130 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER. 



At the mouth of the stream the valley was a 

 mere gorge, but it broadened steadily the 

 farther up we went, till the rapid river wound 

 through a wide expanse of hilly, treeless 

 prairie. On each side the mountains rose, 

 their lower flanks and the foot-hills covered 

 with the evergreen forest. We got milk and 

 bread at the scattered log-houses of the few 

 settlers ; and for meat we shot sage fowl, 

 which abounded. They were feeding on 

 grasshoppers at this time, and the flesh, es- 

 pecially of the young birds, was as tender 

 and well tasting as possible ; whereas, when 

 we again passed through the valley in Sep- 

 tember, we found the birds almost uneatable, 

 being fairly bitter with sage. Like all grouse 

 they are far tamer earlier in the season than 

 later, being very wild in winter; and, of 

 course, they are boldest where they are least 

 hunted ; but for some unexplained reason 

 they are always tamer than the sharp-tail 

 prairie fowl which are to be found in the 

 same locality. 



Finally we reached the neighborhood of the 

 Battle Ground, where a rude stone monument 

 commemorates the bloody drawn fight between 

 General Gibbons' soldiers and the Nez Perec's 

 warriors of Chief Joseph. Here, on the third 

 day of our journey, we left the beaten road 

 and turned toward the mountains, following 

 an indistinct trail made by wood-choppers. 

 We met with our full share of the usual mis- 

 haps incident to prairie travel ; and towards 

 evening our team got mired in crossing a 

 slough. We attempted the crossing with 

 some misgivings, which were warranted by 



