

Terms, Five Dollars a Year. | 

 Ten Cents a Cupy. f 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DEC. 25, 1873. 



-! 



Volum« I. Number 2f . 

 103 Fulton Street. 



From Harper^s Weekly, 1871. 

 THE GOBBLER'S CHRISTMAS CAROL. 



AH ! hungry reader ! gormandizer ! 

 How bleat your lot, how foul is mine ! 

 Pray realize it— realize, ah! ] '^ZZ 



Mine 'tis to die that you may dine. 



When from the natal shell I bursted 

 To fledgling life <md parent hen, 



That precious life I little trusted 

 Would be so soon shelled out again. 



Amid the barn-yard's rare attractions, 

 Strutting the feathered herd among, 



I little dreamed such fowl eggs-actions 

 On Christmas holidays were wrung. 



I never troubled the Hereafter; 



The present was sufficient bliss- 

 Alas ! it is no cause for laughter 



To ilnd our necks twirled short in this. 



Yet 'twas fortius betimes 1 fattened. 



For this alone so fully fed; 

 That when a Christmas day next happened 



My veins should not in vain be bled. 



For this I proudly strutted, hobbled! 



1 dreampt not of this bitter cup. 

 Leng time I gobbled, gobbled, gobbled, 



Bnt now at last I'm gobbled up. 



Say, reader, am I justly treated? 



Should that which is of^right my meet 

 Be freely out to strangers meted? . 



Confess it now, I beg, entreat! 



Regard my end with melancholy — 

 Drawn and quartered, basted, sauced 



And when yon sing the yule and holly 

 Contemplate, too, the holocaust. 



Charles Hallock. 



^ufjfdla ^mit with the ^mvnun. 



• — » 



THE sun pushing aside the rosy curtains of the east 

 commences to renew his daily course, bringing again 

 light and life to all animated nature. He touches the more 

 elevated bluffs with naming light and suffuses the whole 

 heavens with a ruddy glow. The leaves of the low wil- 

 lows, frosted with a coating of tiny dew-drops, glisten in 

 in his light, and each silvery globule that hangs from the 

 tiigli grass reflects his image like a polished mirror. The 

 waters of the Republican, dark and turbid as they always 

 are, seem to become purer as they are touched by his beams, 

 and flash and gleam as they whirl along toward the Mis- 

 souri. The mellow whistle of the meadow lark is heard 

 from the prairie, the short cry of the migrating blackbird 

 falls from on high, a flock of ducks on whistling wing pas& 

 over us on their way to,fhose genial climes where frost and 

 snow do not penetrate, arid where the rigors of winter atfi 

 not felt. 



The quite beauty of the • prospect is enchanting, but 

 desire to introduce you tOanore stirring scenes. Bear with 

 me for a moment, howevV/ while I give you a brief de- 

 scription of the country thnJugli which we are to journey 

 —of the land of the buffalo.^ CouJ^ we attain the heights 

 traveled by the feathered travelers^ that are continually 

 passing, a magnificent view would meet our eyes. Far 

 away to the north I would point out tfc^ou the faint dark 

 line formed by the tall cottonwoods that fringe the Platte 

 and by which its direction east and west may be traced as 

 far as the eye can reach. As far to the south and scarcely 

 to be discerned save by the keenest sight, another low dark 

 line marks the course of the Solomon, and between these 

 two we see many lesser streams, some flowing north and 

 some south, each bearing its share of alluvium to swell the 

 deltas of the Mississippi. Besides these the plain is inter- 

 sected by innumerable ravines running in all directions. 

 These serve to carry off the surplus water in times of rain, 

 each emptying into some large one, and that in turn 

 into one still larger, until finally a stream is formed which 

 joins into the main river. On the borders of such streams 

 feed the deer aud elk; along their grassy bottoms stalks the 

 wild turkey, resplendent in his bronzed plumage; among 



the tangled thickets that grow upon their banks lurks the 

 great white wolf; and amid the topmost branches of some 

 lofty cottonwood the white-headed eagle rears her gigantic 

 brood. Among the numberless bluffs that rise one after 

 another like the waves of a tossing sea, the buffaloes can 

 be seen by thousands; some peacefully reposing on the rich 

 bottoms, others feeding upon the short nutritious grass 

 that clothes the hillsides. The calves play clumsily about, 

 and the old bulls from the tops of the bluffs grimly watch 

 over their uncouth families. 



Rarely are these scenes disturbed save when the prowl- 

 ing Sioux, returning from some foray upon the luckless set- 

 tlers, halts for a brief period to rest his worn out animals 

 and to eat his hasty meal, or when a squadron of cavalry 

 with rattle of arms and clink of spur hurries along upon 

 the trail of the dusky robber, all too late to recover his 

 booty or avenge .his crimes. A few hunters or a party of 

 surveyors occasiynally pass through this region, but except 

 by these and by the Indian it is rarely visited. 



We are standing upon the northern border of the present 

 range of the buffalo. A few passing beyond the Republi- 

 can advance as far north as the Platte, but rarely cross that 

 river. South of the former, however, they still abound; 

 not in such numbers indeed as in former years, but still 

 often sufficiently numerous to blacken the plains and to be- 

 come an easy prey to whoever will hunt them. But their 

 days are numbered, and unless some action on this subject 

 is speedily taken not only by the States and Territories, but 

 by the National Government, these shaggy brown beasts, 

 these cattle upon a thousand hills, will ere long be among 

 the the things of the past. 



Jim. R and myself had left New York a week before, 



and meeting Lute at Plum Creek, had there obtained horses 

 and a team and started off to overtake the Pawnees, who 

 with their families and all their impedimenta, had set out 

 from their reservation three weeks before for a grand buf- 

 falo hunt. Many a time during my wanderings west of the 

 Missouri, had these hunts of the Indians been described to 

 me with a graphic eloquence that filled me with enthusiasm 

 as I listened to the recital, and I had determined that if 

 ever the opportunity offered I would take part in one. The 

 time had at last come, and we were now on our fourth day 

 out from the rail road, having traveled over one hundred 

 and twenty miles, and hoping before nightfall to catch up 

 with the Indians. 



Nor were we disappointed in this hope, for when we 

 crossed the Republican and turned southward, the trail 

 whieh we were following became fresher and gaye evidences 

 of having been made only the day before. Soon we passed 

 their last night's camp, the ashes of the fires still warm and 

 the fresh buffalo bones not yet dried by the sun. Encour- 

 aged by these signs we urged forward our horses, and a 

 short time before dark our exertions were rewarded by the 

 sight of the white lodges of the Pawnees which dotted the 

 broad bottom of Beaver creek. 



'There, ,were about two hundred lodges, occupied by 

 over fc&£ jtycusand Indians, principally Pawnees, with a 

 few PonSj|fc aicf .Omahas. Within the camp and among 

 the lodges Tw&re' picketed the horses. The reason for this 

 as we af terwjerd learned, was that the Pawnees had encoun- 

 tered that afternoon a small band of Sioux, and after chasing 

 them for several miles had captured four of their horses. 

 Of course they knew that the Sioux if they had the oppor- 

 tunity would return the compliment by stampeding their 

 stock and making off with the best of it. This they in- 

 tended to prevent by keeping the horses so near them that 

 no unusual movement of the the herd could be made with- 

 out being noticed by some one in the camp. 



The scene was one of bustling activity. The women and 

 girls were busily at work bringing w T ater, chopping wood 

 and cooking, while the men strolled about the camp smok- 

 ing and talking, or clustered together on the bluffs and 

 gazed at us as we approached. Half a mile from the vil- 

 lage we halted and made camp and after supper rode over 

 to see old Peta-la-shar, the head chief of the Pawnees.. He 

 received us courteously, and Lute even warmly, calling 

 him "ray son," and patting him affectionately on the back 



as he sat by his side. The old man told us that the hunt so 

 far had not been very successful, that the buffalo were not 

 plenty north of the Republican as they used to be when he 

 was a young man, but tomorrow, he said, a grand surround 

 would be made, as his young men had reported plenty of 

 buffalo about twenty miles to the southward. Pleased with 

 this intelligence we left him and after a stroll through the 

 Indian camp returned to our own, and were soon enjoying 

 the deep and dreamless sleep that follows a hard day's 

 march. 



But alas for our anticipations. When we rose next 

 morning we were dismayed by the sight of a dark mist 

 which hung over the valley, sometimes lifting for a few 

 moments so as to disclose the bluffs beyond, and then set- 

 tling down again heavier than before. It was evident that 

 the scouts sent out by the Indians to look for buffalo would 

 be unable to see through the heavy fog, and so our pros- 

 pects for a hunt on this day were Very poor. We started 

 from our camp soon after the Pawnees moved out, and 

 before long our doleful thougths were dispelled by the 

 interesting spectacle of four thousand Indians on the 

 inarch. 



At the head of the column walked eight men, each carry- 

 ing a long pole wrapped round with red and blue cloth and 

 fantastically ornamented with feathers, which fluttered 

 in the breeze as they were borne along. These were, the 

 buffalo sticks, and were religiously guarded at all times, as 

 the success of the hunt was supposed to depend largely up- 

 on the respect shown to them. Immediately after these 

 came thirty or forty of the principal men of the tribe, all 

 mounted on superb ponies, their saddles glittering with 

 silver ornaments, and their bridles tinkling with little bells. 

 Then followed a motly assemblage, consisting of the squaws 

 of the tribe, each of whom as she walked along led one or 

 two ponies heavily packed. A moderately loaded pony 

 would carry, first the lodge, with the poles tied on each 

 side of the pack, the ends dragging along on the ground, 

 next a pile of blankets and robes a foot or two in height, 

 around which are tied pots, tin cups, and other utensils, 

 and on top of this heap arc perched from two to five small 

 children, each of which holds in its arms two or three young- 

 puppies. Loose horses without any burdens, and half- 

 grown colts, each with a little pack on its back, run at large 

 among the the crowd, and their shrill neighings mingle 

 witli the barking of the dogs and the incessant clamor of 

 the women. Along the outskirts of this strange concourse 

 ran half a dozen well grown boys engaged in playing a 

 game in which they seemed intensely interested, and on 

 which as I afterwards learned, they were betting. Each 

 held in his right hand a slender stick about four feet long 

 and one of them had also a ring of plated raw hide three or 

 four inches in diameter. As the latter ran he threw this 

 ring before him so that it rolled along upon its circumfer 

 ence and then each of the players tried to throw his stick 

 through it. They were not very successful in their at- 

 tempts, and I fancy that the amounts lost and won were 

 not very heavy. As I cast my eye around over the prairie, 

 I saw on every side small parties of Indians trudging along 

 on foot, their blankets drawn closely about them and their 

 bows and arrows on their back. Surprised at seeing so 

 many walking when the number of riderless horses in the 

 band was so large, I asked Lute the reason of it. He told 

 me that they were letting their horses rest now* so that 

 they might be fresh when they needed them to run buffalo. 



We travel on for several hours and gradually the mist 

 disappears beneath the powerful rays of the sun. Occasion- 

 ally we cross a little stream, and as we approach it forty or 

 fifty men and boys hurry ahead and disperse themselves 

 through the timber, killing whatever game they can find. 

 On one such occasion a lordly elk disturbed by these in- 

 vaders, springs from a thicket and runs out toward the 

 bluffs unfortunately on the wrong side of the creek and 

 toward the column. Too late he perceives his mistake and 

 turns to retrace his steps, but is met by a dozen yelling 

 enemies. Again he turns, and- now strives to escape in- an- 

 other direction, but twenty horsemen have shot out from 

 the main body, and in less time than it takes to tell it the, 



