Elk for Superior Game Preserve 



WINNING back to Minnesota the elk which have crossed 

 the international border into Canada, and re-intro- 

 ducing them in the Superior Game Preserve, there to 

 be protected by state laws, is ardently advocated by W. T. 

 Cox, state forester. Not that the great herds which fled to 

 the Canadian wilds on the approach of civilization years ago, 

 may be brought back, but sufficient of the species should be 

 obtained to give them another start. The country is ideal, 

 the land their native haunt and conditions in the Superior 

 reserve receptive. Mr. Cox said: 



Thousands of Elk Roamed Through the Heavily Timbered 

 Country. 



"Not many years ago Minnesota was the home of the 

 noblest elk in America. The settlers of the Minnesota River 

 valley and the Lake Park region to the northward used to 

 see more elk than common deer. It was not unusual dur- 

 ing the winter when the elk were banding and moving into 

 more heavily timbered country, for thousands to be seen in 

 a, single herd. This splendid animal which furnished meat 

 for the tables of our fathers in all that region from Southern 

 Minnesota northwestward and northward to the Canadian 

 line, has all but left the state. Probably not more than a 

 dozen individuals still exist in the country north of the Red 

 Lake. 



"Did the others suffer the fate of the bison? It is our 

 opinion that they did not. Of course thousands were killed 

 and eventually all would have suffered a similar fate had they 

 remained in the territory they liked so well the Lake Park 

 region. Pope, Douglas and Ottertail were wonderful counties 

 for elk because the little prairies, the hardwood forests, the 

 hundreds of lakes and streams made conditions ideal as re- 

 gards food and shelter. That territory has been claimed by 

 the farmer, and rightfully so, for the soil is rich. Cultivated 

 fields an<J fenced pastures have taken the place of the vast 

 game field that once stretched imfajcoken to the northward. 



