BEAVERS—THEIR WAYS. 87 
his body thrown in the Round Lake, below Strawberry, 
by Flopping Bill and party during the summer of 1884. 
The first bill for the-protection of beavers in the. Da= 
kotas was introduced by Representative Green of Man- 
dan during the legislative session Setting at Bismarck, 
in 1886. But little attention was paid to the law at first 
_by the trappers, and fur buyers dealt in the Open mart for 
these pelts the same as in the days before the lawmakers 
attempted to stretch a hand in succor of the remnant 
of our wild animals and birds. 
In connection with these times I will relate an inci- 
dent: Among others who came tothe Missouri slope 
Country with the boom of ’83 was a young man from 
Red Wing, Minnesota. He was intelligent and a good 
linguist in German, English, Sioux and other tongues. 
He made headquarters in the Painted Woods for a num- 
ber of years and by his diligence accumulated quite a 
herd of ponies. One of his weak points, however, was 
‘his desire for a continuance of a trapper’s life and to 
this end he moved his effects to the upper White Earth 
River, where he destroyed many beavers and accumu- 
lated other furs. In the spring of 1886 he drove down 
to Bismarck, the State capital to dispose of his peltries. 
On his way down the trail, the trapper was accosted by 
the writer, who was an acquaintence of some years. 
After salutation and some conversation as to his long 
absence, and at the same time noting a bundle of bea- 
ver pelts among his effects in the Open wagon box, I 
reminded him of the new law as to beaver protection, 
and cautioned him that on his return tothe White Earth 
River he should cut out beaver trapping from his line of 
work. His reply was: 
