DANIEL BOONE AND GAME PROTECTION. 



MARY T. EARL. 



In the course of some recent study I 

 had occasion to consult "Daniel Boone 

 and the Hunters of Kentucky," by W. H. 

 Bogart, published in 1854. From it I 

 compressed the following item, which I 

 thing may interest readers of Recreation: 



In May, 1775, the first Legislative Assem- 

 bly was held in Kentucky. It was entirely 

 without warrant from any existing govern- 

 ment, and was called by Colonel Hender- 

 son, one of the proprietors of the Tran- 

 sylvania Company, an association holding 

 a grant of the land on which Boonebor- 

 ough, Harrodsburg, Boiling Spring Set- 

 tlement, and St. Asaph's were built. These 

 were the first settlements in Kentucky. 

 Representatives from those places met in 

 the log fort which Daniel Boone had 

 erected at Booneborough, and proceeded 

 to organize a colonial government. It 

 was an assembly of backwoodsmen, but 

 its proceedings were dignified and in due 

 form. Boone was among the delegates, 

 and one of his biographers says of him: 



"Our great hunter was not a mere spec- 

 tator of the proceedings of this Legislature. 



It would have been excusable had he been, 

 and that from utter amazement; for it was 

 but a few months since he had been the 

 only white man in all that country, with 

 no form of human government about him; 

 and here he was in the midst of a formal 

 assemblage. But he made his presence 

 known, and, true to the practical, earnest 

 habits of his life, doing that which he could 

 do best, on the first day the entry is this: 



" 'On motion of Mr. Daniel Boone, 

 leave was given to bring in a bill for 

 preserving game, and a committee was ap- 

 pointed for that purpose, of which Mr. 

 Boone was chairman.' 



"His next bill was one for improving 

 the breed of horses. Both of these bills 

 passed, were signed by the proprietors and 

 became laws." 



The laws of this unauthorized Legisla- 

 ture did not long hold power, but when 

 one considers how slight an impression 

 could have been made at that time on the 

 natural abundance of game, one realizes 

 what wonderful foresight Boone showed 

 in introducing a measure for preserving it. 



THE MOURNING DOVE. 



W. H. NELSON. 



When Spring comes from her sunny home, 



And the South Wind wakes the flow'rs, 

 And the meadow's velvet emerald shows, 



Bathed in the balmy showers; 

 When bees sing drowsy 'round the hive, 



And robins tell their love, 

 In the woods beyond the pasture field 



I hear the mourning dove: 

 "Coo, Coo, Coo-00." 



Soft and sweet as the lullaby 



Of a mother to her child, 

 Is the plaintive song of the gentle bird, 



In the thicket's covert wild. 

 I listen and think of a far-off spring, 



When my heart burned with love, 

 For she was by me, my sweet young bride. 



While called the mourning dove: 

 "Coo, Coo, Coo-00." 



Washington, D. C. 



The swift years fled as by my side 



She walked, until her feet 

 Turned to that couch on which my kiss 



Her lips can never meet. 

 'Tis autumn now, the sun is low, 



A memory my love; 

 And I but dream that in the woods 

 I hear the mourning dove: 

 "Coo, Coo, Coo-00." 

 Sept. 2, 1900. 



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