FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



INDIAN GAME-BUTCHERS. 

 A. S. Marshall. 



I am glad to see that you have taken up 

 a serious question and one that I and others 

 have been agitating for some time. I have 

 been living for several years in the midst 

 of the country infested by these Indian 

 game-destroyers. Several of us saw about 

 500 Indians in one camp, at one time, 

 last fall on the Green river side of the 

 mountains. There were over 100 lodges and 

 about 2,000 ponies. The Indians were 

 mostly Bannocks and Shoshones, some 

 Utes and Arapahoes. A neighbor of mine 

 and myself counted over 100 Indian hunt- 

 ers, going out at once, on a hunt from the 

 same camp. 



A number of citizens here would try the 

 state laws more than they have done, but 

 fear the government would put them to 

 trouble for interfering with their wards. 



About 5 years ago I was camped on the 

 head waters of Green river, Wyoming, 

 hunting bear, in May. The spring was early 

 for this country, and the Indians came over 

 from their reservation in time to catch the 

 cow elk when about to drop their calves. 

 Any one acquainted with the habits of elk 

 knows how poor and stupid they are at that 

 time. They fall an easy prey to the Indian 

 hide hunters. The hide is of little value then, 

 but they kill them just the same. There 

 was a party of 4 Indian hunters and their 

 families there They had been in camp 6 

 days when I visited them. One of them 

 could talk fair English. I asked him how 

 many elk his party had killed, and he 

 said he had killed 20 and the others about 

 the same each, making 80. No doubt, he 

 told the truth, for the camp was full of 

 hides. As I was going to my camp I 

 met one of the hunters coming home to 

 his, and he had his pony packed with 6 fresh 

 elk hides that he had killed that day. The 

 Indians staid there 4 or 5 days longer, 

 and were killing elk all the time. They 

 would then decamp to another part of the 

 country for more slaughter. It is safe to 

 say that they killed over 100 elk besides 

 crippling a large number which would die 

 afterwards. These were nearly all cows, as 

 the bulls had gone high up in the mountains. 

 No meat was taken from the main carcasses, 

 but the cows were opened and the unborn 

 calves taken. r l he sinew was taken from 

 along the back bone, to be used for thread, 

 and the brains were taken to be used in 

 tanning. 



There is a basin on the Hoback river, a 

 tributary of the Snake. In this basin and 

 along the river is short willow brush, high 

 enough to conceal the elk calves when 

 young, but not the cows. Two years ago 

 2 white hunters were in there hunting bear 

 while the mother elk were watching around 

 their calves. The men saw a party of Ban- 

 nock Indians surround a bunch of 75 to 100 

 cows, and commence shooting into them 



on all sides. The poor creatures did not 



know what to do. They were running 

 hither and thither among their calves and 

 falling fast from the deadly shuts of the In- 

 dians' rifles. The scene was sickening to even 

 these hardened white hunters, and they 

 left before the Indians completed their horri- 

 ble work. 



Anyone can rind antelope carcasses all 

 over the range, when the Indians are hunting 

 them, with only the hide, brains and sinew 

 taken. They take unborn antelope the 

 same as they do the elk. 



A party of citizens here arrested 4 Indian 

 hunters and their families on one of the 

 branches of Xewfork creek, in Freemont 

 county, Wyo. After considerable trouble 

 we got them started for Lander, the county 

 seat. County court was in session at the 

 time. When they reported to the county 

 officials the court adjourned to investigate the 

 matter. Their first idea was to try the - 

 law, but I think they had fears that the l". 

 S. Government might object. So they tele- 

 phoned to the Washakie Agency and asked 

 Captain Ray to come to Lander. In the 

 meantime they made an examination of the 

 Indians' outfit. They found game hides in 

 abundance, also 4 hides of domestic cal 

 Three of the hides had bullet holes in them. 

 The fourth* had not any ; but one of the 

 cattle-men present said it was the hide of an 

 unborn calf. They had, no doubt, killed the 

 cow to get the calf. 



When Captain Ray came from tin 

 which is 14 or 15 miles distant, he seemed 

 very indignant that his Indians should 1>«' 

 committing such depredation, and said if 

 the citizens would give him charge ol the 

 Indians he would imprison them 30 days and 

 never let them go off the reservation again; 

 that he did not allow them to leave it at any 

 time and had not given them p 1 do 



so; but when shown a pass bearing his 

 nature that had been taken from one of the 

 Indians the captain looked rather conJ 

 and said he had forgotten all about it. 



I know one Indian on the Shoshone 

 reservation, at least he is there in the win- 

 ter, but off every summer hunting. The 

 first time I saw him was He 



had a pass from the agent for the purposi 

 hunting for 2 horses that he had lost. I have 

 seen him every summer since, and he has 

 had a pass each' year from the agent to hunt 

 for those horses. Now mind you the 

 in winter in the region where he claims his 

 horses are, from 4 to 5 f < ow. Noth- 



ing but a snow-shoe rabbit or a porcupine 

 can winter there; but game runs there in 

 summer. I have seen many an Indian with 

 passes from the agents similar to thai 



The U. S. Government is the only p< 

 that can stop the Indians from destroying 

 the game in this country, and it must be 

 done before long or it will be too late. 



I have almost forgotten to state how well 

 Captain Ray kept his promise m regard to 

 punishing those Indians referred t". who 



