94 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 
EARLY DAY HUNTING ON MOUNT PITT 
By JOHN B. GRIFFIN, Kirby, Oregon 
In a recent issue of the Grants 
Pass Courier I read an item 
stating that hunting and fishing 
stories would be acceptable for 
publication in the April issue of 
The Oregon Sportsman, As I 
have hunted for a great many 
years in the Cascade and Siski- 
you Mountains, and have killed 
lots of big game. I hope that the 
reader will not be disappointed 
in this story of early day hunt- 
ing on Mount Pitt. 
I am going to write of one of 
my most successful hunts. The 
friend who was with me is one 
of Ashland’s oldtimers and most 
substantial citizens — no other 
than Hon. Robert Neil, ex-mayor 
and vice-president of an Ash- 
land bank, but in this story I 
am going to call him just plain 
Bob. 
Now, no doubt, there are a 
great many people in Ashland 

TRAILOR — Considered one of the 
who will be surprised to know 
that Bob ever hunted bear or 
ever hunted at all, for that mat- 
best bear dogs on earth and well 
known by all the old-timers in 
Southern Oregon. When Trailor died 
notices of his death appeared in 
) 
ter, but let me tell you, don’t many of the newspapers. 
deceive yourselves, for thirty 
years ago there were few men in Jackson County who could give Bob 
Neil any pointers on either hunting or shooting, if he did miss the 
Sugar Loaf bear that I told about in the Record some time ago. Well, 
to make a long story short, I know that I couldn’t lay it over him any, 
but that is not saying very much. However, I used to hate awfully 
bad to be beaten by anyone when it came to hunting, but it sure kept 
me jumping sideways to hold my own when I went out with Bob. 
I and Bob used to live neighbors in the Dead Indian country a 
long time ago, and it was from there that we started on the hunt that 
I am going to tell you about, and the region around Mt. Pitt was our 
destination, where bear, deer, elk and gray wolves abounded in more or 
less numbers, and we went loaded for bear, for bear was what we 
wanted, and besides we had old Trailor, the famous old dog the readers 
all know about, and Ranger, one of the best helpers he ever had, and 
we were ready to follow them to the end of the trail. We started out 
with five horses and a .44 apiece and lots of ammunition, also plenty 
of grub. Now at this day and age of the world some hunters will think 
it strange that a man would go out to hunt big game with a 44 Win- 
chester, but in those days there were no high-power guns, and let me 
tell you I have been in some pretty close places, when I had only the 
44, and I always managed to come out all right. 
Well, the first drive we made was to Wetfoot prairie, by noon. 
