FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



445 





eral superintendent or treasurer, and have 

 a 10 per cent, raise in his wages every pay 

 day. 



When nearing Cheyenne, our conductor 

 on the Overland Limited told me I would 

 have a half hour there in which to exercise. 



At Granger, Wyo., I spent a day very 

 pleasantly, making the acquaintance of 

 Mr. Goff, of the Goff Hotel. He is an ar- 

 dent sportsman, and the owner of one of 

 the finest pointers I have seen in many a 

 year. Mr. G. reports game reasonably 

 plentiful in the adjacent mountains, and 

 showed me several large heads and rugs, 

 trophies of his skill with the rifle. Duck 

 shooting was at its best while I was there, 

 and Mr. G. said it was possible to secure a 

 large bag of ducks almost within gunshot 

 of the town. Persons wishing to hunt big 

 game, such as elk, deer, sheep, and bear, 

 would find Granger a good point at which 

 to outfit, and would be aided in every way 

 by Mr. Goff. 



Leaving Granger on the Oregon Short 

 Line train, I renewed my acquaintance 

 with its crew, with whom I have made so 

 many pleasant trips during the past 10 

 years. We saw a band of antelope grazing 

 near the track, and as they bounded away 

 on the near approach of the train they af- 

 forded a beautiful sight to the trainload of 

 interested passengers. The cry of "ante- 

 lope" caused quite as much commotion 

 aboard as that of "buffalo" used to in the 

 earlier days. 



At Cokeville, on the Short Line, we saw 

 an admirable sample of American push 

 and energy, a whole new town, with brick 

 business blocks, opera house, churches, 

 residences, and coal mines, all built since 

 I passed there last October. It was then 

 but a dreary waste of bad lands and sage 

 brush. 



At the station I noticed several English 

 setters, cocker spaniels, and 2 stag hounds, 

 ample evidence that some sportsmen are 

 there in the push. Ham's Fork river was 

 literally black in places with ducks, and 

 not far from Cokeville we saw a second 

 band of antelope. The Short Line railroad 

 surely traverses a hunter's paradise. Near 

 Montpelier, Idaho, we saw a band of near- 

 ly 20,000 sheep, followed at a distance of 

 half a mile by 5 coyotes, those musical 

 guardians of the midnight camp. 



At Pocatello I spent a pleasant day, and, 

 with my camera, secured several choice re- 

 minders of my visit there. The chief 

 amusement was in trying to take snap 

 shots of the numerous Indians who were 

 loitering about. The first glimpse of the 

 camera was enough to send them flying in 

 all directions, except one lot of 5 squaws, 

 who nobly stood their ground, and then 

 advanced to the charge and pelted me with 

 gravel. I held my position like a vet- 

 eran of San Juan, and got 3 good nega- 



tives; also a shower ©f abuse in mixed 

 English and Bannock. 



Shoshone is the next point of interest. 

 There passengers for Hailey and the 

 great hunting grounds in the Saw Tooth 

 range change cars. A stockman whose 

 range is in the foot hills of the Saw Tooths 

 told me big horn sheep and elk were quite 

 numerous there. The deep snow had 

 driven them down into the foot hills, where 

 they could be seen almost every day. He 

 said big horn mutton was no rarity among 

 the settlers there, but that bear were still 

 in their winter quarters. These hunting 

 grounds are easily reached by wagon roads 

 from Hailey. 



Weiser is having a genuine boom on 

 account of the building of the new rail- 

 way from that point to the great copper 

 mines in the Seven Devils mountains. 

 This new road will be known as the Pacific 

 & Idaho Northern, or P. I. N. route, 

 and will afford sportsmen a direct and 

 pleasant trail to some of the finest hunting 

 grounds and trout streams in the West. 

 Mr. Wilkerson, the chief of construction, 

 has promised Recreation many beautiful 

 photos of the scenery along the line. 



On registering at the Hotel Weiser, I 

 was told I could get my meals there and 

 sleep in a chair in the office, but that rooms 

 or beds could not be had in town. The 

 Oregon Short Line is unloading a train- 

 load of people every day. This is the 

 gateway to the Seven Devils mining dis- 

 trict, and to the new gold mines at Buffalo 

 Hump. 



We have bought our saddle and pack 

 horses and entire outfits, and will soon 

 hit the trail on our annual prospecting 

 and exploring trip. Our arsenal consists 

 solely of my 25-25 Stevens Hunter's Pet 

 rifle and my camera. I have at last learned 

 there is quite as much pleasure in taking 

 a snap shot at game with a camera as with 

 a Winchester. The little 25 will keep us 

 in meat, and the camera will furnish the 

 sport. So much for a modern education. 



Game wintered well in the Boise and 

 Snake river valleys, and Bob White's 

 cheerful whistle is heard on every hand in 

 the suburbs of Weiser and Boise. 



Duck and goose shooting in the Snake 

 and Boise valleys was poor last spring, 

 few good bags being reported. 



[Glad of it. — Editor.] 



One thing that has impressed me here 

 at Weiser is the almost entire absence of 

 the English sparrow, and the abundance 

 of wild canaries, hundreds of them alight- 

 ing on the orchards about town. 



Boys and men line the banks of the 

 Snake and Weiser rivers all day, near 

 here, and are rewarded with fair strings 

 of whitefish. 



Whitefish are abundant in the Payette 

 river and its. tributaries, and during the 



