204 HUNTING SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



cleared herself from the dogs, and I found that I had a 

 wild colt to handle. She carried me with ease fre- 

 quently striking at me with her fore^feet. I managed 

 so that her feet usually went one upon each side of me, 

 when she reared and struck, so that I was but little 

 hurt. I would then have been glad to be out of that 

 scrape ; but the difficulty was in letting go. We soon 

 arrived at the opposite side of the field, where was 

 a high and strong fence. With my weight, the elk 

 could not jump the fence, and I here, with my left hand, 

 caught around a rail, and I found I was able to hold the 

 creature down, until my brother came up with the rope. 

 When this was fastened to her, both of us could hold 

 her. With the aid of a crotched stick, to keep her off, 

 we led her to a log stable', and there confined her. Af- 

 ter getting help so as to have one with a halter upon each 

 side, and one behind to whip up, we succeeded to lead her 

 home, a distance of twenty-eight miles." Merritt says, 

 that he has killed or caught with ropes, over thirty elk, 

 in and near this place. They have now, for more than 

 eighteen years, all disappeared from these parts, and it 

 will soon only be known by tradition, or from history, 

 that such animals ever roamed our forests. 



