Hunting American Big Gante 



the sun, the ghastly evidences of man's 

 sordid and selfish policy lay exposed at 

 every step. 



Indian troubles of a very formidable 

 character did a great deal tow^ard keeping 

 the game intact in this portion of the 

 country, by keeping the white man out; 

 and while other parts of Wyoming grew, 

 and towns sprang up with rapid growth, 

 to become in an incredibly short time 

 cities, involving in destruction, as the past 

 sad history shows, the wild animals in 

 their vicinity, this Northwestern portion 

 remained unsettled, and acted as an asy- 

 lum to receive within its rocky mountain 

 ranges and vast sheltering forests the scat- 

 tering bands of elk and deer fleeing from 

 annihilation and the encroaching haunts 

 of men. As soon as it was safe, then, and 

 in some instances unquestionably before,, 

 cattlemen, not inaptly styled pioneers of 

 civilization, began to drift down along the 

 valley of the Big Horn ; and, like the pa- 

 triarchs of old, " brought their flocks with 

 them," settling here and there, wherever 

 they could find advantageous sites for their 

 ranches. 



And now, as I propose to give some 

 hunting experiences of those days, if you 

 will accompany me to Billings, on the 



