FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



A BUCKBOARD TOUR. 



HON. B. B. BROOKS. 



I have just returned from a 400 mile 

 buckboard ride, through various portions 

 of this state, and found many things of in- 

 terest to sportsmen. I was in Lander, last 

 week, and had the pleasure of feasting on 

 mountain trout, for several days. 



Lander is a beautiful little city and is 

 the gateway to the best hunting and fish- 

 ing grounds in our state. Our genial 

 sheriff, and I, drove from Casper to Lan- 

 der, with his team and a light buckboard, 

 in 2 days, without change of horses. The 

 distance is 155 miles and we made 85 miles 

 the second day. We saw but little game 

 along the route. There were numberless 

 sage hens and the prairie dogs were, as 

 usual, thick enough to tempt one to waste 

 thousands of rounds of ammunition. The 

 jack rabbits and cottontails have been 

 chased so much, by sheep dogs, that they 

 appear tired, and the ducks and geese were 

 looking up nesting places. 



Two small bands of antelope whistled 

 their surprise, from near by hills,, as we 

 drove along. The sheriff tried his 6- 

 shooter and his skill, with good results, at 

 a gray wolf and several impudent coyotes. 

 I noticed the absence of the erstwhile 

 festive cowboy, and in his place has come 

 the gentle shepherd with his shaggy, faith- 

 ful and intelligent dog. What a wonder- 

 ful change! Ten years ago the country, 

 from Casper to Lander, was literally alive 

 with cattle. They covered a thousand hills, 

 and thrived on the rich bunch grass which 

 had before been grazed only by the count- 

 less thousands of buffalo. 



The brave, happy-go-lucky cowboy, with 

 his gray sombrero, his brown chaps and 

 his clinking spurs, roamed over the plains 

 and herded the steers, without a thought or 

 a suspicion that in a few short years the 

 sheep and the shepherd would, like " the 

 •man with the hoe," exterminate him. 



We returned by way of the Sweetwater 

 and Independence Rock. Here stretches, 

 mile after mile, the old California trail, 

 worn deep and wide in the sandy soil of 

 the valley. How those shifting, yielding 

 sands must have wearied the teams and 

 tried the hearts of the old forty-niners! 

 Here and there a pile of rocks, along the 

 trail, marks the spot where some pioneer, 

 more worn than the others, gave up his 

 golden visions. 



Nature's curious monument — Indepen- 

 dence Rock — is covered with thousands of 

 names of these old timers. Should future 

 ages ever inquire who they were, and 

 whence they came, the old rock will tell 

 the story. 



RITUAL OF THE ANCIENT AND DISHON- 

 ORABLE ASSOCIATION OF GAME AND 

 FISH HOGS. 



1st Lesson. — The candidate is clothed in 

 a robe of hog skin, dressed with the bristles 

 and tail on. In this position, with a blinder 

 made from the tanned skin of a hog's ears, 

 he is led to the door of the sty, by one of 

 the lesser pigs, who raps on the door and is 

 answered by 3 grunts from within. 



2d Lesser pig. — " Who comes here? " 



1st Lesser pig. — " A candidate, who has 

 long ignored and hated the game and fish 

 wardens; and now desires to become a 

 member of this notorious order, that he 

 may enjoy the privileges which belong to a 

 fish and game hog." 



2d L. P. — " Is it of his own will and free 

 wish?" 



1st L. P.—" It is." 



2d L. P. — " What have you done to prove 

 yourself worthy of this dishonor? " 



Candidate. — " I have caught fish out of 

 season. I have trapped and shot game 

 against the law, and I hate Recreation and 

 all game and fish wardens." 



2d L. P. — " By what further right or ben- 

 efit does he expect to gain this favor? " 



1st L. P. — " By certain signs, a grunt and 

 a word known only to all true G. and F. 

 Hogs." 



2d L. P. — " Has he these necessary quali- 

 fications? " 



1st L. P.—" No! I have them for him." 



2d L. P. — " Advance hog and cough them 

 up." 



1st L. P. — " Only in proper form — On 

 the H. O. G." 



2d L. P.—" H." 



1st L. P.—" Hog." 



2d L. P.—" O." 



1st L. P.—" Our." 



2d L. P.—" G." 



1st L. P.—" Game." 



2d L. P. — " Hog our game. The words 

 are right. I will close the sty and report to 

 the chief hog, who, if satisfied, will order 

 the candidate to the swill trough, where he 

 will be duly baptized and sworn." 



The oath is thus administered: 



The candidate sitting in the well-filled 

 trough, with a fishing rod and gun in either 

 hand, repeats after the Chief Hog, who 

 holds a buzzard's wing in one hand and a 

 skunk skin in the other. 



" I " [full name] " do hereby promise 

 and swear, that I will always hide and ever 

 conceal from all wardens, and from the 

 magazine called Recreation, all and every 

 secret arts, parts and points of my introduc- 

 tion into this ancient and dishonorable in- 

 stitution; that I will shoot and fish where- 



zi6 



