476 



CONSERVATION 



foot), you may suffer the disgrace of Possibly the horse wanted to go too. 



having to abandon your horse ! Anyhow, you feel afterward that it 



Remembering all these things, you was a good thmg for both of you. 

 work down into that half-mile abyss of But, returnmg to the daily routine of 

 rocks and trees. You come to places our lives, I note that the problems of 

 where your horse draws his feet to- meadows to camp on and of horse- feed 

 gether and whimpers like a frightened summer and wmter seem to grow big- 

 child. You coax and explain matters ger every year. We have more rangers 

 till he slides down somehow. Now and and more horses. There are more tour- 

 then you tie him to some granite splin- i^ts, more cattle-camps, more pressure 

 ter, and go ahead to map the course; ^n our grazing resources. Most of the 

 ,11 ^ f ^u v^„ ^^ people who come up here for summer 

 you roll rocks out of the way. You go ^^ ^ . u u 4. ^^ *.u 

 1 , ^ u ^ 1 \^■^A are as nice as can be, but some of them 

 back, talk to your horse; you blind- . j ^i • -ru 4. ^^ 

 X 1 , u- r \u 1 ^ ^ 1 A-^ f rather crowd things. The rangers tell 

 fold him lor the ast tremendous effort. ^^^^^ ^^^ stories around thei? camp- 

 And thus you toil together all day long ^^^^ ^ remember one which has a 

 from dawn to dark, and you cross that ^^^^. ^^ ^^^^^^j ^^ ^^^ ^^^-^^^ 

 canon which no one else has ever problems 



crossed with a horse, and you camp in -p^ere was a professor of social sci- 



a meadow unknown and lovely, untram- ^^^^^ jj-^ ^^^^ g^^id and remote institu- 



pled by cattle, in acres of wild lilies tjo^ ^f learning who once came to Cali- 



and monks-hood. (Someone asks how fornia with his wife and sister, bought 



you can camp without a pack? You ^ lavish outfit, hired a guide, and 



have matches and a saddle-blanket, a climbed into one of the national forests, 



tin cup, coffee, crackers, and a can of when, as the fates would have it, he 



something or other. No one needs ^ame into conflict with a sixty-dollar 



more.) forest guard. 



But after supper you say to your- This guard had fenced in about fif- 



self: "I seem full of aches; guess I teen acres of meadow, where he 



scraped somewhere sliding down those camped and went every day to work 



rocks." And you examine yourself trails, look out for fires, and generally 



and find a dozen or more cuts, scratches, improve things. 



bruises, abrasions, and wrenches. If One night, when he came back from 



you were a townsman you would be a smashing hard time of it, rolling big 



sent to the hospital, but up here it only rocks into a creek to keep it from 



amuses you. Then you call up your washing out a trail (and a lot of young 



horse to have a cracker, and you look pines, besides), he found the social 



him over to find that he is batted and science man and his party camping at 



spotted all over in much the same way his spring, and their eight animals were 



as you are. But neither of you would in his pasture. There was a sign on the 



admit that it was a high price for that gate, "Property of the United States," 



caiion. and the gate was padlocked, but the 



Some one asks me "was it absolutely professor had ordered the guide to 



necessary to go into such a place? make a hole in the fence. 



Couldn't one ride around it?" Yes, and The guard (who has my sympa- 



no, to both questions alike. There thies) tried to express himself, and sug- 



might be a possible power-plant site gested other camping places, not far 



down there, or a line for a flume, or a off. But, as he said later, "The perfes- 



new species of tree, you know. Broadly sor was a dinky little dude, an' the 



speaking, too, no one can rightly know guide was jist a stable boy from San 



his forest without conquering dozens of Jose. But his bosses was extra hungry, 



just such places. because they hadn't had a noon-feed. 



"Then why not go afoot on these Came right by lots of grass; an' his 



wild explorations?" women folks were along, an' they 



