Hunting at High Altitudes 



The next morning we set out to bring in a good 

 supply of meat, taking with us a set of ice scales 

 used for weighing our animals, where this was de- 

 sirable. My diary of that date says : 



u Go with the scales to weigh bull elk. After 

 being drawn (all inside viscera removed since last 

 evening) he weighs 830 pounds. I meet with a 

 serious accident this morning. In helping to lift 

 the elk around, jammed my right leg against the 

 sharp tine of the elk horn. It penetrated the mus- 

 cular part of my leg just below the knee on right of 

 bone, one inch deep and one and a half inches long. 

 Rode to camp and applied cold water, after closing 

 the wound with sticking plaster. Swollen a good 

 deal in the evening." 



That note tells the story. The scales could not 

 weigh the animal until he was cut into four or five 

 parts. In assisting to weigh one of the pieces, my 

 right leg was jammed against a small tine of the 

 elk horn. The matter appeared to me very seri- 

 ous. In two cases in early life neglect of just such 

 hurts or of wounds of a less serious nature had 

 caused a local erysipelas that lasted three months 

 on one occasion. The nearest surgeon and hospital 

 was at Fort Washakie, a hundred and fifty miles 

 to the south. The nearest haven was Fort Ellis, 

 near Bozeman, three hundred miles to the north. 



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