18 



THE OSPREY 





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THE SAGE GROUSE. 



FROM THE DRAWING BY DWIGHT W. HUNTINGTON. 



berries, currants and plums grow in great abundance, 

 and the streams near the mountains are full of trout. 



The army officers of the garrisons drive out in their 

 ambulances, drawn by four mules, and when they 

 come to the grouse all hands alight and beat up the 

 birds from the sage. The ambulance in the large 

 illustration is that of the Fifth United States Infantry 

 (General Miles' old regiment), and I have had many 

 pleasant drives with its officers. 



Well-trained dogs add much to the sport, as the 

 birds lie hard in the sage and are difficult to find and 

 put up. 



I found the Sage Grouse most abundant in the vi- 

 cinity of Fort Bridger and south to the Uintah Moun- 

 tains. Here the tufted fields of the gray-green sage 

 sweep up to the sides and walls of the adjacent ' bad 

 lands,' or buttes, devoid of vegetation but beautiful 

 in color and fantastic in form. The buttes are 

 strangely fashioned by erosion, and are full of the 

 fossil remains of animals and fishes. Numerous 

 domes, spires and pinnacles surmount the buttes and 

 the conglomerate layers running about them have 

 been compared to Egyptian carving. Towards the 

 southwest are the blue Uintah Mountains, with snow 

 flashing on their crests all summer, and towards the 

 east the vast plain of sage extends as far as the eye 

 can reach, — blending at the horizon into an azure 

 sky. The trout streams which issue from the moun- 

 tain side become the small rivers of the plains, flow- 

 ing at long intervals and nourishing a narrow line of 

 verdure or a yellow screen of cottonwood, which 



marks their course. It is along such streams that 

 the sage grouse hunter must pitch his camp. 



The Sage Grouse is the grouse of the desert, and, 

 according to Roosevelt, is never found near trees. 

 "Indeed," he says, "no trees grow in its haunts." 

 This is true of many localities, but I have often shot 

 Sage Grouse in the shade of the cottonwoods on the 

 banks of the streams, but only when the wild sage 

 extended up close to the trees. I once shot one from 

 a running horse, riding at a canter into a covey, and 

 it fell across the stream and beyond the trees. I 

 remember the incident well, for it established my 

 reputation with the guides as a marksman with the 

 'scatter gun.' When we were encamped on Henry's 

 River, I shot many Sage Grouse near the trees, and 

 always looked for them in such localities towards the 

 middle of the day. 



The sage-brush and grease-wood make a fine camp 

 fire. At evening our soldiers gathered large quan- 

 tities of both, — pulling the smaller bushes up by the 

 roots and chopping down the larger ones. We usually 

 dined just before sunset, and royal dinners they were 

 — a soup, brook trout, young grouse, venison or buf- 

 falo. Sometimes teal or mallard, an elk's heart or 

 buffalo tongue, canned vegetables and fruits from the 

 commissary, and wild grapes, gooseberries, cur- 

 rants and plums. After dinner the pipes were lighted, 

 the saddles and blankets drawn near the fire, and we 

 listened to tales of wild adventure with Indians and 

 bears, and of hunting the deer, the elk and the 

 buffalo. 



