350 WMGHT, Early Records of the Wild Turkey. uuly 



Wabash. 1 "Wild turkeys and deer were seen in great numbers 

 on the banks of the Ohio." Below Vincinnes on one October day 

 they took five turkeys. Opposite Louisville at another time they 

 shot four more and the same success was experienced at several 

 Other places. 



At the beginning (1S01) of the next century Matthew Carey says 

 that in the Northwestern and Indiana Territories, 2 "Turkies. . . . 

 an- in greater plenty here, than the tame poultry are in any part 

 of the old settlements in America." Not until 1816, do we discover 

 the next pertinent note. David Thomas in the Wabash country 

 at first writes that 3 "We had been taught to expect that turkies 

 were very numerous, but we have been disappointed, for certainly 

 we have not seen half a dozen full grown in all the Western ( 'oun- 

 try." Later, he holds that "at that (above) time it appears that 

 these fowls were hatching or secreted with their young." "Wild 

 Turkies abound in this country." The next year 1817, Samuel R. 

 Brown records that 4 "Wild turkies abound in the hilly districts" 

 of Illinois. "The woods (of Indiana) abound with deer, bears, 

 wolves and wild turkies." "In travelling seven miles through the 

 woods of Dearborn county I counted two bears, three deer and 

 upwards of one hundred turkies; more than half of the latter 

 however are young ones, just beginning to fly." In Michigan he 

 also notes this species. 



In the early days of Illinois, Morris Birkbeck 5 tells us that when 

 the stock of provisions failed, the wild turkey was one of the last 

 resorts. Its pursuit also served the pioneer with plenty of strong 

 exercise. The same author in his " Letters" writes 6 " We are now 

 feasting on wild turkeys. We have not sat down to dinner for the 

 last month, I believe, without a fine roast turkey. They weigh 

 about twelve pounds, and are sold five for a dollar. Some weigh 



' Penn. Mag. Hist, and Biog., XII, pp. 166, 173, 176. 



J Carey, Matthew. American Pocket Atlas. 2nd edit. Phila., 1801, p. 76. 



3 Thomas, David. Travels through the Western Country in the Summer of 

 1816 Auburn, 1819, pp. 161, 162, 210. 



« Brown, S. R. The Western Gazetteer; Auburn, N. Y., 1817, pp. 30, 48, 78, 

 169. 



5 Birkbeck, Morris. Notes on a Journey in America,. . . . 3rd edit., London* 

 1818, pp. 123, 149. 



6 Birkbeck, M. Letters from Illinois. Phila., 1818, p. 63. 



