354 Wright, Early Records of the Wild Turkey. [July 



it was basted and turned till done. Though cooked by primitive 

 means, a turkey roasted in this manner is equal in flavor to the 

 best that improved methods can produce." Finally, in Michigan 

 we have this note. "Wild turkeys were often seen by the score 

 by the early settlers, and some few have been seen till quite re- 

 cently (1888). In the Wabash region in 1855 Beste, an English- 

 man, says, 1 "We met a peasant carrying a rifle over one shoulder, 

 and in the other hand, a black wild turkey." 



Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. 



Most of the printed records of the wild turkey in this region come 

 after 1800. When at Lake Pepin, J. Carver in 1766-1768, finds 

 in November, 2 " Great numbers of fowl frequent also this Lake and 

 rivers adjacent, .... and in the groves are found great plenty of 

 turkeys and partridges." In 1804, Captain Clarke traversed this 

 region and on one occasion, 3 "went out to hunt and killed a small 

 turkey." In another instance when the party was only 4 days' 

 trip west of St. Louis, the record says, " passed the mouth of Mine 

 River; saw several turkeys on the shores." In 1S08-1816, Henry 

 Ker (1. c, p. 40) and his party when on the Mississippi "were 

 visited by a few of the Osark tribe of Indians, who came to us in 

 canoes, bringing with them a few turkies;. ..." In 1806, Zebulon 

 Montgomery Pike starts on a trip up the Missouri and Osage 

 Rivers, and through Kansas to the Pawnee River on the Republican 

 River. At Gasconade River, July 24, he 4 " killed .... three tur- 

 keys." Thereafter, they continue to kill turkeys throughout the 

 trip. In one instance he pities some poor fellows to whom he gives 

 whiskey, "they having had only two turkeys for four days." 



In 1809-1811, Bradbury says, 5 "With. . . turkeys, the town of 



i Beste, J. R. The Wabash; etc. 2 vols. London, 1855. Vol. 2, p. 50. 



2 Carver, J. Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 

 1766, 1767 and 1768. London, 1778, p. 55. 



s Gass, Patrick. Journal of the Voyage and Travels of . . . . Capt. Lewis and 



Capt. Clarke During the Years 1804, 1805, 1806. 4 edit. Phila., 1812, pp. 



27, 262. 



1 The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike. New edit. Edited by 

 Elliott Coues. N. Y., 1893, Vol. II, pp. 366, 368, 370, 373. 381, 394, 395, 399. 



5 Bradbury, John. Travels in the Interior of America in the Years 1809, 1810 

 and 1811 Liverpool, 1817, p. 261. 



