98 



GAME AND FISH HESOHTS, 



Elm Creek. T iffalo, deer, antelope, geese, iucks and grouse; a variety of 

 fishing in the Ehu and Buffalo creeks, and the Platte River. Reached via the 

 Union Pacific Railroad. Board $i ; teams $3. Prairies and bluffs. 



Kearney Junction. Elk, deer, antelope, a few buffalo, pinnated grouse, quail, 

 snipe, woodcock, plover, geese, ducks, jack rabbits, beavers, otters, minks j a 

 variety of fishing. Reached via Union Pacific Railroad. Hotel §2, private board 

 Js pel week ; teams $3. Provide camping equipments. Rolling prairie. Fifty 

 miles to the southward flows the Republican River ; the banks of which are still 

 the feeding ground of countless numbers of buffalo, and the -hunting ground of 

 the brave Pawnee, the treacherous Sioux, and many other smaller tribes of In- 

 dians. Fifty miles to the northward lies the Loup Fork, once the undisputed 

 home of the Pawnee, and now a sort of debatable ground between their Reserva- 

 tion and that of their deadly enemies, the Sioux. On the banks of this river are 

 grand elk grounds. A little further to the west among the sand-hills, feed the 

 watchful antelope ; beaver and otter are in every stream. The open prairie fur- 

 aishes chickens, sharp tailed grouse, and upland plover, while the river bottoms 

 teem with quail, and occasionally we find a drove of wild turkeys. Deer, both 

 black-tail and Virginia, abound both in the rivers and along the creeks. In short, 

 whether the sportsman carry his rifle or shot-gun, or both, he will find work 

 enough. 



The Loup River country abounds in elk (or wapiti), the black-tail or mule 

 deer, th» white-tail, or red deer, the pronghorn antelope, and occasionally a stray 

 buffalo. Musquash, beaver and otter are found in nearly all the shallow, swiftly, 

 running streams. Of game birds, there are the sharp-tailed grouse, common pin- 

 nated grouse, and in their season, all the water fowl common to the west. Tin 

 Loup River is a miniature Platte, (of which it is a tributary)^ in many respects 

 and drains with its branches much of northwestern Nebraska. The Upper Mid- 

 dle Loup, where the best hunting is, has the same broad channel, and innumera- 

 ' ble sand bars. Its low banks and many islands, are densely covered with a 

 thick, tall growth of coarse grass, weeds, and willow brush. The country lying 

 adjacent to this river, and its main branch, the Dismal, is, to say the least, very 

 hilly, being composed of ranges of bluffs lying parallel to the river, and succeed- 

 ing each other at intervals of one or more miles, as far as the eye can reach. The 

 intervening valleys are made up of short, sharp ridges and steep-sided knolls, 

 usually but a few yards apart. Deep canons from the river, wind out into the 

 various ranges, furnishing timber of several kinds, including cedar, elm, ash, box- 

 elder, and many brush thickets. The first grows in thick dark clumps along the 

 steep sides, and is intermixed with the latter varieties, along the level, floor-like 

 bottoms of the canons. Such grasses as are indigenous to the soil, grow sparsely 

 on the up-lands, among which is the famous buffalo or gramme grass. The low- 

 lands furnish a rank growth of " blue-stem," or ■■' blue-joint," everywhere com- 

 mon in the West. 



The elk, and black-tail deer range among the highest points of the bluffs ; the 

 former in bedding choose some elevated spur or ridge, while the mule-deer bed 

 in "blow-outs" (excavations made by the elements in the loose soil) along the 

 higher ranges, both varieties going some distance for water. The Virginia deer 

 prefer the willow-covered islands, the reedy patches, and the many plum thickets 

 in the immediate vicinity of the riyer.' 



To reach the best hunting grounds, take Pacific Railroad to Kearney Junction, 

 and thence to Mack's ranche, where mule teams can be obtained. 



Cheyenne County— 



Big Spring. Antelope, buffalo, black-tailed and white-tailed deer, very abun- 

 dant ten miles north, with plenty of mountain grouse. Reached via Union Paci- 

 fic Railroad. Private board $1.50 to $2 j guides $2 to $3, teams $3 to $5. 



Sidfiey. Buffalo, antelope, deer, some mountain sheep, jack rabbits, ducks, 

 and geese. Reached via Union Pacific Railway. Hotel $1.50 to $3 ; teams and 

 guides $5. For antelope, must camp out. The buffalo grounds are in the vicinity 

 of the South Platte River. Rolling prairie and hills. 



Colfax County — 



Schuyler. Antelope in fair numbers, with immense numbers of pinnated 

 grouse and quail, geese, ducks and brant. The Platte River with its tributary 

 creeks, and uie sloughs on the river bottom, are alive with all varieties of wild 

 fowl. Pickerel are caught of fair size, and in considerable numbers. Seventy-six 

 miles from Omaha, on the Union Pacific Railroad. Board $2, teams with drivei 

 $2 to $4. Level and rolling prairie, with little timber. 



