MUSKRAT HUNTING. 



BY HENRY THACKER.* 



IN the winter of 1844-5, I made two or three excursions 

 from the city of Chicago into the neighboring wild regions for 

 the purpose of spearing and trapping muskrats. At this dis- 

 tance of time I shall hardly be able to give from memory a 

 very accurate account of those excursions ; but I enjoyed 

 them so well, and they made such vivid impressions on my 

 mind, that I can at least give an outline of them, and shall 

 recall as I proceed many interesting incidents. 



The first thing I did, by way of preparation for the cam- 

 paign, was to procure a suitable spear, which was simply a rod 

 of round steel, three eighths of an inch in diameter, and three 

 feet long, nicely pointed and polished at one end, and at the 

 other driven firmly into a ferruled wooden handle, also about 

 three feet long. The next thing (and a very important one) 

 was to provide a pair of mufflers, made of old carpeting, to be 

 drawn on over my boots. Lastly I harnessed myself into a 

 knapsack suitable for carrying provisions, game, &c. Thus 

 equipped, I put on my skates one morning, as soon as I found 

 the ice strong enough to bear me, and started up the north 

 branch of the Chicago River for Mud Lake, a small sheet 

 of water about twelve miles distant, surrounded by extensive 

 marshes, a noted place, not only for the habitation of the 

 muskrat and mink, but for the gathering in the spring and 

 fall of the year, of multitudes of almost every variety of wild 

 ducks, geese, and other water-fowl. 



Here let me describe the character and situation of this 

 * A member of the Oneida Community. 



