GOAT HUNTING IN THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS. 



J. S. Stangroom. 



I had for years, viewed from my home 

 (the on the shores of Bellingham 

 Bay the northern portion of PugetSound, 

 Washington), the clear, sharp outlines of 

 Mount Baker, the Twin Sisters and other 

 snow clad peaks of the Cascade Range, 

 with a longing to explore them. Al- 

 though familiar with bear and deer hunt- 

 ing, I had never scaled the cliffs in pur- 

 suit of the American chamois, the moun- 

 tain goat, and the desire to do so grew 

 on me, until last August, I prevailed on 

 three friends, H. C. Wells, A. P. Cooper 

 and H. K. Kallock to accompany me. 

 Our transportation consisted of two 

 cayuses and an old rattletrap of a wagon, 

 with pack saddles to be brought into use 

 in the mountains, beyond the head of 

 wagon navigation. 



W. and C, both of whom were old 

 and experienced hunters had 40-82 

 Winchesters, while K. and I each 

 carried a 40-65. We started at noon on 

 the 16th day of August, our road for the 

 first fifteen miles was good, and having 

 crossed the Nooksack river, three miles 

 below the Forks, we camped on a small 

 stream running into the North Fork of 

 the Nooksack, seven miles above the 

 Forks and twenty-two miles from home. 



Before sunrise next morning, we re- 

 sumed our journey. I will not attempt 

 to describe in detail, the numerous 

 accidents that befell us. During that 

 day we broke down five times, and the 

 necessary repairing put us all in any- 

 thing but an amiable frame of mind, al- 

 though largely increasing our knowledge 

 of wagon making. About nine o'clock 

 that evening, we camped at the first, or 

 lowest ford on the North Fork of the 

 Nooksack, having travelled only 9 miles 

 in 16 hours. After dinner, we dispensed 

 with the usual camp fire yarns, and 

 rolling ourselves in our blankets, were 

 soon lost in slumber. Just after we had 

 dropped asleep, W. startled us by shout- 

 ing " third and last call for breakfast," 

 claiming that it was four o'clock, so we 

 had to get up and lay to. Breakfast 

 over, we called Mr. Adams, the ferry- 

 man, who put us across the river. After 



landing our outfit on the other 

 side, our attention was directed to the 

 horses. The river, was too swift and 

 deep to let them ford it alone. By 

 splicing together all our pack ropes, we 

 made one long enough to lead, or 

 pull them over, one at a time. We left 

 the wagon here and packed our outfit on 

 the ponies. Five miles more brought 

 us to Cascade creek and the commence- 

 ment of the " Ruby Creek Trail," and 

 seven miles more, to the second ford of 

 the Nooksack river. We took the 

 packs off at the log crossing, about 300 

 yards above the ford, and while W. and 

 C. packed everything across on their 

 backs, K. and I undertook to ride the 

 horses over. I cut a stout whip and 

 taking the lead, started quartering up 

 stream, but soon realized that the un- 

 dertaking was far from safe. K. not 

 being able to get his horse to follow 

 mine, turned back and watched me from 

 the bank. My horse was timid and it 

 was only with great difficulty that I 

 managed to make any headway. The 

 water was up 'to my knees, and the bot- 

 tom being covered with rocks, it was 

 almost impossible for the horse to walk. 

 I urged him on, however, until I felt 

 him fall beneath me and found myself 

 afloat in the boiling water. I grabbed 

 at the pack-saddle, hoping he would re- 

 gain his footing and, in doing so, nar- 

 rowly escaped being kicked in the head, 

 while the poor beast was being carried as 

 I was, at a terrific speed down stream. 

 Finally I let him go and struck out 

 for the shore, but was repeatedly thrown 

 against boulders. I tried to brace 

 myself with my feet, against the rocks 

 or hold to them with my hands, but 

 realized that my strength would soon 

 be spent in this way. At last I 

 reached the shore, and lay down, almost 

 unconscious. I soon recovered suffi- 

 ciently to stagger along until I met W. 

 who assisted me to where the packs 

 were. By this time, C. and K. came up, 

 a rousing fire was built, and putting on 

 dry underclothes, I rolled myself in 

 blankets, and rested for an hour. 



