A SUMMER RAMBLE. 



M. W. Miner. 



Do you wish to spend a summer, or 

 even a month or two, among the 

 mountains and the native wilds, 

 where the destroying hand of man has 

 not fallen ? Do you wish to hunt in the 

 virgin forests, where game scarcely 

 knows the fear of man, and is so abun- 

 dant that even the most inexperienced 

 sportsman or camera fiend may be al- 

 most sure of abundant success? Do 

 you wish to cast your flies in dark, 

 shaded, rocky pools and rushing eddies 

 that have remained undisturbed since 

 nature blazed out the boundary lines of 

 the American continent, and where 

 trout of some pounds in weight will re- 

 spond to every cast ? Do you wish to 

 see water fowls at home on the surface 

 of a dozen crystal lakes, where the does 

 with their fawns come to drink ? If so, 

 and if you are willing to rough it, all 

 these are within your reach, and you 

 will be sure to find all as nature 

 planned it. 



I will suppose that you have a com- 

 panion who will go with you. With 

 your outfit of guns, tackle and blankets, 

 proceed to Horse Plains, a small station 



on the Northern Pacific Railway, 80 

 miles west of Missoula, Montana. 

 There procure four ponies, which will 

 cost you about $60 for the bunch. Two 

 of these should be broken to saddle and 

 two to pack. Here you can also buy 

 saddles, pack saddles, and other neces- 

 sary outfit. If you want a guide and cook 

 you can get him here ; and unless you 

 have had previous experience in that 

 line, it would pay you to have such a 

 man, at least for a day or two. He 

 will instruct you in packing and the 

 handling of the mild-eyed cayuse. He 

 can start you on the right trails and go 

 with you to the edge of what little civi- 

 lization there is. Then you can turn him 

 loose and let him go back home. 



Supposing that you have now pro- 

 cured all necessary outfit for your 

 cruise, and have obtained all possible 

 information of the route from the na- 

 tives, you will take a course North by 

 West of North, one and a half days 

 ride, to what is known as Buffalo Bill 

 Ranch, a cabin, corral and meadow, 

 where you can, in the afternoon, secure 

 your first saddle of venison. The next 



ON THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY, NEAR HORSE PLAINS, MONT. 



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