WESTERN" FIELD SPORTS IN EARLY DAYS. 267 



went into the timber, half a mile away, and as a wagon 

 and ox -team came along, M - engaged the driver to 

 follow the deer, which are not afraid of oxen. We left 

 our wagon, and I got into the other one, which was driven 



slowly toward the deer, M , in the meantime, making 



a circuit through the Avoods, and hiding beyond the deer. 

 They kept out of range of my shot-gun, feeding along 

 until they got within 100 yards of the ambushed hunter, 

 who got two of them in range, and killed them both with 

 one bullet. This was all the meat we wanted. A deer's 

 carcass could then be bought for $1.50 hide and all. 



I have always been more fond of fishing than of 

 shooting, and in 1840 the fish in the Illinois waters were 

 as abundant as game on the land. From the lake piers 

 we could catch perch, pike, lake trout, black and white 

 bass, cat-fish, and sometimes a muskallonge. At that time 

 the Chicago River water was pure enough to drink, and 

 pike, black bass, rock bass, cat-fish, and dog-fish could 

 be taken in either branch of the river, above the forks. 

 In the Calumet River, all these species were to be found 

 in great numbers, so that 100 pounds a day were often 

 taken with the rod. Big gar-fish and muskallonge were 

 there also. I saw one of the latter, which was six feet 

 long, and weighed eighty pounds, taken in a seine at the 

 river 1 s mouth. In the Fox River, and the lakes in the 

 northern part of the State, all these fish were plentiful, 

 as also in the Rock River. I caught black bass with the 

 fly in those waters fifty years ago. It is claimed that the 

 spoon is rather a modern device for catching fish, but I 

 used them on the lakes as long ago as 1842, and I think 

 they were, in a simple form, brought from Norway by the 

 immigrants. 



In the fall of 1840, I went, in company with Doctor 



T , to the new Territory of Iowa. We traveled in a 



light wagon, with two horses, taking a change of clothing, 



