CATCHING MY FIRST RACCOON 

 frightened would be putting it in a very mild 

 form. We had nothing to kill the raccoon 

 with, and would probably not have done so had 

 we something with which to do it. /Ay sister hav- 

 ing more courage than I, stayed and watched 

 the coon whilst 1 ran back home for mother- 

 father was away tending to his traps— to come 

 and help kill the coon. With two big clubs my 

 mother and i soon had /Ar. Coon's earthly career 

 ended, it has been more than a half century 

 ago since this happened. I have hunted and 

 trapped some big game since that time, but never 

 became quite so excited as on the morning 

 when I caught the first raccon. 



The scene that morning will be forever photo- 

 graphed on the tablets of my memory. It was 

 at this place I lived when I began my early hunt- 

 ing, commencing to realize the pleasure it af- 

 forded me. But of course I had no idea of the 

 hardships which existed in it. We resided here 

 about two years and a half. In the meantime 

 my father bought the Bissel stock, consisting of 



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