Vol. XXXIII 

 1915 



Wright, Early Records of the Wild Turkey. 217 



In 1806, Priscilla Wakefield (1. c, pp. 135, 146) in East Tennessee 

 "Met several flocks of wild turkeys, forty or fifty in a company." 

 In Kentucky she records that " Wild turkeys are numerous and in 

 the uninhabited parts so tame as to be easily shot. In autumn 

 and winter they feed upon acorns and chestnuts. They inhabit 

 the sides of rivers, and perch upon the tops of the highest trees." 

 The same year, Thomas Ashe, reliable or otherwise, observes the 

 turkey at "Kenhaway." "Several flocks of wild turkeys crossed 

 us from the mountains to the water side, we killed two fine young- 

 birds, and could have killed forty had we been disposed to enter 

 on the commission of unnecessary carnage." At Louisville, Ky., 

 he writes 1 " I killed a few young turkeys, which were exquisite in 

 taste and flavor." Near Knoxville, Tenn., Henry Ker finds 2 " The 

 woods abound with plenty of game, such as ... . and turkies in 

 abundance through the year." In 1817, S. R. Brown (1. c, p. 110) 

 holds "Wild turkies are still numerous in the unsettled parts" of 

 Kentucky. In the summer of 1818, H. R. Schoolcraft observes 

 that along the Ohio river 3 "The wild turkey, quail and squirrel 

 are daily met on either shore, and we find no difficulty in killing 

 as many as we have occasion for." 



In 1822-23, W. H. Blane reports (1. c, p. 260) "there (is) plenty 

 of deer and wild turkeys in the woods " of Kentucky. About eight 

 years later, Withers remarks that 4 " The body found in the salt- 

 petre cave of Kentucky, was wrapped in blankets made of linen and 

 interwoven with feathers of the wild turkey, tastefully arranged." 

 The next year, 1832, T. Vigne (1. c, Vol. II, pp. 45, 57, 58) finds 

 "Wild turkeys. . . .are found in the barrens," near Glasgow, Ky. 

 Of Mammoth Cave he writes that "In the neighbourhood of the 

 cave, there are a great many wild turkeys, and a tolerable sprinkling 

 of deer, but both were difficult of approach at that season of the 

 year. I was exceedingly anxious for a shot at a wild turkey, but 



1 Ashe, Thomas. Travels in America Performed in 1806, etc. London, 1808, 

 pp. 173, 235. 



2 Ker, Henry. Travels through the Western Interior of the United States. 

 Prom the Year 1808 up to the year 1816. Elizabethtown, N. J., 1816, p. 311. ! 



8 Schoolcraft, H. R. A View of the Lead Mines New York, 1819, 'pp. 



232, 225. 



* Withers, Alexander S. Chronicles of Border Warfare. Clarksburg, Va., 

 1831, p. 37. 



