VIEWS OF LIFE IN THE CRAZY MOUNTAINS. 54 1 



away, it was plain he did not taste it, as he still did his own slaughtering 

 when there was opportunity, and the shots fired into the brush never 

 hit him. At length, however, he must have been tempted, and poi- 

 son beginning its work, Mr. Lion made his last leap into the corral, 

 killed two sheep, and died by their side. The men placed him in a 

 wagon and brought him to the house for exhibition. He measured 

 nine feet from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail, and had a cat- 

 shaped head and ears, tremendous paws, and a dull-yellow color. It is 

 said the mountain-lions of the Black Hills are striped with white, par- 

 ticularly on the face, but this was not the case with the one of which 

 I write, the only one I have ever seen. It seems a misnomer to call 

 this creature a lion, even with the prefix mountain. He does not have 

 a den, but " lies around" wherever he can make himself comfortable, 

 sometimes living chiefly in an abandoned " wickey-up" a deserted shan- 

 ty in the brush, among the rocks, or in a "coolie," and always on the 

 watch. It is said they will not attack a person unless cornered, but I 

 think one who trusted this certificate of character might have cause to 

 repent. Stealthy animals with such characteristics are not to be 

 trusted. Our lion, set up by a taxidermist, was one of the attrac- 

 tions of the park last summer, and is probably one of the largest speci- 

 mens of his race. Sheep-owners have much to contend with in this 

 part of the country, and wild animals seem to have ways of their 

 own, with a ready adaptation of habits of mischief to circumstances. 

 The home corral outside the yard fence, and but a little way from the 

 house, contained at one time some two thousand sheep. There was a 

 fence around it, as well as about the house. Temporarily a few valuable 

 sheep were placed at night in the yard. The bears came down at 

 night, like the Assyrians of old, but instead of going to the outside 

 corral, which was far the handiest for them, they boldly under cover of 

 the darkness, came into the yard. The dogs gave the alarm, waking 

 every one on the place, but, before the men could get out, the bears had 

 killed seven sheep, and it seemed in pure wantonness mangled others 

 so that they afterward died. It was rather an uncommon thing for 

 these animals to venture so near a house. 



The sheep-dogs deserve more than a passing mention. Their intelli- 

 gence and quick apprehension of what is required of them, and faithful 

 performance of duty, are wonderful ; without them, the working force 

 for sheep would require to be more than doubled. They appreciate 

 kind treatment, and take to heart scolding and abuse. No surly or 

 cross man to the dogs should be allowed among sheep. A foreman 

 of a sheep-ranch told me that, in sending out a new man, he assigned 

 an old dog to him, thinking, if the man did not know his duty, the 

 dog did. He charged the would-be herder to be kind to the dog, and 

 said, " He will not stay with you if you are not." In two days the 

 dog was at home again. The foreman visited the man, taking another 

 dog, and said to him : "You were cross to the old dog, and I told you 



