XXV111 



RECREATION. 



THE OTHER SIDE. 



St.John's, Ariz. 



Editor Recreation: 



For months past I have been reading a 

 quantity of " rot " about " protection to the 

 game," and indiscriminate " slaughter " by- 

 Indians, until I am surfeited. In the first 

 place, I am certain a majority of those who 

 are so ready to shed " crocodile tears " over 

 the game which they have no chance to kill, 

 and who write with such flippancy anentthe 

 Indian, know precious little about him. No 

 doubt these same unselfish (?) protectors of 

 our game have the audacity to accuse the 

 Indian of exterminating the buffalo; also of 

 killing all the game which at one time cov- 

 ered every State in the Union. 



Major Schieffelin, in the August number 

 of Recreation, has this to say in reference 

 to the buffalo, and what he saw of them in 

 1861: 



" Buffalo were abundant all along the up- 

 per river. At times the plains were covered 

 with them as far as the eye could reach. 

 One morning when we awakened we saw 

 what seemed to be millions of buffalo." 



Notwithstanding the great numbers known 

 to exist at that time, and as incredible as it 

 may seem, these immense herds of buffalo 

 were entirely annihilated during the year 



1862. Was this wholesale slaughter com- 

 mitted by Indians ? No, sir; the white man 

 did it. I first crossed the plains, over the 

 old Santa Fe trail, early in the spring of 



1863, and in many places saw acres of ground 

 literally covered with dead buffalo; and the 

 scoundrels who slaughtered them never even 

 took off the hides. Would any true sports- 

 man consider it honorable to ride up to a 

 herd of cattle and deliberately shoot them 

 down so long as his ammunition held out ? 

 In this manner the buffalo were extermin- 

 ated. 



To make another quotation: " It was here 

 at Trapper's Cabin," says L. L. Dyche, in 

 April Recreation, " that the boys, as they 

 called themselves collectively, killed be- 

 tween 90 and 100 deer within a quarter of a 

 mile of the cabin's door." Is such dastardly 

 work as this a matter for glorification ? It 

 would be equally sportsmanlike (?) and 

 about as honorable for one to take a Win- 

 chester and pump lead into a flock of sheep. 



Again referring to Recreation: Look at 

 the picture in the August number represent- 

 ing ducks and other fowl wantonly slaugh- 

 tered; and these gentlemanly sportsmen (?) 

 must use decoys to make their wholesale 

 destruction of game that much greater. In 

 this connection I will state, and without fear 

 of honest contradiction, that no true hunter 

 ever uses decoys for shooting fowl or fire for 

 hunting deer and its kindred species. For 

 more than 40 years I have lived on the fron- 

 tier, and in that time have killed of every 

 kind of game on the continent, yet I never 

 used, nor saw others use, decoys or fire but — 



then there may be a great difference be- 

 tween hunter and sportsman. While Arizona 

 was infested with Apache Indians all sorts 

 of game was abundant, but with a few short 

 years of white occupancy, the game has al- 

 most disappeared. 



It is from the white man's wholesale 

 slaughter that our game needs protection, 

 and not from its hereditary friend — the In- 

 dian. Two white men armed with Winches- 

 ters or breech-loading shotguns, will destroy, 

 in one season, more food game than a whole 

 tribe of Indians. 



Now, Mr. Editor, the worst " pot-hunting" 

 fiend I ever knew never did blow his bazoo 

 half so much about his killings as do some 

 of these gentlemanly sportsmen (?) who 

 have emptied their repeating rifles into a 

 herd of dull, sleepy buffalo. These are facts 

 which cannot be truthfully controverted. 



A. F. Banta. 



From first page to last Recreation is full of 

 bright, clean, interesting reading, and you deserve 

 the thanks of sportsmen for publishing such a de- 

 lightful magazine. Calvin Lee, Reading, Pa. 



The first copy of Recreation that came to my 

 hands I picked up in a book-stall. It was just what 

 I wanted. 1 showed it to two friends, and they are 

 both subscribers now. 



E. L. Kellogg, Seattle, Wash. 



A friend has sent me a copy of Recreation, and 

 I think it the best paper of the kind I ever saw. En- 

 closed please find postal money-order for $6.00, for 

 which kindly send the magazine to the six addresses 

 given below. I. Talbert, West Elkton, O. 



Any man who wants more than Recreation, one 

 whole year for one little dollar, must want the earth. 

 Herewith find a dollar, for which please send the 

 magazine to my friend, as below. Shall send you 

 many other subscriptions in the near future. 



M. H. Wright, Uhrichsville, O. 



I think Recreation the best magazine of its kind 

 ever published. Every sportsman ought to be proud 

 to subscribe for it. 



F. C. Canfield, Mt. Vernon, N. Y. 



Such a magazine as Recreation tends to ennoble 

 the reader, while fiction fails to furnish true recrea- 

 tion to the sportsman. 



E. J. Huxley, Carnduff, N. W. T. 



Recreation is the best magazine I have ever seen 

 devoted to Nature's healthful sports. W. W. Hilt. 



Every line in Recreation is interesting. I only 

 wish it were published semi-monthly, even at three 

 times the present price. 



John E. Bond, Denver, Colo. 



I have copies of each of your books, and, being an 

 ardent sportsman, I appreciate them thoroughly. 

 Edgar B. Shanks, Capt. Company D, 2d Inf., M. N. 



G., Fairmont, Minn. 



I would not take a dollar apiece for the copies I 

 have of Recreation. I recommend it to my friends 

 at every opportunity. 



O. G. Myhre, Eddy, New Mexico. 



Recreation is the best magazine of its kind ever 

 published. H. A. Sullivan, Austin, 111. 



Recreation leads all the magazines. 



J. B. Lewis, Salt Lake City, Utah. 





