346 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dkoembbb 1, 1881. 



THE WILD HOG OF HAMPDEN. 



BY B. nORSFOHB. 



[The incidents narrated In this paper are substantially true. The 

 story has been told In print before, and has been rewritten tor the 



FOEBST AHO STREAM.] 



IT must have been between '48 and '50 — particular dates 

 not being necessary — that a httle circle of friends made 

 their headquarters in Wallace's saloon, a basement opposite 

 C" urt square in Springfield, Mass. Here they often met to 

 drink health to the community, compare notes and experi- 

 ences, relate exploits, and nut unfrequeully to all unite at 

 once in discussion, when ihe weight of argument would be 

 truly overwhelming. As these four persons figure largely in 

 the story, a word of personal history seems necessary. One, 

 a man of blood, a butcher, often sacrificed time instead of 

 hogs when suckers, i rout and pigeons were plenty; still his 

 trade was a visible means of support. Another caught pigeons 

 in early spring, shad in summer, and pigeons again after the 

 Glorious Fourth; minks and muskrats in the I all; in the 



•winter, nothing. Another did — he did , well, we give it 



up. The last of the quartette was the puny husband of a 

 dashing milliner, and, of course, he was left to help the 

 others. On the whole, they were an easy, vagabond set, a 

 Springfield necessity under the circumstances, and, as is often 

 the case in great events, doubtless raised to meet the emer- 

 gency. 



Somewhere in the lofts above lived a man— sometimes 

 called ' Doctor" — broken in health and ambition, eking out 

 an existence, if possible, nvre mysterious than either of the 

 otherB. Sympathy drew him near, and sympathy find fellow- 

 feeling opened the circle and he was admitted. But a strange 

 depression was at once apparent, Rufus haned his chin on 

 the back of his chair; Sol bit off the stem of his pipe trying 

 to smok' 1 ; Ruel often brought his fist down upon the table 

 with terrible force, but said nothing. By judicious questions 

 and great caution the Doctor at last reached their con- 

 fidence and the reason why they were 8 ) cast down. They 

 had spent a whole sunmnr in futile attempts to capture a hog. 

 Traps, nets, pitfalls, twitchups, stockades, alike availed 

 nothing against the extreme caution of the creature. And 

 to think a hog had done it ! Had not Sol slain bis thousands, 



and Buel his ? But we forbear 1 Here they were obliged 



to acknowledge defeat with aggravations, and no wonder 

 they felt bad. "Damit," said Ruel, "she escaped in that 

 general stamoede down hill we read of, and the same devil 

 possesses her still and helps her on." " My friends," said the 

 Doctor, "the case is truly discouraging, but not hopeless. 

 There is not a creature on the earth that must not fall before 

 human int. llect and human skill united. You have here the 

 nicest of all jobs if cunning h to decide it, and Ihe hardest if 

 left to ph) sical strength. You have before you a creature 

 whose caution and endurance has no equal on this continent. 

 Take renewed courage, for you will certainly fetch ber at 

 last." The meeting broke up, as it bad so often done before, 

 after a unanimous vote that " Thai Hog must be caught!" 



As we can make but little headway without the principal 

 figure, we will go back and bring her up. 



"Some two years previous to this time Captain U , of the 



go> d ship Medusa, was "up the Straits," "beyond the Dar- 

 danelles." While atsome port in Asis Minor anntive brought 

 along a litter of five wild pigs for sale. Now, to see ft esh 

 pork appreciated, go to a 

 general in war time or to a 

 sea-eupta'n on a long voy- 

 age. Only think of it- 

 roast pig and homeward 

 bound I Without loss of 

 time a bargain was struck 

 and the pigs carried on 

 board. But hopes are often 

 raised to be brok' n, and 

 disappointment lurks where 

 we ean expect it. The lit- 

 tle wretches would neither 

 eat nor sleep, and the Cap- 

 tain saw with regret one 

 after another gi?en to the 

 sharks as they died, till, on 

 reaching the port of Boston, 

 one sole survivor remained. 

 The idea of pork iu that 

 direction bad entirely faded out, 'and skin and bones were 

 consigned to the first friend willing to accept them. Soon 

 exhaust! ne both pit ence and perseverance, ihe pig was sent 

 to Mr. Edward Cordis, of Longmeadow, a gentleman of 

 leiure and means, that he might develop whatever might 

 be bidden beneath that rough hide — and surely the chauce 

 grounds for improvement were most strikingly apparent. 



The creature was placed in a pen, or bieb box, and showed 

 just as fast as she grew her wild, untamable nature. Not one 

 mouthful of food would she take while a human countenance 

 was in s ; ght, but would plunge into a hole she dug into the 

 earth, with the vain hope of hiding from a human eye. 



There was a plank eighteen inches high running across the 

 pen to separate eaiing and sleeping apartments. She would 

 mount on the edge of this plank and walk for hours back and 

 forth without stepping off — ever re.-tless, ever moving, search- 

 ing for a hole to escape or hide. 



After she was one year old a domestic male hog was placed 

 in the pen j she brooked no such insinuation, and flew at him 

 with all the lerocity of her nature, and he was withdrawn 

 to save his life. Another trial was made with a regular old 

 bruder, and I hey fought continually till he was taken out 

 sadly d> moralized. 



After this ad hope of domestication or improvement was 

 abandoned. The creature was kept and fed because — well, 

 they didn't, know what else to do with her. She had grown 

 to the height of uearly three fee! ; long, lean, gaunt — not 

 eight i nches through the shoulders or hips — and such a snout ! 

 Look at the illustration. 



And so the year went by. People would call, look awhile 

 at the creature and go away. At last a neighbor, having 

 filled his pockets with acorns, threw them into the pen. She 

 eagerly devoured them— the first food taken openly while; in 

 confinement. 



The nrj-ln folio win? she went out of a window eight feet 

 from the floor, by either a standing leap or climbing the wall 

 — a question never sett ted, as two years afterward she went 

 out where 'here was no hole before or afterward, demons! rat- 

 ing the presumption that she might or could have left through 

 the key-hole or a crack iu the boards just as well as by the 

 window. At any rate, out she went and Bcooted for the 

 nearest woods. 



that this waste v v STih 'X «" 



ust proceed no 4 ^fffl<* irv 'S 



d"That Hog i A F^n\ § 



ught." ■ y)*p j*S->^& 



is time a wail OTb <S\V->' 



,tn thp Ktinlters V~ ^JH^T ~> 



The town of Longmeadow is divided into east and west 

 sections by a tract of pine barren a mile or more in breadth, 

 reaching from Pecowsic Brook, near Springfield, to the 

 Shaker Village, in Enfield. Conn. This tract of abandoned 

 land is covered with sand-blows, sloughs, swamps and under- 

 brush chaparal. Here the Hog took up her abode ; here she 

 lived three years, and here the Pigeoners first made her 

 acquan'ance. She would visit the pigeon stands at night, eat 

 the wheat, disturb things generally, heave the smooth beds 

 into heaps, so that a visit from the owners was necessary in 

 the morning to put things right for the pigeons. This caused 

 great unpleasantness— on one sideat least— and had the male- 

 dictions been half as effective as Ihey were energetic, the 

 Hog had been annihilated at once. Be that as it may, at the 

 regular meeting the case assumed definite proportions, for 

 they had each the same story to tell. The discussions were 

 animated, the arguments 

 conclusive, and the vote l"| 

 unanimous that this waste ^y 

 of wheat must proceed no 

 further, and 

 must be caught. 

 About this tii 

 came up from the Shakers 

 of spoliations not to be 

 endured. "Yea and Nay" 

 had heard that a "school- 

 mistress was abroad," and 

 now they had positiveevi- 

 dcnce of her proximity. 

 They would plant pota- 

 toes through the day but 

 to find them dug up at 

 night by a creature of 

 voracious appetite, while 

 corn, beans and other 

 1 ' deposits " were removed unceremoniously. W ith proverbial 

 philosophy they replanted again and again with the same 

 results. Nothing was said aloud, but there were indications 

 that pent-up feelings caused expressions the canons did not 

 allow. 



The first plan submitted was Hubbard's. He sunk two 

 sugar "hogsheads" (no pun was intended) in his pigeon-bed, 

 one below the other, making a large well some ten feet- deep, 

 covering it with a trap to let her fall in while eating the bait 

 placed in the centre, the whole covered with two inches of 

 earth. The Hog came on to the bed, walked around the 

 charmed circle night after night eating the wheat, but not 

 one foot would sh 3 place on the trap or over the well, although 

 smoothly covered with earth. At last this was voted "no 

 go " and abandoned. 



The next plan was Ruel's and Hubbard's together. They 

 made a net of small cord, attaching it slightly to four poles 

 like quilting frames, and suspended it by ropes to fall squarely 

 upon the Hog's back, when, by a jump, she would carry the 

 whole net with her and roll upon the ground, enveloped like 

 a Sioux baby, and just as helpless. The thing was all figured 

 out and the result certain. The net was set and the Hog 

 went under it and, while eating in the centre, sprung the 

 trap. The net had three feet to fall, while she had more 

 than six feet to jump: but she cleared it in time, striking 

 some ten feet outside. But this was only a slight mistake in 

 figures. The net was raised higher, aud, after a lit t le coaxing, 

 she again ventured under 

 it; then they lowered it, a 

 little more and repeated 

 the opera ion till it almost 

 touched her back. The 

 trap was again set, and the 

 net fell squarely upon her. 

 As though sh"t from a 

 morlar she went through 

 the net, making a large 

 hole, but without breaking 

 the slender attachments to 

 the poles. What was said 

 on viewing the premises 

 the next morning is not 

 recorded. Hubbard was 

 too thoroughly bred at home 

 to express on all occasions 

 what he felt, and Ruel got 

 relief somehow, for he came 

 into the next meeting cool and collected. 



The following winter an attempt was made to run the 

 creature down with dogs and either capture or kill her; at 

 any rate, to rid the farmers of an outlaw and relieve the 

 Sp ingfield baud of disgrace accumulated until the camel's 

 back was dreadfully warped. True, parties from Hartford, 

 Worcester and intermediate places had hunted the Hog till 

 fully satisfied. But then, they didn't know much ; and 

 how should they? "None of 'em ever seen a wild hog." 



Notes from a journal kept at the saloon will best describe 

 the hunt with dog-t and the result : 



Monday night— at Wallace's. — The Hog started early and 

 ran well, but the dogs pressed her so closely that she had hard 

 work to keep ahead. 



Tuesday night.— She kept clear of the dogs by doubling on 

 her ti ack, bui, evidently showed great fatigue. 



Wednesday night. — She held out wonderfully, but was left 

 near Pecowsic Brook, a mile from Springfield, all beat out. 



Thursday night. — Found her len miles from where they 

 left her the night before. The Doctor said she was getting 

 stiff in the joints from lacfc of exercise, and had merely taken 

 an evening walk to keep in trim. 



Friday night. — "She runs like the devil," was about all 

 that could be got out of them. 



Saturday night —■ ' Danj.it," said Ruel, " I measured jumps 

 to-rlay of sixteen to eighteen feet, and the brute runs better 

 than she did Monday." 



All hope of running dowu the Hog with dogs was given 

 up; all plans thus far had proved abortive, and the depreda- 

 tions continued. When corn was green she would enter the 

 fields and "eat like a hog." When the corn was cut, not one 

 ear would she eat in the fields She would come out of the 

 woods only in the night, walk straight to a shook of corn, 

 seize a bundle and retrace her tracks to the woods, and there, 

 in a dark cover, eat it. She would mount a fence and walk 

 like a cat upon it. Once only was h< r track seen around the 

 pen of a domestic hog. One day a pack peddler crossing the 

 woods was horrifl' d to see a large black creature bound into 

 the road behind him. Dropping his pack he " went for his 

 life," and the Hog went for "hern." Looking over his 

 shoulder the pack was mistaken for the Hog in pursuit. At 

 any rate he told a terrible story of his escape. 



We believe this the "only view of the Hog obtained in the 

 Ihree years of constant warfare in which she lived. Invisible 

 to human eyes she would make tracks just as long as men or 

 dogs chose to follow. She would leave the fleetest with 

 laps of twelve to sixteen feet by actual measurement ; she 

 would double on her tracks, and then by a tremendous leap 

 sidexcays default the surest hound. 



m. 

 The next effort to capture the Hog was the third summer 

 after her escape. This plan was to stockade around a depres- 

 sion in the ground made by digging out rabbits. She was 

 decoyed to the place by scattering buckwheat from a pigeon- 

 bed close by to a small heap in the hole at the bottom. Leav- 

 ing a space for entrance, they began a stockade, right and 

 left, of hard pines three to six inches in diameter around this 

 depression, adding to it daily, and setting them over two feet 

 deep in the earth. The plan captivated the Doctor in the 



r outset, who said, "There 

 is science in it and you 

 will certainly catch her, 

 because her hips while 

 eating are full forty-five 

 degrees higher than her 

 head ; consequently she 

 2T\/>i must bring her hind feet 

 i?'t * down to her no=e, then 



certainly a little late to 

 reach the opening. And 

 another thing, when you 

 close the stockade on the 

 other side she won't go 

 in"— as it proved. The 

 opposite side opened, she 

 again went, in to feed. 

 They then closed the Blockade some six feet high, and the 

 entrance in the same manner, then hooped the whole and 

 spiked all together. The Hog entered fearlessly so long as 

 the way seemed clear beyond. The trap was so made that 

 moving a little stick in the pile of wheat while eating would 

 let fall both gates at once. A gun was lashed to the stockade 

 which the fall of the gates would fire off 



Having cot all things fixed, the friends took their station 

 half a mile away and waited — waited— all night. But she 

 would be hungry, and the next night would surely bring her. 

 This sprung the Doctor, and the second uight he lay in the 

 woods with them, but no signal nor sign was heard. 



The third night proved that she knew all the time "some- 

 body was round," so the fourth night they all stayed at home. 

 Between nine and ten the next morning, the friends having 

 over-slept from hroken rest, approached the palisades, and 

 seeing the gates down sprang forward with a shout, aud 

 mounting the pa'isades looked in, aud then at each other. 

 Ruel looked at Rufus and Rufus at Ruel. To say that they 

 were astonished is a failure ; blank amazement is a failure, 

 and we doubt whether any language short of Feejee could 



5£Kn 



express their looks— Were was no Hog there! Language failed 

 entirely, wrath refused to explode, 



Not "so thought the Hog a few hours before. She was un- 

 doubtedly surprised to see a gate shut in her face just as she 

 was going through it, and more surprised to find one shut 

 behind her at the same time. She probable took in the whole 

 Bcope of the question at once. Caught at last ; now to get 

 out, and that immediately. Palisades fifteen feet high — no 

 hope in that direction. The gates locked like Saurian teeth 

 — no hope there. She went round the pen with a ditch two 

 feet deep, throwing the earth to the centre and laying bare 

 the stockades nearly to the bottom; then taking the weakest 

 Bud only possible spot, drove her nose between the posts and 

 literally "following her nose" forced her body out, the 

 stockade closing entirely behind her. 



The next meeting at Wallace's was "solemn as a court of 

 justice." Little was said, no speeches were made, and the 

 usual vote was brought out only by peremptory demand of 

 ayes and noes — aud feeble at that. The truth was, a general 

 demoralization had fallen upon them all. They even doubted 

 the Doctor's philosophy, because he only said Ihey woidd 

 catch her, implying doubt of their ability to keep her when 

 caught. They doubled everything. But sorrow and disap- 

 pointment wear off in time, and the cause remaining still 

 fresh and vigorous courage and hope again revived. " That 

 Hog must be caught." 



In the southern part of the Hog country toward the Shaker 

 village was what was called the Big Swamp. On its eastern 

 borders there was a tavern or public house where the comforts 

 of life were always obtainable and where foreign parties 

 made their headquarters and recruited strength after the 

 fatigues of a chase. 



