THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL. 



Terms, Fo«r Dollars a. Tear 



'•'♦•n Cents a Copy. 



6 months, g2; 3 monchs, S 



l.J 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1879. 



f Volume 12-No. 8. 



I No. HI Fulton St., N. Y. 



Far Forest and Stream 

 WILLOWEMOC. 



ir,d Sea end Cm 



T^OEEVEH float the gaudy ny ! 



■*- Where swims tlie Jlsh who can deny 



Itself the tempting lure I 

 Let Wllloweniac Clni;-nian:6lng, 

 Aa welcome back comes every spring, 



He feels big trow 

 Then wake a good old woodland song, 

 Aa merrily you plod along ; 

 With creel and reel and line and rod 

 Ton tramp the daisy-specklea sod, 

 And hasten foiward at the call 

 Of singing brook and waterfall. 

 Now warily jon stem the flood, 

 And feel the ruBhing of the blood ; 

 While, every nerve with raptnre thrills 

 In unison with trickling nils. 

 When some bold swimmer dares " a rise," 

 And leaps to gain the floating prize, 

 Tou strike ! Ton have him snre and fast ; 

 Yon back, and gain lhe bank at last. 

 There, stretched on mosses darkly green, 

 The chieftain of the pool, I ween, 

 Outrivals far the rainbow's sheen. 

 Eager again yon cast the fly, 

 While olonds obscure the bun and sky ; 

 Now here, now there, yon take yonr tithe, 

 And pass the day in spirits hlithe. 

 Then homeward turned at set of sun, 

 The gate is reached ; with skip and run 

 Wee beaming faces greet you there, 

 And lead yon to an easy chair, 

 To cheery Are and crackling log; 

 A noisy welcome barKs the dog; 

 The singing kettle, hissing pan, 

 Presage the feast for inner man. 

 So may each day thus doubly blest, 

 Be out a foretaste of the rest ; 

 And every day thus calmly spent, 

 To each and all bring sweet content. 



—Ess. 



For Fore&t and Stream and Rod and Gun. 



ghe §tnd of ttiq gointed §ezrt. 



Nttmbbb Two. 



THE country round about Lake Cceur D'Alene is chiefly 

 mountainous, with title and there a small pluteau or 

 valley, generally on the bank of some sequestered lake. The 

 Mullan Road (running from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Ben- 

 ton, and built by Captain Mullan, formerly of lhe army) 

 comes up lhe Spokan River, and, skirting the foot of the lake, 

 passes over the mountains. Wolf Lodge, a small hay ranch 

 oa Wolf Lodge Creek, -which empties into the lake, is about 

 fifteen miles distant, and some fifteen miles further on is the 

 Ccaur D'Alene Mission on the river of the same name. Here 

 the good Jesuit Fathers reside, and have managed to 

 Christianize the Coeiir D'Alene Indians. One of the Fathers 

 told me there was but one Indian in the tribe who was not a 

 member of the Catholic Church. 



These Indians seem to be very thoroughly imbued with a 

 sense of their religious duties. I recollect one evening, 

 while I was stationed at Palouse City— a little hamlet on the 

 Palouse Biver about a hundred miles from our present camp 

 —a party of the Indians came late one afternoon to the grist- 

 mill with a train of ponies laden with grain, which they ex- 

 changed for flour. They camped about a hundred yards be- 

 low us on the bank of the river. Just at dark, while the 

 fires where blazing brightly, the whole party— men, women 

 and children— ranged themselves in two lines, kneeling oc 

 the ground, and sung their " Vespers " in the Indian lan- 

 guage. Their stolid faces, lit up by the firelight, and the. 

 monotonous drona of their harsh voices as they sang, the 

 bright firo and the dark overhanging pines, produced a very 

 solemn effect. After they had finished, they rolled them- 

 selves up in their blankets and settled for the night. In the 

 morning, just after daybreak, as I lay in my tent, I heard 

 them again ; but when I went down to breakfast they had 

 sone. 



About six miles from our present camp, and about due 

 north, is a lake some three or four miles long by half a milj 

 wide, which is celebrated for the abundance of its fish and 

 the amount of game on the mountains surrounding it. There 

 si no outlet to the lake, nor are there streams of any great 

 oze, though several small ones, flowing into it. But it is al. 



ways full. It is fed by springs, and the water is clear, pure 

 and always icy-cold. The Indians say that in the bygone 

 days there was a whirlpool in the centre of the lake, and 

 that logs or trees, getting within reach of the current, were 

 drawn down and disappeared. That among other things, on 

 one or two occasions, canoes were drawn in, their occupants 

 having ventured too near, and were never seen again. This 

 outlet is now, undoubtedly, filled up with logs and debris, 

 for no visible sign of it exists ; but there must be some open- 

 ing in the bottom of the Iske, for the inflow of the water is 

 too great to be disposed of by evaporation, and the melting 

 of the snow on the mountains in the spring or the heaviest 

 rains seem to make no difference in its level. 



That there are underground passages and caves through- 

 out this country is certain. Often, when riding, the drum- 

 like sound of the horse's feet or the deep rumble of the 

 heavy wagons indicates the existence of vast hollows under 

 ground. The Spokan Eiver, which flows from the lake, 

 over a hundred yards in width, has apparently no affluent 

 above the great falls ; yet, about fifteen miles below the 

 lake, the volume of water is suddenly almost doubled. In 

 winter, above this place, the river freezes over ; but below, 

 between it and the falls, it never freezes. In summer, when 

 the water in the lake becomes warm, the water of the river 

 is always the same until it arrives at this place, when a very 

 marked increase of coldness is at once perceptible. Un- 

 doubtedly some underground current joins the main body 

 of the river at this place, having its exit among the 

 rocks, which are scattered around in the wildest profusion. 



The hunting around Cceur D'Alene Lake is super-excellent, 

 and the fishing " the best in the world." In the numerous 

 small lakes in the vicinity, and in the secluded portions of 

 the great lake, the wild fowl build their nests and rear their 

 young. I subjoin a list of the animals and birds found here, 

 so far f s I have been able to learn ; 



Grizzly, black, brown and cinnamon bears; California 

 lion, panther, wild-cat, lynx, wolverine, gray, timber and 

 prairie (coyote) wolves ; red, black, silver-gray and cross 

 foxes ; beaver, otter, pine and stone marten ; mink, fisher, 

 weasel, badger,skunk, niuskrat, elk, caribou, Virginia, black- 

 tailed and mule deer ; rabbits and hares ; gray, red and 

 ground squirrels ; chipmunks, gray and bald eagles ; osprey 

 and maDy other varieties of hawks ; hooting, long-eared 

 and snowy owls ; sage hen, pintail, pine, ruffed and prairie 

 grouse ; capercailzie or cock of the mountain ; wild geese 

 and swans ; loons, ducks of many kinds; English and other 

 snipe ; plover, curlew, sand-bill and swamp cranes; robins, 

 blackbirds of several kinds ; crows, yellow-hammers, sev- 

 eral varieties of woodpecker, bluebiid, magpie, snow birds, 

 bluejays, water-ouzel, humming birds of many kinds, and 

 a great variety of other birds and animals ihe names of 

 which are unknown to me. 



Of fish, there arc a number of varieties of trout, salmon- 

 trout, suckers, and many kinds of shiners and other small 

 fish. Salmon come up the Spokan River in abundance, 

 but cannot get over the Great Falls. I may add here that 

 we have neither mosquitoes nor black flies— those pests of the 

 aDgler and hunter on the lake shores— though there is a fair 

 allowance of other insects, the common house-fly beiDg par- 

 ticularly abundant. 



The country around is a perfect wilderness, and the few 

 ranches, which here and there dot the country, are simply a 

 log but and a patch of garden. The Great Spokan Prairie, 

 which extends from Pend'oerille Lake to the Columbia 

 Eiver, being rather more than a hundred miles in length, 

 with a varying breadth of from six to ten, contains some 

 good ranches where the cereals grow thriftily. Indian corn, 

 however, does not grow well; but- wheat, "rye, oats, barley 

 and potatoes give line crops. Hay is a staple, the wild haj T 

 growing luxuriantly, and timothy, clover, red-top, blue- 

 joint and bud-grass giving famous returns. Fruit does well, 

 especially apples and pears. Strawberries yield immensely; 

 peaches and grapes finely. 



The country around is rapidly filling up, and, were it not 

 for the fear of Indian troubles, every desirable spot would 

 soon be taken up. Fifty miles below, in the "Fair Lake 

 Country," or one hundred below, in the " Palouse Country," 

 lhe soil is deep and very rich ; but in this neighborhood it is 

 rocky, gravely and light- 



Tlie inhabitants of this up-country are principally French 

 half-breeds, descendants of the old Hudson's Bay vojageurs, 

 a few of whom are still living here and married to Indian 

 wives | hence such names as Louis Charette, Jean La Flor, 

 Antoine Pelissier, Louis Pion, Pierre Micl.el, Eugene Le 

 Flambeau and Henri Perrault are not uncommon. But the 

 new element in the lower country is the usual sturdy race 

 which pushes out on the frontier, and, with the exception 

 of a small sprinkling of Irish and Germans (principally dis- 

 charged soldiers), is composed of the unadulterated Ameri- 

 can, chiefly Pike. 



The late Indian troubles have much retarded emigration. 

 It is estimated that at least a thousand families were pre- 

 vented from coming into this immediate section of country 

 by the Nez Perce war alone, with a like population in other 

 sections. The timber of the country is chiefly pine, fir and 

 tamarack, though there is considerable maple, beech and 

 thorn. The cedar on the streams which feed tlie lake — the 

 Cosur D'Alene and St. Joseph— is magnificent. Logs a, hun- 

 dred feed long and four feet in diameter at the buf, with a 

 grain perfectly straight, can be obtained in abundance, and 



many of the trees are much larger. Some of the mountains 

 are covered to their crests with tamarack which attains a 

 great size. Trees of eight or ten feet in diameter, of tama- 

 rack as well as fir and pine, are frequent, while from three 

 to five is the ordinary size. Below, in the Palouse and Fair 

 Lake Country, timber is scarce and has to be hauled long dis- 

 tances ; but around Cceur DAlene the only trouble is to find 

 open ground. The site of our post was 'cleared from the 

 primeval forest, and, the undergrowth having been cut 

 away and the trees thinned out for some half mile around 

 the post, makes one of the most beautiful parks I have ever 

 seen. 



There are several routes to thisbeautiful country. One is 

 by Helena and Missouri, Montana, by the Mullan road, over 

 the mountains. This route is always closed by heavy snow 

 falls during the winter. Thev spin some strong yarns about 

 these same snow falls. One is that a few winters ago a 

 party was crossing the mountains by this route on snow- 

 shoes, the snow being very deep. About half way across 

 they noticed one day a thin column of smoke near the trail 

 slowly curling up by a pine tree. Upon going to the tree 

 they found a deep hole in the snow on one side of the trunk 

 and the smoke coming out of it. Looking down, they saw 

 it was almost thirty feet deep, and at the bottom were three 

 miners who had made this their winter camp and were wait- 

 ing for the spring to melt the fnow and enable them to re- 

 sume their prospecting. So they lowered them some late 

 papers and provisions by meaDS of a long lariat, and left 

 them in their snug quarters. I do not vouch for the truth 

 of the story. 



During the spring, summer and fall this route is practica- 

 ble for equeslrians, but not for wagons, the bridges builtby 

 Captain Mullan having been swept away by the spring 

 floods. The scenery along the route is said to be very grand 

 and beautitul. One of the streams on the route (Hose 

 Creek, I think) crosses the road sixty- five times in less than 

 as many miles. It is readilv forded, except during the 

 spring floods. The country can also be entered by lhe Mul- 

 lan Road from Walla Walla. (The Mullan Road runs from 

 Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia to Fort Benl on on the Mis- 

 souri Biver). There is also anotherroadfromWalla Walla via 

 Waitesburg, Dayton, Colfax, Pine Grove and Spokan Falls. 

 This is the most practicable ioute, and the only one over 

 which runs a public conveyance. A stage runs daily from 

 Walla Walla to Colfax, and a "buck board " from Colfax to 

 Spokan Falls twice a week. At Spokan Falls a team can be 

 hired for the remaining twenty-seven miles. There are ho- 

 tels at Waitesburg, Dayton, Colfax and Sprkan Falls, but 

 most of the houses on the way will accommodate travelers. 

 There is another road from Walla Walla by the Texas Ferry 

 across Snake River. Another route is from Lewiston, 

 Idaho, through Paradise Valley, Moseur, Palouse City, Pine 

 Creek, Pine Grove and Spokan Falls. Tou can also go 

 from Lewiston via Colfax. In the summer and fill] all these 

 roads are good, but during the winter and spring the travel- 

 ing is bad. In the spring it is almost impassable for wagons 

 a part of the way on account of the deepness of the roads. 



It is hard to close this sketch without some allusion to our 

 friend "Lo, the noble red man of the forest." While there 

 are many noble specimens physically, as a general thing 

 the unadulterated Siwash is a very forlorn lookiDg individu- 

 al. As hunters and fishermen, they of course excel. If any 

 of our Eastern brothers of the rod and gun ever wander to 

 this far-off land, they will find poor Lo more than their 

 match. The Indians will catch two fish to their one in the 

 same vicinity, and larger ones, too. With respect to fishing 

 the Indians have some curious superstitions. One is that 

 while the moon is dark or small is the best time. An 

 Indian will not fish, except through necessity, when the 

 moon is at or near its full. The Indians say, gravely : 

 "Wake siklis" (No, my friend). " Wake klose pish kunsih 

 hyas moon towagh" (It is not good to fish when the moon is 

 full and shining brightly). " Klose pish sick moon polaklie" 

 (It is excellent, fishing when lhe moon is oa the wane and 

 dark). "Sagalietyce tikegh tenas mamook pish muck a 

 muck" (Tbe'Great Spirit wishes his children to catch fish 

 to eat). "Wake mamook pish kwano sum" (He does not 

 wish them to fish all the time). "Mamook pisholo silkum" 

 (So be makes the fish hungry only half the time). " Ma- 

 mook hivn " (Then they catch a great many). 



While I am speaking of the success of the Indians in fish- 

 in a, I must tell you a little incident that occurred to a friend 

 of mine who is rather literal in some respects, though wise 

 enough in others. We had all noticed how successful the 

 Indians were in their fishing, both as to number and size, 

 and naturally felt curious as to the reason. So this gentle- 

 man, who knows a few words of Chinook, volunteered to 

 find out- By eking out his Chinook by signs he made an 

 old Indian comprehend what be desired. Indians are usual- 

 ly very reticent about such matters, but some little kindness 

 in the way of food and cast-off clothing had made this one 

 willing to communicate; and as he could not speak English, 

 nor my friend sufficient Chinook, the Indian had to resort to 

 signs. Going to a large pine tree, out of which happened to 

 be oozing a considerable quantity of pitch which had become 

 clear and hard, he touched the tree (accidentally on the 

 lump of gum) with his hand, and then made the mot'on of 

 picking something out and putting it on the hook. So my 

 friend thought he" comprehended, and made the Siwash so 

 understand." Seeing us soon after, he told us the Indians 



