Ternin, Four Dollars a Year. I 

 Ira Cents a Copy. 



NEW YORK THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1878. 



{Volume M.-No. 11. 

 INo. Ml Fulton St., N. 1 



For Forest and Stream and Hod and Gun. 

 BUBO'S CONUNDRUM. 



A S silent as n graven stone 

 -"- A solemn owl sat long hours ttirough ; 

 His great round eyes with wisdom shone, 



And told of wonders that he knew— 

 Wonders he eonld not keep alone, 

 And km he said to me, " Too-hoo !— 

 While winking and blinking 

 I keep up thinking, 

 As wise men do, 100-hoo, loo-hoo! 



"Now draw you near and let me tell 

 In language yon may understand." 

 The old bird said, "there is a spell 



That hangs o'er owls In every hind, 

 That makes mankind conclude full well 

 That owls the wisest brains command, 

 For winking and blinking; 

 We keep np a thinking, 

 And that is true, too-hoo, too-hoo ! 



" The spell— now move you not a peg 

 Nor twit me as a wise old fowl— 

 A problem is, which now I beg 



You hear, and then go langb, or growl : 

 Was the first owl hatched from an egg, 

 Or th 9 "rat egg laid by an owl? 

 And winking and blinking 

 Of that we are thinking! 

 Too-hoo, too-hoo, we never get through I" 



—J, C. BDRNKTT. 



For Forest and Stream and Mod and Gun. 



§M §rmt ged gipq J/«ff 



AMONG all the traditions of the North American Indians, 

 few are more interesting than those which relate to the 

 Great Red Pipe Stone. As the Indian is rapidly disappear- 

 ing, it would seem to he wise to preserve his traditions, so far 

 as is possible, that they may pass into the history of this peo- 

 ple. The Red Pipe Btone Quarry is situated near the south- 

 western corner of the State of Minnesota, about six miles 

 east of the Dakota line, and not far from twenty-five miles 

 north of the boundary line between the States of Minnesota 

 and Iowa. When this portion of the State was ceded by the 

 Indians to the General Government, a section of land on 

 which, the quarry was located was reserved and is still the 

 property of the Indians. One reason of this reservation was 

 owing to a recognition on the part of the Indians who made 

 the treaty of the common ownership of the Pipe Stone by all 

 of the Indian nations. This fact, together with a peculiar 

 value which they affixed to the spot, which will be readily 

 understood upon a reading of their traditions, caused them to 

 withhold it at the lime of the transfer. Since that time many 

 of the tribes which had through generations made annual pil- 

 grimages to this spot to obtain stone, out of which to manu- 

 facture pipes, have been removed to the Indian Territory. 

 But there still remain tribes along the Missouri River who 

 adhere to the practice of their fathers, and regularly visit this 

 spot to secure a supply of stone. 



When first taken from the ground the stone is of a pale 

 flesh color and quite soft. "With exposure its color deepens 

 to a rich, dark flesh color, and it becomes very much harder. 

 Save in color, it closely resembles slate, being flaky as it is 

 quarried, about as hard, and works very much the same. 

 Within (he past few years a few visionary white men have 

 conceived the idea that a quarry of such a stone must possess 

 great value as a building stone, and several attempts have 

 been made to " jump " the Indian's claim. But so far no one 

 has amassed a fortune out of the speculation ; neither is any 

 one likely to, for it does not exist in sufficient quantities to be 

 valuable for such a purpose. To white men it is worthless, 

 To the Indian it possessed a value far exceeding the most au- 

 riferous region on the continent. 



So far as the observation of the writer goes, traditions re- 

 lating to the origin of this stone exist among all of the tribes 

 and nations of the Northwest. The wandering Sioux of the 

 plains, by whom the Red Pipe Stone is held in great esteem, 

 have a tradition that " before the creation of man the Great 

 Spirit, whose tracks tre yet to be 6een on the stones at the 

 Red Stone, in the form of the footprints of a large bird, used 

 to slay buffalo and eat them on the ledge of the Bed Rock, 

 ou the top of the high prairie, and their blood running over 



the rocks turned them red. One day, when a large snake 

 had crawled into the nest of the bird to eat his eggs, one of 

 the eggs hatched out in a clap of thunder, and the Great 

 Spirit, catching hold of a piece of the stone, moulded it into 

 a man and threw it at the snake, who was not hurt. The 

 man's feel grew fast in the ground, where he stood for many 

 ages, like a great tree, and therefore he grew very old. He 

 was older than an hundred men of the present day. At laBt 

 another tree grew up by the side of him, when tbe snake ate 

 them both off at the roots, and they wandered away together. 

 From these have sprung all the people that now inhabit the 

 earth." 



The Upper Wisconsin Indians have a tradition which points 

 to the flood and connects the relationship between the red 

 men and the pipe stone to that dale. The tradition is as fol- 

 lows: 



" In the time of the great freshet, which took place many 

 generations ago and destroyed all the nations of the earth, all 

 the tribes of the red men assembled on the high prairie to get 

 out of the way of the waters. After they had all gathered 

 from all parts of the earth, the water continued to rise until at 

 last it covered them all in a mass, and their flesh was con- 

 verted into red pipe stone. Therefore it has always been con- 

 sidered neutral ground, as it belonged to all the tribes alike, 

 and all were allowed to get it and smoke it together. While 

 they were all drowning in a mass together, a young woman, 

 K-wap-tah-wa (a virgin) caught hold of the foot of a very 

 large bird that was flying over and was carried to the top of a 

 high cliff that was above the top of the water. Here she had 

 twins, and their father was the war eagle, and her people have 

 since peopled the earth. The pipe stone, which is the flesh 

 of their ancestors, is smoked by them as the symbol of peace, 

 and the eagle's quill decorates the head of the brave." 



The Chippewas of the Upper Mississippi Biver, although 

 the traditionary foes of the Sioux, possessed a common inter- 

 est in the pipe stone, and frequently visited the spot to secure 

 stones for their pipes. Their tradition differs somewhat from 

 that of the Sioux : 



" Many ages after tbe red men were made, when all the dif- 

 ferent tribes were at war, the Great Spirit sent runners and 

 called them all together at the red stone. He stood on the 

 top of the rockB and the red people were assembled in great 

 numbers below. He took out of the rock a piece of the red 

 stone and made a large pipe and smoked it over them all. He 

 told them that it was part of their flesh ; that, though they 

 were at war, they must meet at this place as friends ; that it 

 belonged lo them all; that they must make their calumets 

 from it and spoke them to him whenever they wished to ap- 

 pease him or get his good will. The smoke from his big pipe 

 rolled over them all, and lie disappeared in its clouds At 

 the last whiff of his pipe a blaze of Are rolled over the rocks 

 and melted their surface. At that moment two squaws went 

 in a blaze of fire under two medicine rocks, where they re- 

 main to this da3', and must be consulted and propitiated when- 

 ever the pipe stone is to be taken away." 



Among the Iowa Indians a tradition existed almost identical 

 witb. tbe foregoing, the only difference being such as would 

 naturally occur in the transmission of the same tradition 

 through different lines : 



' ' Here," according to their version, " occurred the mysteri- 

 ous birth of the red pipe, soon after the creation of the red 

 man, which has blown its fumes of peace and war to the re- 

 mot est corners of the earth ; which has visited every warrior, 

 and passed through its stem the irrevocable oath of war and 

 desolation. And here, also, the peace-breathing calumet was 

 born and fringed with eagle's quills, which has shed its 

 thrilling fumes over the land and soothed the fury of the re- 

 lentless savage. Here, at an ancient period, the Great Spirit 

 called the Indian nation together, and, standing on the preci- 

 pice of the red rock, broke from its wall a piece and made a 

 huge pipe by turning it in his hand, which he smoked over 

 them to the North, the South, the East and the West, and 

 told them that this stone was red ; that it was their flesh ; 

 that they must use it for their pipe of peace; that 

 it belonged to them all, and that the war club and 

 scalping knife must not be raised on its ground. 

 At the last whiff of his pipe ids head went into a great cloud 

 and the whole surface of the rock was melted and glazed, two 

 great ovens were opened beneath, and two women —guardian 

 spirits of the place— entered them in a blaze of fire, and they 

 are heard there yet (Tso-mec-cos-tee and Tso me cos-te- 

 won-dee) answering to the invocations of the medicine men, 

 who consult them whenever they visit this sacred place. 

 Near this spot, also, is the Thunder's Nest, where a very 

 small bird sits upon her eggs during fair weather and the 

 skies are rent with bolts of thunder at the approach of a 

 storm, which is occasioned by the hatching of her brood. 

 This bird is eternal and incapable of reproducing her own 

 species. She has often been seen by the medicine men, and 

 is about as large as the end of the little finger. Her mate is 

 a serpent whose fiery tongue destroys the yoimg ones as soon 

 as they are hatched, and the fiery noise darts through the 

 skies." 



In these rude legends the reference to the Great Spirit and 

 the serpent at the time of the creation of man, as also the sub- 

 sequent destruction of the race by flood, are in singular har- 

 mony with the Mosaic record, and open a field for unlimited 

 speculation as to the origin of these people. But the reader 

 can theorize at his will. The writer's mission is ended with 

 the simple furnishing of facts. M. Gore. 



For Forest and Stream and Rod and Gun. 

 THE OLD SPORTSMAN. 



HPHAT a moderate indulgence in field sports is conducive 



J- to longevity is patent to all observing men. We find 

 upon looking over the list of our venerable friends who have 

 run the Tace of life for three-score years or more, that those 

 who take their yearly vacation with rod and gun are by far 

 the best preserved in body and mind. And what is there, 

 when the heyday of life is passed, that so sweetens declining 

 years, making man renew his youth and find peace and com- 

 fort after the turmoil and strife of vigorous manhood, as do 

 field sports ? 



There are many expert shots among the older members of 

 the guild— those whose eyes are not dimmed nor natural force 

 abated, who "fag" through a hard day's shooting as well as 

 the youngsters. But they are not numerous. Angling is par 

 excellence the old man's sport ; for although the sight may not 

 be keen enough to cover with fowling-piece the swift-flying 

 quail or hurtling grouse, still the supple wrist and exquisite 

 sense of feeling in the hand is left.- So tbe old man grasps 

 the pliant rod. amj airing the trout and salmon streams nerves 

 his youth while plying the "^aiUe art." 



It is a fact that some of our most exiert anglers are old 

 men, and their aptitude is owing in a great ., r "" to the many 

 years they have given to the science. An\. mail, it Wild 

 seem a good angler, like a good shot, is born, not made. The '" 

 passion for this sport, instead of dying out with age, seems 

 to grow stronger as the years roll on, and the veteran of seven- 

 ty, at the close of the fishing season, un joints his rod and 

 reels in his line with a sigh, and settles down to a patient 

 waiting for the reopening of the season next year, hoping 

 that terrible rheumatism he has fought so successfully of late 

 won't get hold of him, or that dimness of vision that he has 

 noticed coming on for years won't settle into a permanent 

 weakness, or, worst of all, that terrible autocrat, Death, in 

 view of the expiration of the allotted three-score years and 

 ten. won't step in and claim his own. 



He seems to live in an atmosphere of hope and expectation, 

 and when the good time does come no boy of ten let out of 

 school for a fortnight's vacation is happier or more free from 

 care than our veteran. His troubles are. over now. Thehurry 

 and bustle of preparation is past, everything is in order, and 

 the old man scans Ids guide-book through" his gold-rimmed 

 spectacles with all the complacency imaginable, because to- 

 morrow morning he is off for a four-weeks' trip through 

 Maine and Canada, to fish those waters that for thirty.fi ve 

 years have yielded tribute to his skill. 



Ah ! what solid comfort he takes during those long summer 

 days, whipping the bright waters ; with what pride he re- 

 turns to camp at night and displays to the eyes of his com- 

 rades his well -filled creel, and that big' un that wouldn't go 

 into the basket, flow he forgets his years as he recounts his 

 exciting passages in the day's sport, emphasizing this " rush" 

 and that "break" with hearty gestures. 



Happy the fishing or shooting party that counts among its 

 numbers a representative " old sportsman," one who has tried 

 it many years and found by actual experience how pleasant 

 are the paths of nature when followed understandingly. 

 What a fund of anecdote he possesses : tales of " Auld Lang 

 Syne," of monster trout and giant antlered-bucks, of moving. 

 accident by flood and field. What valuable hints he is con- 

 stantly throwing out from the depths of his experience to the 

 i ion and knowledge of the youngsters; what savory 

 dishes he concocts from that which youth and inex- 

 perience would cast away as worthless. And then the restrain- 

 ing influence of gray hairs and good example on the young 

 and rash is worthy of consideration, for inclination to excess 

 is sadly prevalent among a majority of shooting and fishing 

 patties; and as the old man from his seat at the head of the 

 bark table beams benignantly on "the boys," all tendencies to 

 evil die out, and all are attention, listening to the stories he 

 tells, while the smoke of his meerschaum curls lazily upward. 



Blessings on the old sportsman ; may he livo yet many 

 years to indulge hia favorite pastime; may the balsamic 

 breath of the pine woods diffuse new life in him ; may the 

 healthy diet aud perfect freedom from care, of the cabin in 

 the wilderness, lengthen and sweeten his closing years, mak- 

 ing them the happiest of his life ; may his wise counsels and 

 virtuous ways show to those who have just entered the arena 

 that it pays to study nature and indulge in her sylvan delights 

 soberly and moderately. 



There is no reason why a fairly sound body cannot be made 

 to wear for scores of years with all its functions unimpared, 

 providing that body contains a soul in love with nature. This 

 is a very beautiful world of ours, even to a casual observer ; 

 but when one becomes a student and delves into theminntive, 

 what vast fields open up for investigation, and what infinite 

 comfort can be derived from such research. 



Health and field sports go hand in hand, one naturally fol- 

 lows the olher, and he who goes forth thankfully and under- 

 standingly among the forests and along ibe streams in re- 

 sponse to those natural inst nets wisely implanted in his 

 heart, will surely find health, happiness aud fulness of years. 



H. W. D, L. 



