bl(OBUBEB3S,l880.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



405 



SPORTS OF BY-GONTi DATS. 



EdUor Forest and Siream : 



The pen of "Hal a Dacotali." wliieh yon call upon 

 to perfonu service for your Cliristmas time iaaue, has 

 been ao long imused ia the sporting line that it is decidedly 

 rusty. I must endeavor to burnish it for tlie nonce with 

 what success you must be the judg:c, 



drma, mrmngue ctmu, as old Virgil hath it. If 1 cannot 

 sing na did the poet, I can at least tell your readers in plain 

 prose somewhat of the men and of the arms tliey used in 

 other days in their field sports. 



The co-contributors with myself to FOTtev's ilpirit of Uiit 

 Vimen and otlivr .sfxtrtini,' journals mote than a (luartcr of a 

 century ago wwt Vuink Forrester (Wni. II. lTerl)ert), 

 Kendall, T. B. Tlmrpf, Pit-Ion, Lewis, Andubou and other-s 

 of more or Ir-sa nitir. With Porter, Herbert and Kendall, I 

 was per.sonHlly rtrijiuiinted ; they ail passed away years since 

 Co the undiseoviired country. 



"Their awortlH aro rust, 

 TtitjLr bodK'B art dust, 

 I'hoir NoiiJii are with Uiesuiiits, I trust.'' 



The writer.^ Ihave referred to composed a corps which for 

 ability and brilliancy in llieir particular department of litera- 

 ture has sclfloui been surpassed. Dwelling in difTcreiit |)or- 

 tious of the Union ilie aggregate uf their experien.'-e af. from 

 time to time made public bad iiiueh elteet in pti|)ularizing 

 logitiinale (icid sports, und in reprciiaiiig the practjeea of prit- 

 huntersnow nidiappdy loo i.n/.vjilenl in (lie laud. 



Our place of rendez.vous when we were in Ne\v York city 

 was Portei-'.s editurial Eaiu-fcnn!, 'Aiiere v;e ui^teussed sporting 

 Ihenies :■,,,■,' ■ : i n. i ,"" Her- 



bert en I : ■! never 



to wcii: vjio had 



hUUted HI lieiUT. itijii-i: ,i',iii j,i,^ .,,'. II ; luv.i uc v\ .in lU iiiril a 



most entertamiu!.' and m.'^iiuetive companion, tlioroughly 

 versed as he waa in the llioory of hunting and rt«Iii]ig'uo"t 

 only, but in all .subjects of general interest. He was positive 

 iti bis opinlcms and somewhat impatient of contradit^tion, hut 

 ready, neverlbeless, ia w\»kc\}\e.amende /Kniorahle when con- 

 rincod that he was in error. On one ticca,siou in reply to 

 my statement that canvas-back ducU.s were abumlaut in Min- 

 nesota, he raihtr l;lmitly iirerrod I was inistakcn, as that fowl 

 •was never fnuiui ?o far from Ibe seaboard. 1 toUl liini I was 

 familiar wilU aiiuatic bhds. and if I failed to furnish bim 

 with specimens from tlu.s far nlf region wliicb lie would ac- 

 kuowledgc to be the i-imon ptu-r; 1 would willingly pav for 

 the 0)'ater supper for the company when next we inet." He 

 accepted the wager, and on my rettu-ii home it was my f or- 

 tiuie to kill a large number t)f caiivas-l)uel<.s, from which I se- 

 lected a full-grown mule and female, plaeed them in the hands 

 ■ A an e.\7)ert to be thoroughly prepared ami mounted, and I 

 Uieii ilesnatelied the box cuntainim; the pair to Herbert at the 

 Cedars where he roHidcd. When I airaiii saw him in _Ncw 

 iorlvintho fall of tlie same year he frankly acknowledged 

 that be had lost the lif-t, and forthwith invited those present 

 to partake of the oy^iters and atcrjnjjianiments, which they did, 

 and a jolly time we bad of il .nt his e.vpense. 



Herbert and myself had corresjionded previous to becom- 

 ing person.atly aeuuainted. He did me the honor to dedicate 

 to rae, in Haltering terms, one of his churmiug works called 

 the "Hccr.stalker.o," acompliuienl from so distine:uished a 

 Bporlsmnn and author whieh ^vas iieculiaily ^rralifying. 1 

 have always believed that there was sume event eonneeted 

 with HerVicrl'.s solf-oxile from his native laud which was never 

 divulged, but which preyed upon bla peace of mind and 

 caused tliat deep depression to which he was subject at inter- 

 vals, and which, combined Avithtbe infelicities of his domes- 

 tic relal ions, brought about llie final distressiuL'- calastrophe. 

 •'liigui'f.vnl i,h p,i,:er' 



Porter, of Tin- Spirit of thr. Titjwjt, and Kendall were boib 

 triie-bearted and genial men, as well as able and jn-ucticed 

 Writers. They had hosts of friends, North and South, and 

 were general favorites. 



My own sphere of operations was far more extended than 

 that of any of the sportsmen I have nanaxl. and hence tlie 

 articles furnished by "tial a Daeotah," allho\igh by no means 

 remarkable for their literary meiit. w'-re souirht for with 

 eagerness, because of the uov'!: ' ' -, j l,e descrilied 



and the magnitude of the fieM ■ ian)ed. Thai 



field compri.scd what are nov, ! i ii'.ve;fiern Iowa, 



the whole of thegreal iSiate iif ;__; .__ _.. __ i:ig west of the 

 Mississippi River, and a part of EasHau i:iaii.uta. .\u while 

 men inhabited this va.st region, save the comparativelv few 

 who were en-asel in the fur trade with the Indians. 'Here 



were to be fon^i'^ ; ,! . m 



of the j'car (he buifalo, or bi- 



son, in couulf 



.1, hertlsot ilie wapiti, or elk, 



the deer, the In. . 



:. and not iidrequeiitly the pan- 



ther and other au.j,,., -. .,;..• 



areams aliMUuded wuh beaver. 



otter, miuk and other ampl 



ibia, and the l.-ikts, of wliieh 



there are more ihan sm-cn (ho 



isandiuMinnesataahme, were 



covered in the sprinu, and lall 



wiih ---,Mi,, ^eese andtlucksof 



every varietv. It was in tin 



:iuntcrs that the 



youthful JIal, not loin; oui oi 

 hlgs, iithlelieand aelive, a su- 



-tin biastock- 



■ He, .shot-ijunand 



pistol, and withal an enthusia 



^1 111 aeio hii.ais, for suecessive 



years plied his weapons to t 



le destruction of mvriads of 



furred and feathered game. His coutrilini.ions to the sportintr 

 Uteratm-e tif the period were strictly truthful, but tinged with 

 the somcwh.'ii romantic character of their young author. The 

 interest maui tested by the public in these effusions was en- 

 hanced liy (he fact that there was no other representative of 

 the e.>;treme Isoitliwest in tlio groxxp of wdtera referred to. 



The position 1 held as one of the paTtuers of the Oreat 

 American fur Company, having under my immediate and 

 exclusive control the trade with the Inditms on (be west of 

 the Mississippi in aU the wide re:;ii:in from l^ake f'epin to the 

 British Possessions on (be north, and wes\\ aid to the dividine- 

 ridge between the Jtiunesota and INIissouri Rivers, enabled 

 me to combine business with jileasm-e. There wi-vo many 

 trathng posts established at intervals rhrnueh i],,- country, 

 whichmnst be occaBiouttlly visile. t and ins]leeted by me "in 

 person, and I performed these jmirneys fm liorsehaelc', with a 

 single rreneh Canadian voyagenr as my ail-aitlant, depending 

 Mpon our gun.s for food. We sometimes fuiuid it conveuicnl 

 10 pass till "hdit in -1 trnder'u I ;,0!,| ai tme of the slalioas or 

 inaSij ■ our eamp was made in 



the op r _ -ould lie obtained. 



in T? . I ' ' ' , . I' : I he country north of the 



Minnesota River and west of what was termed the Big 

 Woods, very little being Imtiwn by the whites about it. 

 There accompanied mo eight white ineu and mixed bloods, 



and after much persuasion I induced a Sioux Indian named 

 Dowan, or the Singer, to act as guide to the pn.rtr, promising 

 hitli proteelion in case we fell in with (''i.Mi"n"'.i>i "o1h which 

 tribe the Sioux were at war, and .a H ' ; lion for 



his services if he j-ire'ved himself •■ 'liibfnl 



We were all mounted on tough and ;■ i - '^rses, and 

 we r(;lied upon our arms to furnish us with f od, W'e lanssed 

 the Jfinnesota River at the Little Rapids, about forty miles 

 above Mendota, wi(.hout serious difllculty, the water being 

 shallow. We then entered the woods, and n:r : -r 1 m 

 under the direction of the guitie, we emergen ni ' i 

 prairie on the following day. The irionth w * i 



wtjods and prairie had assumed the hues of auLLii.n, ana Lue 

 weather being warm and pleasant, the party haviitg secured 

 sutlicient game for supper, were in a merry'inood, and made 

 good headway towards the nortfnvcsl. Deer and bear sign 

 was plentiful, but the Lidiaos bad lately bunted there and 

 killed tir driven the animals away. The next day wo trav- 

 eled industriously, but fell in with U" jane- nf ;oiy kind, and 

 we reached a lake, bordered by a th:; ' '' poplar.s, 



where it was deeided to encamp for i oig eat- 



en uothinsj during the day, ancl with" rupper, 



the situation wats any tbiivg butcheeiia!. \. v> as dis- 



appearin'^in tlin west, wiien (o our delighi \ve heard among 

 the poplars the peculiar ehuclde of rii (fed grouse wlieu pre- 

 paring to roost ; and \]ie\ were soon tiiseovereil auri fiflcen of 

 them secured, which afforded a very salislai Itay meal. Thai 

 was the cady day thai there was seareily of food during tlie 

 entire trip, deer and water fowl being abundant. The route 



was contintied along the verge of th-' '' '' '"i'ltnoon 



of one of the days, we saw in the O: |irairjca 



herd of elk, consisting of a hundred " )wii on 



the top of a hill. How to stalk them , was the 



problem It) be solved. There was but one cliaiicc in a score 

 that it could fie done, but I determinetl upon a trial. Leav- 

 ing the rest of the par(y to care for the horses, none of which 

 were fast enough to overtake the elk, I took wilh me ayoung 

 half-breed and Dowan, and started on foot, We were com- 

 pelled to make a niarcb of three or four tnih;.=i to reach the 

 only point from whicb to makean approach. The hill where 

 the'aidmals lav was precipitous on the side where we found 

 ourselves, auti if the valley between us could be safolv 

 crossed, w'e would be. .sheltered from sight liy (he breiw of ihe 

 hill. Stripping ourselves of all superlli'uins .articles, we 

 wound prairie gi'ass around our bodies antl crowned our heads 

 with il. I kept the halt-breed -ivith uie, and ii.ild Dowaii to 

 crawl at a little distance in a paraUel line with us, but under 

 no circumstances to fire a .shot or show himself until I arrived 

 at the proper spot. Serpent-like wc worked om- way through 

 the grass for a distance of fom- or five hundred yards, and 

 had reached the sheltered spot without alajininir the game, 

 when, to my tmspeakable horror and indignation, I saw the 

 miserable savage Dowan rise fron\ the ground, run rapidl\- 

 up the hill, and discharge his double barrel. I was near 

 eirough to the herd for a certain shot, but the rising gronnd 

 intervened, shutting it out from my view. I ran at full speed 

 toward the Indian, intending to be.at him soundly, but be 

 was a fleet rumier, and when I momded the bill lie was in 

 full chase of the elk and almost a gun-shot ahead of me. I 

 felt like putting a biiUet through the wretch, but lie did not 

 make his appearance among us until late at ni'/ht, and my 

 wrath had then subsided. "What he had been doinc' in (die 

 meantime no one could tell, but when I questioned liim (he 

 next morning he .said he had followed an. elk he bad wajund- 

 ed, but did not succeed in overtakina' ii. 1 abused him heart- 

 ily for bis miseonduct, and asked him why be had not waited 

 for me before shooting. He replied that ho could mjl se(' n.e 

 in the grass, and supposed I had abandoned the (.Iiase. Mow 

 the fellow failed to secure at least two of the herd, I can not 

 conceive, for he was wthin twenty yards of (hem when he 

 discharged his gun. I have oftentimes had my patienoe tried 

 by the stupidity of fellow-hunters, or of my "men, wdiiai in- 

 structed to perform some task requiring tact and eainion in 

 approaching name, but nothincr ever ocenrred to nie more 

 irritating than the case I have related. Woj lell in with oilier 

 elk in smaller numbers during the tri]i, liur, tl:e eoiinrry was 

 not favorable for stalking, and a trial to overtake them with 

 our horses on one occasion jiroved a iudieroiis failure. 



After reaching the valley of the Sauk River aad looking 

 with pleased eyes upon a beautiful .sheet of water, now known 

 at Osakis Lake, and celebrated for the abundance and excel- 

 lence of the fish it contains, the weather changed, threatening 

 a storm, and I determined to return homeward by a more 

 westerly route. t)n the second day thereafter a huge bear 

 was killed by one of (he parly and the carcass proved' a god- 

 .send to us, iuasmueh as a sudden snow-.storm, widch lasted 

 two entire days, overtook us and drove ns to il.e siielor nf 

 the woods. Hunting was out of the questioii ! ' 

 fall continued, and we had to make ourseUi 

 animals as comfortable as tlte paucity of ri.: .. . ii 



w^ould permit. The large kettle of siiei.i-; n . i upon 



the fire and supplied wilhout iutcrmis: .: i i ■ ineat of 

 the bear, which was our only reeour, . . ..:it eon- 



.sumed by the party of nine while thus .-aio'A^ mn was sim- 



ply prodigious, there being little of the bear lei i foe the 

 wolves when we deparled. Oirr course led. as thniugh llio 

 Kandiyohi region, noted for the size and l.ieaiily of its lakes 

 and the fcrtLhty of its soil. The party arri . edv i i :iout acci- 

 dent at their homes, after an absence ni i v ini v- 1 v > tlays, the 

 only incident worth mentioning being Ih'.: liaeainL;- of four 

 large ateese on the wimr by the wTiter by a siie.d.- discharge of 

 hisgmi ouhor.scbaek." 



I first came to St. Peter's, now ^lendota, in the fall of IS.S*, 

 the trip from Crairic du Chien, nearly three hundred miles 

 distant, having been performetl in company with a uentleman 

 named BaiUv, two hired vovageurs and a"half-lirep7i boy, all 

 of us being nioinded. I have'fierelofore given sume details 

 to the readers of ThtSpiril ,'ft/if Timri^oi ilie jom-ney, which 

 was fruttfid of inclileubs, some Iudieroiis and some arave. 

 Soon after my arrival I visited Fort Suelling and presented 

 letters of iutroductiou, with which I had lieen furnished by 

 my armj' friends elsewhere, to the otHcers, and they secured 

 niy entree at once to the society at the post. The garrison 

 was composed of five companies, with nearly a fidl e.n,. •.le- 

 nient of officers, several of whom had thin 

 them. There were four lieutenants, W., iM 

 who, like myself, were unmarried, and wi. , ; 



themselves into ii club, which they caDed ilie ■•/.->",■: lo. 

 These j'onngsters were disposed to be fast, and some of their 

 pranks were annoying to Major P., the staid and somewhat 

 austere commantiaut, verging as they did upon insubordina- 

 tion aud disrespect, bul never quite rendering their authors 

 amenable to the penalties of a court-uiartial. The two first 

 and last wdiose initials are given met with an early death., 

 tiie third fell a victim to yellow fever at Vera Cruz suhso" 

 quent to its surrender to Gen. Scott. 



After the lapse of several years Captain Martin Seott, fa- 



mous as I he l.iest .shot of his time, iu or out of the service, was 

 assigned to the command of Fort Snelllng and he brought 

 witii him a score or more of thoroughbred" dogs of diHercnt 

 kinds. I had in niy own kennels twenty-two canines, nltho 

 head of which was "the matchless Lion, an Irish wolf dog, im- 

 morl ilizcd bv Frank FoiTssler in his published works aud in 

 hue vears by'"j\Iis. .lessie Benton Fremont in the columns of 

 the Sew York S-iy-'i-tsman. The tastes of the new comman- 

 dant and myself were so sinnlar that it is uot strange we be- 

 came intimate or that the intimacy ripened into a warm 

 ti ieiidshi|.i, which lasted uninterruptedly until his death. He 

 tell, lis we all know, at the head Of his regiment, while gal- 

 lauily performing his duty on the bloody field of ilolino del 

 Hey, in Mexico, in the year 184:7. 



The Captain and I frequently hunted o;rou8e on the prai- 

 ries, and iu the winter season wc made fierce war upon the 

 wolves and foxes which were attracted by the offal from the 

 post. W'ben wc took the field w'nh more than two score dogs 

 there was music in the air and small chance indeed for any of 

 (be scavenger beasts in the neighborhood. There was a large 

 timber wolf, distinguished by his size and by bis peculiar 

 darlc color, which had baffled every attempt of Gaiilain ."^cott 

 and the other sportsmen at the fort to captuTC, although 

 they had fleet greyhounds in their pack, t told these gentle- 

 men that my dogs coidd catch and kill that brute, but they 

 were utterly incredulous. Il was arranged that I was to be 

 advised when next the wolf put in an appearance, and uot 

 many days passed before the notice was served upon me. My 

 fastest horse was forthwith saddled and I crossed the Jlinnc- 

 sota River with my dogs, and was soon In full chase of the 

 animal, wdilch was so confident in his own powers that he 

 disdainctl the shelter of the woods and took his course, much 

 to my delight, across the prairie. Suffice It to say that Lion 

 and bis brother Boston overhauled the wolf after a short raco 

 of three miles and pinned him to the gromid. When I 

 reached the spot the wolf was in the agonies of death, and in 

 a few moments cease<l to breathe. I aitaxjhed one end of my 

 long silk sash to the hasp In my saddle and tied the other 

 round the wolf's neck, aud thus accoutred I dragged the 

 heavy carcass over the smooth prairie to the fort and exhibit- 

 ed it, to the discomfiture of the disbelieving and the triumph 

 of my noble dogs. 



On' auolber day I received an urgent message from the 

 Captain, by his orderly, reciuestlng me to cross over with my 

 dogs, as he had two wolves corallcd upon the large Island bo- 

 low the fort. I forthwith complied, and on my arrival I 

 ftiund the Captain bad placed an entire company of soldiers 

 along the bank of the stream to prevent the escape of the 

 wolves. The Island was surrounded by open water except 

 on that side. AVe went over on the ice, found antl killed one 

 wolf, and the other only evaded the onset of the dogs by 

 piuniiing into the water, when he was carried by the swift 

 euneiit, despite all his struggles, imder the ice. 



My armoiy contains one rifle and threa double gims, each 

 01 v,hieh recalls to my ndud incidents of much interest in 

 whicliitbas played a prominent part. There are missing 

 from ibe eolleclion two double barrels, one a plain neat gun 

 which I purchased frtmi Capt. Scott ou the eve of his depar- 

 tiu-e for Mexico. It was his favorite arm, and I used it with 

 great care for several years and finally presented It to a warm 

 friend, since deceased. It is now iu the possession of his son, 

 by whom it is valued as a family relic. The other was, next 

 to my"Wilmot, the weapon I most relied on for ordinary 

 shooling. It is responsible for the death of innumerable vic- 

 tims, from the lordly bison, through the gamut, down to the 

 linj jacksnipe. The excellence of Its shooting will be 

 vtniciied for by our able and w^orthy Couunlssloner of Agrl- . 

 culture, my old friend General W. G. Le Due, who witnessed 

 divers feat's performed with it In the field. I lent it to a fel- 

 low sportsman several years since aud have never been able 

 to recover it, which I very much regret, foi' that arm was my 

 reliance in many a strait and never failed mc. 



There was enough of danger attendant upon the sports of 

 my earlier years in this country to add zest and excitement to 

 their pursuit. Albeit the great bands of Dakotas or Sioux 

 were for liie most part frientUy and hospitable, their boast 

 being that they had no blood of while men upon their hands, 

 the)' were the Ishmaeliles of the plains, regarding every red 

 1 who was not a Dakota ha prima ficie an enemy, and i-n- 

 ■d to no mercy. The other tribes of course retaliated, and 

 the white hiuUer was exposed to the peril of meeting tiieir 

 war parties, and of l.>eiug robbed of all his property, if indeed 

 he was frirtunale enough to escape without the Itiss of his 

 scalp. To say nothing of his habUlty to breali his neck or 

 his liudjs by being thrown from his horse while chasing the 

 larger game over broiceu tmd unfavorable ground, he was 

 olton In peril from the head long charge of a wounded btdl 

 (the writer himself having barely escaped with his life in an. 

 eneoimler of this sort, related in Porter's edit loir of "Hawk- 

 er"). It must bo borne In mind that the buffalo of the 

 olden time was by no means the poor creatiure he now Is, 

 rendered spiritless and timid by the incessant reports of the 

 repeating rifles In the hands of his persecutor. The savages 

 seldom used firearms In the chase, depending upon the equal- 

 ly deadly but silent work of the bow and Iron-pointed arrow, 

 which caused little alanu among the great herds. It needed 

 Utile provocation to ensure im attack from the jnales even 

 when tmwounded, but the sting of a ball or au arrow, when 

 not instanlly fatal, was sure to be followed by a furious charge 

 upon the assailant, and several Indians within my own knowl- 

 etlge fell victims to such onset. The stately bull regarded 

 himself as the master of the plains, and was ready to tlo bat- 

 tle for the supremacy with any intruder. Prairie fires, when 

 the grass became dry, were the di-ead of the hunter, for when 

 driven before the gale it required the utmost exertions aud 

 sldll of the most experienced to save person and property 

 from the fiames. 



The transformation which has taken place in the vast coun- 

 try referred to as the scene of my early adventiu'es in lesa 

 than a generation la almost inconceivable. The white set- 

 tlements were few in number, and confined mainly to that 

 part of Minnesota's territory cast of the Mlsslssijipl Kiyer. 

 Where the buffalo were to be fomid covering the prairies and 

 great herds of elk disported themselves flourishing towns and 

 cities have sprung up, and thousands of stalwart farmers bavo 

 estabhsiieil theuiselves and are furnishmg the stall of life to 

 the dwellers in less favored lands. Within ten miles t)f where 

 I now write are more than a hundred thousand people em- 

 braced iu the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, both of 

 whieh are increasing in population and wealth with wontler- 

 ful rapidity, and to which the great Northwest is Iributaj-y. 

 There are no buffalo and very few elk to be found now iu 

 this immense Slate of Slinnesota. Deer are abundant as are 

 the Canada, pinnated and ruffedgrouse which do not seem 

 to suffer serious dlmimition, notwithstandingtheauuual raids 

 made upon them by the sportsman and the pot hunter. The 

 numerous lakes are still the hatmts in the proper season oi 



