2b pioneer lite; ok, 



February, as there might be no snow in the oarly 

 part of the winter to enable him to track them. Ste- 

 venson said he might have till the first of March if 

 he wished. The articles ©f agreement were drawn, 

 the security given and the bargain concluded. It 

 was then considered impossible to catch an elk alive, 

 and all the old hunters said it was lost money. 



The first of January, 1800, he prepared for his 

 hunt, and started, taking two of his boys and a man 

 named Maddock, with a horse, four dogs, and ropes 

 sufficient to hold an elk. They ascended on the ice 

 eight miles to Morrison's, told him what he had un- 

 dertaken, and requested him to go with them, as they 

 wished to get his dog, which was good to hunt elk. 

 Morrison declined going, as he considered an attempt 

 to capture an animal so powerful and dangerous to 

 be attended with much peril, and chose to keep out 

 of harm's way. My father therefore concluded to 

 try it the next morning with the help he then had. 

 We accordingly started out on the east side of Pine 

 Creek, up a small stream called Trout Kun, which we 

 ascended seven miles. "We then came to a spot where 

 the signs in the snow indicated that six or seven elk 

 had been about a week before. We determined to 

 encamp there for the night ; and as the weather was 

 very cold and the snow began to fall, we all set to 

 work with an axe and two tomahawks and built a 

 shanty of hemlock boughs. The next morning, as 

 the wind continued to blow very hard, and the snow 

 was falling rapidly, we concluded to remain there 

 until the weather was more fovorablc. About eleven 



