RECREA TION. 



XXV 



AN INDIAN CAMP HUNT.* 



Eufaula, I. T. 



Editor Recreation: An Indian's de- 

 scription of an Indian camp hunt may in- 

 terest your readers. This hunt took place 

 some years ago. There were 5 men en- 

 gaged in it. They took with them 5 pack 

 ponies and were away from home 4 months. 

 Game was plentiful and the Indians consid- 

 ered such hunts justifiable in those days, 

 though they would not be thought so now. 

 The men were 3 weeks in reaching their 

 hunting ground and pitching camp. 



By February 1st everything was ready. It 

 was agreed that until April 1st no game 

 other than deer and black bear should be 

 killed, and that each hunter should dry his 

 own kill. The drying was done in this way: 

 A bear or deer was skinned. Then its flesh 

 was cut in thin sheets, as long and broad as 

 possible. These were hung over a slow fire 

 and thoroughly dried. It sounds unreason- 

 able, yet is true that the meat of 15 large 

 deer can, after going through this process, 

 be packed on one pony. Bear meat does not 

 dry so light as venison, but its weight is 

 greatly reduced. • 



The Indians were in a good game coun- 

 try and all were expert hunters. By April 

 1st, one had killed 15 deer and 4 bear; one, 

 12 deer, 3 bear; one, 16 deer, 4 bear; an- 

 other, 15 deer, 2 bear; and the fifth, 21 deer 

 and 3 bear. That was the round up — 79 

 deer and 16 black bear, and the meat of all 

 was dried and packed. 



All this while the woods were full of wild 

 turkeys. I call them wild, though one of the 

 hunters told me they could have killed 

 dozens of the birds with sticks. None were 

 killed, however, until gobbling time — from 

 April 1st to 20th. Only gobblers were taken. 

 Each man had one or 2 cased deer hides in- 

 tended to hold honey, bear oil, etc. In these 

 hides they put the turkey fat, which was all 

 they saved of the birds. The breast of a fat 

 gobbler will yield at least a quart of grease. 

 When they got all the turkeys they wanted, 

 they were ready to return, and the 5 ponies 

 were loaded with dried meat and with hides 

 full of oil and grease. 



By this time the hunters were out of 

 bread. During their homeward journey 

 they lived on soup made by dropping a few 

 flakes of dried venison into boiling water 

 and adding turkey fat. This made a dish fit 

 to tickle the palate of a king. The Indians 

 reached home the last of May, and for days 

 after feasted their friends on dried meat, 

 pounded in a mortar and served with honey. 

 Of the 5 hunters only one is living now, and 

 he will soon follow the companions of his 

 hunting days. Chas. Gibson. 



For Sale or Exchange: One .44 calibre 

 " What Cheer " single shot rifle, in first- 

 class condition. Address, 



A. L. Seelbach, 123 Princeton St., Cleve- 

 land, O. 



* The author of this story is a full blood Indian. — Ed- 

 itor. 



Indigestion Has Mo Terrors For Him 



That salt- shaker is filled with Pepsalt. 

 It cures and prevents indigestion. 



BFP&A t "TT is the best of table salt, into every 

 * Smm ^9M%Mm m grain of which is incorporated di- 

 gestive substances natural to the stomach. Fill your 

 salt-cellar with Pepsalt and use it in place of salt at 

 your meals. If you have indigestion your stomach does 

 not supply the necessary amount of the dissolving or 

 digestive juices. Pepsalt taken in place of salt at your 

 meals makes good this deficiency, as you take with every 

 mouthful of your food a similar substance to that which 

 is required and at the right time, and your indigestion is 

 a thing of the past. Send for sample in salt-shaker bottle 

 and try it. Price 25 cents, postpaid. 

 The Vaupel Samaritan Co.. (Permanent Bldg.), 



19 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. 



PEPSALT CURES AND 



PREVENTS INDIGESTION 



I like Recreation very much and think 

 it has improved a great deal since its start. 

 It treats game hogs right. Give it to them 

 harder. Game is more plentiful this season 

 than for some years past, grouse especially. 

 Our game wardens, however, should do their 

 duty and arrest men who shoot young birds 

 out of season. I am surprised that our 

 wardens have done nothing to stop such 

 work, when I know that at least 2 of the 3 

 know of its having been done. One of these 

 wardens is a reader of Recreation, and he 

 ought certainly to be ashamed, after reading 

 the way your magazine treats game hcgs. 

 W. W. Croson, Dover, N. H. 



There is good duck and goose shooting 

 in the numerous streams and lakes near La 

 Junta, Col. Quails are plentiful (Mexican, 

 Californian, and " Bob White ") but are 

 protected. Rabbits are " too numerous to 

 mention." 



Every fall " Parson " Uzzell, of Denver, 

 conducts a big rabbit hunt at Lamar. As 

 many as 6,000 have been killed in the 2 

 days' hunt. 



They breed in countless numbers in the 

 alfalfa fields of the Arkansas valley, and are 

 increasing. 



Deer, antelope, bear, wolves, mountain 

 lions, foxes and wild cats are found in the 

 foothills, a few miles South. 



Alkali Ike, La Junta, Col. 



