchman.</p> + +<p>"I don't know; but I shot pretty near straight up +at the grouse, and somehow the gun slipped off my +shoulder and done this." And opening his coat he +showed his vest, one side of which was split from +top to bottom; he then took out a handful of his +<span class="pagenum">[149]</span> +watch and held it up—one case was torn off, the +crystal smashed, the dial caved in, and the running +gear all mixed up. The ranchman said he guessed +he had put one of the buckskin bags of shot into +that barrel, and forgetting that fact, had added the +loose charge. He said he reckoned twenty-four No. +2 buckshot made too heavy a load for an eight-pound +gun.</p> + +<p>We reached "Peavine Jimmy's" mining cabin, +which was to be our camp, at three o'clock in the +afternoon, and busied ourselves till dark in the usual +duties of cooking, eating, and gathering wood. Old +Billy proved a very interesting character; he is a +simple, quiet, honest, unpretentious old man, and +unlike most backwoodsmen, a veritable coward. He +has the rare good sense, however, to admit it frankly, +and thus disarms criticism. In fact, his frequent +admission of this weakness is amusing. He says +that for fear of getting lost he does not like to go off +a trail when hunting, unless there is snow on the +ground, so that he can track himself back into camp. +He rides an old buckskin pony that is as modest and +gentle as its master. Billy says he often gets lost +when he does venture away from the trail, but in +such cases he just gives old Buck the rein, hits him a +slap, and tells him to go to camp and he soon gets +there. He told us a bear story that night, worthy of +repetition. Something was said that reminded him +of it, and he mentioned it, but added, modestly, +that he didn't know as we cared for any bear +stories. But we said we were very fond of them, +and urged the recital.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," he said, "if you will wait a minute,<span class="pagenum">[150]</span> +I'll take a drink of water first and then I'll tell it to +you," and he laughed a kind of boyish titter, and +began:</p> + +<p>"Well, me and three other fellers was up north +in the Colville country, huntin', and all the other +fellows was crazy to kill a bear. I didn't want to +kill no bear, and didn't expect to. I'm as 'feard as +death of a bear, and hain't no use for 'em. All I +wanted to kill was a deer. The other fellers, they +wanted to kill some deer, too, but they wanted bear +the worst. So one mornin' we all started out, and +the other fellers they took the best huntin' ground, +and said I'd better go down along the creek and see +if I couldn't kill some grouse, for they didn't believe +I could kill any thing bigger'n that; and I said, all +right, and started off down the creek. Purty soon I +come to an old mill that wasn't runnin' then. And +when I got purty near to the mill I set down on a +log, for I didn't think it was worth while to go any +furder, for I didn't think I would find any game +down the creek, and I didn't care much whether I +did or not. Well, I heard a kind of a racket in the +mill, and durned if there wasn't a big black bear +right in the mill. And I watched him a little bit, +and he started out towards me. And I said to myself, +says I, 'Now Billy, here's your chance to kill +a bear.'</p> + +<p>"I hadn't never killed no bear before, nor never +seed one before, and durned if I wasn't skeered +nearly to death. But I thought there wasn't no use +of runnin', for I knowed he could run faster'n I +could, so I took out my knife and commenced cuttin' +down the brush in front of me, for I wanted to +<span class="pagenum">[151]</span> +make a shure shot if I did shoot, if I could. And +the bear, he come out of the mill and rared up, and +put his paws on a log and looked at me, and I +said to myself, says I, 'Now Billy, this is your +time to shoot'; but I wasn't ready to shoot yit. They +was one more bush I wanted to cut out of the way +before I shot, so I cut if off and laid down my knife, +and then I took up my gun and tried to take aim at +his breast, but doggoned if I didn't shake so I +couldn't see the sights at all. And I thought one +time I wouldn't shoot, and then I knowed the other +fellers would laugh at me if I told 'em I seed a bear +and didn't shoot at him, and besides I was afraid +some of 'em was up on the hillside lookin' at me +then. So I just said to myself, says I, 'Now Billy, +you're goin' to get eat up if you don't kill him, but +you might as well be eat up as to be laughed at.' +So I jist took the best aim I could for shakin', an' +shet both eyes an' pulled.</p> + +<p>"Well, I think the bear must a begin to git down +jist as I pulled, for I tore his lower jaw off and shot +a big hole through one side of his neck. He howled +and roared and rolled around there awhile and then +he got still. I got round where I could see him, after +he quit kickin', but I was afeared to go up to him, +so I shot two more bullets through his head to make +sure of him. And then I set down and waited a long +while to see if he moved any more; for I was afeard +he mightn't be dead yit, and might be playin' possum, +jist to get ahold of me. But he didn't move no more, +so I went up to him with my gun cocked and pointed +at his head, so if he did move I could give him another +one right quick. An' then I punched him a little with +<span class="pagenum">[152]</span> +my gun, but he didn't stir. An' when I found he +was real dead I took my knife and cut off one of his +claws, an' then I went back to camp, the biggest +feelin' old cuss you ever seed.</p> + +<p>"Well, arter while the other fellers they all come +in, lookin' mighty blue, for they hadn't any of 'em +killed a thing, an' when I told 'em I'd killed a bear, +they wouldn't believe it till I showed 'em the claw. +An' then they wouldn't believe it, neither, for they +thought I'd bought the claw of some Injin. And they +wouldn't believe it at all till they went out with me +and seed the bear and helped skin 'im, and cut 'im +up, and pack 'im into camp. An' they was the dog-gondest, +disappointedest lot of fellers you ever seed, +for we hunted five days longer, an' nary one of 'em +got to kill a bear nor even see one. They thought I +was the poorest hunter and the biggest coward in the +lot, but I was the only one that killed a bear that +clip."</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_152.jpg" alt="152" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[153]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<div class="i153"> +<div id="i153_0"> </div> +<div id="i153_1"> </div> +<div id="i153_2"> </div> +<div id="i153_3"> </div> +<div id="i153_4"> </div> +<div id="i153_5"> </div> +<div id="i153_6"> </div> +<div id="i153_7"> </div> +<div id="i153_8"> </div> +<div id="i153_9"> </div> +<div id="i153_10"> </div> +<div id="i153_11"> </div> +<div id="i153_12"> </div> +<div id="i153_13"> </div> +<div id="i153_14"> </div> +<div id="i153_15"> </div> +<div id="i153_16"> </div> +<div id="i153_17"> </div> +<div id="i153_18"> </div> +<div id="i153_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">E</span> +were out at daylight the next morning +and hunted all day with fair success. +Johnston and Billy jumped a bunch of +five mule-deer, a buck, two does, and +two fawns. Johnston fired fourteen +shots at them before they got out of +the country, and killed the two does. +In speaking of it afterward Billy said he was just +taking a good aim at the old buck's eye when +Johnston's gun cracked the first time, and of +course the buck ran, so he did not get a shot.</p> + +<p>"But why didn't you shoot at him running?" I +inquired.</p> + +<p>"Because I can't hit a jumpin' deer," he replied, +frankly, "and I hate like thunder to miss."</p> + +<p>I spent the day about a mile from camp on top of +Blue Grouse Mountain, a prominent landmark of +the country. A heavy fog hung about the mountain +and over the surrounding country until about +three o'clock in the afternoon, when it lifted and +disclosed a view of surpassing loveliness. Away to +the west and southwest there was a level tract of +swampy, heavily timbered country about thirty +miles long and ten miles wide. I looked down on +the tops of the trees composing this vast forest, and +they appeared at this distance not unlike a vast field +of half-grown green grain. Beyond this tract to the +<span class="pagenum">[155]</span> +west a chain of hills wound in serpentine curves +from north to south, their parks and bits of prairie +gleaming in the sun like well-made farms. To the +north lay Loon Lake nestling among the pine-clad +hills, its placid bosom sparkling in the setting sun +like a sheet of silver. Farther to the north and +northeast were two other lakes of equal size and +beauty, while far distant in the east were several +large bodies of prairie separated by strips of pine +and fir. I longed for my camera, but on account of +the unfavorable outlook of the morning, I had not +brought the instrument.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<span class="pagenum">[154]</span> +<img src="images/illo_154.jpg" alt="154" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ONE OF JOHNSTON'S PRIZES.</p> + +<p>The following morning promised no better, for the +fog hung like a pall over the whole country; but I +took the little detective with me, hoping the mist +would lift as before; in this, however, I was disappointed. +I staid on the mountain from early morning +till half-past three, and there being then no prospect +of a change went down. Just as I reached the +base I saw a rift in the clouds, and supposing the +long-wished change in the weather was about to +take place, I turned and began the weary climb, but +again the fog settled down, and I was at last compelled +to return to camp without the coveted views. +I made several exposures during the day on crooked, +deformed, wind-twisted trees on the top of the +mountain, which, strange to say, came out good. +The fog was so dense at the time that one could not +see fifty yards. I used a small stop and gave each +plate from five to twenty seconds, and found, when +developed, that none of them were over exposed, +while those given the shorter time were under +exposed. That day's hunting resulted in three more +<span class="pagenum">[156]</span> +deer, and as we then had all the meat our team could +take out up the steep hills near camp, we decided to +start for home the next morning. While seated +around our blazing log fire in the old cabin that night, +Mr. Johnston entertained us with some interesting +reminiscences of his extensive experience in the West. +He has been a "broncho buster," a stock ranchman, +and a cow-boy by turns, and a recital of his varied +experiences in these several lines would fill a big +book. Among others, he told us that he once lived +<span class="pagenum">[157]</span> +in a portion of California where the ranchmen raised +a great many hogs, but allowed them to range at will +in the hills and mountains from the time they were +littered until old enough and large enough for +market; that in this time they became as wild as +deer and as savage as peccaries, so that the only way +they could ever be reclaimed and marketed was to +catch them with large, powerful dogs, trained to the +work. Their feet were then securely tied with strong +thongs, and they were muzzled and packed into +market or to the ranches, as their owners desired, on +horses or mules.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_156.jpg" alt="156" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ARE YOU LOOKING FOR US?</p> + +<p>Johnston had a pair of these dogs, and used to +assist his neighbors in rounding up their wild hogs. +In one case, he and several other men went with an +old German ranchman away up into the mountains +to bring out a drove of these pine-skinners, many of +whom had scarcely seen a human being since they +were pigs, and at sight of the party the hogs stampeded +of course, and ran like so many deer. The dogs +were turned loose, took up a trail, and soon had a +vicious critter by the ears, when the packers came up, +muzzled and tied it securely. The dogs were then +turned loose again, and another hog was rounded up +in the same way. These two were hung onto a pack-animal +with their backs down, their feet lashed +together over the pack-saddle, and their long, sharp +snouts pointing toward the horse's head. They were +duly cinched, and the horse turned loose to join the +train. This operation was repeated until the whole +herd was corralled and swung into place on the horses, +and the squealing, groaning, and snorting of the terrified +brutes was almost deafening. One pair of hogs +<span class="pagenum">[159]</span> +were loaded on a little mule which had never been +accustomed to this work, and, as the men were all +engaged in handling the other animals, the old ranchman +said he would lead this mule down the mountain +himself. Johnston and his partner cinched the hogs +on in good shape, while the Dutchman hung to +the mule.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_158.jpg" alt="158" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A BUCKING MULE.</p> + +<p>As they were giving the ropes the final pull, Johnston +gave his chum a wink, and they both slipped +out their knives, cut the muzzles off the porkers when +the old man was looking the other way, and told +him to go ahead. He started down the trail towing +the little mule, which did not relish its load in the +least, by the halter. The hogs were struggling to +free themselves, and, as the thongs began to cut into +their legs, they got mad and began to bite the mule.</p> + +<p>Then there was trouble; stiff-legged bucking set +in, and mule and hogs were churned up and down, +and changed ends so rapidly that for a few minutes +it was hard to tell which of the three animals was on +the outside, the inside, the topside, or the bottom-side. +The poor little mule was frantic with rage and +fright, and what a mule can not and will not do +under such circumstances, to get rid of a load can not +be done by any four-footed beast. He pawed the +air, kicked, and brayed, jumped backward, forward, +and sidewise, and twisted himself into every imaginable +shape. The old Dutchman was as badly stampeded +as the mule; he shouted, yanked, and swore +in Dutch, English, and Spanish; he yelled to the +men above to come and help him, but they were so +convulsed and doubled up with laughter that they +could not have helped him if they would. +<span class="pagenum">[160]</span></p> + +<p>Finally, the mule got away from the old man and +went tearing down into the cañon; he overtook and +passed the balance of the pack-train, stampeded them +almost beyond control of the packers, and knocked +the poor hogs against trees and brush until they were +almost dead. He ran nearly six miles, and being +unable to get rid of his pack, fell exhausted and lay +there until the men came up and took charge of him. +The old man accused Johnston of cutting the muzzles +off the hogs, but he and his partner both denied it, +said they certainly must have slipped off, and they +finally convinced him that that was the way the +trouble came about.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_160.jpg" alt="160" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE BUCKER AND THE BUSTER.</p> + +<p>This, with sundry other recitals of an equally +interesting nature, caused the evening to pass pleasantly, +and at a late hour we turned into our bunks. +We were up and moving long before daylight the +next morning, and as soon as we could see the trail +<span class="pagenum">[161]</span> +hooked up the team and attempted to go, but, alas +for our hopes of an early start, one of the horses +refused to pull at the very outset—in short, he balked +and no mule ever balked worse. Johnston plied the +buckskin until the horse refused to stand it any +longer and began to rear and to throw himself on +the tongue, back in the harness, etc. Johnston got off +the wagon, went to the animal's head and tried to lead +it, but the brute would not be led any more than it +would be driven, and commenced rearing and striking +at its master as if trying to kill him. This +aroused the ire of the ranchman and he picked up a +piece of a board, about four inches wide and three +feet long, and fanned the vicious critter right vigorously. +I took a hand in the game, at Johnston's +request, and warmed the cayuse's latter half to the +best of my ability with a green hemlock gad. He +bucked and backed, reared and ranted, pawed, +pitched, plunged and pranced, charged, cavorted +and kicked, until it seemed that he would surely +make shreds of the harness and kindling wood +of the wagon; but the whole outfit staid with him, +including Johnston and myself.</p> + +<p>We wore out his powers of endurance if not his hide, +and he finally got down to business, took the load up +the hill and home to the ranch, without manifesting +any further inclination to strike. We reached the +ranch about nine o'clock at night, and the next day +Johnston drove me into Spokane Falls, where, in due +time, I caught the train for home.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_162.jpg" alt="162" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">VIEW IN THE SPOKANE VALLEY.</p> + +<p>Spokane Falls is a growing, pushing town, and +the falls of the Spokane river, from which the town +takes its name, afford one of the most beautiful and +<span class="pagenum">[163]</span> +interesting sights on the line of the Northern Pacific +road. There are over a dozen distinct falls within a +half a mile, one of which is over sixty feet in perpendicular +height. Several of these falls are split +into various channels by small islands or pillars of +basaltic rock. At one place, where two of these +channels unite in a common plunge into a small +pool, the water is thrown up in a beautiful, shell-like +cone of white foam, to a height of nearly six +feet. It is estimated by competent engineers that +the river at this point furnishes a water-power equal +in the aggregate to that of the Mississippi at St. +Anthony's Falls. Every passenger over this route +should certainly stop off and spend a few hours +viewing the falls of the Spokane river.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_163.jpg" alt="163" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[164]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p class="h3">HUNTING THE GRIZZLY BEAR.</p> + +<div class="i164"> +<div id="i164_0"> </div> +<div id="i164_1"> </div> +<div id="i164_2"> </div> +<div id="i164_3"> </div> +<div id="i164_4"> </div> +<div id="i164_5"> </div> +<div id="i164_6"> </div> +<div id="i164_7"> </div> +<div id="i164_8"> </div> +<div id="i164_9"> </div> +<div id="i164_10"> </div> +<div id="i164_11"> </div> +<div id="i164_12"> </div> +<div id="i164_13"> </div> +<div id="i164_14"> </div> +<div id="i164_15"> </div> +<div id="i164_16"> </div> +<div id="i164_17"> </div> +<div id="i164_18"> </div> +<div id="i164_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">HE</span> +bear, like man, inhabits almost every +latitude and every land, and has +even been translated to the +starry heavens, where the +constellations of the Great +Dipper and the Little Dipper are +known to us as well as to the ancients as +<i>Ursi Major</i> and <i>Minor</i>. But North America +furnishes the largest and most aggressive species +in the grizzly (<i>Ursus horribilis</i>), the black (<i>Ursus +americanus</i>), and the polar (<i>Ursus maritimus</i>) +bears, and here the hunter finds his most daring +sport. Of all the known plantigrades (flat-footed +beasts) the grizzly is the most savage and the most +dreaded, and he is the largest of all, saving the +presence of his cousin the polar bear, for which, +nevertheless, he is more than a match in strength +and courage. Some specimens measure seven feet +from tip of nose to root of tail. The distinctive +marks of the species are its great size; the shortness +of the tail as compared with the ears; the huge flat +paws, the sole of the hind foot sometimes measuring +seven and a half by five inches in a large male; +the length of the hind legs as compared with the +fore legs, which gives the beast his awkward, shambling +gait; the long claws of the fore foot, sometimes +seven inches in length, while those of the hind foot +<span class="pagenum">[165]</span> +measure only three or four; the erect, bristling mane +of stiff hair, often six inches long; the coarse hair +of the body, sometimes three inches long, dark at +the base, but with light tips. He has a dark stripe +along the back, and one along each side, the hair on +his body being, as a rule, a brownish-yellow, the +region around the ears dusky, the legs nearly black, +and the muzzle pale. Color, however, is not a distinctive +mark, for female grizzlies have been killed +in company with two cubs, one of which was brown, +the other gray, or one dark, the other light; and the +supposed species of "cinnamon" and "brown" +bears are merely color variations of <i>Ursus horribilis</i> +himself.</p> + +<p>This ubiquitous gentleman has a wide range for his +habitat. He has been found on the Missouri river +from Fort Pierre northward, and thence west to his +favorite haunts in the Rockies; on the Pacific slope +clear down to the coast; as far south as Mexico, and as +far north as the Great Slave Lake in British America. +He not only ranges everywhere, but eats everything. +His majesty is a good liver. He is not properly a +beast of prey, for he has neither the cat-like instincts, +nor the noiseless tread of the <i>felidæ</i>, nor is he fleet +and long-winded like the wolf, although good at a +short run, as an unlucky hunter may find. But he +hangs about the flanks of a herd of buffalo, with +probably an eye to a wounded or disabled animal, +and he frequently raids a ranch and carries off a +sheep, hog, or calf that is penned beyond the possibility +of escape.</p> +</div> + +<p>Elk is his favorite meat, and the knowing hunter +who has the good luck to kill an elk makes sure +<span class="pagenum">[166]</span> +that its carcass will draw Mr. Grizzly if he is within +a range of five miles. He will eat not only flesh, +fish, and fowl, but roots, herbs, fruit, vegetables, +honey, and insects as well. Plums, buffalo-berries, +and choke-cherries make a large part of his diet in +their seasons.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_166.jpg" alt="166" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">DEATH AND THE CAUSE OF IT.</p> + +<p>The grizzly bear possesses greater vitality and +tenacity of life than any other animal on the continent, +and the hunter who would hunt him must be +well armed and keep a steady nerve. Each shot must +be cooly put where it will do the most good. Several +<span class="pagenum">[167]</span> +are frequently necessary to stop one of these savage +beasts. A single bullet lodged in the brain is fatal. +If shot through the heart he may run a quarter of +a mile or kill a man before he succumbs. In the +days of the old muzzle-loading rifle it was hazardous +indeed to hunt the grizzly, and many a man has +paid the penalty of his folly with his life. With +our improved breech-loading and repeating rifles +there is less risk.</p> + +<p>The grizzly is said to bury carcasses of large animals +for future use as food, but this I doubt. I +have frequently returned to carcasses of elk or deer +that I had killed and found that during my absence +bears had partially destroyed them, and in their +excitement, occasioned by the smell or taste of fresh +meat, had pawed up the earth a good deal thereabout, +throwing dirt and leaves in various directions, +and some of this débris may have fallen on the +bodies of the dead game; but I have never seen where +any systematic attempt had been made at burying a +carcass. Still, Bruin may have played the sexton in +some cases. He hibernates during winter, but does +not take to his long sleep until the winter has +thoroughly set in and the snow is quite deep. He +may frequently be tracked and found in snow a foot +deep, where he is roaming in search of food. He +becomes very fat before going into winter quarters, +and this vast accumulation of oil furnishes nutriment +and heat sufficient to sustain life during his long +confinement.</p> + +<p>The newspapers often kill grizzlies weighing 1,500, +1,800, or even 2,000 pounds, and in any party of +frontiersmen "talking grizzly" you will find plenty +<span class="pagenum">[168]</span> +of men who can give date and place where they +killed or helped to kill at least 1,800 pounds of +Bruin.</p> + +<p>"Did you weigh it?"</p> + +<p>"No, we didn't weigh 'im; but every man as seed +'im said he would weigh that, and they was all good +jedges, too."</p> + +<p>And this is the way most of the stories of big bear, +big elk, big deer, etc., begin and end. Bears are +usually, though not always, killed at considerable +distances from towns, or even ranches, where it is +not easy to find a scales large enough to weigh so +much meat.</p> + +<p>The largest grizzly I have ever killed would not +weigh more than 700 or 800 pounds, and I do not +believe one has ever lived that would weigh 1,000 +pounds. The flesh of the adult grizzly is tough, +stringy, and decidedly unpalatable, but that of a +young fat one is tender and juicy, and is always a +welcome dish on the hunter's table.</p> + +<p>The female usually gives birth to two cubs, and +sometimes three, at a time. At birth they weigh +only about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds each. The grizzly breeds +readily in confinement, and several litters have been +produced in the Zoological Gardens at Cincinnati. +The female is unusually vicious while rearing her +young, and the hunter must be doubly cautious +about attacking at that time. An Indian rarely +attacks a grizzly single-handed at any time, and it is +only when several of these native hunters are together +that they will attempt to kill one. They value the +claws very highly, however, and take great pride in +wearing strings of them around their necks. +<span class="pagenum">[169]</span></p> + +<p>The grizzly usually frequents the timbered or +brush-covered portions of mountainous regions, or +the timbered valleys of streams that head in the +mountains. He occasionally follows down the course +of these streams, and even travels many miles from +one stream to another, or from one range of mountains +to another, across open prairie. I once found +one on a broad open plateau in the Big Horn +Mountains, about half a mile from the nearest +cover of any kind. He was turning over rocks in +search of worms. At the report of my rifle he started +for the nearest cañon, but never reached it. An +explosive bullet through his lungs rendered him +unequal to the journey.</p> + +<p>Few persons believe that a grizzly will attack a +man before he is himself attacked. I was one of +these doubting Thomases until a few years ago, +when I was thoroughly convinced by ocular demonstration +that some grizzlies, at least, will attempt to +make a meal off a man even though he may not have +harmed them previously. We were hunting in the +Shoshone Mountains in Northern Wyoming. I had +killed a large elk in the morning, and on going back +to the carcass in the afternoon to skin it we saw that +Bruin had been there ahead us, but had fled on our +approach. Without the least apprehension of his +return, we leaned our rifles against a tree about fifty +feet away, and commenced work. There were three +of us, but only two rifles, Mr. Huffman, the photographer, +having left his in camp. He had finished +taking views of the carcass, and we were all busily +engaged skinning, when, hearing a crashing in the +brush and a series of savage roars and growls, we +<span class="pagenum">[170]</span> +looked up the hill, and were horrified to see three +grizzly bears, an old female and two cubs about two-thirds +grown, charging upon us with all the savage +fury of a pack of starving wolves upon a sheepfold.</p> + +<p>To make a long story short, we killed the old +female and one cub; the other escaped into the jungle +before we could get a shot at him. The resolute +front we put on alone saved our lives.</p> + +<p>In another instance, when hunting deer in Idaho, +I came suddenly upon a female grizzly and two cubs, +when the mother bear charged me savagely and +would have killed me had I not fortunately controlled +my nerves long enough to put a couple of +bullets through her and stop her before she got +to me.</p> + +<p>I have heard of several other instances of grizzlies +making unprovoked attacks on men, which were so +well substantiated that I could not question the +truth of the reports.</p> + +<p>The grizzly is partially nocturnal in his habits, +and apparently divides his labor of obtaining food +and his traveling about equally between day and +night. It is not definitely known to what age he +lives in his wild state, but he is supposed to attain +to twenty-five or thirty years. Several have lived in +domestication to nearly that age, and one died in +Union Park, Chicago, a few years ago, that was +known to be eighteen years old.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the great courage and ferocity of +this formidable beast, he will utter the most pitiable +groans and howls when seriously or mortally +wounded.</p> + +<p>Two brothers were prospecting in a range of mountains +<span class="pagenum">[171]</span> +near the headwaters of the Stinking Water +river. The younger of the two, though an ablebodied +man, and capable of doing a good day's work +with a pick or shovel, was weak-minded, and the +elder brother never allowed him to go any distance +away from camp or their work alone. He, however, +sent him one evening to the spring, a few rods off, +to bring a kettleful of water. The spring was in a +deep gorge, and the trail to it wound through some +fissures in the rock. As the young man passed +under a shelving rock, an immense old female grizzly, +that had taken up temporary quarters there, reached +out and struck a powerful blow at his head, but fortunately +could not reach far enough to do him any +serious harm. The blow knocked his hat off, and +her claws caught his scalp, and laid it open clear +across the top of his head in several ugly gashes. +The force of the blow sent him spinning around, and +not knowing enough to be frightened, he attacked +her savagely with the only weapon he had at hand—the +camp kettle.</p> + +<p>The elder brother heard the racket, and hastily +catching up his rifle and hurrying to the scene of the +disturbance, found his brother vigorously belaboring +the bear over the head with the camp kettle, +and the bear striking savage blows at him, any +one of which, if she could have reached him, +would have torn his head from his shoulders. +Three bullets from the rifle, fired in rapid succession, +loosened her hold upon the rocks, and she tumbled +lifelessly into the trail. The poor idiotic boy could +not even then realize the danger through which he +had passed, and could only appease his anger by +<span class="pagenum">[172]</span> +continuing to maul the bear over the head with the +camp kettle for several minutes after she was dead.</p> + +<p>Some years ago I went into the mountains with a +party of friends to hunt elk. Our guide told us we +should find plenty of grouse along the trail, from +the day we left the settlements; that on the third +day out we should find elk, and that it would therefore +be useless to burden our pack-horses with meat. +We accordingly took none save a small piece of +bacon.</p> + +<p>Contrary to his predictions, however, we found no +grouse or other small game <i>en route</i>, and soon ate up +our bacon. Furthermore, we were five days in +reaching the elk country, instead of three as he said. +All this time we were climbing mountains and had +appetites that are known only to mountain climbers. +We had plenty of bread and potatoes, but these +were not sufficient. We hankered for flesh, and +though we filled ourselves with vegetable food, yet +were we hungry.</p> + +<p>Finally we reached our destination at midday. +While we were unloading the horses, a "fool hen" +came and lit in a tree near us. A rifle ball beheaded +her, and almost before she was done kicking she +was in the frying pan.</p> + +<p>A negro once had a bottle of whisky, and was +making vigorous efforts to get outside of it, when a +chum came up and asked for a pull at it. "O, g'long, +nigger," said the happy owner of the corn juice. +"What's one bottle of whisky 'mong one man?" +And what was one little grouse among five half-starved +men? The smell and taste only made us +long for more. +<span class="pagenum">[173]</span></p> + +<p>After dinner we all went out and hunted until +dark. Soon after leaving camp some of us heard +lively firing up the cañon, where our guide had +gone, and felt certain that he had secured meat, for +we had heard glowing accounts, from him and his +friends, of his prowess as a hunter. The rest of us +were not so despondent, therefore, when we returned +at dusk empty handed, as we should otherwise have +been, until we reached camp and found the guide +there wearing a long face and bloodless hands.</p> + +<p>He told a doleful story of having had five fair +shots at a large bull elk, who stood broadside on, only +seventy-five yards away, but who finally became +alarmed at the fusilade and fled, leaving no blood +on his trail. The guide of course anathematized +his gun in the choicest terms known to frontiersmen, +and our mouths watered as we thought of what +might have been.</p> + +<p>Our potatoes, having been compelled to stand for +meat also, had vanished rapidly, and we ate the last +of them for supper that night. Few words were +spoken and no jokes cracked over that meal. We +ate bread straight for breakfast, and turning out +early hunted diligently all day. We were nearly +famished when we returned at night and no one had +seen any living thing larger than a pine squirrel. +It is written that "man shall not live by bread +alone," and we found that we could not much longer. +And soon we should not have even that, for our +flour was getting low. But we broke the steaming +flat-cake again at supper, and turned in to dream of +juicy steaks, succulent joints, and delicious rib +roasts. +<span class="pagenum">[174]</span></p> + +<p>We were up before daylight to find that six or +eight inches of light snow had fallen silently during +the night, which lay piled up on the branches of +the trees, draping the dense forests in ghostly white. +Our drooping spirits revived, for we hoped that the +tell-tale mantle would enable us to find the game we +so much needed in our business. We broke our +bread more cheerfully that morning than for two +days previously, but at the council of war held over +the frugal meal, decided that unless we scored that +day we must make tracks for the nearest ranch the +next morning, and try to make our scanty remnant +of flour keep us alive until we could get there.</p> + +<p>Breakfast over we scattered ourselves by the four +points of the compass and set out. It fell to my lot +to go up the cañon. Silently I strode through the +forest, scanning the snow in search of foot-prints, +but for an hour I could see none. Then, as I cautiously +ascended a ridge, I heard a crash in the brush +beyond and reached the summit just in time to see +the latter end of a large bull elk disappear in the +thicket.</p> + +<p>He had not heard or seen me, but had winded me, +and tarried not for better acquaintance. I followed his +trail some three miles up the cañon, carefully +penetrating the thickets and peering among the +larger trees, but never a glimpse could I get and +never a sound could I hear of him. He seemed +unusually wild. I could see by his trail that he had +not stopped, but had kept straight away on that +long, swinging trot that is such a telling gait of the +species, and which they will sometimes keep up for +hours together. Finally I came to where he had +<span class="pagenum">[175]</span> +left the cañon and ascended the mountain. I followed +up this for a time, but seeing that he had not +yet paused, and finding that my famished condition +rendered me unequal to the climb, was compelled to +abandon the pursuit and with a heavy heart return +again to the cañon. I kept on up it, but could find +no other game or sign of any. Like the red hunter, +in the time of famine, who</p> + +<div class="inset18"> +<p>"Vainly walked through the forest,<br /> +Sought for bird, or beast, and found none;<br /> +Saw no track of deer or rabbit,<br /> +In the snow beheld no foot-prints,<br /> +In the ghostly gleaming forest<br /> +Fell and could not rise from weakness,"</p> +</div> + +<p class="noin">so I trudged on until, wearied and worn out, I lay +down beside a giant fir tree, whose spreading +branches had kept the snow from the ground, and +fell asleep. When I awoke my joints were stiff and +sore, and I was chilled to the bone. It was late in +the afternoon, and a quiet, drizzling rain had set in.</p> + +<p>I found the trail that led through the cañon, and +started back to camp, trudging along as rapidly as +possible, for hunger was gnawing at my vitals and +my strength was fast failing.</p> + +<div class="inset16"> +<p>"Over snow-fields waste and pathless,<br /> +Under snow-encumbered branches,<br /> +Empty-handed, heavy-hearted,"</p> +</div> + +<p class="noin">I toiled wearily on. The snow had become saturated +with the rain, and great chunks of it were +falling from the trees with dull, monotonous sounds. +"Slush, slush," "Splash, splash," came the gloomy +sounds from all parts of the woods. I was nearing +camp, and had abandoned all hope of seeing game. +<span class="pagenum">[176]</span> +My only object was to reach shelter, to rest, and +feast on the unsatisfying bread. I heard a succession +of the splashings that came from my left with +such regular cadence as to cause me to look up, +when, great St. Hubert! there came a huge grizzly +bear shambling and splashing along through the +wet snow. It was his footsteps that I had been +hearing for a minute or two past, and which I had, +at first, thought to be the falling snow.</p> + +<p>He had not yet seen me, and what a marvelous +change came over me! I forgot that I was tired; +that I was weak; that I was hungry. The instincts +of the hunter reanimated me, and I thought only of +killing the grand game before me. I threw down +my rifle, raising the hammer as the weapon came +into position, and the click of the lock reached his +ear. It was the first intimation he had of possible +danger, and he stopped and threw up his head to +look and listen. My thoughts came and went like +flashes of lightning. I remembered then the famishing +condition of myself and friends. Here was +meat, and I must save it. There must be no nervousness—no +wild shooting now. This shot <i>must</i> +tell. And there was not a tremor in all my system. +Every nerve was as of steel for the instant. The +little gold bead on the muzzle of the rifle instantly +found the vital spot behind the bear's shoulder, +gleamed through the rear sight like a spark of fire, +and before he had time to realize what the strange +apparition was that had so suddenly confronted +him, the voice of the Winchester was echoing +through the cañon and an express bullet had +crashed through his vitals. +<span class="pagenum">[177]</span></p> + +<p>The shock was so sudden and the effect on him so +deadly that he apparently thought nothing of fight, +but only of seeking a place to die in peace.</p> + +<p>He wheeled and shot into a neighboring thicket +with the speed of an arrow. I fired at him again as +he disappeared. He crashed through the jungle out +into the open woods, turned to the right and went +across a ridge as if Satan himself were after him. +As the big gray mass shot through a clear space +between two trees I gave him another speeder, and +then he disappeared beyond a ridge.</p> + +<p>The snow had melted rapidly and the ground was +bare in places, so that I had some trouble in trailing +the bear, but wherever he crossed a patch of snow +his trail was bespattered with blood. I followed +over the ridge and through scattering jack pines, +about two hundred yards, and found him lying +dead near the trail. My first and third bullets had +gone in behind his shoulder only an inch apart. +The first had passed clear through him, and the +other had lodged against the skin on the opposite +side. Several ribs were broken on either side, and +his lungs and other portions of his interior were +ground into sausage; yet so great was his vitality +and tenacity to life that he was able to make this +distance at a speed that would have taxed the best +horse in the country, and if he had seen fit to attack +me instead of running away he would probably +have made sausage of me.</p> + +<p>But what feasting and what revelry there was in +camp that night. It was a young bear, fat as +butter, and rib roasts and cutlets were devoured in +quantities that would have shocked the modesty of +<span class="pagenum">[178]</span> +a tramp. Not until well into the night did we cease +to eat, and wrap ourselves in our blankets. We staid +several days in the cañon after that, and killed plenty +of elk and other game.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The skin of the grizzly is one of the most valuable +trophies a sportsman can obtain on any field, and its +rarity, and the danger and excitement attending the +taking of it, the courage it bespeaks on the part of +the hunter, render it a prize of which the winner +may justly feel proud for a lifetime.</p> + +<p>The best localities in which to hunt the grizzly +bear—that is, those most accessible and in which he +is now most numerous—are the Big Horn, Shoshone, +Wind River, Bear Tooth, Belt, and Crazy Mountains, +in Wyoming and Montana, all of which may be +easily reached by way of the Northern Pacific +road.</p> + +<p>The best time of year to hunt for this, as well +as all the other species of large game in the Rocky +Mountains, is in the months of September, October, +and November, though in the latter month the +sportsman should not venture high up into the +mountains where heavy snow-falls are liable to +occur. There is a great deal of bear hunting done +in the summer months, but it is contrary to the laws +of nature, and should not be indulged in by any +true sportsman. The skins are nearly worthless +then, while in the autumn they are prime; the heat +is oppressive, and the flies and mosquitoes are great +pests.</p> + +<p>The best arm for this class of game is a repeating +rifle of large calibre, 45 or 50, carrying a large +<span class="pagenum">[179]</span> +charge of powder and a solid bullet. The new Winchester +express, 50/110, with solid ball, is perhaps the +best in the market, all things considered.</p> + +<p>There are several methods of hunting the grizzly, +the most common being to kill an elk, and then watch +the carcass. Shots may frequently be obtained in +this way early in the morning or late in the evening, +and on bright moonlight nights it is best to watch all +night, for the immense size of the grizzly renders him +an easy target at short range even by moonlight. +Another method is to still-hunt him, the same as is +done with deer. This is perhaps the most sportsmanlike +of all, and if a coulee or creek bottom be +selected where there are plenty of berries, or an +open, hilly, rocky country, where the bears are in +the habit of hunting for worms, or any good feeding-ground +where bear signs are plentiful, and due care +and caution be exercised, there is as good a chance +of success as by any other method. Many hunters +set guns with a cord running from the trigger to a +bait of fresh meat, and the muzzle of the gun pointing +at the meat; others set large steel traps or deadfalls. +But such contrivances are never used by true +sportsmen.</p> + +<p>Game of any kind should always be pursued in a +fair, manly manner, and given due chance to preserve +its life if it is skillful enough to do so. If +captured, let it be by the superior skill, sagacity, or +endurance of the sportsman, not by traps which +close on it as it innocently and unsuspectingly seeks +its food.</p> + +<p>Grizzly bear hunting is unquestionably the grandest +sport that our continent affords. The grizzly +<span class="pagenum">[180]</span> +is the only really dangerous game we have, and the +decidedly hazardous character of the sport is what +gives it its greatest zest, and renders it the most fascinating +of pursuits. Many sportsmen proclaim the +superiority of their favorite pastime over all other +kinds, be it quail, grouse, or duck shooting, fox-chasing, +deer-stalking, or what not; and each has its +charm, more or less intense, according to its nature; +but no man ever felt his heart swell with pride, his +nerves tingle with animation, his whole system glow +with wild, uncontrollable enthusiasm, at the bagging +of any bird or small animal, as does the man +who stands over the prostrate form of a monster +grizzly that he has slain. Let the devotee of these +other classes of sport try bear hunting, and when he +has bagged his first grizzly, then let him talk!</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_180.jpg" alt="180" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[181]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<p class="h3">ELK HUNTING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.</p> + +<div class="i181"> +<div id="i181_0"> </div> +<div id="i181_1"> </div> +<div id="i181_2"> </div> +<div id="i181_3"> </div> +<div id="i181_4"> </div> +<div id="i181_5"> </div> +<div id="i181_6"> </div> +<div id="i181_7"> </div> +<div id="i181_8"> </div> +<div id="i181_9"> </div> +<div id="i181_10"> </div> +<div id="i181_11"> </div> +<div id="i181_12"> </div> +<div id="i181_13"> </div> +<div id="i181_14"> </div> +<div id="i181_15"> </div> +<div id="i181_16"> </div> +<div id="i181_17"> </div> +<div id="i181_18"> </div> +<div id="i181_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">F</span> +all the large game on the American +continent, the elk (<i>Cervus canadensis</i>) +is the noblest, the grandest, the stateliest. +I would detract nothing from the noble +game qualities of the moose, caribou, deer, +or mountain sheep. Each has its peculiar +points of excellence which endear it to the heart of +the sportsman, but the elk possesses more than any +of the others. In size he towers far above all, +except the moose. In sagacity, caution, cunning, +and wariness he is the peer, if not the superior, of +them all. He is always on the alert, his keen scent, +his piercing eye, his acute sense of hearing, combining +to render him a vigilant sentinel of his own +safety.</p> + +<p>His great size and powerful muscular construction +give him almost unbounded endurance. When +alarmed or pursued he will travel for twenty or +thirty hours, at a rapid swinging trot, without stopping +for food or rest. He is a proud, fearless ranger, +and even when simply migrating from one range of +mountains to another, will travel from seventy-five +to a hundred miles without lying down. He is a +marvelous mountaineer, and, considering his +<span class="pagenum">[182]</span> +immense size and weight, often ascends to heights +that seem incredible. He may often be found away +up to timber line, and will traverse narrow passes +and defiles, climbing over walls of rock and through +fissures where it would seem impossible for so large +an animal, with such massive antlers as he carries, +to go. He chooses his route, however, with rare +good judgment, and all mountaineers know that an +elk trail is the best that can possibly be selected +over any given section of mountainous country. +His faculty of traversing dense jungles and windfalls +is equally astonishing. If given his own time, +he will move quietly and easily through the worst of +these, leaping over logs higher than his back as +gracefully and almost as lightly as the deer; yet let +a herd of elk be alarmed and start on a run through +one of these labyrinthine masses, and they will make +a noise like a regiment of cavalry on a precipitous +charge.</p> + +<p>I have stood on the margin of a quaking-asp +thicket and heard a large band of elk coming +toward me that had been "jumped" and fired upon +by my friend at the other side, and the frightful +noise of their horns pounding the trees, their hoofs +striking each other and the numerous rocks, the +crashing of dead branches, with the snorting of the +affrighted beasts, might well have struck terror to +the heart of anyone unused to such sights and +sounds, and have caused him to seek safety in +flight. But by standing my ground I was enabled +to get in a couple of shots at short range, and to +bring down two of the finest animals in the herd.</p> +</div> + +<p>The whistle of the elk is a sound which many +<span class="pagenum">[183]</span> +have tried to describe, yet I doubt if anyone who +may have read all the descriptions of it ever written +would recognize it on a first hearing. It is a most +strange, weird, peculiar sound, baffling all efforts of +the most skillful word-painter. It is only uttered by +the male, and there is the same variety in the sound +made by different stags as in different human voices. +Usually the cry begins and ends with a sort of grunt, +somewhat like the bellow of a domestic cow cut short, +but the interlude is a long-drawn, melodious, flutelike +sound that rises and falls with a rhythmical +cadence, floating on the still evening air, by which +it is often wafted with singular distinctness to great +distances. By other individuals, or even by the +same individual at various times, either the first or +last of these abrupt sounds is omitted, and only the +other, in connection with the long-drawn, silver-toned +strain, is given.</p> + +<p>The stag utters this call only in the love-making +season, and for the purpose of ascertaining the +whereabouts of his dusky mate, who responds by a +short and utterly unmusical sound, similar to that +with which the male begins or ends his call.</p> + +<p>Once, when exploring in Idaho, I had an interesting +and exciting experience with a band of elk. +I had camped for the night on a high divide, between +two branches of the Clearwater river. The weather +had been intensely dry and hot for several days, and +the tall rye grass that grew in the old burn where I +had pitched my camp was dry as powder. There +was a gentle breeze from the south. Fearing that a +spark might be carried into the grass, I extinguished +my camp-fire as soon as I had cooked and eaten my +<span class="pagenum">[185]</span> +supper. As darkness drew on, I went out to picket +my horses and noticed that they were acting +strangely. They were looking down the mountain +side with ears pointed forward, sniffing the air and +moving about uneasily.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_184.jpg" alt="184" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE <i>WAPITI</i>, OR AMERICAN ELK.</p> + +<p>I gave their picket ropes a turn around convenient +jack pines, and then slipping cautiously back to the +tent, got my rifle and returned. I could see nothing +strange and sat down beside a log to await developments. +In a few minutes I heard a dead limb break. +Then there was a rustling in a bunch of tall, dry +grass; more snapping of twigs and shaking of bushes. +I ascertained that there were several large animals +moving toward me and feared it might be a family +of bears. I feared it, I say, because it was now so +dark that I could not see to shoot at any distance, and +knew that if bears came near the horses the latter +would break their ropes and stampede. I thought +of shouting and trying to frighten them off, but +decided to await developments. Presently I heard +a snapping of hoofs and a succession of dull, heavy, +thumping noises, accompanied by reports of breaking +brush, which I knew at once were made by a +band of elk jumping over a high log.</p> + +<p>The game was now not more than fifty yards +away and in open ground, yet I could not see even +a movement, for I was looking down toward a dark +cañon, many hundreds of feet deep. Slowly the +great beasts worked toward me. They were coming +down wind and I felt sure could not scent me, but +they could evidently see my horses, outlined against +the sky, and had doubtless heard them snorting +and moving about. +<span class="pagenum">[186]</span></p> + +<p>The ponies grew more anxious but less frightened +than at first, and seemed now desirous of making +the acquaintance of their wild visitors.</p> + +<p>Slowly the elk moved forward until within thirty +or forty feet of me, when I could begin to discern +by the starlight their dark, shaggy forms. Then +they stopped. I could hear them sniffing the air +and could see them moving cautiously from place +to place, apparently suspicious of danger. But +they were coming down wind, could get no indication +of my presence, and were anxious to interview +the horses.</p> + +<p>They moved slowly forward, and when they +stopped this time, two old bulls and one cow, +who were in the front rank, so to speak, stood +within ten feet of me. Their great horns towered +up like the branches of dead trees, and I could hear +them breathe.</p> + +<p>Again they circled from side to side and I thought +surely they would get far enough to one quarter or +the other to wind me, but they did not. Several +other cows and two timid little calves crowded to the +front to look at their hornless cousins who now stood +close behind me, and even in the starlight, I could +have shot any one of them between the eyes.</p> + +<p>My saddle cayuse uttered a low gentle whinny, +whereat the whole band wheeled and dashed away; +but after making a few leaps their momentary scare +seemed to subside, and they stopped, looked, snorted +a few times and then began to edge up again—this +time even more shyly than before.</p> + +<p>It was intensely interesting to study the caution +and circumspection with which these creatures +<span class="pagenum">[187]</span> +planned and carried out their investigation all the +way through.</p> + +<p>The only mistake they made, and one at which +I was surprised, considering their usual cunning +and sagacity, was that some of them at least did not +circle the horses and get to the leeward. But they +were in such a wild country, so far back in the +remote fastnesses of the Rockies, that they had +probably never encountered hunters or horses +before and had not acquired all the cunning of their +more hunted and haunted brothers. After their +temporary scare they returned, step by step, to their +investigation, and the largest bull in the bunch +approached the very log behind which I sat. He +was just in the act of stepping over it when he +caught a whiff of my breath and, with a terrific +snort, vaulted backward and sidewise certainly +thirty feet. At the same instant I rose up and +shouted, and the whole band went tearing down +the mountain side making a racket like that of an +avalanche.</p> + +<p>As before stated, I could have had my choice out +of the herd, but my only pack-horse was loaded so +that I could have carried but a small piece of meat, +and was unwilling to waste so grand a creature for +the little I could save from him.</p> + +<p>The antlers of the bull elk grow to a great size. +He sheds them in February of each year. The new +horn begins to grow in April. During the summer it +is soft and pulpy and is covered with a fine velvety +growth of hair; it matures and hardens in August; +early in September he rubs this velvet off and is then +ready to try conclusions with any rival that comes in +<span class="pagenum">[188]</span> +his way. The rutting season over, he has no further +use for his antlers until the next autumn, and they +drop off. Thus the process is repeated, year after +year, as regularly as the leaves grow and fall from +the trees. But it seems a strange provision of nature +that should load an animal with sixty to seventy-five +pounds of horns, for half the year, when +weapons of one-quarter the size and weight would +be equally effective if all were armed alike.</p> + +<p>I have in my collection the head of a bull elk, +killed in the Shoshone Mountains, in Northern +Wyoming, the antlers of which measure as follows:</p> + +<p>Length of main beam, 4 feet 8 inches; length of +brow tine, 1 foot 6-1/2 inches; length of bes tine, 1 foot +8-1/2 inches; length of royal tine, 1 foot 7 inches; +length of surroyal, 1 foot 8-1/2 inches: circumference +around burr, 1 foot 3-1/4 inches; circumference around +beam above burr, 12 inches; circumference of brow +tine at base, 7-1/2 inches; spread of main beams at tips, +4 feet 9 inches. They are one of the largest and finest +pairs of antlers of which I have any knowledge. +The animal when killed would have weighed nearly +a thousand pounds.</p> + +<p>The elk is strictly gregarious, and in winter time, +especially, the animals gather into large bands, and +a few years ago herds of from five hundred to a +thousand were not uncommon. Now, however, their +numbers have been so far reduced by the ravages +of "skin hunters" and others that one will rarely +find more than twenty-five or thirty in a band.</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1879, a party of three men were +sight-seeing and hunting in the Yellowstone National +Park, and having prolonged their stay until +<span class="pagenum">[189]</span> +late in October, were overtaken by a terrible snowstorm, +which completely blockaded and obliterated +all the trails, and filled the gulches, cañons, and +coulees to such a depth that their horses could not +travel over them at all. They had lain in camp +three days waiting for the storm to abate; but as it +continued to grow in severity, and as the snow +became deeper and deeper, their situation grew daily +and hourly more alarming. Their stock of provisions +was low, they had no shelter sufficient to +withstand the rigors of a winter at that high altitude, +and it was fast becoming a question whether +they should ever be able to escape beyond the snow-clad +peaks and snow-filled cañons with which they +were hemmed in. Their only hope of escape was by +abandoning their horses, and constructing snow-shoes +which might keep them above the snow; but +in this case they could not carry bedding and food +enough to last them throughout the several days +that the journey would occupy to the nearest ranch, +and the chances of killing game <i>en route</i> after the +severe weather had set in were extremely precarious. +They had already set about making snow-shoes +from the skin of an elk which they had saved. One +pair had been completed, and the storm having +abated, one of the party set out to look over the +surrounding country for the most feasible route by +which to get out, and also to try if possible to find +game of some kind. He had gone about a mile +toward the northeast when he came upon the fresh +trail of a large band of elk that were moving toward +the east. He followed, and in a short time came up +with them. They were traveling in single file, led +<span class="pagenum">[190]</span> +by a powerful old bull, who wallowed through snow +in which only his head and neck were visible, with +all the patience and perseverance of a faithful old +ox. The others followed him—the stronger ones in +front and the weaker ones bringing up the rear. +There were thirty-seven in the band, and by the +time they had all walked in the same line they left +it an open, well-beaten trail. The hunter approached +within a few yards of them. They were greatly +alarmed when they saw him, and made a few bounds +in various directions; but seeing their struggles +were in vain, they meekly submitted to what seemed +their impending fate, and fell back in rear of their +file-leader. This would have been the golden opportunity +of a skin hunter, who could and would have +shot them all down in their tracks from a single +stand. But such was not the mission of our friend. +He saw in this noble, struggling band a means of +deliverance from what had threatened to be a wintry +grave for him and his companions. He did not fire +a shot, and did not in any way create unnecessary +alarm amongst the elk, but hurried back to camp +and reported to his friends what he had seen.</p> + +<p>In a moment the camp was a scene of activity and +excitement. Tent, bedding, provisions, everything +that was absolutely necessary to their journey, were +hurriedly packed upon their pack animals; saddles +were placed, rifles were slung to the saddles, and +leaving all surplus baggage, such as trophies of +their hunt, mineral specimens and curios of various +kinds, for future comers, they started for the elk +trail. They had a slow, tedious, and laborious task, +breaking a way through the deep snow to reach it, +<span class="pagenum">[191]</span> +but by walking and leading their saddle animals +ahead, the pack animals were able to follow slowly. +Finally they reached the trail of the elk herd, and +following this, after nine days of tedious and painful +traveling, the party arrived at a ranch on the +Stinking Water river, which was kept by a +"squaw man" and his wife, where they were +enabled to lodge and recruit themselves and their +stock, and whence they finally reached their homes +in safety. The band of elk passed on down the +river, and our tourists never saw them again; but +they have doubtless long ere this all fallen a prey to +the ruthless war that is constantly being waged +against them by hunters white and red.</p> + +<p>It is sad to think that such a noble creature as the +American elk is doomed to early and absolute +extinction, but such is nevertheless the fact. Year +by year his mountain habitat is being surrounded +and encroached upon by the advancing line of settlements, +as the fisherman encircles the struggling +mass of fishes in the clear pond with his long and +closely-meshed net. The lines are drawn closer and +closer each year. These lines are the ranches of +cattle and sheep raisers, the cabins and towns of +miners, the stations and residences of employés of +the railroads. All these places are made the shelters +and temporary abiding places of Eastern and foreign +sportsmen who go out to the mountains to +hunt. Worse than this, they are made the permanent +abiding places, and constitute the active and +convenient markets of the nefarious and unconscionable +skin hunter and meat hunter. Here he can +find a ready market for the meats and skins he +<span class="pagenum">[193]</span> +brings in, and an opportunity to spend the proceeds +of such outrageous traffic in ranch whisky and revelry. +The ranchmen themselves hunt and lay in +their stock of meat for the year when the game +comes down into the valleys. The Indians, when +they have eaten up their Government rations, lie in +wait for the elk in the same manner. So that when +the first great snows of the autumn or winter fall in +the high ranges, when the elk band together and +seek refuge in the valleys, as did the herd that our +fortunate tourists followed out, they find a mixed +and hungry horde waiting for them at the mouth of +every cañon. Before they have reached the valley +where the snow-fall is light enough to allow them +to live through the winter their skins are drying in +the neighboring "shacks."</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_192.jpg" alt="192" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">WORK OF THE EXTERMINATORS.</p> + +<p>This unequal, one-sided warfare, this ruthless +slaughter of inoffensive creatures, can not last +always. Indeed, it can last but little longer. In +ranges where only a few years ago herds of four or +five hundred elk could be found, the hunter of +to-day considers himself in rare luck when he finds +a band of ten or twelve, and even small bands of +any number are so rare that a good hunter may +often hunt a week in the best elk country to be +found anywhere without getting a single shot. All +the Territories have good, wholesome game-laws +which forbid the killing of game animals except +during two or three months in the fall; but these +laws are not enforced. They are a dead letter on +the statute-books, and the illegal and illegitimate +slaughter goes on unchecked.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[194]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<p class="h3">ANTELOPE HUNTING IN MONTANA.</p> + +<div class="i194"> +<div id="i194_0"> </div> +<div id="i194_1"> </div> +<div id="i194_2"> </div> +<div id="i194_3"> </div> +<div id="i194_4"> </div> +<div id="i194_5"> </div> +<div id="i194_6"> </div> +<div id="i194_7"> </div> +<div id="i194_8"> </div> +<div id="i194_9"> </div> +<div id="i194_10"> </div> +<div id="i194_11"> </div> +<div id="i194_12"> </div> +<div id="i194_13"> </div> +<div id="i194_14"> </div> +<div id="i194_15"> </div> +<div id="i194_16"> </div> +<div id="i194_17"> </div> +<div id="i194_18"> </div> +<div id="i194_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">F</span> +all the numerous species of large game to be +found in the far West, there is none whose +pursuit furnishes grander sport to the expert +rifleman than the antelope (<i>Antilocapra +americana</i>). His habitat being the high, +open plains, he may be hunted on horseback, +and with a much greater degree of +comfort than may the deer, elk, bear, and +other species which inhabit the wooded or +mountainous districts. His keen eyesight, +his fine sense of smell, his intense fear of his +natural enemy, man, however, render him the most +difficult of all game animals to approach, and +he must indeed be a skillful hunter who can get +within easy rifle range of the antelope, unless he +happens to have the circumstances of wind and lie of +ground peculiarly in his favor. When the game is +first sighted, even though it be one, two, or three +miles away, you must either dismount and picket +your horse, or find cover in some coulee or draw, +where you can ride entirely out of sight of the quarry. +But even under such favorable circumstances it is +not well to attempt to ride very near them. Their +sense of hearing is also very acute, and should your +horse's hoof or shoe strike a loose rock, or should he +<span class="pagenum">[195]</span> +snort or neigh, the game is likely to catch the sound +while you are yet entirely out of sight and faraway, +and when you finally creep cautiously to the top of +the ridge from which you expect a favorable shot, +you may find the game placidly looking for you +from the top of another ridge a mile or two farther +away.</p> + +<p>But we will hope that you are to have better luck +than this. To start with, we will presume that you +are an expert rifleman; that you are in the habit of +making good scores at the butts; that at 800, 900, +and 1,000 yards you frequently score 200 to 210 out +of a possible 225 points. We will also suppose that +you are a hunter of some experience; that you have +at least killed a good many deer in the States, but +that this is your first trip to the plains. You have +learned to estimate distances, however, even in this +rare atmosphere, and possess good judgment as to +windage. You have brought your Creedmoor rifle +along, divested, of course, of its Venier sight, wind-guage, +and spirit-level, and in their places you have +fitted a Beach combination front sight and Lyman +rear sight. Besides these you have the ordinary +open step sight attached to the barrel just in front of +the action. This is not the best arm for antelope hunting; +a Winchester express with the same sights +would be much better; but this will answer very well.</p> + +<p>We camped last night on the bank of a clear, +rapid stream that gurgles down from the mountain, +and this morning are up long before daylight; +have eaten our breakfasts, saddled our horses, +and just as the gray of dawn begins to show +over the low, flat prairie to the east of us, we +<span class="pagenum">[196]</span> +mount, and are ready for the start. The wind is from +the northeast. That suits us very well, for in that +direction, about a mile away, there are some low +foot-hills that skirt the valley in which we are +camped. In or just beyond these we are very likely +to find antelope, and they will probably be coming +toward the creek this morning for water.</p> +</div> + +<p>We put spurs to our horses and gallop away. A +brisk and exhilarating ride of ten minutes brings us +to the foot-hills, and then we rein up and ride +slowly and cautiously to near the top of the first one. +Here we dismount, and, picketing our ponies, we +crawl slowly and carefully to the apex. By this +time it is almost fully daylight. We remove our +hats, and peer cautiously through the short, scattering +grass on the brow of the hill.</p> + +<p>Do you see anything?</p> + +<p>No; nothing but prairie and grass.</p> + +<p>No? Hold! What are those small, gray objects +away off yonder to the left? I think I saw one of +them move. And now, as the light grows stronger, +I can see white patches on them. Yes, they are +antelope. They are busily feeding, and we may +raise our heads slightly and get a more favorable +view. One, two, three—there are five of them—two +bucks, a doe, and two kids. And you will observe +that they are nearly in the centre of a broad stretch +of table-land.</p> + +<p>"But," you say, "may we not wait here a little +while until they come nearer to us?"</p> + +<p>Hardly. You see they are intent on getting their +breakfast. There is a heavy frost on the grass, +which moistens it sufficiently for present purposes, +<span class="pagenum">[197]</span> +and it may be an hour or more before they will start +for water. It won't pay us to wait so long, for we +shall most likely find others within that time that +we can get within range of without waiting for them. +So you may as well try them from here.</p> + +<p>Now your experience at the butts may serve you +a good turn. After taking a careful look over the +ground, you estimate the distance at 850 yards, and +setting up your Beach front and Lyman rear sights, +you make the necessary elevation. There is a brisk +wind blowing from the right, and you think it necessary +to hold off about three feet. We are now +both lying prone upon the ground. You face the +game, and support your rifle at your shoulder by +resting your elbows on the ground. The sun is now +shining brightly, and you take careful aim at that +old buck that stands out there at the left. At the +report of your rifle a cloud of dust rises from a point +about a hundred yards this side of him, and a little +to the left, showing that you have underestimated +both the distance and the force of the wind—things +that even an old hunter is liable to do occasionally.</p> + +<p>We both lie close, and the animals have not yet +seen us. They make a few jumps, and stop all in a +bunch. The cross-wind and long distance prevent +them from knowing to a certainty where the report +comes from, and they don't like to run just yet, lest +they may run toward the danger instead of away +from it. You make another half-point of elevation, +hold a little farther away to the right, and try them +again. This time the dirt rises about twenty feet +beyond them, and they jump in every direction. +That was certainly a close call, and the bullet evidently +<span class="pagenum">[198]</span> +whistled uncomfortably close to several of +them. They are now thoroughly frightened. You +insert another cartridge, hurriedly draw a bead on +the largest buck again, and fire. You break dirt +just beyond him, and we can't tell for the life of us +how or on which side of him your bullet passed. It +is astonishing how much vacant space there is round +an antelope, anyway. This time they go, sure. +They have located the puff of smoke, and are gone +with the speed of the wind away to the west. But +don't be discouraged, my friend. You did some +clever shooting, some <i>very</i> clever shooting, and a +little practice of that kind will enable you to score +before night.</p> + +<p>We go back to our horses, mount, and gallop +away again across the table-land. A ride of another +mile brings us to the northern margin of this plateau, +and to a more broken country. Here we dismount and +picket our horses again. We ascend a high butte, +and from the top of it we can see three more antelope +about a mile to the north of us; but this time they +are in a hilly, broken country, and the wind is coming +directly from them to us. We shall be able to +get a shot at them at short range. So we cautiously +back down out of sight, and then begins the tedious +process of stalking them. We walk briskly along +around the foot of a hill for a quarter of a mile, to +where it makes a turn that would carry us too far +out of our course. We must cross this hill, and +after looking carefully at the shape and location of +it, we at last find a low point in it where by lying +flat down we can crawl over it without revealing ourselves +to the game. It is a most tedious and painful +<span class="pagenum">[199]</span> +piece of work, for the ground is almost covered with +cactus and sharp flinty rocks, and our hands and +knees are terribly lacerated. But every rose has its +thorn, and nearly every kind of sport has something +unpleasant connected with it occasionally; and our +reward, if we get it, will be worth the pain it costs +us. With such reflections and comments, and with +frequent longing looks at the game, we kill time till +at last the critical part of our work is done, and we +<span class="pagenum">[200]</span> +can arise and descend in a comfortable but cautious +walk into another draw.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_199.jpg" alt="199" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A PORTRAIT.</p> + +<p>This we follow for about two hundred yards, until +we think we are as near our quarry as we can +get. We turn to the right, cautiously ascend the +hill, remove our hats, and peer over, and there, sure +enough, are our antelope quietly grazing, utterly +oblivious to the danger that threatens them. They +have not seen, heard, or scented us, so we have +ample time to plan an attack. You take the standing +shot at the buck, and together we will try and +take care of the two does afterward. At this short +distance you don't care for the peep and globe sights, +and wisely decide to use the plain open ones. This +time you simply kneel, and then edge up until you +can get a good clear aim over the apex of the ridge +in this position. The buck stands broadside to +you, and at the crack of your rifle springs into +the air, and falls all in a heap, pierced through the +heart.</p> + +<p>And now for the two does. They are flying over +the level stretch of prairie with the speed of an arrow, +and are almost out of sure range now. You turn +loose on that one on the right, and I will look after +the one on the left. Our rifles crack together, and +little clouds of dust rising just beyond tell us that, +though we have both missed, we have made close +calls. I put in about three shots to your one, owing +to my rifle being a repeater, while you must load +yours at each shot. At my fourth shot my left-fielder +doubles up and goes down with a broken +neck; and although you have fairly "set the ground +afire"—to use a Western phrase—around your +<span class="pagenum">[201]</span> +right-fielder, you have not had the good fortune +to stop her, and she is now out of sight behind a +low ridge.</p> + +<p>But you have the better animal of the two, and +have had sport enough for the first morning. We +will take the entrails out of these two, lash them +across our horses behind our saddles, go to camp, +and rest through the heat of the day; for this September +sun beams down with great power in midday, +even though the nights are cool and frosty.</p> + +<p>And now, as we have quite a long ride to camp, +and as we are to pass over a rather monotonous +prairie country <i>en route</i>, I will give you a point or +two on flagging antelope, as we ride along, that may +be useful to you at some time. Fine sport may +frequently be enjoyed in this way. If you can find +a band that have not been hunted much, and are not +familiar with the wiles of the white man, you will have +little trouble in decoying them within rifle range +by displaying to them almost any brightly-colored +object. They have as much curiosity as a woman, +and will run into all kinds of danger to investigate +any strange object they may discover. They have +been known to follow an emigrant or freight wagon, +with a white cover, several miles, and the Indian often +brings them within reach of his arrow or bullet +by standing in plain view wrapped in his red blanket. +A piece of bright tin or a mirror answers the same +purpose on a clear day. Almost any conspicuous or +strange-looking object will attract them; but the +most convenient as well as the most reliable at all +times is a little bright-red flag.</p> + +<p>On one occasion I was hunting in the Snowy Mountains, +<span class="pagenum">[202]</span> +in Northern Montana, with S. K. Fishel, the +government scout, and Richard Thomas, the packer, +from Fort Maginnis. We had not been successful in +finding game there, and on our way back to the post +camped two days on the head of Flat Willow creek, +near the foot of the mountains, to hunt antelopes. +As night approached several small bands of them +came toward the creek, but none came within range +of our camp during daylight, and we did not go +after them that night, but were up and at them +betimes the next morning.</p> + +<p>I preferred to hunt alone, as I always do when +after big game, and went out across a level flat to +some low hills north of camp. When I ascended +the first of these I saw a handsome buck antelope +on the prairie half a mile away. I made a long +detour to get to leeward of him, and meantime had +great difficulty in keeping him from seeing me. But +by careful maneuvering I finally got into a draw +below him, and found the wind blowing directly +from him to me. In his neighborhood were some +large, ragged volcanic rocks, and getting in line +with one of these I started to stalk him. He was +feeding, and as I moved cautiously forward I could +frequently see his nose or rump show up at one side +or the other of the rock. I would accordingly glide +to right or left, as necessary, and move on. Finally, +I succeeded in reaching the rock, crawled carefully +up to where I could see over it, and there, sure +enough, stood the handsome old fellow not more +than fifty yards away, still complacently nipping +the bunch-grass.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my fine laddie," I said to myself, "you'll +<span class="pagenum">[203]</span> +never know what hurt you;" and resting the muzzle +of the rifle on the rock, I took a fine, steady aim for +his heart and turned the bullet loose. There was a +terrific roar; the lead tore up a cloud of dust and +went screaming away over the hills, while, to my +utter astonishment, the antelope went sailing across +the prairie with the speed of a greyhound. I sprang +to my feet, pumped lead after him at a lively rate, +and, though I tore the ground up all around him, +never touched a hair. And what annoyed me most +was that, owing to some peculiar condition of the +atmosphere, the smoke of each shot hung in front of +me long enough to prevent me from seeing just +where my bullets struck, and, for the life of me, I +could not tell whether I was shooting over or under +the game!</p> + +<p>I went back over the hill to my horse, with my +heart full of disappointment and my magazine only +half full of cartridges. I loaded up, however, +mounted, and, as I rode away in search of more +game, I could occasionally hear the almost whispered +"puff, puff" of Fishel's and Thomas's rifles +away to the south and west, which brought me the +cheering assurance that they were also having fun, +and also assured me that we should not be without +meat for supper and breakfast.</p> + +<p>I soon sighted a band of about thirty antelopes, +and riding into a coulee dismounted, picketed my +horse, and began another crawl. In due time I +reached the desired "stand," within about eighty +yards of them, and, picking out the finest buck in +the bunch, again took a careful, deliberate aim and +fired, scoring another clear miss. The band, +<span class="pagenum">[204]</span> +instead of running away, turned and ran directly +toward me, and, circling, slightly, passed within +thirty yards of me, drawn out in single file. It was +a golden opportunity and I felt sure I should kill +half a dozen of them at least; but, alas! for fleeting +hopes. I knew not the frailty of the support on +which I built my expectations. I fanned them as long +as there was a cartridge in my magazine, and had +to endure the intense chagrin of seeing the last one +of them go over a ridge a mile away safe and +sound.</p> + +<p>I was dumb. If there had been anyone there to +talk to, I don't think I could have found a word in +the language to express my feelings. As before, the +smoke prevented me from seeing just where my bullets +struck the ground, but I felt sure they must be +striking very close to the game. I sat down, pondered, +and examined my rifle. I could see nothing +wrong with it, and felt sure it must be perfect, for +within the past week I had killed a deer with it at +170 yards and had shaved the heads off a dozen +grouse at short range. I was, therefore, forced to +the conclusion that I had merely failed to exercise +proper care in holding. I returned to my horse, +mounted, and once more set out in search of game, +determined to kill the next animal I shot at or +leave the country.</p> + +<p>I rode away to the west about two miles, and +from the top of a high hill saw another band of forty +or fifty antelopes on a table-land. I rode around +till I got within about two hundred yards of them, +when I left my horse under cover of a hill and again +began to sneak on the unsuspecting little creatures. +<span class="pagenum">[205]</span> +They were near the edge of the table, and from just +beyond them the formation fell abruptly away into +the valley some fifty feet. I crawled up this bluff +until within about forty yards of the nearest antelope, +and then, lying flat upon the ground, I placed +my rifle in position for firing, and, inch by inch, +edged up over the apex of the bluff until within +fair view of the game. Again selecting the best +buck—for I wanted a good head for mounting—I +drew down on his brown side until I felt sure that +if there had been a silver dollar hung on it I could +have driven it through him. Confidently expecting +to see him drop in his tracks, I touched the trigger. +But, alas! I was doomed to still further disgrace. +When the smoke lifted, my coveted prize was speeding +away with the rest of the herd.</p> + +<p>I simply stood, with my lower jaw hanging down, +and looked after them till they were out of sight. +Then I went and got my horse and went to camp. +Sam and Dick were there with the saddles of three +antelopes. When I told them what I had been +doing, they tried to console me, but I wouldn't be +consoled. After dinner, Sam picked up my rifle +and looked it over carefully.</p> + +<p>"Why, look here, you blooming idiot," said he. +"No wonder you couldn't kill at short range. The +wedge has slipped up under your rear sight two +notches. She's elevated for 350 yards, and at that +rate would shoot about a foot high at a hundred +yards." I looked and found it even so. Then I +offered him and Dick a dollar each if they would +kick me, but they wouldn't.</p> + +<p>Sam said good-naturedly: "Come, go with me +<span class="pagenum">[206]</span> +and get the head of the buck I killed. It's a very +handsome one, and only two miles from camp."</p> + +<p>I said I didn't want any heads for my own use +unless I could kill their owners myself, but would +take this one home for a friend, so we saddled our +horses and started.</p> + +<p>As we reached the top of a hill about a mile from +camp a large buck that was grazing ahead of us +jumped and ran away to what he seemed to consider +a safe distance, and stopped to look at us. Sam +generously offered me the shot, and springing out +of my saddle I threw down my rifle, took careful +aim and fired. At the crack the buck turned just +half way round, but was unable to make a single +jump and sank dead in his tracks.</p> + +<p>Sam is ordinarily a quiet man, but he fairly +shouted at the result of my shot. I paced the distance +carefully to where the carcass lay, and it was +exactly 290 steps. The buck was standing broadside +to me and I had shot him through the heart. Of +course, it was a scratch. I could not do it again perhaps +in twenty shots, and yet when I considered that +I shot for one single animal and got him I could not +help feeling a little proud of it. As we approached +the animal, not knowing just where I had hit him, +I held my rifle in readiness, but Sam said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, you needn't be afraid of his getting up. +One of those Winchester express bullets is all an +antelope needs, no matter what part of the body you +hit him in."</p> + +<p>This old fellow had a fine head, and we took it +off, and now as I write it gazes down upon me with +those large, lustrous black eyes, from its place on +<span class="pagenum">[207]</span> +the wall, as proudly and curiously as it did there on +the prairie when I looked at it through the sights of +my Winchester. His portrait adorns page 199 of +this book, and though the artist has treated it with a +master's hand, it does not possess the lordly beaming, +the fascinating grace, the timid beauty that +distinguished the living animal.</p> + +<p>It was so late when we got this one dressed that +we decided to return to camp at once.</p> + +<p>The curiosity which is so prominent a feature in the +antelope's nature costs many a one of them his life, +and is taken advantage of by the hunter in various +ways. When we reached camp that afternoon Dick +told us how he had taken advantage of it. He had +seen a small band on a level stretch of prairie where +there was no possible way of getting within range +of them, and having heard that if a man would lie +down on his back, elevate his feet as high as possible, +and swing them back and forth through the +air, that it would attract antelopes, decided to try +it. But the antelopes of this section had evidently +never seen soap boxes or bales of hay floating +through the air, and had no desire to cultivate a +closer acquaintance with such frightful looking +objects as he exhibited to their astonished gaze. +And Dick said that when he turned to see if they +had yet come within shooting distance they were +about a mile away, and judging from the cloud of +dust they were leaving behind them seemed to be +running a race to see which could get out of the +country first.</p> + +<p>The next morning Sam and I went together and +Dick alone in another direction. During the forenoon +<span class="pagenum">[208]</span> +I shot a buck through both fore legs, cutting +one off clean and paralyzing the other. Sam said +not to shoot him again and he would catch him, and +putting spurs to his horse was soon galloping alongside +of the quarry. He caught him by one horn and +held him until I came up. The little fellow pranced +wildly about, and bleated pitifully, but a stroke of +the hunting knife across his throat soon relieved his +suffering.</p> + +<p>We then got the head from the buck Sam had +killed the day before, and returned to camp about +11 o'clock a. m.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon we rode out together again, and +had not gone far when we saw five of the bright little +animals we were hunting on a hill-side. They were +too far away for anything like a sure shot, but were +in such a position that we could get no nearer to +them. They stood looking at us, and Sam told me +to try them. I had little hope of making a hit, but +dismounting took a shot off hand, holding for the +shoulder of a good sized buck. When the gun +cracked there was a circus. I had missed my aim +so far as to cut both his hind legs off just below the +knee. The buck commenced bucking. First he +stood on his fore feet, got his hind legs up in the air +and shook the stumps. Then he tried to stand on +them and paw the air with his fore feet, but lost his +balance and fell over backward. He got up, jumped +first to one side, then to the other, then forward. +Meantime Sam rode toward him, and he tried to run. +In this his motions were more like those of a rocking +horse than of a living animal. The race was a +short one. Sam soon rode up to him, caught him +<span class="pagenum">[209]</span> +by a horn and held him till I came up and cut the +little fellow's throat. Then Sam said that was a +very long shot, and he would like to know just what +the distance was. He went back to where I stood +when I shot, stepped the distance to where the +antelope stood, and found it to be 362 paces.</p> + +<p>We rode on a mile further and saw a young antelope +lying down in some tall rye-grass. We could +just see his horns and ears, and though he appeared +to be looking at us he seemed to think himself +securely hidden, for he made no movement toward +getting up. I told Sam to shoot this time, but he +said, "No, you shoot. I live in this country and +can get all the shooting I want any time. You have +come a long way out here to have some fun. Turn +loose on him." And slipping off my horse I knelt +down to get a knee rest, but found that from that +position I could not see the game at all, and was +compelled to shoot off hand again. Raising up I +drew a bead on one of the horns, and then lowering +the muzzle to where I thought the body should be, +pressed the trigger. There was a lively commotion +in the grass, but the buck never got out of his bed. +The ball went in at one shoulder and out at the +opposite hip. On stepping the distance we found it +to be only 125 yards.</p> + +<p>And now, having in a measure wiped out the disgrace +of the previous day's work and secured all the +meat, skins, and heads that our pack-mules could +carry, we returned to camp and the next day went +back to Fort Maginnis.</p> + +<p>These bright little creatures, though naturally +timid, sometimes show great courage in defense of +<span class="pagenum">[210]</span> +their young. I once saw a coyote sneak from behind +a hill toward a herd of antelope. Instantly there was +a grand rush of all the adult members of the band, +male and female, toward the intruder, and when +they had gotten in front of the kids they stopped, +with bristles erect, ears thrown forward, and heads +lowered, presenting a most warlike and belligerent +appearance. The coyote, when he saw himself confronted +with this solid phalanx, suddenly stopped, +eyed his opponents for a few moments, and then, +apparently overawed at the superiority of numbers +and warlike attitude of his intended prey, slunk +reluctantly away in search of some weaker victim. +When he was well out of sight, the older members +of the band turned to their young, caressed them, +and resumed their grazing.</p> + +<p>The speed of the antelope is probably not excelled +by that of any other animal in this country, wild +or domestic, except the greyhound, and, in fact, it +is only the finest and fleetest of these that can pull +down an antelope in a fair race.</p> + +<p>In the little village of Garfield, Kansas, there +lived a man some years ago—the proprietor of a +hotel—who had two pet antelopes. The village +dogs had several times chased them, but had always +been distanced. One day a Mexican came to town +who had with him two large, handsome greyhounds. +Immediately on riding up to the hotel he saw the +antelopes in the yard, and told the proprietor gruffly +that he had better put "them critters" in the corral, +or his dogs would kill them. The proprietor said +he guessed the "critters" were able to take care +of themselves, especially if the dogs did not spring +<span class="pagenum">[211]</span> +upon them unawares. This aroused the Mexican's +ire, and he promptly offered to wager a goodly sum +that his dogs would pull down one or both of +the antelopes within a mile. The challenge was +accepted, the stakes deposited, the antelopes turned +into the street, and the "greaser" told his dogs +to "take'em."</p> + +<p>The dogs sprang at the antelopes, but the latter +had by this time reached a vacant lot across the +street. They started off down the river. For a +distance of four miles the river bottom was an open +prairie, and as level as a floor. As the quartette +sped over this grand natural race-course, the whole +populace of the town turned out <i>en masse</i> to see the +race. Men and boys shouted, and ladies waved +their handkerchiefs. Betting was rife, the natives +offering two to one on the antelopes, the Mexican +and the few other strangers in town being eager +takers. It was nip and tuck, neither animals gaining +nor losing perceptibly, and when at last the four +went round a bend in the river four miles away, and +were hidden by a bluff, the game was, as nearly as +could be seen by the aid of good field-glasses, just +about the same distance ahead of the dogs as when +they left town.</p> + +<p>Some hours later the dogs returned, so tired they +could scarcely walk. The Mexican eagerly looked +for hair on their teeth, and although he could find +none, was confident that his dogs had killed the +antelopes. A mounted expedition to search for the +carcasses and settle the question was agreed upon, +but as it was too near night to start when the dogs +returned, it was arranged to go in the morning. But +<span class="pagenum">[212]</span> +when the parties got up the next morning they found +the antelopes quietly grazing in the hotel yard. +The Mexican left town in disgust followed by his +lame, sore-footed dogs, and muttering that he +"never seed no varmints run like them things did."</p> + +<p>The antelope, one of the brightest and most graceful +and beautiful of all our Western game animals, +is fast disappearing from our broad plains, owing to +the ceaseless slaughter of it that is carried on by +"skin hunters," Indians, "foreign noblemen," and +others who come to this country year after year and +spend the entire summer in hunting. Hundreds +of them are killed every summer by this latter class, +and left to rot where they fall, not a pound of meat, +a skin, or even a head being taken from them. I +have seen with my own eyes this butchery carried +on for years past, and know whereof I speak.</p> + +<p>Nearly all the Territories have stringent laws +intended to prohibit this class of slaughter, but in +these sparsely settled countries the provisions for +enforcing them are so meagre that these men violate +them day after day and year after year with impunity. +This is one of the instances in which prohibition +does not prohibit. And what I have said of +the antelope is true of all the large game of the +great West. The elk, deer, mountain sheep, etc., +are being slaughtered by the hundreds every +year—tenfold faster than the natural increase. And +the time is near, <i>very</i> near, when all these noble +species will be extinct. The sportsman or naturalist +who desires to preserve a skin or head of any +of them must procure it very soon or he will not +be able to get it at all.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[213]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<p class="h3">BUFFALO HUNTING ON THE TEXAS PLAINS.</p> + +<div class="i213"> +<div id="i213_0"> </div> +<div id="i213_1"> </div> +<div id="i213_2"> </div> +<div id="i213_3"> </div> +<div id="i213_4"> </div> +<div id="i213_5"> </div> +<div id="i213_6"> </div> +<div id="i213_7"> </div> +<div id="i213_8"> </div> +<div id="i213_9"> </div> +<div id="i213_10"> </div> +<div id="i213_11"> </div> +<div id="i213_12"> </div> +<div id="i213_13"> </div> +<div id="i213_14"> </div> +<div id="i213_15"> </div> +<div id="i213_16"> </div> +<div id="i213_17"> </div> +<div id="i213_18"> </div> +<div id="i213_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">HE</span> +"Texas boom" was at its +height in 1876, and there was +a grand rush of emigrants of +all nationalities and conditions +of people to the then New Eldorado. +Thousands of men went +down there to make money. Many +of them had not the remotest idea +how this was to be done, but from +the glowing stories afloat regarding +the resources of that wonderful country, +they felt sure it could be done in +some way. The little town of Fort Worth was then +on the frontier—that is, it was one of the most +westerly towns having railroad communication, and +was therefore one of the important outfitting points +for parties going into the wilds. A great many +were going further west, on all kinds of expeditions, +some in search of minerals, some in search of choice +lands, some to hunt the large game which was then +abundant.</p> + +<p>The village consisted of a public square, around +and fronting on which were a row of cheap, one-story, +log and frame buildings, most of which were +occupied as saloons and gambling houses. But +<span class="pagenum">[215]</span> +there were a few respectable general stores, half a +dozen so-called hotels, shops, etc. The town was +full to overflowing with gamblers, rustlers, hunters, +cowboys, Mexican rancheros, northern sight-seers, +adventurers, commercial travelers, etc.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_214.jpg" alt="214" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">AT BAY</p> + +<p>All day and all night could be heard the call of +the <i>croupier</i> at the gambling-table as he announced +the numbers and combinations that the wheel or +cards produced in the course of the manipulations +to which his deft fingers subjected them.</p> + +<p>Hot words often came from fortunate and unfortunate +gamesters, and the short, sharp report of the six-shooter, +the shouts of combatants, the groans of +wounded or dying men, the clatter of heavy boots +or spurs on the feet of stampeded spectators were +sounds that, nearly every night, greeted the ears +of the populace.</p> + +<p>Mob law reigned supreme, and there was little +effort on the part of the village authorities to punish +offenders. Sometimes Judge Lynch's court was +convened on short notice, and someone who had +committed an unusually flagrant violation of the +"law of honor" and had killed a man without due +provocation, was hurriedly tried and strung up to +the nearest tree.</p> + +<p>One evening in the month of November, the excitement +was varied by the arrival of a "bull-train"<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> +of ten wagons loaded with buffalo skins. They +drove to the warehouse of the largest trader in the +<span class="pagenum">[216]</span> +place to unload, and were quickly surrounded by a +crowd of eager inquirers who sought for news from +the front.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> What is known on the frontier as a "bull-train" is a number of +ponderous wagons, drawn by from six to ten yoke of oxen each, +used for hauling heavy freight across the plains.</p></div> + +<p>Some inquired as to the nature of the country, +some as to the progress of settlements, some as to +friends who were at the front, and many as to the +buffalo herd from which the five thousand skins +brought in by this train had been taken.</p> + +<p>"The main herd," said the wagon boss, "is two +hundred miles west on the headwaters of the Brazos +river."</p> + +<p>"How large a herd is it?"</p> + +<p>"Nobody knows that, for none of 'em has took +time to ride to the west end of it."</p> + +<p>"Are there many hunters there?" inquired a +young St. Louis lawyer.</p> + +<p>"Wall, you'd reckon," said the boss. "Tha's +'bout a hundred and fifty white hunters, and more'n +a thousand red-skins."</p> + +<p>"When do you start back?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow mornin', if I can keep my bull +punchers from gettin' full of pizen."</p> + +<p>The crowd gradually scattered, while a little knot +of the more respectable element repaired to the hotel +to discuss the question of organizing a hunting +party to go to the buffalo range. In an hour they +agreed to go, the time for the start being fixed for +the morning of the second day following.</p> + +<p>And then the busy notes of preparation were +heard throughout the town. But few of the men +who decided to go were prepared for such a trip, +and it was necessary for most of them to buy or hire +complete outfits. Horses were the first and most +<span class="pagenum">[217]</span> +important requisite. The corral (the frontier livery +stable) was first visited, and spirited bidding was +indulged in for the choicest animals. The stock +here was soon exhausted, and the demand was not +yet supplied. Then all the horses and ponies standing +tied to the railing around the public square +were inspected, and any that were for sale were +tested. Word having been circulated that a hunting +party was outfitting, a large number of ponies were +brought in from neighboring camps and ranches. +The party was soon creditably mounted, though the +number had increased to double that originally +planned.</p> + +<p>Next, teams must be employed. A number of +these were also found, and five were engaged, their +owners agreeing to work for seven dollars a day +"and found."</p> + +<p>Guns and ammunition were also in demand, and +enough were offered to arm a regiment. A number +of hunters had recently come in from the front and +were selling off their outfits. Every store and hotel +had from one to half a dozen guns in pawn, and one +dealer had a number of new ones. Anything in the +shape of a rifle could be had. Old Kentucky muzzle-loaders, +"five feet long in the barrel;" condemned +army carbines of Spencer, Sharps, and other patterns; +Springfield muskets; Henry and Winchester +rifles; and a few of the old reliable Sharps "buffalo +guns" of 45 and 50 calibre, and using 100 to 120 +grains of powder. These latter were taken at good +figures by the more knowing ones, and the best of +the others selected by the less intelligent buyers +until all were fairly well armed. +<span class="pagenum">[218]</span></p> + +<p>Then a guide was needed, and a Chicago newspaper +correspondent, who was to be a member of +the expedition, was deputed to employ one. As +usual in frontier towns, there were plenty of them, +each one of whom, in his own estimation, was the best +in the whole country. Each claimed to know every +foot of the ground in question, to be able to speak +the language of every Indian tribe on the frontier, +to be a crack shot and intrepid horseman, afraid of +nothing, and ready for any undertaking, no matter +how hazardous.</p> + +<p>Inquiry among the more reliable citizens of the +town as to who was best suited for the uses of the +present enterprise resulted in the choice of a rather +quiet and attractive-looking young man bearing the +euphonious pseudonym of "Red River Frank." He +was clad in the conventional buckskin suit, and his +long glossy black hair hung in heavy curls down to +his shoulders. He was six feet two inches in height, +straight as an arrow, and had a deep, clear gray eye; +rode a good sized spirited mustang, and sat in his +saddle like a life-trained trooper.</p> + +<p>At the time appointed for the departure, the +party, which had now swelled to thirty-two men all +told, assembled in the public square. The wagons +were loaded with the tents, bedding, food, and other +necessary provisions for the trip, which, it was +arranged, should occupy about six weeks. At ten +o'clock the party rode out of town on the road +leading west, taking with them the hearty good +wishes of the assembled throng. They crossed a +narrow belt of timber and emerged upon a stretch of +gently undulating prairie, which was densely covered +<span class="pagenum">[219]</span> +with a luxuriant growth of gramma grass, and +over which they traveled at a lively gait until after +sundown before again reaching timber and water. +Then they camped on a small creek where food, +fuel, and good water were abundant. The tents +were pitched, supper prepared and eaten, and then +the party assembled around a large camp fire.</p> + +<p>The lawyer arose, and requesting the attention of +the men, said that, as they were going on a long +journey into a wild country, which was infested +with hostile Indians and lawless white men, where +it might be necessary for this party to defend themselves +and their property by force of arms, it was +thought best to effect a permanent and binding +organization, which would insure unity of action +throughout the trip, and especially in the event of +any such trouble as he had intimated might arise. +He therefore nominated as chief executive officer +of the expedition, Captain W. H. Enders, who, he +said, had done good and faithful service during the +late war; who, since the war, had traveled extensively +in the West, and who was now engaged in +cattle raising in Kansas. Several men seconded the +nomination, and Captain Enders was unanimously +chosen by acclamation.</p> + +<p>He arose and thanked his friends, modestly and +gracefully, for this mark of their esteem and confidence, +stating that he had no desire to exercise any +arbitrary or unnecessary authority over them, but +should only order them in so far as safety and +success in their undertaking seemed necessary. He +asked that all who were willing to stand by him and +obey his orders to this extent should so pledge +<span class="pagenum">[220]</span> +themselves by rising to their feet. The entire party +arose. Then their leader thanked them again, and +their informal deliberation ended.</p> + +<p>The captain detailed four men to act as a guard +over the camp and stock during the night, each +watching two hours and then calling up the one +who was to relieve him, and this precaution was +followed up throughout the expedition.</p> + +<p>The men were tired from their long ride, and +sought the comfort of their blankets at an early +hour. As they had a ten days' journey before them +to reach the buffalo range, it was agreed that they +should start early each morning, and the camp +fires were therefore ordered to be lit at four o'clock.</p> + +<p>The journey was uneventful for several days. +The road upon which the party had first traveled +bearing off to the southwest, and the course of our +party being due west, they left it. "Red River +Frank" now sustained his good reputation as a +guide by selecting with excellent skill and judgment +the best portion of the country to travel in, +avoiding the numerous swamps and sandy plains, +finding safe and easy fords across the streams, and +selecting good camp sites for each night.</p> + +<p>They were now in a country where deer and turkeys +were abundant, and their tables were bountifully +supplied with fresh meat. They camped on +the night of November 12 in a clump of tall cottonwood +trees that skirted a small creek. Just at dusk +a great rush of wings was heard in the air, and, +looking in the direction from whence the sound +came, a large flock of wild turkeys was seen sailing +directly toward their camp, and, a moment later, +<span class="pagenum">[221]</span> +they lit in the trees amongst which our party was +camped. Instantly every rifle was brought forth, +and the whole camp was ablaze with burning powder. +The smoke floated up amongst the dazed and panic-stricken +birds, who fluttered wildly and aimlessly +from tree to tree, knocking their wings against each +other and the dead limbs, and making a most frightful +noise.</p> + +<p>The hunters scattered and tongues of flame shot +up from every quarter. Volley after volley was +fired. The roar of the rifles interspersed with the +"thud" and "crash" of falling birds, the shouts of +the excited throng, the neighing of terrified horses, +the barking of dogs, turned the quiet camp of a few +moments ago into a veritable pandemonium. The +slaughter went on for, perhaps, twenty minutes, +when the more humane became ashamed of themselves +and quit. Finally they prevailed upon their +friends to desist, and the dead game was gathered +up. Sixty-three of these noble birds had met their +death, and the survivors were allowed to sit quietly +and watch the camp fires till morning, when they +sailed away toward the east.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon of that day, Frank and the +journalist were riding in advance of the column +across a level, monotonous stretch of country, where +there was little to attract attention or excite remark. +They had already become warm friends and talked +confidentially on many subjects, but Frank had +said nothing of his past history, yet his strange +demeanor at times had excited in the mind of +the newspaper man an anxiety to know what +had moved this refined, generous, scholarly young +<span class="pagenum">[222]</span> +man to adopt a life so uncivilized as the one he was +living.</p> + +<p>"Frank," he finally said, "I have no wish to +question you on a subject that you may not wish to +speak on, yet I have observed many traits in you +that are not found in other men of your calling. I +am of the opinion that you have been bred in a very +different sphere of life from this in which you now +live. If you have no objection, I should like to +know what motive prompted you to adopt this wild +life."</p> + +<p>He bit his lip and hesitated. Finally, after some +moments, he said:</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll tell you how it came about, and I'll +make the story brief. It is similar to that of many +another scout, in general, but different in detail, +perhaps, from any of them. I was born and bred in +an Eastern city, and was being educated for the +ministry. My father failed in business and I was +compelled to leave school. He gathered what little +was left of his shattered fortune, and with his family +emigrated to the far West. There he engaged in +farming on what was then the frontier, but before +we had been there six months we were awakened one +morning at daylight by the yells of savage Indians, +and, looking out, beheld them all around us. They +were Comanches.</p> + +<p>"Our house was burned. My father was tomahawked +and scalped before our eyes, and my mother, +my sister (who was older than I), and myself were +carried into captivity. I was fortunate enough to +escape. I returned and organized a pursuing party, +but our efforts were fruitless, and a few months +<span class="pagenum">[223]</span> +later I learned from a half-breed that death had +relieved the sufferings of my mother and sister. +That was twenty years ago. I was fifteen years old +then, and from that day to this I have been on the +trail of that tribe. I boast of nothing, but each year +I feel better satisfied with my work. I hope that, in +time, I may feel content to return East and engage +in some lawful and more congenial pursuit."</p> + +<p>At that instant a deer bounded up out of the tall +grass a hundred yards ahead and went prancing +away to the left. Frank caught his rifle from the +sling at his saddle bow and sent a bullet through +its head.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning the hunters came upon +fresh buffalo signs, and in the afternoon a few +stragglers were seen. One was killed in the evening, +and on the creek where they camped that night +fresh Indian camp signs were found. A small herd +of buffalo came to the creek to drink, a mile below, +just after sundown, and various facts indicated +that they were near the main herd. All through +the next day they were in sight of small bands, and +several hunting parties were sighted, some white +and some red. The feed was getting scarce, owing +to its having been eaten down by the game, and at +two o'clock the party camped on Willow creek, a +small tributary of the Brazos river. The main herd +was yet about ten miles away, but the hunters could +not consistently go any nearer for a permanent camp, +and decided to make it here. Two white hunters +visited them in the evening, and told them that a +party of ten Comanches were camped on Turtle +creek seven miles further west. At this intelligence +<span class="pagenum">[225]</span> +Frank's face darkened and his eye gleamed, but he +said nothing. Soon after dark, however, he was +missing, and did not turn up again till near noon the +next day. He had a different horse from the one he +rode away; not so good a one, it is true, and there +were two bullet holes in his coat. He was reticent +and uncommunicative as to where he had been, but +wore a very pleased expression on his countenance, +and was occasionally seen to smile when not talking +with anyone.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_224.jpg" alt="224" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">NATIVE BUFFALO HUNTERS.</p> + +<p>The majority of the hunters mounted and rode +southwest early in the morning. Seven men in one +party sighted a herd of buffaloes numbering about +200, and dismounting, when within a mile, cached +their horses in a coulee, and began a cautious +advance.</p> + +<p>They found a deep and crooked ravine into which +they crawled, and in which they were able to approach +to within about 400 yards of the nearest animals. +A gentle breeze blew from the game toward +the hunters, and taking advantage of the most favorable +point, they crawled up the steep bank to where +they could command a good view of the game. The +"tenderfeet" in the party were in favor of firing a +volley, but an old hunter who had led them +advised them to fire singly, and at intervals of a +minute or two, this plan being much less likely to +frighten the game. He cautioned them to take very +careful aim, to make every shot count, and to wound +as few animals as possible. One slightly wounded +animal, he said, would create more uneasiness among +the herd than ten dead or fatally wounded ones.</p> + +<p>Several of this party were good marksmen, and +<span class="pagenum">[226]</span> +had good strong-shooting, long-range rifles. Though, +they shot heavy charges, yet, the wind in their favor, +at this long distance, the animals would scarcely +hear the reports. The leader advised them to shoot +only at animals broadside, and gave them careful +directions as to elevation and where to aim. Evans +opened the fire with a sixteen-pound 50-calibre +Sharp's. Immediately after the report the emphatic +"thud" of the bullet came back and a large cow was +seen to drop on her knees, get up again, stagger +away a few rods and lie down.</p> + +<p>"Good," said the old hunter. "Now, Pete, +you go."</p> + +<p>"Pete fired, and an old bull whisked his tail, +walked sullenly away, turned around a few times, +and fell dead. Another complimentary remark from +the old hunter, and then he said:</p> + +<p>"Now I guess I'll try one."</p> + +<p>He fired, but to his great chagrin did just what he +had cautioned the others not to do, broke a fore leg +below the knee. This cow commenced to bellow +and "buck," and in an instant the whole herd was +in commotion.</p> + +<p>"Stop her, somebody, stop her, or she'll stampede +the hull bizness!" he said, as he pushed another +bullet into his muzzle loader. By this time she had +stopped broadside, for a moment, at the edge of the +herd, and the journalist, at the order of the boss, drew +a bead on her. The "spat" of the heavy bullet told +of a palpable "hit". She no longer felt like running, +but was not yet down and it took two more bullets to lay +her out. The next shot was a clean miss, so far +as it concerned the animal shot at, but it wounded +<span class="pagenum">[227]</span> +one somewhere in the herd. Then there was more +commotion and it was evident the "stand" was at +an end.</p> + +<p>"Give it to 'em, everybody," the old hunter now +said, and a fusillade followed that soon put them +under full speed.</p> + +<p>The hunters now mounted their horses and made +a "run" on the band that resulted in some very +exciting sport and the death of three more buffaloes. +This over, they returned to the scene of the first +firing and gralloched the seven animals killed "on +the stand." Then they mounted their tired beasts +again and were on the point of starting for camp +when they heard strange noises, and looking toward +the west beheld a great black surging mass, waving +and rolling up across the prairie, half hidden by +great clouds of dust which were only occasionally +blown away by the brisk autumn wind. It was the +great herd of buffalo, and they had been stampeded +by the Indian hunters. The roar of the hoofs upon +the dry earth was like the low and sullen thunder. +The vanguard of the herd was yet more than a mile +away, but the dark line stretched to right and left +almost as far as the eye could reach, and our hunters +saw that instant and precipitate flight was necessary +in order to save their lives. They specially chose the +northward as offering the shortest and best direction +by which to escape the coming avalanche, and sinking +the spurs deep into their terror-stricken beasts, they +flew with the velocity of an arrow across the wild +prairie. A mile was covered in a few seconds, and +yet they were not past the herd, which was rapidly +closing in upon them.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_228.jpg" alt="228" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE FIRST RUN.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">[229]</span> +They turned their horses' heads partly in the +direction the buffaloes were going and, urging them +to their utmost speed, finally passed the outer line +of the herd just as the leaders passed by. Then, +having reached a place of safety, they dismounted, +and throwing their bridle reins over their arms commenced +to load and fire into the herd with all possible +rapidity, nearly every shot killing or disabling +an animal. It took nearly half an hour for the rolling, +surging, angry horde to pass the point where our +hunters stood, and as the rear guard came in sight +there came a new and still more terrible scene in the +great tragedy.</p> + +<p>More than a hundred Indians were in hot pursuit +of the savage beasts. They were mounted on wild +and almost ungovernable bronchos, who were frothing +at the mouth, charging and cavorting amongst +the fleeing game. The white foam dropped in flakes +and bubbles from all parts of their bodies. Their +nostrils were distended, their eyes flashed fire, and +they seemed as eager as their wild masters to +deal death to the buffaloes. The savage riders +seemed beside themselves with mad, ungovernable +passion.</p> + +<p>Their faces were painted in the most glaring colors, +their bright and many-colored blankets fluttered in +the wind secured to the saddle only by an end or a +corner, their long black hair streaming back like the +pennant at the mast head of a ship, and their deep +black eyes gleamed like coals of fire in a dungeon. +Arrow after arrow flew from deep-strung bows and +sunk to the feathered tip in the quivering flesh of +the shaggy monsters. +<span class="pagenum">[230]</span></p> + +<p>Ponderous spears were hurled with the power and +precision of giants and struck down the defenceless +victims as a sturdy woodman strikes down the frail +sapling in his path.</p> + +<p>"Crack!" "crack!" came from rifles, and +"ping!" "ping!" from carbines and revolvers. +Hundreds of shots were fired by those who carried +firearms, and before these murderous weapons, the +poor bison sank like ripened grain before the reaper's +blade.</p> + +<p>One young warrior, more ardent and fearless than +the rest, had forced his high-strung steed far into +the midst of the solid phalanx, where the horse +was finally impaled upon the horns of a monster +bull. He and his rider were tossed like sheaves of +wheat into the air; then both sank to earth, and +were instantly trodden into the dust.</p> + +<p>At last the great storm had passed, and our friends +watched until it faded away in the distance and +finally disappeared from their view.</p> + +<p>Then came the squaws, the boys, and the old men, +to dispatch the wounded and to skin and cut up the +dead. These were strewn all over the prairie, and +not a tithe of them were, or could be, saved by all +the people, white and red, assembled there.</p> + +<p>Our hunters returned to camp at sunset, where +they met those of their companions who had been +out during the afternoon, and over the evening +camp fire, each related the thrilling incidents which +he had witnessed, or in which he had participated +during the day.</p> + +<p>On the following morning they again started out in +several parties of five or six each and going in various +<span class="pagenum">[231]</span> +directions. Frank and the newspaper man started +with three others, but soon separated from them to +go after a small band which they had sighted about +two miles south of camp.</p> + +<p>When within a proper distance, they dismounted, +picketed their horses in a swale, and stalking to +within about a hundred yards opened fire. A young +cow dropped at the first shot, to all appearances +dead, and the remainder of the band scurried away, +one old bull being badly wounded. The hunters +started to run to the top of a ridge, over which the +game had gone, to get another shot. As they +passed the cow the guide called to his companion to +look out for her, as she was only "creased" and +liable to get up again and charge them. They had +gone but a few rods, when, sure enough, she did +spring to her feet and make a dash at Frank. +He turned to shoot her, but his gun missed fire, and +as he attempted to throw out the cartridge, the action +failed to work, and his gun was, for the moment, +disabled. By this time she was almost on him, and +as his only means of escape, he sprang into a +"washout" (a ditch that had been cut by the +water, some ten feet deep), the sides of which were +perpendicular.</p> + +<p>He called loudly for help, but his friend had not +seen the charge, and was by this time a hundred +yards away. He turned and saw the cow, almost +blind with rage, rapidly jumping back and forth +across the washout, in a mad effort to get at the +guide, but she seemed unwilling to jump down into +it. She was shot through the throat, and the blood, +flowing from her in torrents, had deluged poor +<span class="pagenum">[232]</span> +Frank, until he looked as if he had been at work in +a slaughter-house. The scribe ran back, killed the +cow, and drew his friend from his sanguinary +retreat.</p> + +<p>The guide then repaired his gun, and mounting +their horses they pursued the wounded bull. They +soon found him at bay, and riding up close to him, +commenced firing at him with their revolvers. +Quick as a flash of lightning he made a frightful +charge at the journalist, who, taken by surprise, was +unable to avoid the rush. Both horse and rider +were dashed to the earth. The horse was so badly +injured as to be unable to rise, and as the burly +antagonist made another rush at him, the man was +enabled to seek safety in flight, and before the bull +again turned his attention to the fugitive, the rapid +and well-directed fire of the scout had brought the +shaggy beast to the earth.</p> + +<p>The horse was fatally injured and had to be shot, +so our friends, with one horse between them, took +turns riding and walking to camp.</p> + +<p>This day's killing by the party was large, and +supplied all their wants as to meat, skins, and sport. +The next few days were devoted to jerking meat, +dressing and drying skins, and preparing for the +return journey, and in ten days from the date of +their arrival on the hunting ground, the teams were +all loaded up, camp was broken, and the homeward +march was begun, which progressed uneventfully +from day to day, and was made in safety in about +the same time occupied in going out.</p> + +<p>Twice during the hunt the party were alarmed by +the discovery of Indians lurking about their camp, +<span class="pagenum">[233]</span> +late in the night. The guards discovered them in +both instances, and fired on them, when they beat +a hasty retreat and disappeared in the darkness. It +was not known that their object was anything worse +than pilfering, and yet there was little doubt that +had they found the party all off guard and asleep, +a massacre would have resulted. But, true to their +aboriginal instincts, they did not wish to engage in +a fight with a formidable foe, whom they found ever +ready for such an emergency.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_233.jpg" alt="233" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">PROWLERS.</p> + +<p>Such scenes and such sport as this party enjoyed +were common almost anywhere on the great plains +west of the Missouri river up to a few years ago. +Herds of buffalo extending over a tract of land, as +large as one of the New England States, and numbering +hundreds of thousands of heads, might be found +any day in what was then "buffalo country." An +army officer told me that, when crossing the plains +in 1867 with a company of cavalry, he encountered +a herd that it took his command three days to ride +through, marching about thirty miles a day.</p> + +<p>When two of our transcontinental railways were +<span class="pagenum">[234]</span> +first built it was no uncommon thing for herds of +buffalo to delay trains for several hours in crossing +the tracks, the animals being packed in so close +together that the train could not force a passage +through them.</p> + +<p>But, alas, those days are passed forever. This +noble creature, provided to feed the human multitude +who should people the prairies, is to-day +practically extinct; slaughtered and annihilated by +that jackal of the plains, that coyote in human +shape, the "skin hunter." Hundreds of thousands +of buffaloes were annually killed, their skins sold at +from seventy-five cents to a dollar and a half each, +and the meat which, when properly taken care of, is +equal, if not superior, to the finest domestic beef, +was left to rot on the ground.</p> + +<p>There are scarcely a hundred buffaloes left on the +continent to day in their wild state. A very few +stragglers are known to be in the Panhandle of +Texas, a small bunch in the Yellowstone National +Park, and a few in the British Northwest, but +they are being remorselessly pursued by large numbers +of hunters, and it is safe to say that a year +hence not one will be left in the whole broad +West unless it be those in the park, and they will +escape only in case they stay within the park limits +where they are protected by United States soldiers. +Should they ever stray beyond the bounds of the +park they will all be killed in less than a week.</p> + +<p>Several small bunches have been domesticated by +Western cattlemen, and it is hoped the species may, +by this means, be saved from total extinction. +They are being successfully cross-bred with domestic +<span class="pagenum">[235]</span> +cattle, and an excellent strain of stock is thus +produced, but the grand herds that for ages roamed +at will over the great plains are a thing of the +past.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_235.jpg" alt="235" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[236]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<p class="h3">HUNTING THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT.</p> + +<div class="i236"> +<div id="i236_0"> </div> +<div id="i236_1"> </div> +<div id="i236_2"> </div> +<div id="i236_3"> </div> +<div id="i236_4"> </div> +<div id="i236_5"> </div> +<div id="i236_6"> </div> +<div id="i236_7"> </div> +<div id="i236_8"> </div> +<div id="i236_9"> </div> +<div id="i236_10"> </div> +<div id="i236_11"> </div> +<div id="i236_12"> </div> +<div id="i236_13"> </div> +<div id="i236_14"> </div> +<div id="i236_15"> </div> +<div id="i236_16"> </div> +<div id="i236_17"> </div> +<div id="i236_18"> </div> +<div id="i236_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">HERE</span> +is, perhaps, no large mammal in this +country of which the scientific world and +the reading public in general knows so +little as of the Rocky Mountain goat +(<i>Aplocerus Montanus</i>). There are several +reasons for this. First, its limited range. +It is confined to a small area of the Rocky +Mountains, principally west of the main +divide; to Western Montana, Eastern Idaho, +the Cascade Range in Washington Territory, +a small portion of British Columbia, and to Alaska. +Secondly, its habitat is the tops or near the tops of the +highest and most rugged peaks and cliffs, where +none but the hardiest and most daring hunter may +venture in pursuit of it, and so comparatively very +few are ever killed and brought into the settlements. +Third, it can not be successfully domesticated. Its +favorite food is so different from that generally +growing in or near any settlement, the atmosphere +it breathes, the mean temperature in which it lives, +and the ground, or rather rocks, on which it is +accustomed to walk, so widely different from those +surrounding any human habitation, that the few +<span class="pagenum">[237]</span> +young that have been captured and brought down +to the settlements have soon died. So that none of +them are found in parks and zoological gardens, as +are specimens of nearly all other large wild animals.</p> + +<p>There are fewer mounted skins of this animal in +Eastern museums than of any other species indigenous +to this country, and hence the public and +naturalists have had fewer opportunities to study +and become familiar with it than with other wild +mammals. Yet it is one of the most beautiful and +interesting of all our American quadrupeds, and +probably no sportsman or naturalist has ever yet +mustered courage and hardihood enough to go where +he could kill a Rocky Mountain goat without feeling +amply repaid for all the labor and hardship +encountered by being able to behold this mystic +creature in his lofty mountain home. In view of +the limited facilities people have had for studying +this animal a somewhat minute description of it may +not be amiss here.</p> + +<p>In size it is but a trifle larger than the Merino +sheep, which, in fact, it closely resembles in many +respects. The form of its body is robust, fore parts +rather thicker than hinder parts, with a slight hump +over shoulders, similar to that of the American +bison. Its color is entirely white, or, in some +instances, of a light creamy shade. Hair long and +pendant. A beard-like tuft of hair on the chin. +Long coarse hair, more abundant, on shoulders, neck, +and back. Under and intermixed with this long +hair there is a close coat of fine, silky, white wool, +equal in fineness to that of the Cashmere goat. Hair +on face and legs short and without wool. Horns +<span class="pagenum">[238]</span> +(which are present in both sexes) jet black, small, +conical, nearly erect, polished, and curving slightly +backward; ringed or wrinkled at the base, much like +those of the chamois. Muzzle and hoofs also black. +False or accessory hoofs present. Dentition: Incisors, +8 lower; canines, none; molars, 12 upper, 12 lower; +total 32. The mountain goat brings forth two +or three young at a time, usually late in May or +early in June. Slightly gregarious, being frequently +found in small bands in winter, but in summer season +not more than a single family is usually seen +together, and in summer and fall the older males +may frequently be found entirely alone. The nose +is nearly straight, ears rather long, pointed, and +lined with long hair. Tail six to eight inches long, +clothed with long hair. Legs thick and short. +Hoofs grooved on sole and provided with a thick +spongy mass of cartilage in centre, projecting below +the outer edges of hoof, enabling the animal to +cling firmly to steep or smooth rocks. The dimensions +of one adult male specimen measured are as +follows: Length from tip of nose to root of tail, 3 +feet 7 inches; length of tail, 7 inches; length of head, +11-3/4 inches; length of horns, 8-1/2 inches; diameter of +horns at base, 1 inch. Its estimated gross weight is +130 pounds.</p> +</div> + +<p>The food of the mountain goat consists principally, +in summer, of the leaves of the alder and of various +mountain shrubs, and in winter of mosses and +lichens that grow on the rocks.</p> + +<p><i>Aplocerus Montanus</i> is much more closely allied +to the antelope than to the domestic goat, and has +few characteristics in common with the latter +<span class="pagenum">[239]</span> +genus. He is an agile, fearless climber, and appears +to delight in scaling the tallest, grandest, and most +rugged crags and cliffs to be found in the ranges +which he inhabits, not so much in quest of his +favorite food, for this grows abundantly lower down, +but apparently from a mere spirit of daring; from a +desire to breathe the rarest and purest atmosphere +obtainable, and to view the grandest scenery under +the sun without having his vision in the least +obstructed by intervening objects. These forbidding +and almost inaccessible crags are the favorite, and +nearly the exclusive, haunts of this strange creature, +and the hunter who follows it thither must indeed +be a daring mountaineer. The goat is frequently +found at altitudes of 10,000 to 14,000 feet, where the +atmosphere is so rare as to render it difficult indeed +for man to climb, yet this fearless creature nimbly +leaps from crag to crag, over deep yawning chasms, +with no more fear than the domestic lamb feels when +bounding over the greensward in an Eastern farmyard.</p> + +<p>The hunter literally takes his life in his hand +when pursuing the goat, for he must pass over many +places where a misstep or a slip of a few inches +would plunge him over a precipice, where he would +fall thousands of feet, or be hurled into some narrow +and deep fissure in the rocks whence escape would +be impossible.</p> + +<p>Over such rugged and perilous ground he may +climb, hour after hour, until he has passed the highest +ranges of the elk, the mountain sheep, and all the +other game, for the mountain goat, "the American +chamois," as he has been aptly termed, ranges +<span class="pagenum">[240]</span> +higher than any of them. He may toil on until he +is far above timber line, and is working his way +over and around vast drifts and beds of perpetual +snow and ice. Finally he sights his game—a fine +handsome specimen—standing fearlessly on some jutting +crag, deliberately feeding on some tender lichens +or, perhaps, peering proudly out over the lower +world. The hunter now changes his course until he +can conceal himself behind some neighboring rock, +and then crawls stealthily and cautiously up to +within rifle range of the game. Then, peering cautiously +from behind his cover, he takes careful aim +and fires. He is a dead shot and the rifle ball pierces +the heart of the quarry, but to his dismay it makes +a convulsive bound and down it goes over the precipice, +rebounding from crag to crag, until it finally +reaches a resting place hundreds of feet below. It +may go to where he can never reach it, or may land +where he can recover it on his return down the +mountain side; but if the latter, it may be torn to +fragments and scattered here and there until the +hide is useless, the horns are broken off, the skull +crushed so that the head is unfit to mount, and the +flesh so bruised and mangled that he can scarcely +save enough of it to make him a dinner.</p> + +<p>A few years ago an officer of the United States +army and a party of friends were hunting goats in +the Bitter Root Mountains, near Missoula, Mont. +They followed two—a male and female—to the top +of a rough and dangerous peak, when the game, +before they could get a shot at it, started down the +opposite side and took refuge from the hunters +under a shelving rock. Here it was, owing to the +<span class="pagenum">[241]</span> +nature of the rocks and ice, absolutely impossible +for the hunters to follow them on foot, but the +intrepid officer, not to be baffled in the pursuit, tied a +long rope securely around his body, just under his +arms, laid down, and grasping his rifle slid quietly +down, on a bed of ice, some sixty or seventy feet, +while his companions held on to the other end of the +rope and controlled his perilous descent. Finally, +when he had gone far enough to be able to see the +game, he signaled his friends, who stopped him, and +raising on his elbows he fired and killed both goats, +and was then drawn up again in safety. Such, +however, was the nature of the rocks between him +and the carcasses that it was utterly impossible to +reach them after he had killed them, and he was +compelled reluctantly to abandon them. Several +members of the party tried to reach them from +other points, but were unable to do so, and they +were all obliged to return empty-handed to +camp.</p> + +<p>In another instance this same officer, upon crawling +out on the edge of a shelving rock and looking +down over a precipice hundreds of feet below, saw +two goats near the base, but they were actually inside +of a perpendicular line running down from the edge +of the rock he occupied, and he was therefore unable +to bring his rifle to bear upon them without projecting +his body out over the edge of the rock further +than was safe. After discussing the matter for +some minutes, one of his friends offered to hold his +feet and thus enable him to extend his head and +shoulders far enough out to get his aim. By this +means both of the goats were killed, but a party +<span class="pagenum">[242]</span> +had to go around and ascend the mountain from the +other side in order to secure them.</p> + +<p>The same party, while climbing the rugged and +almost perpendicular face of Little Mountain to +bring down some goats they had already killed, +came suddenly upon a large buck in a narrow V-shaped +fissure in the rock, from which there was no +escape but by the opening at which they had entered, +and across this they formed a skirmish line. The +goat climbed upon a narrow projection on one of the +walls of the fissure just out of reach of the tallest +man in the party, and as they had no rifles with +them (having left them below to lighten the labor of +the ascent), they tried to dislodge him by throwing +rocks at him, but their footing was so insecure and +there was such great danger of their falling that +they could not hurl these with sufficient force to +bring him down though several of them hit him. If +they had had a rope they could easily have lassoed +him, but there was no such thing at hand. They +finally decided to leave one of the men to guard +their prisoner, and on their return to camp another +man took a rifle, went back, killed the goat, and the +two bore him triumphantly down to camp. The +gentleman says: "Had I not been an eye witness, +and had I subsequently been shown the place where +the goat stood thus at bay, I could scarcely have +believed it possible for anything larger than a fly to +have found footing there."</p> + +<p>Fortunately, however, the successful hunting of +the goat is not always thus perilous, for though he +habitually selects for his home the roughest and +most inaccessible peaks to be found in the mountains, +<span class="pagenum">[243]</span> +yet he sometimes ranges on more favorable +ground, and if the sportsman be so fortunate as to +find him there he may be killed and saved. They +range somewhat lower in winter than in summer, +but never even then venture down into the cañons +or valleys, as do all the other large mountain animals. +They only come down upon the lower peaks +and ridges, and remain about the rocky walls, which +are so precipitous that the snow can not lie on them +to any considerable depth. Their power of climbing +over and walking on these almost perpendicular +rock walls is utterly astounding. They will walk +along the side of an upright projecting ledge that +towers hundreds of feet above and below them +where a shelf projects not more than four or five +inches wide. They will climb straight up an almost +perpendicular wall, if only slightly rough and irregular, +so that they can get a chance to hold on with +their spongy hoofs here and there. And they seem +to select these difficult passes in many instances +when a good, easy passage could be had to the place +to which they are bound by going a little further +around. They seem to delight in scaling a dangerous +cliff as a courageous boy does in climbing the +tallest tree. I once saw where a goat had walked +straight up over a smooth flat slab of granite ten +feet wide, that laid at an angle of about fifty degrees, +and that was covered with about two inches of wet +snow and slush. I could not climb up it with moccasins +on my feet, and no dog could have followed +him there. This faculty is accounted for by the +peculiar shape and quality of their hoofs before +described.<span class="pagenum">[244]</span></p> + +<p>The skin of the Rocky Mountain goat has never +had any regular commercial value. The stiff, coarse, +brittle hair that is mixed with the wool renders them +unsuitable for robes or rugs, and this hair can not +readily be plucked out. The only demand for them +is for mounting. Very few white hunters and none +of the Indians understand how to skin and preserve +them properly for this purpose, and this fact, taken +in connection with that of the rough and dangerous +nature of the ground they inhabit, makes +it difficult to secure good skins, or even heads for +mounting.</p> + +<p>The flesh of the goat is edible, but in the adult +animal is dry and tasteless. When kids of less than +a year old can be obtained, their flesh is tender and +toothsome. They are not hunted, therefore, for meat, +for in the ranges where they are found, deer, mountain +sheep, or elks can be obtained much lower down +and are much more desirable for the table.</p> + +<p>During a sojourn of a month in the Bitter Root +Mountains, near Missoula, Mont., last fall I had +some very exciting, not to say dangerous, experiences +in hunting this animal. We were camped in +Lost Horse Cañon, through which flows a typical +mountain stream. The walls on both sides are very +abrupt and from three to four thousand feet in height. +That on the north is covered from bottom to top with +great masses of granite that have been broken loose +from the cliffs at the top by earthquakes, the action +of frost, or other agency, and have tumbled down, +breaking into irregular-shaped fragments, of all sizes, +lodging and piling on top of each other in such a +manner as to form a gigantic sort of pavement from +<span class="pagenum">[245]</span> +the top of the mountain to the foot. There were +narrow strips of the mountain side that had escaped +these fallen masses. Here the outcropping granite +remained in its natural shape—irregular ledges with +small patches of earth intervening. Pines, hemlocks, +cedars, and various kinds of shrubs grew in these +places as far up the mountain side as the timber line.</p> + +<p>I ascended this north wall one morning and after +a weary and toilsome climb of about two miles, +and when in snow about six inches deep, I came +upon the track of a very large goat. It was +some hours old, but he had been feeding deliberately +along the mountain side, and as they are not rapid +travelers in any case, I knew he was not a great +distance away. I took up the trail and followed it. +It led over a succession of these vast rock piles, +which, owing to their being covered with snow, made +the traveling doubly dangerous. A slight misstep +at any point, or an unfortunate slip would be liable +to let my foot drop in between two of these rocks +and throw me in such a way as to break a leg, an arm, +or possibly my head. The greatest care was therefore +necessary in picking my way over this dangerous +country, and I was frequently struck with the wise +provisions which Nature makes for fulfilling her +ends when I saw where the animal I was pursuing +had bounded lightly from rock to rock over chasms +many feet in width; or where he had walked up the +sharp edge of some slab of granite not more than +three or four inches wide and lying at a high angle; +or where he had walked up over a flat slab of it, +tilted so steep that no other large animal in the +mountains could have followed him. There were +<span class="pagenum">[246]</span> +many of his passages in which I could not follow, +but I had to make slow and tortuous detours, coming +upon his trail again beyond these most dangerous +points.</p> + +<p>Had he traveled straight ahead I could never have +overtaken him, but the time he consumed in frequently +stopping to nip the tender leaves of the +mountain alder or the juicy lichens that grow upon +the rocks proved fatal to him, and finally, after a +chase of probably two miles and when near the top +of the peak close to timber line, I came in sight of +him. He was truly a beautiful creature. There he +stood, unconscious of approaching danger, looking +calmly out across a neighboring cañon as if +enjoying the grand scenery about him. Occasionally +he turned to take a mouthful of some delicate mountain +herb that stood near him. The pale creamy white +of his fleece contrasted delicately and beautifully +with the green of the cedars, the golden autumn-colored +leaves of the shrubs, the dull gray of the granite +rocks, and the pure white of the early autumn snow. +The sunlight glistened upon the polished black of +his proudly curved and beautifully rounded horns, +and his large black eyes gleamed as with conscious +innocence and pride. I contemplated his majestic +mien for several minutes before I could nerve myself +to the task of taking his life, but finally the +hunter's instinct conquered my more delicate feelings. +I put my rifle to my shoulder, pressed the +gently yielding trigger, and in an instant more his +life blood crimsoned the driven snow.</p> + +<p>After making temporary disposition of his remains, +I returned as rapidly as possible to camp to get my +<span class="pagenum">[247]</span> +photographic outfit and some help to carry him +in, for we were short of meat at the time. It was +three o'clock in the afternoon when I reached camp, +and, eating a hasty lunch, I started back up the +mountain with three of my friends.</p> + +<p>When we again reached the carcass it was five +o'clock, and our work must be done hastily in order to +get down the mountain as far as possible before dark. +To add to the discomfort of our undertaking a drizzling +rain set in just as I was ready to make the views. +I exposed a couple of plates, however, which fortunately +turned out fairly. We then set to work to +skin him as rapidly as possible, and as soon as this +was accomplished we started on our return to camp, +two of the men taking the two hind quarters of the +animal, another my camera, and I the skin and head. +With these loads, weighing from twenty-five to +thirty-five pounds each, besides our rifles, and considering +the difficult and dangerous nature of the +ground we had to travel over and the fact that it was +already beginning to grow dark, we had, indeed, a +perilous journey before us. Climbing over these rock +piles when covered with snow was difficult enough +work in daylight, but to attempt it in the darkness +and now that it was raining heavily, the snow +having become wet and slushy and the rocks more +slippery than before, it was doubly perilous.</p> + +<p>Our course lay diagonally down and along the side +of the mountain, and as long as the light was sufficient +to at all see where we were stepping we made +fair progress. Frequently, however, someone would +slip and fall, but fortunately without receiving any +serious injury. We were often compelled to hold to +<span class="pagenum">[248]</span> +some shrub or tree and let ourselves down over projecting +rocks several feet, where we could not possibly +have stood up without such aid.</p> + +<p>Finally, when we were yet less than half way down +the mountain side, it became pitch dark. Here we +sat down to rest. The rain was falling in torrents, +and but for the snow on the ground we could not +now have seen a step ahead of us. We had entered +one of those more favored strips of land where the +falling rocks had not covered the ground entirely, +and where there was a considerable growth of timber, +both large trees and underbrush. I was in favor of +going straight down through this into the creek bottom +where we could at least walk in safety, even if +our progress should be slower. One of my friends—Mr. +Overturf—agreed with me, but the other two—Mr. +McWhirk and Mr. Hinchman—preferred to +continue over the rocks in a direct line to camp. We +therefore decided to separate, Frank and I going +straight down through this strip of timber and over +the smoother ground, and the other two following +the more direct course.</p> + +<p>We two reached the foot of the mountain in about +an hour more; not, however, without encountering +serious difficulties in grasping and finding our way +down over precipitous rocks and earth, hanging on +to one limb or shrub until we came in reach of +another, and thus letting ourselves down safely. +We were then about a mile and a half from camp. +The creek bottom was densely timbered. There was +a dim game trail leading through it up to our camp, +but it was impossible to follow it in the darkness, +and, in fact, it required the closest attention of experienced +<span class="pagenum">[249]</span> +woodsmen and hunters to follow it in daylight. +We were therefore utterly at sea. We were +safe, however, and we heaved a sigh of relief when +we found ourselves on level ground, for none of us +had relished the idea of having a bone broken in that +country, so far from medical aid and home comforts.</p> + +<p>Great snow slides had for ages been coming down +these mountain sides bringing their débris, such +as rocks, and logs, and whole trees with them. +These had frequently gone some distance into the +creek bottom, breaking and felling all the trees in +their path. Tornadoes had raged through the cañon, +also, breaking and lopping trees in various directions, +so that we now encountered a body of woods +through which the most expert woodsman could not +possibly travel more than a mile an hour in daylight. +Add to this the cimmerian darkness in which +we were now groping (for there was no snow here in +the bottom of the cañon) and the reader may well +imagine that our progress was slow and tedious in +the extreme.</p> + +<p>We sat down and held another consultation. I +favored building a fire and staying there till morning, +but Frank preferred pushing on to camp, so I +acquiesced. We soon found, however, that it was +utterly impossible for us to get through these windfalls +in the darkness and with our heavy loads, and +decided as a last resort to get into the bed of the +creek and wade up it. We were already wet to the +skin from head to foot, and this wading could be no +worse than clambering over logs and through jungles +of wet underbrush. We soon reached the creek and +our hearts sank within us as we listened to its tumultuous +<span class="pagenum">[250]</span> +roar and looked upon its angry bosom, for +here we were enabled to see slightly, owing to the +faint light admitted through the narrow opening in +the trees overhead, how rough and boisterous it was! +Its bed was a succession of bowlders from the size of +a man's head to that of a small house, and its waters, +coming direct from the snow, were ice cold. Yet to +camp here was to suffer all night from wet and cold, +and we preferred to push on.</p> + +<p>By keeping near the shore we could nearly all the +time have brush to hang to and steady ourselves, +but where there were none of these in reach our +rubber boots slipped on the smooth wet rocks, and +several times we fell into the icy flood up to our +chins. Once, in particular, I fell in water nearly +three feet deep, dropped my gun and it went to the +bottom. I fished it out, however, staggered to my +feet, and struggled on.</p> + +<p>After nearly two hours of this terrible trudging, +wading, and staggering, we at last reached camp at +eleven o'clock at night and triumphantly deposited +our burdens within the tent.</p> + +<p>Our two friends, from whom we had separated <i>en +route</i>, had arrived only half an hour ahead of us, and +notwithstanding the rain, which still fell heavily, +Dr. Hale, who had remained in camp, had a great +log-heap fire blazing in front of the tent. A pot of +coffee steamed by the fire, and a sumptuous supper +of broiled bear steaks, baked potatoes, and hot +biscuits awaited us, but I was too tired to eat. I +drank a pint of hot coffee, put on dry flannels, +crawled into my blankets, and slept soundly till +morning.<span class="pagenum">[251]</span></p> + +<p>As further illustrating the habits of the mountain +goat and the perils attending its capture, I may be +permitted to narrate the experience of Mr. Westlake, +a ranchman in Eastern Idaho, who attempted +to procure a pair of skins for a friend in the East a +few years ago. He employed a Flathead Indian as +guide and assistant, who claimed to know the country +thoroughly in which they purposed hunting, and to +have had considerable experience in hunting goats. +Mr. Westlake provided himself with a good saddle-horse +and one pack-horse, a rifle, camp outfit, including +a small tent, and provisions for himself and the +Indian for twenty days. The Indian was fairly +mounted on a small but tough Indian pony and well +armed. They set out on September 2, and traveled +across the country to the Clearwater river, up which +they rode several days, over a very difficult and tedious +trail, and when well up toward the head of the +stream they reached the mouth of one of its tributaries +which debouches from a deep and rugged +cañon. Up this they decided to go, for it was their +intention to reach the Bitter Root Mountains, one +of the best known ranges for the goat.</p> + +<p>This cañon proved, like many others in that +region, almost impassable for man or beast, and it +was with the utmost difficulty and by the endurance +of untold and incredible hardships that they were +able to make seven or eight miles a day. They +encountered plenty of game in the cañon, however, +among which were elks, bears, and mule-deer, and +the creek which ran through the cañon yielded +them an abundance of trout, so that they fared +sumptuously so far as food was concerned. +<span class="pagenum">[252]</span></p> + +<p>Finally, after several days in this cañon, they +reached the head of it and came out on a high plateau +which was covered with heavy pine timber +interspersed with beautiful parks or meadows and +thickets of aspen and alder. Numerous springs boiling +up here coursed down into the cañon from which +they had just emerged, and fed the creek which ran +through it. Pressing forward across this formation +for a distance of about ten miles, they reached +the base of one of the great snow-capped peaks, +near the top of which they expected to find the particular +game of which they were in search. But +this mountain was so precipitous and so rough that +it was impossible for them to get their horses up it in +any way. They discussed various plans of accomplishing +their object. It was highly dangerous to +leave their horses here alone, lest the bears or +mountain lions, which were so numerous in the +vicinity, should stampede and run them off. It was +impossible for either man to go alone and bring +down two of the skins and heads suitably prepared +for mounting, as they, with the other load which it +was necessary to take along, would be more than +any one man could carry. It would take two days +to make the ascent, have a few hours for hunting, +and return to where they then were, and in order to +pass the night at all comfortably in that high altitude +a liberal supply of blankets must be carried.</p> + +<p>They therefore decided, as the only feasible plan, +to make camp where they were and start up early +the next morning, leaving their horses behind. +They made all possible preparations that night, and +the next morning arose at four o'clock. By sunrise +<span class="pagenum">[253]</span> +they had breakfasted, and with their packs, consisting +of two pairs of blankets each and a two days' +supply of cooked food, they started. They did not +dare picket or hobble their horses, as either would +give the wild beasts a chance to attack and kill +them, and could only trust to luck, an abundant +supply of good grass and water, and the well-known +attachment which nearly all Western horses feel for +a camp, to keep them there until their return.</p> + +<p>After a hard day's climb they came upon abundant +signs of goats about the middle of the afternoon, +and, preparing a temporary bivouac under a +shelving rock, they deposited their loads, made a +pot of coffee, ate a hearty dinner, and started out to +look for the game. They had not gone far when +Mr. Westlake sighted a large, handsome male goat +standing on the top of a cliff, and approaching +within easy rifle range he fired and killed it. It fell +some twenty or thirty feet, and lodged behind a projecting +slab of granite. It was secured after considerable +hard work, hastily skinned, and the skin and +some of the best cuts of the meat carried to their +temporary camp. Night was now approaching, and +the hunters set about preparing a supply of wood. +There were numerous dead pine and cedar trees, of +stunted growth and peculiar shapes, standing and +lying among the rocks, and a generous supply was +soon provided. Next, a large quantity of cedar +boughs were cut, brought in and spread under the +overhanging rock, to a depth of a foot or more. On +these the blankets were spread, and the hunters had a +bed which many a tired lodger in Eastern city hotels +might well envy them. By building a rousing fire +<span class="pagenum">[254]</span> +in front, which was reflected against the rock wall +behind them, and by occasionally replenishing it +during the night, they slept comfortably, though +the temperature ran several degrees below zero.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning both men started out in +search of a female goat to complete their undertaking. +Nearly two hours had been spent in hunting, +when the Indian found a fresh track in the +snow some distance above their temporary camp. +He followed it until it led in among a forest of rent +and jagged cliffs of granite, and Westlake, who +was some distance away, seeing by the Indian's +motions that he was on a trail, started toward him. +When within a few feet of where he had last seen +the Indian he heard the report of his rifle, and a +shout announced that his shot had been successful. +Mr. Westlake followed on into the chasm from +whence the report came and saw the Indian attempting +to scale the side of a nearly perpendicular wall +of rock, stepping cautiously from niche to niche +and shelf to shelf; holding on with his hands to +every projecting point that afforded him any assistance. +He finally reached the top of the ledge, and +reaching over caught hold of the now lifeless body of +the goat that he had killed, and drew it toward him. +But when it swung off from the top of the ledge its +weight and the consequent strain on his muscular +power was greater than the Indian had anticipated, +and before he had time to let go of the carcass and +save himself his slight hold on the rock was torn +loose, and uttering a wild shriek he fell a distance of +nearly sixty feet, striking on a heap of broken +rocks! He was instantly killed. +<span class="pagenum">[255]</span></p> + +<p>Here was a sad blow to poor Westlake. His only +companion, his faithful guide, and the only human +being within fifty miles of him, lay a corpse at his +feet. He had no means whatever of getting the +body back to their camp, much less of returning it +to the unfortunate red man's friends. He had not +even a tool of any kind to dig a grave with, and the +only thing he could do in that direction was to build +a wall of rocks around the body, lay some flat slabs +across the top, and then carry and lay on top of +these a number of the largest and heaviest rocks he +could handle, to protect it from the ravages of wild +beasts. When this sad duty was completed he +returned with a heavy heart to their temporary +camp, and with as much of their luggage as he was +able to carry started down the mountain. Arriving +about noon at the tent, he was horrified to find the +tracks of a large bear in and about it, the greater +portion of his supplies eaten up or destroyed, and +his horses nowhere in sight. A hasty examination +showed that the bear had passed through the little +park in which they had last been grazing—evidently +early that morning—that they had taken flight and +fled in the direction of the head of the cañon up +which they had come. Westlake followed them +several miles until convinced that they had really +started on their back trail, and then he returned to +camp. By this time night was again approaching +and it was with a heavy heart that he prepared to +pass it there, all alone, and still further depressed +with the thought that he had now a journey of a +hundred miles or more before him, to the nearest settlement, +which he must undoubtedly make on foot. +<span class="pagenum">[256]</span> +He ate his supper alone and in sadness, and as the +camp fire blazed in front of his tent it cast fitful +shadows into the gloom, which was unbroken by +any sound save the occasional soughing of the wind +through the pine trees or the cry of some wild animal. +He finally retired to rest, but his sleep was +broken by troubled dreams. As the sun arose he +prepared a hasty meal, which was eaten in silence, +and with a pair of blankets, a few pounds of flour, +salt, and coffee, and his rifle, he started, leaving his +tent standing and all else in it as a monument to the +memory of his friend and a landmark to future +hunters and mountaineers to locate the scene of his +great misfortune. He traveled seven days before +seeing the face of a human being or sleeping under +a shelter of any kind, when he finally reached a +ranch where his horses had preceded him and had +been corraled to await an owner.</p> + +<p>It is fortunate that all goat hunters do not meet +with such disasters as did poor Westlake and his +young friend, or the noble sport would have still +fewer votaries than it now has.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_256.jpg" alt="256" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[257]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<p class="h3">TROUTING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.</p> + +<div class="i257"> +<div id="i257_0"> </div> +<div id="i257_1"> </div> +<div id="i257_2"> </div> +<div id="i257_3"> </div> +<div id="i257_4"> </div> +<div id="i257_5"> </div> +<div id="i257_6"> </div> +<div id="i257_7"> </div> +<div id="i257_8"> </div> +<div id="i257_9"> </div> +<div id="i257_10"> </div> +<div id="i257_11"> </div> +<div id="i257_12"> </div> +<div id="i257_13"> </div> +<div id="i257_14"> </div> +<div id="i257_15"> </div> +<div id="i257_16"> </div> +<div id="i257_17"> </div> +<div id="i257_18"> </div> +<div id="i257_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">N</span> +September, 1884, I joined a party of +genial sportsmen at Fort Missoula, Mont., +for a month's outing in the Bitter Root +Mountains. Our special mission was to hunt +large game; but while perfecting arrangements +for the trip, which occupied two +days, and during the mornings and evenings +of the several days occupied in traveling up +and down the river to and from the hunting +grounds, those of us who had our fishing tackle +with us turned what would otherwise have been +long hours of impatient waiting into merrily-fleeing +moments, by luring the grand mountain trout +(<i>Salmo purpuratus</i>) with which this river abounds +from their crystalline retreats and transferring them +to our creels and our camp table.</p> + +<p>The Bitter Root is a typical mountain stream, +rising among the snow-clad peaks in the vicinity of +the Big Hole basin and flowing with the mighty +rush imparted to it by a fall of 200 to 300 feet per +mile, fed by the scores of ice-cold brooks that tumble +out of the high ranges on either side from its source +to its mouth. After traversing a distance of perhaps +200 miles, it empties its pure waters into the +Hellgate river, just west of Missoula.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_258.jpg" alt="258" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE RISE.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[259]</span> +Its valley is two to four miles wide, and the lower +portion of this is occupied by numerous ranches. The +soil is tilled by well-to-do farmers or "ranchmen," +to speak in the vernacular of the country, so that +the angler, while within a mile or two of rugged +mountain peaks, is still in the midst of civilization, +where his larder may daily be replenished with +nearly all the varieties of good things that grow on +any New England farm. The banks of the stream +are fringed with stately pines and cottonwoods, and +in places with thickets of underbrush.</p> + +<p>From a tiny brook at its source the stream grows +rapidly to a veritable river of thirty to fifty yards +in width as it passes on toward its destination. It +sweeps and whirls in its course, here running +straight and placidly for a hundred yards, then +turning abruptly to right or left and returning +almost parallel to itself, forming "horse-shoe bends," +"ox-bow bends," compound S's, right angles, +etc.</p> + +<p>In many cases it tumbles down over a long, steep +pavement of granite bowlders, working itself into a +very agony of bubbles and foam, and when the foot +of this fall is reached it whirls and eddies in a great +pool ten or twenty feet deep and covering half an +acre of ground, almost surrounded by high-cut +banks, and seeming to have lost its way. It eventually +finds an exit, however, through an opening in +the willows and masses of driftwood, and again +speeds on.</p> + +<p>In many of these large, deep pools whole trees, of +giant size, brought down by the spring freshets, +have found lodgment beyond the power of the +<span class="pagenum">[260]</span> +mighty current to drive them further, and underneath +these drifts the angler is liable to hook a lusty +trout that will make short work of his tackle if he +be not very gentle and expert in manipulating it.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_260.jpg" alt="260" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">SOLID COMFORT.</p> + +<p>This river may be fished from a canoe or boat, if +it be manned by a master of the art of fresh-water +cruising; but no amateur oarsman or canoeist should +<span class="pagenum">[261]</span> +ever attempt it or he will surely come to grief. It +may also be fished from the bank or by wading; +and I have even known it to be fished from the +hurricane-deck of a cayuse, so that all lovers of the +gentle art may be accommodated.</p> + +<p>A large bump of caution would also be a good +thing for the man to take along who essays to wade +it, for he will find places—slippery places—where +even the wicked can not stand; for over the surface +thereof flows such a mighty torrent of waters that +his pride will surely have a fall, even if he do not; +and if he get out with a dry thread on his back he +will regard it as a miracle and not owing to any +skill or strength of his. I think a day on that +stream will take the conceit out of any living man +and show him what a poor, weak worm he is, <i>if</i> he +get into some of the places I have been in. He will +find himself in positions from whence he would give +half his worldly possessions to be delivered; where +he would forgive his bitterest enemy the meanest +thing he ever did if he were only there and would +cast him a friendly line. The bed of the stream is +composed of glacial drift, all the rapids being paved +with bowlders varying in size from an inch to two +or three feet in diameter. These are worn smooth +by the action of the water and coated with a light +growth of fungus, so that they furnish a very precarious +footing at best, and when the power of +the raging torrent is brought to bear against one's +nether limbs, he is, indeed, fortunate who is not +swept into the pool below.</p> + +<p>On the riffles or more placid portions of the stream +wading is not attended with so much danger or difficulty. +<span class="pagenum">[262]</span> +And while the angler beguiles the hours in +dalliance with these beauties of the river, gazing +into its crystalline depths and toying with its poetic +denizens, a glance to east or west reveals to him +scenes of even grander and more +inspiring loveliness; for there, so +close as to reveal their every rock +and shrub, tower the shapely +peaks, the shattered crags and +beetling cliffs which constitute +the Bitter Root range of +mountains. And even in +midsummer the fresh, +pure breezes sweeping +down from +these snow-clad summits fan his parched brow and +render existence, under such circumstances, the +realization of a poet's dream.</p> + +<img src="images/s_illo_262_0.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_1.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_2.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_3.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_4.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_5.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_6.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_7.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_8.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_9.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_10.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_11.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_12.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_13.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_14.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_15.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_16.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_17.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_18.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> +<img src="images/s_illo_262_19.jpg" alt="" class="splitr" /> + +<p class="splitr" style="font-weight:bold; margin-right:150px;"> +MID RUSHING WATERS.</p> +<br /> + +<p>On a bright, cheery September morning, Private +Westbrook, of the Third Infantry, and myself left +<span class="pagenum">[263]</span> +camp as soon as the sun had expelled the frost from +the vegetation. On the way down we caught a number +of grasshoppers—the orthodox bait in this region—to +fall back on in case of necessity; for there are +days when the mountain trout, as well as his cousin, +the brook trout of the East, declines the most seductive +fly on the bill of fare, and will have nothing but +his favorite every-day diet.</p> + +<p>Arriving at the river, Westbrook skirmished +through the brush until he found an alder about an +inch and a quarter in diameter at the ground and ten +or twelve feet high. This he cut, trimmed up, and +attached his line, a number two Sproat hook and a +split shot, put on a "hopper," and was ready for +business. I remonstrated gently with him on the +heathenish character of his tackle, but he said, pleasantly +and politely, that it was the kind that generally +got to the front when trout-fishing was the +business in hand. He said the fancy rods and reels +and flies were all well enough for those who wanted +to use them, but he preferred something with +which he could round up his fish and corral them +without losing any time. He said it was all +right for any gentlemen to spend half an hour +monkeying a trout after he had hooked it, if he +wanted to, but for his part, he never could see +much fun in that sort of fishing. He thought it +was decidedly more interesting to yank a fish in +out of the wet the instant he bit, and then lay for +another.</p> + +<p>He walked boldly out into the stream, waded +down a little way below the ford, on a riffle, till he +reached a point where the water was about two +<span class="pagenum">[264]</span> +feet deep and where it rolled sullenly and gloomily +over a series of large bowlders.</p> + +<p>Here he made a cast, and his bait had barely +touched the water when there was a vicious rush, a +swirl and a dash downstream, but the cruel pole +was brought to bear in the opposite direction. +Then there was a flop, a splash, a hop, skip and a +jump, and a three-pound trout took a header and +went down into the soldier's haversack.</p> + +<p>The bait was renewed, another cast made, and the +act was repeated on a half-pounder. Then another +weighing one-and-a-half pounds and a couple of +about a pound each followed in rapid succession, +when this portion of the stream failed to yield, and +Westbrook moved on down. I followed along the +bank and watched him for half an hour before +attempting to rig my tackle at all. To watch the +play of the various emotions on his hard, brown, +honest face; to study the effect of the intense enthusiasm +which possessed him; to note the utter disregard +of personal safety and comfort with which he +would plunge into the surging rapids and eddies up +to his waist, or even to his arm-pits, wherever he +thought he could catch a trout by so doing, was a +genuine treat.</p> + +<p>Finally I went back to the ford, jointed up my +rod, put on a gray professor, and walking down the +bank to a sudden bend in the river where the current +had cut a deep hole near the bank, I made a cast. +The fly dropped on the riffle just above the eddy, +and as it floated gracefully on the little wavelets +down and out upon the bosom of the deep-blue miniature +ocean, it turned hither and thither with the +<span class="pagenum">[265]</span> +capricious currents that played there, for perhaps +five minutes. I was just in the act of reeling up +for another cast, when a gleam of silvery light +flashed upon my vision, flecked with settings of jet +and gold. There was a mighty commotion upon the +surface and a monster trout leaped full into the air +as he seized the feathered bait and then shot down, +down into the crystal fluid, leaving the water in the +vicinity of his exploit bubbling, effervescing, and +sparkling like the rarest old champagne. For the +nonce I was paralyzed with the suddenness and +viciousness of his coming and going, and my reel +was singing merrily when I awoke to a realization +of what it all meant.</p> + +<p>Then I thumbed the cylinder and checked him in +his wild flight, but he continued to fight his way +clear down to the lower end of the pool, a distance +of twenty yards. Then he turned and came toward +me with the speed of an arrow, but the automatic +reel took up the slack as rapidly as he gave it. +When within twenty feet of me he turned out into +the stream, and as I checked him he again vaulted +into the air and the sun-light glistened on his beautifully-colored +sides and fins as he struggled to free +himself. Finding this impossible he started for the +bank, where brush and roots projected into the +water; but by a vigorous and fortunate sweep of the +rod I was enabled to check him again. Again he +sounded and again rushed up, down, and out into the +river, but the steel was securely set, and he was +compelled at last to succumb. Gradually I reeled +him in, and as I brought him up to the bank he +turned on his side exhausted. He weighed two and +<span class="pagenum">[267]</span> +three-quarter pounds and measured seventeen inches +in length.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_266.jpg" alt="266" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">AN ANXIOUS MOMENT</p> + +<p>I took two others, nearly as large, out of the same +hole, and then proceeding down fifty yards, I saw +a large cottonwood tree lying in the middle of the +stream where it had lodged and been securely +anchored, probably a year or two before. The current +had scooped out a great cavity about its roots +and I felt sure there must be a giant old trout lying +amongst them, but I could not reach it with a cast +from the shore. To attempt to wade to it I saw +would be hazardous, for the channel between me and +it was waist deep and ran with all the velocity of a +mill tail. But what danger will not an enthusiastic +angler brave when in pursuit of a trout? I started +in, and when half way to the trunk, would gladly +have retreated, but was actually afraid to attempt +to turn in the midst of this current, so I pressed forward, +finally reached the trunk of the tree and +climbed upon it. I made a cast up near the root +and hooked a handsome fellow, but after playing +him until I had him completely under control and +almost ready to land, the hook, which had been but +slightly caught, tore out and he drifted down the +river on his side.</p> + +<p>Another effort secured a two-pounder, and failing +to get any further encouragement, I climbed into the +icy torrent and with great difficulty again reached +the shore.</p> + +<p>A little further down I saw another very deep pool, +into which a small, green cottonwood tree had lately +fallen and hung by its roots to the bank. I felt sure +of making a good catch here, for the hole was ten +<span class="pagenum">[268]</span> +or twelve feet deep, and the driftwood that had +lodged about this tree afforded excellent cover for +the wary old fellows that always seek such secluded +and impregnable strongholds. The fly settled gracefully +on the surface at the upper end of the pool, and +as it floated listlessly down toward the drift, Westbrook, +who had come down and was fishing from the +bank opposite, said:</p> + +<p>"You'll get a good one there, sir. That's a +splendid hole for a big old fellow."</p> + +<p>"I think so; but he seems backward about coming +forward."</p> + +<p>"Maybe that blasted bird has scared him," +said he, referring to a coot that floated unconcernedly +and even impudently about the pool, +eyeing us without a symptom of fear, but evincing +the liveliest curiosity as to who and what we +were.</p> + +<p>I reeled up and made another cast farther out on +the pool. As the fly fell, Mrs. Coot swam up to it +as if inclined to pick it up. I almost hoped she +would, for I should really have enjoyed yanking her +a few times. But she thought better of it, and +turned away. After exhausting all my ingenuity +on this pool, and finding it impossible to induce a +rise, I laid down my rod, picked up a rock, and +threw it at the ill-omened bird, whom I blamed for +my lack of success.</p> + +<p>Westbrook took his cue from this and also sent a +rock after her. Both made close calls for her, but +she only scurried about the livelier, making no effort +to get away. She, however, swam behind a projection +in the bank, so that I could not see her, and I +<span class="pagenum">[269]</span> +told Westbrook to continue the attack and drive +her out.</p> + +<p>He picked up another bowlder as large as a league +baseball and hurled it at her, when the dullest and +most "thudful" sound I ever heard, accompanied +by a faint squawk, came from behind the bank.</p> + +<p>"Well, bleach my bones if I haven't killed her!" +said Westbrook, as he threw down his hat and +jumped on it.</p> + +<p>Sure enough, he had made a bull's-eye, and a mass +of feathers floated off downstream, followed by the +mortal remains of the deceased. And now the trout +were jumping at these stray feathers, and returning +to the siege, we each caught a good one at the lower +end of the pool.</p> + +<p>We had now about as many fish as we cared to +carry to camp, and started back up river. On our +way we met Lieutenant Thompson, of the Third +Infantry—also a member of our party—who had +left camp about the same time we did, and we +stopped and watched him fish awhile. The lieutenant +is a veteran fly-fisherman, and it is a pleasure +to see him wield his graceful little split bamboo rod, +and handle the large vigorous trout found in this +stream. I had my camera with me and exposed a +plate on him in the act of playing a two-pounder +while holding a string of six others in his left hand, +and though I did not give it quite enough time, it +turned out fairly well. He had also filled his creel, +and on our return to camp we hung our total catch, +with several others that General Marcy had taken, +on a pair of elk horns and got a good negative of +the whole outfit.<span class="pagenum">[270]</span></p> + +<p>Trout grow to prodigious sizes in the Bitter Root, +as well as in several other streams in Montana, +Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington Territory. The +Indians frequently spear them through the ice, or +take them in nets, some of these weighing ten to +twelve pounds each. But these large ones rarely +rise to the fly. However, Colonel Gibson, of the +U. S. A., commanding at Fort Missoula, took one +on a fly that weighed nine pounds and two ounces, +and other instances have been recorded in which +they have been taken by this method nearly as large. +They have frequently been taken on live bait, and +have been known to attack a small trout that had +been hooked on a fly, before he could be landed.</p> + +<p>While I was hunting in the Bitter Root Mountains +in the fall of '83, a carpenter, who was building +a bridge across the Bitter Root, near Corvallis, conceived +the idea of fishing for trout with a set hook. +He rigged a heavy hook and line, baiting with a live +minnow, tied it to a willow that overhung one of the +deep pools, and left it over night. By this means +he secured three of these monster trout in a week, +that weighed from nine to eleven and a half pounds +each.</p> + +<p>The supply of trout in the Bitter Root seems +to be almost unlimited, for it has been fished +extensively for ten years past, and yet a man may +catch twenty-five to fifty pounds a day any time +during the season, and is almost sure to do so if he +is at all skillful or "lucky." I know a native +Bitter Rooter who, during the summer and fall of +'84, fished for the market, and averaged thirty +pounds a day all through the season, which he sold +<span class="pagenum">[271]</span> +in Missoula at twenty-five cents a pound. Of course, +the majority of the ranchmen along the stream do +little or no fishing, but the officers and men at Fort +Missoula do an immense amount of it, as do the residents +of the town of Missoula; and visiting sportsmen +from the East take out hundreds of pounds +every season. But the stream is so large and long, +and its net-work of tributaries so vast, and furnish +such fine spawning and breeding grounds, that it is +safe to say there will be trout here a century hence. +The heathen Chinee has never been permitted to +ply his infamous dynamite cartridge here, or in any +of the streams of this vicinity, as he has long been +doing in Colorado, Nevada, and elsewhere, and this +fact alone would account for the unimpaired supply +in these streams.</p> + +<p>The reproductive power of the mountain trout is +equal to all the tax likely to be levied against it +here by legitimate sportsmen, and if dynamiting +and netting are prohibited hereafter as heretofore, +no fear need be felt as to the future supply.</p> + +<p>The market fisherman of whom I spoke was a +faithful devotee to the fly, and never would use any +other lure. A white or gray hackle was his favorite. +He used a stiff, heavy pole, however, about ten feet +long, cut from the jungles that grow on the river bottom, +and a heavy line, a foot shorter, with double gut +for attaching the fly. He fished from the shore or +waded, as was necessary to reach the best water. +He cast with both hands, and the instant the fly +touched the water he would raise the tip so that +the line would just clear, and then trail or skitter +the fly gently, but rapidly, toward him. Thus, the +<span class="pagenum">[272]</span> +line being taut, when the fish arose to the fly he +would simply hook himself. Then he was ignominiously +"yanked," and either landed high and dry +on mother earth or in the ranchman's gunny-sack.</p> + +<p>Although devoid of sport and requiring little skill, +it was the most effective method of filling a "bag" +that I have ever seen practiced. I have seen him +take ten to twenty-five trout in an hour's fishing +and not miss a single rise. I had this man with me +on a hunting trip, and whenever we came within +two miles of a trout stream our table was sure to be +supplied with an abundance of fish.</p> + +<p>I visited Fort Maginnis in September, 1883, and +during my stay, Capt. F. H. Hathaway kindly +invited me to spend a day trouting with him on Big +Spring creek, a beautiful stream that flows out of +the Snowy Mountains about twenty-five miles from +the post. We left the captain's quarters at noon, +comfortably seated on his buckboard, while Sam, +Fishel, and Dick Thomas rode their horses and drove +a pack-mule, which carried a part of our provisions, +the remainder being carried on the buckboard.</p> + +<p>We covered the twenty-five miles by six o'clock, +camping at the base of the Snowies, within two miles +of the source of the creek, which source is a cluster +of large cold springs. We pitched our tent on the +bank of the creek, where it murmured sweet music +in its course over the rugged bottom and lulled us +into quiet and refreshing sleep with its rhythmical +sounds. When we awoke the next morning the +foot-hills all about us glistened with frost, and the +high peaks, three or four miles away, were draped +<span class="pagenum">[273]</span> +in a mantle of spotless white, which the storm-king +had spread upon them a few days ago.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the lateness of the season, a few +musquitoes began to sing about our ears as soon as +the sun came up. Fishel, who was full of droll +good nature, observed them.</p> + +<p>"Well, look here," he said, as he broke the ice in +the water pail and dipped out a basinful to wash in, +"I'll be doggoned if here aint a lot of these measley +musquitoes buzzing around here with buffalo overcoats +on."</p> + +<p>The keen mountain air at this low temperature, +and the grand scenery with which we were surrounded, +combined to sharpen our appetites, and +our breakfast beside a rousing camp-fire was enjoyed +as only a meal can be enjoyed amid such surroundings. +As soon as the sun had risen high enough +to banish the frost and warm the air slightly, the +grass all about us was set in motion by thousands +of grasshoppers who gamboled playfully, in order, +apparently, to warm up their benumbed limbs +and get an appetite for breakfast. All hands then +turned out and harvested a goodly supply of them, +for we had been advised that the trout in that stream +would not take a fly so late in the season.</p> + +<p>Then we proceeded to business; the captain and +Dick fishing up the stream and I down, while Sam +took his rifle and went across the hills in search of +game. The stream, where we started in, was not +more than three to four feet wide and two feet deep +in the deepest holes, yet at the first cast I hooked a +trout that after a few vigorous plunges took the +barb off my hook and departed. I put on a new +<span class="pagenum">[274]</span> +one and had better luck next time, for in another +hole a few rods farther down I took one that weighed +a pound and a half.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the captain shouted to me, and +looking up the stream I saw him displaying one of +about the same size. We each followed our courses, +and did not meet again for some hours, when the +captain came down to see how I was getting on. He +had eight and I had six, the average weight of +which was over a pound each. He relieved me of +my load and returned to camp, and from that time +on did but little fishing himself, preferring, in +the fullness of his generous nature, to devote the +most of his time to accompanying me, showing +me the most favorable points, exulting in my success, +and in every way possible promoting my comfort. +Whenever he left me for a short time he would +send one of his men to take my fish to camp, dress +them, and do anything and everything else possible +for me.</p> + +<p>I fished down the creek nearly two miles during +the day, going over parts of the stream two or three +times, not ceasing from the fascinating sport long +enough to even eat a lunch that I carried in my +pocket. Nor did I turn my steps toward camp until +it became so dark that the fish would no longer rise. +Then, when I started campward, I met Dick coming +with an extra saddle horse which the captain had +kindly sent for me to ride.</p> + +<p>After supper came the always charming social +intercourse around the camp-fire, the exchange of +personal notes of the day's sport—the experience +meeting, so to speak. No one had misgivings to +<span class="pagenum">[275]</span> +record so far as the fishing was concerned. Each had +enjoyed his full measure of the grand sport, as was +evidenced by the display of the several strings of +salmon-colored beauties which hung around the +camp-fire. There was not a fingerling in the entire +catch. No one had caught a trout during the day +of less than four ounces in weight, and very few of +that size had been taken. The majority of them +ranged between half a pound and two pounds, and +the numbers were only limited by the amount of +work each had done. My friends, being residents +and accustomed to this kind of sport whenever +they choose to enjoy it, had not cared to fish all +day, and consequently had not taken so many as I, +but had taken all they wanted.</p> + +<p>The only man in the party who had anything to +regret in the day's experience was Sam. He had +started a large bull elk early in the morning and +had followed him several miles, but had not been +able to get a favorable shot, though he had twice +caught sight of him. We all sympathized deeply +with him in his misfortune, for Sam is an expert +shot with the rifle, and if he had ever drawn a bead +on the game we should have had elk steak on our +table at the next meal, sure.</p> + +<p>We broke camp early the next morning and prepared +to start for home, but decided to fish down +the creek till near noon before leaving it. We drove +down about a mile, when I alighted and started in, +the others distributing themselves at other points +along the stream. The trout rose as rapidly and +gamily as on the previous day, and I soon had a +load in my creel that pulled down uncomfortably.<span class="pagenum">[276]</span> +Among them was one old nine-spot which turned the +scales at two and a quarter pounds after having been +out of the water over two hours. He measured +seventeen and a half inches in length.</p> + +<p>The captain told me of a certain deep hole where +he said an old pioneer made his headquarters, who +had taken off two hooks and leaders for him on two +different days during the summer. When I reached +the hole I recognized it in a moment by the captain's +description. It was in a short bend or angle of the +creek. On the opposite side from where I stood, and +on the lower angle of the square, the channel had +cut a deep hole under an overhanging bank, which +was covered with willows. These drooped over the +water and shaded it nicely. There was a slight +eddy there and the surface of the water was flecked +with bits of white foam which came from the rapids +just above. What a paradise for a wary old trout!</p> + +<p>I stopped about forty feet above the hole and put +on one of the largest hoppers in my box; then I +reeled out ten or fifteen feet of line and cast into +the foot of the rapid. As the current straightened +out my line I reeled off more of it and still more until +it floated gently and gracefully down into the dark +eddy, and when within two feet of the edge of the +bank there was a whirl, a surge, a break in the +water, as if a full-grown beaver had been suddenly +frightened from his sun bath on the surface and had +started for the bottom. I saw a long, broad gleam +of silvery white, my line cut through the water, and +the old-timer started for his bed under the bank.</p> + +<p>I struck at the proper instant, and, bending my +little split bamboo almost double, brought him +<span class="pagenum">[277]</span> +up with a short turn. He darted up the stream a +few feet, and again turning square about started for +his den. I snubbed him again. This time he shot +down the creek, and, turning, made another dive +for his hiding place. Again I gave him the butt, +but this time he was determined to free himself, +and with a frantic plunge he tore the hook from his +mouth and disappeared in his dark retreat.</p> + +<p>My heart sank within me, when I realized that +he was gone. He was truly a monster, fully two +feet long, and I think would have weighed four +pounds or over. I reeled up and made two or three +more casts in the same hole. His mate, a comely-looking +fellow, but not nearly so large, came out +once and smelt of the bait but declined to take it. +He had evidently seen enough to convince him that +it was not the kind of a dinner he was looking +for. I fished down the creek for an hour and then +returned and tried the old fellow again, but he had +not yet forgotten his recent set-to with me, and +refused to come out. I presume he is still there, +and will probably reign for some years to come, +the terror of tackle owners, unless someone gets +a hook firmly fastened in his jaw, and has tackle +sufficiently derrick-like to land him; and whoever +that lucky individual may be, I congratulate him in +advance. My tackle would have held him if I had +been fortunate enough to get the proper <i>cinch</i> on +him, and the only thing I have to regret in thinking +of the trip, is that I was not so fortunate.</p> + +<p>We had enough, however, without him. We took +home forty-eight trout that weighed, when dressed, +sixty pounds, and of all the many days I have spent +<span class="pagenum">[278]</span> +fishing in the many years long gone, I never enjoyed +any more intensely, never had grander sport than in +these two days on Big Spring creek.</p> + +<p>It has been stated that the mountain trout lacks +the game qualities of our Eastern brook trout. I +have not found it so. They are quite as gamy, as +vicious in their fighting, and as destructive to fine +tackle as the brook trout, the only perceptible difference +being that they do not fight so long. They +yield, however, only after a stubborn resistance, +sufficiently prolonged to challenge the admiration +of any angler. I have caught a number of two and +three pounders that required very careful and +patient handling for twenty to thirty minutes +before they could be brought to the landing net.</p> + +<p>There are various other streams along the line of +the Northern Pacific Railroad which afford almost +equally as fine sport as the Bitter Root, and some +of them that are even more picturesque and beautiful. +In fact, nearly every stream reached by the +road, between Billings and Puget Sound, teems with +these graceful beauties. By leaving the road at +almost any point on the Rocky Mountain or Pend +d'Orielle Divisions and pushing back into the +mountains twenty to one hundred miles, the enterprising +angler may find streams whose banks have +seldom been profaned by the foot of a white man; +where an artificial fly has seldom or never fallen +upon the sparkling blue waters, and yet where millions +of these beautiful creatures swarm, ready to +rush upon anything that reaches the surface of +their element bearing the least resemblance to their +natural food, with all the fearless enthusiasm of +<span class="pagenum">[279]</span> +untainted and unrestrained nature. In these wilder +regions the tourist will also find frequent use for his +rifle, for elk, bear, deer, mountain sheep, and other +large game may yet be found in reasonable quantities +in all such undisturbed fastnesses.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_279.jpg" alt="279" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[280]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<p class="h3">DEER HUNTING IN WISCONSIN.</p> + +<div class="i280"> +<div id="i280_0"> </div> +<div id="i280_1"> </div> +<div id="i280_2"> </div> +<div id="i280_3"> </div> +<div id="i280_4"> </div> +<div id="i280_5"> </div> +<div id="i280_6"> </div> +<div id="i280_7"> </div> +<div id="i280_8"> </div> +<div id="i280_9"> </div> +<div id="i280_10"> </div> +<div id="i280_11"> </div> +<div id="i280_12"> </div> +<div id="i280_13"> </div> +<div id="i280_14"> </div> +<div id="i280_15"> </div> +<div id="i280_16"> </div> +<div id="i280_17"> </div> +<div id="i280_18"> </div> +<div id="i280_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">ORTHERN</span> +Wisconsin is one vast and +almost unbroken deer range. It is penetrated +by several railroads, along the +immediate lines of which are a few small +farms and some fair-sized towns and villages; +but on going a few miles back from these +roads, in almost any direction, one passes +the confines of civilization and enters a +wilderness that is broken only by the numerous +logging camps, and these as a rule +are occupied only in winter. Thousands of acres +of these pine lands have been chopped over, +and the old slashings, having grown up to brush, +brambles, and briars of various kinds, furnish +excellent cover and feeding grounds for <i>Cervus +Virginianus</i>.</p> + +<p>True, it is difficult to see the game at any great +distance in these thickets, unless the hunter take his +stand on a high stump or log and wait until the deer +come in sight. This is a favorite and very successful +method of hunting with many who know how to +choose location and time of day. But adjacent to +these slashings are usually large tracts of open +woods, frequently hardwood ridges, through which +<span class="pagenum">[281]</span> +the game passes at intervals while moving from one +feeding ground to another. In such localities a deer +may be seen at a considerable distance, and shots +are often taken at 150 to 200 yards.</p> + +<p>I remember one of my first trips to these hunting +grounds, many years ago, before I knew how to +sneak on the game, and before I had gained sufficient +control of my nerves to be able to stop a deer while +vaulting over a fallen tree trunk, turning suddenly +from left to right and <i>vice versa</i>, as a wary old buck +will frequently do when fleeing from a hunter. I +stopped at a hotel in Merrill, on the Wisconsin +Valley Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. +Paul Railway, and, having learned something of +the nature of the surrounding country by a hasty +tramp in the afternoon, I got up the next morning +and started at four o'clock to what seemed to be a +favorable piece of ground. By daylight I was on +the margin of a large slash that, since being chopped +off, had burned over and then grown up to brush +and weeds. There were many blackened trunks of +trees lying everywhere, and some still standing that +had been scorched and roasted in the great conflagration +that had swept over the country, but had not +been entirely consumed. These latter, stripped of +bark and limbs, looked like gloomy monuments +placed there to mark the resting places of their +hapless fellows, and the whole aspect of the landscape +in the gray of dawn was weird and chilly in +the extreme. There was scarcely a breath of air +stirring, and by listening intently I could hear the +rustling of dry leaves and the occasional snapping +of twigs in various directions, that indicated the +<span class="pagenum">[282]</span> +near presence of the game and set my blood tingling +and my nerves twitching.</p> +</div> + +<p>So soon as there was sufficient light to show the +front sight of my rifle against a gray stump fifty +yards away, I started to move, as cautiously as I +knew how, toward a clump of wild-cherry bushes +that I had seen moving and from which came slight +but suspicious sounds. When within thirty yards +of it I stepped on a stick that snapped, and simultaneously +with the sound a monster buck leaped +high in the air, and landing twenty feet away, +uttered a shrill whistle and stopped, with his head +thrown up, to try and locate the danger. I brought +my rifle to my shoulder with a convulsive jerk, +pointed it at him and fired without thinking of the +sights, and of course scored an ignominious miss.</p> + +<p>Well, I wish every friend I have on earth could +have been there at that moment. That whole tract +of country, as far as I could see, seemed alive with +deer. Thrash! Crash! Bumpety-bump! Phew! +Phew!</p> + +<p>There was jumping, thrashing through the brush, +whistling, flipping and flapping of white flags, and +the air seemed full of glistening gray coats. The +buck I had shot at sailed away, and was soon followed +in his flight by a doe and two fawns. A doe +and fawn went in another direction, three fawns +in another, two does and a buck in another, and so +on <i>ad infinitum</i>.</p> + +<p>I stood there; like a mile-post by the roadside, +until they had all vanished, forgetting that I had +other cartridges in my belt. Finally I recovered +consciousness and began to wonder where some of +<span class="pagenum">[283]</span> +those deer would stop. If I could only get another +chance such as I had on that buck, wouldn't I down +him in fine style? I would plant a bullet in the +center of his shoulder next time sure. No dime-novel +scout was ever more unerring in his aim than +I would be if I could only get another aim. I +started on toward the top of a ridge, over which one +of the large bucks had disappeared, and on reaching +it I saw him, or some other one, just behind an oak +grub on the opposite side-hill. I raised my rifle and +took careful aim this time, but was so nervous that +I could not hold the bead on him, and when I pulled +he made another series of those daring leaps that +soon carried him out of sight. I fired a second shot +at him as he went, but with no better result than +the first.</p> + +<p>I now crossed over to the farther edge of the slash, +and, seeing no more game, started through a body of +large pines to an old burn that I had been told lay +a mile to the east. I was walking hurriedly through +this green timber, not expecting to see game, and +stepped upon a large log, when a doe and two fawns, +that had been lying down in the top of a fallen tree, +jumped and ran across in front of me, offering an +excellent opportunity for a good shot to have killed +all three of them. I slung lead after them at a lively +rate, firing five or six shots before they got out of +sight, but did no further harm than to accidentally +clip an ear off one of the fawns close down to its +head.</p> + +<p>After they were gone I went and picked up this +trophy and stopped to meditate on my ill-luck, or +want of skill. I then remembered that though I had +<span class="pagenum">[284]</span> +striven to hold the front sight on one or the other +of the deer at each shot after the first, I had entirely +forgotten to look through the notch in the rear +sight. Chagrined and mortified beyond all power +to describe, I trudged along and finally reached the +burn I was in search of. The sun was now high +in the heavens and shining brightly, so that the +game was no longer on foot, but had sought the +seclusion of various bits of dense cover and lain +down. My only chance for a shot was, therefore, in +walking them up, which I proceeded to do. The +brush was dense all over this burn, so that I could +rarely see twenty yards in any direction, yet I hoped +against hope for another chance. I was desperate +over the disgraceful failures I had made, and yet I +knew I could shoot. I had killed quantities of small +game with the same rifle I was then using and had +killed one deer years ago with an old muzzle loader. +I could always depend upon making a good fair +score at the target at 200 yards, or even longer +ranges, and yet I had shot away a dozen cartridges +this morning at deer, some of which were standing +within a few yards of me, and had not stopped one +of them. I was furious, and determined that the +next shot should tell.</p> + +<p>I walked down an old logging-road several hundred +yards, hoping that some belated traveler might be +found crossing or walking in it, but, failing in this, +I turned out and walked along the crest of a ridge, +looking down both sides of it. Struggling through +briers and brush, making a good deal of noise, unavoidably, +I still failed to jump a deer until I left +the ridge and started toward a "draw" in which +<span class="pagenum">[285]</span> +was a small meadow or slough. When half way +down the hill I came to a large stump, about four +feet high, from which a tree had been cut when the +snow was deep. I climbed upon this to take a look +at the surrounding country. As I did so, a large +buck that had been been lying just below it, sprang +from his bed and bounded away through the brush, +showing here and there a flash of his white flag and +a gleam of his majestic antlers, but not enough of +his body to shoot at. I was perfectly cool now. My +nervousness had all disappeared. In short, I was +mad. I stood watching his course and awaiting +developments with all the confidence and coolness +of a veteran, instead of the novice I really was. He +ran down the long hill, across the swale, and up the +hill on the opposite side, and, on reaching the top of +it and coming out upon open ground, turned broadside +and stopped to look at me, doubtless deeming +himself perfectly safe at that great distance. Standing +erect on that high stump I was clear above the +surrounding underbrush and had a fine view of the +magnificent quarry. His head was thrown high up +and well back; his ears erect, nostrils distended, and +even at that distance I imagined I could see the +defiant gleam of his jet black eye. His glossy coat +glistened in the brilliant autumn sunlight, and his +spreading antlers and powerful muscular development +characterized him as a giant among his kind. +As I raised my rifle slowly to my shoulder, I felt +that at last I had perfect control of my nerves and +that I was in some measure to redeem myself from +the ignominy of past failures. I had elevated my +rear sight for 250 yards, and as I looked through +<span class="pagenum">[286]</span> +the delicate notch in it and saw the little golden +front bead glimmer on the buck's shoulder, the muzzle +of the rifle was as steady and immovable as if +screwed in a vice. There was no tremor, no vibration +now; and holding well up to the spine and +showing the full size of the bead, to allow for the +distance, I pressed the trigger.</p> + +<p>At the report the deer bounded into the air as if +a dynamite cartridge had exploded under him, and, +lowering his head to a line with his body, started +to run. There was none of those lofty, airy leaps +now, no defiant waving to and fro of the white flag. +That emblem was closely furled. His pride was +broken and his sole object in life seemed to be to get +out of the country as soon as possible. The course +he had taken lay along the top of the ridge and I +had a fine view of the run from start to finish. He +at once began to waver in his course, turning slightly +from left to right and from right to left. He +stumbled and staggered like a blind horse. He ran +crashing and smashing into the dead top of a fallen +tree, breaking the dry limbs, some of them three or +four inches in diameter, as if they had been rye +straws. When he had gone as far into this labyrinth +of branches as he could get, he sank to the ground +as if exhausted, but suddenly rose again, extricated +himself by a few desperate struggles to the right, +and sped on. He ran squarely against a good-sized +sapling with such force as to throw him prostrate +upon his side. Still, his great vitality was not spent, +and, struggling to his feet, he dashed on again. +Next he ran against a log that lay up from the +ground some three feet and was set back upon his +<span class="pagenum">[287]</span> +haunches. He quickly recovered, took it in good +shape, and now dashed into a clump of oak grubs +that still held their dry leaves. Tearing and forcing +his way through these, he forged ahead with all his +remaining strength and plunged headlong into +another fallen tree-top. In this he struggled, trying +to force his way out until he sank upon the ground +from sheer loss of blood and expired. From where +he stood when I shot, to where he finally fell was +about 300 yards.</p> + +<p>I stepped the distance from where I stood to where +the deer was when I fired and found it to be 267 +yards. Taking up his trail, I found the ground +copiously sprinkled with blood where he came down +at the end of his first jump, and the leaves and brush +were crimsoned with it from there to where he gave +up the struggle. On coming up to him I found +that my bullet had drifted slightly to the left, owing +to the force of a strong wind which was blowing at +the time, and cut his throat almost as neatly as I +could have done it with my hunting-knife. The +oesophagus was entirely severed and the thorax +nearly so. His body was sadly bruised and lacerated +by the terrible ordeal through which he had +passed, and I concluded that he must have gone +stone blind when the bullet struck him. In no +other way can I account for his strange conduct. I +saved his head and had it mounted as a memento +of one of the most remarkable scratch shots I ever +made.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[288]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<p class="h3">THREE OF A KIND.</p> + +<div class="i288"> +<div id="i288_0"> </div> +<div id="i288_1"> </div> +<div id="i288_2"> </div> +<div id="i288_3"> </div> +<div id="i288_4"> </div> +<div id="i288_5"> </div> +<div id="i288_6"> </div> +<div id="i288_7"> </div> +<div id="i288_8"> </div> +<div id="i288_9"> </div> +<div id="i288_10"> </div> +<div id="i288_11"> </div> +<div id="i288_12"> </div> +<div id="i288_13"> </div> +<div id="i288_14"> </div> +<div id="i288_15"> </div> +<div id="i288_16"> </div> +<div id="i288_17"> </div> +<div id="i288_18"> </div> +<div id="i288_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">ARLY</span> +autumn's frosts had tinged the +foliage of the birch, maple, oak, and elm +trees, that intermingle in the great +pine forests, with a thousand rich +colors and shades of gold, brown, olive, +pink, and crimson, while the pines, the +hemlocks, the firs, and the cedars still +wore their dark mantels of perennial green, +and all Nature was clad in her sweetest smiles. +A solitary woodpecker, perched on the topmost +branch of a dead giant of the forest, reaching out +far above the surrounding network of leafy branches, +from which he might survey the surrounding country, +sounded his morning reveille and awaited the +coming of his mate. The dry leaves with which +mother earth was carpeted, rustled now and again +to the bound of the saucy red squirrel, the darting +hither and thither of the shy wood-mouse, or the +tread of the stupid, half-witted porcupine. The +chill October wind soughed through the swaying +tree-tops, laden with the rich ozone that gives life, +health, and happiness to all animate beings that are +permitted to inhale it.</p> + +<p>On such a morning, and amid such a scene of +natural loveliness, I left the train at Junction City, +<span class="pagenum">[289]</span> +on the Wisconsin Central Railway, started on a +three-mile jaunt to a logging camp, for a day or two +on a deer roundup. I reached my destination at nine +o'clock. The men had long since gone to their work, +but the "boss" had returned to camp to attend to +some business in hand, and, welcoming me with the +generous hospitality that is always shown by these +sturdy sons of the forest to strangers, bade me make +myself at home as long as I cared to stay. To my +inquiry as to the presence of game in the vicinity, +he said there was plenty of it, and that the men saw +one or more deer nearly every day while going to +or returning from their work, which was only a +mile away.</p> + +<p>I lost no time in getting out and entering an old +slashing to the east of the camp where the foreman +said signs were plentiful. I had not gone more +than half a mile, when, turning to the left, on an +old logging road, I saw several fresh tracks of deer +that had been feeding there that morning. It was +now eleven o'clock in the forenoon and I had no +hope of finding the game on foot at that late hour, +but depended entirely upon jumping a deer from its +bed and upon having to risk, in all probability, a +running shot. I moved very cautiously, however, +and was on the <i>qui vive</i> for any straggler that +might perchance be moving. Every foot of ground +that came within the scope of my vision was carefully +scanned and every sound or movement of leaf +or shrub, no matter how slight, received the most +careful attention, during long and frequent pauses, +before proceeding on my way.</p> +</div> + +<p>I followed the road through various turns, along +<span class="pagenum">[290]</span> +the bed of a slight ravine, and as I rounded one of +its abrupt bends that gave me a view of a considerable +expanse of hill-side, I stopped again to reconnoitre. +The ground was covered with a dense growth +of weeds, raspberry briers, and wild-cherry bushes +that had sprung up since the timber had been +cut off, all of which had been stricken by +recent frosts, and dried by subsequent sun and +wind. In these dry weeds I saw a slight movement, +and on careful examination was able to distinguish +a faint outline of a doe, standing partially behind a +large stump, a hundred yards away. Her head and +shoulders were entirely hidden by the stump, and +I had to step back some distance before I could get +sight of a vital part to shoot at. As her shoulder +came in view I knelt on my right knee, rested my +left elbow on my left knee, and, drawing a fine bead +on her shoulder, fired. She dropped in her tracks. +My aim was a little higher than I intended, and the +bullet, passing through her shoulder blades high +up, severed the spine between them on its way, +killing her as suddenly as if it had entered the +brain. At the report of the rifle a young buck +bounded out of the brush near by and waved me a +vaunting farewell as he disappeared over the ridge, +not giving me even a fair running shot. I dressed +the doe and went back to camp for dinner, the +welcome notes of the huge old tin horn, floating +in musical cadence through the forest, summoning +me at that moment to that much needed repast.</p> + +<p>After dinner I went out on another old unused +logging road, leading to the south, and, following it +a few hundred yards, branched off to another which +<span class="pagenum">[291]</span> +led to the southwest. A number of fallen trees, +lying across these, gave me frequent opportunities +to mount their prostrate trunks and look over large +tracts of surrounding country. In thus sauntering +and looking I had spent an hour or more when, +on passing an unusually dense clump of tall dry weeds +that stood near the road, I was startled by a sudden +crashing and rattling among them, and an instant +later two large does broke cover at the farther side +and started across a narrow open space. But before +they reached the farther side of it the voice of my +Winchester express was reverberating among the +lofty pines, and a cloud of smoke hung between me +and where I had last seen them. I sprang to one side +to avoid this, but they had both disappeared in the +thicket, and I could still hear one of them crashing +away toward the green woods. I felt sure that +I had hit the other, and, going to where I had last +seen her, I found blood, hair, and several small bits +of flesh on the ground and the neighboring weeds. +Following the trail a distance of fifty feet, I found +her lying dead with her throat cut, and, in fact, a +considerable portion of it shot away. The express +bullet, driven by a heavy charge of powder, has +such a high velocity that when it strikes flesh it +invariably makes a big hole in it. One hind leg was +also broken squarely off at the knee and the bone +protruded through the skin.</p> + +<p>I stood pondering and puzzling over this strange +phenomenon. How in the name of wonder could +one bullet break her hind leg and cut her throat? +I stooped down and examined the wound. To my +surprise, I found that it had not been made with a +<span class="pagenum">[292]</span> +bullet at all. The joint was dislocated and the skin +torn away until the disjointed member hung only +by a narrow segment. Then the mystery was +deeper than ever. What could possibly have caused +this violent and terrible wound? It had been made +after I shot, for at that time the agile creature was +bounding over logs and through clumps of brush +with all the grace and airiness of her sylph-like +nature. I turned, took up her back track, and, +following it thirty or forty feet, came to a fallen +tamarack sapling about six inches in diameter, that +laid up about a foot from the ground. The track +showed that the poor creature, in one of her frantic +leaps, just after being hit, came down with her fore +feet on one side of this pole and her hind feet on the +other; that one hind foot had slipped on the soft +earth and slid under the pole to her knee, and that +the next bound had brought it up against the pole +in the form of a lever—much as a logger would place +his handspike under it in attempting to throw it out +of his way—and the pole, being far too long and +heavy to yield to her strength, the leg had been +snapped short off.</p> + +<p>I describe this incident merely as one of the many +strange and mysterious ones that come under the +observation of woodsmen, and not with any desire to +give pain to sensitive and sympathetic readers.</p> + +<p>The beautiful animal did not suffer long from this +hurt, however, for she was dead when I reached her, +within perhaps three or four minutes after I fired +the fatal shot. I saved her head and had it mounted +and it hangs beside that of the buck whose taking +off has been described and whose throat was also +<span class="pagenum">[293]</span> +neatly severed by the bullet. They were two remarkable +shots.</p> + +<p>After dressing this deer I returned to the old burn +in which I had killed the doe in the morning, and +took a stand on a high, flat-top stump, which commanded +a good view of a large tract of surrounding +country. I felt certain that the young buck that +was with her when I killed her would come back +toward night to look up his companion, for he probably +did not realize that she was dead. I stood +within thirty yards of her carcass and for an hour +kept a close watch in every direction, turning slowly +from one position to another, so that any game that +came in sight could not detect the movement and +would, if seeing me at all, consider me one of the +numerous old high stumps with which the landscape +was marked. Toward sundown a large, handsome +buck came out of the green woods half a mile away, +walking deliberately toward me. I could see only +a proud head and spreading antlers, and an occasional +glimpse of his silvery-gray back as he marched +with stately but cautious tread through the dry +weeds. He stopped frequently to look and listen +for danger, or the coy maidens of his kind, of whom +he was in search. Oh, how I longed for a shot at +him! With bated breath and throbbing heart I +watched his slow progress across the open country. +But, alas! the wind (what little there was) was +wrong. When within about 200 yards of me he +scented me and bounded squarely sidewise as +though a rattlesnake had bitten him, uttering at the +same time one of those peculiarly thrilling whistles +that might have been heard in the stillness of the +<span class="pagenum">[294]</span> +evening a mile or more. He struck a picturesque +attitude and scanned the country in every direction, +trying to locate the danger but could not. After a +few seconds he made another high bound, stopped, +and whistled again. I stood perfectly still, and he +could make nothing animate out of the inanimate +objects about him. He leaped hither and thither, +snorted, whistled, and sniffed the air as we have seen +a wild colt do when liberated in a pasture field after +long confinement in his stall.</p> + +<p>Although still unable to satisfy himself as to the +whereabouts of his foe, he finally seemed to decide +that that was not a healthy neighborhood for him, +and, taking his back trail, started to get out of +it by a series of twenty-foot leaps. I was tempted +to hazard a shot at him, but could see such a small +portion of his body when standing that the chances +were against making a hit. Besides, as already +stated, I felt sure of a shot at shorter range by +keeping still. I watched and listened closely in +every direction. The sun had gone down. Night +was silently wrapping her somber mantle over the +vast wilderness, and the only sounds that broke the +oppressive stillness were the occasional croakings of +the raven as he winged his stately flight to his +rookery, and the low, solemn sighing of the autumn +breezes through the pine tops. I was benumbed +with cold, and was tempted to desert my post and +make a run for camp. I raised my rifle to my +shoulder to see if I could yet see the sights, for +stars were beginning to sparkle in the firmament. +Yes; the little gold bead at the muzzle still gleamed +in the twilight, with all the brilliancy of one of the +<span class="pagenum">[295]</span> +lamps of heaven. I turned to take a last look in +the direction of the carcass of my morning's kill, +and—imagine my astonishment if you can—there +stood the young buck, licking the body of his fallen +mate! How he ever got there through all those +brush and weeds without my hearing or seeing him +will always remain a profound mystery to me. But a +ball from my express entering his shoulder and passing +out at his flank laid him dead by the side of his +companion, and completed the best score I ever +made on deer—three in one day—and I had fired but +three shots in all.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_295.jpg" alt="295" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[296]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<div class="i296"> +<div id="i296_0"> </div> +<div id="i296_1"> </div> +<div id="i296_2"> </div> +<div id="i296_3"> </div> +<div id="i296_4"> </div> +<div id="i296_5"> </div> +<div id="i296_6"> </div> +<div id="i296_7"> </div> +<div id="i296_8"> </div> +<div id="i296_9"> </div> +<div id="i296_10"> </div> +<div id="i296_11"> </div> +<div id="i296_12"> </div> +<div id="i296_13"> </div> +<div id="i296_14"> </div> +<div id="i296_15"> </div> +<div id="i296_16"> </div> +<div id="i296_17"> </div> +<div id="i296_18"> </div> +<div id="i296_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter" style="text-indent:-.9em"><span class="chapter">R.</span> +George T. Pease lives in a log shanty, in +the heart of the great Wisconsin pine +woods, five miles west of Wausaukee +station, on the Milwaukee & Northern +Railroad. A beautiful little lake stretches +out in front of his door, in which numerous +black bass make their home, and +several brooks meander through the wilderness +not far away, all of which abound +in the sprightly, sparkling brook trout. Deer +roam over the hills far and near, and when +the first "tracking snow" comes, in the van of icy +winter, their hoof-prints may be found within a +hundred yards of the cabin any morning. Pease is +a genial, kind-hearted old man, in whose humble +quarters the true sportsman is always welcome. +Reared in these woods, and bred in the pure atmosphere +that abounds here, a hunter by trade and +from necessity, he is a simple, honest child of nature. +With the exception of four or five years spent in +the service of his country, during the war of the +Rebellion, he has lived and hunted in this region +since the days of his boyhood, and his gray hairs +bespeak for him the respect men always feel for the +honest old woodsman.</p> + +<p>I spent several days hunting with him in November, +1885, and the intervening nights—or a large +<span class="pagenum">[297]</span> +portion of each—in talking with him. I learned in +that short time to esteem and value him as one of +the best guides and hunters I ever knew, and one of +the truest friends I have. Although he has been +hunting so many years and has always been a close +observer of the habits of game; although thoroughly +posted on woodcraft in all its details, he is not +egotistical as are so many old woodsmen. He never +intrudes his opinions on any subject unless asked +for them; never dictates what anyone under his +guidance shall do. He modestly suggests, and if +you do not agree with him, defers cheerfully to +your judgment.</p> + +<p>He is intelligent, well-informed generally, full of +interesting reminiscences of his life in the wilderness, +and relates many thrilling episodes in his experience +in hunting deer, bear, wolves, etc. He told +me that once, when hunting on the Menominee river, +he saw a doe lying down, and raised his rifle to shoot +her. But before firing he noticed that she had seen +him and was struggling to get up. As she did not +succeed in this, he concluded that she must have +been wounded, and started toward her. She kept +struggling, but was unable to rise, and on going to +her he found that she had lain down near a large +hemlock root, that had curved out of the ground, +forming an arch or loop three or four inches high. +One of her hind legs had slipped under this root to +the knee, and when she had attempted to get up she +had probably been thrown violently on her side, dislocating +the hip joint and thus rendering it utterly +impossible for her to draw the imprisoned leg from +under the root. He said the poor creature had apparently +<span class="pagenum">[298]</span> +been in this pitiable plight several days; that +she was starved and emaciated almost to a shadow, +and had tramped and pawed a hole in the earth more +than a foot deep, over the entire space reached by +her fore feet. Had she not been discovered, the poor +creature must soon have died from starvation. As +it was, she was so weak that when he released her +leg from this strange trap she was unable to stand, +and he reluctantly killed her, as the speediest, most +humane, and, in fact, the only means of ending her +misery.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I reached the old man's cabin at about noon. We +hunted diligently all the afternoon, and though we +saw plenty of fresh tracks everywhere in the newly-fallen +snow, neither of us could get sight of a deer, +and when we met at the shanty at dark and +exchanged notes, Pease was sorely disappointed. +The next forenoon was a repetition of this experience, +and when we met again at the cabin for +dinner, both empty-handed, his disappointment was +intensified into despondency. We separated after +the noon meal, and when we came in at night, I +looked even more dejected and disgusted than ever, +and asserted, with a good deal of emphasis, that I +did not believe the "blasted" country was any good +for game; that I thought he or someone had hunted +the deer and shot at them until they were so wild that +no man could get within 500 yards of one. He +insisted that such was not the case; that he had +been killing plenty of deer that fall, and that others +had killed a few in the neighborhood, but not +enough to spoil the hunting, as I claimed. He said +<span class="pagenum">[299]</span> +our want of success utterly astonished him; that he +was truly sorry; that he could not account for it, +and that we should surely make a killing on the +morrow.</p> + +<p>"Have you seen any fresh tracks to-day?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, plenty of them; haven't you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, two or three; but I think the deer +that made them were ten miles away when I got +there."</p> + +<p>"Why," said he, "when I started out this afternoon +I skirted along that big swamp, where you +hunted in the morning, and I saw where four deer +had crossed your track since you went along. One +of them was an awful big buck. I took up his trail +and followed it in hopes of overtaking him and getting +a shot. He roamed and circled around among +the hills and through the swamps for, I reckon, +more than five miles. I walked just as still as I possibly +could, for I knew we were mighty nigh out of +meat, and I am gettin' mighty tired of bacon anyhow. +But somehow that buck heard me or smelt +me, or something, and the first and last I saw of him +was just one flip of his tail as he went over a ridge +about three hundred yards away. I sat down on a log +and waited and studied a long time what to do or +where to go next; and finally I concluded I'd just +come in and get supper ready by the time you got +here. Set up, sir, and have a cup of coffee and some +of these baked potatoes and some of this bacon. It +ain't much of a supper, but maybe we'll feel a little +better after we eat it, anyway."</p> + +<p>I surrounded one side of the rough pine table +suddenly, and when I got my mouth so full I couldn't +<span class="pagenum">[300]</span> +talk plain, I said, in a careless, uninterested sort of +a way:</p> + +<p>"I saw where you sat down on that log."</p> + +<p>"Did you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I sat down and rested there, too. I was +just about as tired and as disgusted and as mad as I +am now; but after sitting there ten or fifteen minutes, +I trudged along through that maple thicket just +below there, and when I got through it I saw a big +buck smelling along on a doe's track, up on the side-hill, +and I killed him and then started on after the +doe, and——"</p> + +<p>Pease had dropped his knife and fork and was +looking at me with his mouth half open and his eyes +half shut.</p> + +<p>"What did you say?" he inquired in a dazed, half-whispered +tone.</p> + +<p>"I say I killed the buck and then started——"</p> + +<p>"You killed a buck?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"When?" he gasped, with his mouth and eyes a +little wider open.</p> + +<p>"This afternoon," said I, calmly and complacently.</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"Why just below that thicket; just below where +you sat down on the log."</p> + +<p>The old man sat and gazed at me for two or three +minutes while I continued to eat as if nothing +unusual had happened.</p> + +<p>"Are you joking?" he said at last.</p> + +<p>"No; I'm telling you the straight truth. The +liver and heart are hanging out there on the corner +of the cabin; go out and look at them." +<span class="pagenum">[301]</span></p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be dad blasted!" shouted the old man, +as he jumped up and grasped me by the hand. +"Why on earth didn't you say so when you first +came in? What did you want to deceive me for? +Why did you want to do all that kicking about the +hunting being so poor?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just wanted to have a little fun with +you."</p> + +<p>Throughout that evening Pease was one of the +happiest men I ever saw. He seemed, and, in fact, +said he was, twice as proud to have me, his guest, +kill a deer as he would have been to have killed it +himself.</p> + +<p>He chatted cheerfully until eleven o'clock before +showing any signs of sleepiness. This was about all +the game I cared to kill, so I asked Pease to go into +the station and get a team to come out and take my +meat in. In order to pass the forenoon pleasantly, +I took my rifle and started into the woods again. I +went at once to the buck I had killed, reaching the +carcass shortly after sunrise. I cut down a jack +pine, and, trimming off the boughs, made a bed. +Then I laid down, took out a book and commenced +to read, while waiting for the team and for any deer +that might happen along.</p> + +<p>But I had not read half a dozen lines when I +heard a slight rustling and cracking in the frozen +snow, and, looking in the direction of the noise, I +saw a young spike buck walking slowly and deliberately +down the hill not a hundred yards away. I +caught up my express and made a snap shot at him, +but in my haste and surprise missed him clear. +At the report he stopped, threw up his head and +<span class="pagenum">[302]</span> +presented a beautiful picture, as well as a fair, easy +target.</p> + +<p>"Now, my lad," I said to myself, "you are my +meat sure."</p> + +<p>I was so confident of success this time that I +scarcely took any aim at all. Again I scored an +inglorious miss and the deer started away on a series +of long, high bounds. I threw in another cartridge, +held ahead of him, and as he struck the ground the +second time I pulled for the third time. Then there +was a circus of a kind that a hunter rarely sees. +The buck fell to bucking, bleating, and kicking. +His hind feet would go into the air like a couple of +arrows and with such force that they would snap +like a whip cracker. Then he would rear on his hind +feet and paw the air; then jump sidewise and backward. +He threw himself twice in his gyrations, and +each time was on his feet again almost before I +could realize that he had gone down. This gymnastic +exhibition lasted perhaps two or three +minutes, during which time I was so paralyzed with +laughter that I could not have shot within six feet +of him if I had tried. Besides, I wanted to see the +performance out. Finally the bucker recovered his +wits and skipped out. I followed and found that +he was discharging blood at such a rate that he +could not go far. He went into a large thicket. I +jumped him three times before I could get a fair shot +at him, and could hear him wheeze every time I came +near him. Finally I saw him lying a few yards +away, but his head was still up and I sent a bullet +through his neck. On examination I found that +my first shot had cut the point of his breastbone +<span class="pagenum">[303]</span> +off and had ruptured both his oesophagus and trachea. +I dragged him out and laid him by the side of the +big buck, and when Pease came in with the team +an hour later he said:</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be dad blasted if he hain't got another +one."</p> + +<p>I shall always remember that hunt as one of the +pleasantest of my life, considering the length of +time it occupied.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_303.jpg" alt="303" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[304]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<p class="h3">COWBOY LIFE.</p> + +<div class="i304"> +<div id="i304_0"> </div> +<div id="i304_1"> </div> +<div id="i304_2"> </div> +<div id="i304_3"> </div> +<div id="i304_4"> </div> +<div id="i304_5"> </div> +<div id="i304_6"> </div> +<div id="i304_7"> </div> +<div id="i304_8"> </div> +<div id="i304_9"> </div> +<div id="i304_10"> </div> +<div id="i304_11"> </div> +<div id="i304_12"> </div> +<div id="i304_13"> </div> +<div id="i304_14"> </div> +<div id="i304_15"> </div> +<div id="i304_16"> </div> +<div id="i304_17"> </div> +<div id="i304_18"> </div> +<div id="i304_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">HE</span> +workings of the law of evolution +are plainly discernible in the +development of the "cowboy," a +certain prominent and now well-defined +character of the far West—one +that was made necessary by, +and has grown out of, the vast cattle interests +which have, in the past two or three decades, spread +over that mystic region. His counterpart is scarcely +to be found anywhere else in the civilized world, for +the very good reason that such a species of manhood +is not required anywhere else. True, cattle-raising +is carried on extensively in many States of +our Union and in various other countries, but +nowhere under the same conditions and on the +same plan as in the West; hence, though herders, +drovers, and the like are employed elsewhere, there +is no locality in which a class of men endowed with +such characteristics and requiring such peculiar +tastes and faculties are to be found as are combined +in the cowboy of our Western plains. The life he +leads and the services he is required to perform call +into the business young men possessing tastes and +traits different from those of average human nature, +and such as are not found in men following any other +<span class="pagenum">[305]</span> +vocation, as a class. It is an occupation that entails, +generally speaking, a life of isolation from society, +and in many cases from civilization. It is one in +which home comforts must be dispensed with; it is +one requiring its devotees to live on plain food, in +log huts, and to sleep in blankets at best; it is one +in which there is often intense hardship and suffering, +and which exposes its disciples to dangers of +various kinds.</p> + +<p>When all these facts and peculiarities of the +calling are considered we must readily perceive that +men of ordinary tastes and inclinations would not +seek to engage in it. Cowboys are not "native and +to the manor born." They do not follow in the +footsteps of their fathers as do young men on Eastern +farms. The business is yet too young in our +Western Territories to have brought about this state +of affairs, though it will come to exist in future. But +at present cowboys are all exotics, transplanted from +Eastern soil. Let us consider, then, what manner of +boy or young man would adopt such a calling. +Certainly not he who considers a well-spread table, +a cozy, cheerful room, a good soft bed, and neat, +tasty clothing essential to his health and happiness; +nor he who is unwilling to sever his connection +with the social circle or the family group; nor he +who must have his daily paper, his comfortable +office chair and desk; his telegraph and other commercial +facilities and comforts; nor yet he who, +when he travels, must needs ride in a comfortable +carriage on the highway, or a Pullman coach on the +railway. But the young man who is willing to +engage in the occupation of "rustling cattle" +<span class="pagenum">[306]</span> +on the plains, who is willing to assume the title +of "cowboy," must be he who, although he may +love all these luxuries, and may perhaps have been +accustomed to enjoy them, has in his nature enough +of romance, enough love for outdoor life, enough +love of sport, excitement, and adventure, enough +enthusiasm for the wild freedom of the frontier, to +be willing to deny himself all these luxuries and +to allow such pleasures as the ranch and range can +afford, to compensate for them.</p> +</div> + +<p>The love of money can not enter largely into the +consideration of the question, for while the work is +often of the hardest kind a man can endure and the +hours of labor only limited by the men's power of +endurance, the wages usually paid are low. From +$25 to $35 a month is the average rate of wages for +all good men on the range except the foreman, who +commands from $60 to $75 a month, according to his +ability, the number of men he is to have charge of, +and the responsibility of his position generally. +Ambition to succeed to this dignity, or a desire to +learn the cattle-growing business with a view of +engaging in it on their own account, may induce +some boys to engage as herders, but the young man +who deliberately chooses this occupation is usually +one with a superabundance of vim, energy, and +enthusiasm; one who chafes under the restraints of +society, who is bored and annoyed by the quiet humdrum +life of the Eastern village, city, or farm house; +one who longs to go where he can breathe fresh air, +exercise his arms, legs, and lungs, if need be, without +disturbing the peace; one who, in short, requires +more room to live in than his birthplace affords.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">[307]</span> +Many a cowboy of to-day was, in his childhood +or youth, the street gamin, the newsboy, the +"hard nut" at school; the dare-devil of the rural +districts; the hero of daring exploits; the boy who +did not fear to climb to the top of the highest +tree to punch a squirrel out of his hole; who led the +raid on an orchard or watermelon patch on a dark +night; who at college was at the head of all wild, +reckless frolics, and was also well up in his classes; +who led the village marshal or the city policeman +many a wild-goose chase and caused them many a +sleepless night by his innocent though mischievous +pranks. He is the boy who was always ready for +a lark of any kind that could produce excitement, +fun, or adventure without bringing serious harm to +anyone. He was not the vicious, thieving, lying, +sneaking boy, but the irrepressible, uncontrollable, +wild, harum-scarum chap who led the gang; the +champion of the weak; the boy who would fight +"at the drop of the hat" in defense of a friend of +his own sex or of even a stranger of the opposite +sex. These are the boys of ten, twenty, or thirty +years ago whom to-day you may find riding wild +cayuses on the cattle ranges of the boundless +plains.</p> + +<p>As a class, they have been shamefully maligned. +That there are bad, vicious characters amongst them +can not be denied, but that many of the murders, +thefts, arsons, and other depredations which are +committed in the frontier towns and charged to +cowboys, are really committed by Indians, bummers, +superannuated buffalo hunters, and other hangers +on, who never do an honest day's work of any kind, +<span class="pagenum">[308]</span> +but who eke out a miserable, half-starved existence +by gambling, stealing, poisoning wolves, etc., is a +fact well known to every close student of frontier +life. And yet, crimes and misdemeanors are occasionally +committed by men who are, for the time +being at least, regularly employed in riding the +range. Fugitives from justice, thieves, cut-throats, +and hoodlums of all classes from the large cities +have drifted West, and have sought employment on +the ranges because nothing better or more congenial +offered; but such are seldom employed, +and if employed at all, are generally discharged as +soon as their true character is learned and their +places can be filled by worthier men.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_308.jpg" alt="308" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE "WOOLLY COWBOY.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">[309]</span> +Neither do I wish to defend the "fresh" young +man from the East who goes West to "paralyze" +the natives, who gets a job on the ranch, makes +a break for "loud togs," arms, and knives, large +nickel-plated spurs, raises a crop of long hair and +"catches on" to all the bad language of the country, +fills up on bad whisky at every opportunity and +then asserts that "he's a wolf, it's his night to +howl."</p> + +<p>Nor do I wish to defend the swarthy, loud-oathed, +heavily-armed "greaser" of Mexico and the Texan +ranges, who accounts himself a "cowboy" <i>par excellence</i>, +but who much prefers the filthy atmosphere +of the gambling den, or the variety dive of frontier +towns, to the pure air of the prairies. These are the +exceptions, and fortunately are in a "distinguished +minority," and it is but just that all such swaggering +humbugs should be loaded with the obloquy they +deserve, and should be appropriately branded, even +as their master's beasts are branded, that all the +world might know them, wherever found, for the +infamous humbugs that they are. My purpose +here is to champion the frank, honest, energetic, +industrious young fellows who engage in this calling +from pure motives, most of whom have fair educations, +and some of whom are graduates of Eastern +colleges—who are brimful of pure horse-sense, and +who are ambitious to earn an honest living, and to +make themselves useful to their employers in every +possible way, aside from their ability to snare a +bullock. Many of these are Nature's noblemen, +and their good qualities shine through their rough +garb, as the sunlight of heaven shines through a +<span class="pagenum">[310]</span> +rift in a dark cloud. Their hearts, though encased +in blue flannel or water-proof canvas, are as light +as the air they breathe; their minds as pure and +clear as the mountain brooks from which they love +to drink; their whole natures as generous and liberal +as the boundless meadows upon which their herds +graze, and their hospitality only limited by the +supply of food and other comforts they have with +which to entertain a visitor. Strangers are always +welcome at their shacks, and no matter at what time +of day or night you arrive, you and your horses +are promptly taken care of, you are invited to stay +and eat, to sleep if you will, and are promptly given to +understand that the best the ranch affords is at your +command. I have known many of these men intimately, +and have never known one who would not +cheerfully share his last ounce of food, his last dollar, +or his only blanket with a needy stranger; or +who would not walk and allow an unfortunately +dismounted traveler to ride his horse half way to +camp, or the ranch, even though that might be a +hundred miles away. They invariably refuse all +remuneration for services or accommodations of such +nature, and if it be pressed upon them, the stranger is +liable to be told in language more expressive than +elegant they don't make their living by taking care +of tenderfeet.</p> + +<p>As a class, they are brimful and running over with +wit, merriment, and good humor. They are always +ready for any bit of innocent fun, but are not perpetually +spoiling for a fight, as has so often been +said of them. They are at peace with all men, and +would not be otherwise from choice. As a rule, if a +<span class="pagenum">[311]</span> +man quarrel with one of them, he forces the war and +is himself to blame. Their love of fun often leads +to trouble, though generally because the victim of +it does not know how, or is not willing, to either +"chip in" or excuse himself. They are fond of +"piping off" anything that is particularly conspicuous, +or <i>vice versa</i>, no matter to whom it belongs, +and they dislike to see snobbish airs assumed in +their country, though such might pass current in +any Eastern city.</p> + +<p>I once saw a dude step out of a hotel in Cheyenne, +wearing a silk hat, cut-away coat, lavender pants, +high pressure collar, scarlet velvet scarf, patent +leather shoes, etc. Several cowboys were riding +through the street and spied him.</p> + +<p>"Say, Dick," said one of them, "what de ye +s'pose it is?"</p> + +<p>"Let's tackle it and see," said Dick; "it looks +alive."</p> + +<p>"Pard, hadn't you better put them togs on ice?" +queried another of the party. "They're liable to +spile in this climate."</p> + +<p>The youth was highly offended, gave them a +haughty, withering look, and without deigning a +reply of any kind turned to walk back into the hotel.</p> + +<p>"Let's brand it," said Dick, and as quick as a +flash a lariat fell about the dude, closed round his +slender waist, and he was a prisoner. The boys +gathered round him, chaffed him good-naturedly, +took his hat and rubbed the nap the wrong way, put +some alkali mud on his shoes, and then released him, +bidding him "go in and put on some clothes." A +little good-natured repartee on his part, or an invitation +<span class="pagenum">[312]</span> +to drink or smoke, or a pleasant reply of any +kind, would have let him out without any unpleasant +treatment; but he scorned them, and they considered +it a duty to society to post him on how to act +when away from home.</p> + +<p>A friend relates having seen an eccentric individual, +with a long plaid ulster, walking along the +principal street in Miles City, and as the sun came +out from behind a cloud and commenced to beam +down with a good deal of force, he raised a green +umbrella. A "cow puncher" rode up and, pointing +at the umbrella, asked:</p> + +<p>"What is she pard? Fetch her in and put a drink +in 'er."</p> + +<p>The man was both scared and mad. He thought +he had been insulted by one of those "notorious, +ruffianly cowboys." He called "police." But the +police was not at hand, and in the disturbance that +followed his umbrella was spirited away, he knew +not whither or by whom, and his plaid ulster was +somewhat damaged by contact with mother earth. +All he would have had to do to preserve the peace +and his self-respect, would have been to answer the +fellow good-naturedly in the first place, either +declining or accepting his invitation, and he could +have gone on his way unmolested; but he brought +a small-sized riot on himself by assuming a dignity +that was out of place in that country and under such +circumstances.</p> + +<p>In common with all other human beings, the cowboy +requires and must have amusement of some +kind, and his isolated condition, depriving him of +the privileges of theatres, parties, billiards, and +<span class="pagenum">[313]</span> +other varieties of amusement that young men in the +States usually indulge in; of the refining and restraining +influences of the female sex, it is but natural that +his exuberance of spirit should find sport of other +kinds. His only sources of amusement on the ranch +are his rifle, revolver, bronco, lariat, and cards, and +in course of time he tires of these and seeks a change. +He goes to town and meets there some of his comrades +or acquaintances, and they indulge in some +wild pranks, which to Eastern people, and especially +those who happen to fall victims to their practical +jokes, appear ruffianly. Their love of excitement +and adventure sometimes gets the better of their +judgment, and they carry their fun to excess. They +corral the crew of a train which has stopped at the +station, and amuse themselves and the passengers by +making the conductor, brakeman, baggageman, +engineer, and fireman dance a jig to the music of six-shooters. +In one instance they boarded the train +and made the Theo. Thomas orchestra (which happened +to be aboard) give them an extemporaneous +concert. They have even been known to carry their +revels to a still worse stage than this, and to resort +to acts of real abuse and injury against defenseless +people. But such acts on the part of genuine cowboys +are rare. They are usually perpetrated by the +class, already mentioned, of "fresh" young chaps +or objectional characters who drift into the business +from other than pure motives, and frequently by +pretended cowboys who are not such in any sense of +the term. But by whomsoever perpetrated, such acts +are highly offensive to and vigorously condemned +by the respectable element in the business, both +<span class="pagenum">[314]</span> +employers and employés. Much odium has attached +to the fraternity by such conduct, and much more +by reason of crimes committed by others and +charged to this class, so that the cowboy is in +much worse repute among Eastern people than he +would be if better known by them. And notwithstanding +all the hard things with which these men +have been charged, I had much rather take my +chances, as to safety of life and personal property, +in a country inhabited only by them than in any +Eastern town or city with all their police "protection." +When sojourning in cattle countries, I have +left my camp day after day and night after night, +with valuable property of various kinds lying in and +about it, without any attempt at concealment. I +have left my horses and mules to graze, wholly +unguarded, several days and nights together, and +though on my return I may have seen that my camp +had been visited, probably by several men, not a +thing had been disturbed, except that perchance +some of them had been hungry and had eaten a meal +<span class="pagenum">[315]</span> +at my expense. It is the custom of the country to +leave camps and cabins at any time, and for as long a +time as necessary, without locking up or concealment +of any kind, and instances of stealing under such +circumstances are almost unheard of, while he who +would leave personal property similarly exposed +within the bounds of civilization would scarcely hope +to find it on his return.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_314.jpg" alt="314" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ON THE TRAIL.</p> + +<p>An incident may serve to illustrate how suddenly +Eastern people change their opinions of cowboys +on close acquaintance. I was going west a few +years since on the Northern Pacific Railroad, and +stepping off the train at Dickinson, Dak., met +Howard Eaton, an old-time friend and fellow hunter, +a typical cowboy, who has charge of a ranch and +a large herd of cattle in the "Bad Lands" on the +Little Missouri river. He was dressed in the regulation +costume of the craft—canvas pants and jacket, +leather <i>chaparejos</i>, blue flannel shirt, and broad-brimmed +white felt hat. His loins were girt about +with a well-filled cartridge-belt, from which hung +the six-shooter, which may almost be termed a badge +of the order. Large Mexican spurs rattled at his +heels as he walked. He had ridden thirty-five miles +under the spur, arriving at the station just in time +to catch the train, and having no time to change his +apparel, even if he had wished to do so. He was +going some distance on the same train, and I invited +him into the sleeper. As he entered and walked +down the aisle the passengers became suddenly +alarmed at the apparition—imagining that the train +had been corraled by a party of the terrible cowboys +of whom they had heard such blood-curdling tales, +<span class="pagenum">[316]</span> +and that this was a committee of one sent in to +order them to throw up their hands. They looked +anxiously and timidly from the windows for the rest +of the gang and listened for the popping of revolvers, +but when I conducted him to our section and +introduced him to my wife they began to feel easier. +He remarked casually that he was hungry. We +had a well-filled lunch-basket with us, and, ordering +a table placed in position, my wife hastily spread its +contents before him. He ate as only a cowboy can +eat, especially after having lately ridden thirty-five +miles in three hours. Our fellow passengers became +interested spectators, and after our friend had +finished his repast we introduced him to several of +them. They were agreeably surprised to discover in +conversation his polished manners, his fluent and +well-chosen language. His handsome though sunburned +face, and his kind, genial nature revealed +the fact that his rough garb encased the form of an +educated and cultured gentleman; and before we +had been an hour together they had learned to +respect and admire the wild, picturesque character +whom at first they had feared.</p> + +<p>The skill which some of these men attain in their +profession challenges the admiration of everyone +who is permitted to witness exhibitions of it. As +riders they can not be excelled in the world, and I +have seen some of them perform feats of horsemanship +that were simply marvelous. A cowboy is +required to ride anything that is given him and ask +no questions. A wild young bronco that has never +been touched by the hand of man is sometimes +roped out of a herd and handed over to one of the +<span class="pagenum">[317]</span> +boys with instructions to "ride him." With the +aid of a companion or two he saddles and mounts +him, and the scene that ensues baffles description. +A bucking cayuse must be seen under the saddle, +under a limber cowboy, and on his native heath, in +order to be appreciated at his true worth. His +movements are not always the same—in fact, are +extremely varied, and are doubtless intended to +be a series of surprises even to an old hand at the +business. The bronco is ingenious—he is a strategist. +Sometimes the first break a "fresh" one makes is to +try to get out of the country as fast as possible. +If so, the rider allows him to go as far and as fast +as he likes, for nothing will tame him quicker than +plenty of hard work. But he soon finds that he can +not get out from under his load in this way, and +generally reverses his tactics before going far. Sometimes +he stops suddenly—so suddenly as to throw +an inexperienced rider a long ways in front of him. +But a good cowboy, or "bronco buster," as he would +be termed while engaged in this branch of the business, +is a good stayer and keeps his seat. The horse +may then try to jump out from under his rider—first +forward then backward, or <i>vice versa</i>. Then +he may spring suddenly sidewise, either to right +or left, or both. Then he may do some lofty +tumbling acts, alighting most always stiff-legged; +sometimes with his front end the highest and sometimes +about level, but usually with his hinder parts +much the highest and with his back arched like +that of a mad cat. He keeps his nose as close +to the ground as he can get it. Sometimes he will +utter an unearthly squeal that makes one's blood +<span class="pagenum">[318]</span> +run cold, and will actually eat a few mouthfuls of +the earth when he gets mad enough. Sometimes +he will throw himself in his struggles, and again +as a last resort he will lie down and roll. This +must free him for a moment, but the daring and +agile rider is in the saddle again as soon as the beast +is on his feet. Then the horse is likely to wheel +suddenly from side to side and to spin round +and round on his hind feet like a top; to snort +and bound hither and thither like a rubber ball. +During all this time the valiant rider sits in his +saddle, loose-jointed and limp as a piece of buckskin, +his body swaying to and fro with the motions of his +struggling steed like a leaf that is fanned by the +summer breeze. He holds a tight rein, keeping his +horse's head as high as possible, and plunges the +rowels into his flanks, first on one side and then on +the other, until frequently the ground is copiously +sprinkled with the blood of the fiery steed. The +duration of this scene is limited simply by the +powers of endurance of the horse, for in nearly +every instance he will keep up his struggles until +he sinks upon the ground exhausted, and, for the +time being at least, is subdued. Then he is forced +upon his feet again and may generally be ridden the +remainder of that day without further trouble.</p> + +<p>He is awkward, of course, but rapidly learns the +use of bit and spur, and soon becomes useful. Many +of these ponies, however, are never permanently +subdued, and will "buck" every time they are +mounted. Others will, all through life, start off +quietly when first mounted, but suddenly take a +notion to buck any time in the day. This class is +<span class="pagenum">[319]</span> +the most dangerous, for the best rider is liable to be +caught at a disadvantage when off his guard and +thrown, and many a poor cowboy has been crippled +for life, and many killed outright by these vicious +brutes.</p> + +<p>I have seen "pilgrims" inveigled into riding +"bucking cayuses," either for the sake of novelty, +or because they wanted a mount and there was no +other to be had; but in every instance the trial of +skill between the man and the pony was of short +duration. For an instant there would be a confused +mass of horse, hat, coat-tails, boots, and man, flying +through the air. The horse, on his second upward +trip would meet the man coming down on his first; +the man would see whole constellations—whole +milkyways of stars; the horse would meander off +over the prairie free and untrameled, and as we +would gather up the deformed and disfigured remains +of the pilgrim and dig the alkali dirt out of his +mouth, ears, and eyes, he would tell us, as soon as +he recovered sufficiently to be able to speak, that in +future he "had rather walk than ride."</p> + +<p>But, fortunately for the poor cowboys, there are +many of these ponies who are not vicious, and let us +do full honor to the genuine, noble cow-horse who +is so sure and fleet of foot that he will speedily put +his rider within roping distance of the wildest, swiftest, +longest-horned Texan on the range. Such a horse +always knows when the <i>riata</i> falls right for head or +heels, and if it does not will never slacken his speed, +but keep right on until his rider can recover and +throw again. But when it does fall fair, he puts it +taut, wheels to right or left as directed by a gentle +<span class="pagenum">[320]</span> +pressure of his rider's knee, takes a turn on it or +gives it slack as may be required to down the beef, +and, when this is accomplished, stands stiff-legged, +firm, and immovable as a rock, holding him down +by the strain on the rope, and watching, with eyes +bulged out and ears set forward like those of a jack +rabbit, every struggle of the captive bullock, and +stands pat even when his rider dismounts and leaves +him to brand the steer. When this is done, and his +rider remounts he is ready to repeat the operation +on another animal.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_320.jpg" alt="320" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">SNARED.</p> + +<p>I have frequently known a cowboy to rope a +wild cow, throw her and milk her while his horse +held her down at the other end of a forty foot +rope. Such a horse is worth his weight in gold +to a cattleman, and his kind-hearted and appreciative +rider would go supperless to bed any night, if necessary, +in order that his faithful steed should be well +fed and made comfortable in every possible way.</p> + +<p>The skill that some of these men attain in the use +the lariat is also most marvelous. An expert will +catch a steer by the horns, the neck, the right or +<span class="pagenum">[321]</span> +left fore foot or hind foot, whichever he may choose—and +while running at full speed—with almost unerring +certainty. I have even seen them rope jack +rabbits and coyotes after a long run, and there are +well authenticated instances on record of even bears +being choked to death by the fatal noose when +wielded by a daring "knight of the plains."</p> + +<p>At a "tournament" in a Black Hills town some +months ago, a cowboy caught, threw, and securely +tied a wild steer in fourteen minutes from the time +he was let out of the corral. A similar exhibition +of skill, but on a bronco instead of a steer, which +lately took place in a New Mexico town, is thus +described by an eye witness.</p> + +<p>"After an hour of discussion and pleasant wrangling, +the judge, himself a fine rider, called out the +name of an Arizona cowboy, a champion puncher +and rustler from Apache County; at the same +moment, a wild-eyed bronco was released from the +pen and went bounding and bucking over the miniature +plain. According to the rule, the Apache +County man had to saddle his own bronco, rope the +fleeing horse, and tie him for branding in a certain +time. Being a "rustler", he rustled around so +lively that before the bronco was two hundred feet +away, he had saddled and bridled his own animal, +swung himself onto it, and was off, gathering up his +lariat as he went. The other bronco, seeing the +coming enemy, doubled his pace, dodging here and +there, but at every turn he was met by his pursuer, +who was evidently directed by his rider's legs, and +in an incredibly short space of time the fugitive +was overhauled; the rope whistled through the air, +<span class="pagenum">[322]</span> +and dropped quickly over the bronco's head, notwithstanding +the toss he had made. The instant it fell, +the pursuing bronco rushed and headed off the other, +winding the rope about his legs; then suddenly sitting +back upon his haunches he waited, with ears +back, for the shock. It came with a rush, and the +little horse at the other end of the rope, as was the +intention, went headlong onto the field, the cowboy's +bronco holding him down by the continual strain +that he kept up. The moment the horse went down +the cowboy vaulted from the saddle, untying a rope +from his waist as he ran, and was soon over the +prostrate animal, lashing the hoofs with dextrous +fingers, so that it could have been branded then and +there. This accomplished, up went his hands as a +signal to the judges, who now came galloping over +the field, a roar of cheers and yells greeting the +Apache County man, who had done the entire work +in twelve minutes, thereby securing the prize of +sundry dollars."</p> + +<p>These men use large, heavy, strongly-built saddles, +and by setting the cinch up tight and taking a turn +or two of the rope around the saddle horn they will +snake a large animal, either dead or alive, any +desired distance. I once got one of them to drag a +large bear that we had killed out of a thicket into +an open space, so that we could photograph him.</p> + +<p>Few men take more chances or endure more hardships +than cowboys. In addition to the dangers +they have to contend with from riding vicious horses +and from riding into stampeding herds of wild cattle, +in both of which lines of duty many of them are +crippled and some killed outright, it is frequently +<span class="pagenum">[323]</span> +necessary for them to lay out on the open prairie for +several days and nights together, perhaps in cold, +rough weather, with no other food or bedding than +they can carry on their saddle.</p> + +<p>The slang of the fraternity is highly amusing to +a stranger. It is decidedly crisp, racy, and expressive. +Words are coined or adopted into their vernacular +that will convey their meaning with the +greatest possible force and precision. In addition +to the few illustrations already given in this sketch +there are many others that would be utterly unintelligible +to an Eastern man unless translated. For +instance, when they brand an animal they put the +"jimption" to him; when they want a hot drink +they say "put some jimption in it"; when they +warm up a horse with the spurs or quirt they "fan" +him; when they throw lead from a six-shooter or a +Winchester after a flying coyote they "fan" him. +And "goose hair"—ever sleep on goose hair? This +is a favorite term for any kind of a "soft snap." +When they want to ridicule a tenderfoot, and especially +one who is fond of good living, they say "he +wants a goose-hair bed to sleep on"; when a cowboy +is in luck he is described as having "a goose-hair +pillar," or as "sleepin' with the boss," or as +"ridin' ten horses," etc. Altogether, cowboys are a +whole-souled, large-hearted, generous class of fellows, +whom it is a genuine pleasure to ride, eat, and +associate with, and it is safe to say that nine-tenths +of the hard things that have been said of them have +come from men who never knew, intimately, a single +one of them.</p> + +<p>I contend that a year spent on the hurricane deck +<span class="pagenum">[324]</span> +of a cow-pony is one of the most useful and valuable +pieces of experience a young man can possibly have +in fitting himself for business of almost any kind, +and if I were educating a boy to fight the battles of +life, I should secure him such a situation as soon +as through with his studies at school. A term of +service on a frontier cattle-ranch will take the conceit +out of any boy. It will, at the same time, teach +him self-reliance; it will teach him to endure hardships +and suffering; it will give him nerve and +pluck; it will develop the latent energy in him to a +degree that could not be accomplished by any other +apprenticeship or experience. I know of many of the +most substantial and successful business men in the +Western towns and cities of to-day who served their +first years on the frontier as "cow punchers," and to +that school they owe the firmness of character and +the ability to surmount great obstacles that have +made their success in life possible.</p> + +<p>I claim that the constant communion with Nature, +the study of her broad, pure domains, the days and +nights of lonely cruising and camping on the prairie, +the uninterrupted communion with and study of +self which this occupation affords, tends to make +young men honest and noble—much more so than +the same men would be if deprived of these opportunities, +confined to the limits of our boasted "civilization," +and compelled to constantly breathe the +air of adroitness, of strategy, of competition, of +suspicion and crime. I claim that in many instances a +man who is already dishonest and immoral may be, +and I know that many have been made good and honest +by freeing themselves from the evil influences of +<span class="pagenum">[325]</span> +city life, and betaking themselves to a life on the +plains; by living alone, or nearly so, and habitually +communing with themselves, with Nature, and with +Nature's God. If every young man raised in town +or city could have the advantages of a year or two +of constant study of Nature, untrammeled by +any air of vice, and at the proper time in life, we +should have more honest men, and fewer defaulters, +thieves, and criminals of every class.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_325.jpg" alt="325" /> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_326.jpg" alt="326" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">A BEEF-GATHERING SOIREE.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[327]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<p class="h3">A MONTANA ROUNDUP.</p> + + +<div class="i327"> +<div id="i327_0"> </div> +<div id="i327_1"> </div> +<div id="i327_2"> </div> +<div id="i327_3"> </div> +<div id="i327_4"> </div> +<div id="i327_5"> </div> +<div id="i327_6"> </div> +<div id="i327_7"> </div> +<div id="i327_8"> </div> +<div id="i327_9"> </div> +<div id="i327_10"> </div> +<div id="i327_11"> </div> +<div id="i327_12"> </div> +<div id="i327_13"> </div> +<div id="i327_14"> </div> +<div id="i327_15"> </div> +<div id="i327_16"> </div> +<div id="i327_17"> </div> +<div id="i327_18"> </div> +<div id="i327_19"> </div> + +<p class="chapter"><span class="chapter">ESCRIPTIONS</span> +of cattle roundups in the far +West have been written, and yet many of +the characteristic scenes that the spectator +at one of these semi-annual "beef-gathering +parties" will observe have not been described. +There is so much to interest and +excite the denizen of the States who first +attends a roundup on the great plains that +I am tempted to speak of some of the more prominent +points in this "greatest show on earth," for +the benefit of such as have not had the pleasure of +witnessing it.</p> + +<p>The interests of cattlemen in general are so +closely linked, and there is such urgent need of a +concert of action among them, that in all Western +cattle-growing districts they have organized into +local or general associations, in which the most perfect +harmony and good fellowship exists, and in +which the interests of every individual member are +closely guarded and fostered by the organization as +a whole. These associations meet in the spring and +fall of each year and fix the dates for holding the +roundups, usually prescribing the general boundaries +in which each local outfit shall work. The spring +roundup, which is the one now under consideration, +<span class="pagenum">[328]</span> +is held in the latter part of April or early part +of May in Wyoming and Montana, and earlier or +later in other States and Territories, according to +the nature of the climate, weather, etc. A roundup +district is usually limited to the valley of some large +stream, or its boundaries are designated by other +prominent and well-known landmarks.</p> + +<p>From five to fifteen miles, or even more, each way +from the ranch, are claimed by each owner or company +as a range, though no effort is made usually +to keep the stock within these boundaries. They +are allowed the freedom of the hills and table-lands +in every direction, the foreman merely being +required to know about where to find them when +wanted, and to prevent them from going, for instance, +west of the Tongue and north of the Yellowstone +rivers or south into Wyoming.</p> + +<p>As a typical spring roundup, let us observe the +one recently conducted on the Powder river in +Montana, for it furnished, perhaps, as many interesting +episodes and incidents as are usually seen at one +of these entertainments. This stream rises in the +Big Horn Mountains in Northern Wyoming and +flows northeast through Southern Montana to the +Yellowstone, into which it empties its wealth of +crystal fluid just east of Miles City. Up to a few +years ago its valley and adjacent table-lands were +peopled only by roving bands of Sioux, Cheyenne, +Pegan, or Crow Indians, while vast herds of buffaloes +and antelopes grazed upon its nutritious grasses. +The lordly elk and the timid, agile deer roamed at +will through the groves of cottonwood and box-elder +that fringe its banks, and the howl of the coyote +<span class="pagenum">[329]</span> +made night musical to the ear of the savage in his +wigwam. But how changed the scene of to-day! +An iron railroad bridge, that of the great Northern +Pacific, spans the stream near its mouth, over which +roll trains of palace coaches at short intervals, while +commercial freights <i>en route</i> from the Atlantic to +the Pacific, or <i>vice versa</i>, pass over it almost every +hour. From the mouth of the stream to the foot-hills +of the mountain range, amid whose snow-capped +peaks it rises, is now a well-beaten road over +which supplies for the various ranches in the valley +are carried, and over which the gallant knights of +the plains—the cowboys—dash to and fro in the +performance of their various duties.</p> +</div> + +<p>At intervals of ten to fifteen miles along the valley, +the traveler passes ranches, the headquarters +of the wealthy cattlemen whose herds roam all over +the valleys, the hills, and table-lands for many +miles in every direction, designating the companies +or individual owners merely by the brands their +herds bear (which is the custom of the country). +We shall encounter on our way the "MC" outfit, +whose herd numbers fourteen thousand head; the +"WL" brand, six thousand head; "7OL," one +thousand head; "S-I," twenty-five thousand head; +"<i>N</i>," twenty-five thousand head; +"<img src="images/illo_329.jpg" alt="" />," +five thousand +head; and many other smaller and some larger +herds. The buildings and improvements consist +generally of substantial, roomy log houses, stables +for the horses, corrals or strong yards in which +large herds of cattle may be confined for branding, +etc. The Montana Stock Growers' Association has +also built public branding-pens at intervals of four +<span class="pagenum">[330]</span> +to six miles along the river. The owners of the +stock seldom live on the ranches themselves, many +of them being residents of Eastern cities, and others +having their homes in the railroad towns within +convenient distance of the ranches. The occupants +of the "shack," as the ranch house is called, are +the foreman, the cook, and a sufficient number of +cowboys or herders to look after and handle the +stock properly. Some of the choice bits of natural +meadow are fenced and hay cut on them, and each +ranch has more or less hay land about the heads of +creeks on its range, for it is necessary to make +hay enough each season to feed at least the calves +and some of the weaker cattle through the severe +blizzards that so frequently occur in winter. The +cattle belonging to each of these ranches are allowed +to range almost at will over the adjacent hills and +table-lands, though the limits proper of each range +are supposed to extend ten to fifteen miles in each +direction from the ranch house.</p> + +<p>The Montana Stock Growers' Association, at its +meeting in March, designated the seventh day of +May as the day for beginning the roundup in the +Powder river district this year, and selected a foreman +to take charge of it who had seen many years +of service in the saddle, who has a happy faculty of +controlling the men under his charge perfectly, and +yet of putting himself on free and friendly terms +with them all. He can throw a <i>riata</i> with such precision +as to take a steer by the head or by either foot +he wishes in almost every instance, and beasts as +well as men soon learn to obey his wishes.</p> + +<p>Anyone who has only seen the great plains late in +<span class="pagenum">[331]</span> +summer or in the autumn, after the grass has become +sere and yellow and the foliage along the streams +has faded, can have little idea of the pristine beauty +presented by such a valley as that of the Powder +river in early springtime, when the earth is carpeted +with verdure, the river banks lined with newly-clothed +trees and shrubs, and the meadows blooming +with flowers, the beauty and brilliancy of which +can not be excelled anywhere. The winter snows +have melted; the spring rains have come and gone, +leaving the earth fresh and moist; the climate +is mild and delightful. Under all these charming +conditions who would not enjoy the scene unfolding +before our eyes as we mount our spirited broncos +and ride out to the place of rendezvous which has +been appointed near the mouth of the river, and +where the clans are already gathering. Temporary +camps have been established by those who have +arrived in advance of us, around which groups of +cowboys are lounging. A band of horses and ponies +which they have liberated is contentedly grazing on +the river bank, and several small bands of cattle +may be seen in various directions, most of them +at considerable distances away, for they are wild +and avoid the presence of human beings. A cloud +of dust is faintly visible on top of the divide +nearly three miles to the south, and on examining +it carefully with our glasses we find it is being raised +by a jolly band of five cowboys, who are riding like +mad, each leading four or five horses. Looking away +to the north we see a mess-wagon, or "chuck outfit," +approaching, drawn by four horses, and from the slow +and labored gait at which they toil along they doubtless +<span class="pagenum">[332]</span> +bring abundant store of good things. Behind +this, two riders are driving ten head of loose horses. +And these small detachments continue to come in +from every point of the compass all the forenoon, +until, when all the ranches in this roundup district +have furnished their levies, the force numbers one +hundred and thirty-five men and about twelve hundred +horses. Each rider has his "string" of horses, +numbering from five to seven, and changes two or +three times a day, riding one horse twenty to forty +miles, and sixty to seventy-five miles a day is considered +a fair day's work for a man. The reserve +herd is placed in charge of a herder or "wrangler," +who is required to keep them under perfect control, +and to be able to produce such of them as are +wanted on short notice, the <i>riata</i> being frequently +used in taking them out of the herd. The foreman +has arrived and takes charge of the entire outfit, +placing it on a thoroughly effective and working +basis for the morrow.</p> + +<p>At 3.30 o'clock in the morning the men are called. +They are out of their blankets and dressed in less +time than it takes an Eastern man to rub his eyes +and yawn; each catches and saddles his horse; +breakfast is hastily eaten, and at the first dawn of +day, they ride out in twos or fours in every direction. +These men present a decidedly picturesque, not to +say brigandish, appearance as they dash out across +the prairie; their red, blue, and gray flannel shirts, +canvas pants, leather <i>chaparejos</i>, broad sombreros, +colored silk handkerchiefs knotted around their +necks; well-filled cartridge-belts, from which hang +their six-shooters; their high-top cowhide boots +<span class="pagenum">[333]</span> +and large Mexican spurs, making up a <i>tout ensemble</i> +that a band of Texan rangers might envy. Their +work, their fun, their excitement now begin, for +small bunches of cattle are sighted in every direction, +which are to be rounded up and driven along, +and there is no time to lose. As they dash hither +and thither after the fleeing, scurrying creatures, +the proverbial good nature, high spirits, and enthusiasm +of these "knights of the plains" find vent in +a series of hoots, yells, jokes, "ki-yis," bits of +song, and grotesque slang expressions, many of +which are strikingly expressive when understood, but +which would be utterly unintelligible to a fresh tenderfoot. +The majority of these Western cattle are +almost as wild as the native buffaloes whose place +they have usurped, having never been subjected to +the dominion of man, and rarely, in fact, have they +ever come face to face with him. At the first +approach of the riders, therefore, they throw up +their heads and tails, look wild, sniff the air, and +then turn and run like a herd of antelopes. But +by fast riding and skillful maneuvering they are +soon rounded up and herded. It is a bit of the true +spice of life for these dare-devil riders to find a +vicious, rebellious, "alecky" young critter who concludes +that he won't be rounded up; and no sooner has +the belligerent shaken his burly head, pawed the +earth a few times, turned tail to his pursuers, broken +through the skirmish line and sailed away across the +prairie, than three, four, or perhaps half a dozen cayuses, +who are also now in their elements, are headed +for him. Lariats are loosened from the saddle horn, +spurs rattle as they pierce the flanks of the already +<span class="pagenum">[334]</span> +willing and eager steeds, and there ensues a wild, +headlong, reckless race that can have but one result. +The steer may be fleet of foot, and may lead, through +a half-mile dash, but sooner or later is headed off +and turned. He may make a fresh break in another +direction, but his pursuers are down on him again +like a pack of hungry wolves on a stray sheep. And +now, as the riders close in on him, they belabor him +unmercifully with their heavy coils of rope, or with +rawhide "quirts" carried for this purpose. If particularly +wild, obstinate, or obstreperous, he still +keeps breaking away, and refusing to come into +camp. A <i>riata</i> glistens in the sunlight, whistles +through the air and falls over his head. Another +follows and puts a foot in the stocks. Taking two +or three turns of the lariat around the horn of the +saddle, the men ride in opposite directions till the +ropes come taut, the steer is fairly lifted from the +earth and falls with a dull and thudful sound that +may be heard a hundred yards. Then another rope +is thrown over his head, the spurs are put to the +faithful ponies, they are transposed for the time into +draft horses, and the luckless victim is ignominiously +"snaked" toward the herd, while the other boys +"bang" him with coils of rope from behind. A few +yards of this mode of travel is usually sufficient to +tame the wildest long-horn Texan on the range, and +a few vigorous bellows soon announce an unconditional +surrender. The ropes are then taken off, he +is let up, and it is short work to put him in the herd.</p> + +<p>The valiant riders scour the country hither and +thither, far and near, "gathering beef" from east, +west, north, and south. Every hoof found, regardless +<span class="pagenum">[335]</span> +of the brand it bears, or whether it bears any, is +picked up by this human cyclone and carried along. +Toward noon the herds already gathered are driven +into the branding pens, where they are corraled. +The calves are snatched out and the "jimption is +socked to 'em," as the boys express it. So with any +yearlings or older stock that have escaped the branding-iron +in former seasons. One or more irons for +each owner are kept hot, and when a roper has +"downed" an animal he or the foreman calls for the +iron wanted, and setting his foot upon the victim's +neck places the red-hot device on its ribs, and throws +his weight upon it, leaving a deep, indelible, and +time-enduring trade-mark which even he who runs +may read. Its ears, dew lap, or the loose skin on its +jaw are then slit and it is turned loose again.</p> + +<p>When a band is branded it is turned out; the +party who brought it in change horses, and away +they go for another run. No special branders are +now provided, every man in the outfit, the cook and +wrangler excepted, being required to "swaller dust" +and "wrestle calves" in the pens. Near the middle +of the day each squad comes in after finishing their +catch, make a run on the mess-wagons and devour +the substantial provender with which they are +loaded, with appetites born only of the labor and +excitement in which they are engaged.</p> + +<p>The afternoon is usually devoted to branding the +last bunches brought in, and to "cutting out," returning +or throwing over such stock as does not belong +to any of the ranchmen in this district. Strays are +frequently picked up whose brands show them to be +a hundred miles or more from home. When a number +<span class="pagenum">[336]</span> +of these are collected they are cut out and a +squad of men drive them onto their proper ranges. +This process is called "throwing over."</p> + +<p>The cooks, teamsters, and wranglers usually move +camp up the river every morning to the next branding +pen, or to some other spot designated by the +foreman, to which rounders bring their cattle during +the day. A portion of the stock collected, called the +"cavoy," is carried along with the camp all the time +and herded by the "holders," but large numbers +after being branded are bunched and again thrown +off onto the range each day. Thus the outfit moves +slowly up the stream, making a clean sweep of everything +to the middle of the divides on the east and +west, until the Wyoming roundup on the same +stream is met coming down. And now, having completed +the work in hand, the outfit breaks up, and +the men return to the respective ranches on which +they are employed or go to other roundups where +their services are needed.</p> + +<p>The object of the fall roundup is to gather +in and cut out the fat steers and drive them to +the railroad stations for shipment to Eastern +markets. The work being almost entirely on adult +animals is even more laborious and hazardous +than that of the spring, where the majority of +animals actually handled are calves. Hard riding, +vigorous "cutting," and daring dashes into headstrong, +panic-stricken, stampeding herds are necessary +here, and roping and dragging out by main +strength are hourly occurrences. Branding-irons +are also carried along, and any calves missed on the +spring roundup, or dropped after it, are subjected to +<span class="pagenum">[337]</span> +the fiery ordeal, just as their brothers and sisters +were at the Mayday party.</p> + +<p>Stray cattle, either calves or adults, bearing no +brand and found alone or herded with others already +branded, but whose parentage can not be definitely +determined, are called "Mavericks," and in some +districts are sold at auction and the proceeds given +to the school fund. In others, they become the +property of the man or company upon whose range +they are found. This privilege, however, is seriously +abused by dishonest ranchmen and cattle +thieves, who infest every Western cattle-growing +district. These men ride out over the ranges at +times when they are not likely to be observed, carrying +their branding-irons along, and rope and brand +every animal they can find that does not already +bear a brand. In some cases these are allowed to +remain where found, for the time being, but are +usually driven onto the range claimed by the pirate +who does the work. In other instances, these men +first drive the unbranded stock onto their own +ranges, and then, under cover of the Maverick law, +openly claim and brand it as their own. Many +large herds have been accumulated almost wholly +by this system of thievery, and there are wealthy +cattlemen in the West to-day who never bought or +honestly owned a dozen head of the thousands that +bear their brand. A certain cowboy, when asked by +an Eastern man what constitutes a Maverick, replied: +"It's a calf that you find and get your brand on +before the owner finds it and gets his on."</p> + +<p>But it is risky business, this cattle stealing, and +many a man who has been caught at it has been left +<span class="pagenum">[338]</span> +on the prairies as food for the coyotes, or has ornamented +the nearest cottonwood tree until the magpies +and butcher birds have polished his bones.</p> + +<p>Branding is a decidedly cruel proceeding, and +would doubtless come under the bane of Mr. Bergh's +displeasure were he here to witness it. Yet it seems +a necessary evil, there being no other known means +of marking cattle so effectually and indelibly.</p> + +<p>Parties of ladies frequently go out from the towns +or cities to see the roundup, not knowing or thinking +of the painful features of it. They enjoy the +ride across the prairies and through the valleys. The +beautiful scenery, the grotesque "Bad Lands," the +red, scoria-capped hills, the beautiful green meadows, +and the fringes of green trees that mark the meanderings +of the streams, all delight and interest +them; they enjoy the displays of horsemanship given +by the valorous cowboys as they wheel and cavort +hither and thither in pursuit of scurrying bands of +cattle; they enjoy the stampeding and wild flight, +the "knotting" and "holding" of the large herds, +all so skillfully and cleverly performed; they enjoy +the sight of the thousand and more loose horses, +grazing and scampering over the plains; they enjoy +the fresh, pure air, the wholesome noon repast in +the shade of the great cottonwood trees, and many +other pleasant phases of the affair. But when the +fire is lit and the murderous irons inserted in it; +when the captive creatures are dragged forth lowing, +murmuring, and bellowing; when the red-hot iron is +pressed into their quivering, smoking sides until the +air is laden with the odor of burning hair and roasting +flesh, and the poor creature writhes and struggles +<span class="pagenum">[339]</span> +in its agony, the roundup is robbed of its +romance, and the ladies are ready to start for home +at once.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illo_339.jpg" alt="339" /> +</div> + +<div class="trnote"> + +<p class="h4">Transcriber's Notes:</p> + +<p class="noin"> +Minor punctuation errors changed without note.<br /> +<br /> + +Words with multiple and archaic spellings left as in original.<br /> +<br /> + +<b>Spelling changes:</b><br /> +<br /> + +Table of Contents Chapter 1. "Enchance" changed to "Enhance".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 63 "barrrier" changed to "barrier".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 67 "ordinarly" changed to "ordinarily".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 123 "fuanace" changed to "furnace".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 167 "playad" changed to "played".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 171 "catchng" changed to "catching".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 201 "conspicious" changed to "conspicuous".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 204 "intstead" changed to "instead".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 237 "similiar" changed to "similar".<br /> +<br /> + +p. 294 "firmanent" changed to "firmament"</p> +.<br /> + +p. 296 "Novemver" changed to "November".<br /> +</div> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Cruisings in the Cascades, by George O. 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b/36654-h/images/s_illo_262_9.jpg diff --git a/36654.txt b/36654.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cbf4f5b --- /dev/null +++ b/36654.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7872 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Cruisings in the Cascades, by George O. Shields + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Cruisings in the Cascades + A Narrative of Travel, Exploration, Amateur Photography, + Hunting, and Fishing + +Author: George O. Shields + +Release Date: July 7, 2011 [EBook #36654] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + [Illustration: G. O. Shields] + + CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES. + + A NARRATIVE OF + + Travel, Exploration, Amateur Photography, Hunting, and Fishing, + + WITH SPECIAL CHAPTERS ON + + HUNTING THE GRIZZLY BEAR, THE BUFFALO, ELK, ANTELOPE, ROCKY MOUNTAIN + GOAT, AND DEER; ALSO ON TROUTING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; ON A MONTANA + ROUND-UP; LIFE AMONG THE COWBOYS, ETC. + + BY G. O. SHIELDS, + ("COQUINA") + + AUTHOR OF + "RUSTLINGS IN THE ROCKIES," + "HUNTING IN THE GREAT WEST," + "THE BATTLE OF THE BIG HOLE," ETC. + + CHICAGO AND NEW YORK: + RAND, MCNALLY & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. + 1889. + + + COPYRIGHT, 1889, BY RAND, MCNALLY & CO. + +The articles herein on Elk, Bear, and Antelope Hunting are reprinted by +the courtesy of Messrs. Harper & Brothers, in whose Magazine they were +first published; and those on Buffalo Hunting and Trouting are +reproduced from "Outing" Magazine, in which they first appeared. + + "Come live with me and be my love. + And we will all the pleasures prove + That hills and valleys, dales and fields, + Woods or steepy mountains, yield." + --_Marlowe._ + + "Earth has built the great watch-towers of the mountains, and they + lift their heads far up into the sky, and gaze ever upward and + around to see if the Judge of the World comes not." + --_Longfellow._ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +And now, how can I suitably apologize for having inflicted another book +on the reading public? I would not attempt it but that it is the custom +among authors. And, come to think of it, I guess I won't attempt it +anyway. I will merely say, by way of excuse, that my former literary +efforts, especially my "Rustlings in the Rockies," have brought me in +sundry dollars, in good and lawful money, which I have found very useful +things to have about the house. If this volume shall meet with an +equally kind reception at the hands of book buyers, I shall feel that, +after all, I am not to blame for having written it. + + THE AUTHOR. + +CHICAGO, MARCH, 1889. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + The Benefits, Mental and Physical, of Mountain Climbing--A + Never-failing Means of Obtaining Sound Sleep and a Good + Appetite--The Work to be in Proportion to the Strength of the + Climber--People Who Would Like to See, but are Too Lazy to + Climb--How the Photograph Camera May Enhance the Pleasures and + Benefits of Mountain Climbing--Valuable Souvenirs of Each + Ascent--How "These Things are Done in Europe"--An Effective Cure + for Egotism. + + CHAPTER II. + + The Cascade Mountains Compared with the Rockies--Characteristics + and Landmarks of the Former--The Proper Season for Cruising in + the Cascades--Grand Scenery of the Columbia--Viewing Mount + Tacoma from the City of Tacoma--Men Who Have Ascended this + Mysterious Peak--Indian Legends Concerning the Mountain--Evil + Spirits, Who Dwell in Yawning Caverns--The View from the + Mountain--Crater Lake and the Glaciers--Nine Water-falls in + Sight from One Point. + + CHAPTER III. + + The City of Seattle--A Booming Western Town--Lumbering and Salmon + Canning--Extensive Hop Ranches--Rich Coal and Iron Mines--Timber + Resources of Puget Sound--Giant Firs and Cedars--A Hollow Tree + for a House--Big Timber Shipped to England--A Million Feet of + Lumber from an Acre of Land--Novel Method of Logging--No Snow in + Theirs--A World's Supply of Timber for a Thousand Years. + + CHAPTER IV. + + Length, Breadth, and Depth of Puget Sound--Natural Resources of + the Surrounding Country--Flora and Fauna of the Region--Great + Variety of Game Birds and Animals--Large Variety of Game and + Food Fishes--A Paradise for Sportsman or Naturalist--A Sail + Through the Sound--Grand Mountains in Every Direction--The Home + of the Elk, Bear, Deer, and Salmon--Sea Gulls as Fellow + Passengers--Photographed on the Wing--Wild Cattle on Whidby + Island--Deception Pass; its Fierce Current and Wierd + Surroundings--Victoria, B. C.--A Quaint Old, English-looking + Town. + + CHAPTER V. + + Through English Bay--Water Fowls that Seem Never to Have Been + Hunted--Rifle Practice that was Soon Interrupted--Peculiarities + of Burrard Inlet--Vancouver and Port Moody--A Stage Ride to + Westminster--A Stranger in a Strange Land--Hunting for a + Guide--"Douglass Bill" Found and Employed--An Indian Funeral + Delays the Expedition. + + CHAPTER VI. + + The Voyage up the Frazier--Delicious Peaches Growing in Sight of + Glaciers--The Detective Camera Again to the Front--Good Views + from the Moving Steamer--A Night in an Indian Hut--The Sleeping + Bag a Refuge from Vermin--The Indian as a Stamping Ground for + Insects--He Heeds Not Their Ravages. + + CHAPTER VII. + + A Breakfast with the Bachelor--Up Harrison River in a Canoe--Dead + Salmon Everywhere--Their Stench Nauseating--The Water Poisoned + with Carrion--A Good Goose Spoiled with an Express + Bullet--Lively Salmon on the Falls--Strange Instinct of this + Noble Fish--Life Sacrificed in the Effort to Reach its Spawning + Grounds--Ranchmen Fishing with Pitchforks, and Indians with + Sharp Sticks--Salmon Fed to Hogs, and Used as Fertilizers; the + Prey of Bears, Cougars, Wild Cats, Lynxes, Minks, Martins, + Hawks, and Eagles. + + CHAPTER VIII. + + The River Above the Rapids--A Lake Within Basaltic Walls--Many + Beautiful Waterfalls--Mount Douglas and its Glaciers--A Trading + Post of the Hudson Bay Fur Company--The Hot Springs; an Ancient + Indian Sanitarium--Anxiously Waiting for "Douglass Bill"--Novel + Method of Photographing Big Trees. + + CHAPTER IX. + + An Early Morning Climb--A Thousand Feet Above the Lake--Fresh + Deer Signs in Sight of the Hotel--Three Indians Bring in Three + Deer--"Douglass Bill" Proves as Big a Liar as Other + Indians--Heading off a Flock of Canvas Backs--A Goodly Bag of + these Toothsome Birds--A Siwash Hut--A Revolting Picture of + Dirt, Filth, Nakedness, and Decayed Fish--Another Guide + Employed--Ready on Short Notice--Off for the Mountain. + + CHAPTER X. + + Characteristics of the Flathead Indians--Canoeists and Packers by + Birth and Education--A Skillful Canoe Builder--Freighting + Canoes--Fishing Canoes--Traveling Canoes--Two Cords of Wood for + a Cargo, and Four Tons of Merchandise for Another--Dress of the + Coast Indians. + + CHAPTER XI. + + Climbing the Mountain in a Rainstorm-Pean's Dirty Blankets--His + Careful Treatment of His Old Musket--A Novel Charge for Big + Game--The Chatter of the Pine Squirrel--A Shot Through the + Brush--Venison for Supper--A Lame Conversation: English on the + One Side, Chinook on the Other--The Winchester Express Staggers + the Natives--Peculiarities of the Columbia Black Tail Deer. + + CHAPTER XII. + + The Chinook Jargon; an Odd Conglomeration of Words; the Court + Language of the Northwest; a Specimen Conversation--A Camp on + the Mountain Side--How the Indian Tried to Sleep Warm--The + Importance of a Good Bed when Camping--Pean is taken Ill--His + Fall Down a Mountain--Unable to go Further, We Turn Back--Bitter + Disappointment + + CHAPTER XIII. + + The Return to the Village--Two New Guides Employed--Off for the + Mountains Once More--The Tramp up Ski-ik-kul Creek Through + Jungles, Gulches, and Canyons--And Still it Rains--Ravages of + Forest Fires--A Bed of Mountain Feathers--Description of a + Sleeping Bag; an Indispensable Luxury in Camp Life; an Indian + Opinion of It + + CHAPTER XIV. + + Meditations by a Camp Fire--Suspicions as to the Honesty of My + Guides; at Their Mercy in Case of Stealthy Attack--A Frightful + Fall--Broken Bones and Intense Suffering--A Painful and Tedious + Journey Home--A Painful Surgical Operation--A Happy Denouement + + CHAPTER XV. + + The Beauties of Ski-ik-kul Creek; a Raging Mountain Torrent; + Rapids and Waterfalls Everywhere; Picturesque Tributaries--Above + the Tree Tops--The Pleasure of Quenching Thirst--A Novel + Spear--A Fifteen-Pound Salmon for Supper--The Indians' Midnight + Lunch--A Grand Camp Fire--At Peace with All Men + + CHAPTER XVI. + + Seymour Advises a Late Start for Goat Hunting; but His Council is + Disregarded--We Start at Sunrise--A Queer Craft--Navigating + Ski-ik-kul Lake--A "Straight-up" Shot at a Goat--Both Horns + Broken Off in the Fall--More Rain and Less Fun--A Doe and + Kid--Successful Trout Fishing--Peculiarities of the Skowlitz + Tongue; Grunts, Groans and Whistles--John has + Traveled--Seymour's Pretended Ignorance of English + + CHAPTER XVII. + + En Route to the Village Again--A Water-Soaked Country--"Oh, What + a Fall was There, My Countrymen!"--Walking on Slippery + Logs--More Rain--Wet Indians--"Semo He Spile de Grouse"--A + Frugal Breakfast--High Living at Home--A Bear He did a Fishing + Go; but He was Caught Instead of the Fish, and His Skin is + Bartered to the Unwashed Siwashes. + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + John and His Family "At Home"--An Interesting Picture of Domestic + Economy--Rifle Practice on Gulls and Grebes--Puzzled + Natives--"Phwat Kind of Burds is Them?"--A day on the + Columbia--The Pallisades from a Steamer--Photographing Bad Lands + from a Moving Train. + + CHAPTER XIX. + + Deer Hunting at Spokane Falls--Ruin Wrought by an Overloaded + Shotgun: A Tattered Vest and a Wrecked Watch--Billy's Bear + Story--The Poorest Hunter Makes the Biggest Score--A Claw in + Evidence--A Disgusted Party. + + CHAPTER XX. + + A Fusilade on the Mule Deer--Two Does as the Result--A Good Shot + Spoiled--View from the Top of Blue Grouse Mountain--A Grand + Panorama; Lakes, Mountains, Prairies and Forests--Johnston's + Story--Rounding Up Wild Hogs--A Trick on the Dutchman--A Bucking + Mule and a Balky Cayuse--Falls of the Spokane River. + + CHAPTER XXI. + + Hunting the Grizzly Bear--Habitat and Characteristics--A Camp + Kettle as a Weapon of Defense--To the Rescue with a + Winchester--Best Localities for Hunting the Grizzly--Baiting and + Still-Hunting--A Surprise Party in the Trail--Two Bulls-eyes and + a Miss--Fresh Meat and Revelry in Camp. + + CHAPTER XXII. + + Elk Hunting in the Rocky Mountains--Characteristics of the + Elk--His Mode of Travel--A Stampede in a Thicket--The Whistle of + the Elk, the Hunter's Sweetest Music--Measurements of a Pair of + Antlers--Saved by Following an Elk Trail--The Work of + Exterminators--The Elk Doomed. + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + Antelope Hunting in Montana--A Red Letter Day on Flat + Willow--Initiating a Pilgrim--Sample Shots--Flagging and + Fanning--Catching Wounded Antelopes on Horseback--Four + Mule-Loads of Meat. + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + Buffalo Hunting on the Texas Plains--A "Bull Train" Loaded with + Skins--A Sensation in Fort Worth--En Route to the Range--Red + River Frank's Mission--A Stand on the Herd--Deluged with Buffalo + Blood--A Wild Run by Indians--Tossed into the Air and Trampled + into the Earth. + + CHAPTER XXV. + + Hunting the Rocky Mountain Goat--Technical Description of the + Animal--Its Limited Range--Dangers Incurred in Hunting It--An + Army Officer's Experience--A Perilous Shot--A Long and Dangerous + Pursuit--Successful at Last--Carrying the Trophies to + Camp--Wading up Lost Horse Creek--Numerous Baths in Icy + Water--An Indian's Fatal Fall--Horses Stampeded by a Bear--Seven + Days on Foot and Alone--Home at Last. + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + Trouting in the Mountains--Gameness of the Mountain Trout--A Red + Letter Day on the Bitter Root--Frontier Tackle and Orthodox + Bait--How a Private Soldier Gets to the Front as an Angler--A + Coot Interrupts the Sport, and a Rock Interrupts the + Coot--Colonel Gibson takes a Nine-Pounder--A Native Fly + Fisherman--Grand Sport on Big Spring Creek--How Captain Hathaway + does the Honors--Where Grand Sport may be Found. + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + Deer Hunting in Northern Wisconsin--On the Range at Daylight--The + Woods Full of Game--Missing a Standing "Broadside" at Thirty + Yards--Several Easy Shots in Rapid Succession; the only Fruits + Shame and Chagrin--Nervousness and Excitement Finally Give Way + to Coolness and Deliberation--A Big Buck at Long Range--A Steady + Aim and a Ruptured Throat--A Blind Run Through Brush and Fallen + Trees--Down at Last--A Noble Specimen--His Head as a Trophy + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + Among the Pines--A Picture of Autumnal Loveliness--Cordial + Welcome to a Logging Camp--A Successful Shot--The Music of the + Dinner Horn--A Throat Cut and a Leg Broken--A Stump for a + Watch-Tower--The Raven Homeward Bound--A Suspicious Buck--A + Mysterious Presence--Dead Beside His Mate--Three Shots and Three + Deer + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + A Typical Woodsman--Model Home in the Great Pine Forest--A + Lifetime in the Wilderness--A Deer in a Natural + Trap--Disappointment and Despondency--"What, You Killed a + Buck!"--Sunrise in the Woods--An Unexpected Shot--A Free Circus + and a Small Audience--A Buck as a Bucker--More Venison + + CHAPTER XXX. + + Cowboy Life--The Boys that Become Good Range Riders--Peculiar + Tastes and Talents Required for the Ranch--Wages Paid to + Cowboys--Abuse and Misrepresentation to which They are + Subjected--The "Fresh Kid," and the Long-Haired "Greaser"--The + Stranger Always Welcome at the Ranch--A Dude Insulted--A Plaid + Ulster, a Green Umbrella, and a Cranky Disposition--Making a + Train Crew Dance--An Uncomplimentary Concert--No Sneak Thieves + on the Plains--Leather Breeches, Big Spurs, and a Six-Shooter in + a Sleeping Car--Fear Gives Way to Admiration--The Slang of the + Range--The "Bucker," and the "Buster"--The Good + Cow-Horse--Roping for Prizes--Snaking a Bear with a Lariat--A + Good School for Boys--Communion with Nature Makes Honest + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + A Montana Roundup--Ranges and Ranches on Powder River; Once the + Home of the Buffalo, the Elk, the Antelope; now the Home of the + Texas Steer and the Cowboy--The Great Plains in Spring Attire--A + Gathering of Rustlers--"Chuck Outfits" to the Front--Early + Risers--Taming an "Alecky" Steer--A Red-Hot Device--Branding and + Slitting--The Run on the Mess Wagon--"Cutting Out" and "Throwing + Over"--A Cruel Process. + + + + +CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery." + --RUSKIN. + + +For anyone who has the courage, the hardihood, and the physical strength +to endure the exercise, there is no form of recreation or amusement +known to mankind that can yield such grand results as mountain climbing. +I mean from a mental as well as from a physical standpoint; and, in +fact, it is the mind that receives the greater benefit. The exertion of +the muscular forces in climbing a high mountain is necessarily severe; +in fact, it is more than most persons unused to it can readily endure; +and were it not for the inspiration which the mind derives from the +experience when the ascent is made it would be better that the subject +should essay some milder form of exercise. But if one's strength be +sufficient to endure the labor of ascending a grand mountain peak, that +extends to or above timber line, to the regions of perpetual snow and +ice, or even to a height that gives a general view of the surrounding +country, the compensation must be ample if one have an eye for the +beauties of nature, or any appreciation of the grandeur of the Creator's +greatest works. + +[Illustration: MOUNT HOOD.] + +Vain, self-loving man is wont to consider himself the noblest work of +God, but let him go to the top of one of these lofty mountains, +surrounded by other towering peaks, and if he be a sane man he will soon +be convinced that his place in the scale of creation is far from the +top. Let him stand, for instance, on the summit of Mount Hood, Mount +Tacoma, or Mount Baker, thousands of feet above all surrounding peaks, +hills, and valleys, where he may gaze into space hundreds of miles in +every direction, with naught to obstruct his view, face to face with his +Creator, and if he have aught of the love of nature in his soul, or of +appreciation of the sublime in his mental composition, he will be moved +to exclaim with the Apostle, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him, +or the son of man that Thou visitest him?" He will feel his littleness, +his insignificance, his utter lack of importance, more forcibly perhaps +than ever before. It seems almost incredible that there should be men in +the world who could care so little for the grandest, the sublimest +sights their native land affords, as to be unwilling to perform the +labor necessary to see them to the best possible advantage; and yet it +is so, for I have frequently heard them say: + +"I should like very much to see these grand sights you describe, but I +never could afford to climb those high mountains for that pleasure; it +is too hard work for me." + +And, after all, the benefits to be derived from mountain climbing are +not wholly of an intellectual character; the physical system may be +benefited by it as well. It is a kind of exercise that in turn brings +into use almost every muscle in the body, those of the legs being of +course taxed most severely, but those of the back do their full share of +the work, while the arms are called into action almost constantly, as +the climber grasps bushes or rocks by which to aid himself in the +ascent. The lungs expand and contract like bellows as they inhale and +exhale the rarified atmosphere, and the heart beats like a trip-hammer +as it pumps the invigorated blood through the system. The liver is +shaken loose from the ribs to which it has perchance grown fast, and the +stomach is aroused to such a state of activity as it has probably not +experienced for years. Let any man, especially one of sedentary habits, +climb a mountain 5,000 feet high, on a bright, pleasant day, when + + "Night's candles are burnt out and jocund day + Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops." + +[Illustration: MOUNT TACOMA.] + +There let him breathe the rare, pure atmosphere, fresh from the portals +of heaven, and my word for it he will have a better appetite, will eat +heartier, sleep sounder, and awake next morning feeling more refreshed +than since the days of his boyhood. + +Although the labor be severe it can and should be modulated to the +strength and capabilities of the person undertaking the task. No one +should climb faster than is compatible with his strength, and halts +should be made every five or ten minutes, if need be, to allow the +system ample rest. In this manner a vast amount of work may be +accomplished in a day, even by one who has had no previous experience +in climbing. + +[Illustration: ON THE COLUMBIA.] + +The benefits and pleasures of mountain climbing are much better +understood and appreciated in Europe than in this country. Nearly every +city of England, France, Spain, Germany, and other European countries +has an Alpine, Pyrenese, or Himalayan club. The members of these clubs +spend their summer outings in scaling the great peaks of the mountains +after which the societies are named, or other ranges, and the winter +evenings in recounting to each other their experiences; and many a man, +by his association with the clubs and by indulgence in this invigorating +pastime develops from a delicate youth into a muscular, sturdy, athletic +man in a few years. + +The possible value of mountain climbing as a recreation and as a means +of gaining knowledge, has been greatly enhanced, of late years, by the +introduction of the dry-plate system in photography, and since the +small, light, compact cameras have been constructed, which may be easily +and conveniently carried wherever a man can pack his blankets and a +day's supply of food. With one of these instruments fine views can be +taken of all interesting objects and bits of scenery on the mountain, +and of the surrounding country. The views are interesting and +instructive to friends and to the public in general, and as souvenirs +are invaluable to the author. And from the negatives thus secured +lantern slides may be made, and from these, by the aid of the calcium +light, pictures projected on a screen that can only be excelled in their +beauty and attractiveness by nature herself. + +[Illustration: GLACIERS ON MOUNT TACOMA.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Each succeeding autumn, for years past, has found me in some range of +mountains, camping, hunting, fishing, climbing, and taking views. The +benefits I have derived from these expeditions, in the way of health, +strength, and vigor, are incalculable, and the pleasures inexpressible. +My last outing was in the Cascade Range, in Oregon and Washington +Territory, where I spent a month in these delightful occupations, and it +is with a view of encouraging and promoting a love for these modes of +recreation that this record is written. + + "I live not in myself, but I become + Portion of that around me; and to me + High mountains are a feeling, but the hum + Of human cities torture." + +[Illustration: A VIEW IN THE CASCADES.] + +The Cascade Range of mountains extends from Southern Oregon through +Washington Territory, away to the northward in British Columbia. In +width, from east to west, it varies from fifty to one hundred miles. It +is the most densely-timbered range on the continent, and yet is one of +the highest and most rugged. It may not possess so many ragged, +shapeless crags and dark canyons as the Rocky Range, and yet everyone who +has ever traversed both accords to the Cascades the distinction of +being the equal, in picturesqueness and grandeur, of the Rockies, or, in +fact, of any other range in the country. As continental landmarks, +Mounts Pitt, Union, Thielson, Jefferson, Hood, Adams, St. Helens, +Tacoma, Baker, Stuart, Chiam, Douglass, and others are unsurpassed. +Their hoary crests tower to such majestic heights as to be visible, in +some instances, hundreds of miles, and their many glaciers feed mighty +rivers upon whose bosoms the commerce of nations is borne. Mount +Jefferson is 9,020 feet high; Mount Adams, 9,570; Mount St. Helens, +9,750; Mount Baker, 10,800, Mount Hood, 11,025, and Mount Tacoma, +14,444. There are many other peaks that rise to altitudes of 7,000 to +9,000 feet, and from these figures one may readily form something of an +idea of the general height and beauty of the Cascade Range. The +foot-hills are generally high, rolling, and picturesque, and so heavily +timbered that in many places one cannot see a hundred yards in any +direction. Higher up the range, however, this heavy timber is replaced +by smaller trees, that stand farther apart, and the growth of underbrush +is not so dense; consequently, the labor of travel is lightened and the +range of vision is extended. The geological formation in the Cascades is +varied. Igneous rock abounds; extensive basaltic cliffs and large bodies +of granite, limestone, sandstone, etc., are frequently met with, and +nearly all the table-lands, in and about the foot-hills, are composed of +gravel drift, covered with vegetable mold. The Cascades may be explored +with comfort later in the fall than the Rockies or other more eastern +ranges, the winter setting in on the former much later than on the +latter, although the winter rains usually come in November. September +and October are the most pleasant months for an outing in the Cascades. + +[Illustration: ONEONTA GORGE, COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON.] + +* * * It was late in October when my wife and I started from Chicago for +a tour of a month among the bristling peaks of the Cascades and the +picturesque islands of Puget Sound. A pleasant ride of fifteen hours on +the Wisconsin Central Railroad to St. Paul, and another of three days +and nights on the grand old Northern Pacific, brought us face to face +with the glittering crests and beetling cliffs that were the objects of +our pilgrimage. As the tourist goes west, the first view of the range is +obtained at the Dalles of the Columbia river, from whence old Mount +Hood, thirty-five miles distant, rears its majestic head high into the +ethereal vault of heaven, and neighboring peaks, of lesser magnitude, +unfold themselves to the enraptured vision. As the train whirls down the +broad Columbia river, every curve, around which we swing with dazzling +speed, reveals to our bewildered gaze new forms of beauty and new +objects of wonder. So many descriptions of the scenery along this mystic +stream have been written, that every reading man, woman, and child in +the land must be familiar with it, and I will not repeat or attempt to +improve upon any of them. To say the most extravagant representations +are not exaggerated, is to speak truly, and no one can know how +beautiful some of these towers and cliffs are until he has seen them. + +The train arrived at Portland, that old and far-famed metropolis of the +North Pacific coast, at half past ten o'clock in the morning, and after +twenty-four hours pleasantly spent in viewing its many points of +interest and the snow-covered mountains thereabouts, we again boarded +the Northern Pacific train and sped toward Tacoma, where we arrived at +six o'clock in the evening. Here we passed another day in looking over a +booming Western city, whose future prosperity and greatness have been +assured by its having been chosen as the tide-water terminus of the +Northern Pacific Railway. Tacoma is situated on Commencement Bay, an arm +of Puget Sound, and has a harbor navigable for the largest ocean +steamships. The vast forests of pine, fir, and cedar, with which it is +surrounded, give Tacoma great commercial importance as a lumbering town, +and the rich agricultural valleys thereabout assure home production of +breadstuffs, vegetables, meats, etc., sufficient to feed its army of +workingmen. Rich coal fields, in the immediate neighborhood, furnish +fuel for domestic and manufacturing purposes at merely nominal prices. +All the waters hereabouts abound in salmon, several varieties of trout +and other food-fishes, while in the woods and mountains adjacent, elk, +deer, and bears are numerous; so the place will always be a popular +resort for the sportsman and the tourist. The chief attraction of the +city, however, for the traveler, will always be the fine view it affords +of Mount Tacoma. This grand old pinnacle of the Cascade Range, +forty-five miles distant, lifts its snow-mantled form far above its +neighbors, which are themselves great mountains, while its +glacier-crowned summit rises, towers, and struggles aloft 'til---- + + "Round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, + Eternal sunshine settles on its head;" + +and its crown is almost lost in the limitless regions of the deep blue +sky. + +From the verandas of the Tacoma House one may view Mount Tacoma until +wearied with gazing. The Northern Pacific Railway runs within fifteen +miles of the base of it, and from the nearest point a trail has been +made, at a cost of some thousands of dollars, by which tourists may +ascend the mountain on horseback, to an altitude of about 10,000 feet, +with comparative comfort; but he who goes above that height must work +his passage. There are several men who claim the distinction of being +the only white man that has ever been to the top of this mountain. +Others declare that it has been ascended only twice; but we have +authentic information of at least three successful and complete ascents +having been made. Indian legends people the mountain with evil spirits, +which are said to dwell in boiling caldrons and yawning caverns-- + + "Calling shapes, and beck'ning shadows dire, + And airy tongues that syllable men's names." + +Tradition says their wild shrieks and groans may be heard therein at all +times; and no Indians are known ever to have gone any great distance up +Mount Rainier, as they call it. White men have tried to employ the +native red men as guides and packers for the ascent, but no amount of +money can tempt them to invade the mysterious canyons and cliffs with +which the marvelous pile is surrounded. They say that all attempts to do +so, by either white or red men, must result in certain destruction. +Undoubtedly the first ascent was made about thirty years ago, by General +(then Lieutenant) Kautz, and Lieutenant Slaughter, of the United States +Army, who were then stationed at Steilacoom, Washington Territory. They +took pack animals, and with an escort of several men ascended as far as +the animals could go. There they left them and continued the climb on +foot. They were gone nine days, from the time of leaving their mules +until they returned to the animals, and claimed, no doubt justly, to +have gone to the top of Liberty Cap, the highest of the three distinct +summits that form the triplex corona; the others being known as the +Summit and the Dome. The next ascent, so far as known, was made in 1876 +by Mr. Hazard Stevens, who gave an account of his experiences in the +_Atlantic Monthly_ for November, of that year. In 1882, Messrs. Van +Trump and Smith, of San Francisco, made a successful ascent, and in the +same year an Austrian tourist who attempted to ascend the mountain, got +within three hundred feet of the top, when his progress was arrested by +an avalanche, and he came very near losing his life. Mr. L. L. Holden, +of Boston, went to within about six hundred feet of the summit in 1883, +and Mr. J. R. Hitchcock claims to have reached it in 1885. + +From the point gained by the trail above mentioned, the tourist may look +down upon the glaciers of the North Fork of the Puyallup River, 3,000 +feet below, while on the other hand, the glaciers of the canyon of the +Carbon may be seen 4,000 feet beneath him. Away to the north, glimmering +and glinting under the effulgent rays of the noonday sun, stretches that +labyrinth of waters known as Puget Sound-- + + "Whose breezy waves toss up their silvery spray;" + +while the many islands therein, draped in their evergreen foliage, look +like emeralds set in a sheet of silver. Many prominent landmarks in +British Columbia are seen, while to the north and south stretches the +Cascade Range, to the west the Olympic, and to the southwest the Coast +Range. All these are spread out before the eye of the tourist in a grand +panorama unsurpassed for loveliness. Crater Lake forms one of the +mysteries of Mount Tacoma. About its ragged, ice-bound and rock-ribbed +shores are many dark caverns, from which the Indians conceived their +superstitious fears of this mysterious pile. An explorer says of one of +these chambers: + +"Its roof is a dome of brilliant green, with long icicles pendant +therefrom; while its floor is composed of the rocks and debris that +formed the side of the crater, worn smooth by the action of water and +heated by a natural register, from which issue clouds of steam." + +The grand canyon of the Puyallup is two and a half miles wide, and from +its head may be seen the great glacier, 300 feet in thickness, which +supplies the great volume of water that flows through the Puyallup +river. From here no less than nine different waterfalls, varying in +height from 500 to 1,500 feet, are visible; and visitors are sometimes +thrilled with the magnificent spectacle of an avalanche of thousands of +tons of overhanging ice falling with an overwhelming crash into the +canyon, roaring and reverberating in a way that almost makes the great +mountain tremble. Fed by the lake, torrents pour over the edge of the +cliff, and the foaming waters, forming a perpetual veil of seemingly +silver lace, fall with a fearful leap into the arms of the surging +waves below. Mount Tacoma will be the future resort of the continent, +and many of its wondrous beauties yet remain to be explored. + +[Illustration: VIEW ON GREEN RIVER NEAR MOUNT TACOMA.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The Oregon Railway & Navigation Company's steamers leave Tacoma, for +Seattle, at four o'clock in the morning, and at six-thirty in the +evening, so we were unable to see this portion of the sound until our +return trip. Seattle is another of those rushing, pushing, thriving, +Western towns, whose energy and dash always surprise Eastern people. The +population of the city is 15,000 souls; it has gas-works, water-works, +and a street railway, and does more business, and handles more money +each year than many an Eastern city of 50,000 or more. + +The annual lumber shipments alone aggregate over a million dollars, from +ten saw-mills that cost over four millions, and the value of the +salmon-canning product is nearly a million more. The soil of the valleys +adjacent to Seattle is peculiarly adapted to hop-raising, and that +industry is extensively carried on by a large number of farmers. Some of +the largest and finest hop-ranches in the world are located in the +vicinity, and their product is shipped to various American and European +ports, over 100,000 tons having been shipped in 1888, bringing the +growers the handsome sum of $560,327. + +During the fifteen years since the beginning of this important +cultivation, the hop crop is said never to have failed, nor has it been +attacked by disease, nor deteriorated by reason of the roots being kept +on the same land without replanting. It is believed that the Dwamish, +the White River, and the Puyallup Valleys could easily produce as many +hops as are now raised in the United States, if labor could be obtained +to pick them. Indians have been mainly relied upon to do the picking, +and they have flocked to the Sound from nearly all parts of the +Territory, even from beyond the mountains. Many have come in canoes from +regions near the outlet of the Sound, from British Columbia, and even +from far off Alaska, to engage temporarily in this occupation; then to +purchase goods and return to their wigwams. They excel the whites in +their skill as pickers, and, as a rule, conduct themselves peaceably. + +Elliot Bay, on which Seattle is built, affords a fine harbor and good +anchorage, while Lakes Union and Washington, large bodies of fresh +water--the former eleven and the latter eighteen feet above tide +level--lie just outside the city limits, opposite. There are rich coal +mines at hand, which produce nearly a million dollars worth each year. +Large fertile tracts of agricultural lands, in the near vicinity, +produce grain, vegetables, and fruits of many varieties, and in great +luxuriance. Iron ore of an excellent quality abounds in the hills and +mountains back of the city, and with all these natural resources and +advantages at her command, Seattle is sure to become a great metropolis +in the near future. The climate of the Puget Sound country is temperate; +snow seldom falls before Christmas, never to a greater depth than a few +inches in the valleys and lowlands, and seldom lies more than a few days +at a time. My friend, Mr. W. A. Perry, of Seattle, in a letter dated +December 6, says: + +"The weather, since your departure, has been very beautiful. The morning +of your arrival was the coldest day we have had this autumn. Flowers are +now blooming in the gardens, and yesterday a friend who lives at Lake +Washington sent me a box of delicious strawberries, picked from the +vines in his garden in the open air on December 4, while you, poor +fellow, were shivering, wrapped up in numberless coats and furs, in the +arctic regions of Chicago. Why don't you emigrate? There's lots of room +for you on the Sumas, where the flowers are ever blooming, where the +summer never dies, where the good Lord sends the _tyee_ (great) salmon +to your very door; and where, if you want to shoot, you have your choice +from the tiny jacksnipe to the cultus bear or the lordly elk." + +There are thousands of acres of natural cranberry marshes on the shores +of the sound, where this fruit grows wild, of good quality, and in great +abundance. It has not been cultivated there yet, but fortunes will be +made in that industry in the near future. + +But the crowning glory of Puget Sound, and its greatest source of +wealth, are the vast forests of timber. It is scarcely advisable to +tell the truth concerning the size to which some of the giant firs and +cedars grow in this country, lest I be accused of exaggeration; but, for +proof of what I say, it will only be necessary to inquire of any +resident of the Sound country. There are hundreds of fir and cedar trees +in these woods twenty to twenty-five feet in diameter, above the spur +roots, and over three hundred feet high. A cube was cut from a fir tree, +near Vancouver, and shipped to the Colonial Exhibition in London in +1886, that measured nine feet and eight inches in thickness each way. +The bark of this tree was fourteen inches thick. Another tree was cut, +trimmed to a length of three hundred and two feet, and sent to the same +destination, but this one, I am told, was only six feet through at the +butt. + +[Illustration: PUGET SOUND SAW-LOGS.] + +From one tree cut near Seattle six saw-logs were taken, five of which +were thirty feet long, each, and the other was twenty-four feet in +length. This tree was only five feet in diameter at the base, and the +first limb grew at a height of two feet above where the last log was cut +off, or over one hundred and seventy feet from the ground. A red cedar +was cut in the same neighborhood that measured eighteen feet in diameter +six feet above the ground; and there is a well-authenticated case of a +man, named Hepburn, having lived in one of these cedars for over a year, +while clearing up a farm. The tree was hollow at the ground, the cavity +measuring twenty-two feet in the clear and running up to a knot hole +about forty feet above. The homesteader laid a floor in the hollow, +seven or eight feet above the ground, and placed a ladder against the +wall by which to go up and down. On the floor he built a stone +fireplace, and from it to the knot hole above a stick and clay chimney. +He lived upstairs and kept his horse and cow downstairs. It may be well +to explain that he was a bachelor, and thus save the reader any anxiety +as to how his wife and children liked the situation. + +The "Sumas Sapling" stands near Sumas Lake, northeast of Seattle. It is +a hollow cedar, twenty-three feet in the clear, on the ground, and is +estimated to be fifteen feet in diameter twenty feet above the ground. I +have, in several instances, counted more than a hundred of these mammoth +trees on an acre of land, and am informed that one tract has been out +off that yielded over 1,000,000 feet of lumber per acre. In this case +the trees stood so close together that many of the stumps had to be dug +out, after the trees had been felled, before the logs could be gotten +out. The system of logging in vogue here differs widely from that +practiced in Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, and elsewhere. No snow or ice +are required here, and, in fact, if snow falls to any considerable depth +while crews are in the woods a halt is called until it goes off. + +Corduroy roads are built into the timber as fast as required, on which +the teams travel, so that it is not necessary that the ground should be +even frozen. Skids, twelve to eighteen inches thick, are laid across, +these roads, about nine feet apart, and sunk into the ground so as to +project about six inches above the surface; the bark is peeled off the +top, they are kept greased, and the logs are "snaked" over them with +four to seven yoke of cattle, as may be required. The wealthier +operators use steam locomotives and cars, building tracks into the +timber as fast and as far as needed. This great timber belt is +co-extensive with Puget Sound, the Straits of Georgia, and the Cascade +Mountains. I believe that at the present rate at which lumber is being +consumed, there is fir, pine, and cedar enough in Washington Territory +and British Columbia to last the world a thousand years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Puget Sound is a great inland sea, extending nearly 200 miles from the +ocean, having a surface of about 2,000 square miles, and a shore line of +1,594 miles, indented with numerous bays, harbors, and inlets, each with +its peculiar name; and it contains numerous islands inhabited by +farmers, lumbermen, herdsmen, and those engaged in quarrying lime and +building stone. Nothing can surpass the beauty of these waters and their +safety. Not a shoal exists within the Sound, the Straits of Juan de +Fuca, Admiralty Bay, Hood's Canal, or the Straits of Georgia, that would +in any way interrupt their navigation by a seventy-four-gun ship. There +is no country in the world that possesses waters equal to these. The +shores of all the inlets and bays are remarkably bold, so much so that a +ship's side would touch the shore before her keel would touch the +ground. The country by which these waters are surrounded has a +remarkably salubrious climate. + +The region affords every advantage for the accommodation of a vast +commercial and military marine, with conveniences for docks, and there +are a great many sites for towns and cities, which at all times would be +well supplied with water, and the surrounding country, which is well +adapted to agriculture, would supply all the wants of a large +population. No part of the world affords finer islands, sounds, or a +greater number of harbors than are found within these waters. They are +capable of receiving the largest class of vessels, and are without a +single hidden danger. From the rise and fall of the tide (18 feet), +every facility is afforded for the erection of works for a great +maritime nation. The rivers also furnish hundreds of sites for +water-power for manufacturing purposes. On this Sound are already +situated many thriving towns and cities, besides those already +mentioned, bidding for the commerce of the world. + +The flora of the Sound region is varied and interesting. A saturated +atmosphere, constantly in contact with the Coast Range system of +upheaval, together with the warm temperature, induces a growth of +vegetation almost tropical in its luxuriance. On the better soils, the +shot-clay hills and uplands, and on the alluvial plains and river +bottoms, grow the great trees, already mentioned, and many other species +of almost equal beauty, though of no commercial value. + +"The characteristic shrubs are the cornels and the spiraeas, many +species. These, with the low thickets of salal (_Gaultheria shallon_), +Oregon grape (berries), and fern (chiefly pteris, which is the most +abundant), and the tangle of the trailing blackberry (_Rubus pedatus_) +make the forests almost impenetrable save where the ax or the wild beast +or the wilder fire have left their trails. + +"The dense shade of the forest gives little opportunity for the growth +of the more lowly herbs. Where the fire has opened these shades to the +light the almost universal fireweed (_epilobium_) and the lovely brown +fire-moss (_funaria_) abound. In swamps and lowlands the combustion of +decay, almost as quick and effective as fire itself, opens large spaces +to the light; and here abound chiefly the skunk cabbage of the Pacific +coast (_lysichiton_) and many forms of the lovliest mosses, grown beyond +belief save by those who have looked upon their tropical congeners. +_Hypnums_ and _Mniums_ make the great mass which meet the eye; and among +the many less obvious forms a careful search will reveal many species +characteristic of this coast alone. The lower forms of the cryptogams, +the lichens and the fungi, abound in greatest profusion as might be +expected. The chief interest in these, in the present state of our +knowledge of them, springs from their disposition to invade the more +valuable forms of vegetation which follow advancing civilization." + +[Illustration: VIEWS ON PUGET SOUND.] + +I measured one fungus, which I found growing upon the decaying trunk of +a mammoth fir, that was thirteen inches thick and thirty-four inches +wide. I have frequently seen mosses growing on rotten logs, in the deep +shades of these lonely forests, that were twelve to sixteen inches deep, +and others hanging from branches overhead three feet or more in length. +There are places in these dense forests where the trees stand so close +and their branches are so intertwined that the sun's rays never reach +the ground, and have not, perhaps for centuries; and it is but natural +that these shade and moisture loving plants should grow to great size in +such places. + +The fauna of this Territory includes the elk, black-tailed deer, +_Cervus columbianus_; the mule-deer, _Cervus macrotus_; the Virginia +deer, _Cervus virginianus_; the caribou, the Rocky Mountain goat, Rocky +Mountain sheep, the grizzly and black bear. Among the smaller mammals +there are the raccoon, the cougar, wild cat, gray wolf, black wolf, +prairie wolf or coyote, gray and red fox, fisher, mink, martin, beaver, +otter, sea otter, red squirrel, ermine, muskrat, sea lion, fur and hair +seals, wolverine, skunk, badger, porcupine, marmot, swamp hare, +jack-rabbit, etc. Of birds and wild fowls there is a long list, among +which may be mentioned several varieties of geese and brant, including +the rare and toothsome black brant, which in season hovers in black +clouds about the sand spits; the canvas back, redhead, blue bill, teal, +widgeon, shoveler, and various other ducks; ruffed, pinnated, and blue +grouse; various snipes and plovers; eagles, hawks, owls, woodpeckers, +jays, magpies, nuthatches, warblers, sparrows, etc. There are many +varieties of game and food fishes in the Sound and its tributaries, in +addition to the salmon and trout already mentioned. In short, this whole +country is a paradise for the sportsman and the naturalist, whatever the +specialty of either. + +We left Seattle, _en route_ for Victoria, at seven o'clock on a bright, +crisp November morning. The air was still, the bay was like a sheet of +glass, and only long, low swells were running outside. We had a charming +view of the Cascade Mountains to the east and the Olympics to the west, +all day. The higher peaks were covered with snow, and the sunlight +glinted and shimmered across them in playful, cheery mood. Deep shadows +fell athwart dark canyons, in whose gloomy depths we felt sure herds of +elk and deer were nipping the tender herbage, and along whose raging +rivers sundry bears were doubtless breakfasting on salmon straight. Old +Mount Baker's majestic head, rising 10,800 feet above us and only fifty +miles away, was the most prominent object in the gorgeous landscape, and +one on which we never tired of gazing. We had only to cast our eyes from +the grand scene ashore to that at our feet, and _vice versa_, to-- + + "See the mountains kiss high heaven, + And the waves clasp one another." + +A large colony of gulls followed the steamer, with ceaseless beat of +downy wings, from daylight till dark, and after the first hour they +seemed to regard us as old friends. They hovered about the deck like +winged spirits around a lost child. Strange bird thus to poise with +tireless wing over this watery waste day after day! Near the route of +the vessel one of the poor creatures lay dead, drifting sadly and alone +on the cold waves. Mysterious creature, with-- + + "Lack lustre eye, and idle wing, + And smirched breast that skims no more, + Hast thou not even a grave + Upon the dreary shore, + Forlorn, forsaken thing?" + +Our feathered fellow-passengers greeted us with plaintive cries whenever +we stepped out of the cabin, dropping into the water in pursuit of every +stray bit of food that was thrown overboard from the cook-room. My wife +begged several plates of stale bread from the steward, and, breaking it +into small pieces, threw handfuls at a time into the water. + +[Illustration: OUR FEATHERED FELLOW-PASSENGERS.] + +Twenty or thirty of the birds would drop in a bunch where the bread +fell, and a lively scramble would ensue for the coveted food. The lucky +ones would quickly corral it, however, when the whole flight, rising +again, would follow and soon overtake the vessel. Then they would +cluster around their patron, cooing, and coaxing for more of the welcome +bounty. I took out my detective camera and made a number of exposures on +the gulls, which resulted very satisfactorily. Many of the prints show +them sadly out of focus, but this was unavoidable, as I focused at +twenty feet, and of course all that were nearer or farther away, at the +instant of exposure, are not sharp. Many, however, that were on wing at +the time of making the exposure, and at the proper distance from the +lens, are clearly and sharply cut. + +These pictures form a most interesting study for artists, anatomists, +naturalists, and others, the wings being shown in every position assumed +by the birds in flight. The shutter worked at so high a pressure that +only one or two birds in the entire series show any movement at all, and +they are but very slightly blurred. When we consider that the steamer, +as well as the gulls, was in motion--running ten miles an +hour--trembling and vibrating from stem to stern, and that, in many +cases, the birds were going in an opposite direction from that of the +vessel, the results obtained are certainly marvelous. It may interest +some of my readers to know that I used an Anthony detective camera, +making a four-by-five-inch picture, to which is fitted a roll holder, +and in all the work done on this trip, I used negative paper. I also +obtained, _en route_, several good views of various islands, and points +of interest on the mainland, while the boat was in motion. + +There are many beautiful scenes in and about the Sound; many charming +islands, clothed in evergreen foliage, from whose interiors issue clear, +sparkling brooks of fresh water; while the mainland shores rise +abruptly, in places, to several hundreds of feet, bearing their burdens +of giant trees. There are perpendicular cut banks on many of the islands +and the mainland shores, thirty, forty, or fifty feet high, almost +perpendicular, made so by the hungry waves having eaten away their +foundations, and the earth having fallen into the brine, leaving exposed +bare walls of sand and gravel. On Whidby Island, one of the largest in +the Sound, there was, up to a few years ago, a herd of wild cattle, to +which no one made claim of ownership, and which were, consequently, +considered legitimate game for anyone who cared to hunt them. They were +wary and cunning in the extreme. The elk or deer, native and to the +manor born, could not be more so. But, alas, these cattle were not to be +the prey of true, conscientious sportsmen; for the greed of the market +hunter and the skin hunter exceeded the natural cunning of the noble +animals, and they have been nearly exterminated; only ten or twelve +remain, and they will soon have to yield up their lives to the +insatiable greed of those infamous butchers. + +[Illustration: DECEPTION PASS, PUGET SOUND.] + +One of the most curious and interesting points in the sound is Deception +Pass. This is a narrow channel or passage between two islands, only +fifty yards wide, and about two hundred yards long. On either side rise +abrupt and towering columns of basaltic rock, and during both ebb and +flow the tide runs through it, between Padilla and Dugalla Bays, with +all the wild fury and bewildering speed of the maelstrom. This pass +takes its name from the fact of there being three coves near--on the +west coast of Whidby Island--that look so much like Deception that they +are often mistaken for it at night or during foggy weather, even by +experienced navigators. All the skill and care of the best pilots are +required to make the pass in safety, and the bravest of them heave a +sigh of relief when once its beetling cliffs and seething abysses are +far astern. Gulls hover about this weird place, and eagles soar above it +at all hours, as if admiring its pristine beauties, yet in superstitious +awe of the dark depths. Mount Erie, two miles away, rising to a height +of 1,300 feet, casting its deep shadows across the pass and surrounding +waters, completes a picture of rare beauty and grandeur. + +We reached Victoria, that quaint, old, aristocratic, ultra-English town, +just as the sun was sinking beneath the waves, that rolled restlessly on +the surface of Juan de Fuca Strait. We were surprised to see so +substantial and well-built a town as this, and one possessing so much of +the air of age and independence, so far north and west. One might +readily imagine, from the exterior appearance of the city and its +surroundings, that he were in the province of Quebec instead of that of +British Columbia. My wife felt that she must not remain longer away from +home at present, and we were to part here; therefore, in the early +morning she embarked for home, while I transferred my effects and self +to the steamer Princess Louise, bound for Burrard Inlet. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +At daylight in the morning we entered English Bay, having crossed the +strait during the night. The sun climbed up over the snow-mantled +mountains into a cloudless sky, and his rays were reflected from the +limpid, tranquil surface of the bay: + + "Blue, darkly, deeply, beautifully blue," + +as if from the face of a mirror. A few miles to the east, the +triple-mouthed Frazer empties its great volume of fresh, cold, +glacier-tinted fluid into the briny inland sea, and its delta, level as +a floor, stretches back many miles on either side of the river to the +foot-hills of the Cascades. Thousands of ducks sat idly and lazily in +the water, sunning themselves, pruning their feathers, and eyeing us +curiously but fearlessly, as we passed, sometimes within twenty-five or +thirty yards of them. A few geese crossed hither and thither, in low, +long, dark lines, uttering their familiar honk, honk; but they were more +wary than their lesser cousins, and kept well out of range. I asked the +purser if there was any rule against shooting on board, and he said no; +to go down on the after main deck, and shoot until I was tired. I took +my Winchester express from the case, went below and opened on the ducks. +They at once found it necessary to get out of the country, and their +motion, and that of the vessel combined, caused me to score several +close misses, but I finally found the bull's-eye, so to speak, and +killed three in rapid succession. Then the mate came down and said: + +"We don't allow no one to be firin' off guns on board." + +"I have the purser's permission," I said. + +"Well," he replied, "the captain's better authority than the purser on +this here boat," whereupon he returned to the cabin deck, and so did I. +I was not seriously disappointed, however, for I cared little for the +duck shooting; I was in quest of larger game, and only wanted to +practice a little, to renew acquaintance and familiarity with my weapon. +Early in the day we entered Burrard Inlet, a narrow, crooked, and +peculiarly shaped arm of the salt water, that winds and threads its way +many miles back into the mountains, so narrow in places, that a boy may +cast a stone across it, and yet so deep as to be navigable for the +largest ocean steamship. The inlet is so narrow and crooked that a +stranger, sailing into it for the first time, would pronounce it a great +river coming down from the mountains. Through this picturesque body of +water our good boat cleft the shadows of the overhanging mountains until +nearly noon, when we landed at Vancouver, the terminus of the Canadian +Pacific Railway. In consequence of this important selection, the place +is a busy mart of trade. The clang of saw and hammer, the rattle of +wheels, the general din of a building boom, are such as to tire one's +nerves in a few hours. Later in the day we reached Port Moody. This town +was originally designated as the tide-water terminus of the road, and +had its brief era of prosperity and speculation in consequence; but now +that the plan has been changed it has been reduced to a mere way +station, and has relapsed into the dullest kind of dullness. + +From here I staged across the divide to New Westminster, on the Frazer +river, the home of Mr. J. C. Hughs, who had invited me there to hunt +Rocky Mountain goats with him. I was grieved beyond measure, however, to +learn on my arrival that he was dangerously ill, and went at once to his +house, but he was unable to see me. He sank rapidly from the date of his +first illness, died two days after my arrival, and I therefore found +myself in a strange land, with no friend or acquaintance to whom I could +go for information or advice. + +My first object, therefore, was to find a guide to take me into the +mountains, and although I found several pretended sportsmen, I could +hear of no one who had ever killed a goat, except poor Hughs, and a Mr. +Fannin, who had formerly lived there, but had lately moved away, so of +course no one knew where I could get a guide. Several business men, of +whom I asked information, inquired at once where I was from, and on +learning that I was an American, simply said "I don't know," and were, +or at least pretended to be, too busy to talk with me. They seemed to +have no use for people from this side of the boundary line, and this +same ill-feeling toward my Nation (with a big N) was shown me in other +places, and on various occasions, while in the province. I found, +however, one gracious exception, in New Westminster, in the person of +Mr. C. G. Major, a merchant, who, the moment I made known to him my +wish, replied: + +"Well, sir, the best guide and the best hunter in British Columbia left +here not three minutes ago. He is an Indian who lives on Douglass Lake, +and I think I can get him for you. If I can, you are fixed for a good +and successful hunt." + +This news, and the frank, manly, cordial greeting that came with it, +were surprising to me, after the treatment I had been receiving. Mr. +Major invited me into his private office, gave me a chair by the fire, +and sent out a messenger to look for "Douglass Bill," the Indian of whom +he had spoken. This important personage soon came in. Mr. Major told him +what I wanted, and it took but a few minutes to make a bargain. He was a +solid, well-built Indian, had an intelligent face, spoke fair English, +and had the reputation of being, as Mr. Major had said, an excellent +hunter. Mr. Major further said he considered Bill one of the most +honest, truthful Indians he had ever known, and that I could trust him +as implicitly as I could any white man in the country. + +This arrangement was made on Saturday night, but Bill said he could not +start on the hunt until Wednesday morning, as his mother-in-law had just +died, and he must go and help to bury her on Tuesday. The funeral was to +take place on the Chilukweyuk river, a tributary of the Frazer, about +fifty miles above New Westminster, and it was arranged that I should go +up on the steamer, and meet him at the mouth of Harrison river, another +tributary stream, on Wednesday morning. We were then to go up the +Harrison to the hunting grounds. I was delighted at the prospect of a +successful hunt, with so good a guide, and cheerfully consented to wait +the necessary three days for the red man to perform the last sad rites +of his tribe over the remains of the departed _kloochman_, but I was +doomed to disappointment. + +[Illustration: A VIEW ON THE FRAZER.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +For many years I had read, heard, and dreamed of the Frazer, that +mysterious stream which flows out from among the icy fastnesses of the +Cascades, in the far-off confines of British Columbia. For many years +had I longed to see with my own eyes some of the grand scenery of the +region it drains, and now, at last, that mighty stream flowed at my +feet. How eagerly I drank in the beauty of the scene! How my heart +thrilled at the thought that I stood face to face with this land of my +dreams and was about to explore a portion, at least, of the country in +which this great river rises. The beautiful lines penned by Maria +Brooks, on the occasion of her first visit to the St. Lawrence, came +vividly to my mind: + + "The first time I beheld thee, beauteous stream, + How pure, how smooth, how broad thy bosom heaved; + What feelings rushed upon my heart! a gleam + As of another life my kindling soul received." + +I left New Westminster at seven o'clock Monday morning on the steamer +Adelaide, for the mouth of Harrison river, sixty miles up the Frazer. +There were over twenty Indians on board, going up to the mouth of the +Chilukweyuk, to attend the funeral of Douglass Bill's deceased relative. +As soon as I learned their destination I inquired if he were among +them, but they said he was not. He had come aboard before we left, but +for some reason had decided to go on another boat that left half an hour +ahead of the Adelaide. The voyage proved intensely interesting. The +Frazer is from a quarter to half a mile wide, and is navigable for large +steamers for a hundred miles above its mouth. There are portions of the +valley that are fertile, thickly settled, and well cultivated. The +valleys of some of its tributaries are also good farming districts, and +grain, fruits, and vegetables of various kinds grow in abundance. At the +mouth of the Chilukweyuk I saw fine peaches that had grown in the +valley, within ten miles of perpetual snow. The river became very +crooked as we neared the mountains, and finally we entered the gorge, or +canyon, where the rocky-faced mountains rise, sheer from the water's +edge, to heights of many hundreds of feet, and just back of them tower +great peaks, clad in eternal snows. The little camera was again brought +into requisition and, as we rounded some of these picturesque bends and +traversed some of the beautiful reaches, I secured many good views, +though the day was cloudy and lowery. The boat being in motion, I was, +of course, compelled to make the shortest possible exposures, and was, +therefore, unable to get fine details in the shadows; yet many of the +prints turned out fairly well. + +We saw several seals in the river on the way up, and the captain +informed me that at certain seasons they were quite plentiful in the +Frazer and all the larger streams in the neighborhood. They go up the +Frazer to the head of navigation and he could not say how much farther. +He said that on one occasion a female seal and her young were seen +sporting in the water ahead of the steamer, and that when the vessel +came within about fifty yards they dove. Nothing more was seen of the +puppy, and the captain thought it must have been caught in the wheel and +killed, for the mother followed the vessel several miles, whining, +looking longingly, pitifully, and beseechingly at the passengers and +crew. She would swim around and around the steamer, coming close up, +showing no fear for her own safety, whatever, but seeming to beg them to +give back her baby. She appeared to have lost sight of it entirely, +whatever its fate, and to think it had been captured and taken on board. +Her moaning and begging, her intense grief, were pitiable in the +extreme, and brought tears to the eyes of stout, brawny men. Finally she +seemed completely exhausted with anguish and her exertions and gradually +sank out of sight. My informant said he hoped never to witness another +such sight. + +We arrived at the mouth of Harrison river at six o'clock in the evening. +There is a little Indian village there called by the same name as the +river, and Mr. J. Barker keeps a trading post on the reservation, he +being the only white man living there. He made me welcome to the best +accommodations his bachelor quarters afforded, but said the only +sleeping-room he had was full, as two friends from down the river were +stopping with him for the night, and that I would have to lodge with one +of the Indian families. He said there was one _kloochman_ (the Chinook +word for squaw) who was a remarkably neat, cleanly housekeeper, who had +a spare room, and who usually kept any strangers that wished to stop +over night in the village. While we were talking the squaw in question +came in and Mr. Barker said to her: + +"Mary, yah-kwa Boston man tik-eh moo-sum me-si-ka house po-lak-le." +(Here is an American who would like to sleep in your house to-night.) To +which she replied: + +"Yak-ka hy-ak" (he can come), and the bargain was closed. + +I remained at the store and talked with Mr. Barker and his friends until +ten o'clock, when he took a lantern and piloted me over to the Indian +rancherie, where I was to lodge. I took my sleeping-bag with me and +thanked my stars that I did, for notwithstanding the assurances given me +by good Mr. Barker that the Indian woman was as good a housekeeper as +the average white woman, I was afraid of vermin. I have never known an +Indian to be without the hemipterous little insect, _Pediculus_ +(_humanus_) _capitis_. Possibly there may be some Indians who do not +wear them; I simply say I have never had the pleasure of knowing one, +and I have known a great many, too. I seriously doubt if one has ever +yet lived many days at a time devoid of the companionship of these +pestiferous little creatures. In fact, an Indian and a louse are natural +allies--boon companions--and are as inseparable as the boarding-house +bed and the bedbug. The red man is so inured to the ravages of his +parasitic companion, so accustomed to have him rustling around on his +person and foraging for grub, that he pays little or no attention to the +insect, and seems hardly to feel its bite. + +You will rarely see an Indian scratch his head or, in fact, any portion +of his person, as a white man does when he gets a bite. Lo gives forth +no outward sign that he is thickly settled, and it is only when he sits +or lies down in the hot sun that the inhabitants of his hair and +clothing come to the front; then you may see them crawling about like +roaches in a hotel kitchen. Or, when he has lain down on a board, or +your tent canvas, or any light-colored substance and got up and gone +away, leaving some of his neighbors behind, then you know he is--like +others of his race--the home of a large colony of insects. + +When Mary and her husband, George, saw my roll of bedding, which they +supposed to be simply blankets, they protested to Mr. Barker that I +would not need them, that there was "hy-iu mit-lite pa-se-se" (plenty of +covering on the bed). I told them, however, that I could sleep better in +my own blankets and preferred to use them. I took the bundle into my +room, spread the sleeping-bag on the bed and crawled into it. The outer +covering of the bag being of thick, hard canvas, I hoped it would prove +an effectual barrier against the assaults of the vermin, and that they +might not find the portal by which I entered, and so it proved. + +George and Mary live in a very well-built, comfortable, one-story frame +cottage, divided into two rooms; the kitchen, dining-room, parlor and +family sleeping-room all in one, and the spare room being the other. +The house has four windows and one door, a shingle roof and a board +floor. They have a cooking-stove, several chairs, a table, cupboard, +etc. The bedstead on which I slept was homemade, but neat and +substantial. It was furnished with a white cotton tick, filled with +straw, feather pillows, several clean-looking blankets, and a pair of +moderately clean cotton sheets. I have slept in much worse-looking beds +in hotels kept by white people. + +[Illustration: GEORGE AND MARY.] + +This Indian village, Harrison river, or Skowlitz, as the Indians call +both the river and the village, is composed of about twenty families, +living in houses of about the same class and of the same general design +as the one described, although some are slightly larger and better, +while others are not quite so good. All have been built by white +carpenters, or the greater part of the work was done by them, and the +lumber and other materials were manufactured by white men. None of the +dwellings have ever been painted inside or out, but there is a neat +mission church in the village that has been honored with a coat of white +paint. There are a few log shacks standing near, that look very much as +if they had been built by native industry. The frame houses, I am +informed, were erected by the Government and the church by the Catholic +Missionary Society. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +I was not compelled to eat with George and Mary, for Mr. Barker had +kindly invited me to breakfast with him, and when I reached his store, +at the breakfast hour in the morning, I found a neat inviting-looking +table in the room back of the store, loaded with broiled ham, baked +potatoes, good bread and butter, a pot of steaming coffee, etc.; all of +which we enjoyed intensely. Mr. Barker informed me there was a cluster +of hot springs ten miles up the river, at the foot of Harrison Lake, the +source of Harrison river, near which a large hotel had lately been +built. Upon inquiry as to a means of getting up there, I learned that he +had employed a couple of Indians to take some freight up that morning in +a canoe, and that I could probably secure a passage with them. As +Harrison Lake, or rather the mountains surrounding it, were the +hunting-grounds which Douglass Bill had selected, and as we would have +to pass these hot springs en route, I decided to go there and wait for +him. I therefore arranged with Barker to send him up to the springs, +when he should call for me at the store, and took passage in the freight +canoe. + +The Harrison river is a large stream that cuts its way through high, +rugged mountains, and the water has a pronounced milky tinge imparted +by the glaciers from which its feeders come, away back in the Cascades. +It is a famous salmon stream, and thousands of these noble fishes, of +mammoth size, that had lately gone up the river and into the small +creeks to spawn, having died from disease, or having been killed in the +terrible rapids they had to encounter, were lying dead on every sand +bar, lodged against every stick of driftwood, or were slowly floating in +the current. Their carcasses lined the shore all along the lower portion +of the river, and the hogs, of which the Indians have large numbers, +were feasting on the putrid masses as voraciously as if they had been +ears of new, sweet corn. The stench emitted by these festering bodies +was nauseating in the extreme; and the water, ordinarily so pure and +palatable, was now totally unfit for use. I counted over one hundred of +these dead fishes on a single sand bar of less than half an acre in +extent. Cruising amid such surroundings was anything but pleasant, and I +was glad the current was slow here so that, though going up stream, we +were able to make good progress, and soon got away from this nauseating +sight. + +About a mile above the village we rounded a bend in the river, where it +spread out to nearly a quarter of a mile in width, and on a sand bar in +the middle of the stream, sat a flock of geese. I picked up my rifle and +took a shot at them, but the ball cut a ditch in the water nearly fifty +yards this side, and went singing over their heads into the woods +beyond. They did not seem lo enjoy such music, and taking wing started +for some safer feeding-ground, carrying on a lively conversation in +goose Latin, probably about any fool who would try to kill geese at that +distance. I turned loose on them again, and in about a second after +pulling the trigger one of them seemed to explode, as if hit by a +dynamite bomb. For a few seconds the air was full of fragments of goose, +which rained down into the water like a shower of autumn leaves. My red +companions enjoyed the result of this shot hugely, and a canoe load of +Indians from up river, who were passing at the time, set up a regular +war whoop. We pulled over and got what was left of the goose, and found +that my express bullet had carried away all his stern rigging, his +rudder, one of his paddles, and a considerable portion of his hull. The +water was covered with fragments of sail, provisions of various kinds, +and sundry bits of cargo and hull. Charlie picked up so much of the +wreck as hung together, and said in his broken, laconic English: + +[Illustration: DEAD SALMON ON HARRISON RIVER.] + +"Dat no good goose gun. Shoot him too much away." + +There were plenty of ducks, coots, grebes, and gulls on the river, and I +had fine sport with them whenever I cared to shoot. + +A mile above where I killed the goose we entered a long reach of shoal +rapids, where all the brawn and skill of the Indians were required to +stem the powerful current and the immense volume of water. The rapids +are over a mile long, and it took us nearly two hours to reach their +head. As soon as we were well into them we came among large numbers of +live, healthy salmon. Many of them were running down the stream, some +up, while others seemed not to be going anywhere in particular, but +just loafing around, enjoying themselves. They were wild, but, owing to +the water being so rough and rapid, we frequently got within two or +three feet of them before they saw us, and the Indians killed two large +ones with their canoe poles. Occasionally we would corner a whole school +of them in some little pocket, where the water was so shallow that their +dorsal fins would stick out, and where there was no exit but by passing +close to the canoe. When alarmed they would cavort around like a herd of +wild mustangs in a corral, until they would churn the water into a foam; +then, emboldened by their peril, they would flash out past us with the +velocity of an arrow. They were doing a great deal of jumping; +frequently a large fish, two or three feet long, would start across the +stream, and make four or five long, high leaps out of the water, in +rapid succession, only remaining in the water long enough after each +jump to gain momentum for the next. I asked Charlie why they were doing +this, if they were sick, or if something was biting them. + +[Illustration: WRECKED BY AN EXPRESS BULLET.] + +"No," he said. "Play. All same drunk--raise hell!" + +These salmon run up the rivers and creeks to deposit their spawn, and +seem possessed of an insane desire to get as far up into the small +brooks as they possibly can. They frequently pursue their mad course up +over boiling, foaming, roaring rapids, and abrupt, perpendicular falls, +where it would seem impossible for any living creature to go--regardless +of their own safety or comfort. They are often found in dense schools in +little creeks away up near their sources, where there is not water +enough to cover their bodies, and where they become an easy prey to man, +or to wild beasts. In such cases, Indians kill them with spears and +sharp sticks, or even catch and throw them out with their hands. + +Or if their journeyings take them among farms or ranches, as is often +the case, the people throw them out on the banks with pitch-forks, and +after supplying their household necessities, they cart the noble fish +away and feed them to their hogs, or even use them to fertilize their +fields. I have seen salmon wedged into some of the small streams until +you could almost walk on them. The banks of many creeks, far up in the +foot-hills, are almost wholly composed of the bones of salmon. In +traveling through dense woods I have often heard, at some distance +ahead, a loud splashing and general commotion in water, as if of a dozen +small boys in bathing. This would, perhaps, be the first intimation I +had that I was near water, and, on approaching the source of the noise, +I have found it to have been made by a school of these lordly salmon, +wedged into one of the little streams, thrashing the creek into suds in +their efforts to get to its head. + +After depositing their spawn the poor creatures, already half dead from +bruises and exhaustion incurred in their perilous voyage up stream, +begin to drift down. But how different, now, from the bright, silvery +creatures that once darted like rays of living light through the sea. +Unable to control their movements in the descent, even as well as in the +ascent, they drift at the cruel mercy of the stream. They are driven +against rough bowlders, submerged logs and snags, or through raging +rapids by the fury of the torrent, until hundreds, yes thousands, of +them are killed outright, and thousands more die from sheer exhaustion. + +I have seen salmon with their noses broken and torn off; others with a +lower jaw torn away; some with sides, backs, or bellies bruised and +bleeding; others with their tails whipped and split into shreds, and +still others with their entrails torn out by snags. In this sad plight +they are beset at every turn in the river by their natural enemies. +Bears, cougars, minks, wild cats, fishers, eagles, hawks, and worst and +most destructive of all, men, await them everywhere, and it would be +strange, indeed, if one in each thousand that left the salt water should +live to return. The few that do so, are, of course, so weak that they +fall an easy prey to the seals, sharks, and other enemies, that wait +with open mouths to engulf them. So, all the leaping, rushing multitude +that entered the river a few months ago, have, ere this, gone to their +doom, but their seed is planted in the icy brook, far away in the +mountains, and their young will soon come forth to take the place of the +parents that have passed away. The instinct of reproduction must, +indeed, be an absorbing passion in poor dumb creatures, when they will +thus sacrifice life in the effort to deposit their ova where the +offspring may best be brought into being. + +[Illustration: INDIAN SPEARING SALMON.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Above the rapids we had a lovely reach of river, from a quarter to half +a mile wide, with no perceptible current. Impelled by our united +efforts, our light cedar canoe shot over the water as lightly and almost +as swiftly as the gulls above us sped through the air. I took one of the +poles and used it while the Indians plied their paddles, and for a +distance of nearly two miles the depth of water did not vary two inches +from four and a half feet. The bottom was composed of a hard, white +sand, into which the pole, with my weight on it, sunk less than an inch; +in fact, the current is so slight, the width of the river so great, and +the general character of the water such, that it might all be termed a +lake above the falls; though the foot of the lake, as designated on the +map, has a still greater widening five miles above the head of the +falls. + +Abrupt basaltic walls, 500 to 1,000 feet high and nearly perpendicular, +rise from the water's edge on either side. On the more sloping faces of +these, vegetation has obtained root-room, little bunches of soil have +formed, and various evergreens, alders, water hazels, etc., grow +vigorously. Half a foot of snow had lately fallen on the tops of these +mountains, and a warm, southwest wind and the bright sun were now +sending it down into the river in numerous plunging streams of crystal +fluid. For thousands of years these miniature torrents have, at frequent +intervals, tumbled down here, and in all that time have worn but slight +notches in the rocky walls. + +[Illustration: A TRIBUTARY OF THE HARRISON.] + +Shrubs have grown up along and over these small waterways, and as the +little rivulets come coursing down, dodging hither and thither under +overhanging clumps of green foliage, leaping from crag to crag and +curving from right to left and from left to right, around and among +frowning projections of invulnerable rock, glinting and sparkling in the +sunlight, they remind one of silvery satin ribbons, tossed by a summer +breeze, among the brown tresses of some winsome maiden. I took several +views of these little waterfalls, but their transcendent beauty can not +be intelligently expressed on a little four-by-five silver print. + +Several larger streams also put into the Harrison, that come from remote +fastnesses, and seem to carve their way through great mountains of +granite. Their shores are lined with dense growths of conifers, and +afford choice retreats for deer, bears, and other wild animals. + +At three o'clock in the afternoon we rounded a high point of rocks that +jutted out into the river, and another beautiful picture--another +surprise, in this land of surprises--lay before us. Harrison Lake, +nestling among snowy peaks and dotted with basaltic islands, reflected +in its peaceful depths the surrounding mountains as clearly as though +its placid surface had been covered with quicksilver. This lake is about +forty miles long, is fed by the Lillooet river and numerous smaller +streams. Silver creek, which comes in on the west side, twenty miles +north of the hot springs, is a beautiful mountain stream of considerable +size. A quarter of a mile above its mouth, it makes a perpendicular fall +of over sixty feet. It is one of the most beautiful falls in the +country. Near the head of the lake, and in full view from the springs, +old Mount Douglass, clad in perpetual snow and glacial ice, towers into +the blue sky until its brilliancy almost dazzles one's eyes. Though +forty miles away, one who did not know would estimate the distance at +not more than five, so clearly are all the details of the grand picture +shown. It is said that from the glaciers on this peak come the streams +whose waters give their peculiar milky cast to Harrison Lake and +Harrison river. Near the base of Mount Douglass is an Indian village of +the same name, and the Hudson Bay Fur Company formerly had a trading +post in the neighborhood, which they called Fort Douglass. This Indian +village is the home of my prospective guide, and from it he has adopted +his unpoetic cognomen. + +Half a mile to the right of where we entered the lake, the famous hot +springs, already mentioned, boil out from under the foot of a mountain, +and discharge their steaming fluid into the lake. The curative power of +these waters has been known to the natives for ages past, and the sick +have come from all directions, and from villages many miles away, to +bathe in the waters and be healed. All about the place are remains of +Indian encampments, medicine lodges, etc. The tribes in this vicinity +are greatly exercised over the fact of the white man having lately +asserted ownership of their great sanitarium, and having assumed its +control. Mr. J. R. Brown has erected over the springs a large +bath-house, and near that a commodious hotel. He has cut a road through +a pass in the mountains to Agassiz station, on the Canadian Pacific +Railway, five miles distant, so that the springs may now be easily +reached by invalids wishing to test their curative properties. Soon +after my arrival at the springs, I climbed the mountain to the east of +the hotel, and passed the time pleasantly, until sunset, viewing the +beautiful scenery in the neighborhood. + +On the following morning I took a boat and rowed up the east shore of +the lake, in hope of getting a shot at a deer, but though I saw plenty +of fresh signs all along the shore no game was visible. I spent the +afternoon looking anxiously for my promised guide, but he came not. I +again amused myself, however, taking views of the scenery, but found on +developing the negatives that I had not been eminently successful with +either Mount Douglass or Mount Chiam. Snowy mountains are about the most +difficult objects in all nature to photograph, especially if you attempt +to include anything beside the snowy peaks in the picture; for they are +so intensely white, and the sky or even clouds that form the background +are so light and afford so slight contrast, that it is next to +impossible to get good sharp pictures of them. The landscape about the +mountains is sure to offer some dark objects, perhaps deep shadows, and +even the mountain itself nearly always has bare rocks and dark, gloomy +canyons, and to get these and the dazzling whiteness of the snow and ice +on the same plate is decidedly difficult. Of course we see many fine +photographs of snow-covered mountains, but if taken with a clear sky or +with light clouds for background, there is generally more or less +retouching necessary, and more or less doctoring in printing, with +tissue paper, glass screens, etc., in order to obtain the results we see +in the prints. I made some fair views of both these peaks, but not such +as an enthusiastic amateur might wish. Of the lower mountains, where at +that time there was no snow, of the lake, the islands, etc., I got very +satisfactory pictures. I went up the road, toward the railway station, a +mile or more, where it passes through one of those grand forests for +which this country is so famous, where-- + + "Those green-robed senators of mighty woods + Dream, and so dream all night without a stir." + +There I made views of some of the giant cedars, the dense moss-hung +jungles, the great fir trees, etc. In these dark, densely-shaded woods I +had to take off the flying shutter and make time exposures. I gave three +to five seconds to each plate. In the prints the trees and other objects +nearest to the lens are of course over-exposed, but the details in the +shadows and objects in the extreme distance are clearly and beautifully +brought out. For these time exposures I placed the camera on some +convenient log, stump, or stone, in lieu of a tripod. In two instances I +seated the rear end of the instrument on the ground, with the lens +bearing up through the tops of the trees. The whitened trunk and broken, +straggling arms of one great old dead fir--one that has flourished in +this rich soil and drawn sustenance from the moist, ozone-laden +atmosphere of these mountains for hundreds of years, but has lived out +his time and is now going the way of all things earthly--forms the +subject of one of the best and most interesting pictures of the whole +series. The tops of several other trees--birch, maple, etc., that stood +near the fir--are also shown in the picture. It can best be seen and +appreciated by holding it above your head, looking up at it, and +imagining yourself there in the forest, looking up through the tops of +the giant trees into the blue ethereal dome of heaven. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +In the morning I got up early to look for Douglass Bill, thinking and +hoping he might have landed during the night, but no one had seen him +and there was no strange canoe in the harbor. After breakfast, in order +to kill time, I climbed the mountain east of the hotel to a height of +about a thousand feet. It is heavily timbered, and I found plenty of +fresh deer-signs within plain sound of the hammers wielded by the +carpenters at work on the hotel, but failed to get a shot. I returned at +eleven o'clock, but Bill had not yet shown up. Three other Indians were +there, however, with three deer in their canoe, which they had killed on +the opposite side of the lake the day before. I now concluded that Mr. +Major's confidence in Bill was misplaced; that he was not going to keep +his contract, and was, in short, as treacherous, as unreliable, and as +consummate a liar as other Indians; so I entered into negotiations with +these three Indians to get one or two of them to go with me. But they +had planned a trip to New Westminster, to sell their venison, and I +could not induce any one of them to go, though I offered big wages, and +a premium on each head of game I might kill, besides. They said that if +I wished they would take me to their village--which is five miles down +the river--and that there were several good goat hunters there whom I +could get. I accepted their offer of transportation, stepped into the +canoe, and we pulled out. As we entered the shoal water in the river I +asked for a pole, and impelled by it and the three paddles we sped down +the stream at a rapid rate. + +There was a cold, disagreeable rain falling and a chilly north wind +blowing. This storm had brought clouds of ducks into the river, among +them several flocks of canvas backs. The Indians, who were using +smooth-bore muskets, killed several of these toothsome fowls. One flock +rose ahead of us and started directly down the river, but by some kind +of native intuition the Indians seemed to know that they would come back +up the opposite shore. They dropped their guns, caught up the paddles +and plied them with such force that every stroke fairly lifted the light +cedar canoe out of the water, and we shot across the river with the +speed of a deer. Sure enough, after flying a hundred yards down stream +the ducks turned and, hugging the shore, undertook to pass up the river +on the other side, but we cut them off, so that they had to pass over +our heads. At this juncture the two muskets carried by the two young men +cracked and three canvas backs dropped, limp and lifeless, into the +water within a few feet of us. + +We arrived at the hut occupied by this family at noon. It stands on the +bank of the river, half a mile above the village of Chehalis, and as we +pulled up, two old and two young squaws and nine small Indians, some of +them mere papooses in arms (but not in long clothes--in fact, not in +any clothes worth mentioning), came swarming out to meet us. Their abode +was a shanty about twelve feet square, made by setting four corner posts +into the ground, nailing cross-ribs on, and over these clapboards riven +from the native cedars, and the roof was of the same material. The adult +members of this social alliance had been engaged in catching and drying +salmon during the recent run; the heads, entrails and backbones of which +had been dumped into the river at their very door. There being no +current near the shore they had sunk in barely enough water to cover +them, and lay there rotting and poluting the water used by the family +for drinking and cooking. Cart-loads of this offal were also lying about +the dooryard, and had been trampled into and mixed up with the mud until +the whole outfit stunk like a tanyard. + +Within was a picture of filth and squalor that beggars description. The +floor of the hut was of mother earth. A couple of logs with two +clapboards laid across them formed the only seats. On one side was a +pile of brush, hay, and dirty, filthy blankets, indiscriminately mixed, +on which the entire three families slept, presumably in the same +fashion. Near the centre of the hut a small fire struggled for +existence, and that portion of the smoke that was not absorbed by the +people, the drying fish and other objects in the room, escaped through a +hole in the centre of the roof. The children, barefooted and half-naked, +came in out of the rain, mud, and fish carrion, in which they had been +tramping about, and sat or lay on the ground about the fire, looking as +happy as a litter of pigs in a mud hole. On poles, attached by cedar +withes to the rafters, were hung several hundred salmon, absorbing +smoke, carbonic acid gas from the lungs of the human beings beneath, and +steam from the cooking that was going on. It is understood that after +this process has been prolonged for some weeks these once noble fishes +will be fit for the winter food of the Siwash. + +Some of the houses in Chehalis are neat frame cottages; in fact, it is a +better-built town, on the whole, than the village of Harrison River +already described; but these better houses all stand back about a +quarter of a mile from the river, and the inhabitants have left them and +gone into the "fish-houses," the clapboard structures, on the immediate +river bank. Some of these shanties are much larger than the one +mentioned above, and in some cases four, five, or even six families hole +up in one of these filthy dens during the fish-curing season. + +As a matter of fact, there are salmon of one variety or another in these +larger rivers nearly all the year, but sometimes the weather is too +cold, too wet, or otherwise too disagreable in winter for the noble red +man to fish with comfort, and hence all these preparations for a rainy +day. After the fishes are cured they are hung up in big out-houses set +on posts, or in some cases built high up in the branches of trees, in +order to be entirely out of the reach of rats, minks, or other vermin, +and the members of the commune draw from the stock at will. The coast +Indians live almost wholly on fish, and seem perfectly happy without +flesh, vegetables, or bread, if such be not at hand, though they can eat +plenty of all these when set before them. If one of them kills a deer he +seldom or never eats more of it than the liver, heart, lungs, etc. He +sells the carcass, if within a three days' voyage of a white man who +will buy venison. + +[Illustration: SALMON BOXES IN TREES.] + +One of the young men already mentioned went with me down to one of the +big fish-houses and called out Pean, a man about fifty years of age, who +he said was a good goat hunter and a good guide. They held a hurried +conversation in their native tongue, at the close of which the young +man said Pean would go with me for two dollars a day. I asked Pean if he +could talk English, and he said "yes," but this proved, in after +experience, to be about the only English word he could speak. He rushed +into the hut, and in about three or four minutes returned with his gun, +powder-horn, bullet-pouch, pipe, and a small roll of blankets, and was +ready for a journey into the mountains of, he knew not how many days. +His canoe was on the river bank near us, and as we were stepping into it +I asked him a few questions which he tried to answer in English, but +made a poor stagger at it, and slid off into Chinook. + +Just then another old Indian came up with a canoe-load of wood. I asked +him if he could speak English--"wah-wah King George"; and he said "Yes." + +I then told him I had hired this other man to go hunting with me and +asked him if he knew him. + +"Oh, yes," he said; "me chief here. All dese house my house. All dese +people my people. No other chief here." I said I was delighted to know +him, shook hands with him, gave him a cigar, and inquired his name. + +"Captain George," he said; "me chief here." + +"Is he a good hunter?" pointing to Pean. + +"Yes, Pean good hunter; good man. He kill plenty sheep, deer, bear." +With this additional certificate of efficiency and good character I felt +more confidence in Pean, and stepping into the canoe was once more _en +route_ to the mountains. + +Still, I felt some misgivings, for my past experience with the fish +eaters had taught me not to place implicit faith in their statements or +pretensions, and the sequel will show how well grounded these fears +were. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The Flathead nation, to which nearly all the Puget Sound Indians belong, +may almost be termed amphibians; for though they can, and do in some +cases, live inland exclusively, they are never happy when away from the +water. They are canoeists by birth and education. A coast Indian is as +helpless and miserable without a canoe as a plains Indian without a +horse, and the Siwash (Chinook for coast Indian) is as expert in the use +of the canoe as the Sioux, Crow, or Arapahoe in the use and control of +his cayuse. Almost the sole means of travel, of intercommunication among +these people, and between themselves and the whites, is the canoe. + +There are very few horses owned in any of the coast tribes, and these +are rarely ridden. When a Siwash attempts to ride a horse he climbs onto +it kicking and grunting with the effort, much as an Alabama negro mounts +his mule, and sits him about as gracefully. But let the Siwash step into +his canoe, and he fears no rapid, whirlpool, nor stormy billow. He faces +the most perilous water and sends his frail cedar shell into it with a +skill and a consciousness of mastery that would put to the blush any of +the prize winners in our Eastern canoe-club regattas. The canoes are +models of nautical architecture. They are cut and carved from the cedar +trees which bounteous Nature, in wise provision for the wants of Her +children, has caused to grow so plentifully and to such prodigious size +in the Sound country. They are of various sizes and lengths, owing to +the uses for which they are intended. If for spearing salmon or for +light traveling, they are cut from a tree twenty to twenty-four inches +in diameter, and are not more than twelve to fifteen feet long. If for +attending nets and bringing in the catch, they are generally longer, and +if for freighting and long-distance traveling, they are of immense size +and capable of carrying great burdens. A tree of the size wanted is +selected, perfectly sound and free from knots, and a log of the desired +length cut off. The log is hollowed, carved out to the desired shape, +then trimmed and tapered outside until it is a mere shell, scarcely more +than an inch thick anywhere. + +[Illustration: AN OCCIDENTAL GONDOLA.] + +It is then filled with water, a fire is built near in which rocks are +heated and thrown into the canoe until the water boils. This is +continued until the wood is thoroughly cooked and softened, when the +water is turned out, the canoe is spread at the centre, braced out to +nearly twice its natural width or diameter, and left to dry. This gives +it "sheer" and enables it to ride a heavy sea like a lifeboat. +Handsomely carved figureheads are attached to some of the large canoes, +and the entire craft is painted, striped, and decorated in gay colors. +I measured one of these cedar canoes that was thirty-four feet long and +five and a half feet beam, and was told by its owner that he had carried +in it four tons of freight on one trip, and two cords of green wood on +another. It would carry fifty men comfortably and safely. There are not +many of the Indians that can make the larger and better grade of canoes, +and the trade is one that but few master. + +There is one famous old canoe builder near Vancouver, to whom Indians go +from distances of a hundred miles or more when they want an extra fine, +large, light canoe. For some specimens of his handiwork he gets as high +as $80 to $100. The Indians throughout Washington Territory and British +Columbia do considerable freighting for whites, on streams not navigable +for steamers, and they take freight up over some of the rapids where no +white man could run an empty canoe. + +Some of these Flatheads are industrious and are employed by the whites +in salmon canneries, lumbering and logging operations, farming, etc. +Steamboat men employ them almost exclusively for deck hands, and they +make the best ones to be had in the country; better than either whites +or Chinamen. They are excellent packers by education. In this +densely-timbered country horses can not, as a rule, be used for packing, +and the Indians, in going across country where there is no watercourse, +pack all their plunder on their backs. Whites traveling in the woods +also depend on Indians to pack their luggage; consequently it is not +strange that the latter become experts at the business, and it is this +schooling that makes them valuable as deck hands. They are not large +men, but are tough, sinewy, and muscular. An average Siwash will pick up +a barrel of flour or pork, a case of dry goods, or other heavy freight +weighing three hundred pounds or more, roll it onto his back, and walk +up a gang-plank or a steep river-bank as easily as a white man would +with a barrel of crackers. + +No work is too dirty or too hard for them. They are obedient to orders +and submissive to discipline, but their weak point, like that of all +Indians, is their inordinate love of whisky. Quite frequently, after +working a few weeks or months, they quit and go on a drunken debauch +that ends only when their money is gone. Their dress is much the same, +in general, as that of the whites in this region, with the exception +that the Indians wear moccasins when hunting. This footgear is little in +favor here with white hunters, owing to there being so much rainfall, +and so much wading to do. Rubber boots are indispensable for hunting in +most seasons, and a rubber coat should also be included in every +hunter's outfit. I found the Hannaford ventilated rubber boot the most +comfortable and perfect footgear I have ever worn. You can scarcely walk +a mile in any direction in this country at any time of year, on +mountains or lowlands, without encountering water. Moccasins soon become +soaked, and are then the most uncomfortable things imaginable. I asked +one of my guides why he did not wear rubber boots instead of moccasins, +and he replied: + +"O, I dunno. De moxicans cheaper, mebbe. I mek him myself. Can't mek de +boots." + +This is about the only use the Indians make of buckskin. It is not +popular with them as a material for clothing, on account of the vast +amount of rainy weather. + +It has been said they make cloth from the wool of the goat, but, so far +as I could learn, they make very little, if any of it, of late years. I +saw some blankets that Indians had woven from this wool, but they were +very coarse. They have no machinery for spinning; the yarn is merely +twisted by hand, and is so coarse and loose that it would not hold +together a week if made into a garment and worn in the woods. Of course, +a fair article of yarn, and even cloth, may be, and has been, made +entirely by hand, but these people have neither the skill, the taste, +nor the industry to enable them to do such work. A coarse hair grows +with the wool on the goat, and the squaws do not even take the trouble +to separate it, but work both up together, making a very uncouth-looking +fabric, even if thick, warm, and serviceable. + +As a class, these Indians appear to be strictly honest, toward each +other at least. They leave their canoes, guns, game, or in fact, any +kind of property, anywhere they choose, without the slightest effort at +concealment, and always feel perfectly sure of finding it on their +return. About the only case of pilfering I ever heard of, while among +them (and I took special pains to investigate) was when John asked me +for some fish-hooks, and said in explanation: + +"I had plenty hooks, but I reckon Seemo he steal all my hooks." + +"Why, does Seymour steal?" I inquired. He looked all around to see if +Seymour was within hearing, and not seeing him, replied: + +"You bet. He steal my hooks, too." + +[Illustration: A SIWASH AND HIS MORNING'S CATCH.] + +[Illustration: AN INDIAN SALMON FISHERY.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +I had left my bedding at the Hot Springs Hotel, and returning to get it +staid there all night. Early next morning (Friday, November 12) we +crossed Harrison Lake, in a drenching rain, to the foot of a high +mountain, about two miles from the springs, on which Pean, Captain +George, and other Indians said there were plenty of goats. We beached +our canoe, and made up packs for the climb up the mountain. The outfit +consisted of our guns, my sleeping-bag, Pean's gun and blankets, a few +sea biscuits, a piece of bacon, and some salt. + +My sleeping-bag was wrapped up in a piece of canvas, and when I handed +it to Pean, he commenced to unroll it to put his blankets in with it, +but I objected. Visions of the insects with which I knew his bedding was +inhabited rose up before me. I thought of the rotary drill, key-hole +saw, and suction pump with which they are said to be armed, and I did +not want any of them in my bag. So I unrolled the canvas only a part of +its length, laid his blankets in and rolled it up again, hoping the +remaining folds might prevent the vermin from finding their way in, and +my reckoning proved correct. One of his blankets had been white in its +day, but had long since lost its grip on that color, and was now about +as pronounced a brunette as its owner. The other blanket was gray, but +even through this sombre shade, as well as through the rank odor it +emitted, gave evidence that it had not been washed for many years. Pean +brought with him a cotton bedspread that had also once been white, but +left this with the canoe. In my pack I carried the grub, and an extra +coat for use on the mountain, where we expected to encounter colder +weather. + +We started up the mountain at ten o'clock in the forenoon. For the first +two miles we skirted its base to the eastward, through dense timber, +crossing several deep, dark jungles and swamps. Then we began the ascent +proper, and as soon as we got up a few hundred feet on the mountain +side, we found numerous fresh deer-signs. We halted to rest, when Pean +took from its case his gun, which up to this time he had kept covered, +and which I naturally supposed to be a good, modern weapon. It proved, +however, an old smooth bore, muzzle-loading, percussion-lock musket, of +.65 calibre, with a barrel about fifty inches long. He drew out the +wiping stick, on the end of which was a wormer, pulled a wad of paper +from the gun and poured a charge of shot out into his hand. This he put +carefully into his shot-bag. Then he took from another pouch a No. 1 +buckshot, and dropped it into the muzzle of his musket. It rolled down +onto the powder, when he again inserted the bunch of paper, rammed it +home with the rod, put on a cap, and was loaded for bear, deer, or +whatever else he might encounter. He then replaced the musket in its +sealskin cover as carefully as if it had been a $300 breech-loader. + +Nearly all these Indians use just such old muskets, bought from the +Hudson Bay Company, and yet they keep them in covers made of the skin of +the seal, which they kill in the rivers hereabout, or of deer or other +animals. They take excellent care of their guns in this respect, but I +have never seen one of them clean or oil his weapon, and several of them +told me they seldom do so. + +My Winchester express, with fancy stock, Lyman sight, etc., was a +curiosity to them. None of them had ever seen anything like it, and one +of them asked me what kind of a rifle it was. When told it was a +Winchester, he said: + +"I didn't know Winchester so big like dat. Didn't know he had stock like +dat." He had only seen the little .44 Winchester, with a plain stock, +and innocently supposed it was the only kind made. + +Pean and I had a hard day's work toiling up the mountain through fallen +timber, over and around great ledges of jutting rock, across deep, +rugged canyons and gulches, and through dense jungles of underbrush. +About two o'clock in the afternoon we halted, lay down for a rest, and +had been there but a few minutes when I heard the sharp, familiar +chatter of the little pine squirrel. I looked around quickly, expecting +to see one within a few feet of me, but instead saw Pean lying close to +the ground, beckoning to me and pointing excitedly up the game trail in +which we had been walking. Looking through the thick, intervening brush, +I saw two deer, a buck and a doe, looking toward us. They had not seen +nor scented us, but had merely heard the chatter of the little squirrel, +as they supposed, and, though apparently as completely deceived by it as +I had been, they had stopped to listen, as they do at almost every sound +they hear in the woods. But there was no squirrel there. Pean had taken +this method of calling my attention, and had imitated the cry of the +familiar little cone-eater so perfectly that even the deer had been +deceived by it. + +I cautiously and slowly drew my rifle to my shoulder, and taking aim at +the breast of the buck, fired. Both deer bounded away into thicker +brush, and were out of sight in an instant. Pean sprang after them, and +in a few minutes I heard the dull, muffled report of his musket. He +shouted to me, and going to him I found the buck dead and the Indian +engaged in butchering it. My bullet had gone a little farther to the +left than I intended, breaking its shoulder, and had passed out through +the ribs on the same side. The deer had fallen after going but a few +yards, but was not quite dead when Pean came up and shot it through the +head. We took out the entrails, cut a choice roast of the meat for our +supper and breakfast, and hurried on our way. + +We camped at four o'clock on a small bench of the mountain, and you may +rest assured, gentle reader, that our conversation in front of the camp +fire that night was novel. Pean, you will remember, could not speak half +a dozen words of English. He spoke entirely in Chinook, and I knew but a +few words of that jargon. I had a Chinook dictionary with me, however, +and by its aid was able to pick out the few words necessary in what +little talking I had to do, and to translate enough of Pean's answers to +my questions to get along fairly well. The great trouble with him seemed +to be that he was wound up to talk, and whenever I made a remark or +asked a question in his adopted language he turned loose, and talked +until I shut him off with "Halo kumtucks" (I don't understand). No +matter how often I repeated this he seemed soon to forget it, and would +open on me again whenever he got a cue. He was a fluent talker, and if I +had only been well up in the jargon, I could have got lots of pointers +from him. + +The deer of this region is the true black-tail (_Cervus columbianus_), +not the mule-deer (_Cervus macrotis_), that is so often miscalled the +black-tail. The black-tail is smaller than the mule-deer, and its ears, +though not so large as those of the latter, are larger than those of the +Virginia deer (_Cervus virginianus_). Its tail is white underneath, dark +outside, shading to black at the lower end, and while longer than that +of the mule-deer, is not so long as that of the Virginia deer. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Chinook is a queer jargon. It is said to have been manufactured many +years ago by an employe of the Hudson Bay Fur Company, who taught the +principal chiefs of various Indian tribes to speak it in order to +facilitate traffic with them. From that time it has grown and spread +until almost every Indian of the North Pacific Coast, and many inland +tribes of Washington, British Columbia, and Oregon speak it. White men +of all nations who live in this country speak it, and even the +almond-eyed Chinaman learns it soon after locating here. In short, it is +the court language of the Northwest, as the sign language is of the +plains. It is made up from various Indian tongues, with a few English, +or rather pigeon-English, French, and Spanish words intermixed. There +are only about 1,500 words in the language and it is very easy to learn. +Of course, it is woefully lacking in strength and beauty. You will often +want to say something that can not be said in Chinook, because there are +no words in that jargon with which to say it. But it is made to answer +the purposes of trade, travel, and barter, in common forms. For +instance: + +"Kah-tah si-ah ko-pa Frazer chuck?" would be, "How far is it to the +Frazer river?" + +"Yutes kut klat-a-wa la-pe-a," "Only a short walk." If you wish to say +good-morning or good-evening to an Indian you say: + +"Kla-how-ya, six." + +"Chah-co yah-wa" is "Come here." + +"Mi-ka tik-eh mam-ook?" "Do you want to work?" + +"Ik-ta mi-ka mam-ook?" "At what?" + +"Mam-ook stick." "Cut some wood." + +"Na-wit-ka." "Certainly." + +"Kon-si dat-la spose mi-ka mam-ook kon-a-way o-koke stick?" "What do you +want for cutting that lot of wood?" + +"Ikt dol la." "One dollar." + +The numerals are ikt (one), mox (two), klone (three), lock-it (four), +kwin-num (five), tagh-kum (six), sin-na mox (seven), sto te-kin (eight), +twaist (nine), tah-tlum (ten), tah-tlum pee-ikt (eleven), tah-tlum +pee-mox (twelve), mox-tah tlum (twenty), klone tah-tlum (thirty), ikt +tali-kamo-nux (one hundred), tah-tlum to-ka mo-mik (one thousand), etc. +It is often difficult to get accurate information from these Indians as +to distances or time, as they have little idea of English miles or of +the measurements of time, and very few of them own or know how to read a +watch or clock. Under Pean's tutelage I learned rapidly, and was soon +able to carry on quite an interesting conversation by the aid of the +little dictionary. + +By the light of a rousing camp-fire I cut a large quantity of cedar +boughs and made for myself a bed a foot deep. On this I spread my +sleeping-bag, crawled into it and slept the sleep of the weary hunter. +Pean cut only a handful of boughs, spread them near the fire, threw his +coat over them, and lay down. Then he folded his two blankets and spread +them over him, mostly on the side away from the fire, leaving that part +of his body next to the fire exposed so as to catch its heat direct. +During the night, whenever he turned over, he would shift his blankets +so as to keep them where most needed. At frequent intervals he would get +up and replenish the fire from the large supply of dry wood we had +provided. The night was bitter cold, at this high altitude, and snow +fell at frequent intervals. A raw wind blew, and the old man must have +suffered from the cold to which he exposed himself. + +There are few of these savages that understand and appreciate fully the +value of a good bed when camping. In fact, many white hunters and +mountaineers go on long camping trips with insufficient bedding, simply +because they are too lazy to carry enough to keep them comfortable. I +would rather get into a good warm, soft bed at night without my supper, +than eat a feast and then sleep on the hard ground, without covering +enough to keep me warm. After a hard day's work a good bed is absolutely +necessary to prepare one for the labor and fatigue of the following day. + + "In bed we laugh, in bed we cry, + And born in bed, in bed we die; + The near approach, a bed may show, + Of human bliss to human woe." + +Any ablebodied man may endure a few nights of cold, comfortless sleep, +but it will tell on him sooner or later; while if he sleep comfortably +and eat heartily, he may endure an incredible amount of labor and +hardship of other kinds. You may tramp all day with your feet wet, and +all your clothing wet, if need be, but be sure you crawl into a good, +warm, dry bed at night. + +Old Pean complained of feeling unwell during the evening, and in the +morning when we got up said he was sick. I prepared a good breakfast, +but he could not, or at least would not, eat. Then he told me that he +had once fallen down a mountain; that his breast-bone had been crushed +in by striking on a sharp rock, and that it always hurt him since when +doing any hard work. He said the climb up the mountain with the pack was +too hard for him and he was played out, that he could go no farther. + +Here was another bitter disappointment, as we were yet two miles from +the top of the mountain, and in going that distance a perpendicular +ascent of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet must be made. I deliberated, +therefore, as to whether I should go up the mountain alone and let Pean +go back, but decided it would be useless. I could not carry more load +than my sleeping-bag, gun, etc., and therefore could bring no game down +with me if I killed it, not even a head or skin. Beside, if he went back +he would take his canoe, and I would be left with no means of crossing +the lake. So the only thing to be done was to pack up and retrace our +steps. On our way down we stopped and took the head and skin off of the +deer killed the day before, and I carried them to the canoe. Arriving at +the lake, we pulled again for Chehalis in a cold, disagreeable rain. I +stopped at the hot springs on my way down, and took my leave of my +host, Mr. Brown, who had been so kind to me, and who regretted my ill +luck almost as much as I did. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +On our return to Chehalis--that town of unsavory odors and +salmon-drying, salmon-smoking Siwashes--I at once employed two other +Indians, named John and Seymour, and, on the following day we started up +Ski-ik-kul Creek, to a lake of the same name, in which it heads ten +miles back in the mountains. The Indians claimed that goats, or sheep, +as they call them, were plentiful on the cliffs surrounding this lake, +and that we could kill plenty of them from a raft while floating up and +down along the shores. Seymour claimed to have killed twenty-three in +March last, just after the winter snows had gone off, and a party of +seven Siwashes from Chehalis had killed ten about two weeks previous to +the date of my visit. + +Such glowing accounts as these built up my hopes again to such a height +as to banish from my mind all recollection of the bitter disappointment +in which the former expedition had ended, and, although the rain +continued to fall heavily at short intervals, so that the underbrush +reeked with dampness and drenching showers fell from every bush we +touched, I trudged cheerily along regardless of all discomforts. + +The first two miles up the creek, we had a good, open trail, but at the +end of this we climbed a steep, rocky bluff, about 500 feet high, and +made the greater portion of the remaining distance at an average of +about this height above the stream. There was a blind Indian trail all +the way to the lake, but it led over the roughest, most tortuous, +outlandish country that ever any fool of a goat hunter attempted to +traverse. There are marshes and morasses away up among these mountains, +where alders and water beeches, manzanitas, and other shrubs grow so +thick that their branches intertwine to nearly their full length. Many +of these have fallen down in various directions, and their trunks are as +inextricably mixed as their branches, forming altogether a labyrinthine +mass, through which it was with the utmost difficulty we could walk at +all. + +There were numberless little creeks coming down from the mountain into +the main stream, and each had in time cut its deep, narrow gulch, or +canyon, lined on both sides with rough, shapeless masses of rock, and all +these we were obliged to cross. In many cases, they were so close +together that only a sharp hog-back lay between them, and we merely +climbed out of one gulch 300 or 400 feet deep, to go at once down into +another still deeper, and so on. Fire had run through a large tract of +this country, killing out all the large timber, and many trees have +since rotted away and fallen, while the blackened and barkless trunks of +others, with here and there a craggy limb, still stand as mute monuments +to the glory of the forest before the dread element laid it waste. + +We camped that night at the base of one of these great dead firs around +which lay a cord or more of old dry bark that had fallen from it, and +which, with a few dry logs we gathered, furnished fuel for a rousing, +all-night fire. Within a few feet of our camp, a clear, ice-cold little +rivulet threaded its serpentine way down among rocks and ferns, and made +sweet music to lull us to sleep. After supper, I made for myself the +usual bed of mountain feathers (cedar boughs), on which to spread my +sleeping-bag. + +This old companion of so many rough jaunts, over plains and mountains, +has become as necessary a part of my outfit for such voyages as my +rifle. Whether it journey by day, on the hurricane deck of a mule, in +the hatchway of a canoe, on my shoulder blades or those of a Siwash, it +always rounds up at night to house me against the bleak wind, the +driving snow, or pouring rain. I have learned to prize it so highly that +I can appreciate the sentiments of the fallen monarch, Napoleon, on the +lonely island of St. Helena, when he wrote: + +"The bed has become a place of luxury to me. I would not exchange it for +all the thrones in the world." + +These Indians, like Pean, and, in fact, all others who have seen the +bag, are greatly interested in it. They had never seen anything like it, +and watched with undisguised interest the unfolding and preparing of the +article, and when I had crawled into it, and stowed myself snugly away, +they looked at each other, grunted and uttered a few of their peculiar +guttural sounds, which I imagined would be, if translated: + +"Well, I'll be doggoned if that ain't about the sleekest trick I ever +saw. Eh?" + +"You bet it's nice to sleep in, but heavy to carry." + +[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF SLEEPING-BAG.] + +By the way, some of my readers may never have seen one of these valuable +camp appendages, and a description of it may interest them. The outer +bag is made of heavy, brown, waterproof canvas, six feet long, three +feet wide in the centre, tapered to two feet at the head and sixteen +inches at the foot. Above the head of the bag proper, flaps project a +foot farther, with which the occupant's head may be completely covered, +if desired. These are provided with buttons and button-holes, so that +they may be buttoned clear across, for stormy or very cold weather. The +bag is left open, from the head down one edge, two feet, and a flap is +provided to lap over this opening. Buttons are sewed on the bag, and +there are button-holes in the flaps so it may also be buttoned up +tightly. Inside of this canvas bag is another of the same size and +shape, less the head flaps. This is made of lamb skin with the wool on, +and is lined with ordinary sheeting, to keep the wool from coming in +direct contact with the person or clothing. One or more pairs of +blankets may be folded and inserted in this, as may be necessary, for +any temperature in which it is to be used. + +If the weather be warm, so that not all this covering is needed over the +sleeper, he may shift it to suit the weather and his taste, crawling in +on top of as much of it as he may wish, and the less he has over him the +more he will have under him, and the softer will be his bed. Beside +being waterproof, the canvas is windproof, and one can button himself up +in this house, leaving only an air-hole at the end of his nose, and +sleep as soundly, and almost as comfortably in a snowdrift on the +prairie as in a tent or house. In short, he may be absolutely at home, +and comfortable, wherever night finds him, and no matter what horrid +nightmares he may have, he can not roll out of bed or kick off the +covers. + +Nor will he catch a draft of cold air along the north edge of his spine +every time he turns over, as he is liable to do when sleeping in +blankets. Nor will his feet crawl out from under the cover and catch +chilblains, as they are liable to do in the old-fashioned way. In fact, +this sleeping-bag is one of the greatest luxuries I ever took into camp, +and if any brother sportsman who may read this wants one, and can not +find an architect in his neighborhood capable of building one, let him +communicate with me and I will tell him where mine was made. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Long after the Indians went to sleep I lay there, looking into the fire +and thinking. Many and varied were the fancies that chased each other +through my restless brain--some pleasant, some unpleasant. I pondered on +the novelty, even the danger, of my situation. I was away up there in +that wild, trackless, mountain wilderness, alone, so far as any +congenial companionship was concerned. Yes, I was worse than alone, for +the moment I might close my eyes and sleep I would be at the mercy of +these two reckless red men. True, they are not of a courageous, warlike +race, but what might they not do for the sake of plunder? They could +crush my skull at a blow and conceal my body beyond all possibility of +discovery; or they could leave it and, saying I had killed myself by a +fall, reveal its resting place to anyone who might care to go in search +of me. I had some property with me, especially my rifle, sleeping-bag, +and a small sum of money, that I knew they coveted, and I reflected that +they might already have concocted some foul scheme for disposing of me +and getting possession of my effects. + +In their native tongue of strange, weird gutturals, hisses, and +aspirations, they had conversed all the evening of--I knew not what. +John had rather an honest, frank face, that I thought bespoke a good +heart, but Seymour had a dark, repulsive countenance that plainly +indicated a treacherous nature. From the first I had made up my mind +that he was a thief, if nothing worse. He pretended not to be able to +speak or understand English, although I knew he could. John spoke our +tongue fairly, and through him all communication with either or both was +held. Should they contemplate any violence I would welcome them both to +an encounter, if only I could have notice of it a second in advance. +Their two old smooth-bore muskets would cut no figure against the deadly +stream of fire that my Winchester express could pour forth. But I +dreaded the treachery, the stealth, the silent midnight assault that is +a characteristic of their race. Yet, on further consideration, I +dismissed all such forebodings as purely chimerical. These were +civilized Indians, living within the sound of the whistle of a railroad +engine, and would hardly be willing to place themselves within the toils +of the law, by the commission of such a crime, even if they had the +courage or the desire to do it, and I hoped they had neither. + +Then my fancies turned to the contemplation of pleasanter themes. I +thought of the dear little black-eyed woman, whom I had parted with on +board the steamer nearly a week ago. She is homeward-bound and must now +be speeding over the Dakota or Minnesota prairies, well on toward St. +Paul. Will she reach home in safety? God grant it--and that in due time +I may be permitted to join her there. Then other familiar images passed +and repassed my mental ken. The kind acts of dear friends, the +hospitalities shown me by strangers and passing acquaintances in distant +lands and in years long agone came trooping through my memory, and a +feeling of gratitude for those kindnesses supplanted for the time that +of solitude. Gradually and sweetly I sank into a profound slumber and +all was stillness and oblivion. + +Several hours, perhaps, have passed, and I am thirsty. I get up and +start to the little brook for water; to reach it a log, lying across a +deep fissure in the rocks, must be scaled. With no thought of danger I +essay the task by the dying fire's uncertain light and that of the +twinkling stars. I have not counted on the heavy covering of frost that +has been deposited on the log since dark, and stepping out upon the +barkless part of the trunk, my moccasins slip, and with a shriek and a +wild but unsuccessful grasp at an overhanging limb I fall twenty feet +and land on the mass of broken and jagged granite beneath! The Indians, +alarmed by my cries, spring to my relief, carry me to the fire, give me +stimulants, bind up my broken arm, and do all in their power to +alleviate my sufferings. + +They are not the crafty villains and assassins that my fancy had +painted. They are kind, sympathetic friends. I realize that my right +collar-bone and three ribs on the same side are broken, and when I +remember where I am, the deplorableness and utter helplessness of my +condition appal me. + +[Illustration: EN ROUTE TO THE INDIAN VILLAGE.] + +The long hours until daylight drag slowly by, and at last, as the sun +tips the distant mountain tops with golden light, we start on our +perilous and painful journey to the Indian village and to the steamboat +landing. The two red men have rigged a litter from poles and blankets, +on which they carry me safely to their homes, and thence in a canoe to +the landing below. How the long, tedious journey thence, by steamer and +rail, to my own home is accomplished; how the weary days and nights of +suffering and delirium which I endure _en route_ were passed, are +subjects too painful to dwell upon. I am finally assisted from the +sleeper at my destination. My wife, whom the wire has informed of my +misfortune and my coming, is there. She greets me with that fervent +love, that intensity of pity and emotion that only a wife can feel. Her +lips move, but her tongue is paralyzed. For the time she can not speak; +the wells of her grief have gone dry; she can not weep; she can only +act. I am taken to my home, and the suspense, the anxiety, having been +lived out, the climax having been reached and passed I swoon away. Again +the surgeon appears to be racking me with pain in an effort to set the +broken ribs, and seems to be making an incision in my side for that +purpose, when I awake. + +The stars shone brightly above me, the frost on the leaves sparkled +brightly in the fire-light. It took me several minutes to realize that I +had been dreaming. I searched for the cause of the acute pain in my +side, and found it to be the sharp point of a rock that my cedar boughs +had not sufficiently covered and which was trying to get in between two +of my ribs. I got up, removed it and slept better through the remainder +of the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Ski-ik-kul, or Chehalis Creek, as the whites call it, is surely one of +the most beautiful streams in the whole Cascade Range. Its size may be +stated, approximately, as two feet in depth by fifty feet in width, at +or near the mouth, but its course is so crooked, so tortuous, and its +bed so broken and uneven that the explorer will seldom find a reach of +it sufficiently quiet and undisturbed to afford a measurement of this +character. At one point it is choked into a narrow gorge ten feet wide +and twice as deep, with a fall of ten feet in a distance of thirty. +Through this notch the stream surges and swirls with the wild fury, the +fearful power, and the awe-inspiring grandeur of a tornado. At another +place it runs more placidly for a few yards, as if to gather strength +and courage for a wild leap over a sheer wall of frowning rock into a +foaming pool thirty, forty, or fifty feet below. At still another place +it seems to carve its way, by the sheer power of madness, through piles +and walls of broken and disordered quartz, granite, or basalt, even as +Cortes and his handful of Spanish cavaliers hewed their way through the +massed legions of Aztecs at Tlascala. + +Farther up, or down, it is split into various channels by great masses +of upheaved rock, and these miniature streams, after winding hither and +thither through deep, dark, narrow fissures for perhaps one or two +hundred yards, reunite to form this headlong mountain torrent. Viewing +these scenes, one is forcibly reminded of the poet's words: + + "How the giant element, + From rock to rock, leaps with delirious bound." + +Series of cascades, a quarter to half a mile long, are met with at +frequent intervals, which rival in their beauty and magnificence those +of the Columbia or the Upper Yellowstone. Whirlpools occur at the foot +of some of these, in which the clear, bright green water boils, +sparkles, and effervesces like vast reservoirs of champagne. The +moanings and roarings emitted by this matchless stream in its mad career +may be heard in places half a mile. At many points its banks rise almost +perpendicularly to heights of 300, 400, or 500 feet. You may stand so +nearly over the water that you can easily toss a large rock into it, and +yet you are far above the tops of the massive firs and cedars that grow +at the water's edge. Looking down from these heights you may see in the +crystal fluid whole schools of the lordly salmon plowing their way up +against the almost resistless fury of the current, leaping through the +foam, striking with stunning force against hidden rocks, falling back +half dead, and, drifting into some clear pool below, recovering strength +to renew the hopeless assault. + +The time will come when an easy roadway, and possibly an iron one, will +be built up this grand canyon, and thousands of tourists will annually +stand within its walls to gaze upon these magic pictures, absorbed in +their grandeur and romantic beauty. Nor does the main stream afford the +only objects of beauty and interest here. It is a diamond set in a +cluster of diamonds, for many of the little brooks, already mentioned as +coming down the mountain on either side, are only less attractive +because smaller. Many of them tumble from the tops of rocky walls, and +dance down among the branches of evergreen trees, sparkling like ribbons +of silver in the rays of the noonday sun. + +Theodore Roosevelt, in his excellent work, "Hunting Trips of a +Ranchman;" says: "Thirst is largely a matter of habit." So it may be, +but I am sadly addicted to the habit, and I found it one from which, on +this trip, I was able to extract a great deal of comfort, for we crossed +one or more of these little brooks every hour, and I rarely passed one +without taking a copious draught of its icy fluid. The days, were +moderately warm, and the hard labor we performed, walking and climbing, +made these frequent opportunities to quench thirst one of the most +pleasant features of the journey. I was frequently reminded of Cole's +beautiful tribute to the mountain brook: + + "Sleeping in crystal wells, + Leaping in shady dells, + Or issuing clear from the womb of the mountain, + Sky-mated, related, earth's holiest daughter; + Not the hot kiss of wine, + Is half so divine as the sip of thy lip, inspiring cold water." + +We arrived at our destination, the foot of Ski-ik-kul Lake (and the +source of the creek up which we had been traveling), at four o'clock in +the afternoon of the second day out. We made camp on the bank of the +creek, and John and I engaged in gathering a supply of wood. After we +had been thus occupied for ten or fifteen minutes, I noticed that +Seymour was nowhere in sight, and asked John where he was. + +"He try spear salmon." + +"What will he spear him with?" I said. "Sharp stick?" + +"No. He bring spear in him pocket," said John. + +We were standing on the bank of the creek again, and as he spoke there +was a crashing in the brush overhead, and an immense salmon, nearly +three feet long, landed on the ground between us. Seymour had indeed +brought a spear with him in his pocket. It was made of a fence-nail and +two pieces of goat horn, with a strong cord about four feet long +attached. There was a sort of socket in the upper end of it, and the +points of the two pieces of horn were formed into barbs. As soon as +Seymour had dropped his pack he had picked up a long, dry, cedar pole, +one end of which he had sharpened and inserted between the barbs, +fastening the string so that when he should strike a fish the spear +point would pull off. With this simple weapon in hand he had walked out +on the vast body of driftwood with which the creek is bridged for half a +mile below the lake, and peering down between the logs, had found and +killed the fish. We made a fire in the hollow of a great cedar that +stood at the water's edge. The tree was green, but the fire soon ate a +large hole into the central cavity, and, by frequent feeding with dry +wood, we had a fire that roared and crackled like a great furnace, all +night. It + + "Kindled the gummy bark of fir or pine, + And sent a comfortable heat from far, + Which might supply the sun." + +[Illustration: SUPPER FOR THREE-SAUMON ROTI.] + +Seymour cut off the salmon's head, split the body down the back, and +took out the spine. Then he spread the fish out and put skewers through +it to hold it flat. He next cut a stick about four feet long, split it +half its length, tied a cedar withe around to keep it from splitting +further, and inserting the fish in the aperture, tied another withe +around the upper end. He now stuck the other end of the stick into the +ground in front of the fire, and our supper was under way. + +I have often been reduced to the necessity of eating grub cooked by +Indians, both squaws and men, and can place my hand on my heart and say +truthfully I never hankered after Indian cookery. In fact, I have always +eaten it with a mental reservation, and a quiet, perhaps unuttered +protest, but I counted the minutes while that fish cooked. I knew +Seymour was no more cleanly in his habits than his kin--in fact, he +would not have washed his hands before commencing, nor the fish after +removing its entrails, had I not watched him and made him do so; but +even if he had not I should not have refused to eat, for when a man has +been climbing mountains all day he can not afford to be too scrupulous +in regard to his food. When the fish was thoroughly roasted on one side +the other was turned to the fire, and finally, when done to a turn, it +was laid smoking hot on a platter of cedar boughs which I had prepared, +and the savory odors it emitted would have tempted the palate of an +epicure. I took out my hunting knife, and making a suggestive gesture +toward the smoking fish, asked John if I should cut off a piece; for not +withstanding my consuming hunger, my native modesty still remained with +me, and I thus hinted for an invitation to help myself. + +"Yes," he said. "Cut off how much you can eat." + +You can rest assured I cut off a ration that would have frightened a +tramp. Good digestion waited on appetite, and health on both. I ate with +the hunger born of the day's fatigue and the mountain atmosphere, and +the Indians followed suit, or rather led, and in half an hour only the +head and spine of that fifteen-pound salmon remained, and they were not +yet in an edible condition. Near bedtime, however, they were both +spitted before the fire, and in the silent watches of the night, as I +awoke and looked out of my downy bed, I saw those two simple-minded +children of the forest, sitting there picking the last remaining morsels +of flesh from those two pieces of what, in any civilized camp or +household, would have been considered offal. But when a Siwash quits +eating fish it is generally because there is no more fish to eat. After +such a supper, charmed by such weird, novel surroundings, lulled by the +music of the rushing waters, and warmed by a glowing camp-fire, I slept +that night with naught else to wish for, at peace with all mankind. Even +"mine enemy's dog, though he had bit me, should have stood that night +against my fire." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +Before going to bed, Seymour cautioned me through his interpreter, the +faithful John, against getting out too early in the morning. He said the +goats did not commence to move around until nine or ten o'clock, and if +we started out to hunt before that time we were liable to pass them +asleep in their beds. + +But I read the hypocrite's meaning between his words; he is a lazy +loafer and loves to lie and snooze in the morning. It was his own +comfort, more than our success in hunting, that he was concerned about. +Goats, as well as all other species of large game, are on foot at +daylight, whether they have been out all night or not, and from that +time until an hour after sunrise, and again just before dark in the +evening, are the most favorable times to hunt. The game is intent on +feeding at these times and is not so wary as at other times. I told +Seymour we would get up at four o'clock, get breakfast, and be ready to +move at daylight. And so we did. + +The night had been clear and cold; ice had formed around the margin of +the lake, and a hoar frost a quarter of an inch deep covered the ground, +the logs, and rocks that were not sheltered by trees. Ski-ik-kul or +Willey's Lake, as it is termed by the whites, is a beautiful little +mountain tarn about a quarter of a mile wide and four miles long. It is +of glassy transparency, of great depth, and abounds in mountain trout, +salmon, and salmon trout. It is walled in by abrupt, rocky-faced +mountains that rise many hundreds of feet from the water's edge, and on +which a scanty growth of laurel, currant bushes, and moss furnish food +for the goats. Stunted cedars, balsams, spruces, and pines also grow +from small fissures in the rocks that afford sufficient earth to cover +their roots. + +The craft on which we were to navigate this lake was an interesting +specimen of Indian nautical architecture. It was a raft Seymour had made +on a former visit. The stringers were two large, dry, cedar logs, one +about sixteen feet long, the other about twenty; these were held +together by four poles, or cross-ties, pinned to the logs, and a floor +composed of cedar clapboards was laid over all. Pins of hard, dry birch, +driven into the logs and tied together at the tops, formed rowlocks, and +the craft was provided with four large paddles, or oars, hewed out with +an ax. In fact, that was the only tool used in building the raft. The +pins had been sharpened to a flat point and driven firmly into sockets +made by striking the ax deeply into the log, and instead of ropes, cedar +withes were used for lashing. These had been roasted in the fire until +tough and flexible, and when thus treated they formed a good substitute +for the white sailor's marline or the cow-boy's picket rope. + +We boarded this lubberly old hulk and pulled out up the north shore of +the lake just as the morning sun gave the first golden tints to the +mountain tops. Our progress was slow despite our united strength applied +to the oars, but it gave us more time to scan the mountain sides for +game. I did not find it so plentiful as I had been promised, for I had +been told by the Indians that we should see a dozen goats in the first +hour, but we had been out more than that length of time before we saw +any. Finally, however, after we had gone a mile or more up the lake +shore, I saw a large buck goat browsing among the crags about four +hundred feet above us. He had not seen us, and dropping the oar I caught +up my rifle. The men backed water, and as the raft came to a standstill, +I sent a bullet into him. He sprang forward, lost his footing, came +bounding and crashing to the foot of the mountain, and stopped, stone +dead, in the brush at the water's edge not more than twenty feet from +the raft. We pushed ashore and took him on board, when I found, to my +disappointment, that both horns had been broken off in the fall, so that +his head was worthless for mounting. + +We cruised clear around the lake that day and could not find another +goat. In the afternoon it clouded up and set in to rain heavily again in +the canyon, while snow fell on the mountains a few hundred feet above us. +The next morning I went up a narrow canyon to the north, and ascending a +high peak hunted until nearly noon, when I found two more goats, a +female and her kid (nearly full grown), both of which I killed, and +taking the skins and one ham of the kid, I returned to camp. It +continued to rain at frequent intervals, which robbed camp life and +hunting of much of their charm, so I decided to start for home the +following morning. In the afternoon I rigged a hook and line, cut an +alder pole, and caught five fine trout, the largest seventeen and a half +inches long. Seymour speared three more salmon and roasted one of them, +so that we had another feast of fish that night. We also roasted a leg +of goat for use on our way home, and spent the evening cleaning and +drying the three skins as best we could by the camp-fire, to lighten +their weight as much as possible. + +Meanwhile, I questioned John at considerable length regarding the nature +of his language, but could get little information, as he seemed unable +to convey his ideas on the subject in our tongue. The language of the +Skowlitz tribe, to which he and Seymour belong, is a strange medley of +gutturals, aspirates, coughs, sneezes, throat scrapings, and a few +words. I said: + +"Your language don't seem to have as many words as ours." + +"No; English too much. Make awful tired learn him." + +"Where did you learn it?" + +"O, I work in pack train for Hudson Bay one year, and work on boat one +year." + +"Where did the boat run?" + +"She run nort from Victoria," he said. + +"Where to, Alaska?" + +"O, I dunno." + +"How far north?" + +"O, I dunno. Take seven day. We go to de mout of de river." + +"What river? What was the name of the town?" + +"O, I dunno know what you call 'em." + +And thus I learned, by continued questioning, that he did not know or +remember the English names of the places he had visited, but that they +were probably in Alaska. He always appealed to Seymour to reply to any +of my questions that he could not himself answer, and a question or +remark that in our tongue had taken a dozen words to express he would +repeat in a cough, a throat-clearing sound, and a grunt or two. +Seymour's answer would be returned in a half sneeze, a lisp, a +suppressed whistle, a slight groan, and an upturning of the eye. Then +John would look thoughtful while framing the answer into his pigin +English, and it would come back, for instance, something like this: + +"Seymo say he tink we ketch plenty sheep up dat big mountain, on de +top." Or, "He say he tink maybe we get plenty grouse down de creek. +To-morrow we don't need carry meat," etc. John seemed to regard Seymour +as a perfect walking cyclopedia of knowledge, and, in fact, he was well +informed on woodcraft, the habits of birds and animals, Indian lore, and +other matters pertaining to the country in which he lived, but outside +of these limits he knew much less than John. + +I was disgusted with his pretended inability to speak or understand +English, for on one of my former visits to the village I had heard him +speak it, and he did it much better than John could. Beside, Pean had +told me that Seymour had attended school at the mission on the Frazer +river, and could even read and write, but now that he had an interpreter +he considered it smart, just as a great many Indians do, to affect an +utter ignorance of our language. I asked him why he did not talk; told +him I knew he could talk, and reminded him that I had heard him speak +good English; that I knew he had been to school, etc. He simply shook +his head and grunted. Then I told him he was a boiled-down fool to act +thus, and that if he really wanted to appear smarter even than his +fellows, the best way to do it was to make use of the education he had +whenever he could make himself more useful and agreeable by so doing. I +saw by the way he changed countenance that he understood every word I +said, though he still remained obstinate. On several occasions, however, +I suddenly fired some short, sharp question at him when he was not +expecting it, and before stopping to think he would answer in good +English. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +After making a hearty breakfast on Rocky Mountain kid, salmon, and sea +biscuits, we began our return journey down the creek in a drizzling +rain. Our burdens were increased by the weight of the three goat skins, +and the walking was rendered still more precarious than before by the +logs, grass, soil, pine needles, and everything else having become so +thoroughly watersoaked. If we had had hard climbing up the steep pitches +on our outbound cruise, we had it still harder now. We could not stick +in our toe nails as well now as before, and even if we stuck in our +heels going down a hill, they would not stay stuck any better than a +second-hand postage-stamp. I remembered one hill, or canyon wall, that in +the ascent made us a great deal of hard work, and much perturbation of +spirit, because it was steep, rocky, and had very few bushes on it that +we could use as derricks by which to raise ourselves. I dreaded the +descent of this hill, now that the rocks were wet, but we made it +safely. Not so, however, the next one we attempted; it was not so rocky +as the other, and had a goodly bed of blue clay, with a shallow covering +of vegetable mold for a surface, with a little grass and a few weeds. +It was very steep, I think about what an architect would call a +three-quarter pitch, but we essayed it boldly and fearlessly. Seymour +was in the lead, his faithful partisan, John, followed, and I +constituted the tail end of the procession. We had just got well over +the brow, when the end of a dry hemlock stick caught in the mansard roof +of my left foot; the other end was fast in the ground, and, though I +tried to free myself, both ends stuck; the stick played a lone hand, but +it raised me clear out in spite of my struggles. I uttered a mournful +groan as I saw myself going, but was as helpless as a tenderfoot on a +bucking cayuse. My foot was lifted till my heel punched the small of my +back, and my other foot slid out from under me; I spread out like a step +ladder, and clawed the air for succor, but there was not a bush or +branch within reach. I think I went ten feet before I touched the earth +again, and then I landed head first among John's legs. He sat down on +the back of my neck like a trip-hammer, and we both assaulted Seymour in +the rear with such violence as to knock him clear out. For a few seconds +we were the worst mixed up community that ever lived, I reckon. Arms, +legs, guns, hats, packs, and human forms were mingled in one writhing, +squirming, surging mass, and groans, shouts, and imprecations, in +English, Chinook, and Scowlitz, rent the air. Every hand was grabbing +for something to stop its owner, but there were no friendly stoppers +within reach; if one caught a weed, or a stunted juniper, it faded away +from his herculean grasp like dry grass before a prairie fire. I seemed +to have the highest initial velocity of any member of the expedition, +and, though in the rear at the start, I was a full length ahead at the +finish. We finally all brought up in a confused mass at the foot of the +hill, and it took some time for each man to extricate himself from the +pile, and reclaim his property from the wreck. Strange as it may seem, +however, but little damage was done. There was a skinned nose, a bruised +knee or two, a sprained wrist, and everybody was painted with mud. All +were, however, able to travel, and after that, when going down steep +hills, the Siwashes kept looking back to see if I were coming. + +[Illustration: TRYING TO GET UP.] + +We performed several dangerous feats that day and the next, walking +along smooth, barkless logs, that lay across some of the deep gorges; in +places we were thirty feet or more above the ground, or rather rocks, +where a slip would have resulted in instant death. My hair frequently +stood on end, what little I have left, but John and Seymour always went +safely across and I could not afford to be outdone in courage by these +miserable, fish-eating Siwashes, so I followed wherever they led. We +read that the wicked stand on slippery places, but I can see these +wicked people, and go them about ten better, for I have stood, and even +walked, on many of these wet logs, and they are about the all-firedest +slipperyest things extant, and yet I have not fallen off. I fell only +that once, when I got my foot in the trap, and that would have downed a +wooden man. Just before going into camp that night, John shot a grouse, +but we were all too tired and hungry to cook it then, and made our meal +on cold kid, fish, and biscuits. After supper, however, John dressed +the bird and laid it aside for breakfast, saying we would each have a +piece of it then. The rain ceased falling at dark, and the stars came +out, which greatly revived our drooping spirits. We gathered large +quantities of dry wood and bark, so we were able to keep a good fire all +night. I drew from a half-rotten log, a flat, slab-like piece of pine, +which at first I failed to recognize. John saw it and said: + +[Illustration: TRYING TO GET DOWN.] + +"Good. Dat's beech." + +"Beech," I said. "Why, there's no beech in this country." + +"No, beech wood, make good fire, good kindle, good what you call him? +Good torch." + +"Oh," I said, "pitch pine, eh?" + +"Yas, beech pine." And this was as near as he could get to pitch. + +About two o'clock in the morning, it commenced to rain heavily again, +and the poor Indians were soon in a pitable condition, with their +blankets and clothing wet through. They sat up the remainder of the +night, feeding the fire to keep it alive and themselves warm, for they +had neither canvas or rubber coats, or any other kind of waterproof +clothing. They put up some of the longer pieces of the bark we had +gathered for fuel, and made a passable shelter, but it was so small, and +leaked so badly, that it was far from comfortable. I pitied the poor +fellows, but had nothing I could give or even share with them for +shelter. I got up at five o'clock, and we commenced preparations for +breakfast. I told John he had better cook the grouse, but he shook his +head, and said sadly: + +"Seymo, he spile de grouse." + +"How did he do that?" I inquired. + +"He say put him on stick by fire to cook in de night. Then he go to +sleep and stick burn off. Grouse fall in de fire and burn." + +"That's too thin," I said. "Seymour cooked that grouse and ate it while +you and I were asleep." + +Seymour glared at me, but had not the courage to resent or deny the +charge. An Indian does not let sleep interfere with his appetite; he +eats whatever there is first, and then sleeps. I divided the last of the +bacon and biscuits equally between us, and with a remnant of cold +broiled salmon, we eked out a scant breakfast on which to begin a day's +work. John was clawing some white greasy substance from a tin can with +his fingers, and spreading it on his biscuits with the same tools. He +passed the can to me, and said: + +"Have butta?" + +"No, thanks," I answered; "I seldom eat butter in camp." + +"I like him all time," he replied; "I never git widout butta for brade +at home." This by way of informing me that he knew what good living was, +and practiced it at home. It rained heavily all day, and our tramp +through the jungle was most dreary and disagreeable. + + "The day was dark, and cold, and dreary; + It rained, and the wind was never weary." + +[Illustration: _EN FAMILLE_] + +About three o'clock in the afternoon, we sat down to rest on the bank of +the creek. We had been there but a few minutes, when a good sized black +bear came shambling along up the bank of the creek, looking for salmon. +The Indians saw him when a hundred yards or more away, and flattened +themselves out on the ground to await his nearer approach. I raised my +rifle to my shoulder, but they both motioned me to wait, that he was yet +too far away. I disregarded their injunction, however, and promptly +landed an express bullet in the bear's breast. He reared, uttered a +smothered groan, turned, made one jump, and fell dead. Now arose the +question of saving his skin; it was late, and we were yet three miles +from the Indian village; to skin the bear then meant to camp there for +the night, and as the rain still came down in a steady, heavy sheet, I +at once decided that I would not stay out there another night for the +best bear skin in the country. Seymour and John held a short +consultation, and then John said they would come back and get the skin +next day, and take it in lieu of the money I owed them for their +services. We struck a bargain in about a minute, and hurried on, +arriving at the village just as it grew dark. My rubber coat and high +rubber boots had kept me comparatively dry, but the poor Indians were +wet to the skin. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +On arriving at Chehalis John kindly invited me to stop over night with +him, but I declined with thanks. I went into his house, however, to wait +while he got ready to take me down to Barker's. It was the same type of +home that nearly all these Indians have--a large clapboard building +about eight feet high, with smoked salmon hung everywhere and a fire in +the centre of the room, which, by the way, was more of a smoke than +fire, curing the winter provender. A pile of wood lay in one corner of +the room, some empty barrels in another, fish-nets were hung in still +another, and the family lived, principally, in the fourth. John lives +with his father-in-law, mother-in-law, two brothers-in-law, one +sister-in-law, his wife and three papooses. Blankets, pots, tinware and +grub of various kinds were piled up promiscuously in this living corner, +and the little undressed kids hovered and shivered around the dull fire, +suffering from the cold. We were soon in the canoe again, _en route_ to +the steamboat landing, where we arrived soon after dark. I regretted to +part with John, for I had found him a good, faithful servant and staunch +friend. I was glad to get rid of Seymour, however, for I had learned +that he was a contemptible sneak, and told him so in as many words. + +_En route_ home I had about two hours to wait at Port Moody for the +boat. There were great numbers of grebes and ducks in the bay, and I +asked the dock foreman if there was any rule against shooting there. He +said he guessed not; he had never seen anyone shooting there, but he +guessed there wouldn't be any objection. I got out my rifle and two +boxes of cartridges and opened on the birds. The ducks left at once, but +the grebes sought safety in diving, and as soon as the fusillade began a +number of gulls came hovering around, apparently to learn the cause of +the racket. I had fine sport between the two, and a large audience to +enjoy it with me. In ten minutes from the time I commenced shooting all +the clerks in the dock office, all the freight hustlers in the +warehouse, all the railroad section men, the ticket-agent and +baggage-master, numbering at least twenty men in the aggregate, were +clustered around me, and their comments on my rifle and shooting were +extremely amusing. Not a man in the party had ever before seen a +Winchester express, and the racket it made, the way in which the balls +plowed up the water, and the way the birds, when hit, vanished into thin +air and a few feathers, were mysteries far beyond their power to solve. +At the first lull in the firing half a dozen of them rushed up and +wanted to examine the rifle, the fancy finish and combination sights of +which were as profoundly strange to them as to the benighted Indians. +They soon handed it back to me, however, with the request to resume +hostilities against the birds; they preferred to see the old thing work +rather than to handle it. The gulls were soaring in close, and six +shots, rapidly delivered, dropped three of them into the water, +mutilated beyond recognition. This was the climax; the idea of killing +birds on the wing, with a rifle, was something these men had never +before heard of, and two or three examined my cartridges to see if they +were not loaded with shot, instead of bullets. When they found this +suspicion was groundless they were beside themselves with wonder and +admiration of the strange arm. As a matter of fact, it required no +particular skill to kill the gulls on the wing, for they were the large +gray variety, and frequently came within twenty or thirty feet of me, so +that anyone who could kill them with a shotgun could do so with a rifle. + +Finally the steamer came in and I went aboard. The train arrived soon +after and several of its passengers boarded the boat. The gulls were now +hovering about the steamer, picking up whatever particles of food were +thrown overboard from the cook-room. One old Irishman, who had come in +on the train from the interior wilds, walked out on the quarter deck and +looking at them intently for a few minutes, turned to me and inquired: + +"Phwat kind of burds is thim--geese?" + +"Yes," I said, "thim's geese, I reckon." + +"Well, be gorry, if I had a gun here I'd shoot some o'thim"; and he went +and told his companions "there was a flock of the tamest wild geese out +thare ye iver sawed." + +[Illustration: A SNAP SHOT WITH A DETECTIVE CAMERA.] + +The return journey to Portland was without incident. There I boarded the +steamer and spent another delightful day on the broad bosom of the +Columbia river, winding up among the grand basaltic cliffs and +towering mountain peaks of the Cascade Range. Again the little camera +came into requisition, and though the day was cloudy and blusterous, +though snow fell at frequent intervals, and though the steamer trembled +like a reed shaken by the wind, I made a dozen or more exposures on the +most interesting and beautiful subjects as we passed them, and to my +surprise many came out good pictures. Most of them lack detail in the +deeper shadows, but the results altogether show that had the day been +clear and bright all would have been perfect. In short, it is possible +with this dry-plate process to make good pictures from a moving +steamboat, or even from a railway train going at a high rate of speed. I +made three pictures from a Northern Pacific train, coming through the +Bad Lands, when running twenty-five miles an hour, and though slightly +blurred in the near foreground, the buttes and bluffs, a hundred yards +and further away, are as sharp as if I had been standing on the ground +and the camera on a tripod; and a snap shot at a prairie-dog town--just +as the train slowed on a heavy grade--shows several of the little +rodents in various poses, some of them apparently trying to look pretty +while having their "pictures took." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +I stopped off at Spokane Falls, on my way home, for a few days' deer +hunting, and though that region be not exactly in the Cascades, it is so +near that a few points in relation to the sport there may be admissible +in connection with the foregoing narrative. I had advised my good +friend, Dr. C. S. Penfield, of my coming, and he had kindly planned for +me a hunting trip. On the morning after my arrival his brother-in-law, +Mr. T. E. Jefferson, took me up behind a pair of good roadsters and +drove to Johnston's ranch, eighteen miles from the falls, and near the +foot of Mount Carleton, where we hoped to find plenty of deer. We hunted +there two days, and though we found signs reasonably plentiful and saw +three or four deer we were unable to kill any. Mr. Jefferson burned some +powder after a buck and a doe the first morning after our arrival, but +it was his first experience in deer hunting, so it is not at all strange +that the game should have escaped. Mr. Jefferson was compelled to return +home at that time on account of a business engagement, but Mr. Johnston, +with characteristic Western hospitality and kindness, said I must not +leave without a shot, and so hooked up his team and drove me twenty-five +miles farther into the mountains, to a place where he said we would +surely find plenty of game. On the way in we picked up old Billy +Cowgill, a famous deer hunter in this region, and took him along as +guide. We stopped at Brooks' stage ranch, on the Colville road to rest +the team, and the proprietor gave us an amusing account of some +experiments he had been making in shooting buckshot from a +muzzle-loading shotgun. He had made some little bags of buckskin, just +large enough to hold twelve No. 2 buckshot, and after filling them had +sewed up the ends. He shot a few of them at a tree sixty yards away, but +they failed to spread and all went into one hole. Then he tried leaving +the front end of the bag open, and still they acted as a solid ball; so +he had to abandon the scheme, and loaded the charge loose, as of old. He +concluded, however, not to fire this last load at the target, and hung +the gun up in its usual place. A few days later he heard the dog barking +in the woods a short distance from the house, and supposed it had treed +a porcupine. Mr. Brooks' brother, who was visiting at the time, took the +gun and went out to kill the game, whatever it might be. On reaching the +place, he found a ruffed grouse sitting in a tree, at which he fired. +The ranchman said he heard the report, and his brother soon came back, +carrying a badly-mutilated bird; he threw it into the kitchen, and put +the gun away; then he sat down, looked thoughtful, and kept silent for a +long time. Finally he blurted out: + +[Illustration: THE STAGE RANCH.] + +"Say, Tom; that gun got away from me." + +"How was that?" queried the ranchman. + +"I don't know; but I shot pretty near straight up at the grouse, and +somehow the gun slipped off my shoulder and done this." And opening his +coat he showed his vest, one side of which was split from top to bottom; +he then took out a handful of his watch and held it up--one case was +torn off, the crystal smashed, the dial caved in, and the running gear +all mixed up. The ranchman said he guessed he had put one of the +buckskin bags of shot into that barrel, and forgetting that fact, had +added the loose charge. He said he reckoned twenty-four No. 2 buckshot +made too heavy a load for an eight-pound gun. + +We reached "Peavine Jimmy's" mining cabin, which was to be our camp, at +three o'clock in the afternoon, and busied ourselves till dark in the +usual duties of cooking, eating, and gathering wood. Old Billy proved a +very interesting character; he is a simple, quiet, honest, unpretentious +old man, and unlike most backwoodsmen, a veritable coward. He has the +rare good sense, however, to admit it frankly, and thus disarms +criticism. In fact, his frequent admission of this weakness is amusing. +He says that for fear of getting lost he does not like to go off a trail +when hunting, unless there is snow on the ground, so that he can track +himself back into camp. He rides an old buckskin pony that is as modest +and gentle as its master. Billy says he often gets lost when he does +venture away from the trail, but in such cases he just gives old Buck +the rein, hits him a slap, and tells him to go to camp and he soon gets +there. He told us a bear story that night, worthy of repetition. +Something was said that reminded him of it, and he mentioned it, but +added, modestly, that he didn't know as we cared for any bear stories. +But we said we were very fond of them, and urged the recital. + +"Well, then," he said, "if you will wait a minute, I'll take a drink of +water first and then I'll tell it to you," and he laughed a kind of +boyish titter, and began: + +"Well, me and three other fellers was up north in the Colville country, +huntin', and all the other fellows was crazy to kill a bear. I didn't +want to kill no bear, and didn't expect to. I'm as 'feard as death of a +bear, and hain't no use for 'em. All I wanted to kill was a deer. The +other fellers, they wanted to kill some deer, too, but they wanted bear +the worst. So one mornin' we all started out, and the other fellers they +took the best huntin' ground, and said I'd better go down along the +creek and see if I couldn't kill some grouse, for they didn't believe I +could kill any thing bigger'n that; and I said, all right, and started +off down the creek. Purty soon I come to an old mill that wasn't runnin' +then. And when I got purty near to the mill I set down on a log, for I +didn't think it was worth while to go any furder, for I didn't think I +would find any game down the creek, and I didn't care much whether I did +or not. Well, I heard a kind of a racket in the mill, and durned if +there wasn't a big black bear right in the mill. And I watched him a +little bit, and he started out towards me. And I said to myself, says I, +'Now Billy, here's your chance to kill a bear.' + +"I hadn't never killed no bear before, nor never seed one before, and +durned if I wasn't skeered nearly to death. But I thought there wasn't +no use of runnin', for I knowed he could run faster'n I could, so I took +out my knife and commenced cuttin' down the brush in front of me, for I +wanted to make a shure shot if I did shoot, if I could. And the bear, +he come out of the mill and rared up, and put his paws on a log and +looked at me, and I said to myself, says I, 'Now Billy, this is your +time to shoot'; but I wasn't ready to shoot yit. They was one more bush +I wanted to cut out of the way before I shot, so I cut if off and laid +down my knife, and then I took up my gun and tried to take aim at his +breast, but doggoned if I didn't shake so I couldn't see the sights at +all. And I thought one time I wouldn't shoot, and then I knowed the +other fellers would laugh at me if I told 'em I seed a bear and didn't +shoot at him, and besides I was afraid some of 'em was up on the +hillside lookin' at me then. So I just said to myself, says I, 'Now +Billy, you're goin' to get eat up if you don't kill him, but you might +as well be eat up as to be laughed at.' So I jist took the best aim I +could for shakin', an' shet both eyes an' pulled. + +"Well, I think the bear must a begin to git down jist as I pulled, for I +tore his lower jaw off and shot a big hole through one side of his neck. +He howled and roared and rolled around there awhile and then he got +still. I got round where I could see him, after he quit kickin', but I +was afeared to go up to him, so I shot two more bullets through his head +to make sure of him. And then I set down and waited a long while to see +if he moved any more; for I was afeard he mightn't be dead yit, and +might be playin' possum, jist to get ahold of me. But he didn't move no +more, so I went up to him with my gun cocked and pointed at his head, so +if he did move I could give him another one right quick. An' then I +punched him a little with my gun, but he didn't stir. An' when I found +he was real dead I took my knife and cut off one of his claws, an' then +I went back to camp, the biggest feelin' old cuss you ever seed. + +"Well, arter while the other fellers they all come in, lookin' mighty +blue, for they hadn't any of 'em killed a thing, an' when I told 'em I'd +killed a bear, they wouldn't believe it till I showed 'em the claw. An' +then they wouldn't believe it, neither, for they thought I'd bought the +claw of some Injin. And they wouldn't believe it at all till they went +out with me and seed the bear and helped skin 'im, and cut 'im up, and +pack 'im into camp. An' they was the dog-gondest, disappointedest lot of +fellers you ever seed, for we hunted five days longer, an' nary one of +'em got to kill a bear nor even see one. They thought I was the poorest +hunter and the biggest coward in the lot, but I was the only one that +killed a bear that clip." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +We were out at daylight the next morning and hunted all day with fair +success. Johnston and Billy jumped a bunch of five mule-deer, a buck, +two does, and two fawns. Johnston fired fourteen shots at them before +they got out of the country, and killed the two does. In speaking of it +afterward Billy said he was just taking a good aim at the old buck's eye +when Johnston's gun cracked the first time, and of course the buck ran, +so he did not get a shot. + +"But why didn't you shoot at him running?" I inquired. + +"Because I can't hit a jumpin' deer," he replied, frankly, "and I hate +like thunder to miss." + +I spent the day about a mile from camp on top of Blue Grouse Mountain, a +prominent landmark of the country. A heavy fog hung about the mountain +and over the surrounding country until about three o'clock in the +afternoon, when it lifted and disclosed a view of surpassing loveliness. +Away to the west and southwest there was a level tract of swampy, +heavily timbered country about thirty miles long and ten miles wide. I +looked down on the tops of the trees composing this vast forest, and +they appeared at this distance not unlike a vast field of half-grown +green grain. Beyond this tract to the west a chain of hills wound in +serpentine curves from north to south, their parks and bits of prairie +gleaming in the sun like well-made farms. To the north lay Loon Lake +nestling among the pine-clad hills, its placid bosom sparkling in the +setting sun like a sheet of silver. Farther to the north and northeast +were two other lakes of equal size and beauty, while far distant in the +east were several large bodies of prairie separated by strips of pine +and fir. I longed for my camera, but on account of the unfavorable +outlook of the morning, I had not brought the instrument. + +[Illustration: ONE OF JOHNSTON'S PRIZES.] + +The following morning promised no better, for the fog hung like a pall +over the whole country; but I took the little detective with me, hoping +the mist would lift as before; in this, however, I was disappointed. I +staid on the mountain from early morning till half-past three, and there +being then no prospect of a change went down. Just as I reached the base +I saw a rift in the clouds, and supposing the long-wished change in the +weather was about to take place, I turned and began the weary climb, but +again the fog settled down, and I was at last compelled to return to +camp without the coveted views. I made several exposures during the day +on crooked, deformed, wind-twisted trees on the top of the mountain, +which, strange to say, came out good. The fog was so dense at the time +that one could not see fifty yards. I used a small stop and gave each +plate from five to twenty seconds, and found, when developed, that none +of them were over exposed, while those given the shorter time were under +exposed. That day's hunting resulted in three more deer, and as we then +had all the meat our team could take out up the steep hills near camp, +we decided to start for home the next morning. While seated around our +blazing log fire in the old cabin that night, Mr. Johnston entertained +us with some interesting reminiscences of his extensive experience in +the West. He has been a "broncho buster," a stock ranchman, and a +cow-boy by turns, and a recital of his varied experiences in these +several lines would fill a big book. Among others, he told us that he +once lived in a portion of California where the ranchmen raised a great +many hogs, but allowed them to range at will in the hills and mountains +from the time they were littered until old enough and large enough for +market; that in this time they became as wild as deer and as savage as +peccaries, so that the only way they could ever be reclaimed and +marketed was to catch them with large, powerful dogs, trained to the +work. Their feet were then securely tied with strong thongs, and they +were muzzled and packed into market or to the ranches, as their owners +desired, on horses or mules. + +[Illustration: ARE YOU LOOKING FOR US?] + +Johnston had a pair of these dogs, and used to assist his neighbors in +rounding up their wild hogs. In one case, he and several other men went +with an old German ranchman away up into the mountains to bring out a +drove of these pine-skinners, many of whom had scarcely seen a human +being since they were pigs, and at sight of the party the hogs stampeded +of course, and ran like so many deer. The dogs were turned loose, took +up a trail, and soon had a vicious critter by the ears, when the packers +came up, muzzled and tied it securely. The dogs were then turned loose +again, and another hog was rounded up in the same way. These two were +hung onto a pack-animal with their backs down, their feet lashed +together over the pack-saddle, and their long, sharp snouts pointing +toward the horse's head. They were duly cinched, and the horse turned +loose to join the train. This operation was repeated until the whole +herd was corralled and swung into place on the horses, and the +squealing, groaning, and snorting of the terrified brutes was almost +deafening. One pair of hogs were loaded on a little mule which had +never been accustomed to this work, and, as the men were all engaged in +handling the other animals, the old ranchman said he would lead this +mule down the mountain himself. Johnston and his partner cinched the +hogs on in good shape, while the Dutchman hung to the mule. + +[Illustration: A BUCKING MULE.] + +As they were giving the ropes the final pull, Johnston gave his chum a +wink, and they both slipped out their knives, cut the muzzles off the +porkers when the old man was looking the other way, and told him to go +ahead. He started down the trail towing the little mule, which did not +relish its load in the least, by the halter. The hogs were struggling to +free themselves, and, as the thongs began to cut into their legs, they +got mad and began to bite the mule. + +Then there was trouble; stiff-legged bucking set in, and mule and hogs +were churned up and down, and changed ends so rapidly that for a few +minutes it was hard to tell which of the three animals was on the +outside, the inside, the topside, or the bottom-side. The poor little +mule was frantic with rage and fright, and what a mule can not and will +not do under such circumstances, to get rid of a load can not be done by +any four-footed beast. He pawed the air, kicked, and brayed, jumped +backward, forward, and sidewise, and twisted himself into every +imaginable shape. The old Dutchman was as badly stampeded as the mule; +he shouted, yanked, and swore in Dutch, English, and Spanish; he yelled +to the men above to come and help him, but they were so convulsed and +doubled up with laughter that they could not have helped him if they +would. + +Finally, the mule got away from the old man and went tearing down into +the canyon; he overtook and passed the balance of the pack-train, +stampeded them almost beyond control of the packers, and knocked the +poor hogs against trees and brush until they were almost dead. He ran +nearly six miles, and being unable to get rid of his pack, fell +exhausted and lay there until the men came up and took charge of him. +The old man accused Johnston of cutting the muzzles off the hogs, but he +and his partner both denied it, said they certainly must have slipped +off, and they finally convinced him that that was the way the trouble +came about. + +[Illustration: THE BUCKER AND THE BUSTER.] + +This, with sundry other recitals of an equally interesting nature, +caused the evening to pass pleasantly, and at a late hour we turned into +our bunks. We were up and moving long before daylight the next morning, +and as soon as we could see the trail hooked up the team and attempted +to go, but, alas for our hopes of an early start, one of the horses +refused to pull at the very outset--in short, he balked and no mule ever +balked worse. Johnston plied the buckskin until the horse refused to +stand it any longer and began to rear and to throw himself on the +tongue, back in the harness, etc. Johnston got off the wagon, went to +the animal's head and tried to lead it, but the brute would not be led +any more than it would be driven, and commenced rearing and striking at +its master as if trying to kill him. This aroused the ire of the +ranchman and he picked up a piece of a board, about four inches wide and +three feet long, and fanned the vicious critter right vigorously. I took +a hand in the game, at Johnston's request, and warmed the cayuse's +latter half to the best of my ability with a green hemlock gad. He +bucked and backed, reared and ranted, pawed, pitched, plunged and +pranced, charged, cavorted and kicked, until it seemed that he would +surely make shreds of the harness and kindling wood of the wagon; but +the whole outfit staid with him, including Johnston and myself. + +We wore out his powers of endurance if not his hide, and he finally got +down to business, took the load up the hill and home to the ranch, +without manifesting any further inclination to strike. We reached the +ranch about nine o'clock at night, and the next day Johnston drove me +into Spokane Falls, where, in due time, I caught the train for home. + +[Illustration: VIEW IN THE SPOKANE VALLEY.] + +Spokane Falls is a growing, pushing town, and the falls of the Spokane +river, from which the town takes its name, afford one of the most +beautiful and interesting sights on the line of the Northern Pacific +road. There are over a dozen distinct falls within a half a mile, one of +which is over sixty feet in perpendicular height. Several of these falls +are split into various channels by small islands or pillars of basaltic +rock. At one place, where two of these channels unite in a common plunge +into a small pool, the water is thrown up in a beautiful, shell-like +cone of white foam, to a height of nearly six feet. It is estimated by +competent engineers that the river at this point furnishes a water-power +equal in the aggregate to that of the Mississippi at St. Anthony's +Falls. Every passenger over this route should certainly stop off and +spend a few hours viewing the falls of the Spokane river. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +HUNTING THE GRIZZLY BEAR. + + +The bear, like man, inhabits almost every latitude and every land, and +has even been translated to the starry heavens, where the constellations +of the Great Dipper and the Little Dipper are known to us as well as to +the ancients as _Ursi Major_ and _Minor_. But North America furnishes +the largest and most aggressive species in the grizzly (_Ursus +horribilis_), the black (_Ursus americanus_), and the polar (_Ursus +maritimus_) bears, and here the hunter finds his most daring sport. Of +all the known plantigrades (flat-footed beasts) the grizzly is the most +savage and the most dreaded, and he is the largest of all, saving the +presence of his cousin the polar bear, for which, nevertheless, he is +more than a match in strength and courage. Some specimens measure seven +feet from tip of nose to root of tail. The distinctive marks of the +species are its great size; the shortness of the tail as compared with +the ears; the huge flat paws, the sole of the hind foot sometimes +measuring seven and a half by five inches in a large male; the length of +the hind legs as compared with the fore legs, which gives the beast his +awkward, shambling gait; the long claws of the fore foot, sometimes +seven inches in length, while those of the hind foot measure only three +or four; the erect, bristling mane of stiff hair, often six inches long; +the coarse hair of the body, sometimes three inches long, dark at the +base, but with light tips. He has a dark stripe along the back, and one +along each side, the hair on his body being, as a rule, a +brownish-yellow, the region around the ears dusky, the legs nearly +black, and the muzzle pale. Color, however, is not a distinctive mark, +for female grizzlies have been killed in company with two cubs, one of +which was brown, the other gray, or one dark, the other light; and the +supposed species of "cinnamon" and "brown" bears are merely color +variations of _Ursus horribilis_ himself. + +This ubiquitous gentleman has a wide range for his habitat. He has been +found on the Missouri river from Fort Pierre northward, and thence west +to his favorite haunts in the Rockies; on the Pacific slope clear down +to the coast; as far south as Mexico, and as far north as the Great +Slave Lake in British America. He not only ranges everywhere, but eats +everything. His majesty is a good liver. He is not properly a beast of +prey, for he has neither the cat-like instincts, nor the noiseless tread +of the _felidae_, nor is he fleet and long-winded like the wolf, although +good at a short run, as an unlucky hunter may find. But he hangs about +the flanks of a herd of buffalo, with probably an eye to a wounded or +disabled animal, and he frequently raids a ranch and carries off a +sheep, hog, or calf that is penned beyond the possibility of escape. + +Elk is his favorite meat, and the knowing hunter who has the good luck +to kill an elk makes sure that its carcass will draw Mr. Grizzly if he +is within a range of five miles. He will eat not only flesh, fish, and +fowl, but roots, herbs, fruit, vegetables, honey, and insects as well. +Plums, buffalo-berries, and choke-cherries make a large part of his diet +in their seasons. + +[Illustration: DEATH AND THE CAUSE OF IT.] + +The grizzly bear possesses greater vitality and tenacity of life than +any other animal on the continent, and the hunter who would hunt him +must be well armed and keep a steady nerve. Each shot must be cooly put +where it will do the most good. Several are frequently necessary to +stop one of these savage beasts. A single bullet lodged in the brain is +fatal. If shot through the heart he may run a quarter of a mile or kill +a man before he succumbs. In the days of the old muzzle-loading rifle it +was hazardous indeed to hunt the grizzly, and many a man has paid the +penalty of his folly with his life. With our improved breech-loading and +repeating rifles there is less risk. + +The grizzly is said to bury carcasses of large animals for future use as +food, but this I doubt. I have frequently returned to carcasses of elk +or deer that I had killed and found that during my absence bears had +partially destroyed them, and in their excitement, occasioned by the +smell or taste of fresh meat, had pawed up the earth a good deal +thereabout, throwing dirt and leaves in various directions, and some of +this debris may have fallen on the bodies of the dead game; but I have +never seen where any systematic attempt had been made at burying a +carcass. Still, Bruin may have played the sexton in some cases. He +hibernates during winter, but does not take to his long sleep until the +winter has thoroughly set in and the snow is quite deep. He may +frequently be tracked and found in snow a foot deep, where he is roaming +in search of food. He becomes very fat before going into winter +quarters, and this vast accumulation of oil furnishes nutriment and heat +sufficient to sustain life during his long confinement. + +The newspapers often kill grizzlies weighing 1,500, 1,800, or even 2,000 +pounds, and in any party of frontiersmen "talking grizzly" you will find +plenty of men who can give date and place where they killed or helped +to kill at least 1,800 pounds of Bruin. + +"Did you weigh it?" + +"No, we didn't weigh 'im; but every man as seed 'im said he would weigh +that, and they was all good jedges, too." + +And this is the way most of the stories of big bear, big elk, big deer, +etc., begin and end. Bears are usually, though not always, killed at +considerable distances from towns, or even ranches, where it is not easy +to find a scales large enough to weigh so much meat. + +The largest grizzly I have ever killed would not weigh more than 700 or +800 pounds, and I do not believe one has ever lived that would weigh +1,000 pounds. The flesh of the adult grizzly is tough, stringy, and +decidedly unpalatable, but that of a young fat one is tender and juicy, +and is always a welcome dish on the hunter's table. + +The female usually gives birth to two cubs, and sometimes three, at a +time. At birth they weigh only about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds each. The +grizzly breeds readily in confinement, and several litters have been +produced in the Zoological Gardens at Cincinnati. The female is +unusually vicious while rearing her young, and the hunter must be doubly +cautious about attacking at that time. An Indian rarely attacks a +grizzly single-handed at any time, and it is only when several of these +native hunters are together that they will attempt to kill one. They +value the claws very highly, however, and take great pride in wearing +strings of them around their necks. + +The grizzly usually frequents the timbered or brush-covered portions of +mountainous regions, or the timbered valleys of streams that head in the +mountains. He occasionally follows down the course of these streams, and +even travels many miles from one stream to another, or from one range of +mountains to another, across open prairie. I once found one on a broad +open plateau in the Big Horn Mountains, about half a mile from the +nearest cover of any kind. He was turning over rocks in search of worms. +At the report of my rifle he started for the nearest canyon, but never +reached it. An explosive bullet through his lungs rendered him unequal +to the journey. + +Few persons believe that a grizzly will attack a man before he is +himself attacked. I was one of these doubting Thomases until a few years +ago, when I was thoroughly convinced by ocular demonstration that some +grizzlies, at least, will attempt to make a meal off a man even though +he may not have harmed them previously. We were hunting in the Shoshone +Mountains in Northern Wyoming. I had killed a large elk in the morning, +and on going back to the carcass in the afternoon to skin it we saw that +Bruin had been there ahead us, but had fled on our approach. Without the +least apprehension of his return, we leaned our rifles against a tree +about fifty feet away, and commenced work. There were three of us, but +only two rifles, Mr. Huffman, the photographer, having left his in camp. +He had finished taking views of the carcass, and we were all busily +engaged skinning, when, hearing a crashing in the brush and a series of +savage roars and growls, we looked up the hill, and were horrified to +see three grizzly bears, an old female and two cubs about two-thirds +grown, charging upon us with all the savage fury of a pack of starving +wolves upon a sheepfold. + +To make a long story short, we killed the old female and one cub; the +other escaped into the jungle before we could get a shot at him. The +resolute front we put on alone saved our lives. + +In another instance, when hunting deer in Idaho, I came suddenly upon a +female grizzly and two cubs, when the mother bear charged me savagely +and would have killed me had I not fortunately controlled my nerves long +enough to put a couple of bullets through her and stop her before she +got to me. + +I have heard of several other instances of grizzlies making unprovoked +attacks on men, which were so well substantiated that I could not +question the truth of the reports. + +The grizzly is partially nocturnal in his habits, and apparently divides +his labor of obtaining food and his traveling about equally between day +and night. It is not definitely known to what age he lives in his wild +state, but he is supposed to attain to twenty-five or thirty years. +Several have lived in domestication to nearly that age, and one died in +Union Park, Chicago, a few years ago, that was known to be eighteen +years old. + +Notwithstanding the great courage and ferocity of this formidable beast, +he will utter the most pitiable groans and howls when seriously or +mortally wounded. + +Two brothers were prospecting in a range of mountains near the +headwaters of the Stinking Water river. The younger of the two, though +an ablebodied man, and capable of doing a good day's work with a pick or +shovel, was weak-minded, and the elder brother never allowed him to go +any distance away from camp or their work alone. He, however, sent him +one evening to the spring, a few rods off, to bring a kettleful of +water. The spring was in a deep gorge, and the trail to it wound through +some fissures in the rock. As the young man passed under a shelving +rock, an immense old female grizzly, that had taken up temporary +quarters there, reached out and struck a powerful blow at his head, but +fortunately could not reach far enough to do him any serious harm. The +blow knocked his hat off, and her claws caught his scalp, and laid it +open clear across the top of his head in several ugly gashes. The force +of the blow sent him spinning around, and not knowing enough to be +frightened, he attacked her savagely with the only weapon he had at +hand--the camp kettle. + +The elder brother heard the racket, and hastily catching up his rifle +and hurrying to the scene of the disturbance, found his brother +vigorously belaboring the bear over the head with the camp kettle, and +the bear striking savage blows at him, any one of which, if she could +have reached him, would have torn his head from his shoulders. Three +bullets from the rifle, fired in rapid succession, loosened her hold +upon the rocks, and she tumbled lifelessly into the trail. The poor +idiotic boy could not even then realize the danger through which he had +passed, and could only appease his anger by continuing to maul the bear +over the head with the camp kettle for several minutes after she was +dead. + +Some years ago I went into the mountains with a party of friends to hunt +elk. Our guide told us we should find plenty of grouse along the trail, +from the day we left the settlements; that on the third day out we +should find elk, and that it would therefore be useless to burden our +pack-horses with meat. We accordingly took none save a small piece of +bacon. + +Contrary to his predictions, however, we found no grouse or other small +game _en route_, and soon ate up our bacon. Furthermore, we were five +days in reaching the elk country, instead of three as he said. All this +time we were climbing mountains and had appetites that are known only to +mountain climbers. We had plenty of bread and potatoes, but these were +not sufficient. We hankered for flesh, and though we filled ourselves +with vegetable food, yet were we hungry. + +Finally we reached our destination at midday. While we were unloading +the horses, a "fool hen" came and lit in a tree near us. A rifle ball +beheaded her, and almost before she was done kicking she was in the +frying pan. + +A negro once had a bottle of whisky, and was making vigorous efforts to +get outside of it, when a chum came up and asked for a pull at it. "O, +g'long, nigger," said the happy owner of the corn juice. "What's one +bottle of whisky 'mong one man?" And what was one little grouse among +five half-starved men? The smell and taste only made us long for more. + +After dinner we all went out and hunted until dark. Soon after leaving +camp some of us heard lively firing up the canyon, where our guide had +gone, and felt certain that he had secured meat, for we had heard +glowing accounts, from him and his friends, of his prowess as a hunter. +The rest of us were not so despondent, therefore, when we returned at +dusk empty handed, as we should otherwise have been, until we reached +camp and found the guide there wearing a long face and bloodless hands. + +He told a doleful story of having had five fair shots at a large bull +elk, who stood broadside on, only seventy-five yards away, but who +finally became alarmed at the fusilade and fled, leaving no blood on his +trail. The guide of course anathematized his gun in the choicest terms +known to frontiersmen, and our mouths watered as we thought of what +might have been. + +Our potatoes, having been compelled to stand for meat also, had vanished +rapidly, and we ate the last of them for supper that night. Few words +were spoken and no jokes cracked over that meal. We ate bread straight +for breakfast, and turning out early hunted diligently all day. We were +nearly famished when we returned at night and no one had seen any living +thing larger than a pine squirrel. It is written that "man shall not +live by bread alone," and we found that we could not much longer. And +soon we should not have even that, for our flour was getting low. But we +broke the steaming flat-cake again at supper, and turned in to dream of +juicy steaks, succulent joints, and delicious rib roasts. + +We were up before daylight to find that six or eight inches of light +snow had fallen silently during the night, which lay piled up on the +branches of the trees, draping the dense forests in ghostly white. Our +drooping spirits revived, for we hoped that the tell-tale mantle would +enable us to find the game we so much needed in our business. We broke +our bread more cheerfully that morning than for two days previously, but +at the council of war held over the frugal meal, decided that unless we +scored that day we must make tracks for the nearest ranch the next +morning, and try to make our scanty remnant of flour keep us alive until +we could get there. + +Breakfast over we scattered ourselves by the four points of the compass +and set out. It fell to my lot to go up the canyon. Silently I strode +through the forest, scanning the snow in search of foot-prints, but for +an hour I could see none. Then, as I cautiously ascended a ridge, I +heard a crash in the brush beyond and reached the summit just in time to +see the latter end of a large bull elk disappear in the thicket. + +He had not heard or seen me, but had winded me, and tarried not for +better acquaintance. I followed his trail some three miles up the canyon, +carefully penetrating the thickets and peering among the larger trees, +but never a glimpse could I get and never a sound could I hear of him. +He seemed unusually wild. I could see by his trail that he had not +stopped, but had kept straight away on that long, swinging trot that is +such a telling gait of the species, and which they will sometimes keep +up for hours together. Finally I came to where he had left the canyon +and ascended the mountain. I followed up this for a time, but seeing +that he had not yet paused, and finding that my famished condition +rendered me unequal to the climb, was compelled to abandon the pursuit +and with a heavy heart return again to the canyon. I kept on up it, but +could find no other game or sign of any. Like the red hunter, in the +time of famine, who + + "Vainly walked through the forest, + Sought for bird, or beast, and found none; + Saw no track of deer or rabbit, + In the snow beheld no foot-prints, + In the ghostly gleaming forest + Fell and could not rise from weakness," + +so I trudged on until, wearied and worn out, I lay down beside a giant +fir tree, whose spreading branches had kept the snow from the ground, +and fell asleep. When I awoke my joints were stiff and sore, and I was +chilled to the bone. It was late in the afternoon, and a quiet, +drizzling rain had set in. + +I found the trail that led through the canyon, and started back to camp, +trudging along as rapidly as possible, for hunger was gnawing at my +vitals and my strength was fast failing. + + "Over snow-fields waste and pathless, + Under snow-encumbered branches, + Empty-handed, heavy-hearted," + +I toiled wearily on. The snow had become saturated with the rain, and +great chunks of it were falling from the trees with dull, monotonous +sounds. "Slush, slush," "Splash, splash," came the gloomy sounds from +all parts of the woods. I was nearing camp, and had abandoned all hope +of seeing game. My only object was to reach shelter, to rest, and feast +on the unsatisfying bread. I heard a succession of the splashings that +came from my left with such regular cadence as to cause me to look up, +when, great St. Hubert! there came a huge grizzly bear shambling and +splashing along through the wet snow. It was his footsteps that I had +been hearing for a minute or two past, and which I had, at first, +thought to be the falling snow. + +He had not yet seen me, and what a marvelous change came over me! I +forgot that I was tired; that I was weak; that I was hungry. The +instincts of the hunter reanimated me, and I thought only of killing the +grand game before me. I threw down my rifle, raising the hammer as the +weapon came into position, and the click of the lock reached his ear. It +was the first intimation he had of possible danger, and he stopped and +threw up his head to look and listen. My thoughts came and went like +flashes of lightning. I remembered then the famishing condition of +myself and friends. Here was meat, and I must save it. There must be no +nervousness--no wild shooting now. This shot _must_ tell. And there was +not a tremor in all my system. Every nerve was as of steel for the +instant. The little gold bead on the muzzle of the rifle instantly found +the vital spot behind the bear's shoulder, gleamed through the rear +sight like a spark of fire, and before he had time to realize what the +strange apparition was that had so suddenly confronted him, the voice of +the Winchester was echoing through the canyon and an express bullet had +crashed through his vitals. + +The shock was so sudden and the effect on him so deadly that he +apparently thought nothing of fight, but only of seeking a place to die +in peace. + +He wheeled and shot into a neighboring thicket with the speed of an +arrow. I fired at him again as he disappeared. He crashed through the +jungle out into the open woods, turned to the right and went across a +ridge as if Satan himself were after him. As the big gray mass shot +through a clear space between two trees I gave him another speeder, and +then he disappeared beyond a ridge. + +The snow had melted rapidly and the ground was bare in places, so that I +had some trouble in trailing the bear, but wherever he crossed a patch +of snow his trail was bespattered with blood. I followed over the ridge +and through scattering jack pines, about two hundred yards, and found +him lying dead near the trail. My first and third bullets had gone in +behind his shoulder only an inch apart. The first had passed clear +through him, and the other had lodged against the skin on the opposite +side. Several ribs were broken on either side, and his lungs and other +portions of his interior were ground into sausage; yet so great was his +vitality and tenacity to life that he was able to make this distance at +a speed that would have taxed the best horse in the country, and if he +had seen fit to attack me instead of running away he would probably have +made sausage of me. + +But what feasting and what revelry there was in camp that night. It was +a young bear, fat as butter, and rib roasts and cutlets were devoured in +quantities that would have shocked the modesty of a tramp. Not until +well into the night did we cease to eat, and wrap ourselves in our +blankets. We staid several days in the canyon after that, and killed +plenty of elk and other game. + + * * * * * + +The skin of the grizzly is one of the most valuable trophies a sportsman +can obtain on any field, and its rarity, and the danger and excitement +attending the taking of it, the courage it bespeaks on the part of the +hunter, render it a prize of which the winner may justly feel proud for +a lifetime. + +The best localities in which to hunt the grizzly bear--that is, those +most accessible and in which he is now most numerous--are the Big Horn, +Shoshone, Wind River, Bear Tooth, Belt, and Crazy Mountains, in Wyoming +and Montana, all of which may be easily reached by way of the Northern +Pacific road. + +The best time of year to hunt for this, as well as all the other species +of large game in the Rocky Mountains, is in the months of September, +October, and November, though in the latter month the sportsman should +not venture high up into the mountains where heavy snow-falls are liable +to occur. There is a great deal of bear hunting done in the summer +months, but it is contrary to the laws of nature, and should not be +indulged in by any true sportsman. The skins are nearly worthless then, +while in the autumn they are prime; the heat is oppressive, and the +flies and mosquitoes are great pests. + +The best arm for this class of game is a repeating rifle of large +calibre, 45 or 50, carrying a large charge of powder and a solid +bullet. The new Winchester express, 50/110, with solid ball, is perhaps +the best in the market, all things considered. + +There are several methods of hunting the grizzly, the most common being +to kill an elk, and then watch the carcass. Shots may frequently be +obtained in this way early in the morning or late in the evening, and on +bright moonlight nights it is best to watch all night, for the immense +size of the grizzly renders him an easy target at short range even by +moonlight. Another method is to still-hunt him, the same as is done with +deer. This is perhaps the most sportsmanlike of all, and if a coulee or +creek bottom be selected where there are plenty of berries, or an open, +hilly, rocky country, where the bears are in the habit of hunting for +worms, or any good feeding-ground where bear signs are plentiful, and +due care and caution be exercised, there is as good a chance of success +as by any other method. Many hunters set guns with a cord running from +the trigger to a bait of fresh meat, and the muzzle of the gun pointing +at the meat; others set large steel traps or deadfalls. But such +contrivances are never used by true sportsmen. + +Game of any kind should always be pursued in a fair, manly manner, and +given due chance to preserve its life if it is skillful enough to do so. +If captured, let it be by the superior skill, sagacity, or endurance of +the sportsman, not by traps which close on it as it innocently and +unsuspectingly seeks its food. + +Grizzly bear hunting is unquestionably the grandest sport that our +continent affords. The grizzly is the only really dangerous game we +have, and the decidedly hazardous character of the sport is what gives +it its greatest zest, and renders it the most fascinating of pursuits. +Many sportsmen proclaim the superiority of their favorite pastime over +all other kinds, be it quail, grouse, or duck shooting, fox-chasing, +deer-stalking, or what not; and each has its charm, more or less +intense, according to its nature; but no man ever felt his heart swell +with pride, his nerves tingle with animation, his whole system glow with +wild, uncontrollable enthusiasm, at the bagging of any bird or small +animal, as does the man who stands over the prostrate form of a monster +grizzly that he has slain. Let the devotee of these other classes of +sport try bear hunting, and when he has bagged his first grizzly, then +let him talk! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +ELK HUNTING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. + + +Of all the large game on the American continent, the elk (_Cervus +canadensis_) is the noblest, the grandest, the stateliest. I would +detract nothing from the noble game qualities of the moose, caribou, +deer, or mountain sheep. Each has its peculiar points of excellence +which endear it to the heart of the sportsman, but the elk possesses +more than any of the others. In size he towers far above all, except the +moose. In sagacity, caution, cunning, and wariness he is the peer, if +not the superior, of them all. He is always on the alert, his keen +scent, his piercing eye, his acute sense of hearing, combining to render +him a vigilant sentinel of his own safety. + +His great size and powerful muscular construction give him almost +unbounded endurance. When alarmed or pursued he will travel for twenty +or thirty hours, at a rapid swinging trot, without stopping for food or +rest. He is a proud, fearless ranger, and even when simply migrating +from one range of mountains to another, will travel from seventy-five to +a hundred miles without lying down. He is a marvelous mountaineer, and, +considering his immense size and weight, often ascends to heights that +seem incredible. He may often be found away up to timber line, and will +traverse narrow passes and defiles, climbing over walls of rock and +through fissures where it would seem impossible for so large an animal, +with such massive antlers as he carries, to go. He chooses his route, +however, with rare good judgment, and all mountaineers know that an elk +trail is the best that can possibly be selected over any given section +of mountainous country. His faculty of traversing dense jungles and +windfalls is equally astonishing. If given his own time, he will move +quietly and easily through the worst of these, leaping over logs higher +than his back as gracefully and almost as lightly as the deer; yet let a +herd of elk be alarmed and start on a run through one of these +labyrinthine masses, and they will make a noise like a regiment of +cavalry on a precipitous charge. + +I have stood on the margin of a quaking-asp thicket and heard a large +band of elk coming toward me that had been "jumped" and fired upon by my +friend at the other side, and the frightful noise of their horns +pounding the trees, their hoofs striking each other and the numerous +rocks, the crashing of dead branches, with the snorting of the +affrighted beasts, might well have struck terror to the heart of anyone +unused to such sights and sounds, and have caused him to seek safety in +flight. But by standing my ground I was enabled to get in a couple of +shots at short range, and to bring down two of the finest animals in the +herd. + +The whistle of the elk is a sound which many have tried to describe, +yet I doubt if anyone who may have read all the descriptions of it ever +written would recognize it on a first hearing. It is a most strange, +weird, peculiar sound, baffling all efforts of the most skillful +word-painter. It is only uttered by the male, and there is the same +variety in the sound made by different stags as in different human +voices. Usually the cry begins and ends with a sort of grunt, somewhat +like the bellow of a domestic cow cut short, but the interlude is a +long-drawn, melodious, flutelike sound that rises and falls with a +rhythmical cadence, floating on the still evening air, by which it is +often wafted with singular distinctness to great distances. By other +individuals, or even by the same individual at various times, either the +first or last of these abrupt sounds is omitted, and only the other, in +connection with the long-drawn, silver-toned strain, is given. + +The stag utters this call only in the love-making season, and for the +purpose of ascertaining the whereabouts of his dusky mate, who responds +by a short and utterly unmusical sound, similar to that with which the +male begins or ends his call. + +Once, when exploring in Idaho, I had an interesting and exciting +experience with a band of elk. I had camped for the night on a high +divide, between two branches of the Clearwater river. The weather had +been intensely dry and hot for several days, and the tall rye grass that +grew in the old burn where I had pitched my camp was dry as powder. +There was a gentle breeze from the south. Fearing that a spark might be +carried into the grass, I extinguished my camp-fire as soon as I had +cooked and eaten my supper. As darkness drew on, I went out to picket +my horses and noticed that they were acting strangely. They were looking +down the mountain side with ears pointed forward, sniffing the air and +moving about uneasily. + +[Illustration: THE _WAPITI_, OR AMERICAN ELK.] + +I gave their picket ropes a turn around convenient jack pines, and then +slipping cautiously back to the tent, got my rifle and returned. I could +see nothing strange and sat down beside a log to await developments. In +a few minutes I heard a dead limb break. Then there was a rustling in a +bunch of tall, dry grass; more snapping of twigs and shaking of bushes. +I ascertained that there were several large animals moving toward me and +feared it might be a family of bears. I feared it, I say, because it was +now so dark that I could not see to shoot at any distance, and knew that +if bears came near the horses the latter would break their ropes and +stampede. I thought of shouting and trying to frighten them off, but +decided to await developments. Presently I heard a snapping of hoofs and +a succession of dull, heavy, thumping noises, accompanied by reports of +breaking brush, which I knew at once were made by a band of elk jumping +over a high log. + +The game was now not more than fifty yards away and in open ground, yet +I could not see even a movement, for I was looking down toward a dark +canyon, many hundreds of feet deep. Slowly the great beasts worked toward +me. They were coming down wind and I felt sure could not scent me, but +they could evidently see my horses, outlined against the sky, and had +doubtless heard them snorting and moving about. + +The ponies grew more anxious but less frightened than at first, and +seemed now desirous of making the acquaintance of their wild visitors. + +Slowly the elk moved forward until within thirty or forty feet of me, +when I could begin to discern by the starlight their dark, shaggy forms. +Then they stopped. I could hear them sniffing the air and could see them +moving cautiously from place to place, apparently suspicious of danger. +But they were coming down wind, could get no indication of my presence, +and were anxious to interview the horses. + +They moved slowly forward, and when they stopped this time, two old +bulls and one cow, who were in the front rank, so to speak, stood within +ten feet of me. Their great horns towered up like the branches of dead +trees, and I could hear them breathe. + +Again they circled from side to side and I thought surely they would get +far enough to one quarter or the other to wind me, but they did not. +Several other cows and two timid little calves crowded to the front to +look at their hornless cousins who now stood close behind me, and even +in the starlight, I could have shot any one of them between the eyes. + +My saddle cayuse uttered a low gentle whinny, whereat the whole band +wheeled and dashed away; but after making a few leaps their momentary +scare seemed to subside, and they stopped, looked, snorted a few times +and then began to edge up again--this time even more shyly than before. + +It was intensely interesting to study the caution and circumspection +with which these creatures planned and carried out their investigation +all the way through. + +The only mistake they made, and one at which I was surprised, +considering their usual cunning and sagacity, was that some of them at +least did not circle the horses and get to the leeward. But they were in +such a wild country, so far back in the remote fastnesses of the +Rockies, that they had probably never encountered hunters or horses +before and had not acquired all the cunning of their more hunted and +haunted brothers. After their temporary scare they returned, step by +step, to their investigation, and the largest bull in the bunch +approached the very log behind which I sat. He was just in the act of +stepping over it when he caught a whiff of my breath and, with a +terrific snort, vaulted backward and sidewise certainly thirty feet. At +the same instant I rose up and shouted, and the whole band went tearing +down the mountain side making a racket like that of an avalanche. + +As before stated, I could have had my choice out of the herd, but my +only pack-horse was loaded so that I could have carried but a small +piece of meat, and was unwilling to waste so grand a creature for the +little I could save from him. + +The antlers of the bull elk grow to a great size. He sheds them in +February of each year. The new horn begins to grow in April. During the +summer it is soft and pulpy and is covered with a fine velvety growth of +hair; it matures and hardens in August; early in September he rubs this +velvet off and is then ready to try conclusions with any rival that +comes in his way. The rutting season over, he has no further use for +his antlers until the next autumn, and they drop off. Thus the process +is repeated, year after year, as regularly as the leaves grow and fall +from the trees. But it seems a strange provision of nature that should +load an animal with sixty to seventy-five pounds of horns, for half the +year, when weapons of one-quarter the size and weight would be equally +effective if all were armed alike. + +I have in my collection the head of a bull elk, killed in the Shoshone +Mountains, in Northern Wyoming, the antlers of which measure as follows: + +Length of main beam, 4 feet 8 inches; length of brow tine, 1 foot 6-1/2 +inches; length of bes tine, 1 foot 8-1/2 inches; length of royal tine, 1 +foot 7 inches; length of surroyal, 1 foot 8-1/2 inches: circumference +around burr, 1 foot 3-1/4 inches; circumference around beam above burr, +12 inches; circumference of brow tine at base, 7-1/2 inches; spread of +main beams at tips, 4 feet 9 inches. They are one of the largest and +finest pairs of antlers of which I have any knowledge. The animal when +killed would have weighed nearly a thousand pounds. + +The elk is strictly gregarious, and in winter time, especially, the +animals gather into large bands, and a few years ago herds of from five +hundred to a thousand were not uncommon. Now, however, their numbers +have been so far reduced by the ravages of "skin hunters" and others +that one will rarely find more than twenty-five or thirty in a band. + +In the fall of 1879, a party of three men were sight-seeing and hunting +in the Yellowstone National Park, and having prolonged their stay until +late in October, were overtaken by a terrible snowstorm, which +completely blockaded and obliterated all the trails, and filled the +gulches, canyons, and coulees to such a depth that their horses could not +travel over them at all. They had lain in camp three days waiting for +the storm to abate; but as it continued to grow in severity, and as the +snow became deeper and deeper, their situation grew daily and hourly +more alarming. Their stock of provisions was low, they had no shelter +sufficient to withstand the rigors of a winter at that high altitude, +and it was fast becoming a question whether they should ever be able to +escape beyond the snow-clad peaks and snow-filled canyons with which they +were hemmed in. Their only hope of escape was by abandoning their +horses, and constructing snow-shoes which might keep them above the +snow; but in this case they could not carry bedding and food enough to +last them throughout the several days that the journey would occupy to +the nearest ranch, and the chances of killing game _en route_ after the +severe weather had set in were extremely precarious. They had already +set about making snow-shoes from the skin of an elk which they had +saved. One pair had been completed, and the storm having abated, one of +the party set out to look over the surrounding country for the most +feasible route by which to get out, and also to try if possible to find +game of some kind. He had gone about a mile toward the northeast when he +came upon the fresh trail of a large band of elk that were moving toward +the east. He followed, and in a short time came up with them. They were +traveling in single file, led by a powerful old bull, who wallowed +through snow in which only his head and neck were visible, with all the +patience and perseverance of a faithful old ox. The others followed +him--the stronger ones in front and the weaker ones bringing up the +rear. There were thirty-seven in the band, and by the time they had all +walked in the same line they left it an open, well-beaten trail. The +hunter approached within a few yards of them. They were greatly alarmed +when they saw him, and made a few bounds in various directions; but +seeing their struggles were in vain, they meekly submitted to what +seemed their impending fate, and fell back in rear of their file-leader. +This would have been the golden opportunity of a skin hunter, who could +and would have shot them all down in their tracks from a single stand. +But such was not the mission of our friend. He saw in this noble, +struggling band a means of deliverance from what had threatened to be a +wintry grave for him and his companions. He did not fire a shot, and did +not in any way create unnecessary alarm amongst the elk, but hurried +back to camp and reported to his friends what he had seen. + +In a moment the camp was a scene of activity and excitement. Tent, +bedding, provisions, everything that was absolutely necessary to their +journey, were hurriedly packed upon their pack animals; saddles were +placed, rifles were slung to the saddles, and leaving all surplus +baggage, such as trophies of their hunt, mineral specimens and curios of +various kinds, for future comers, they started for the elk trail. They +had a slow, tedious, and laborious task, breaking a way through the deep +snow to reach it, but by walking and leading their saddle animals +ahead, the pack animals were able to follow slowly. Finally they reached +the trail of the elk herd, and following this, after nine days of +tedious and painful traveling, the party arrived at a ranch on the +Stinking Water river, which was kept by a "squaw man" and his wife, +where they were enabled to lodge and recruit themselves and their stock, +and whence they finally reached their homes in safety. The band of elk +passed on down the river, and our tourists never saw them again; but +they have doubtless long ere this all fallen a prey to the ruthless war +that is constantly being waged against them by hunters white and red. + +It is sad to think that such a noble creature as the American elk is +doomed to early and absolute extinction, but such is nevertheless the +fact. Year by year his mountain habitat is being surrounded and +encroached upon by the advancing line of settlements, as the fisherman +encircles the struggling mass of fishes in the clear pond with his long +and closely-meshed net. The lines are drawn closer and closer each year. +These lines are the ranches of cattle and sheep raisers, the cabins and +towns of miners, the stations and residences of employes of the +railroads. All these places are made the shelters and temporary abiding +places of Eastern and foreign sportsmen who go out to the mountains to +hunt. Worse than this, they are made the permanent abiding places, and +constitute the active and convenient markets of the nefarious and +unconscionable skin hunter and meat hunter. Here he can find a ready +market for the meats and skins he brings in, and an opportunity to +spend the proceeds of such outrageous traffic in ranch whisky and +revelry. The ranchmen themselves hunt and lay in their stock of meat for +the year when the game comes down into the valleys. The Indians, when +they have eaten up their Government rations, lie in wait for the elk in +the same manner. So that when the first great snows of the autumn or +winter fall in the high ranges, when the elk band together and seek +refuge in the valleys, as did the herd that our fortunate tourists +followed out, they find a mixed and hungry horde waiting for them at the +mouth of every canyon. Before they have reached the valley where the +snow-fall is light enough to allow them to live through the winter their +skins are drying in the neighboring "shacks." + +[Illustration: WORK OF THE EXTERMINATORS.] + +This unequal, one-sided warfare, this ruthless slaughter of inoffensive +creatures, can not last always. Indeed, it can last but little longer. +In ranges where only a few years ago herds of four or five hundred elk +could be found, the hunter of to-day considers himself in rare luck when +he finds a band of ten or twelve, and even small bands of any number are +so rare that a good hunter may often hunt a week in the best elk country +to be found anywhere without getting a single shot. All the Territories +have good, wholesome game-laws which forbid the killing of game animals +except during two or three months in the fall; but these laws are not +enforced. They are a dead letter on the statute-books, and the illegal +and illegitimate slaughter goes on unchecked. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ANTELOPE HUNTING IN MONTANA. + + +Of all the numerous species of large game to be found in the far West, +there is none whose pursuit furnishes grander sport to the expert +rifleman than the antelope (_Antilocapra americana_). His habitat being +the high, open plains, he may be hunted on horseback, and with a much +greater degree of comfort than may the deer, elk, bear, and other +species which inhabit the wooded or mountainous districts. His keen +eyesight, his fine sense of smell, his intense fear of his natural +enemy, man, however, render him the most difficult of all game animals +to approach, and he must indeed be a skillful hunter who can get within +easy rifle range of the antelope, unless he happens to have the +circumstances of wind and lie of ground peculiarly in his favor. When +the game is first sighted, even though it be one, two, or three miles +away, you must either dismount and picket your horse, or find cover in +some coulee or draw, where you can ride entirely out of sight of the +quarry. But even under such favorable circumstances it is not well to +attempt to ride very near them. Their sense of hearing is also very +acute, and should your horse's hoof or shoe strike a loose rock, or +should he snort or neigh, the game is likely to catch the sound while +you are yet entirely out of sight and faraway, and when you finally +creep cautiously to the top of the ridge from which you expect a +favorable shot, you may find the game placidly looking for you from the +top of another ridge a mile or two farther away. + +But we will hope that you are to have better luck than this. To start +with, we will presume that you are an expert rifleman; that you are in +the habit of making good scores at the butts; that at 800, 900, and +1,000 yards you frequently score 200 to 210 out of a possible 225 +points. We will also suppose that you are a hunter of some experience; +that you have at least killed a good many deer in the States, but that +this is your first trip to the plains. You have learned to estimate +distances, however, even in this rare atmosphere, and possess good +judgment as to windage. You have brought your Creedmoor rifle along, +divested, of course, of its Venier sight, wind-guage, and spirit-level, +and in their places you have fitted a Beach combination front sight and +Lyman rear sight. Besides these you have the ordinary open step sight +attached to the barrel just in front of the action. This is not the best +arm for antelope hunting; a Winchester express with the same sights +would be much better; but this will answer very well. + +We camped last night on the bank of a clear, rapid stream that gurgles +down from the mountain, and this morning are up long before daylight; +have eaten our breakfasts, saddled our horses, and just as the gray of +dawn begins to show over the low, flat prairie to the east of us, we +mount, and are ready for the start. The wind is from the northeast. That +suits us very well, for in that direction, about a mile away, there are +some low foot-hills that skirt the valley in which we are camped. In or +just beyond these we are very likely to find antelope, and they will +probably be coming toward the creek this morning for water. + +We put spurs to our horses and gallop away. A brisk and exhilarating +ride of ten minutes brings us to the foot-hills, and then we rein up and +ride slowly and cautiously to near the top of the first one. Here we +dismount, and, picketing our ponies, we crawl slowly and carefully to +the apex. By this time it is almost fully daylight. We remove our hats, +and peer cautiously through the short, scattering grass on the brow of +the hill. + +Do you see anything? + +No; nothing but prairie and grass. + +No? Hold! What are those small, gray objects away off yonder to the +left? I think I saw one of them move. And now, as the light grows +stronger, I can see white patches on them. Yes, they are antelope. They +are busily feeding, and we may raise our heads slightly and get a more +favorable view. One, two, three--there are five of them--two bucks, a +doe, and two kids. And you will observe that they are nearly in the +centre of a broad stretch of table-land. + +"But," you say, "may we not wait here a little while until they come +nearer to us?" + +Hardly. You see they are intent on getting their breakfast. There is a +heavy frost on the grass, which moistens it sufficiently for present +purposes, and it may be an hour or more before they will start for +water. It won't pay us to wait so long, for we shall most likely find +others within that time that we can get within range of without waiting +for them. So you may as well try them from here. + +Now your experience at the butts may serve you a good turn. After taking +a careful look over the ground, you estimate the distance at 850 yards, +and setting up your Beach front and Lyman rear sights, you make the +necessary elevation. There is a brisk wind blowing from the right, and +you think it necessary to hold off about three feet. We are now both +lying prone upon the ground. You face the game, and support your rifle +at your shoulder by resting your elbows on the ground. The sun is now +shining brightly, and you take careful aim at that old buck that stands +out there at the left. At the report of your rifle a cloud of dust rises +from a point about a hundred yards this side of him, and a little to the +left, showing that you have underestimated both the distance and the +force of the wind--things that even an old hunter is liable to do +occasionally. + +We both lie close, and the animals have not yet seen us. They make a few +jumps, and stop all in a bunch. The cross-wind and long distance prevent +them from knowing to a certainty where the report comes from, and they +don't like to run just yet, lest they may run toward the danger instead +of away from it. You make another half-point of elevation, hold a little +farther away to the right, and try them again. This time the dirt rises +about twenty feet beyond them, and they jump in every direction. That +was certainly a close call, and the bullet evidently whistled +uncomfortably close to several of them. They are now thoroughly +frightened. You insert another cartridge, hurriedly draw a bead on the +largest buck again, and fire. You break dirt just beyond him, and we +can't tell for the life of us how or on which side of him your bullet +passed. It is astonishing how much vacant space there is round an +antelope, anyway. This time they go, sure. They have located the puff of +smoke, and are gone with the speed of the wind away to the west. But +don't be discouraged, my friend. You did some clever shooting, some +_very_ clever shooting, and a little practice of that kind will enable +you to score before night. + +We go back to our horses, mount, and gallop away again across the +table-land. A ride of another mile brings us to the northern margin of +this plateau, and to a more broken country. Here we dismount and picket +our horses again. We ascend a high butte, and from the top of it we can +see three more antelope about a mile to the north of us; but this time +they are in a hilly, broken country, and the wind is coming directly +from them to us. We shall be able to get a shot at them at short range. +So we cautiously back down out of sight, and then begins the tedious +process of stalking them. We walk briskly along around the foot of a +hill for a quarter of a mile, to where it makes a turn that would carry +us too far out of our course. We must cross this hill, and after looking +carefully at the shape and location of it, we at last find a low point +in it where by lying flat down we can crawl over it without revealing +ourselves to the game. It is a most tedious and painful piece of work, +for the ground is almost covered with cactus and sharp flinty rocks, and +our hands and knees are terribly lacerated. But every rose has its +thorn, and nearly every kind of sport has something unpleasant connected +with it occasionally; and our reward, if we get it, will be worth the +pain it costs us. With such reflections and comments, and with frequent +longing looks at the game, we kill time till at last the critical part +of our work is done, and we can arise and descend in a comfortable but +cautious walk into another draw. + +[Illustration: A PORTRAIT.] + +This we follow for about two hundred yards, until we think we are as +near our quarry as we can get. We turn to the right, cautiously ascend +the hill, remove our hats, and peer over, and there, sure enough, are +our antelope quietly grazing, utterly oblivious to the danger that +threatens them. They have not seen, heard, or scented us, so we have +ample time to plan an attack. You take the standing shot at the buck, +and together we will try and take care of the two does afterward. At +this short distance you don't care for the peep and globe sights, and +wisely decide to use the plain open ones. This time you simply kneel, +and then edge up until you can get a good clear aim over the apex of the +ridge in this position. The buck stands broadside to you, and at the +crack of your rifle springs into the air, and falls all in a heap, +pierced through the heart. + +And now for the two does. They are flying over the level stretch of +prairie with the speed of an arrow, and are almost out of sure range +now. You turn loose on that one on the right, and I will look after the +one on the left. Our rifles crack together, and little clouds of dust +rising just beyond tell us that, though we have both missed, we have +made close calls. I put in about three shots to your one, owing to my +rifle being a repeater, while you must load yours at each shot. At my +fourth shot my left-fielder doubles up and goes down with a broken neck; +and although you have fairly "set the ground afire"--to use a Western +phrase--around your right-fielder, you have not had the good fortune to +stop her, and she is now out of sight behind a low ridge. + +But you have the better animal of the two, and have had sport enough for +the first morning. We will take the entrails out of these two, lash them +across our horses behind our saddles, go to camp, and rest through the +heat of the day; for this September sun beams down with great power in +midday, even though the nights are cool and frosty. + +And now, as we have quite a long ride to camp, and as we are to pass +over a rather monotonous prairie country _en route_, I will give you a +point or two on flagging antelope, as we ride along, that may be useful +to you at some time. Fine sport may frequently be enjoyed in this way. +If you can find a band that have not been hunted much, and are not +familiar with the wiles of the white man, you will have little trouble +in decoying them within rifle range by displaying to them almost any +brightly-colored object. They have as much curiosity as a woman, and +will run into all kinds of danger to investigate any strange object they +may discover. They have been known to follow an emigrant or freight +wagon, with a white cover, several miles, and the Indian often brings +them within reach of his arrow or bullet by standing in plain view +wrapped in his red blanket. A piece of bright tin or a mirror answers +the same purpose on a clear day. Almost any conspicuous or +strange-looking object will attract them; but the most convenient as +well as the most reliable at all times is a little bright-red flag. + +On one occasion I was hunting in the Snowy Mountains, in Northern +Montana, with S. K. Fishel, the government scout, and Richard Thomas, +the packer, from Fort Maginnis. We had not been successful in finding +game there, and on our way back to the post camped two days on the head +of Flat Willow creek, near the foot of the mountains, to hunt antelopes. +As night approached several small bands of them came toward the creek, +but none came within range of our camp during daylight, and we did not +go after them that night, but were up and at them betimes the next +morning. + +I preferred to hunt alone, as I always do when after big game, and went +out across a level flat to some low hills north of camp. When I ascended +the first of these I saw a handsome buck antelope on the prairie half a +mile away. I made a long detour to get to leeward of him, and meantime +had great difficulty in keeping him from seeing me. But by careful +maneuvering I finally got into a draw below him, and found the wind +blowing directly from him to me. In his neighborhood were some large, +ragged volcanic rocks, and getting in line with one of these I started +to stalk him. He was feeding, and as I moved cautiously forward I could +frequently see his nose or rump show up at one side or the other of the +rock. I would accordingly glide to right or left, as necessary, and move +on. Finally, I succeeded in reaching the rock, crawled carefully up to +where I could see over it, and there, sure enough, stood the handsome +old fellow not more than fifty yards away, still complacently nipping +the bunch-grass. + +"Ah, my fine laddie," I said to myself, "you'll never know what hurt +you;" and resting the muzzle of the rifle on the rock, I took a fine, +steady aim for his heart and turned the bullet loose. There was a +terrific roar; the lead tore up a cloud of dust and went screaming away +over the hills, while, to my utter astonishment, the antelope went +sailing across the prairie with the speed of a greyhound. I sprang to my +feet, pumped lead after him at a lively rate, and, though I tore the +ground up all around him, never touched a hair. And what annoyed me most +was that, owing to some peculiar condition of the atmosphere, the smoke +of each shot hung in front of me long enough to prevent me from seeing +just where my bullets struck, and, for the life of me, I could not tell +whether I was shooting over or under the game! + +I went back over the hill to my horse, with my heart full of +disappointment and my magazine only half full of cartridges. I loaded +up, however, mounted, and, as I rode away in search of more game, I +could occasionally hear the almost whispered "puff, puff" of Fishel's +and Thomas's rifles away to the south and west, which brought me the +cheering assurance that they were also having fun, and also assured me +that we should not be without meat for supper and breakfast. + +I soon sighted a band of about thirty antelopes, and riding into a +coulee dismounted, picketed my horse, and began another crawl. In due +time I reached the desired "stand," within about eighty yards of them, +and, picking out the finest buck in the bunch, again took a careful, +deliberate aim and fired, scoring another clear miss. The band, instead +of running away, turned and ran directly toward me, and, circling, +slightly, passed within thirty yards of me, drawn out in single file. It +was a golden opportunity and I felt sure I should kill half a dozen of +them at least; but, alas! for fleeting hopes. I knew not the frailty of +the support on which I built my expectations. I fanned them as long as +there was a cartridge in my magazine, and had to endure the intense +chagrin of seeing the last one of them go over a ridge a mile away safe +and sound. + +I was dumb. If there had been anyone there to talk to, I don't think I +could have found a word in the language to express my feelings. As +before, the smoke prevented me from seeing just where my bullets struck +the ground, but I felt sure they must be striking very close to the +game. I sat down, pondered, and examined my rifle. I could see nothing +wrong with it, and felt sure it must be perfect, for within the past +week I had killed a deer with it at 170 yards and had shaved the heads +off a dozen grouse at short range. I was, therefore, forced to the +conclusion that I had merely failed to exercise proper care in holding. +I returned to my horse, mounted, and once more set out in search of +game, determined to kill the next animal I shot at or leave the country. + +I rode away to the west about two miles, and from the top of a high hill +saw another band of forty or fifty antelopes on a table-land. I rode +around till I got within about two hundred yards of them, when I left my +horse under cover of a hill and again began to sneak on the unsuspecting +little creatures. They were near the edge of the table, and from just +beyond them the formation fell abruptly away into the valley some fifty +feet. I crawled up this bluff until within about forty yards of the +nearest antelope, and then, lying flat upon the ground, I placed my +rifle in position for firing, and, inch by inch, edged up over the apex +of the bluff until within fair view of the game. Again selecting the +best buck--for I wanted a good head for mounting--I drew down on his +brown side until I felt sure that if there had been a silver dollar hung +on it I could have driven it through him. Confidently expecting to see +him drop in his tracks, I touched the trigger. But, alas! I was doomed +to still further disgrace. When the smoke lifted, my coveted prize was +speeding away with the rest of the herd. + +I simply stood, with my lower jaw hanging down, and looked after them +till they were out of sight. Then I went and got my horse and went to +camp. Sam and Dick were there with the saddles of three antelopes. When +I told them what I had been doing, they tried to console me, but I +wouldn't be consoled. After dinner, Sam picked up my rifle and looked it +over carefully. + +"Why, look here, you blooming idiot," said he. "No wonder you couldn't +kill at short range. The wedge has slipped up under your rear sight two +notches. She's elevated for 350 yards, and at that rate would shoot +about a foot high at a hundred yards." I looked and found it even so. +Then I offered him and Dick a dollar each if they would kick me, but +they wouldn't. + +Sam said good-naturedly: "Come, go with me and get the head of the buck +I killed. It's a very handsome one, and only two miles from camp." + +I said I didn't want any heads for my own use unless I could kill their +owners myself, but would take this one home for a friend, so we saddled +our horses and started. + +As we reached the top of a hill about a mile from camp a large buck that +was grazing ahead of us jumped and ran away to what he seemed to +consider a safe distance, and stopped to look at us. Sam generously +offered me the shot, and springing out of my saddle I threw down my +rifle, took careful aim and fired. At the crack the buck turned just +half way round, but was unable to make a single jump and sank dead in +his tracks. + +Sam is ordinarily a quiet man, but he fairly shouted at the result of my +shot. I paced the distance carefully to where the carcass lay, and it +was exactly 290 steps. The buck was standing broadside to me and I had +shot him through the heart. Of course, it was a scratch. I could not do +it again perhaps in twenty shots, and yet when I considered that I shot +for one single animal and got him I could not help feeling a little +proud of it. As we approached the animal, not knowing just where I had +hit him, I held my rifle in readiness, but Sam said: + +"Oh, you needn't be afraid of his getting up. One of those Winchester +express bullets is all an antelope needs, no matter what part of the +body you hit him in." + +This old fellow had a fine head, and we took it off, and now as I write +it gazes down upon me with those large, lustrous black eyes, from its +place on the wall, as proudly and curiously as it did there on the +prairie when I looked at it through the sights of my Winchester. His +portrait adorns page 199 of this book, and though the artist has treated +it with a master's hand, it does not possess the lordly beaming, the +fascinating grace, the timid beauty that distinguished the living +animal. + +It was so late when we got this one dressed that we decided to return to +camp at once. + +The curiosity which is so prominent a feature in the antelope's nature +costs many a one of them his life, and is taken advantage of by the +hunter in various ways. When we reached camp that afternoon Dick told us +how he had taken advantage of it. He had seen a small band on a level +stretch of prairie where there was no possible way of getting within +range of them, and having heard that if a man would lie down on his +back, elevate his feet as high as possible, and swing them back and +forth through the air, that it would attract antelopes, decided to try +it. But the antelopes of this section had evidently never seen soap +boxes or bales of hay floating through the air, and had no desire to +cultivate a closer acquaintance with such frightful looking objects as +he exhibited to their astonished gaze. And Dick said that when he turned +to see if they had yet come within shooting distance they were about a +mile away, and judging from the cloud of dust they were leaving behind +them seemed to be running a race to see which could get out of the +country first. + +The next morning Sam and I went together and Dick alone in another +direction. During the forenoon I shot a buck through both fore legs, +cutting one off clean and paralyzing the other. Sam said not to shoot +him again and he would catch him, and putting spurs to his horse was +soon galloping alongside of the quarry. He caught him by one horn and +held him until I came up. The little fellow pranced wildly about, and +bleated pitifully, but a stroke of the hunting knife across his throat +soon relieved his suffering. + +We then got the head from the buck Sam had killed the day before, and +returned to camp about 11 o'clock a. m. + +In the afternoon we rode out together again, and had not gone far when +we saw five of the bright little animals we were hunting on a hill-side. +They were too far away for anything like a sure shot, but were in such a +position that we could get no nearer to them. They stood looking at us, +and Sam told me to try them. I had little hope of making a hit, but +dismounting took a shot off hand, holding for the shoulder of a good +sized buck. When the gun cracked there was a circus. I had missed my aim +so far as to cut both his hind legs off just below the knee. The buck +commenced bucking. First he stood on his fore feet, got his hind legs up +in the air and shook the stumps. Then he tried to stand on them and paw +the air with his fore feet, but lost his balance and fell over backward. +He got up, jumped first to one side, then to the other, then forward. +Meantime Sam rode toward him, and he tried to run. In this his motions +were more like those of a rocking horse than of a living animal. The +race was a short one. Sam soon rode up to him, caught him by a horn and +held him till I came up and cut the little fellow's throat. Then Sam +said that was a very long shot, and he would like to know just what the +distance was. He went back to where I stood when I shot, stepped the +distance to where the antelope stood, and found it to be 362 paces. + +We rode on a mile further and saw a young antelope lying down in some +tall rye-grass. We could just see his horns and ears, and though he +appeared to be looking at us he seemed to think himself securely hidden, +for he made no movement toward getting up. I told Sam to shoot this +time, but he said, "No, you shoot. I live in this country and can get +all the shooting I want any time. You have come a long way out here to +have some fun. Turn loose on him." And slipping off my horse I knelt +down to get a knee rest, but found that from that position I could not +see the game at all, and was compelled to shoot off hand again. Raising +up I drew a bead on one of the horns, and then lowering the muzzle to +where I thought the body should be, pressed the trigger. There was a +lively commotion in the grass, but the buck never got out of his bed. +The ball went in at one shoulder and out at the opposite hip. On +stepping the distance we found it to be only 125 yards. + +And now, having in a measure wiped out the disgrace of the previous +day's work and secured all the meat, skins, and heads that our +pack-mules could carry, we returned to camp and the next day went back +to Fort Maginnis. + +These bright little creatures, though naturally timid, sometimes show +great courage in defense of their young. I once saw a coyote sneak from +behind a hill toward a herd of antelope. Instantly there was a grand +rush of all the adult members of the band, male and female, toward the +intruder, and when they had gotten in front of the kids they stopped, +with bristles erect, ears thrown forward, and heads lowered, presenting +a most warlike and belligerent appearance. The coyote, when he saw +himself confronted with this solid phalanx, suddenly stopped, eyed his +opponents for a few moments, and then, apparently overawed at the +superiority of numbers and warlike attitude of his intended prey, slunk +reluctantly away in search of some weaker victim. When he was well out +of sight, the older members of the band turned to their young, caressed +them, and resumed their grazing. + +The speed of the antelope is probably not excelled by that of any other +animal in this country, wild or domestic, except the greyhound, and, in +fact, it is only the finest and fleetest of these that can pull down an +antelope in a fair race. + +In the little village of Garfield, Kansas, there lived a man some years +ago--the proprietor of a hotel--who had two pet antelopes. The village +dogs had several times chased them, but had always been distanced. One +day a Mexican came to town who had with him two large, handsome +greyhounds. Immediately on riding up to the hotel he saw the antelopes +in the yard, and told the proprietor gruffly that he had better put +"them critters" in the corral, or his dogs would kill them. The +proprietor said he guessed the "critters" were able to take care of +themselves, especially if the dogs did not spring upon them unawares. +This aroused the Mexican's ire, and he promptly offered to wager a +goodly sum that his dogs would pull down one or both of the antelopes +within a mile. The challenge was accepted, the stakes deposited, the +antelopes turned into the street, and the "greaser" told his dogs to +"take'em." + +The dogs sprang at the antelopes, but the latter had by this time +reached a vacant lot across the street. They started off down the river. +For a distance of four miles the river bottom was an open prairie, and +as level as a floor. As the quartette sped over this grand natural +race-course, the whole populace of the town turned out _en masse_ to see +the race. Men and boys shouted, and ladies waved their handkerchiefs. +Betting was rife, the natives offering two to one on the antelopes, the +Mexican and the few other strangers in town being eager takers. It was +nip and tuck, neither animals gaining nor losing perceptibly, and when +at last the four went round a bend in the river four miles away, and +were hidden by a bluff, the game was, as nearly as could be seen by the +aid of good field-glasses, just about the same distance ahead of the +dogs as when they left town. + +Some hours later the dogs returned, so tired they could scarcely walk. +The Mexican eagerly looked for hair on their teeth, and although he +could find none, was confident that his dogs had killed the antelopes. A +mounted expedition to search for the carcasses and settle the question +was agreed upon, but as it was too near night to start when the dogs +returned, it was arranged to go in the morning. But when the parties +got up the next morning they found the antelopes quietly grazing in the +hotel yard. The Mexican left town in disgust followed by his lame, +sore-footed dogs, and muttering that he "never seed no varmints run like +them things did." + +The antelope, one of the brightest and most graceful and beautiful of +all our Western game animals, is fast disappearing from our broad +plains, owing to the ceaseless slaughter of it that is carried on by +"skin hunters," Indians, "foreign noblemen," and others who come to this +country year after year and spend the entire summer in hunting. Hundreds +of them are killed every summer by this latter class, and left to rot +where they fall, not a pound of meat, a skin, or even a head being taken +from them. I have seen with my own eyes this butchery carried on for +years past, and know whereof I speak. + +Nearly all the Territories have stringent laws intended to prohibit this +class of slaughter, but in these sparsely settled countries the +provisions for enforcing them are so meagre that these men violate them +day after day and year after year with impunity. This is one of the +instances in which prohibition does not prohibit. And what I have said +of the antelope is true of all the large game of the great West. The +elk, deer, mountain sheep, etc., are being slaughtered by the hundreds +every year--tenfold faster than the natural increase. And the time is +near, _very_ near, when all these noble species will be extinct. The +sportsman or naturalist who desires to preserve a skin or head of any of +them must procure it very soon or he will not be able to get it at all. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +BUFFALO HUNTING ON THE TEXAS PLAINS. + + +The "Texas boom" was at its height in 1876, and there was a grand rush +of emigrants of all nationalities and conditions of people to the then +New Eldorado. Thousands of men went down there to make money. Many of +them had not the remotest idea how this was to be done, but from the +glowing stories afloat regarding the resources of that wonderful +country, they felt sure it could be done in some way. The little town of +Fort Worth was then on the frontier--that is, it was one of the most +westerly towns having railroad communication, and was therefore one of +the important outfitting points for parties going into the wilds. A +great many were going further west, on all kinds of expeditions, some in +search of minerals, some in search of choice lands, some to hunt the +large game which was then abundant. + +The village consisted of a public square, around and fronting on which +were a row of cheap, one-story, log and frame buildings, most of which +were occupied as saloons and gambling houses. But there were a few +respectable general stores, half a dozen so-called hotels, shops, etc. +The town was full to overflowing with gamblers, rustlers, hunters, +cowboys, Mexican rancheros, northern sight-seers, adventurers, +commercial travelers, etc. + +[Illustration: AT BAY.] + +All day and all night could be heard the call of the _croupier_ at the +gambling-table as he announced the numbers and combinations that the +wheel or cards produced in the course of the manipulations to which his +deft fingers subjected them. + +Hot words often came from fortunate and unfortunate gamesters, and the +short, sharp report of the six-shooter, the shouts of combatants, the +groans of wounded or dying men, the clatter of heavy boots or spurs on +the feet of stampeded spectators were sounds that, nearly every night, +greeted the ears of the populace. + +Mob law reigned supreme, and there was little effort on the part of the +village authorities to punish offenders. Sometimes Judge Lynch's court +was convened on short notice, and someone who had committed an unusually +flagrant violation of the "law of honor" and had killed a man without +due provocation, was hurriedly tried and strung up to the nearest tree. + +One evening in the month of November, the excitement was varied by the +arrival of a "bull-train"[1] of ten wagons loaded with buffalo skins. +They drove to the warehouse of the largest trader in the place to +unload, and were quickly surrounded by a crowd of eager inquirers who +sought for news from the front. + +[1] What is known on the frontier as a "bull-train" is a number +of ponderous wagons, drawn by from six to ten yoke of oxen each, used +for hauling heavy freight across the plains. + +Some inquired as to the nature of the country, some as to the progress +of settlements, some as to friends who were at the front, and many as to +the buffalo herd from which the five thousand skins brought in by this +train had been taken. + +"The main herd," said the wagon boss, "is two hundred miles west on the +headwaters of the Brazos river." + +"How large a herd is it?" + +"Nobody knows that, for none of 'em has took time to ride to the west +end of it." + +"Are there many hunters there?" inquired a young St. Louis lawyer. + +"Wall, you'd reckon," said the boss. "Tha's 'bout a hundred and fifty +white hunters, and more'n a thousand red-skins." + +"When do you start back?" + +"To-morrow mornin', if I can keep my bull punchers from gettin' full of +pizen." + +The crowd gradually scattered, while a little knot of the more +respectable element repaired to the hotel to discuss the question of +organizing a hunting party to go to the buffalo range. In an hour they +agreed to go, the time for the start being fixed for the morning of the +second day following. + +And then the busy notes of preparation were heard throughout the town. +But few of the men who decided to go were prepared for such a trip, and +it was necessary for most of them to buy or hire complete outfits. +Horses were the first and most important requisite. The corral (the +frontier livery stable) was first visited, and spirited bidding was +indulged in for the choicest animals. The stock here was soon exhausted, +and the demand was not yet supplied. Then all the horses and ponies +standing tied to the railing around the public square were inspected, +and any that were for sale were tested. Word having been circulated that +a hunting party was outfitting, a large number of ponies were brought in +from neighboring camps and ranches. The party was soon creditably +mounted, though the number had increased to double that originally +planned. + +Next, teams must be employed. A number of these were also found, and +five were engaged, their owners agreeing to work for seven dollars a day +"and found." + +Guns and ammunition were also in demand, and enough were offered to arm +a regiment. A number of hunters had recently come in from the front and +were selling off their outfits. Every store and hotel had from one to +half a dozen guns in pawn, and one dealer had a number of new ones. +Anything in the shape of a rifle could be had. Old Kentucky +muzzle-loaders, "five feet long in the barrel;" condemned army carbines +of Spencer, Sharps, and other patterns; Springfield muskets; Henry and +Winchester rifles; and a few of the old reliable Sharps "buffalo guns" +of 45 and 50 calibre, and using 100 to 120 grains of powder. These +latter were taken at good figures by the more knowing ones, and the best +of the others selected by the less intelligent buyers until all were +fairly well armed. + +Then a guide was needed, and a Chicago newspaper correspondent, who was +to be a member of the expedition, was deputed to employ one. As usual in +frontier towns, there were plenty of them, each one of whom, in his own +estimation, was the best in the whole country. Each claimed to know +every foot of the ground in question, to be able to speak the language +of every Indian tribe on the frontier, to be a crack shot and intrepid +horseman, afraid of nothing, and ready for any undertaking, no matter +how hazardous. + +Inquiry among the more reliable citizens of the town as to who was best +suited for the uses of the present enterprise resulted in the choice of +a rather quiet and attractive-looking young man bearing the euphonious +pseudonym of "Red River Frank." He was clad in the conventional buckskin +suit, and his long glossy black hair hung in heavy curls down to his +shoulders. He was six feet two inches in height, straight as an arrow, +and had a deep, clear gray eye; rode a good sized spirited mustang, and +sat in his saddle like a life-trained trooper. + +At the time appointed for the departure, the party, which had now +swelled to thirty-two men all told, assembled in the public square. The +wagons were loaded with the tents, bedding, food, and other necessary +provisions for the trip, which, it was arranged, should occupy about six +weeks. At ten o'clock the party rode out of town on the road leading +west, taking with them the hearty good wishes of the assembled throng. +They crossed a narrow belt of timber and emerged upon a stretch of +gently undulating prairie, which was densely covered with a luxuriant +growth of gramma grass, and over which they traveled at a lively gait +until after sundown before again reaching timber and water. Then they +camped on a small creek where food, fuel, and good water were abundant. +The tents were pitched, supper prepared and eaten, and then the party +assembled around a large camp fire. + +The lawyer arose, and requesting the attention of the men, said that, as +they were going on a long journey into a wild country, which was +infested with hostile Indians and lawless white men, where it might be +necessary for this party to defend themselves and their property by +force of arms, it was thought best to effect a permanent and binding +organization, which would insure unity of action throughout the trip, +and especially in the event of any such trouble as he had intimated +might arise. He therefore nominated as chief executive officer of the +expedition, Captain W. H. Enders, who, he said, had done good and +faithful service during the late war; who, since the war, had traveled +extensively in the West, and who was now engaged in cattle raising in +Kansas. Several men seconded the nomination, and Captain Enders was +unanimously chosen by acclamation. + +He arose and thanked his friends, modestly and gracefully, for this mark +of their esteem and confidence, stating that he had no desire to +exercise any arbitrary or unnecessary authority over them, but should +only order them in so far as safety and success in their undertaking +seemed necessary. He asked that all who were willing to stand by him and +obey his orders to this extent should so pledge themselves by rising to +their feet. The entire party arose. Then their leader thanked them +again, and their informal deliberation ended. + +The captain detailed four men to act as a guard over the camp and stock +during the night, each watching two hours and then calling up the one +who was to relieve him, and this precaution was followed up throughout +the expedition. + +The men were tired from their long ride, and sought the comfort of their +blankets at an early hour. As they had a ten days' journey before them +to reach the buffalo range, it was agreed that they should start early +each morning, and the camp fires were therefore ordered to be lit at +four o'clock. + +The journey was uneventful for several days. The road upon which the +party had first traveled bearing off to the southwest, and the course of +our party being due west, they left it. "Red River Frank" now sustained +his good reputation as a guide by selecting with excellent skill and +judgment the best portion of the country to travel in, avoiding the +numerous swamps and sandy plains, finding safe and easy fords across the +streams, and selecting good camp sites for each night. + +They were now in a country where deer and turkeys were abundant, and +their tables were bountifully supplied with fresh meat. They camped on +the night of November 12 in a clump of tall cottonwood trees that +skirted a small creek. Just at dusk a great rush of wings was heard in +the air, and, looking in the direction from whence the sound came, a +large flock of wild turkeys was seen sailing directly toward their camp, +and, a moment later, they lit in the trees amongst which our party was +camped. Instantly every rifle was brought forth, and the whole camp was +ablaze with burning powder. The smoke floated up amongst the dazed and +panic-stricken birds, who fluttered wildly and aimlessly from tree to +tree, knocking their wings against each other and the dead limbs, and +making a most frightful noise. + +The hunters scattered and tongues of flame shot up from every quarter. +Volley after volley was fired. The roar of the rifles interspersed with +the "thud" and "crash" of falling birds, the shouts of the excited +throng, the neighing of terrified horses, the barking of dogs, turned +the quiet camp of a few moments ago into a veritable pandemonium. The +slaughter went on for, perhaps, twenty minutes, when the more humane +became ashamed of themselves and quit. Finally they prevailed upon their +friends to desist, and the dead game was gathered up. Sixty-three of +these noble birds had met their death, and the survivors were allowed to +sit quietly and watch the camp fires till morning, when they sailed away +toward the east. + +In the afternoon of that day, Frank and the journalist were riding in +advance of the column across a level, monotonous stretch of country, +where there was little to attract attention or excite remark. They had +already become warm friends and talked confidentially on many subjects, +but Frank had said nothing of his past history, yet his strange demeanor +at times had excited in the mind of the newspaper man an anxiety to know +what had moved this refined, generous, scholarly young man to adopt a +life so uncivilized as the one he was living. + +"Frank," he finally said, "I have no wish to question you on a subject +that you may not wish to speak on, yet I have observed many traits in +you that are not found in other men of your calling. I am of the opinion +that you have been bred in a very different sphere of life from this in +which you now live. If you have no objection, I should like to know what +motive prompted you to adopt this wild life." + +He bit his lip and hesitated. Finally, after some moments, he said: + +"Well, I'll tell you how it came about, and I'll make the story brief. +It is similar to that of many another scout, in general, but different +in detail, perhaps, from any of them. I was born and bred in an Eastern +city, and was being educated for the ministry. My father failed in +business and I was compelled to leave school. He gathered what little +was left of his shattered fortune, and with his family emigrated to the +far West. There he engaged in farming on what was then the frontier, but +before we had been there six months we were awakened one morning at +daylight by the yells of savage Indians, and, looking out, beheld them +all around us. They were Comanches. + +"Our house was burned. My father was tomahawked and scalped before our +eyes, and my mother, my sister (who was older than I), and myself were +carried into captivity. I was fortunate enough to escape. I returned and +organized a pursuing party, but our efforts were fruitless, and a few +months later I learned from a half-breed that death had relieved the +sufferings of my mother and sister. That was twenty years ago. I was +fifteen years old then, and from that day to this I have been on the +trail of that tribe. I boast of nothing, but each year I feel better +satisfied with my work. I hope that, in time, I may feel content to +return East and engage in some lawful and more congenial pursuit." + +At that instant a deer bounded up out of the tall grass a hundred yards +ahead and went prancing away to the left. Frank caught his rifle from +the sling at his saddle bow and sent a bullet through its head. + +Early the next morning the hunters came upon fresh buffalo signs, and in +the afternoon a few stragglers were seen. One was killed in the evening, +and on the creek where they camped that night fresh Indian camp signs +were found. A small herd of buffalo came to the creek to drink, a mile +below, just after sundown, and various facts indicated that they were +near the main herd. All through the next day they were in sight of small +bands, and several hunting parties were sighted, some white and some +red. The feed was getting scarce, owing to its having been eaten down by +the game, and at two o'clock the party camped on Willow creek, a small +tributary of the Brazos river. The main herd was yet about ten miles +away, but the hunters could not consistently go any nearer for a +permanent camp, and decided to make it here. Two white hunters visited +them in the evening, and told them that a party of ten Comanches were +camped on Turtle creek seven miles further west. At this intelligence +Frank's face darkened and his eye gleamed, but he said nothing. Soon +after dark, however, he was missing, and did not turn up again till near +noon the next day. He had a different horse from the one he rode away; +not so good a one, it is true, and there were two bullet holes in his +coat. He was reticent and uncommunicative as to where he had been, but +wore a very pleased expression on his countenance, and was occasionally +seen to smile when not talking with anyone. + +[Illustration: NATIVE BUFFALO HUNTERS.] + +The majority of the hunters mounted and rode southwest early in the +morning. Seven men in one party sighted a herd of buffaloes numbering +about 200, and dismounting, when within a mile, cached their horses in a +coulee, and began a cautious advance. + +They found a deep and crooked ravine into which they crawled, and in +which they were able to approach to within about 400 yards of the +nearest animals. A gentle breeze blew from the game toward the hunters, +and taking advantage of the most favorable point, they crawled up the +steep bank to where they could command a good view of the game. The +"tenderfeet" in the party were in favor of firing a volley, but an old +hunter who had led them advised them to fire singly, and at intervals of +a minute or two, this plan being much less likely to frighten the game. +He cautioned them to take very careful aim, to make every shot count, +and to wound as few animals as possible. One slightly wounded animal, he +said, would create more uneasiness among the herd than ten dead or +fatally wounded ones. + +Several of this party were good marksmen, and had good strong-shooting, +long-range rifles. Though, they shot heavy charges, yet, the wind in +their favor, at this long distance, the animals would scarcely hear the +reports. The leader advised them to shoot only at animals broadside, and +gave them careful directions as to elevation and where to aim. Evans +opened the fire with a sixteen-pound 50-calibre Sharp's. Immediately +after the report the emphatic "thud" of the bullet came back and a large +cow was seen to drop on her knees, get up again, stagger away a few rods +and lie down. + +"Good," said the old hunter. "Now, Pete, you go." + +"Pete fired, and an old bull whisked his tail, walked sullenly away, +turned around a few times, and fell dead. Another complimentary remark +from the old hunter, and then he said: + +"Now I guess I'll try one." + +He fired, but to his great chagrin did just what he had cautioned the +others not to do, broke a fore leg below the knee. This cow commenced to +bellow and "buck," and in an instant the whole herd was in commotion. + +"Stop her, somebody, stop her, or she'll stampede the hull bizness!" he +said, as he pushed another bullet into his muzzle loader. By this time +she had stopped broadside, for a moment, at the edge of the herd, and +the journalist, at the order of the boss, drew a bead on her. The "spat" +of the heavy bullet told of a palpable "hit". She no longer felt like +running, but was not yet down and it took two more bullets to lay her +out. The next shot was a clean miss, so far as it concerned the animal +shot at, but it wounded one somewhere in the herd. Then there was more +commotion and it was evident the "stand" was at an end. + +"Give it to 'em, everybody," the old hunter now said, and a fusillade +followed that soon put them under full speed. + +The hunters now mounted their horses and made a "run" on the band that +resulted in some very exciting sport and the death of three more +buffaloes. This over, they returned to the scene of the first firing and +gralloched the seven animals killed "on the stand." Then they mounted +their tired beasts again and were on the point of starting for camp when +they heard strange noises, and looking toward the west beheld a great +black surging mass, waving and rolling up across the prairie, half +hidden by great clouds of dust which were only occasionally blown away +by the brisk autumn wind. It was the great herd of buffalo, and they had +been stampeded by the Indian hunters. The roar of the hoofs upon the dry +earth was like the low and sullen thunder. The vanguard of the herd was +yet more than a mile away, but the dark line stretched to right and left +almost as far as the eye could reach, and our hunters saw that instant +and precipitate flight was necessary in order to save their lives. They +specially chose the northward as offering the shortest and best +direction by which to escape the coming avalanche, and sinking the spurs +deep into their terror-stricken beasts, they flew with the velocity of +an arrow across the wild prairie. A mile was covered in a few seconds, +and yet they were not past the herd, which was rapidly closing in upon +them. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST RUN.] + +They turned their horses' heads partly in the direction the buffaloes +were going and, urging them to their utmost speed, finally passed the +outer line of the herd just as the leaders passed by. Then, having +reached a place of safety, they dismounted, and throwing their bridle +reins over their arms commenced to load and fire into the herd with all +possible rapidity, nearly every shot killing or disabling an animal. It +took nearly half an hour for the rolling, surging, angry horde to pass +the point where our hunters stood, and as the rear guard came in sight +there came a new and still more terrible scene in the great tragedy. + +More than a hundred Indians were in hot pursuit of the savage beasts. +They were mounted on wild and almost ungovernable bronchos, who were +frothing at the mouth, charging and cavorting amongst the fleeing game. +The white foam dropped in flakes and bubbles from all parts of their +bodies. Their nostrils were distended, their eyes flashed fire, and they +seemed as eager as their wild masters to deal death to the buffaloes. +The savage riders seemed beside themselves with mad, ungovernable +passion. + +Their faces were painted in the most glaring colors, their bright and +many-colored blankets fluttered in the wind secured to the saddle only +by an end or a corner, their long black hair streaming back like the +pennant at the mast head of a ship, and their deep black eyes gleamed +like coals of fire in a dungeon. Arrow after arrow flew from deep-strung +bows and sunk to the feathered tip in the quivering flesh of the shaggy +monsters. + +Ponderous spears were hurled with the power and precision of giants and +struck down the defenceless victims as a sturdy woodman strikes down the +frail sapling in his path. + +"Crack!" "crack!" came from rifles, and "ping!" "ping!" from carbines +and revolvers. Hundreds of shots were fired by those who carried +firearms, and before these murderous weapons, the poor bison sank like +ripened grain before the reaper's blade. + +One young warrior, more ardent and fearless than the rest, had forced +his high-strung steed far into the midst of the solid phalanx, where the +horse was finally impaled upon the horns of a monster bull. He and his +rider were tossed like sheaves of wheat into the air; then both sank to +earth, and were instantly trodden into the dust. + +At last the great storm had passed, and our friends watched until it +faded away in the distance and finally disappeared from their view. + +Then came the squaws, the boys, and the old men, to dispatch the wounded +and to skin and cut up the dead. These were strewn all over the prairie, +and not a tithe of them were, or could be, saved by all the people, +white and red, assembled there. + +Our hunters returned to camp at sunset, where they met those of their +companions who had been out during the afternoon, and over the evening +camp fire, each related the thrilling incidents which he had witnessed, +or in which he had participated during the day. + +On the following morning they again started out in several parties of +five or six each and going in various directions. Frank and the +newspaper man started with three others, but soon separated from them to +go after a small band which they had sighted about two miles south of +camp. + +When within a proper distance, they dismounted, picketed their horses in +a swale, and stalking to within about a hundred yards opened fire. A +young cow dropped at the first shot, to all appearances dead, and the +remainder of the band scurried away, one old bull being badly wounded. +The hunters started to run to the top of a ridge, over which the game +had gone, to get another shot. As they passed the cow the guide called +to his companion to look out for her, as she was only "creased" and +liable to get up again and charge them. They had gone but a few rods, +when, sure enough, she did spring to her feet and make a dash at Frank. +He turned to shoot her, but his gun missed fire, and as he attempted to +throw out the cartridge, the action failed to work, and his gun was, for +the moment, disabled. By this time she was almost on him, and as his +only means of escape, he sprang into a "washout" (a ditch that had been +cut by the water, some ten feet deep), the sides of which were +perpendicular. + +He called loudly for help, but his friend had not seen the charge, and +was by this time a hundred yards away. He turned and saw the cow, almost +blind with rage, rapidly jumping back and forth across the washout, in a +mad effort to get at the guide, but she seemed unwilling to jump down +into it. She was shot through the throat, and the blood, flowing from +her in torrents, had deluged poor Frank, until he looked as if he had +been at work in a slaughter-house. The scribe ran back, killed the cow, +and drew his friend from his sanguinary retreat. + +The guide then repaired his gun, and mounting their horses they pursued +the wounded bull. They soon found him at bay, and riding up close to +him, commenced firing at him with their revolvers. Quick as a flash of +lightning he made a frightful charge at the journalist, who, taken by +surprise, was unable to avoid the rush. Both horse and rider were dashed +to the earth. The horse was so badly injured as to be unable to rise, +and as the burly antagonist made another rush at him, the man was +enabled to seek safety in flight, and before the bull again turned his +attention to the fugitive, the rapid and well-directed fire of the scout +had brought the shaggy beast to the earth. + +The horse was fatally injured and had to be shot, so our friends, with +one horse between them, took turns riding and walking to camp. + +This day's killing by the party was large, and supplied all their wants +as to meat, skins, and sport. The next few days were devoted to jerking +meat, dressing and drying skins, and preparing for the return journey, +and in ten days from the date of their arrival on the hunting ground, +the teams were all loaded up, camp was broken, and the homeward march +was begun, which progressed uneventfully from day to day, and was made +in safety in about the same time occupied in going out. + +Twice during the hunt the party were alarmed by the discovery of Indians +lurking about their camp, late in the night. The guards discovered them +in both instances, and fired on them, when they beat a hasty retreat and +disappeared in the darkness. It was not known that their object was +anything worse than pilfering, and yet there was little doubt that had +they found the party all off guard and asleep, a massacre would have +resulted. But, true to their aboriginal instincts, they did not wish to +engage in a fight with a formidable foe, whom they found ever ready for +such an emergency. + +[Illustration: PROWLERS.] + +Such scenes and such sport as this party enjoyed were common almost +anywhere on the great plains west of the Missouri river up to a few +years ago. Herds of buffalo extending over a tract of land, as large as +one of the New England States, and numbering hundreds of thousands of +heads, might be found any day in what was then "buffalo country." An +army officer told me that, when crossing the plains in 1867 with a +company of cavalry, he encountered a herd that it took his command three +days to ride through, marching about thirty miles a day. + +When two of our transcontinental railways were first built it was no +uncommon thing for herds of buffalo to delay trains for several hours in +crossing the tracks, the animals being packed in so close together that +the train could not force a passage through them. + +But, alas, those days are passed forever. This noble creature, provided +to feed the human multitude who should people the prairies, is to-day +practically extinct; slaughtered and annihilated by that jackal of the +plains, that coyote in human shape, the "skin hunter." Hundreds of +thousands of buffaloes were annually killed, their skins sold at from +seventy-five cents to a dollar and a half each, and the meat which, when +properly taken care of, is equal, if not superior, to the finest +domestic beef, was left to rot on the ground. + +There are scarcely a hundred buffaloes left on the continent to day in +their wild state. A very few stragglers are known to be in the Panhandle +of Texas, a small bunch in the Yellowstone National Park, and a few in +the British Northwest, but they are being remorselessly pursued by large +numbers of hunters, and it is safe to say that a year hence not one will +be left in the whole broad West unless it be those in the park, and they +will escape only in case they stay within the park limits where they are +protected by United States soldiers. Should they ever stray beyond the +bounds of the park they will all be killed in less than a week. + +Several small bunches have been domesticated by Western cattlemen, and +it is hoped the species may, by this means, be saved from total +extinction. They are being successfully cross-bred with domestic +cattle, and an excellent strain of stock is thus produced, but the grand +herds that for ages roamed at will over the great plains are a thing of +the past. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +HUNTING THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. + + +There is, perhaps, no large mammal in this country of which the +scientific world and the reading public in general knows so little as of +the Rocky Mountain goat (_Aplocerus Montanus_). There are several +reasons for this. First, its limited range. It is confined to a small +area of the Rocky Mountains, principally west of the main divide; to +Western Montana, Eastern Idaho, the Cascade Range in Washington +Territory, a small portion of British Columbia, and to Alaska. Secondly, +its habitat is the tops or near the tops of the highest and most rugged +peaks and cliffs, where none but the hardiest and most daring hunter may +venture in pursuit of it, and so comparatively very few are ever killed +and brought into the settlements. Third, it can not be successfully +domesticated. Its favorite food is so different from that generally +growing in or near any settlement, the atmosphere it breathes, the mean +temperature in which it lives, and the ground, or rather rocks, on which +it is accustomed to walk, so widely different from those surrounding any +human habitation, that the few young that have been captured and +brought down to the settlements have soon died. So that none of them are +found in parks and zoological gardens, as are specimens of nearly all +other large wild animals. + +There are fewer mounted skins of this animal in Eastern museums than of +any other species indigenous to this country, and hence the public and +naturalists have had fewer opportunities to study and become familiar +with it than with other wild mammals. Yet it is one of the most +beautiful and interesting of all our American quadrupeds, and probably +no sportsman or naturalist has ever yet mustered courage and hardihood +enough to go where he could kill a Rocky Mountain goat without feeling +amply repaid for all the labor and hardship encountered by being able to +behold this mystic creature in his lofty mountain home. In view of the +limited facilities people have had for studying this animal a somewhat +minute description of it may not be amiss here. + +In size it is but a trifle larger than the Merino sheep, which, in fact, +it closely resembles in many respects. The form of its body is robust, +fore parts rather thicker than hinder parts, with a slight hump over +shoulders, similar to that of the American bison. Its color is entirely +white, or, in some instances, of a light creamy shade. Hair long and +pendant. A beard-like tuft of hair on the chin. Long coarse hair, more +abundant, on shoulders, neck, and back. Under and intermixed with this +long hair there is a close coat of fine, silky, white wool, equal in +fineness to that of the Cashmere goat. Hair on face and legs short and +without wool. Horns (which are present in both sexes) jet black, small, +conical, nearly erect, polished, and curving slightly backward; ringed +or wrinkled at the base, much like those of the chamois. Muzzle and +hoofs also black. False or accessory hoofs present. Dentition: Incisors, +8 lower; canines, none; molars, 12 upper, 12 lower; total 32. The +mountain goat brings forth two or three young at a time, usually late in +May or early in June. Slightly gregarious, being frequently found in +small bands in winter, but in summer season not more than a single +family is usually seen together, and in summer and fall the older males +may frequently be found entirely alone. The nose is nearly straight, +ears rather long, pointed, and lined with long hair. Tail six to eight +inches long, clothed with long hair. Legs thick and short. Hoofs grooved +on sole and provided with a thick spongy mass of cartilage in centre, +projecting below the outer edges of hoof, enabling the animal to cling +firmly to steep or smooth rocks. The dimensions of one adult male +specimen measured are as follows: Length from tip of nose to root of +tail, 3 feet 7 inches; length of tail, 7 inches; length of head, 11-3/4 +inches; length of horns, 8-1/2 inches; diameter of horns at base, 1 +inch. Its estimated gross weight is 130 pounds. + +The food of the mountain goat consists principally, in summer, of the +leaves of the alder and of various mountain shrubs, and in winter of +mosses and lichens that grow on the rocks. + +_Aplocerus Montanus_ is much more closely allied to the antelope than to +the domestic goat, and has few characteristics in common with the +latter genus. He is an agile, fearless climber, and appears to delight +in scaling the tallest, grandest, and most rugged crags and cliffs to be +found in the ranges which he inhabits, not so much in quest of his +favorite food, for this grows abundantly lower down, but apparently from +a mere spirit of daring; from a desire to breathe the rarest and purest +atmosphere obtainable, and to view the grandest scenery under the sun +without having his vision in the least obstructed by intervening +objects. These forbidding and almost inaccessible crags are the +favorite, and nearly the exclusive, haunts of this strange creature, and +the hunter who follows it thither must indeed be a daring mountaineer. +The goat is frequently found at altitudes of 10,000 to 14,000 feet, +where the atmosphere is so rare as to render it difficult indeed for man +to climb, yet this fearless creature nimbly leaps from crag to crag, +over deep yawning chasms, with no more fear than the domestic lamb feels +when bounding over the greensward in an Eastern farmyard. + +The hunter literally takes his life in his hand when pursuing the goat, +for he must pass over many places where a misstep or a slip of a few +inches would plunge him over a precipice, where he would fall thousands +of feet, or be hurled into some narrow and deep fissure in the rocks +whence escape would be impossible. + +Over such rugged and perilous ground he may climb, hour after hour, +until he has passed the highest ranges of the elk, the mountain sheep, +and all the other game, for the mountain goat, "the American chamois," +as he has been aptly termed, ranges higher than any of them. He may +toil on until he is far above timber line, and is working his way over +and around vast drifts and beds of perpetual snow and ice. Finally he +sights his game--a fine handsome specimen--standing fearlessly on some +jutting crag, deliberately feeding on some tender lichens or, perhaps, +peering proudly out over the lower world. The hunter now changes his +course until he can conceal himself behind some neighboring rock, and +then crawls stealthily and cautiously up to within rifle range of the +game. Then, peering cautiously from behind his cover, he takes careful +aim and fires. He is a dead shot and the rifle ball pierces the heart of +the quarry, but to his dismay it makes a convulsive bound and down it +goes over the precipice, rebounding from crag to crag, until it finally +reaches a resting place hundreds of feet below. It may go to where he +can never reach it, or may land where he can recover it on his return +down the mountain side; but if the latter, it may be torn to fragments +and scattered here and there until the hide is useless, the horns are +broken off, the skull crushed so that the head is unfit to mount, and +the flesh so bruised and mangled that he can scarcely save enough of it +to make him a dinner. + +A few years ago an officer of the United States army and a party of +friends were hunting goats in the Bitter Root Mountains, near Missoula, +Mont. They followed two--a male and female--to the top of a rough and +dangerous peak, when the game, before they could get a shot at it, +started down the opposite side and took refuge from the hunters under a +shelving rock. Here it was, owing to the nature of the rocks and ice, +absolutely impossible for the hunters to follow them on foot, but the +intrepid officer, not to be baffled in the pursuit, tied a long rope +securely around his body, just under his arms, laid down, and grasping +his rifle slid quietly down, on a bed of ice, some sixty or seventy +feet, while his companions held on to the other end of the rope and +controlled his perilous descent. Finally, when he had gone far enough to +be able to see the game, he signaled his friends, who stopped him, and +raising on his elbows he fired and killed both goats, and was then drawn +up again in safety. Such, however, was the nature of the rocks between +him and the carcasses that it was utterly impossible to reach them after +he had killed them, and he was compelled reluctantly to abandon them. +Several members of the party tried to reach them from other points, but +were unable to do so, and they were all obliged to return empty-handed +to camp. + +In another instance this same officer, upon crawling out on the edge of +a shelving rock and looking down over a precipice hundreds of feet +below, saw two goats near the base, but they were actually inside of a +perpendicular line running down from the edge of the rock he occupied, +and he was therefore unable to bring his rifle to bear upon them without +projecting his body out over the edge of the rock further than was safe. +After discussing the matter for some minutes, one of his friends offered +to hold his feet and thus enable him to extend his head and shoulders +far enough out to get his aim. By this means both of the goats were +killed, but a party had to go around and ascend the mountain from the +other side in order to secure them. + +The same party, while climbing the rugged and almost perpendicular face +of Little Mountain to bring down some goats they had already killed, +came suddenly upon a large buck in a narrow V-shaped fissure in the +rock, from which there was no escape but by the opening at which they +had entered, and across this they formed a skirmish line. The goat +climbed upon a narrow projection on one of the walls of the fissure just +out of reach of the tallest man in the party, and as they had no rifles +with them (having left them below to lighten the labor of the ascent), +they tried to dislodge him by throwing rocks at him, but their footing +was so insecure and there was such great danger of their falling that +they could not hurl these with sufficient force to bring him down though +several of them hit him. If they had had a rope they could easily have +lassoed him, but there was no such thing at hand. They finally decided +to leave one of the men to guard their prisoner, and on their return to +camp another man took a rifle, went back, killed the goat, and the two +bore him triumphantly down to camp. The gentleman says: "Had I not been +an eye witness, and had I subsequently been shown the place where the +goat stood thus at bay, I could scarcely have believed it possible for +anything larger than a fly to have found footing there." + +Fortunately, however, the successful hunting of the goat is not always +thus perilous, for though he habitually selects for his home the +roughest and most inaccessible peaks to be found in the mountains, yet +he sometimes ranges on more favorable ground, and if the sportsman be so +fortunate as to find him there he may be killed and saved. They range +somewhat lower in winter than in summer, but never even then venture +down into the canyons or valleys, as do all the other large mountain +animals. They only come down upon the lower peaks and ridges, and remain +about the rocky walls, which are so precipitous that the snow can not +lie on them to any considerable depth. Their power of climbing over and +walking on these almost perpendicular rock walls is utterly astounding. +They will walk along the side of an upright projecting ledge that towers +hundreds of feet above and below them where a shelf projects not more +than four or five inches wide. They will climb straight up an almost +perpendicular wall, if only slightly rough and irregular, so that they +can get a chance to hold on with their spongy hoofs here and there. And +they seem to select these difficult passes in many instances when a +good, easy passage could be had to the place to which they are bound by +going a little further around. They seem to delight in scaling a +dangerous cliff as a courageous boy does in climbing the tallest tree. I +once saw where a goat had walked straight up over a smooth flat slab of +granite ten feet wide, that laid at an angle of about fifty degrees, and +that was covered with about two inches of wet snow and slush. I could +not climb up it with moccasins on my feet, and no dog could have +followed him there. This faculty is accounted for by the peculiar shape +and quality of their hoofs before described. + +The skin of the Rocky Mountain goat has never had any regular commercial +value. The stiff, coarse, brittle hair that is mixed with the wool +renders them unsuitable for robes or rugs, and this hair can not readily +be plucked out. The only demand for them is for mounting. Very few white +hunters and none of the Indians understand how to skin and preserve them +properly for this purpose, and this fact, taken in connection with that +of the rough and dangerous nature of the ground they inhabit, makes it +difficult to secure good skins, or even heads for mounting. + +The flesh of the goat is edible, but in the adult animal is dry and +tasteless. When kids of less than a year old can be obtained, their +flesh is tender and toothsome. They are not hunted, therefore, for meat, +for in the ranges where they are found, deer, mountain sheep, or elks +can be obtained much lower down and are much more desirable for the +table. + +During a sojourn of a month in the Bitter Root Mountains, near Missoula, +Mont., last fall I had some very exciting, not to say dangerous, +experiences in hunting this animal. We were camped in Lost Horse Canyon, +through which flows a typical mountain stream. The walls on both sides +are very abrupt and from three to four thousand feet in height. That on +the north is covered from bottom to top with great masses of granite +that have been broken loose from the cliffs at the top by earthquakes, +the action of frost, or other agency, and have tumbled down, breaking +into irregular-shaped fragments, of all sizes, lodging and piling on top +of each other in such a manner as to form a gigantic sort of pavement +from the top of the mountain to the foot. There were narrow strips of +the mountain side that had escaped these fallen masses. Here the +outcropping granite remained in its natural shape--irregular ledges with +small patches of earth intervening. Pines, hemlocks, cedars, and various +kinds of shrubs grew in these places as far up the mountain side as the +timber line. + +I ascended this north wall one morning and after a weary and toilsome +climb of about two miles, and when in snow about six inches deep, I came +upon the track of a very large goat. It was some hours old, but he had +been feeding deliberately along the mountain side, and as they are not +rapid travelers in any case, I knew he was not a great distance away. I +took up the trail and followed it. It led over a succession of these +vast rock piles, which, owing to their being covered with snow, made the +traveling doubly dangerous. A slight misstep at any point, or an +unfortunate slip would be liable to let my foot drop in between two of +these rocks and throw me in such a way as to break a leg, an arm, or +possibly my head. The greatest care was therefore necessary in picking +my way over this dangerous country, and I was frequently struck with the +wise provisions which Nature makes for fulfilling her ends when I saw +where the animal I was pursuing had bounded lightly from rock to rock +over chasms many feet in width; or where he had walked up the sharp edge +of some slab of granite not more than three or four inches wide and +lying at a high angle; or where he had walked up over a flat slab of it, +tilted so steep that no other large animal in the mountains could have +followed him. There were many of his passages in which I could not +follow, but I had to make slow and tortuous detours, coming upon his +trail again beyond these most dangerous points. + +Had he traveled straight ahead I could never have overtaken him, but the +time he consumed in frequently stopping to nip the tender leaves of the +mountain alder or the juicy lichens that grow upon the rocks proved +fatal to him, and finally, after a chase of probably two miles and when +near the top of the peak close to timber line, I came in sight of him. +He was truly a beautiful creature. There he stood, unconscious of +approaching danger, looking calmly out across a neighboring canyon as if +enjoying the grand scenery about him. Occasionally he turned to take a +mouthful of some delicate mountain herb that stood near him. The pale +creamy white of his fleece contrasted delicately and beautifully with +the green of the cedars, the golden autumn-colored leaves of the shrubs, +the dull gray of the granite rocks, and the pure white of the early +autumn snow. The sunlight glistened upon the polished black of his +proudly curved and beautifully rounded horns, and his large black eyes +gleamed as with conscious innocence and pride. I contemplated his +majestic mien for several minutes before I could nerve myself to the +task of taking his life, but finally the hunter's instinct conquered my +more delicate feelings. I put my rifle to my shoulder, pressed the +gently yielding trigger, and in an instant more his life blood crimsoned +the driven snow. + +After making temporary disposition of his remains, I returned as rapidly +as possible to camp to get my photographic outfit and some help to +carry him in, for we were short of meat at the time. It was three +o'clock in the afternoon when I reached camp, and, eating a hasty lunch, +I started back up the mountain with three of my friends. + +When we again reached the carcass it was five o'clock, and our work must +be done hastily in order to get down the mountain as far as possible +before dark. To add to the discomfort of our undertaking a drizzling +rain set in just as I was ready to make the views. I exposed a couple of +plates, however, which fortunately turned out fairly. We then set to +work to skin him as rapidly as possible, and as soon as this was +accomplished we started on our return to camp, two of the men taking the +two hind quarters of the animal, another my camera, and I the skin and +head. With these loads, weighing from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds +each, besides our rifles, and considering the difficult and dangerous +nature of the ground we had to travel over and the fact that it was +already beginning to grow dark, we had, indeed, a perilous journey +before us. Climbing over these rock piles when covered with snow was +difficult enough work in daylight, but to attempt it in the darkness and +now that it was raining heavily, the snow having become wet and slushy +and the rocks more slippery than before, it was doubly perilous. + +Our course lay diagonally down and along the side of the mountain, and +as long as the light was sufficient to at all see where we were stepping +we made fair progress. Frequently, however, someone would slip and fall, +but fortunately without receiving any serious injury. We were often +compelled to hold to some shrub or tree and let ourselves down over +projecting rocks several feet, where we could not possibly have stood up +without such aid. + +Finally, when we were yet less than half way down the mountain side, it +became pitch dark. Here we sat down to rest. The rain was falling in +torrents, and but for the snow on the ground we could not now have seen +a step ahead of us. We had entered one of those more favored strips of +land where the falling rocks had not covered the ground entirely, and +where there was a considerable growth of timber, both large trees and +underbrush. I was in favor of going straight down through this into the +creek bottom where we could at least walk in safety, even if our +progress should be slower. One of my friends--Mr. Overturf--agreed with +me, but the other two--Mr. McWhirk and Mr. Hinchman--preferred to +continue over the rocks in a direct line to camp. We therefore decided +to separate, Frank and I going straight down through this strip of +timber and over the smoother ground, and the other two following the +more direct course. + +We two reached the foot of the mountain in about an hour more; not, +however, without encountering serious difficulties in grasping and +finding our way down over precipitous rocks and earth, hanging on to one +limb or shrub until we came in reach of another, and thus letting +ourselves down safely. We were then about a mile and a half from camp. +The creek bottom was densely timbered. There was a dim game trail +leading through it up to our camp, but it was impossible to follow it in +the darkness, and, in fact, it required the closest attention of +experienced woodsmen and hunters to follow it in daylight. We were +therefore utterly at sea. We were safe, however, and we heaved a sigh of +relief when we found ourselves on level ground, for none of us had +relished the idea of having a bone broken in that country, so far from +medical aid and home comforts. + +Great snow slides had for ages been coming down these mountain sides +bringing their debris, such as rocks, and logs, and whole trees with +them. These had frequently gone some distance into the creek bottom, +breaking and felling all the trees in their path. Tornadoes had raged +through the canyon, also, breaking and lopping trees in various +directions, so that we now encountered a body of woods through which the +most expert woodsman could not possibly travel more than a mile an hour +in daylight. Add to this the cimmerian darkness in which we were now +groping (for there was no snow here in the bottom of the canyon) and the +reader may well imagine that our progress was slow and tedious in the +extreme. + +We sat down and held another consultation. I favored building a fire and +staying there till morning, but Frank preferred pushing on to camp, so I +acquiesced. We soon found, however, that it was utterly impossible for +us to get through these windfalls in the darkness and with our heavy +loads, and decided as a last resort to get into the bed of the creek and +wade up it. We were already wet to the skin from head to foot, and this +wading could be no worse than clambering over logs and through jungles +of wet underbrush. We soon reached the creek and our hearts sank within +us as we listened to its tumultuous roar and looked upon its angry +bosom, for here we were enabled to see slightly, owing to the faint +light admitted through the narrow opening in the trees overhead, how +rough and boisterous it was! Its bed was a succession of bowlders from +the size of a man's head to that of a small house, and its waters, +coming direct from the snow, were ice cold. Yet to camp here was to +suffer all night from wet and cold, and we preferred to push on. + +By keeping near the shore we could nearly all the time have brush to +hang to and steady ourselves, but where there were none of these in +reach our rubber boots slipped on the smooth wet rocks, and several +times we fell into the icy flood up to our chins. Once, in particular, I +fell in water nearly three feet deep, dropped my gun and it went to the +bottom. I fished it out, however, staggered to my feet, and struggled +on. + +After nearly two hours of this terrible trudging, wading, and +staggering, we at last reached camp at eleven o'clock at night and +triumphantly deposited our burdens within the tent. + +Our two friends, from whom we had separated _en route_, had arrived only +half an hour ahead of us, and notwithstanding the rain, which still fell +heavily, Dr. Hale, who had remained in camp, had a great log-heap fire +blazing in front of the tent. A pot of coffee steamed by the fire, and a +sumptuous supper of broiled bear steaks, baked potatoes, and hot +biscuits awaited us, but I was too tired to eat. I drank a pint of hot +coffee, put on dry flannels, crawled into my blankets, and slept soundly +till morning. + +As further illustrating the habits of the mountain goat and the perils +attending its capture, I may be permitted to narrate the experience of +Mr. Westlake, a ranchman in Eastern Idaho, who attempted to procure a +pair of skins for a friend in the East a few years ago. He employed a +Flathead Indian as guide and assistant, who claimed to know the country +thoroughly in which they purposed hunting, and to have had considerable +experience in hunting goats. Mr. Westlake provided himself with a good +saddle-horse and one pack-horse, a rifle, camp outfit, including a small +tent, and provisions for himself and the Indian for twenty days. The +Indian was fairly mounted on a small but tough Indian pony and well +armed. They set out on September 2, and traveled across the country to +the Clearwater river, up which they rode several days, over a very +difficult and tedious trail, and when well up toward the head of the +stream they reached the mouth of one of its tributaries which debouches +from a deep and rugged canyon. Up this they decided to go, for it was +their intention to reach the Bitter Root Mountains, one of the best +known ranges for the goat. + +This canyon proved, like many others in that region, almost impassable +for man or beast, and it was with the utmost difficulty and by the +endurance of untold and incredible hardships that they were able to make +seven or eight miles a day. They encountered plenty of game in the +canyon, however, among which were elks, bears, and mule-deer, and the +creek which ran through the canyon yielded them an abundance of trout, so +that they fared sumptuously so far as food was concerned. + +Finally, after several days in this canyon, they reached the head of it +and came out on a high plateau which was covered with heavy pine timber +interspersed with beautiful parks or meadows and thickets of aspen and +alder. Numerous springs boiling up here coursed down into the canyon from +which they had just emerged, and fed the creek which ran through it. +Pressing forward across this formation for a distance of about ten +miles, they reached the base of one of the great snow-capped peaks, near +the top of which they expected to find the particular game of which they +were in search. But this mountain was so precipitous and so rough that +it was impossible for them to get their horses up it in any way. They +discussed various plans of accomplishing their object. It was highly +dangerous to leave their horses here alone, lest the bears or mountain +lions, which were so numerous in the vicinity, should stampede and run +them off. It was impossible for either man to go alone and bring down +two of the skins and heads suitably prepared for mounting, as they, with +the other load which it was necessary to take along, would be more than +any one man could carry. It would take two days to make the ascent, have +a few hours for hunting, and return to where they then were, and in +order to pass the night at all comfortably in that high altitude a +liberal supply of blankets must be carried. + +They therefore decided, as the only feasible plan, to make camp where +they were and start up early the next morning, leaving their horses +behind. They made all possible preparations that night, and the next +morning arose at four o'clock. By sunrise they had breakfasted, and +with their packs, consisting of two pairs of blankets each and a two +days' supply of cooked food, they started. They did not dare picket or +hobble their horses, as either would give the wild beasts a chance to +attack and kill them, and could only trust to luck, an abundant supply +of good grass and water, and the well-known attachment which nearly all +Western horses feel for a camp, to keep them there until their return. + +After a hard day's climb they came upon abundant signs of goats about +the middle of the afternoon, and, preparing a temporary bivouac under a +shelving rock, they deposited their loads, made a pot of coffee, ate a +hearty dinner, and started out to look for the game. They had not gone +far when Mr. Westlake sighted a large, handsome male goat standing on +the top of a cliff, and approaching within easy rifle range he fired and +killed it. It fell some twenty or thirty feet, and lodged behind a +projecting slab of granite. It was secured after considerable hard work, +hastily skinned, and the skin and some of the best cuts of the meat +carried to their temporary camp. Night was now approaching, and the +hunters set about preparing a supply of wood. There were numerous dead +pine and cedar trees, of stunted growth and peculiar shapes, standing +and lying among the rocks, and a generous supply was soon provided. +Next, a large quantity of cedar boughs were cut, brought in and spread +under the overhanging rock, to a depth of a foot or more. On these the +blankets were spread, and the hunters had a bed which many a tired +lodger in Eastern city hotels might well envy them. By building a +rousing fire in front, which was reflected against the rock wall behind +them, and by occasionally replenishing it during the night, they slept +comfortably, though the temperature ran several degrees below zero. + +Early the next morning both men started out in search of a female goat +to complete their undertaking. Nearly two hours had been spent in +hunting, when the Indian found a fresh track in the snow some distance +above their temporary camp. He followed it until it led in among a +forest of rent and jagged cliffs of granite, and Westlake, who was some +distance away, seeing by the Indian's motions that he was on a trail, +started toward him. When within a few feet of where he had last seen the +Indian he heard the report of his rifle, and a shout announced that his +shot had been successful. Mr. Westlake followed on into the chasm from +whence the report came and saw the Indian attempting to scale the side +of a nearly perpendicular wall of rock, stepping cautiously from niche +to niche and shelf to shelf; holding on with his hands to every +projecting point that afforded him any assistance. He finally reached +the top of the ledge, and reaching over caught hold of the now lifeless +body of the goat that he had killed, and drew it toward him. But when it +swung off from the top of the ledge its weight and the consequent strain +on his muscular power was greater than the Indian had anticipated, and +before he had time to let go of the carcass and save himself his slight +hold on the rock was torn loose, and uttering a wild shriek he fell a +distance of nearly sixty feet, striking on a heap of broken rocks! He +was instantly killed. + +Here was a sad blow to poor Westlake. His only companion, his faithful +guide, and the only human being within fifty miles of him, lay a corpse +at his feet. He had no means whatever of getting the body back to their +camp, much less of returning it to the unfortunate red man's friends. He +had not even a tool of any kind to dig a grave with, and the only thing +he could do in that direction was to build a wall of rocks around the +body, lay some flat slabs across the top, and then carry and lay on top +of these a number of the largest and heaviest rocks he could handle, to +protect it from the ravages of wild beasts. When this sad duty was +completed he returned with a heavy heart to their temporary camp, and +with as much of their luggage as he was able to carry started down the +mountain. Arriving about noon at the tent, he was horrified to find the +tracks of a large bear in and about it, the greater portion of his +supplies eaten up or destroyed, and his horses nowhere in sight. A hasty +examination showed that the bear had passed through the little park in +which they had last been grazing--evidently early that morning--that +they had taken flight and fled in the direction of the head of the canyon +up which they had come. Westlake followed them several miles until +convinced that they had really started on their back trail, and then he +returned to camp. By this time night was again approaching and it was +with a heavy heart that he prepared to pass it there, all alone, and +still further depressed with the thought that he had now a journey of a +hundred miles or more before him, to the nearest settlement, which he +must undoubtedly make on foot. He ate his supper alone and in sadness, +and as the camp fire blazed in front of his tent it cast fitful shadows +into the gloom, which was unbroken by any sound save the occasional +soughing of the wind through the pine trees or the cry of some wild +animal. He finally retired to rest, but his sleep was broken by troubled +dreams. As the sun arose he prepared a hasty meal, which was eaten in +silence, and with a pair of blankets, a few pounds of flour, salt, and +coffee, and his rifle, he started, leaving his tent standing and all +else in it as a monument to the memory of his friend and a landmark to +future hunters and mountaineers to locate the scene of his great +misfortune. He traveled seven days before seeing the face of a human +being or sleeping under a shelter of any kind, when he finally reached a +ranch where his horses had preceded him and had been corraled to await +an owner. + +It is fortunate that all goat hunters do not meet with such disasters as +did poor Westlake and his young friend, or the noble sport would have +still fewer votaries than it now has. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +TROUTING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. + + +In September, 1884, I joined a party of genial sportsmen at Fort +Missoula, Mont., for a month's outing in the Bitter Root Mountains. Our +special mission was to hunt large game; but while perfecting +arrangements for the trip, which occupied two days, and during the +mornings and evenings of the several days occupied in traveling up and +down the river to and from the hunting grounds, those of us who had our +fishing tackle with us turned what would otherwise have been long hours +of impatient waiting into merrily-fleeing moments, by luring the grand +mountain trout (_Salmo purpuratus_) with which this river abounds from +their crystalline retreats and transferring them to our creels and our +camp table. + +The Bitter Root is a typical mountain stream, rising among the snow-clad +peaks in the vicinity of the Big Hole basin and flowing with the mighty +rush imparted to it by a fall of 200 to 300 feet per mile, fed by the +scores of ice-cold brooks that tumble out of the high ranges on either +side from its source to its mouth. After traversing a distance of +perhaps 200 miles, it empties its pure waters into the Hellgate river, +just west of Missoula. + +[Illustration: THE RISE.] + +Its valley is two to four miles wide, and the lower portion of this is +occupied by numerous ranches. The soil is tilled by well-to-do farmers +or "ranchmen," to speak in the vernacular of the country, so that the +angler, while within a mile or two of rugged mountain peaks, is still in +the midst of civilization, where his larder may daily be replenished +with nearly all the varieties of good things that grow on any New +England farm. The banks of the stream are fringed with stately pines and +cottonwoods, and in places with thickets of underbrush. + +From a tiny brook at its source the stream grows rapidly to a veritable +river of thirty to fifty yards in width as it passes on toward its +destination. It sweeps and whirls in its course, here running straight +and placidly for a hundred yards, then turning abruptly to right or left +and returning almost parallel to itself, forming "horse-shoe bends," +"ox-bow bends," compound S's, right angles, etc. + +In many cases it tumbles down over a long, steep pavement of granite +bowlders, working itself into a very agony of bubbles and foam, and when +the foot of this fall is reached it whirls and eddies in a great pool +ten or twenty feet deep and covering half an acre of ground, almost +surrounded by high-cut banks, and seeming to have lost its way. It +eventually finds an exit, however, through an opening in the willows and +masses of driftwood, and again speeds on. + +In many of these large, deep pools whole trees, of giant size, brought +down by the spring freshets, have found lodgment beyond the power of +the mighty current to drive them further, and underneath these drifts +the angler is liable to hook a lusty trout that will make short work of +his tackle if he be not very gentle and expert in manipulating it. + +[Illustration: SOLID COMFORT.] + +This river may be fished from a canoe or boat, if it be manned by a +master of the art of fresh-water cruising; but no amateur oarsman or +canoeist should ever attempt it or he will surely come to grief. It may +also be fished from the bank or by wading; and I have even known it to +be fished from the hurricane-deck of a cayuse, so that all lovers of the +gentle art may be accommodated. + +A large bump of caution would also be a good thing for the man to take +along who essays to wade it, for he will find places--slippery +places--where even the wicked can not stand; for over the surface +thereof flows such a mighty torrent of waters that his pride will surely +have a fall, even if he do not; and if he get out with a dry thread on +his back he will regard it as a miracle and not owing to any skill or +strength of his. I think a day on that stream will take the conceit out +of any living man and show him what a poor, weak worm he is, _if_ he get +into some of the places I have been in. He will find himself in +positions from whence he would give half his worldly possessions to be +delivered; where he would forgive his bitterest enemy the meanest thing +he ever did if he were only there and would cast him a friendly line. +The bed of the stream is composed of glacial drift, all the rapids being +paved with bowlders varying in size from an inch to two or three feet in +diameter. These are worn smooth by the action of the water and coated +with a light growth of fungus, so that they furnish a very precarious +footing at best, and when the power of the raging torrent is brought to +bear against one's nether limbs, he is, indeed, fortunate who is not +swept into the pool below. + +On the riffles or more placid portions of the stream wading is not +attended with so much danger or difficulty. And while the angler +beguiles the hours in dalliance with these beauties of the river, gazing +into its crystalline depths and toying with its poetic denizens, a +glance to east or west reveals to him scenes of even grander and more +inspiring loveliness; for there, so close as to reveal their every rock +and shrub, tower the shapely peaks, the shattered crags and beetling +cliffs which constitute the Bitter Root range of mountains. And even in +midsummer the fresh, pure breezes sweeping down from these snow-clad +summits fan his parched brow and render existence, under such +circumstances, the realization of a poet's dream. + +[Illustration: MID RUSHING WATERS.] + +On a bright, cheery September morning, Private Westbrook, of the Third +Infantry, and myself left camp as soon as the sun had expelled the +frost from the vegetation. On the way down we caught a number of +grasshoppers--the orthodox bait in this region--to fall back on in case +of necessity; for there are days when the mountain trout, as well as his +cousin, the brook trout of the East, declines the most seductive fly on +the bill of fare, and will have nothing but his favorite every-day diet. + +Arriving at the river, Westbrook skirmished through the brush until he +found an alder about an inch and a quarter in diameter at the ground and +ten or twelve feet high. This he cut, trimmed up, and attached his line, +a number two Sproat hook and a split shot, put on a "hopper," and was +ready for business. I remonstrated gently with him on the heathenish +character of his tackle, but he said, pleasantly and politely, that it +was the kind that generally got to the front when trout-fishing was the +business in hand. He said the fancy rods and reels and flies were all +well enough for those who wanted to use them, but he preferred something +with which he could round up his fish and corral them without losing any +time. He said it was all right for any gentlemen to spend half an hour +monkeying a trout after he had hooked it, if he wanted to, but for his +part, he never could see much fun in that sort of fishing. He thought it +was decidedly more interesting to yank a fish in out of the wet the +instant he bit, and then lay for another. + +He walked boldly out into the stream, waded down a little way below the +ford, on a riffle, till he reached a point where the water was about +two feet deep and where it rolled sullenly and gloomily over a series +of large bowlders. + +Here he made a cast, and his bait had barely touched the water when +there was a vicious rush, a swirl and a dash downstream, but the cruel +pole was brought to bear in the opposite direction. Then there was a +flop, a splash, a hop, skip and a jump, and a three-pound trout took a +header and went down into the soldier's haversack. + +The bait was renewed, another cast made, and the act was repeated on a +half-pounder. Then another weighing one-and-a-half pounds and a couple +of about a pound each followed in rapid succession, when this portion of +the stream failed to yield, and Westbrook moved on down. I followed +along the bank and watched him for half an hour before attempting to rig +my tackle at all. To watch the play of the various emotions on his hard, +brown, honest face; to study the effect of the intense enthusiasm which +possessed him; to note the utter disregard of personal safety and +comfort with which he would plunge into the surging rapids and eddies up +to his waist, or even to his arm-pits, wherever he thought he could +catch a trout by so doing, was a genuine treat. + +Finally I went back to the ford, jointed up my rod, put on a gray +professor, and walking down the bank to a sudden bend in the river where +the current had cut a deep hole near the bank, I made a cast. The fly +dropped on the riffle just above the eddy, and as it floated gracefully +on the little wavelets down and out upon the bosom of the deep-blue +miniature ocean, it turned hither and thither with the capricious +currents that played there, for perhaps five minutes. I was just in the +act of reeling up for another cast, when a gleam of silvery light +flashed upon my vision, flecked with settings of jet and gold. There was +a mighty commotion upon the surface and a monster trout leaped full into +the air as he seized the feathered bait and then shot down, down into +the crystal fluid, leaving the water in the vicinity of his exploit +bubbling, effervescing, and sparkling like the rarest old champagne. For +the nonce I was paralyzed with the suddenness and viciousness of his +coming and going, and my reel was singing merrily when I awoke to a +realization of what it all meant. + +Then I thumbed the cylinder and checked him in his wild flight, but he +continued to fight his way clear down to the lower end of the pool, a +distance of twenty yards. Then he turned and came toward me with the +speed of an arrow, but the automatic reel took up the slack as rapidly +as he gave it. When within twenty feet of me he turned out into the +stream, and as I checked him he again vaulted into the air and the +sun-light glistened on his beautifully-colored sides and fins as he +struggled to free himself. Finding this impossible he started for the +bank, where brush and roots projected into the water; but by a vigorous +and fortunate sweep of the rod I was enabled to check him again. Again +he sounded and again rushed up, down, and out into the river, but the +steel was securely set, and he was compelled at last to succumb. +Gradually I reeled him in, and as I brought him up to the bank he turned +on his side exhausted. He weighed two and three-quarter pounds and +measured seventeen inches in length. + +[Illustration: AN ANXIOUS MOMENT] + +I took two others, nearly as large, out of the same hole, and then +proceeding down fifty yards, I saw a large cottonwood tree lying in the +middle of the stream where it had lodged and been securely anchored, +probably a year or two before. The current had scooped out a great +cavity about its roots and I felt sure there must be a giant old trout +lying amongst them, but I could not reach it with a cast from the shore. +To attempt to wade to it I saw would be hazardous, for the channel +between me and it was waist deep and ran with all the velocity of a mill +tail. But what danger will not an enthusiastic angler brave when in +pursuit of a trout? I started in, and when half way to the trunk, would +gladly have retreated, but was actually afraid to attempt to turn in the +midst of this current, so I pressed forward, finally reached the trunk +of the tree and climbed upon it. I made a cast up near the root and +hooked a handsome fellow, but after playing him until I had him +completely under control and almost ready to land, the hook, which had +been but slightly caught, tore out and he drifted down the river on his +side. + +Another effort secured a two-pounder, and failing to get any further +encouragement, I climbed into the icy torrent and with great difficulty +again reached the shore. + +A little further down I saw another very deep pool, into which a small, +green cottonwood tree had lately fallen and hung by its roots to the +bank. I felt sure of making a good catch here, for the hole was ten or +twelve feet deep, and the driftwood that had lodged about this tree +afforded excellent cover for the wary old fellows that always seek such +secluded and impregnable strongholds. The fly settled gracefully on the +surface at the upper end of the pool, and as it floated listlessly down +toward the drift, Westbrook, who had come down and was fishing from the +bank opposite, said: + +"You'll get a good one there, sir. That's a splendid hole for a big old +fellow." + +"I think so; but he seems backward about coming forward." + +"Maybe that blasted bird has scared him," said he, referring to a coot +that floated unconcernedly and even impudently about the pool, eyeing us +without a symptom of fear, but evincing the liveliest curiosity as to +who and what we were. + +I reeled up and made another cast farther out on the pool. As the fly +fell, Mrs. Coot swam up to it as if inclined to pick it up. I almost +hoped she would, for I should really have enjoyed yanking her a few +times. But she thought better of it, and turned away. After exhausting +all my ingenuity on this pool, and finding it impossible to induce a +rise, I laid down my rod, picked up a rock, and threw it at the +ill-omened bird, whom I blamed for my lack of success. + +Westbrook took his cue from this and also sent a rock after her. Both +made close calls for her, but she only scurried about the livelier, +making no effort to get away. She, however, swam behind a projection in +the bank, so that I could not see her, and I told Westbrook to continue +the attack and drive her out. + +He picked up another bowlder as large as a league baseball and hurled it +at her, when the dullest and most "thudful" sound I ever heard, +accompanied by a faint squawk, came from behind the bank. + +"Well, bleach my bones if I haven't killed her!" said Westbrook, as he +threw down his hat and jumped on it. + +Sure enough, he had made a bull's-eye, and a mass of feathers floated +off downstream, followed by the mortal remains of the deceased. And now +the trout were jumping at these stray feathers, and returning to the +siege, we each caught a good one at the lower end of the pool. + +We had now about as many fish as we cared to carry to camp, and started +back up river. On our way we met Lieutenant Thompson, of the Third +Infantry--also a member of our party--who had left camp about the same +time we did, and we stopped and watched him fish awhile. The lieutenant +is a veteran fly-fisherman, and it is a pleasure to see him wield his +graceful little split bamboo rod, and handle the large vigorous trout +found in this stream. I had my camera with me and exposed a plate on him +in the act of playing a two-pounder while holding a string of six others +in his left hand, and though I did not give it quite enough time, it +turned out fairly well. He had also filled his creel, and on our return +to camp we hung our total catch, with several others that General Marcy +had taken, on a pair of elk horns and got a good negative of the whole +outfit. + +Trout grow to prodigious sizes in the Bitter Root, as well as in several +other streams in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington Territory. The +Indians frequently spear them through the ice, or take them in nets, +some of these weighing ten to twelve pounds each. But these large ones +rarely rise to the fly. However, Colonel Gibson, of the U. S. A., +commanding at Fort Missoula, took one on a fly that weighed nine pounds +and two ounces, and other instances have been recorded in which they +have been taken by this method nearly as large. They have frequently +been taken on live bait, and have been known to attack a small trout +that had been hooked on a fly, before he could be landed. + +While I was hunting in the Bitter Root Mountains in the fall of '83, a +carpenter, who was building a bridge across the Bitter Root, near +Corvallis, conceived the idea of fishing for trout with a set hook. He +rigged a heavy hook and line, baiting with a live minnow, tied it to a +willow that overhung one of the deep pools, and left it over night. By +this means he secured three of these monster trout in a week, that +weighed from nine to eleven and a half pounds each. + +The supply of trout in the Bitter Root seems to be almost unlimited, for +it has been fished extensively for ten years past, and yet a man may +catch twenty-five to fifty pounds a day any time during the season, and +is almost sure to do so if he is at all skillful or "lucky." I know a +native Bitter Rooter who, during the summer and fall of '84, fished for +the market, and averaged thirty pounds a day all through the season, +which he sold in Missoula at twenty-five cents a pound. Of course, the +majority of the ranchmen along the stream do little or no fishing, but +the officers and men at Fort Missoula do an immense amount of it, as do +the residents of the town of Missoula; and visiting sportsmen from the +East take out hundreds of pounds every season. But the stream is so +large and long, and its net-work of tributaries so vast, and furnish +such fine spawning and breeding grounds, that it is safe to say there +will be trout here a century hence. The heathen Chinee has never been +permitted to ply his infamous dynamite cartridge here, or in any of the +streams of this vicinity, as he has long been doing in Colorado, Nevada, +and elsewhere, and this fact alone would account for the unimpaired +supply in these streams. + +The reproductive power of the mountain trout is equal to all the tax +likely to be levied against it here by legitimate sportsmen, and if +dynamiting and netting are prohibited hereafter as heretofore, no fear +need be felt as to the future supply. + +The market fisherman of whom I spoke was a faithful devotee to the fly, +and never would use any other lure. A white or gray hackle was his +favorite. He used a stiff, heavy pole, however, about ten feet long, cut +from the jungles that grow on the river bottom, and a heavy line, a foot +shorter, with double gut for attaching the fly. He fished from the shore +or waded, as was necessary to reach the best water. He cast with both +hands, and the instant the fly touched the water he would raise the tip +so that the line would just clear, and then trail or skitter the fly +gently, but rapidly, toward him. Thus, the line being taut, when the +fish arose to the fly he would simply hook himself. Then he was +ignominiously "yanked," and either landed high and dry on mother earth +or in the ranchman's gunny-sack. + +Although devoid of sport and requiring little skill, it was the most +effective method of filling a "bag" that I have ever seen practiced. I +have seen him take ten to twenty-five trout in an hour's fishing and not +miss a single rise. I had this man with me on a hunting trip, and +whenever we came within two miles of a trout stream our table was sure +to be supplied with an abundance of fish. + +I visited Fort Maginnis in September, 1883, and during my stay, Capt. F. +H. Hathaway kindly invited me to spend a day trouting with him on Big +Spring creek, a beautiful stream that flows out of the Snowy Mountains +about twenty-five miles from the post. We left the captain's quarters at +noon, comfortably seated on his buckboard, while Sam, Fishel, and Dick +Thomas rode their horses and drove a pack-mule, which carried a part of +our provisions, the remainder being carried on the buckboard. + +We covered the twenty-five miles by six o'clock, camping at the base of +the Snowies, within two miles of the source of the creek, which source +is a cluster of large cold springs. We pitched our tent on the bank of +the creek, where it murmured sweet music in its course over the rugged +bottom and lulled us into quiet and refreshing sleep with its rhythmical +sounds. When we awoke the next morning the foot-hills all about us +glistened with frost, and the high peaks, three or four miles away, were +draped in a mantle of spotless white, which the storm-king had spread +upon them a few days ago. + +Notwithstanding the lateness of the season, a few musquitoes began to +sing about our ears as soon as the sun came up. Fishel, who was full of +droll good nature, observed them. + +"Well, look here," he said, as he broke the ice in the water pail and +dipped out a basinful to wash in, "I'll be doggoned if here aint a lot +of these measley musquitoes buzzing around here with buffalo overcoats +on." + +The keen mountain air at this low temperature, and the grand scenery +with which we were surrounded, combined to sharpen our appetites, and +our breakfast beside a rousing camp-fire was enjoyed as only a meal can +be enjoyed amid such surroundings. As soon as the sun had risen high +enough to banish the frost and warm the air slightly, the grass all +about us was set in motion by thousands of grasshoppers who gamboled +playfully, in order, apparently, to warm up their benumbed limbs and get +an appetite for breakfast. All hands then turned out and harvested a +goodly supply of them, for we had been advised that the trout in that +stream would not take a fly so late in the season. + +Then we proceeded to business; the captain and Dick fishing up the +stream and I down, while Sam took his rifle and went across the hills in +search of game. The stream, where we started in, was not more than three +to four feet wide and two feet deep in the deepest holes, yet at the +first cast I hooked a trout that after a few vigorous plunges took the +barb off my hook and departed. I put on a new one and had better luck +next time, for in another hole a few rods farther down I took one that +weighed a pound and a half. + +In the meantime the captain shouted to me, and looking up the stream I +saw him displaying one of about the same size. We each followed our +courses, and did not meet again for some hours, when the captain came +down to see how I was getting on. He had eight and I had six, the +average weight of which was over a pound each. He relieved me of my load +and returned to camp, and from that time on did but little fishing +himself, preferring, in the fullness of his generous nature, to devote +the most of his time to accompanying me, showing me the most favorable +points, exulting in my success, and in every way possible promoting my +comfort. Whenever he left me for a short time he would send one of his +men to take my fish to camp, dress them, and do anything and everything +else possible for me. + +I fished down the creek nearly two miles during the day, going over +parts of the stream two or three times, not ceasing from the fascinating +sport long enough to even eat a lunch that I carried in my pocket. Nor +did I turn my steps toward camp until it became so dark that the fish +would no longer rise. Then, when I started campward, I met Dick coming +with an extra saddle horse which the captain had kindly sent for me to +ride. + +After supper came the always charming social intercourse around the +camp-fire, the exchange of personal notes of the day's sport--the +experience meeting, so to speak. No one had misgivings to record so far +as the fishing was concerned. Each had enjoyed his full measure of the +grand sport, as was evidenced by the display of the several strings of +salmon-colored beauties which hung around the camp-fire. There was not a +fingerling in the entire catch. No one had caught a trout during the day +of less than four ounces in weight, and very few of that size had been +taken. The majority of them ranged between half a pound and two pounds, +and the numbers were only limited by the amount of work each had done. +My friends, being residents and accustomed to this kind of sport +whenever they choose to enjoy it, had not cared to fish all day, and +consequently had not taken so many as I, but had taken all they wanted. + +The only man in the party who had anything to regret in the day's +experience was Sam. He had started a large bull elk early in the morning +and had followed him several miles, but had not been able to get a +favorable shot, though he had twice caught sight of him. We all +sympathized deeply with him in his misfortune, for Sam is an expert shot +with the rifle, and if he had ever drawn a bead on the game we should +have had elk steak on our table at the next meal, sure. + +We broke camp early the next morning and prepared to start for home, but +decided to fish down the creek till near noon before leaving it. We +drove down about a mile, when I alighted and started in, the others +distributing themselves at other points along the stream. The trout rose +as rapidly and gamily as on the previous day, and I soon had a load in +my creel that pulled down uncomfortably. Among them was one old +nine-spot which turned the scales at two and a quarter pounds after +having been out of the water over two hours. He measured seventeen and a +half inches in length. + +The captain told me of a certain deep hole where he said an old pioneer +made his headquarters, who had taken off two hooks and leaders for him +on two different days during the summer. When I reached the hole I +recognized it in a moment by the captain's description. It was in a +short bend or angle of the creek. On the opposite side from where I +stood, and on the lower angle of the square, the channel had cut a deep +hole under an overhanging bank, which was covered with willows. These +drooped over the water and shaded it nicely. There was a slight eddy +there and the surface of the water was flecked with bits of white foam +which came from the rapids just above. What a paradise for a wary old +trout! + +I stopped about forty feet above the hole and put on one of the largest +hoppers in my box; then I reeled out ten or fifteen feet of line and +cast into the foot of the rapid. As the current straightened out my line +I reeled off more of it and still more until it floated gently and +gracefully down into the dark eddy, and when within two feet of the edge +of the bank there was a whirl, a surge, a break in the water, as if a +full-grown beaver had been suddenly frightened from his sun bath on the +surface and had started for the bottom. I saw a long, broad gleam of +silvery white, my line cut through the water, and the old-timer started +for his bed under the bank. + +I struck at the proper instant, and, bending my little split bamboo +almost double, brought him up with a short turn. He darted up the +stream a few feet, and again turning square about started for his den. I +snubbed him again. This time he shot down the creek, and, turning, made +another dive for his hiding place. Again I gave him the butt, but this +time he was determined to free himself, and with a frantic plunge he +tore the hook from his mouth and disappeared in his dark retreat. + +My heart sank within me, when I realized that he was gone. He was truly +a monster, fully two feet long, and I think would have weighed four +pounds or over. I reeled up and made two or three more casts in the same +hole. His mate, a comely-looking fellow, but not nearly so large, came +out once and smelt of the bait but declined to take it. He had evidently +seen enough to convince him that it was not the kind of a dinner he was +looking for. I fished down the creek for an hour and then returned and +tried the old fellow again, but he had not yet forgotten his recent +set-to with me, and refused to come out. I presume he is still there, +and will probably reign for some years to come, the terror of tackle +owners, unless someone gets a hook firmly fastened in his jaw, and has +tackle sufficiently derrick-like to land him; and whoever that lucky +individual may be, I congratulate him in advance. My tackle would have +held him if I had been fortunate enough to get the proper _cinch_ on +him, and the only thing I have to regret in thinking of the trip, is +that I was not so fortunate. + +We had enough, however, without him. We took home forty-eight trout that +weighed, when dressed, sixty pounds, and of all the many days I have +spent fishing in the many years long gone, I never enjoyed any more +intensely, never had grander sport than in these two days on Big Spring +creek. + +It has been stated that the mountain trout lacks the game qualities of +our Eastern brook trout. I have not found it so. They are quite as gamy, +as vicious in their fighting, and as destructive to fine tackle as the +brook trout, the only perceptible difference being that they do not +fight so long. They yield, however, only after a stubborn resistance, +sufficiently prolonged to challenge the admiration of any angler. I have +caught a number of two and three pounders that required very careful and +patient handling for twenty to thirty minutes before they could be +brought to the landing net. + +There are various other streams along the line of the Northern Pacific +Railroad which afford almost equally as fine sport as the Bitter Root, +and some of them that are even more picturesque and beautiful. In fact, +nearly every stream reached by the road, between Billings and Puget +Sound, teems with these graceful beauties. By leaving the road at almost +any point on the Rocky Mountain or Pend d'Orielle Divisions and pushing +back into the mountains twenty to one hundred miles, the enterprising +angler may find streams whose banks have seldom been profaned by the +foot of a white man; where an artificial fly has seldom or never fallen +upon the sparkling blue waters, and yet where millions of these +beautiful creatures swarm, ready to rush upon anything that reaches the +surface of their element bearing the least resemblance to their natural +food, with all the fearless enthusiasm of untainted and unrestrained +nature. In these wilder regions the tourist will also find frequent use +for his rifle, for elk, bear, deer, mountain sheep, and other large game +may yet be found in reasonable quantities in all such undisturbed +fastnesses. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +DEER HUNTING IN WISCONSIN. + + +Northern Wisconsin is one vast and almost unbroken deer range. It is +penetrated by several railroads, along the immediate lines of which are +a few small farms and some fair-sized towns and villages; but on going a +few miles back from these roads, in almost any direction, one passes the +confines of civilization and enters a wilderness that is broken only by +the numerous logging camps, and these as a rule are occupied only in +winter. Thousands of acres of these pine lands have been chopped over, +and the old slashings, having grown up to brush, brambles, and briars of +various kinds, furnish excellent cover and feeding grounds for _Cervus +Virginianus_. + +True, it is difficult to see the game at any great distance in these +thickets, unless the hunter take his stand on a high stump or log and +wait until the deer come in sight. This is a favorite and very +successful method of hunting with many who know how to choose location +and time of day. But adjacent to these slashings are usually large +tracts of open woods, frequently hardwood ridges, through which the +game passes at intervals while moving from one feeding ground to +another. In such localities a deer may be seen at a considerable +distance, and shots are often taken at 150 to 200 yards. + +I remember one of my first trips to these hunting grounds, many years +ago, before I knew how to sneak on the game, and before I had gained +sufficient control of my nerves to be able to stop a deer while vaulting +over a fallen tree trunk, turning suddenly from left to right and _vice +versa_, as a wary old buck will frequently do when fleeing from a +hunter. I stopped at a hotel in Merrill, on the Wisconsin Valley +Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and, having +learned something of the nature of the surrounding country by a hasty +tramp in the afternoon, I got up the next morning and started at four +o'clock to what seemed to be a favorable piece of ground. By daylight I +was on the margin of a large slash that, since being chopped off, had +burned over and then grown up to brush and weeds. There were many +blackened trunks of trees lying everywhere, and some still standing that +had been scorched and roasted in the great conflagration that had swept +over the country, but had not been entirely consumed. These latter, +stripped of bark and limbs, looked like gloomy monuments placed there to +mark the resting places of their hapless fellows, and the whole aspect +of the landscape in the gray of dawn was weird and chilly in the +extreme. There was scarcely a breath of air stirring, and by listening +intently I could hear the rustling of dry leaves and the occasional +snapping of twigs in various directions, that indicated the near +presence of the game and set my blood tingling and my nerves twitching. + +So soon as there was sufficient light to show the front sight of my +rifle against a gray stump fifty yards away, I started to move, as +cautiously as I knew how, toward a clump of wild-cherry bushes that I +had seen moving and from which came slight but suspicious sounds. When +within thirty yards of it I stepped on a stick that snapped, and +simultaneously with the sound a monster buck leaped high in the air, and +landing twenty feet away, uttered a shrill whistle and stopped, with his +head thrown up, to try and locate the danger. I brought my rifle to my +shoulder with a convulsive jerk, pointed it at him and fired without +thinking of the sights, and of course scored an ignominious miss. + +Well, I wish every friend I have on earth could have been there at that +moment. That whole tract of country, as far as I could see, seemed alive +with deer. Thrash! Crash! Bumpety-bump! Phew! Phew! + +There was jumping, thrashing through the brush, whistling, flipping and +flapping of white flags, and the air seemed full of glistening gray +coats. The buck I had shot at sailed away, and was soon followed in his +flight by a doe and two fawns. A doe and fawn went in another direction, +three fawns in another, two does and a buck in another, and so on _ad +infinitum_. + +I stood there; like a mile-post by the roadside, until they had all +vanished, forgetting that I had other cartridges in my belt. Finally I +recovered consciousness and began to wonder where some of those deer +would stop. If I could only get another chance such as I had on that +buck, wouldn't I down him in fine style? I would plant a bullet in the +center of his shoulder next time sure. No dime-novel scout was ever more +unerring in his aim than I would be if I could only get another aim. I +started on toward the top of a ridge, over which one of the large bucks +had disappeared, and on reaching it I saw him, or some other one, just +behind an oak grub on the opposite side-hill. I raised my rifle and took +careful aim this time, but was so nervous that I could not hold the bead +on him, and when I pulled he made another series of those daring leaps +that soon carried him out of sight. I fired a second shot at him as he +went, but with no better result than the first. + +I now crossed over to the farther edge of the slash, and, seeing no more +game, started through a body of large pines to an old burn that I had +been told lay a mile to the east. I was walking hurriedly through this +green timber, not expecting to see game, and stepped upon a large log, +when a doe and two fawns, that had been lying down in the top of a +fallen tree, jumped and ran across in front of me, offering an excellent +opportunity for a good shot to have killed all three of them. I slung +lead after them at a lively rate, firing five or six shots before they +got out of sight, but did no further harm than to accidentally clip an +ear off one of the fawns close down to its head. + +After they were gone I went and picked up this trophy and stopped to +meditate on my ill-luck, or want of skill. I then remembered that though +I had striven to hold the front sight on one or the other of the deer +at each shot after the first, I had entirely forgotten to look through +the notch in the rear sight. Chagrined and mortified beyond all power to +describe, I trudged along and finally reached the burn I was in search +of. The sun was now high in the heavens and shining brightly, so that +the game was no longer on foot, but had sought the seclusion of various +bits of dense cover and lain down. My only chance for a shot was, +therefore, in walking them up, which I proceeded to do. The brush was +dense all over this burn, so that I could rarely see twenty yards in any +direction, yet I hoped against hope for another chance. I was desperate +over the disgraceful failures I had made, and yet I knew I could shoot. +I had killed quantities of small game with the same rifle I was then +using and had killed one deer years ago with an old muzzle loader. I +could always depend upon making a good fair score at the target at 200 +yards, or even longer ranges, and yet I had shot away a dozen cartridges +this morning at deer, some of which were standing within a few yards of +me, and had not stopped one of them. I was furious, and determined that +the next shot should tell. + +I walked down an old logging-road several hundred yards, hoping that +some belated traveler might be found crossing or walking in it, but, +failing in this, I turned out and walked along the crest of a ridge, +looking down both sides of it. Struggling through briers and brush, +making a good deal of noise, unavoidably, I still failed to jump a deer +until I left the ridge and started toward a "draw" in which was a +small meadow or slough. When half way down the hill I came to a large +stump, about four feet high, from which a tree had been cut when the +snow was deep. I climbed upon this to take a look at the surrounding +country. As I did so, a large buck that had been been lying just below +it, sprang from his bed and bounded away through the brush, showing here +and there a flash of his white flag and a gleam of his majestic antlers, +but not enough of his body to shoot at. I was perfectly cool now. My +nervousness had all disappeared. In short, I was mad. I stood watching +his course and awaiting developments with all the confidence and +coolness of a veteran, instead of the novice I really was. He ran down +the long hill, across the swale, and up the hill on the opposite side, +and, on reaching the top of it and coming out upon open ground, turned +broadside and stopped to look at me, doubtless deeming himself perfectly +safe at that great distance. Standing erect on that high stump I was +clear above the surrounding underbrush and had a fine view of the +magnificent quarry. His head was thrown high up and well back; his ears +erect, nostrils distended, and even at that distance I imagined I could +see the defiant gleam of his jet black eye. His glossy coat glistened in +the brilliant autumn sunlight, and his spreading antlers and powerful +muscular development characterized him as a giant among his kind. As I +raised my rifle slowly to my shoulder, I felt that at last I had perfect +control of my nerves and that I was in some measure to redeem myself +from the ignominy of past failures. I had elevated my rear sight for 250 +yards, and as I looked through the delicate notch in it and saw the +little golden front bead glimmer on the buck's shoulder, the muzzle of +the rifle was as steady and immovable as if screwed in a vice. There was +no tremor, no vibration now; and holding well up to the spine and +showing the full size of the bead, to allow for the distance, I pressed +the trigger. + +At the report the deer bounded into the air as if a dynamite cartridge +had exploded under him, and, lowering his head to a line with his body, +started to run. There was none of those lofty, airy leaps now, no +defiant waving to and fro of the white flag. That emblem was closely +furled. His pride was broken and his sole object in life seemed to be to +get out of the country as soon as possible. The course he had taken lay +along the top of the ridge and I had a fine view of the run from start +to finish. He at once began to waver in his course, turning slightly +from left to right and from right to left. He stumbled and staggered +like a blind horse. He ran crashing and smashing into the dead top of a +fallen tree, breaking the dry limbs, some of them three or four inches +in diameter, as if they had been rye straws. When he had gone as far +into this labyrinth of branches as he could get, he sank to the ground +as if exhausted, but suddenly rose again, extricated himself by a few +desperate struggles to the right, and sped on. He ran squarely against a +good-sized sapling with such force as to throw him prostrate upon his +side. Still, his great vitality was not spent, and, struggling to his +feet, he dashed on again. Next he ran against a log that lay up from the +ground some three feet and was set back upon his haunches. He quickly +recovered, took it in good shape, and now dashed into a clump of oak +grubs that still held their dry leaves. Tearing and forcing his way +through these, he forged ahead with all his remaining strength and +plunged headlong into another fallen tree-top. In this he struggled, +trying to force his way out until he sank upon the ground from sheer +loss of blood and expired. From where he stood when I shot, to where he +finally fell was about 300 yards. + +I stepped the distance from where I stood to where the deer was when I +fired and found it to be 267 yards. Taking up his trail, I found the +ground copiously sprinkled with blood where he came down at the end of +his first jump, and the leaves and brush were crimsoned with it from +there to where he gave up the struggle. On coming up to him I found that +my bullet had drifted slightly to the left, owing to the force of a +strong wind which was blowing at the time, and cut his throat almost as +neatly as I could have done it with my hunting-knife. The oesophagus was +entirely severed and the thorax nearly so. His body was sadly bruised +and lacerated by the terrible ordeal through which he had passed, and I +concluded that he must have gone stone blind when the bullet struck him. +In no other way can I account for his strange conduct. I saved his head +and had it mounted as a memento of one of the most remarkable scratch +shots I ever made. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THREE OF A KIND. + + +Early autumn's frosts had tinged the foliage of the birch, maple, oak, +and elm trees, that intermingle in the great pine forests, with a +thousand rich colors and shades of gold, brown, olive, pink, and +crimson, while the pines, the hemlocks, the firs, and the cedars still +wore their dark mantels of perennial green, and all Nature was clad in +her sweetest smiles. A solitary woodpecker, perched on the topmost +branch of a dead giant of the forest, reaching out far above the +surrounding network of leafy branches, from which he might survey the +surrounding country, sounded his morning reveille and awaited the coming +of his mate. The dry leaves with which mother earth was carpeted, +rustled now and again to the bound of the saucy red squirrel, the +darting hither and thither of the shy wood-mouse, or the tread of the +stupid, half-witted porcupine. The chill October wind soughed through +the swaying tree-tops, laden with the rich ozone that gives life, +health, and happiness to all animate beings that are permitted to inhale +it. + +On such a morning, and amid such a scene of natural loveliness, I left +the train at Junction City, on the Wisconsin Central Railway, started +on a three-mile jaunt to a logging camp, for a day or two on a deer +roundup. I reached my destination at nine o'clock. The men had long +since gone to their work, but the "boss" had returned to camp to attend +to some business in hand, and, welcoming me with the generous +hospitality that is always shown by these sturdy sons of the forest to +strangers, bade me make myself at home as long as I cared to stay. To my +inquiry as to the presence of game in the vicinity, he said there was +plenty of it, and that the men saw one or more deer nearly every day +while going to or returning from their work, which was only a mile away. + +I lost no time in getting out and entering an old slashing to the east +of the camp where the foreman said signs were plentiful. I had not gone +more than half a mile, when, turning to the left, on an old logging +road, I saw several fresh tracks of deer that had been feeding there +that morning. It was now eleven o'clock in the forenoon and I had no +hope of finding the game on foot at that late hour, but depended +entirely upon jumping a deer from its bed and upon having to risk, in +all probability, a running shot. I moved very cautiously, however, and +was on the _qui vive_ for any straggler that might perchance be moving. +Every foot of ground that came within the scope of my vision was +carefully scanned and every sound or movement of leaf or shrub, no +matter how slight, received the most careful attention, during long and +frequent pauses, before proceeding on my way. + +I followed the road through various turns, along the bed of a slight +ravine, and as I rounded one of its abrupt bends that gave me a view of +a considerable expanse of hill-side, I stopped again to reconnoitre. The +ground was covered with a dense growth of weeds, raspberry briers, and +wild-cherry bushes that had sprung up since the timber had been cut off, +all of which had been stricken by recent frosts, and dried by subsequent +sun and wind. In these dry weeds I saw a slight movement, and on careful +examination was able to distinguish a faint outline of a doe, standing +partially behind a large stump, a hundred yards away. Her head and +shoulders were entirely hidden by the stump, and I had to step back some +distance before I could get sight of a vital part to shoot at. As her +shoulder came in view I knelt on my right knee, rested my left elbow on +my left knee, and, drawing a fine bead on her shoulder, fired. She +dropped in her tracks. My aim was a little higher than I intended, and +the bullet, passing through her shoulder blades high up, severed the +spine between them on its way, killing her as suddenly as if it had +entered the brain. At the report of the rifle a young buck bounded out +of the brush near by and waved me a vaunting farewell as he disappeared +over the ridge, not giving me even a fair running shot. I dressed the +doe and went back to camp for dinner, the welcome notes of the huge old +tin horn, floating in musical cadence through the forest, summoning me +at that moment to that much needed repast. + +After dinner I went out on another old unused logging road, leading to +the south, and, following it a few hundred yards, branched off to +another which led to the southwest. A number of fallen trees, lying +across these, gave me frequent opportunities to mount their prostrate +trunks and look over large tracts of surrounding country. In thus +sauntering and looking I had spent an hour or more when, on passing an +unusually dense clump of tall dry weeds that stood near the road, I was +startled by a sudden crashing and rattling among them, and an instant +later two large does broke cover at the farther side and started across +a narrow open space. But before they reached the farther side of it the +voice of my Winchester express was reverberating among the lofty pines, +and a cloud of smoke hung between me and where I had last seen them. I +sprang to one side to avoid this, but they had both disappeared in the +thicket, and I could still hear one of them crashing away toward the +green woods. I felt sure that I had hit the other, and, going to where I +had last seen her, I found blood, hair, and several small bits of flesh +on the ground and the neighboring weeds. Following the trail a distance +of fifty feet, I found her lying dead with her throat cut, and, in fact, +a considerable portion of it shot away. The express bullet, driven by a +heavy charge of powder, has such a high velocity that when it strikes +flesh it invariably makes a big hole in it. One hind leg was also broken +squarely off at the knee and the bone protruded through the skin. + +I stood pondering and puzzling over this strange phenomenon. How in the +name of wonder could one bullet break her hind leg and cut her throat? I +stooped down and examined the wound. To my surprise, I found that it had +not been made with a bullet at all. The joint was dislocated and the +skin torn away until the disjointed member hung only by a narrow +segment. Then the mystery was deeper than ever. What could possibly have +caused this violent and terrible wound? It had been made after I shot, +for at that time the agile creature was bounding over logs and through +clumps of brush with all the grace and airiness of her sylph-like +nature. I turned, took up her back track, and, following it thirty or +forty feet, came to a fallen tamarack sapling about six inches in +diameter, that laid up about a foot from the ground. The track showed +that the poor creature, in one of her frantic leaps, just after being +hit, came down with her fore feet on one side of this pole and her hind +feet on the other; that one hind foot had slipped on the soft earth and +slid under the pole to her knee, and that the next bound had brought it +up against the pole in the form of a lever--much as a logger would place +his handspike under it in attempting to throw it out of his way--and the +pole, being far too long and heavy to yield to her strength, the leg had +been snapped short off. + +I describe this incident merely as one of the many strange and +mysterious ones that come under the observation of woodsmen, and not +with any desire to give pain to sensitive and sympathetic readers. + +The beautiful animal did not suffer long from this hurt, however, for +she was dead when I reached her, within perhaps three or four minutes +after I fired the fatal shot. I saved her head and had it mounted and it +hangs beside that of the buck whose taking off has been described and +whose throat was also neatly severed by the bullet. They were two +remarkable shots. + +After dressing this deer I returned to the old burn in which I had +killed the doe in the morning, and took a stand on a high, flat-top +stump, which commanded a good view of a large tract of surrounding +country. I felt certain that the young buck that was with her when I +killed her would come back toward night to look up his companion, for he +probably did not realize that she was dead. I stood within thirty yards +of her carcass and for an hour kept a close watch in every direction, +turning slowly from one position to another, so that any game that came +in sight could not detect the movement and would, if seeing me at all, +consider me one of the numerous old high stumps with which the landscape +was marked. Toward sundown a large, handsome buck came out of the green +woods half a mile away, walking deliberately toward me. I could see only +a proud head and spreading antlers, and an occasional glimpse of his +silvery-gray back as he marched with stately but cautious tread through +the dry weeds. He stopped frequently to look and listen for danger, or +the coy maidens of his kind, of whom he was in search. Oh, how I longed +for a shot at him! With bated breath and throbbing heart I watched his +slow progress across the open country. But, alas! the wind (what little +there was) was wrong. When within about 200 yards of me he scented me +and bounded squarely sidewise as though a rattlesnake had bitten him, +uttering at the same time one of those peculiarly thrilling whistles +that might have been heard in the stillness of the evening a mile or +more. He struck a picturesque attitude and scanned the country in every +direction, trying to locate the danger but could not. After a few +seconds he made another high bound, stopped, and whistled again. I stood +perfectly still, and he could make nothing animate out of the inanimate +objects about him. He leaped hither and thither, snorted, whistled, and +sniffed the air as we have seen a wild colt do when liberated in a +pasture field after long confinement in his stall. + +Although still unable to satisfy himself as to the whereabouts of his +foe, he finally seemed to decide that that was not a healthy +neighborhood for him, and, taking his back trail, started to get out of +it by a series of twenty-foot leaps. I was tempted to hazard a shot at +him, but could see such a small portion of his body when standing that +the chances were against making a hit. Besides, as already stated, I +felt sure of a shot at shorter range by keeping still. I watched and +listened closely in every direction. The sun had gone down. Night was +silently wrapping her somber mantle over the vast wilderness, and the +only sounds that broke the oppressive stillness were the occasional +croakings of the raven as he winged his stately flight to his rookery, +and the low, solemn sighing of the autumn breezes through the pine tops. +I was benumbed with cold, and was tempted to desert my post and make a +run for camp. I raised my rifle to my shoulder to see if I could yet see +the sights, for stars were beginning to sparkle in the firmament. Yes; +the little gold bead at the muzzle still gleamed in the twilight, with +all the brilliancy of one of the lamps of heaven. I turned to take a +last look in the direction of the carcass of my morning's kill, +and--imagine my astonishment if you can--there stood the young buck, +licking the body of his fallen mate! How he ever got there through all +those brush and weeds without my hearing or seeing him will always +remain a profound mystery to me. But a ball from my express entering his +shoulder and passing out at his flank laid him dead by the side of his +companion, and completed the best score I ever made on deer--three in +one day--and I had fired but three shots in all. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Mr. George T. Pease lives in a log shanty, in the heart of the great +Wisconsin pine woods, five miles west of Wausaukee station, on the +Milwaukee & Northern Railroad. A beautiful little lake stretches out in +front of his door, in which numerous black bass make their home, and +several brooks meander through the wilderness not far away, all of which +abound in the sprightly, sparkling brook trout. Deer roam over the hills +far and near, and when the first "tracking snow" comes, in the van of +icy winter, their hoof-prints may be found within a hundred yards of the +cabin any morning. Pease is a genial, kind-hearted old man, in whose +humble quarters the true sportsman is always welcome. Reared in these +woods, and bred in the pure atmosphere that abounds here, a hunter by +trade and from necessity, he is a simple, honest child of nature. With +the exception of four or five years spent in the service of his country, +during the war of the Rebellion, he has lived and hunted in this region +since the days of his boyhood, and his gray hairs bespeak for him the +respect men always feel for the honest old woodsman. + +I spent several days hunting with him in November, 1885, and the +intervening nights--or a large portion of each--in talking with him. I +learned in that short time to esteem and value him as one of the best +guides and hunters I ever knew, and one of the truest friends I have. +Although he has been hunting so many years and has always been a close +observer of the habits of game; although thoroughly posted on woodcraft +in all its details, he is not egotistical as are so many old woodsmen. +He never intrudes his opinions on any subject unless asked for them; +never dictates what anyone under his guidance shall do. He modestly +suggests, and if you do not agree with him, defers cheerfully to your +judgment. + +He is intelligent, well-informed generally, full of interesting +reminiscences of his life in the wilderness, and relates many thrilling +episodes in his experience in hunting deer, bear, wolves, etc. He told +me that once, when hunting on the Menominee river, he saw a doe lying +down, and raised his rifle to shoot her. But before firing he noticed +that she had seen him and was struggling to get up. As she did not +succeed in this, he concluded that she must have been wounded, and +started toward her. She kept struggling, but was unable to rise, and on +going to her he found that she had lain down near a large hemlock root, +that had curved out of the ground, forming an arch or loop three or four +inches high. One of her hind legs had slipped under this root to the +knee, and when she had attempted to get up she had probably been thrown +violently on her side, dislocating the hip joint and thus rendering it +utterly impossible for her to draw the imprisoned leg from under the +root. He said the poor creature had apparently been in this pitiable +plight several days; that she was starved and emaciated almost to a +shadow, and had tramped and pawed a hole in the earth more than a foot +deep, over the entire space reached by her fore feet. Had she not been +discovered, the poor creature must soon have died from starvation. As it +was, she was so weak that when he released her leg from this strange +trap she was unable to stand, and he reluctantly killed her, as the +speediest, most humane, and, in fact, the only means of ending her +misery. + + * * * * * + +I reached the old man's cabin at about noon. We hunted diligently all +the afternoon, and though we saw plenty of fresh tracks everywhere in +the newly-fallen snow, neither of us could get sight of a deer, and when +we met at the shanty at dark and exchanged notes, Pease was sorely +disappointed. The next forenoon was a repetition of this experience, and +when we met again at the cabin for dinner, both empty-handed, his +disappointment was intensified into despondency. We separated after the +noon meal, and when we came in at night, I looked even more dejected and +disgusted than ever, and asserted, with a good deal of emphasis, that I +did not believe the "blasted" country was any good for game; that I +thought he or someone had hunted the deer and shot at them until they +were so wild that no man could get within 500 yards of one. He insisted +that such was not the case; that he had been killing plenty of deer that +fall, and that others had killed a few in the neighborhood, but not +enough to spoil the hunting, as I claimed. He said our want of success +utterly astonished him; that he was truly sorry; that he could not +account for it, and that we should surely make a killing on the morrow. + +"Have you seen any fresh tracks to-day?" I asked. + +"Oh, yes, plenty of them; haven't you?" + +"Well, yes, two or three; but I think the deer that made them were ten +miles away when I got there." + +"Why," said he, "when I started out this afternoon I skirted along that +big swamp, where you hunted in the morning, and I saw where four deer +had crossed your track since you went along. One of them was an awful +big buck. I took up his trail and followed it in hopes of overtaking him +and getting a shot. He roamed and circled around among the hills and +through the swamps for, I reckon, more than five miles. I walked just as +still as I possibly could, for I knew we were mighty nigh out of meat, +and I am gettin' mighty tired of bacon anyhow. But somehow that buck +heard me or smelt me, or something, and the first and last I saw of him +was just one flip of his tail as he went over a ridge about three +hundred yards away. I sat down on a log and waited and studied a long +time what to do or where to go next; and finally I concluded I'd just +come in and get supper ready by the time you got here. Set up, sir, and +have a cup of coffee and some of these baked potatoes and some of this +bacon. It ain't much of a supper, but maybe we'll feel a little better +after we eat it, anyway." + +I surrounded one side of the rough pine table suddenly, and when I got +my mouth so full I couldn't talk plain, I said, in a careless, +uninterested sort of a way: + +"I saw where you sat down on that log." + +"Did you?" + +"Yes; I sat down and rested there, too. I was just about as tired and as +disgusted and as mad as I am now; but after sitting there ten or fifteen +minutes, I trudged along through that maple thicket just below there, +and when I got through it I saw a big buck smelling along on a doe's +track, up on the side-hill, and I killed him and then started on after +the doe, and----" + +Pease had dropped his knife and fork and was looking at me with his +mouth half open and his eyes half shut. + +"What did you say?" he inquired in a dazed, half-whispered tone. + +"I say I killed the buck and then started----" + +"You killed a buck?" + +"Yes." + +"When?" he gasped, with his mouth and eyes a little wider open. + +"This afternoon," said I, calmly and complacently. + +"Where?" + +"Why just below that thicket; just below where you sat down on the log." + +The old man sat and gazed at me for two or three minutes while I +continued to eat as if nothing unusual had happened. + +"Are you joking?" he said at last. + +"No; I'm telling you the straight truth. The liver and heart are hanging +out there on the corner of the cabin; go out and look at them." + +"Well, I'll be dad blasted!" shouted the old man, as he jumped up and +grasped me by the hand. "Why on earth didn't you say so when you first +came in? What did you want to deceive me for? Why did you want to do all +that kicking about the hunting being so poor?" + +"Oh, I just wanted to have a little fun with you." + +Throughout that evening Pease was one of the happiest men I ever saw. He +seemed, and, in fact, said he was, twice as proud to have me, his guest, +kill a deer as he would have been to have killed it himself. + +He chatted cheerfully until eleven o'clock before showing any signs of +sleepiness. This was about all the game I cared to kill, so I asked +Pease to go into the station and get a team to come out and take my meat +in. In order to pass the forenoon pleasantly, I took my rifle and +started into the woods again. I went at once to the buck I had killed, +reaching the carcass shortly after sunrise. I cut down a jack pine, and, +trimming off the boughs, made a bed. Then I laid down, took out a book +and commenced to read, while waiting for the team and for any deer that +might happen along. + +But I had not read half a dozen lines when I heard a slight rustling and +cracking in the frozen snow, and, looking in the direction of the noise, +I saw a young spike buck walking slowly and deliberately down the hill +not a hundred yards away. I caught up my express and made a snap shot at +him, but in my haste and surprise missed him clear. At the report he +stopped, threw up his head and presented a beautiful picture, as well +as a fair, easy target. + +"Now, my lad," I said to myself, "you are my meat sure." + +I was so confident of success this time that I scarcely took any aim at +all. Again I scored an inglorious miss and the deer started away on a +series of long, high bounds. I threw in another cartridge, held ahead of +him, and as he struck the ground the second time I pulled for the third +time. Then there was a circus of a kind that a hunter rarely sees. The +buck fell to bucking, bleating, and kicking. His hind feet would go into +the air like a couple of arrows and with such force that they would snap +like a whip cracker. Then he would rear on his hind feet and paw the +air; then jump sidewise and backward. He threw himself twice in his +gyrations, and each time was on his feet again almost before I could +realize that he had gone down. This gymnastic exhibition lasted perhaps +two or three minutes, during which time I was so paralyzed with laughter +that I could not have shot within six feet of him if I had tried. +Besides, I wanted to see the performance out. Finally the bucker +recovered his wits and skipped out. I followed and found that he was +discharging blood at such a rate that he could not go far. He went into +a large thicket. I jumped him three times before I could get a fair shot +at him, and could hear him wheeze every time I came near him. Finally I +saw him lying a few yards away, but his head was still up and I sent a +bullet through his neck. On examination I found that my first shot had +cut the point of his breastbone off and had ruptured both his +oesophagus and trachea. I dragged him out and laid him by the side of +the big buck, and when Pease came in with the team an hour later he +said: + +"Well, I'll be dad blasted if he hain't got another one." + +I shall always remember that hunt as one of the pleasantest of my life, +considering the length of time it occupied. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +COWBOY LIFE. + + +The workings of the law of evolution are plainly discernible in the +development of the "cowboy," a certain prominent and now well-defined +character of the far West--one that was made necessary by, and has grown +out of, the vast cattle interests which have, in the past two or three +decades, spread over that mystic region. His counterpart is scarcely to +be found anywhere else in the civilized world, for the very good reason +that such a species of manhood is not required anywhere else. True, +cattle-raising is carried on extensively in many States of our Union and +in various other countries, but nowhere under the same conditions and on +the same plan as in the West; hence, though herders, drovers, and the +like are employed elsewhere, there is no locality in which a class of +men endowed with such characteristics and requiring such peculiar tastes +and faculties are to be found as are combined in the cowboy of our +Western plains. The life he leads and the services he is required to +perform call into the business young men possessing tastes and traits +different from those of average human nature, and such as are not found +in men following any other vocation, as a class. It is an occupation +that entails, generally speaking, a life of isolation from society, and +in many cases from civilization. It is one in which home comforts must +be dispensed with; it is one requiring its devotees to live on plain +food, in log huts, and to sleep in blankets at best; it is one in which +there is often intense hardship and suffering, and which exposes its +disciples to dangers of various kinds. + +When all these facts and peculiarities of the calling are considered we +must readily perceive that men of ordinary tastes and inclinations would +not seek to engage in it. Cowboys are not "native and to the manor +born." They do not follow in the footsteps of their fathers as do young +men on Eastern farms. The business is yet too young in our Western +Territories to have brought about this state of affairs, though it will +come to exist in future. But at present cowboys are all exotics, +transplanted from Eastern soil. Let us consider, then, what manner of +boy or young man would adopt such a calling. Certainly not he who +considers a well-spread table, a cozy, cheerful room, a good soft bed, +and neat, tasty clothing essential to his health and happiness; nor he +who is unwilling to sever his connection with the social circle or the +family group; nor he who must have his daily paper, his comfortable +office chair and desk; his telegraph and other commercial facilities and +comforts; nor yet he who, when he travels, must needs ride in a +comfortable carriage on the highway, or a Pullman coach on the railway. +But the young man who is willing to engage in the occupation of +"rustling cattle" on the plains, who is willing to assume the title of +"cowboy," must be he who, although he may love all these luxuries, and +may perhaps have been accustomed to enjoy them, has in his nature enough +of romance, enough love for outdoor life, enough love of sport, +excitement, and adventure, enough enthusiasm for the wild freedom of the +frontier, to be willing to deny himself all these luxuries and to allow +such pleasures as the ranch and range can afford, to compensate for +them. + +The love of money can not enter largely into the consideration of the +question, for while the work is often of the hardest kind a man can +endure and the hours of labor only limited by the men's power of +endurance, the wages usually paid are low. From $25 to $35 a month is +the average rate of wages for all good men on the range except the +foreman, who commands from $60 to $75 a month, according to his ability, +the number of men he is to have charge of, and the responsibility of his +position generally. Ambition to succeed to this dignity, or a desire to +learn the cattle-growing business with a view of engaging in it on their +own account, may induce some boys to engage as herders, but the young +man who deliberately chooses this occupation is usually one with a +superabundance of vim, energy, and enthusiasm; one who chafes under the +restraints of society, who is bored and annoyed by the quiet humdrum +life of the Eastern village, city, or farm house; one who longs to go +where he can breathe fresh air, exercise his arms, legs, and lungs, if +need be, without disturbing the peace; one who, in short, requires more +room to live in than his birthplace affords. + +Many a cowboy of to-day was, in his childhood or youth, the street +gamin, the newsboy, the "hard nut" at school; the dare-devil of the +rural districts; the hero of daring exploits; the boy who did not fear +to climb to the top of the highest tree to punch a squirrel out of his +hole; who led the raid on an orchard or watermelon patch on a dark +night; who at college was at the head of all wild, reckless frolics, and +was also well up in his classes; who led the village marshal or the city +policeman many a wild-goose chase and caused them many a sleepless night +by his innocent though mischievous pranks. He is the boy who was always +ready for a lark of any kind that could produce excitement, fun, or +adventure without bringing serious harm to anyone. He was not the +vicious, thieving, lying, sneaking boy, but the irrepressible, +uncontrollable, wild, harum-scarum chap who led the gang; the champion +of the weak; the boy who would fight "at the drop of the hat" in defense +of a friend of his own sex or of even a stranger of the opposite sex. +These are the boys of ten, twenty, or thirty years ago whom to-day you +may find riding wild cayuses on the cattle ranges of the boundless +plains. + +As a class, they have been shamefully maligned. That there are bad, +vicious characters amongst them can not be denied, but that many of the +murders, thefts, arsons, and other depredations which are committed in +the frontier towns and charged to cowboys, are really committed by +Indians, bummers, superannuated buffalo hunters, and other hangers on, +who never do an honest day's work of any kind, but who eke out a +miserable, half-starved existence by gambling, stealing, poisoning +wolves, etc., is a fact well known to every close student of frontier +life. And yet, crimes and misdemeanors are occasionally committed by men +who are, for the time being at least, regularly employed in riding the +range. Fugitives from justice, thieves, cut-throats, and hoodlums of all +classes from the large cities have drifted West, and have sought +employment on the ranges because nothing better or more congenial +offered; but such are seldom employed, and if employed at all, are +generally discharged as soon as their true character is learned and +their places can be filled by worthier men. + +[Illustration: THE "WOOLLY COWBOY."] + +Neither do I wish to defend the "fresh" young man from the East who goes +West to "paralyze" the natives, who gets a job on the ranch, makes a +break for "loud togs," arms, and knives, large nickel-plated spurs, +raises a crop of long hair and "catches on" to all the bad language of +the country, fills up on bad whisky at every opportunity and then +asserts that "he's a wolf, it's his night to howl." + +Nor do I wish to defend the swarthy, loud-oathed, heavily-armed +"greaser" of Mexico and the Texan ranges, who accounts himself a +"cowboy" _par excellence_, but who much prefers the filthy atmosphere of +the gambling den, or the variety dive of frontier towns, to the pure air +of the prairies. These are the exceptions, and fortunately are in a +"distinguished minority," and it is but just that all such swaggering +humbugs should be loaded with the obloquy they deserve, and should be +appropriately branded, even as their master's beasts are branded, that +all the world might know them, wherever found, for the infamous humbugs +that they are. My purpose here is to champion the frank, honest, +energetic, industrious young fellows who engage in this calling from +pure motives, most of whom have fair educations, and some of whom are +graduates of Eastern colleges--who are brimful of pure horse-sense, and +who are ambitious to earn an honest living, and to make themselves +useful to their employers in every possible way, aside from their +ability to snare a bullock. Many of these are Nature's noblemen, and +their good qualities shine through their rough garb, as the sunlight of +heaven shines through a rift in a dark cloud. Their hearts, though +encased in blue flannel or water-proof canvas, are as light as the air +they breathe; their minds as pure and clear as the mountain brooks from +which they love to drink; their whole natures as generous and liberal as +the boundless meadows upon which their herds graze, and their +hospitality only limited by the supply of food and other comforts they +have with which to entertain a visitor. Strangers are always welcome at +their shacks, and no matter at what time of day or night you arrive, you +and your horses are promptly taken care of, you are invited to stay and +eat, to sleep if you will, and are promptly given to understand that the +best the ranch affords is at your command. I have known many of these +men intimately, and have never known one who would not cheerfully share +his last ounce of food, his last dollar, or his only blanket with a +needy stranger; or who would not walk and allow an unfortunately +dismounted traveler to ride his horse half way to camp, or the ranch, +even though that might be a hundred miles away. They invariably refuse +all remuneration for services or accommodations of such nature, and if +it be pressed upon them, the stranger is liable to be told in language +more expressive than elegant they don't make their living by taking care +of tenderfeet. + +As a class, they are brimful and running over with wit, merriment, and +good humor. They are always ready for any bit of innocent fun, but are +not perpetually spoiling for a fight, as has so often been said of them. +They are at peace with all men, and would not be otherwise from choice. +As a rule, if a man quarrel with one of them, he forces the war and is +himself to blame. Their love of fun often leads to trouble, though +generally because the victim of it does not know how, or is not willing, +to either "chip in" or excuse himself. They are fond of "piping off" +anything that is particularly conspicuous, or _vice versa_, no matter to +whom it belongs, and they dislike to see snobbish airs assumed in their +country, though such might pass current in any Eastern city. + +I once saw a dude step out of a hotel in Cheyenne, wearing a silk hat, +cut-away coat, lavender pants, high pressure collar, scarlet velvet +scarf, patent leather shoes, etc. Several cowboys were riding through +the street and spied him. + +"Say, Dick," said one of them, "what de ye s'pose it is?" + +"Let's tackle it and see," said Dick; "it looks alive." + +"Pard, hadn't you better put them togs on ice?" queried another of the +party. "They're liable to spile in this climate." + +The youth was highly offended, gave them a haughty, withering look, and +without deigning a reply of any kind turned to walk back into the hotel. + +"Let's brand it," said Dick, and as quick as a flash a lariat fell about +the dude, closed round his slender waist, and he was a prisoner. The +boys gathered round him, chaffed him good-naturedly, took his hat and +rubbed the nap the wrong way, put some alkali mud on his shoes, and then +released him, bidding him "go in and put on some clothes." A little +good-natured repartee on his part, or an invitation to drink or smoke, +or a pleasant reply of any kind, would have let him out without any +unpleasant treatment; but he scorned them, and they considered it a duty +to society to post him on how to act when away from home. + +A friend relates having seen an eccentric individual, with a long plaid +ulster, walking along the principal street in Miles City, and as the sun +came out from behind a cloud and commenced to beam down with a good deal +of force, he raised a green umbrella. A "cow puncher" rode up and, +pointing at the umbrella, asked: + +"What is she pard? Fetch her in and put a drink in 'er." + +The man was both scared and mad. He thought he had been insulted by one +of those "notorious, ruffianly cowboys." He called "police." But the +police was not at hand, and in the disturbance that followed his +umbrella was spirited away, he knew not whither or by whom, and his +plaid ulster was somewhat damaged by contact with mother earth. All he +would have had to do to preserve the peace and his self-respect, would +have been to answer the fellow good-naturedly in the first place, either +declining or accepting his invitation, and he could have gone on his way +unmolested; but he brought a small-sized riot on himself by assuming a +dignity that was out of place in that country and under such +circumstances. + +In common with all other human beings, the cowboy requires and must have +amusement of some kind, and his isolated condition, depriving him of the +privileges of theatres, parties, billiards, and other varieties of +amusement that young men in the States usually indulge in; of the +refining and restraining influences of the female sex, it is but natural +that his exuberance of spirit should find sport of other kinds. His only +sources of amusement on the ranch are his rifle, revolver, bronco, +lariat, and cards, and in course of time he tires of these and seeks a +change. He goes to town and meets there some of his comrades or +acquaintances, and they indulge in some wild pranks, which to Eastern +people, and especially those who happen to fall victims to their +practical jokes, appear ruffianly. Their love of excitement and +adventure sometimes gets the better of their judgment, and they carry +their fun to excess. They corral the crew of a train which has stopped +at the station, and amuse themselves and the passengers by making the +conductor, brakeman, baggageman, engineer, and fireman dance a jig to +the music of six-shooters. In one instance they boarded the train and +made the Theo. Thomas orchestra (which happened to be aboard) give them +an extemporaneous concert. They have even been known to carry their +revels to a still worse stage than this, and to resort to acts of real +abuse and injury against defenseless people. But such acts on the part +of genuine cowboys are rare. They are usually perpetrated by the class, +already mentioned, of "fresh" young chaps or objectional characters who +drift into the business from other than pure motives, and frequently by +pretended cowboys who are not such in any sense of the term. But by +whomsoever perpetrated, such acts are highly offensive to and vigorously +condemned by the respectable element in the business, both employers +and employes. Much odium has attached to the fraternity by such conduct, +and much more by reason of crimes committed by others and charged to +this class, so that the cowboy is in much worse repute among Eastern +people than he would be if better known by them. And notwithstanding all +the hard things with which these men have been charged, I had much +rather take my chances, as to safety of life and personal property, in a +country inhabited only by them than in any Eastern town or city with all +their police "protection." When sojourning in cattle countries, I have +left my camp day after day and night after night, with valuable property +of various kinds lying in and about it, without any attempt at +concealment. I have left my horses and mules to graze, wholly unguarded, +several days and nights together, and though on my return I may have +seen that my camp had been visited, probably by several men, not a thing +had been disturbed, except that perchance some of them had been hungry +and had eaten a meal at my expense. It is the custom of the country to +leave camps and cabins at any time, and for as long a time as necessary, +without locking up or concealment of any kind, and instances of stealing +under such circumstances are almost unheard of, while he who would leave +personal property similarly exposed within the bounds of civilization +would scarcely hope to find it on his return. + +[Illustration: ON THE TRAIL.] + +An incident may serve to illustrate how suddenly Eastern people change +their opinions of cowboys on close acquaintance. I was going west a few +years since on the Northern Pacific Railroad, and stepping off the train +at Dickinson, Dak., met Howard Eaton, an old-time friend and fellow +hunter, a typical cowboy, who has charge of a ranch and a large herd of +cattle in the "Bad Lands" on the Little Missouri river. He was dressed +in the regulation costume of the craft--canvas pants and jacket, leather +_chaparejos_, blue flannel shirt, and broad-brimmed white felt hat. His +loins were girt about with a well-filled cartridge-belt, from which hung +the six-shooter, which may almost be termed a badge of the order. Large +Mexican spurs rattled at his heels as he walked. He had ridden +thirty-five miles under the spur, arriving at the station just in time +to catch the train, and having no time to change his apparel, even if he +had wished to do so. He was going some distance on the same train, and I +invited him into the sleeper. As he entered and walked down the aisle +the passengers became suddenly alarmed at the apparition--imagining that +the train had been corraled by a party of the terrible cowboys of whom +they had heard such blood-curdling tales, and that this was a committee +of one sent in to order them to throw up their hands. They looked +anxiously and timidly from the windows for the rest of the gang and +listened for the popping of revolvers, but when I conducted him to our +section and introduced him to my wife they began to feel easier. He +remarked casually that he was hungry. We had a well-filled lunch-basket +with us, and, ordering a table placed in position, my wife hastily +spread its contents before him. He ate as only a cowboy can eat, +especially after having lately ridden thirty-five miles in three hours. +Our fellow passengers became interested spectators, and after our friend +had finished his repast we introduced him to several of them. They were +agreeably surprised to discover in conversation his polished manners, +his fluent and well-chosen language. His handsome though sunburned face, +and his kind, genial nature revealed the fact that his rough garb +encased the form of an educated and cultured gentleman; and before we +had been an hour together they had learned to respect and admire the +wild, picturesque character whom at first they had feared. + +The skill which some of these men attain in their profession challenges +the admiration of everyone who is permitted to witness exhibitions of +it. As riders they can not be excelled in the world, and I have seen +some of them perform feats of horsemanship that were simply marvelous. A +cowboy is required to ride anything that is given him and ask no +questions. A wild young bronco that has never been touched by the hand +of man is sometimes roped out of a herd and handed over to one of the +boys with instructions to "ride him." With the aid of a companion or two +he saddles and mounts him, and the scene that ensues baffles +description. A bucking cayuse must be seen under the saddle, under a +limber cowboy, and on his native heath, in order to be appreciated at +his true worth. His movements are not always the same--in fact, are +extremely varied, and are doubtless intended to be a series of surprises +even to an old hand at the business. The bronco is ingenious--he is a +strategist. Sometimes the first break a "fresh" one makes is to try to +get out of the country as fast as possible. If so, the rider allows him +to go as far and as fast as he likes, for nothing will tame him quicker +than plenty of hard work. But he soon finds that he can not get out from +under his load in this way, and generally reverses his tactics before +going far. Sometimes he stops suddenly--so suddenly as to throw an +inexperienced rider a long ways in front of him. But a good cowboy, or +"bronco buster," as he would be termed while engaged in this branch of +the business, is a good stayer and keeps his seat. The horse may then +try to jump out from under his rider--first forward then backward, or +_vice versa_. Then he may spring suddenly sidewise, either to right or +left, or both. Then he may do some lofty tumbling acts, alighting most +always stiff-legged; sometimes with his front end the highest and +sometimes about level, but usually with his hinder parts much the +highest and with his back arched like that of a mad cat. He keeps his +nose as close to the ground as he can get it. Sometimes he will utter an +unearthly squeal that makes one's blood run cold, and will actually eat +a few mouthfuls of the earth when he gets mad enough. Sometimes he will +throw himself in his struggles, and again as a last resort he will lie +down and roll. This must free him for a moment, but the daring and agile +rider is in the saddle again as soon as the beast is on his feet. Then +the horse is likely to wheel suddenly from side to side and to spin +round and round on his hind feet like a top; to snort and bound hither +and thither like a rubber ball. During all this time the valiant rider +sits in his saddle, loose-jointed and limp as a piece of buckskin, his +body swaying to and fro with the motions of his struggling steed like a +leaf that is fanned by the summer breeze. He holds a tight rein, keeping +his horse's head as high as possible, and plunges the rowels into his +flanks, first on one side and then on the other, until frequently the +ground is copiously sprinkled with the blood of the fiery steed. The +duration of this scene is limited simply by the powers of endurance of +the horse, for in nearly every instance he will keep up his struggles +until he sinks upon the ground exhausted, and, for the time being at +least, is subdued. Then he is forced upon his feet again and may +generally be ridden the remainder of that day without further trouble. + +He is awkward, of course, but rapidly learns the use of bit and spur, +and soon becomes useful. Many of these ponies, however, are never +permanently subdued, and will "buck" every time they are mounted. Others +will, all through life, start off quietly when first mounted, but +suddenly take a notion to buck any time in the day. This class is the +most dangerous, for the best rider is liable to be caught at a +disadvantage when off his guard and thrown, and many a poor cowboy has +been crippled for life, and many killed outright by these vicious +brutes. + +I have seen "pilgrims" inveigled into riding "bucking cayuses," either +for the sake of novelty, or because they wanted a mount and there was no +other to be had; but in every instance the trial of skill between the +man and the pony was of short duration. For an instant there would be a +confused mass of horse, hat, coat-tails, boots, and man, flying through +the air. The horse, on his second upward trip would meet the man coming +down on his first; the man would see whole constellations--whole +milkyways of stars; the horse would meander off over the prairie free +and untrameled, and as we would gather up the deformed and disfigured +remains of the pilgrim and dig the alkali dirt out of his mouth, ears, +and eyes, he would tell us, as soon as he recovered sufficiently to be +able to speak, that in future he "had rather walk than ride." + +But, fortunately for the poor cowboys, there are many of these ponies +who are not vicious, and let us do full honor to the genuine, noble +cow-horse who is so sure and fleet of foot that he will speedily put his +rider within roping distance of the wildest, swiftest, longest-horned +Texan on the range. Such a horse always knows when the _riata_ falls +right for head or heels, and if it does not will never slacken his +speed, but keep right on until his rider can recover and throw again. +But when it does fall fair, he puts it taut, wheels to right or left as +directed by a gentle pressure of his rider's knee, takes a turn on it +or gives it slack as may be required to down the beef, and, when this is +accomplished, stands stiff-legged, firm, and immovable as a rock, +holding him down by the strain on the rope, and watching, with eyes +bulged out and ears set forward like those of a jack rabbit, every +struggle of the captive bullock, and stands pat even when his rider +dismounts and leaves him to brand the steer. When this is done, and his +rider remounts he is ready to repeat the operation on another animal. + +[Illustration: "SNARED."] + +I have frequently known a cowboy to rope a wild cow, throw her and milk +her while his horse held her down at the other end of a forty foot rope. +Such a horse is worth his weight in gold to a cattleman, and his +kind-hearted and appreciative rider would go supperless to bed any +night, if necessary, in order that his faithful steed should be well fed +and made comfortable in every possible way. + +The skill that some of these men attain in the use the lariat is also +most marvelous. An expert will catch a steer by the horns, the neck, the +right or left fore foot or hind foot, whichever he may choose--and +while running at full speed--with almost unerring certainty. I have even +seen them rope jack rabbits and coyotes after a long run, and there are +well authenticated instances on record of even bears being choked to +death by the fatal noose when wielded by a daring "knight of the +plains." + +At a "tournament" in a Black Hills town some months ago, a cowboy +caught, threw, and securely tied a wild steer in fourteen minutes from +the time he was let out of the corral. A similar exhibition of skill, +but on a bronco instead of a steer, which lately took place in a New +Mexico town, is thus described by an eye witness. + +"After an hour of discussion and pleasant wrangling, the judge, himself +a fine rider, called out the name of an Arizona cowboy, a champion +puncher and rustler from Apache County; at the same moment, a wild-eyed +bronco was released from the pen and went bounding and bucking over the +miniature plain. According to the rule, the Apache County man had to +saddle his own bronco, rope the fleeing horse, and tie him for branding +in a certain time. Being a "rustler", he rustled around so lively that +before the bronco was two hundred feet away, he had saddled and bridled +his own animal, swung himself onto it, and was off, gathering up his +lariat as he went. The other bronco, seeing the coming enemy, doubled +his pace, dodging here and there, but at every turn he was met by his +pursuer, who was evidently directed by his rider's legs, and in an +incredibly short space of time the fugitive was overhauled; the rope +whistled through the air, and dropped quickly over the bronco's head, +notwithstanding the toss he had made. The instant it fell, the pursuing +bronco rushed and headed off the other, winding the rope about his legs; +then suddenly sitting back upon his haunches he waited, with ears back, +for the shock. It came with a rush, and the little horse at the other +end of the rope, as was the intention, went headlong onto the field, the +cowboy's bronco holding him down by the continual strain that he kept +up. The moment the horse went down the cowboy vaulted from the saddle, +untying a rope from his waist as he ran, and was soon over the prostrate +animal, lashing the hoofs with dextrous fingers, so that it could have +been branded then and there. This accomplished, up went his hands as a +signal to the judges, who now came galloping over the field, a roar of +cheers and yells greeting the Apache County man, who had done the entire +work in twelve minutes, thereby securing the prize of sundry dollars." + +These men use large, heavy, strongly-built saddles, and by setting the +cinch up tight and taking a turn or two of the rope around the saddle +horn they will snake a large animal, either dead or alive, any desired +distance. I once got one of them to drag a large bear that we had killed +out of a thicket into an open space, so that we could photograph him. + +Few men take more chances or endure more hardships than cowboys. In +addition to the dangers they have to contend with from riding vicious +horses and from riding into stampeding herds of wild cattle, in both of +which lines of duty many of them are crippled and some killed outright, +it is frequently necessary for them to lay out on the open prairie for +several days and nights together, perhaps in cold, rough weather, with +no other food or bedding than they can carry on their saddle. + +The slang of the fraternity is highly amusing to a stranger. It is +decidedly crisp, racy, and expressive. Words are coined or adopted into +their vernacular that will convey their meaning with the greatest +possible force and precision. In addition to the few illustrations +already given in this sketch there are many others that would be utterly +unintelligible to an Eastern man unless translated. For instance, when +they brand an animal they put the "jimption" to him; when they want a +hot drink they say "put some jimption in it"; when they warm up a horse +with the spurs or quirt they "fan" him; when they throw lead from a +six-shooter or a Winchester after a flying coyote they "fan" him. And +"goose hair"--ever sleep on goose hair? This is a favorite term for any +kind of a "soft snap." When they want to ridicule a tenderfoot, and +especially one who is fond of good living, they say "he wants a +goose-hair bed to sleep on"; when a cowboy is in luck he is described as +having "a goose-hair pillar," or as "sleepin' with the boss," or as +"ridin' ten horses," etc. Altogether, cowboys are a whole-souled, +large-hearted, generous class of fellows, whom it is a genuine pleasure +to ride, eat, and associate with, and it is safe to say that nine-tenths +of the hard things that have been said of them have come from men who +never knew, intimately, a single one of them. + +I contend that a year spent on the hurricane deck of a cow-pony is one +of the most useful and valuable pieces of experience a young man can +possibly have in fitting himself for business of almost any kind, and if +I were educating a boy to fight the battles of life, I should secure him +such a situation as soon as through with his studies at school. A term +of service on a frontier cattle-ranch will take the conceit out of any +boy. It will, at the same time, teach him self-reliance; it will teach +him to endure hardships and suffering; it will give him nerve and pluck; +it will develop the latent energy in him to a degree that could not be +accomplished by any other apprenticeship or experience. I know of many +of the most substantial and successful business men in the Western towns +and cities of to-day who served their first years on the frontier as +"cow punchers," and to that school they owe the firmness of character +and the ability to surmount great obstacles that have made their success +in life possible. + +I claim that the constant communion with Nature, the study of her broad, +pure domains, the days and nights of lonely cruising and camping on the +prairie, the uninterrupted communion with and study of self which this +occupation affords, tends to make young men honest and noble--much more +so than the same men would be if deprived of these opportunities, +confined to the limits of our boasted "civilization," and compelled to +constantly breathe the air of adroitness, of strategy, of competition, +of suspicion and crime. I claim that in many instances a man who is +already dishonest and immoral may be, and I know that many have been +made good and honest by freeing themselves from the evil influences of +city life, and betaking themselves to a life on the plains; by living +alone, or nearly so, and habitually communing with themselves, with +Nature, and with Nature's God. If every young man raised in town or city +could have the advantages of a year or two of constant study of Nature, +untrammeled by any air of vice, and at the proper time in life, we +should have more honest men, and fewer defaulters, thieves, and +criminals of every class. + +[Illustration: A BEEF-GATHERING SOIREE.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A MONTANA ROUNDUP. + + +Descriptions of cattle roundups in the far West have been written, and +yet many of the characteristic scenes that the spectator at one of these +semi-annual "beef-gathering parties" will observe have not been +described. There is so much to interest and excite the denizen of the +States who first attends a roundup on the great plains that I am tempted +to speak of some of the more prominent points in this "greatest show on +earth," for the benefit of such as have not had the pleasure of +witnessing it. + +The interests of cattlemen in general are so closely linked, and there +is such urgent need of a concert of action among them, that in all +Western cattle-growing districts they have organized into local or +general associations, in which the most perfect harmony and good +fellowship exists, and in which the interests of every individual member +are closely guarded and fostered by the organization as a whole. These +associations meet in the spring and fall of each year and fix the dates +for holding the roundups, usually prescribing the general boundaries in +which each local outfit shall work. The spring roundup, which is the one +now under consideration, is held in the latter part of April or early +part of May in Wyoming and Montana, and earlier or later in other States +and Territories, according to the nature of the climate, weather, etc. A +roundup district is usually limited to the valley of some large stream, +or its boundaries are designated by other prominent and well-known +landmarks. + +From five to fifteen miles, or even more, each way from the ranch, are +claimed by each owner or company as a range, though no effort is made +usually to keep the stock within these boundaries. They are allowed the +freedom of the hills and table-lands in every direction, the foreman +merely being required to know about where to find them when wanted, and +to prevent them from going, for instance, west of the Tongue and north +of the Yellowstone rivers or south into Wyoming. + +As a typical spring roundup, let us observe the one recently conducted +on the Powder river in Montana, for it furnished, perhaps, as many +interesting episodes and incidents as are usually seen at one of these +entertainments. This stream rises in the Big Horn Mountains in Northern +Wyoming and flows northeast through Southern Montana to the Yellowstone, +into which it empties its wealth of crystal fluid just east of Miles +City. Up to a few years ago its valley and adjacent table-lands were +peopled only by roving bands of Sioux, Cheyenne, Pegan, or Crow Indians, +while vast herds of buffaloes and antelopes grazed upon its nutritious +grasses. The lordly elk and the timid, agile deer roamed at will through +the groves of cottonwood and box-elder that fringe its banks, and the +howl of the coyote made night musical to the ear of the savage in his +wigwam. But how changed the scene of to-day! An iron railroad bridge, +that of the great Northern Pacific, spans the stream near its mouth, +over which roll trains of palace coaches at short intervals, while +commercial freights _en route_ from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or +_vice versa_, pass over it almost every hour. From the mouth of the +stream to the foot-hills of the mountain range, amid whose snow-capped +peaks it rises, is now a well-beaten road over which supplies for the +various ranches in the valley are carried, and over which the gallant +knights of the plains--the cowboys--dash to and fro in the performance +of their various duties. + +At intervals of ten to fifteen miles along the valley, the traveler +passes ranches, the headquarters of the wealthy cattlemen whose herds +roam all over the valleys, the hills, and table-lands for many miles in +every direction, designating the companies or individual owners merely +by the brands their herds bear (which is the custom of the country). We +shall encounter on our way the "MC" outfit, whose herd numbers fourteen +thousand head; the "WL" brand, six thousand head; "7OL," one thousand +head; "S-I," twenty-five thousand head; "_N_," twenty-five thousand +head; "[3-rail]," five thousand head; and many other smaller and some +larger herds. The buildings and improvements consist generally of +substantial, roomy log houses, stables for the horses, corrals or strong +yards in which large herds of cattle may be confined for branding, etc. +The Montana Stock Growers' Association has also built public +branding-pens at intervals of four to six miles along the river. The +owners of the stock seldom live on the ranches themselves, many of them +being residents of Eastern cities, and others having their homes in the +railroad towns within convenient distance of the ranches. The occupants +of the "shack," as the ranch house is called, are the foreman, the cook, +and a sufficient number of cowboys or herders to look after and handle +the stock properly. Some of the choice bits of natural meadow are fenced +and hay cut on them, and each ranch has more or less hay land about the +heads of creeks on its range, for it is necessary to make hay enough +each season to feed at least the calves and some of the weaker cattle +through the severe blizzards that so frequently occur in winter. The +cattle belonging to each of these ranches are allowed to range almost at +will over the adjacent hills and table-lands, though the limits proper +of each range are supposed to extend ten to fifteen miles in each +direction from the ranch house. + +The Montana Stock Growers' Association, at its meeting in March, +designated the seventh day of May as the day for beginning the roundup +in the Powder river district this year, and selected a foreman to take +charge of it who had seen many years of service in the saddle, who has a +happy faculty of controlling the men under his charge perfectly, and yet +of putting himself on free and friendly terms with them all. He can +throw a _riata_ with such precision as to take a steer by the head or by +either foot he wishes in almost every instance, and beasts as well as +men soon learn to obey his wishes. + +Anyone who has only seen the great plains late in summer or in the +autumn, after the grass has become sere and yellow and the foliage along +the streams has faded, can have little idea of the pristine beauty +presented by such a valley as that of the Powder river in early +springtime, when the earth is carpeted with verdure, the river banks +lined with newly-clothed trees and shrubs, and the meadows blooming with +flowers, the beauty and brilliancy of which can not be excelled +anywhere. The winter snows have melted; the spring rains have come and +gone, leaving the earth fresh and moist; the climate is mild and +delightful. Under all these charming conditions who would not enjoy the +scene unfolding before our eyes as we mount our spirited broncos and +ride out to the place of rendezvous which has been appointed near the +mouth of the river, and where the clans are already gathering. Temporary +camps have been established by those who have arrived in advance of us, +around which groups of cowboys are lounging. A band of horses and ponies +which they have liberated is contentedly grazing on the river bank, and +several small bands of cattle may be seen in various directions, most of +them at considerable distances away, for they are wild and avoid the +presence of human beings. A cloud of dust is faintly visible on top of +the divide nearly three miles to the south, and on examining it +carefully with our glasses we find it is being raised by a jolly band of +five cowboys, who are riding like mad, each leading four or five horses. +Looking away to the north we see a mess-wagon, or "chuck outfit," +approaching, drawn by four horses, and from the slow and labored gait at +which they toil along they doubtless bring abundant store of good +things. Behind this, two riders are driving ten head of loose horses. +And these small detachments continue to come in from every point of the +compass all the forenoon, until, when all the ranches in this roundup +district have furnished their levies, the force numbers one hundred and +thirty-five men and about twelve hundred horses. Each rider has his +"string" of horses, numbering from five to seven, and changes two or +three times a day, riding one horse twenty to forty miles, and sixty to +seventy-five miles a day is considered a fair day's work for a man. The +reserve herd is placed in charge of a herder or "wrangler," who is +required to keep them under perfect control, and to be able to produce +such of them as are wanted on short notice, the _riata_ being frequently +used in taking them out of the herd. The foreman has arrived and takes +charge of the entire outfit, placing it on a thoroughly effective and +working basis for the morrow. + +At 3.30 o'clock in the morning the men are called. They are out of their +blankets and dressed in less time than it takes an Eastern man to rub +his eyes and yawn; each catches and saddles his horse; breakfast is +hastily eaten, and at the first dawn of day, they ride out in twos or +fours in every direction. These men present a decidedly picturesque, not +to say brigandish, appearance as they dash out across the prairie; their +red, blue, and gray flannel shirts, canvas pants, leather _chaparejos_, +broad sombreros, colored silk handkerchiefs knotted around their necks; +well-filled cartridge-belts, from which hang their six-shooters; their +high-top cowhide boots and large Mexican spurs, making up a _tout +ensemble_ that a band of Texan rangers might envy. Their work, their +fun, their excitement now begin, for small bunches of cattle are sighted +in every direction, which are to be rounded up and driven along, and +there is no time to lose. As they dash hither and thither after the +fleeing, scurrying creatures, the proverbial good nature, high spirits, +and enthusiasm of these "knights of the plains" find vent in a series of +hoots, yells, jokes, "ki-yis," bits of song, and grotesque slang +expressions, many of which are strikingly expressive when understood, +but which would be utterly unintelligible to a fresh tenderfoot. The +majority of these Western cattle are almost as wild as the native +buffaloes whose place they have usurped, having never been subjected to +the dominion of man, and rarely, in fact, have they ever come face to +face with him. At the first approach of the riders, therefore, they +throw up their heads and tails, look wild, sniff the air, and then turn +and run like a herd of antelopes. But by fast riding and skillful +maneuvering they are soon rounded up and herded. It is a bit of the true +spice of life for these dare-devil riders to find a vicious, rebellious, +"alecky" young critter who concludes that he won't be rounded up; and no +sooner has the belligerent shaken his burly head, pawed the earth a few +times, turned tail to his pursuers, broken through the skirmish line and +sailed away across the prairie, than three, four, or perhaps half a +dozen cayuses, who are also now in their elements, are headed for him. +Lariats are loosened from the saddle horn, spurs rattle as they pierce +the flanks of the already willing and eager steeds, and there ensues a +wild, headlong, reckless race that can have but one result. The steer +may be fleet of foot, and may lead, through a half-mile dash, but sooner +or later is headed off and turned. He may make a fresh break in another +direction, but his pursuers are down on him again like a pack of hungry +wolves on a stray sheep. And now, as the riders close in on him, they +belabor him unmercifully with their heavy coils of rope, or with rawhide +"quirts" carried for this purpose. If particularly wild, obstinate, or +obstreperous, he still keeps breaking away, and refusing to come into +camp. A _riata_ glistens in the sunlight, whistles through the air and +falls over his head. Another follows and puts a foot in the stocks. +Taking two or three turns of the lariat around the horn of the saddle, +the men ride in opposite directions till the ropes come taut, the steer +is fairly lifted from the earth and falls with a dull and thudful sound +that may be heard a hundred yards. Then another rope is thrown over his +head, the spurs are put to the faithful ponies, they are transposed for +the time into draft horses, and the luckless victim is ignominiously +"snaked" toward the herd, while the other boys "bang" him with coils of +rope from behind. A few yards of this mode of travel is usually +sufficient to tame the wildest long-horn Texan on the range, and a few +vigorous bellows soon announce an unconditional surrender. The ropes are +then taken off, he is let up, and it is short work to put him in the +herd. + +The valiant riders scour the country hither and thither, far and near, +"gathering beef" from east, west, north, and south. Every hoof found, +regardless of the brand it bears, or whether it bears any, is picked up +by this human cyclone and carried along. Toward noon the herds already +gathered are driven into the branding pens, where they are corraled. The +calves are snatched out and the "jimption is socked to 'em," as the boys +express it. So with any yearlings or older stock that have escaped the +branding-iron in former seasons. One or more irons for each owner are +kept hot, and when a roper has "downed" an animal he or the foreman +calls for the iron wanted, and setting his foot upon the victim's neck +places the red-hot device on its ribs, and throws his weight upon it, +leaving a deep, indelible, and time-enduring trade-mark which even he +who runs may read. Its ears, dew lap, or the loose skin on its jaw are +then slit and it is turned loose again. + +When a band is branded it is turned out; the party who brought it in +change horses, and away they go for another run. No special branders are +now provided, every man in the outfit, the cook and wrangler excepted, +being required to "swaller dust" and "wrestle calves" in the pens. Near +the middle of the day each squad comes in after finishing their catch, +make a run on the mess-wagons and devour the substantial provender with +which they are loaded, with appetites born only of the labor and +excitement in which they are engaged. + +The afternoon is usually devoted to branding the last bunches brought +in, and to "cutting out," returning or throwing over such stock as does +not belong to any of the ranchmen in this district. Strays are +frequently picked up whose brands show them to be a hundred miles or +more from home. When a number of these are collected they are cut out +and a squad of men drive them onto their proper ranges. This process is +called "throwing over." + +The cooks, teamsters, and wranglers usually move camp up the river every +morning to the next branding pen, or to some other spot designated by +the foreman, to which rounders bring their cattle during the day. A +portion of the stock collected, called the "cavoy," is carried along +with the camp all the time and herded by the "holders," but large +numbers after being branded are bunched and again thrown off onto the +range each day. Thus the outfit moves slowly up the stream, making a +clean sweep of everything to the middle of the divides on the east and +west, until the Wyoming roundup on the same stream is met coming down. +And now, having completed the work in hand, the outfit breaks up, and +the men return to the respective ranches on which they are employed or +go to other roundups where their services are needed. + +The object of the fall roundup is to gather in and cut out the fat +steers and drive them to the railroad stations for shipment to Eastern +markets. The work being almost entirely on adult animals is even more +laborious and hazardous than that of the spring, where the majority of +animals actually handled are calves. Hard riding, vigorous "cutting," +and daring dashes into headstrong, panic-stricken, stampeding herds are +necessary here, and roping and dragging out by main strength are hourly +occurrences. Branding-irons are also carried along, and any calves +missed on the spring roundup, or dropped after it, are subjected to the +fiery ordeal, just as their brothers and sisters were at the Mayday +party. + +Stray cattle, either calves or adults, bearing no brand and found alone +or herded with others already branded, but whose parentage can not be +definitely determined, are called "Mavericks," and in some districts are +sold at auction and the proceeds given to the school fund. In others, +they become the property of the man or company upon whose range they are +found. This privilege, however, is seriously abused by dishonest +ranchmen and cattle thieves, who infest every Western cattle-growing +district. These men ride out over the ranges at times when they are not +likely to be observed, carrying their branding-irons along, and rope and +brand every animal they can find that does not already bear a brand. In +some cases these are allowed to remain where found, for the time being, +but are usually driven onto the range claimed by the pirate who does the +work. In other instances, these men first drive the unbranded stock onto +their own ranges, and then, under cover of the Maverick law, openly +claim and brand it as their own. Many large herds have been accumulated +almost wholly by this system of thievery, and there are wealthy +cattlemen in the West to-day who never bought or honestly owned a dozen +head of the thousands that bear their brand. A certain cowboy, when +asked by an Eastern man what constitutes a Maverick, replied: "It's a +calf that you find and get your brand on before the owner finds it and +gets his on." + +But it is risky business, this cattle stealing, and many a man who has +been caught at it has been left on the prairies as food for the +coyotes, or has ornamented the nearest cottonwood tree until the magpies +and butcher birds have polished his bones. + +Branding is a decidedly cruel proceeding, and would doubtless come under +the bane of Mr. Bergh's displeasure were he here to witness it. Yet it +seems a necessary evil, there being no other known means of marking +cattle so effectually and indelibly. + +Parties of ladies frequently go out from the towns or cities to see the +roundup, not knowing or thinking of the painful features of it. They +enjoy the ride across the prairies and through the valleys. The +beautiful scenery, the grotesque "Bad Lands," the red, scoria-capped +hills, the beautiful green meadows, and the fringes of green trees that +mark the meanderings of the streams, all delight and interest them; they +enjoy the displays of horsemanship given by the valorous cowboys as they +wheel and cavort hither and thither in pursuit of scurrying bands of +cattle; they enjoy the stampeding and wild flight, the "knotting" and +"holding" of the large herds, all so skillfully and cleverly performed; +they enjoy the sight of the thousand and more loose horses, grazing and +scampering over the plains; they enjoy the fresh, pure air, the +wholesome noon repast in the shade of the great cottonwood trees, and +many other pleasant phases of the affair. But when the fire is lit and +the murderous irons inserted in it; when the captive creatures are +dragged forth lowing, murmuring, and bellowing; when the red-hot iron is +pressed into their quivering, smoking sides until the air is laden with +the odor of burning hair and roasting flesh, and the poor creature +writhes and struggles in its agony, the roundup is robbed of its +romance, and the ladies are ready to start for home at once. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + +Italics indicated _like this_. + +Small caps indicated LIKE THIS. + +Minor punctuation errors corrected without note. + +Words with multiple and archaic spellings left as in original. + +p. 329 [3-rail] used to represent a branding symbol with three parallel +bars. + + +Spelling changes: + +Table of Contents Chapter 1. "Enchance" changed to "Enhance". + +p. 63 "barrrier" changed to "barrier". + +p. 67 "ordinarly" changed to "ordinarily". + +p. 123 "fuanace" changed to "furnace". + +p. 167 "playad" changed to "played". + +p. 171 "catchng" changed to "catching". + +p. 201 "conspicious" changed to "conspicuous". + +p. 204 "intstead" changed to "instead". + +p. 237 "similiar" changed to "similar". + +p. 294 "firmanent" changed to "firmament". + +p. 296 "Novemver" changed to "November". + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Cruisings in the Cascades, by George O. 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