170 The Elk of the Pacific Coast 



1SS5 only one band was left, and that was on the 

 immense ranch of Miller and Lux in the upper 

 part of the valley, some twenty miles from Bakers- 

 field. In 1895, when I last saw this herd, it was 

 under rigid protection of the herdsmen of the 

 ranch, and though even wilder than in the years 

 gone by, and roaming a part of the Coast Range 

 where the grizzly yet laughed at his pursuers, no 

 one ventured to trouble them. They then num- 

 bered about twenty-eight. It is said there are 

 now over one hundred, and they have been turned 

 over to the care of the Lodge of Elks in Bakers- 

 field. But the turning over is merely nominal, 

 for they are as wild as ever. It means only that 

 any man who dares shoot one will repent it. 

 These are the last wild elk known south of 

 Mendocino or Humboldt County in the far north 

 of the state — the lonely survivors of countless 

 thousands. 



South of this point some fifty miles the great 

 valley is brought to a close by the Sierra Nevada 

 swinging around to join the Coast Range. But 

 in doing so it falls several thousand feet into the 

 low pass of Tehachipi, through which the South- 

 ern Pacific Railroad goes. This is broad, open 

 and low and has for a century been a thoroughfare 

 for cattle, antelope, and everything else that travels. 

 South of it in Antelope Valley is as good feed as 

 in the San Joaquin, while farther south is still 



