CALIFORNIA PISH AND GAME 141 



both. State and Federal, making' it a felony to kill an elk. Though 

 fewer elk were killed after this law became effective, the herd con- 

 tinued to diminish in numbers. These animals had no regard for 

 fences and were doing considerable damage to the cultivated crops of 

 Miller and Lux and the Kern County Land Company. 



A letter written to James Ogden, manager of the Miller and Lux 

 Ranch at Buttonwillow, in 1904, by F. T. Hittett indicates that the 

 elk were given to the government by Mr. JMiller. He states in this 

 letter : " I have a very large pasture enclosed for these elk in Sequoia 

 National Park and would like to be able to get these elk there as soon 

 as possible." 



C. Hart Merriam, then Chief, United States Bureau of Biological 

 Survey, described an attempt in that same year to drive this elk herd 

 into a corral which had been especially constructed for the purpose 

 {The Scientific Monthly, Nov., 1921, pp. 465^75). The plan was to 

 drive the main band from their nightly feeding grounds to the corral, 

 a distance of six and one-half miles. The date had been set for 

 November 12, 1904. About 35 expert riders and cattle ropers had 

 volunteered, among them our State Senator, James I. Wagy, who did 

 such splendid work in securing the refuge which has recently been 

 built. The drive was in charge of Superintendent of the Ranch James 

 Ogden, who reported that the riders were out long before daylight in 

 order to get behind the elk, between them and the foothills, before day- 

 light. Members of the Biological Survey went to the corral with 

 cameras, expecting to photograph the incoming herd. While waiting 

 they reported that a cloud of dust was seen moving steadily westward at 

 some distance. From a water tank tower, one spectator stated that 

 he could see the elk in front of the moving dust, but suddenly the dust 

 disappeared and it was more than an hour before a rider finally arrived 

 with the depressing news that the elk had broken and scattered to the 

 hills and could not be turned. They had turned and charged the 

 riders, broken through the line and escaped to the hills. A few had 

 been pursued, roped and hog-tied and a horseman had been sent to the 

 ranch for wagons in which to bring them in. 



After a long wait, the first wagon arrived at the corral bearing 

 three elk, an old bull, a two-year old male and a calf which was already 

 dead. All had been injured in the roping and fighting before they 

 were thrown and tied and the two survivors were nearly paralyzed 

 from lying so long hog-tied. When the bindings were released and 

 the animals freed in the corral they had great difficulty in getting up 

 and standing. It was some time before they recovered the use of their 

 legs. Nevertheless, the old bull, although scarcely able to stand on 

 his feet, charged the men in the corral as soon as his fetters were 

 loosened, driving them over the fence. He then attacked the two-year 

 old bull, driving his brow tines into its side. The younger animal 

 soon began to bleed from his nose and mouth and later died. To pre- 

 vent further harm, the old bull was again caught up and his antlers were 

 sawed off close to his head. 



Shortly after noon, a second wagon, which had been obliged to 

 travel a long distance to pick up the widely scattered hog-tied elk, 

 arrived bearing five animals. Three of these were already dead, only 

 an old cow and a bull calf reaching the corral alive. Thus eight elk 

 were captured, of which fomr reached the corral alive and four dead 



