THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 69 
Baker County, while she has not the area of some of the other 
counties in this part of the state, is very important from a game 
standpoint also. Of the upland birds the Sagehen is by far the most 
numerous, but numberless others may be listed also. Among them are 
the Blue, Ruffed, Columbia Sharp-tail and Franklin Grouse, the two 
latter species, of course, not being as plentiful as in former years and, 
in fact, I think the Franklin specie is rarely found now. The quail 
here, as in Grant County, are becoming very numerous indeed, on 
account of the protection afforded them by the people in general, and 
in very few years will undoubtedly outnumber all the others. The 
Chinese Pheasant, which was only recently introduced here, seems to 
be doing exceedingly well and will no doubt in a very short time take 
the place of some of the native specie of game birds, which are becom- 
ing so few, and which it will be impossible to propagate in captivity, 
owing to their wilder nature. On the higher hills are to be found big 
game in plenty—deer, bear and elk, also fur-bearing animals of all the 
different species common to the Northwest territory, I believe. The 
climatic ‘conditions are identical with Grant County and the camper 
may select any altitude from three to ten thousand feet. 
She has one feature that probably few sections can boast of, and 
that is in having a group of some half dozen lakes of good size within 
a few minutes’ travel of each other, and all of which contain trout 
in great numbers of the different species. These lakes are surrounded 
by the most beautiful mountains imaginable, and are at an altitude of 
possibly an average of six thousand feet. They are somewhat inacces- 
sible now, owing to the fact that there is no road in there, the only 
means of reaching them at present being over a trail which is some- 
what rough in character. As these bodies of water are situated only a 
few hours from Baker, a city boasting of nearly ten thousand inhabi- 
tants, the majority of whom are lovers of outdoor recreation, a move- 
ment has been started which will eventually result in the construction 
of a good road which will be a great boon to the office men, 
in that they will be able to make this trip in a day by auto, and spend 
most of the day at that in angling; heretofore they have had to forego 
ay pleasure of this trip on account of the time consumed in getting in 
there. 
Many streams teeming with trout are to be found in the mountain 
ranges bordering the: extreme eastern and western sections of the 
county, and here also is to be found some of the most magnificent 
and wonderful mountain scenery, the beauties of which it would be 
useless to describe, only that it is of the class that makes the mortal, 
who may have the good luck to view it, feel just how small and 
insignificant he really is after all. I happened to be in the eastern 
part of the county during the last “Indian Summer” and was standing 
somewhat above the floor of a rugged granite canon. In looking up 
this canon a short distance there was a small basin; it was in the 
afternoon and the sun was nearly down, and owing to the haze the 
distance effect gained rapidly; this caused the little basin to have the 
appearance of a gigantic stage set for an outdoor scene, the contour 
of the ridges of the little side canons being sharply defined and repre- 
senting the wings, and in looking upon it I wondered what tragedy or 
otherwise might have been enacted there in reality by the peoples of 
long ago. 
Please excuse my poor attempt at description, but I want to 
impress upon you the fact that we have natural wonders right at hand 
that would back up the slogan of “See Oregon First.” We have the 
scenery, climate and also the game. Why go elsewhere? 
