EARLY DAY STORIES. 223 



CHAPTER XXX. 



Hunting Stories— My Last Big Hunt in Wheeler and Gar- 

 field Counties. 



In the summer of 1868 antelope were often seen on the 

 tableland between Maple and Pebble creeks in Dodge coun- 

 ty, and sometimes even they were found between Maple 

 creek and the Platte river within a dozen miles of Fremont. 

 That summer I shot two antelope north of Maple creek and 

 not more than four miles south of the place where Scrib- 

 ner now stands. In the winter of 1868 quite a good many 

 white tail deer lived along the Platte river and Maple creek 

 in Dodge county, hiding through the day time in the weedy 

 ravines that either make south to the Platte or north to 

 Maple creek. Two or three times I went with other men 

 after them, and every time we saw from two or three up 

 to half a dozen, but they were wild and cautious, and we 

 never even got a shot. 



In May 1869 I came with S. S. King to what is now 

 Antelope county looking for land. We started from Pebble 

 creek within a mile of where Scribner now is ; following the 

 creek for ten or twelve miles, thence going west over the 

 divide to Maple creek, striking it in the northeastern part 

 of Colfax county, thence following a branch of Maple creek 

 well up into Stanton county, thence northwest over the divide 

 and down into the Elkhorn valley, coming to the Elkhorn 

 river just below the mouth of Union creek. The country 

 was unsettled, and we saw white tail deer very often, and 

 antelope everywhere. We camped on Cedar creek in the 

 southern part of Oakdale township about a week, exploring 

 the country and running lines. We went all over Cedar 

 township, and all of Oakdale and Burnett townships south 

 of the Elkhorn, and the north tier of sections in Grant town- 



