THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 279 



exciting; and he who. has once taken part in it will say 

 that few sports can equal it, as it brings into action both 

 equestrian power and surety of aim. Having stalked the 

 animal, pursued it with hounds, and run it down on horse- 

 back, I prefer the latter to any other method of hunting it, 

 as it gives both the hunter and the hunted an opportunity 

 of displaying their best qualities. 



The most stirring gallop that I have had after it was in 

 the Wind River country in Wyoming. There were at the 

 time to which I refer no settlers in the region where the 

 chase came off, and I doubt if there are any now, as it was 

 occupied three or four years ago only by wild animals and 

 wilder Indians. I entered it with a party of miners who 

 were going there on a " prospecting " expedition, it being 

 reported that some of the hills there contained large de- 

 posits of gold and silver, and several small lakes of soda, 

 besides other valuable mineral treasures. The leader of 

 our party was a veteran scout and Indian fighter who had 

 lived in the country for many years, and when he was the 

 only white man to be found there, if I except an occasional 

 visit from a few trappers employed by the fur companies. 

 He had had so many contests with the Indians that he was 

 known by name or person to every tribe in the Territory, 

 and great was his fame among them ; so great, in fact, that 

 few of them would care to meet him in combat, or attack 

 any bodies of men led by him, whether they were soldiers 

 or civilians. He had also some influence with tliem on ac- 

 count of his being married to two squaws, and this induced 

 us to hope that they would not molest us. In order to be 

 prepared for all contingencies, however, we armed ourselves 

 with the best bowie-knives, rifles, and revolvers we could 

 procure; and being provided with two good American 

 horses each, and a small pack train of mules to carry our 

 baggage, we started from the Laramie Plains for the un- 

 known Eldorado, about one hundred and thirty miles dis- 

 tant, just as the sun was about setting. We chose this 

 time so as to prevent persons from knowing where we 

 were going, and also to get well 0:1 our way before any 



