214 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



at various places where we boys, 

 living close to this creek, caught 

 eels and catfish weighing over thirty- 

 pounds and shot ducks close to the 

 Salinas street bridge. There was 

 a fine broad, open bathing pool 

 with crystal clear water, the 

 "Huisache," which was covered 

 all around with tule, north and 

 close to the old Menger Soap 

 Factory, where we boys, including 

 my old friend, the Honorable 

 John H. James (now Justice of the 

 Supreme Court of Appeals), Bob 



Marks, Inselmann, Fries, 

 Fred Russy, Santleben and a num- 

 ber of other citizens took an occa- 

 sional swim in that pool during 

 the summer months. Look how 

 that creek appears today! But 

 then, whilst those good old days 

 have passed, we are now more 

 comfortably supplied with fine 

 artesian water, and with swim- 

 ming pools in our own houses; 

 advancements of mankind between , 

 now and fifty years ago of old 

 "San Antonio de Bexar!" 



Some Hunting and Fishing Reminiscences 



In its near vicinity, our old his- 

 toric Alamo City has a number of 

 fine outing, fishing and hunting 

 places, notably the San Antonio 

 River and the Salado River bot- 

 toms with its inviting forest trees, 

 such as the pecan and walnut, the 

 willow and the box elder, the live 

 oak and the postoak, the poplar 

 and the huisasche, mustang grape 

 vines, and various berry-bearing 

 shrubbery; the ancient and at- 

 tractive Spanish missions, which to- 

 day yet, though partly crumbled, 

 remain as inassive and imposing 

 as when they were built hundreds 

 of years ago and delight the tourist; 

 the salado, Leone, Almos, Cibolo 

 and Medina creek valleys, with 

 their attractive forests and mes- 

 quite plains, cultivated fields and 

 divers nature sceneries: the lovely 

 "head of the river," 'with its un- 

 excelled forests and park, spark- 

 ling springs, panoramic villas, bril- 

 liant flowers and wild plants in gen- 

 eral ; the Graytown lake, and Blue 

 Wing lake, southwest of San An- 

 tonio, a modern and up-to-date 

 outing preserve which is expected 

 to soon become one of the most 

 favored and foremost hunting and 

 fishing places in the entire South- 

 west, by reason of its romantic 

 location and excellent duck hunt- 

 ing. The lake has been stocked 



lately with a good many thousand 

 young fry. 



In the good old days, 

 before railroads, automobiles and 

 all other modern conveniences 

 including the modern rapid fire 

 repeating guns, the old hunting 

 grounds about San Antonio were 

 full of all sort of game, including 

 deer, bear, turkeygeese and ducks, 

 curlew, plover and all sort of other 

 small game, and a favorite hunt- 

 ing place of the writer were the 

 Leone Hills, Mitchell's Lake and 

 Graytown, some 21 miles south- 

 east of San Antonib. The latter 

 place was at that time but spar- 

 ingly settled and the duck shooting 

 season was immensely enjoyed at 

 the large tule-grown lake there; 

 also wild turkeys and deer and all 

 sorts of wild animals were numer- 

 ous there. I recollect a trip I made 

 with the late Adolph Dreiss and 

 Mr. Fritze when I bagged my first 

 wild turkey, a twenty-two poun- 

 der (when weighed at home). 

 This happened at a time— rsome 

 32 years ago — when also the large 

 migratory pigeons were there in 

 the dak forests by the millions; 

 I remember seeing the ground 

 under these oak trees literally 

 covered with acorns and the hulls 

 of same, together with broken 

 branches. The shooting of this 



