American Big Game in its Haunts 



the town of Gardiner, just outside the Park limits, 

 and there make an address at the laying of the 

 corner stone of the arch by which the main road 

 is to enter the Park. Some three thousand people 

 had gathered to attend the ceremonies. A little 

 over a mile from Gardiner we came down out of 

 the hills to the flat plain ; from the hills we could 

 see the crowd gathered around the arch waiting 

 for me to come. We put spurs to our horses and 

 cantered rapidly toward the appointed place, and 

 on the way we passed within forty yards of a score 

 of black-tails, which merely moved to one side and 

 looked at us, and within a hundred yards of half a 

 dozen antelope. To any lover of nature it could 

 not help being a delightful thing to see the wild 

 and timid creatures of the wilderness rendered so 

 tame; and their tameness in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood of Gardiner, on the very edge of the 

 Park, spoke volumes for the patriotic good sense 

 of the citizens of Montana. Major Pitcher in- 

 formed me that both the Montana and Wyoming 

 people were co-operating with him in zealous 

 fashion to preserve the game and put a stop to 

 poaching. For their attitude in this regard they 

 deserve the cordial thanks of all Americans inter- 

 ested in these great popular playgrounds, where bits 

 of the old wilderness scenery and the old wilder- 



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