78 EARLY DAY STORIES. 



or greatly diminished in quantity, having been turned over 

 by the plow, or trampled to death by herds of cattle. Prom- 

 inent among these is the wild sweet pea that was found in 

 great abundance in the early days, especially where the land 

 was somewhat sandy, giving color to the hillsides, and fill- 

 ing the air with fragrance. It is eaten by cattle as greedily 

 as is the grass, and being an annual, it is only a matter of 

 time until it will be exterminated. What a pity it is, that 

 the white man cannot enter into and possess a fruitful and 

 inviting wilderness, just as God gave it to him, without 

 destroying some of its most charming attributes. The wild 

 animals have gone, and so have many of the birds, the wild 

 flowers and the wild grasses have either gone or are going 

 — only the landscape remains, but shorn of many of its most 

 beautiful features. 



But to return to the wild things that were found here 

 in an early day; the antelope were more numerous than 

 any others of the larger animals, or in fact than all others 

 combined. During the months of May, June and July they 

 might be seen anywhere on the smooth prairie, either a sol- 

 itary one, or in little bands of three or four, or an old doe 

 with her two fawns, or sometimes a drove of a dozen or 

 more. They are animals of the plains, and do not frequent 

 the rough, hilly lands, nor the timbered tracts. They do not 

 hide from their enemies, nor seek to conceal themselves, 

 but lie out in the open where they can see as well as be 

 seen. They depend wholly upon their senses of sight and 

 smell to detect the presence of enemies, and upon their 

 fleetness to escape. They stay out in the open, and do not 

 seek shelter during storms. They feed upon almost every 

 kind of weed that grows upon the prairie, but eat very little 

 grass. I have observed our own tame antelope many times 

 when feeding — in summer they would nip the weeds, leav- 

 ing the grass untouched, and in winter would pick all the 

 weeds from the hay leaving the grass uneaten, and al- 



