Jtjlt 14, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



469 



BYE-WAYS OF THE NORTHWEST. 



FIKST PAPBB. 



IT is a long time since an}' letters from my pen have ap- 

 peared in the Forest and Stkeam. For quite two years 

 I have been silent, and my name has no doubt passed from 

 the memory of your readers. But I would not have you 

 think that because I have not written to you I have lost one 

 particle of my enthusiasm for that portion of our continent 

 about which, in the past, I have discoursed so fully in your 

 columns. Last summer I was unable to get away from New 

 York for any extended trip, but this year I intend to spend 

 three months in a region a little out of the beaten track of 

 tourists, and I shall report my doings as fully as possible for 

 the benefit of the readers of Foeest atsd Streams. 



My proposed excursion has for its objective point Southern 

 Alaska, and is to take in by the way Oregon, Washington 

 Territory and British Columbia. It will include, I hope, a 

 trip over the western lines of the Northern Pacific Railway 

 as far as completed; that is to say, as far as the Spokane 

 River and ptrhips beyond to Lake Pcnd d'Oreille. The re- 

 gion passed through by this line, although so little known to 

 residents of the East, is for a considerable portion of the dis- 

 tance well settled and is a splendid farming district. Oregon 

 and Washington horses, cattle and wheat have long since 

 made their reputation in this Western country, and it is a 

 reputation that will increase rather than diminish. 



Of what we shall see in British Columbia and Alaska I can 

 now say but little. It will be my aim to avoid, so far as pos- 

 sible, the settled portions of these countries, and to see those 

 untouched by the finger of civilization. Whatever may 

 come under my observation shall be faithfully recorded in 

 your columns for the benefit of those who may care in the 

 future to follow in my footsteps. 



But little need be said of the journey from Hew York to 

 Chicago. It is always the same — dull and monotonous 

 beyond description. From Chicago westward there is 

 more variety, and the apparent prosperity of the. coun- 

 try attracts one's attention. The Chicago and Horthwestern 

 Railroad is the shortest line to Omaha, and in my many trips 

 to the Missouri River is the one that I have almost always 

 traveled over. Nothing could be more comfortable than the 

 Pullman sleeping aud diuiug cars with which this road is 

 equipped, and on it one need never fear missing bis connec- 

 tions. The amount of traffic on the C. & H. W. this year is 

 surprising, and I was told that the officers of the road were 

 hard pushed to get passenger cars enough to accommodate 

 the purchasers of tickets over this line. At Omaha, which 

 is reached early in the morning, three or four hours are spent, 

 but there is little here to iulerost the traveler. At the offices 

 of the Union Pacific Railroad, however, are a number of in- 

 teresting objects gathered from the widely-separated locali- 

 ties reached by the lines which this corporation controls. 

 Gold-bearing quartz from Idaho is shown side by side with 

 the dull silver and lead ores of southern Colorado, and huge 

 antlers from the northern Rocky Mountains are flanked by 

 specimens of grain grown on the banks of the Missouri 

 River. 



More and more astonishing each year appears to me the 

 growth of this Western country, aud its development is go- 

 ing on with a constantly increasing rapidity. Each year sees 

 the extention of railways iuto what has hitherto been an 

 broken wilderness, and with the railways, jxir/ pram, the 

 country thus invaded yields up its treasures, whether min- 

 eral, vegetable or animal, in an abundance which astonishes 

 even the most sanguine. The Union Pacific Railroad is now 

 engaged in the construction of a number of lines which are 

 to pierce the mountains in various directions and open up 

 new fields for the tireless energy of the pioneers of business 

 on the frontier. A line which is to furnish them with a 

 waterway to the Pacific, passing through Utah, Idaho and 

 Oregon, has been surveyed and is now in process of con- 

 struction. This road will start from Granger and will follow 

 the valley of the Snake River for some distance, reaching 

 the Columbia River near the Dalles. The Utah Northern Road 

 is now completed to Dillon, so that the traveler is brought 

 by rail to within one hundred miles of the far-famed Geyser 

 Basins of the Yellowstone National Park. 



The Northern Pacific Railroad, too, bow being so rapidly 

 pushed toward completion from both ends, is opening up an 

 entirely new section of country, and will furnish an outlet for 

 the vast amounts of precious metals, grain and stock to be pro- 

 duced by the territory through which it passes. The mines 

 of Idaho and Montana, though not so well known as those 

 of Colorado, are said by experts to be not less rich, and a 

 large proportion of their products will seek an outlet over 

 the lines of this corporation. The great valleys of the Madi- 

 son, Jefferson and Gallatin rivers will send forth millions of 

 bushels of wheat to be added to the millions already grown 

 on the great flats of the Red River bottom ; and the rolling 

 plains of Dakota and Montana, on which a few buffalo still 

 linger, will furnish luxuriant grazing for thousands upon 

 thousands of sheep, cattle and horses. 



One cannot pass over any of these great highways of travel 

 over the plains without thinking of the hardships and suffer- 

 ings of those who in the early days performed the same 

 journey under such different circumstances. The miles that 

 now slip by one so easily were then passed over slowly and 

 laboriously. The distance now traversed in a day was then 

 ^ritb. difficulty accomplished in a month. Dust, fatigue, 



cold, heat, hunger, thirst, sickness, danger from hostile ln- 

 ditns are now either unknown, or have sunk to mere annoy- 

 ances where once they were real hardships, too often real 

 perils. The story of each emigrant train was full of pathos, 

 but, happily for our sympathies, the history of the sufferings 

 of those thousands of patient men, women and children 

 will never be written. 



Now we rush out of Omaha at noon up the fertile valley 

 of the Platte, and just after dark strike the eastern border 

 of the great grazing region of Nebraska. The cattle men 

 of a part of the State are said to have suffered somewhat 

 severely during the past winter, both from the intensity of 

 the cold and from the great snowfall. I was told that on the 

 Loups and on the Fishara the loss of stock had in some herds 

 been as much as seventy per cent, while one poor fellow 

 lio in the fall had 100 head of cattle, found in the spring 

 but four. 



In some sections the cattle were unable to get at the grass 

 owing to the unprecedented fall of snow aud the length of 

 time it lay upon the ground ; in othera all the water froze 

 solid and the animals died of thirst. Of course, when weak- 

 ened by the lack of food and drink they were unable to with- 

 stand the severe cold, aud many thousands must hive per- 

 ished. In Wyoming, along the line of road, the loss whs se- 

 vere. On one little hill, uot far from Rock Greek, I counted 

 sixty carcasses, and the number of dead cattle to be seen on 

 the prairie is fur in excess of anything that I have ever seen 

 in previous years. 



We stopped for a day at Coino, Wyoming, at the hos- 

 pitable ranch of our good friend Mr. Reed, with whom in 

 bygoue years I have had many a delightful hunt. A jaunt 

 over the prairies back of Como Bluff was interesting and al- 

 together delightful. We visited the quarry from which have 

 been taken so many bones of the tiny Jurassic mammals, 

 that are a standing puzzle to the paleontologist, and then 

 climbed the bluff aud drove out over the prairie which lies 

 between Como and Foote Creek, a tributary of the Medicine 

 Bow River. Autelope were very plenty here and the does 

 were just bringing forth their young — pretty little gray crea- 

 tures, with very little white upon them at first and with 

 enormously long, stilt-like legs, on which they balance them- 

 selves rather awkwardly. Their hair is crimped— almost 

 curly in fact— and they stand at first with all four feet close 

 together. From birth, however, they can run, and that fast, 

 but they are not strong enough to go very far, and may be 

 easily captured. When caught they readily learn to drink 

 milk aud are reared without difficulty. As pe»s they are very 

 interesting, but become so tame as often to be troublesome 

 and annoying. We were lucky enough to capture a couple 

 of these kids, which were added to (he two that Mr. Reed 

 already had at the ranche. One of the two that we caught 

 was seen with his mother, who ran off, while the 

 kid hid among the grass. After some little search 

 the small animal was seen crouched flat on the ground and 

 partially hidden by a protecting sage bush. Its large brown 

 eyes were watchiug every movement of the searchers, and as 

 soon as its whereabouts was discovered all but one of the 

 party withdrew to a little distance, stepping about, however, 

 aud talking to attract the animal's attention. While it was 

 watching them very earnestly the remaining man crept up 

 behind and seized it. It cried and struggled hard for a little 

 while, but soon became quiet, and at night drank and sub- 

 mitted to be handled as readily as those which had been 

 caught two weeks before. 



While at Como Mr. Reed told me of an experiment that he 

 had recently completed which bears directly upon a question 

 that has been discussed in the columns of Fokbst and 

 Stbeam. It has often been asked if the antelope shed their 

 horns annually, as is generally believed by those most famil- 

 iar with the history of this animal, what becomes of the shed 

 horns, which are not seen on the prairie in any very great 

 numbers. In order to ascertain the length of time that a 

 pair of horns would last when constanlly exposed to the 

 weather, Mr. Reed experimented with a pair under the fol- 

 lowing circumstances : In the early spring of 1870 he killed 

 a buck antelope back of Como Bluff and near a large white 

 rock, which formed a conspicuous feature of the landscape, 

 aud could thus be easily found. He split the skull length- 

 wise and placed one-half on each side of the rock. Visiting 

 the spot in the spring of 1880, he found the points of the 

 horns still hard, though somewhat bleached by the weather ; 

 but at the base each horn was much split and showed that it 

 was rapidly going to pieces. In May of the present year he 

 again went to the place and found that all that was left of 

 the horns was a little pile of splinters, looking more like a 

 few black hairs than anything else, and so inconspicuous that 

 they would not have been noticed except by one who was 

 searching for them and who knew just where to look. From 

 this experiment we may conclude that under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances the horns of the antelope do not retain their form 

 more thau two years, and it is probable that in the case of 

 shed horns the progress of decay is still more rapid, since the 

 shed sheath is exposed to the disintegrating influence of the 

 atmosphere as well from within as from without. 



Our stay at Como was most pleasant and I found it all too 

 short. It was delightful to stroll along the borders of the 

 lakes, to watch the flight of the ducks over the marsh, to feel 

 the cool, invigorating breezes that blow fresh from the snow- 

 clad summits of Elk Mountains, and to recall the many, 

 many pleasant incidents of our stay at this charming spot 

 three years ago. But, as in all pleasant things, the end came; 



and with a hearty hand-clasp to Mr. Reed, a promise to stop 

 if possible on our return and a sigh that we must now part, 

 we boarded the cars aud were whistled away YY r e=tward. 

 BaltLili-, Utah. Yo. 



[Special eorrrxiujitdcncc of Forest and ,i»iww.; 

 THE WOODMONT ROD AND GUN CLUB. 



Washington, July C, 1881. 



THEmembe-sof the Woodmont Rod and Gun Club, of 

 Washington, D. G, celcb-ated, with appropriate cere- 

 monies, the opening of their new Club House on the 4th inst. 

 Ths club owns some 3,000 acres of laud iu Washingto i 

 county, Maryland — ooly four miles from Berkley Spring, and 

 fronting a mile on " Dam No. G " — the finest point for black 

 bass fishing on the Potomac River. The land, with the ex- 

 ception of one hundred acre! in cultivation, is covered with a 

 dense growth of timbers, which is now tilled with all kinds 

 of game, Deer are numerous, aud wild turkeys in the greatest 

 abundance. Pheasau's and woodcock abound everywhere, 

 and the whole tract ia fast becoming the very paradise of 

 sportsmen. 



A littlo over one year ago the club erected a fine huuting 

 lodge near the centre of the tract, but there being in the As- 

 sociation more fishermen thau hunters, it was determined to 

 erect another Club House, on one of the high bluffs over- 

 looking the b; oad Potomac, skirted as it is by the Chesapef ke 

 and Ohio Canal on the one side, and the Baltimore and Ohio 

 Railroad on the other. This house was completed and occu- 

 pied for the first time on the 4th instant. Most of the mem- 

 bets of the club (limited by the constitution to twenty-five,) 

 were present, with a large number of distinguished guests. 

 The following is a correct list of the present membership, 

 viz. : A. H. Evans, President; General R. C. Drum, Vice- 

 President; Thos. Russell, Treasurer ; J. B. Church, Secre- 

 tary: Com. Earl English, Com. R. D. Evans, Major Mar- 

 cellus Bailey, I. M. Tinker, Major Frank Taylor, B. E. I. 

 Eils, W. C. McTntyre, Dr. Win. Lee, George P. Goff, F. B. 

 McGuirc, S. 11. Kauffmsm, Col. Win. C. Wood, Thos. L. 

 Hume, Dr. F. A. Ashford, Levi Woodbury, Paymaster Al- 

 bert Bacon, R. I. Bright, Dr. Baxter, Senator McPherson, 

 Com. Henry Pickiog aud Mr. Geo. P. Rowell, of New York. 



As the company arrived at noon in a special car from 

 ■Washington, a sa'utc of 21 guus was fired from a howitzer, 

 which made the mountains esho and re-echo for many mile) 

 around. The whole party proceeded to the new build- 

 ing, from the tall flag-staff of which was flying the Stars 

 and Stripes. The building stands 6ome two or three huu- 

 dred feet above a level of the canal, and commands an ex- 

 tensive and magnificent view for miles up and down the 

 rirer. The diuing-hall and club-room are large, fine rooms, 

 beautifully finished and furnished with chandeliers of ex- 

 quisite patterns. There are ten fine chambers, all hand- 

 somely furnished ; a "locker-room," with twenty-five lock- 

 ers ; linen-room, store-room, wine-room, halls, stairways, 

 etc. The kitchen and superintendent's quarters are built de- 

 tached from the club-house, but connected by a covered way. 

 Around three sides of the building there is a twelve-foot 

 covered gallery. Walker, an eminent builder of this city, 

 was the contractor, and the building is a monument to his 

 skill. 



At five o'clock dinner was announced, and soon the whole 

 party, with the keenest possible appetites, was seated. The 

 president of the club, in an appropriate speech, greeted the 

 guests with a cordial welcome. The dinner was all that 

 could be desired. The menu, which wis printed on heavy 

 white satin, was as follows : 



WOODMOOT ROD AND .GVN C LIT 13, 

 July 4, ISSl. 



Snup. 

 Moot Turtle. 



FM. 



Boiled Hook— Lemon sauoe. 



Baked Beans. 



Metit*. 



Corned Beef. Baked 11am. Roast Lamb. 



Vi-jetahlex. 



Boiled Out .u. Teas. liaw Tomatce h 



Salads. 



Cold Slaw. Le luce. Shrimps, 



Frtilts. JStuls. Coffee. Cigars. 



The wines were fine and in the greatest abundance, and 

 the whole occasion one of the most enjoyable we have ever 

 known. 



The company remained over to breakfast and dinner yes- 

 terday, and left again on a special car last evening for this 

 city, where we arrived at 10 l*. m., all charmed with our trip 

 to the happy hunting grounds of the Wosdmont Club. 



Senex. 



Roast Beer, 

 Jtasijed Potatoes. 



The Annual Touenamhnt of the National Archery Asso- 

 ciation is now in progress at Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The 

 meeting is a brilliant one, some, eighteen clubs being repre- 

 sented. The sport will continue through to-day. 



TnE Latest Delicacies provided by some of the New 

 York marketmen are sold to their customers a3 "prairie-heu 

 eggs." From an examination of one of ttuse eggs submitted 

 to our inspection we believe it to be the egg of the clapper 

 rail. Whether all of them are rail eggs we do not know. 

 This may, or may not, be less of an atrocity thau if the 

 lying pretenses of these unscrupulous dealers were true ; but 

 it is an atrocity all the same. 



If totf Know of a Good Resokt fob Camping and Shoot- 

 ing when the season opens, report it. 



