THE OLYMPICS AND THEIR ELK. 



«93 



range. When within about ioo yards I 

 saw the elk's antlers moving. Climbing a 

 few yards farther up, I saw him get on his 

 feet, and gave him a shot in the neck. He 

 fell as if struck by lightning. Throwing 

 another cartridge into the barrel, I ap- 

 proached within 40 yards. Again he 

 struggled to his feet, wheeled and charged 

 down toward me, but with a lurching and 

 unsteady gait. I watched with intense in- 

 terest, my finger on the trigger ready for a 

 third shot. As I was about to put a bul- 

 let into his head, he stumbled, pitched 

 down and struck on his head and antlers, 

 landing on his back about 5 yards to my 

 left. There he continued pitching and 

 rolling for fully 75 yards, until he struck 

 against some large rocks, where he finally 

 died. As I had killed a number of Rocky 

 mountain elk, each with a single shot from 



A MONSTER WITH 7-POINT ANTLERS. 



my 30-40 Winchester, I felt a lively inter- 

 est in knowing the point where the first 

 soft point bullet entered, but he was too 

 heavy for me to handle alone. All I could 

 do was to dress him partially and obtain 

 some choice cuts for the promised evening 

 meal. The rest of the party reached the 

 camp in due time. The next morning we 

 ascertained that the first shot struck him 

 on the right side of his neck, well up, 

 about 6 inches back from the antlers, 

 passed diagonally upward and into the 

 thick bone of the skull, under the left ant- 

 ler, which was found to be pulverized. 

 The upper edge of the vertebrae was also 

 shattered where the bullet entered. With 

 such a shot it is easy to understand how 



the animal lost mental control, but the vi- 

 tality exhibited seems worthy of mention. 



The second day another member of the 

 party secured a monster with 7 point ant- 

 lers, 56 inches spread, weight 32 pounds, 

 which we saved with the cape, and which 

 was mounted by Mr. C. E. Akeley, the art 

 taxidermist of the Field Columbian mu- 

 seum, who has taken and is mounting, in 

 the highest style of the art, a complete 

 family of Olympian elk. 



From the top of the mountain at the 

 head of the valley we obtained a long 

 range view, and ascertained that there is 

 no range running East and West, as 

 shown on the maps. The valley of the 

 North fork, which Hume had partially ex- 

 plored the day before, and a glacier 3 or 

 4 miles long, which sweeps down from the 

 dome of Mt. Olympus, afford the only 

 means by which the mountain can be as- 

 cended. A mile or 2 below the foot of 

 the glacier is a fine park of about 10 acres, 

 where horses can feed for weeks. Return- 

 ing to the forks, 3 of us, with one pack 

 horse, ascended the North fork. After 

 turning out the horse we climbed the long, 

 steep body of ice and snow, to the top of 

 the grand old mountain ; but were greatly 

 disappointed by the rising of a dense fog 

 as we went up, which turned into rain 

 and snow. We were thus prevented from 

 taking, from that central point, photo- 

 graphs from which an accurate map might 

 be sketched. In this only passage way to 

 Mt. Olympus we found perpetual snow and 

 ice at an elevation of less than 3,000 feet, 

 and the upper timber line at about 4,700 

 feet. 



The elk are of a distinct variety, now 

 known as roosevelti. Among the features 

 which distinguish them from the cana- 

 densis are their large size, heavier antlers, 

 dark head and neck, legs and feet, in fall 

 and winter pelage, large rump and great 

 depth of shoulders, giving them the ap- 

 pearance of having short legs. The beams 

 of the antlers near the head are a third 

 larger than those of the Rocky mountain 

 variety, and I believe that the bulls of 

 the same age are one-third heavier. 

 Judging from the known size and weight 

 of my saddle horse, I am satisfied that the 

 larger bull taken on this trip would weigh 

 over 1,000 pounds. 



In naming this lord of the mountains, 

 Prof. C. Hart Merriam wrote, "I deem it 

 a privilege to name this splendid animal 

 Roosevelt's wapiti. It is fitting that the 

 noblest deer of America should perpetu- 

 ate the name of one who, in the midst of 

 a busy public career, has found time to 

 study our large mammals in their native 

 haunts, and has written the best accounts 

 we ever had of their habits and chase." 



