THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 73 



"IN THE OREGON COUNTRY." 



This is the title of a new book by George Palmer Putnam. 

 It is a series of sketches covering different phases of outdoor life 

 in Oregon. The book is well illustrated and has an appropriate 

 introduction by Governor James Withycombe. 



There is plenty of good literary material in Oregon, espe- 

 cially from an outdoor standpoint. A greater part of the state 

 is a big outdoor playground for the angler, the hunter, the 

 camper, the tramper and everyone else who likes mountains, 

 woods and rivers. Mr. Putnam has seized upon some of the 

 opportunities. There is no better theme than "On Oregon Trails" 

 or "A Canoe on the Deschutes." 



Mr. Putnam is a nature lover. He came to Oregon from New 

 York. He lived at Bend, the heart of a great country with its 

 pine-covered slopes on the west and the gray sage plains on the 

 east. He is an enthusiast. He absorbed the life of the land. He 

 saw that part of eastern Oregon pass out of the frontier class. 

 He rode with the old stage driver from Shaniko to Bend. 



"Do you chew?" asked the driver. 



I, who sat next to him, plead innocence of the habit. 



"Have a drink?" said he later, producing a flask. And again 

 I asked to be excused. 



"Don't smoke, neither, I suppose?" The driver regarded 

 me with suspicion. "Hell," said he, "th' country's goin to the 

 dogs. These here civilizin' inflooences is playing hob with every - 

 thin'. Las' three trips my passengers haven't been fit company 

 for man or beast — they neither drank nor chawed. Not that I 

 mean to be insultin' " — I assured him he was not — "but times 

 certainly have changed. The next thing along '11 come a railroad 

 and then all this goes to the scrap heap." 



His gesture, with the last word, included the battered stage, 

 the dejected horses, and the immediate surroundings of Shaniko 

 Flats." 



If you want to ride the old stage into Bend before the coming 

 of the railroad and feel your spine twist as it lurches from one 

 chuck hole to another, or if you wish to hook a few rainbows in 

 the Deschutes, or pack through the forests of the high Cascades, 

 you have only to wade into some of the chapters in Putnam's new 

 book. 



