IN THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS. 125 



fanned under similar circumstances. The air was full of 

 leaden missiles ; the dry dust raised under and around the 

 fleeing herd as it does when a team trots over a dusty road. 

 Clouds of smoke hung over us, and the distant hills echoed 

 the music of our artillery until the last white rump dis- 

 appeared in the cottonwoods on the river bank. 



When the smoke oT battle cleared away and we looked 

 over the field, we found that we had not burned our powder 

 in vain. Five of the little fellows, the two bucks and three 

 does, had fallen victims to their curiosity. The two fawns 

 had strangely enough escaped, probably only because they 

 being so much smaller than their parents, were less exposed. 



This closed our hunting for the time being. We arrived 

 at Fort Keough on the twenty-first, tired and hungry, but 

 feeling well pleased with the result of our long, hard ride. 



To sportsmen in quest of large game I can heartily com- 

 mend the Big Horn country as the very place for them to go 

 to. Besides our own experience, I have the testimony of a 

 number of old frontiersmen to the effect that it is one of the 

 best game regions in the whole Northwest. Dr. J. C. Merrill, 

 post surgeon at Fort Custer, informs me that he spent two 

 weeks in the Big Horn mountains last June, collecting 

 ornithological specimens, and that during that time he saw as 

 many as five or six bears in a day, and that in one day he saw 

 eleven. He states that deer, elk, mountain sheep and other 

 large animals were equally plentiful. Several others with 

 whom I spoke gave testimony to the same effect. 



Persons who may contemplate a trip to the Big Horn 

 mountains, or any portion of the great Yellowstone country, 

 or National Park, should not forget that the most direct and 

 speedy route to that country from the East and South, is by 

 way of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and the Northern 

 Pacific railroads. 



