FOREST AJSD STREAM. 



189 



shade and shelter of a piazza, and go home to the dust and 

 heat of town just so soon as the temperature becomes toler- 

 able, anil the forests put on their golden garniture. They 

 know us little of the charms of the country as those do who 

 visit Florida in midwinter and return before the orchids em- 

 purple the bare limbs of the trees, or the roses aud jasmines 

 enrich the earth with their bloom and fragrance. There is 

 no portion of the year so delectable to the sportsman and the 

 lover of uature as the months of September aod October in 

 Wisconsin and her sister States adjacent. Still, my recollec- 

 tions of my summer sauuteriugs on Lake Superior are quite 

 unalloyed, and whether they take me back to the river chan- 

 nel which courses through the tangled woods, or among the 

 verdure-clad and verdure-crowned rocks of the Apostle 

 Islands, the hues which I recall are all either rose-tinted or 

 cerulean. I rememher only the bright sunshine which made 

 the day happy, and the blue bosom of the broad lake where 

 its sparkles glinted and flashed. If the mid-day were torrid, 

 we took a siesta in the thick woods, as the deer do, or pushed 

 our skiff into one of the cool caverns which honeycomb the 

 sandstone cliffs along the Superior shore. I wrote you of 

 these cliffs in my last year's letters, and told you how the 

 wear of time and the elements had beaten and chiselled the 

 soft rocks into all sorts of fantastic shapes, so that the cliffs 

 look like buttresses and ramparts, and the caves like gate- 

 ways to ancient castles. Well, the big trout which are caught 

 here lie in the shadows of the arches, like liveried flunkies in 

 ' waiting, and so we anglors, knowing their foibles, paddle up 

 cautiously, with our rods and light tackle, and quietly give 

 them the " tip," as they say in England ; and the joke of it 

 is, we take a rise out of them every time. Of course it is an 

 imposition upon their credulity, but it scores one to our bas- 

 ket, and that is where the laugh and the fish come in together. 

 In some places masses of rock which have been split off by the 

 frost from the ledges above have tumbled into the water below, 

 and around these there is always good fishing. Fly-fishing is 

 the approved mode, and there can be nothing more comforta- 

 ble to the angler than tosit in his skiff and cast, regardless of his 

 back line, which has the whole bay for scope, in toward shore, 

 and when he has hooked a fish, be allowed the whole of Lake 

 Superior to play him in. But bait-fishing is not a tabooed 

 art by any means, and the man who can toss his minnow 

 straight into a crack or under a beetling ledge is not to be de- 

 spised. He will take fish where the other fails. The most 

 expert local fisherman, with bait or fly, is Jim Chapman, of 

 Bayfield. He is a merchant, aud as lie never allows his busi- 

 ness to interfere with pleasure, one generally finds his store. 

 closed and himself down at the rocks. This year the rock- 

 fishing was poor, owing to the absence of minnow, which is the 

 natural food of the trout and the best bail for them ; so, after a 

 test or two, Jim devoted his attention to the streams which flow 

 into the lake for forty miles or so along shore. He has a pret- 

 ty steam launch with which he can reach them easily,and parties 

 can usually charter this craft and Jim's services and put inafew 

 days most profitably. The past season two parties, one com- 

 posed of the Hon. Henry M. Rice, of Minnesota, and 

 friends, and the other of lawyer Bowman, et at, of St. Louis, 

 made most notable catches on Sand and Sioux rivers, their 

 takes counting several hundreds. One fishiug party was 

 composed entirely of clergymen, from various States, eleven 

 in all. Their vacation extended over several weeks, with enviable 

 good fortune to themselves and credit to the reputation which 

 has always attached to the cloth, since the days when 

 the Ap03tle Peter went fishing with a hook. In one single 

 day no less a number than forty persons left Bayfield with 

 outfits for extended cruises, some to I he outer islands, and 

 others to the rivers along tho lake coast. 



These rivers are for the most part clear and very cold, 

 winding through unbroken forests, aud much obstructed by 

 fallen trees and drift, requiring frequent use of the axe to 

 clear a passage. Boats ascend several miles, however, with 

 no great difficulty, aud the comparative immunity from flies 

 and mosquitoes makes camping delightful, and enhances the 

 enjoyment of those in search of rest as well as recreation. 

 The principal streams within thirty miles are the Upper White 

 River, the Long Lake Branch and the South Branch of the 

 White River, Fish Creek, Whittclsey's Creek, Vandewent- 

 er's Creek, Sioux River, Onion River, Trout Brook, Bruns- 

 weiler, Marengo, Silver Creek, Sand River, Raspberry and 

 Pike's Creek, all accessible by boat or railroad, I, as well as 

 Messrs. Munson, Pratt, Prince, and others, have sent to you, 

 from time to time, brief notes and longer descriptions of many 

 of them. To describe here would be simply to repeat the 

 narrative of the toilsome ascent of rapids, the carries around 

 obstructions, the sackiug over shoals, the chopping away of 

 logs and drift, hauling over cross-timbers, dodging under 

 sweepers, paddling or rowing over stretches of still water, 

 and pushing or poling when the stream is turgid. To make a 

 long story and a long journey short, the best fishing is at head- 

 waters, and he who can inveigle the fish most successfully by 

 poking his bait and sinker among roots, logs and brnsh will 

 capture the heaviest fish and make the biggest Btring. Suc- 

 cess depends less upon faith than on strength of tackle. There 

 are, to be sure, many long stretches of river which afford good 

 fly-casting, and taken all together there is sufficient diversity 

 to make the excursions pleasant, Besides the trout streams 

 there are numerous bass, pike and muskalonge lakes, accessi- 

 ble by the Wisconsin Central Railroad, which has opened up 

 the wilderness regions of Northern Wisconsin to the lumber- 

 man and sportsman. The best known of these are Lake Har- 

 riet, Dry den's Lake and Butternut. This whole section is in- 

 terspersed with large and small lakes, swamps, sloughs and 



marshes, all in their primitive stale and conBtittfttDg the 

 sources of the St. Croix, Chippewa, Rush, Wisconsin, Meno- 

 minee, aud minor rivers, with their tributaries. Until the 

 Central Wisconsin Railroad was built last year these wilder- 

 ness streams were the only thoroughfares for getting the logs 

 and lumber to market, but with the railroad as accessory, 

 much of tho wilderness is made available which could not be 

 reached before. All along the Hue, from Stevens Point, which 

 lies nearly iu the centre of the State, to Ashland, on Luke 

 Superior, steam saw mills have been erected and villages have 

 sprung up around them, some of which have already expanded 

 into very considerable towns. Ksich mill is the centre of a 

 great industry, which is fed and kept in activity by rude 

 tramways of logs extended far into the pineries, over which 

 the timber harvests of the logging Bwaraps are transported by 

 horse power or steam. These tramways arc the quaintest 

 imaginable, laid without much regard to grade or direct lines; 

 and a very novel and amusing sight it is to watch the strings 

 of trucks, each laden with from 1,500 to 2,000 feet of logs, 

 rumbling and jolting over the roughnesses of the road, as they 

 wind through and emerge from the deep recesses of the 

 forest. Very absurd, too, to look at, are the little engines 

 which are used. Upon the rear end of a platform car is 

 perched an upright boiler six feet high by four feet in di- 

 ameter, crowned by a smoke-pipe leading from the fireplace 

 underneath. In front is a water tank, three feet in diameter 

 by five feet high. The driving gear with the driver at the 

 lever, stands between the boiler and the tank. The motor 

 consists of two 0x9 cylinders with link motion, placed on au 

 upright stand and connected with a pair of drivers by two 

 heavy Evart chains running over spur wheels, while the two 

 axles are likewise connected by the same kind of chain, thus 

 making all the wheels drivers. There is a light bousing over 

 all, consisting of a tin roof upon uprights of inch gas-pipo. 

 Esich engine is of 50-horse power, and will draw from six to 

 eight loaded trucks. Its cost is only $1,400, and its weight 

 about 800 pounds. With these contrivances, the whole sys- 

 tem of lumbering is likely to be revolutionized. Instead of 

 depending upon winter snows for hauling, and the caprices of 

 uncertain streams for driving, lumbering will be carried on 

 chiefly in summer, aud uninterruptedly all the year round ; 

 and regions remote from water courses will be just as availa- 

 ble as those penetrated by rivers. When one section is ex- 

 hausted, the tramways may be taken up and relaid in other 

 directions, and thus we shall sooner and more easily reach the 

 end of our timber supply, which, we are told, is so nearly ex- 

 hausted that in a few years more we shall realize, as fully as 

 those who dwell on the treeless prairies, the inconvenience 

 and absolute distress occasioned by a scarcity of wood. 



In following the route of the Wisconsin Central Railroad 

 from Milwaukee to Ashland, I wrote you last year that all that 

 portion south of Stevens Point was long since settled and im- 

 proved. Stevens Point was the outpost and distributing point 

 for the almost unexplored wilderness beyond, until tho road 

 was extended and completed fifteen months ago. Aside from 

 the lumber interest and the growth of settlements along the 

 line which it is interesting to watch and compare from time 

 to time, there is little to engage the attention of the tourist or 

 break the monotony of continuous forest for 160 miles after 

 leaving Stevens Point. Probably in no other part of the 

 United States can such a stretch of uninterrupted wilderness 

 be traversed. To conductors and trainsmen who pass it almost 

 daily the year round, the journey must be irksome, but to me 

 there is something entrancing in the complete isolation and 

 sublime solitude. I can study the grandeur of the towering 

 pines and contemplate the impenetrable swamp and the far- 

 reaching morass with an interest which kindles as we advance. 

 For miles together we see no living creature. If there be ten- 

 ants which people the forest, they lie close in cover while wc 

 pass. No birds are on the wing. Occasionally we see wig- 

 wams of Indians, half hidden in the underbrush, but the oc- 

 cupants are invisible. While we move, tho thunder of the 

 engine wakes the echoes ; when we stop, all is silent. The 

 hiss of the escaping steam has a hollow sound. When the 

 sun shines the lights and shadows are cheerful, but when 

 night falls the solitude is felt. Then the glow of the head- 

 light flashes out in a bright ray far in advance, and wc trace 

 the parallel lines of steel which lead us by a fixed and certain 

 pathway to our desired haven. Behind us the track is just as 

 positive, and he who does not deviate therefrom will not be 

 lost. But let us imagine ourselves set down in the selfsame 

 spot, dropped into the wilderness, as it was before this road 

 was built ; how helpless we should be in our solitude ! How 

 slight our chances of escape ! Then, indeed, would we real- 

 ize the vastness of this 160 miles of unbroken wilderness. The 

 experience would be different from our midsummer jaunt in 

 parlor cars, surrounded with all the luxuries of travel, with ice 

 in the water-cooler, cigars for refreshment, and the inevitable 

 train boy to tempt us with apples, peanuts and the latest pic- 

 torial and dime novel. 



Thirty-five miles before reaching Ashland, the road crosses 

 the Penoka iron range at a height of 1,000 feet above Lake 

 Superior, and after passing the summit, touches the Bad 

 River, a boisterous, dashing stream, whirling through rocks, 

 ravines and broken landscape, crossing it some dozen times in 

 seven miles. Next it jumps Silver Creek, over an iron bridge 

 ninety feet high and 600 feet long, and then, in a few miles 

 more, another iron bridge, 102 feet high and 1,560 feet in 

 length, which is said to be the largest of its kind in the 

 world, with one exception. From the oar window the trav- 

 eler looks down upon tho tops of the largest pines which line 

 the river bottom for miles above and below the bridge, and 



fill (ho valley with a dense foliage, through which tha spark- 

 ling river can lie seen at intervals. 



Six miles farther on the pretty village of Ashland lies 

 stretched along the shore of Chequamcgon Bay in two paral- 

 lel streets which extend for two miles or more. It ;s perched 

 on a high bluff, which is broken at a half dozen regular in- 

 tervals by ravines, or cooleys, and these being bridged, give a 

 picturesque diversity to what would otherwise be a continu- 

 ous level. An unbroken rorest lies directly in the background. 

 The only pretentious buildings are the new court house and 

 the hotel, which has now become noted as one of the most 

 commodious and desirable summer resorts in the NorthweBt. 

 The site is charming. The broad bay in front is five miles 

 wide, flaukcd by high hills and red sandstone cliffs, and it ex- 

 tends for eighteen miles, broken at intervals by projecting 

 points of Lnd and the inflow of several rivers. In the farth- 

 est distance at the mouth of the bay can be seen, when the 

 sun is shining, the white houses of Bayfield on the one side, 

 and of La Pointe opposite, with the rounded outlines of the 

 Apostle Islands between ; to which places an excursion by 

 sail yacht or steamer is one of the favorite pastimes of 

 summer sojourners. Six miles east, along the shore where 

 the Bad River empties, is an Indian reservation which affords 

 an interesting visit to strangers. The natives come almost 

 daily to the hotel to sell berriesand trinkets. There is usually 

 a summer camp at the head of the Bay, three miles distant 

 near the mouth of Fish Creek ; and here the phenomenal tides 

 of Lake Superior can be observed at best advantage, for there 

 is a bar across tho creek which at times prevents the passage 

 of a skiff, while at others it allows a draft of two feet of water. 

 The interval between the ebb and flow is often less than half 

 an hour, but the tides occur at irregular and uncertain inter- 

 vals. I have often made my boat fast at the edge of the 

 water on a shelving beach and afterward found it high and 

 dry, twenty feet away. Two miles from Bayfield is another 

 Indian reservation, and a few miles farther west the head- 

 quarters of the Agency, comprising a dock, barns and several 

 large buildings neatly painted. 



Bayfield and Ashland are rivals. Bayfield is by long odds 

 the most picturesque. It occupies a slope at the foot of a 

 mountain, and is flanked by a wood cliff on the east. On the 

 top of the mountain is a lake whose waters, conducted into 

 the village by pipes, fill the pretty yardB with sparkling foun- 

 tains aud the houses with comfort. Outlying islands enrich 

 the landscape, and afford abuudant sport to the angler. De- 

 lectable trout streams are accessible, and the track of the 

 great lake steamers lies at the door. The cool southwest wind 

 modifies the summer heat, and drives the mosquitoes back into 

 the woods behind. But Ashland has that which Bayfield has 

 not, namely, a first-class hotel, and so, while Bayfield may 

 captivate the anglers who rough it, Ashlaud enjoys the cream 

 of the summer patronage. There is talk of building a grand 

 hotel, and an apparent demand for it seems to warrant suc- 

 cess to the mterprise. This season there has been a marked 

 increase of visitors, who have congregated from all parts of 

 the United States. Certaiuly, the attractions are greater than 

 can be found at most inland resorts. 



When I left this cosy nook on Lake Superior to plunge 

 again into the 186 miles of wilderness of which I have writ- 

 ten, I turned my back upon one of the most favored spots on 

 earth. I shall ever remember the gorgeous sunsets, the cool 

 evenings and the lingering twilights, which did not wholly 

 fade until after the hour of nine o'clock. So, happily, may 

 be the departure of all our lives— radiant at the close, like the 

 candle which flashes and is then snuffed out, or the autumn 

 foliage which crimsons ere it falls. Hamook. 



[from a staff correspondent. J 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN WANDERINGS 



No. 6. 



1\/T X last letter to you was dated "In Camp on the Wagon 

 iVl Hound." Leaving that gameless country on the morn- 

 ing of Saturday, we reached Medicine Bow early in the after- 

 noon of that day, and as Como, a small station seven miles 

 from the former place, was our objective point we determined 

 to push on and make our port before night. We stopped long 

 enough at the Bow for Tommy to feed and water his mules 

 and started in a drizzling rain. The seven miles was accom- 

 plished in the surprisingly short lime of three hours, and this 

 amid the lamentations of Tom who complained of the rough 

 road, which was in fact very good, as roads go hero, wet 

 weather, and so forth. He was not much to blame, however, 

 as the return trip to the Bow must be made by him before 

 night, and the rain from a drizzle had developed into a first- 

 class storm. Arrived at Como the unpacking of our rnulti. 

 farious goods occupied some time, but finally Tom was 

 ready to start back, and with a parting good-bye, and the re- 

 mark that ho would take it slow going home (which evoked 

 audible smiles from the party), he belabored his team and 

 crawled out of sight over tho bluff. 



Two years ago the population of Como, resident I mean, 

 was fourteen, but this it must he confessed included eight 

 dogs and a cat. The census of 1878 makes the residsnt popu- 

 lation nine, including men, woman, children, dog and cat 

 Children and cats are running up the count in a surprising 

 "ianner,and we predict a large increase before the next census. 

 Como was not, before the railroad, and is now only to the 

 extent of the station, whose genial and efficient young man- 

 ager, Mr. VJT. E. Carlin, is now sitting near me, and the section- 

 house, containing all the female population, covered by one 

 capacious calico wrapper-like garment, her faithful spouse and 



