3 OFTEN wish that an old beaver neighbor of mine 

 would write the story of his life. Most of the 

 time for eighteen years his mud hut was among 

 the lilies of Lily Lake, Estes Park, Colorado. He 

 lived through many wilderness dangers, escaped 

 the strategy of trappers, and survived the danger- 

 ous changes that come in with the home-builder. 

 His life was long, stirring, and adventurous. If, in 

 the first chapter of his life-story, he could record 

 some of the strong, thrilling experiences which 

 his ancestors must have related to him, his book 

 would be all the better. 



" Flat-top," my beaver neighbor, was a pioneer 

 and a colony-founder. It is probable that he was 

 born in a beaver house on Wind River, and it is 

 likely that he spent the first six years of his life 

 along this crag and aspen bordered mountain 

 stream. The first time I saw him he was leading 

 an emigrant party out of this stream's steep- 



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