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THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Illinois Should Establish Game Preserves 



I am what some people call a "nut" on the outdoor life proposition, 

 and you can hardly blame a fellow for getting the fever in a place like 

 Carlyle. This picturesque and rather historic little city, of which I have 

 the honor of serving my third consecutive term as Mayor, lies on the west 

 bank of the Kaskaskia river, one of the longest and crookedest streams in 

 the state. As some of the boys say, "You hardly know whether you are 

 going or coming when you navigate it." The people cross the river on a 

 suspension bridge built in 1859, or just sixty years ago, and the original 

 wire cables are still in use. 



When I was a "kid" there was an old watermill just below this bridge, 

 with a wooden dam, with a big floodgate, etc. This was some fishing place. 

 No trouble at all to catch all the crappie we wanted with a dinky pole and 

 line off the floor below the dam. It was great for channel cats, and we also 

 caught many salmon and bass, but we left this part of the game for the 

 high brows of the piscatorial fraternity from Carlyle and abroad. But 

 the mill was destroyed by fire many years ago, and since, the angling game 

 has not been so good. We still have a brush dam, but the water below it 

 is not deep enough to make it attractive for the finny tribe. 



A block west of the river is the Hunter's Home, a big two story frame 

 building. During the early days this place was conducted by James 

 Baxter, an old Englishman. It was a great resort for wealthy sportsmen 

 of New York, Cincinnati, St. Louis and other big cities. Occasionally 

 they came here from England. The attraction was mainly waterfowl, 

 prairie chicken and turkey hunting. The visitors loved to shoot snipe, and 

 the Sante Fe bottom country south of here seven miles was a great place 

 for this sport. The chickens could be found in abundance within a few 

 miles of Carlyle, ditto the wild turkeys. - 



SUSPENSION BRIDGE OVER THE KASKASKIA AT CARLYLE, ILLINOIS. 



