FORESTRY QUARTERLY 



Vol. XIII September, 1915 No. 3 



THE REGENERATION OF DENUDED AREAS IN THE 



BIGHORN MOUNTAINS BY DOUGLAS FIR *^" 



By E. S. Peirce ifOTAf 



"Lum" Williams' reputation for possessing a cheerful disposi- 

 tion was widespread throughout the Bighorn Basin and it waSf 

 seldom that he felt so "out of sorts" with himself as on a certain 

 afternoon, late in October in the year '79. That he was returning 

 from a bear hunt the result of which was unsuccessful, in spite 

 of the fact that in those days big game was plentiful in the Big- 

 horns and "Lum" was noted as a good shot, was no doubt par- 

 tially responsible for his ill humor. The evening before he had! 

 heard how a prospector, returning from the Clouds Peak County, 

 "had met up with a monster 'silver tip' right there at the beef 

 trail crossing on Middle Fork," and reckoned, although he was 

 packing his 44 Winchester, he didn't want to tackle him. Now 

 bear didn't grow big enuf to bluff out "Lum" and as he liked 

 bear huntin' second to nothin', he just " 'llowed I'll prowl up that 

 way in the mornin' and see if I can't locate Mr. Bar — that 'ornery 

 pinto needs some ridin' anyhow and a trip up in the hills '11 do 

 him good." Four o'clock the following morning found "Lum" 

 half way up the canyon and soon after sun-up, as he was crossing 

 a soft place near the mouth of South Fork he saw a huge bear 

 track in the mud. He " 'llowed" this was the bear seen the 

 day before by the prospector for it sure was the biggest track 

 he'd ever seen. The bear was headed up South Fork and as rid- 

 ing wasn't good up that way, he picketed the "pinto" in a smalli 

 park and started ofT afoot to see if he couldn't get a glimpse of 

 the "Old Boy." About 6 o'clock that evening "Lum," having 

 walked in vain over what he " 'llowed was the whole damn Rocky 

 Mountain range," returned to his starting point to find that his 

 horse had broken the picket rope and "pulled out." "Lum" 

 knew that cayuse too well to entertain any hopes that he would 

 stop short of the ranch, so spotting a log at the edge of the timber 



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