FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



44$ 



ANSWER. 



I have already stated my position frank- 

 ly on this matter and need not again take 

 up space to discuss it at length. If a man 

 has a right to fence in a piece of land to 

 raise potatoes on, he certainly has a right 

 to fence it in and raise deer, or ducks, or 

 quails, on it. If he can forbid his neigh- 

 bors to go on his land and dig up his pota- 

 toes, he can certainly refuse to let them 

 climb over his fence to kill his game. 



The admission of this right to cultivate 

 game birds and mammals does not indicate 

 any calamity whatever for sportsmen who 

 are not so fortunately situated. There are 

 millions of square miles of mountain land 

 and marsh land distributed over the con- 

 tinent that will never be preserved by 

 wealthy men and where the poor man ("of 

 whom I am which," as Mr. Nasby would 

 say,) may always have his turn at the 

 game. — Editor. 



GAME, INDIANS AND RUSTLERS. 



Frisco, N. Mex. 

 Editor Recreation: 



This is a good hunting ground. Deer 

 are fairly plentiful; bears — black, brown 

 and silvertip — are overrunning the coun- 

 try. Lots of cattle have been killed by 

 them. Turkeys were abundant last fall, 

 as the mast crop was good. 



Deer would be much more numerous if 

 it were not for the Indians, who come in 

 gangs every fall to hunt, and stay 2 or 3 

 months. Last fall they took out dry meat 

 enough to load 70 pack burros. An old 

 frontiersman told me that in the spring of 

 '99 he came on a Navajo's camp of the 

 previous fall and winter, and around it 

 counted the carcasses of over 100 deer. 



The game laws of New Mexico are 

 good, but the Indians don't have to pay 

 any attention to them. Our ranger , or 

 game warden is a good fellow, but owing 

 to a peculiar condition of affairs he is 

 powerless. In the first place he is ranger 

 of this end of the United States Gila For- 

 est Reserve, and in that capacity is not al- 

 lowed to leave the reserve without per- 

 mission from his superior officer. As 

 game warden, if he arrests violators of the 

 game laws he must take them to Socorro, 

 the county seat, for trial. What can a 

 poor devil do in a case of this kind? 



The Indians don't stop at killing deer, 

 but kill cattle and sheep whenever they 

 come handy. The settlers, both American 

 and Mexican, have several times written 

 the Secretarv of the Interior, the Nava- 

 jos United States agent, and others; but 

 no attention has ever been paid to their 

 appeals, so there is probably no remedy. 



Just now our worst trouble is not with 

 Indians, but with outlaws of our own 

 color. They range through the mountains 



almost at will and have stolen many 

 horses. The only good result they have 

 caused has been the more general intro- 

 duction of the Winchester 30-40 into the 

 upper circle of Frisco society. Eighteen 

 months ago black powder rifles of any 

 caliber from 32-40 to 40-82 were good 

 enough for Friscoites. 



One day a posse armed with 30-30's and 

 black powder rifles went out to rake in a 

 band of rustlers. The latter were armed 

 with 30-40 Government guns. It was no 

 trouble to find the rustlers and, of course, 

 there was a fight. Everyone took to a 

 tree, but the 30-40's cut through the big 

 pines like a buzz saw through a shingle. 

 The myrmidons of the law retired in dis- 

 gust and great haste. Reaching home 

 they told marvelous tales of the mighty 

 range and penetration of the big 30's, and 

 now no one who aspires to be classed with 

 the elite thinks of owing any thing smaller 

 than a 30-40 carbine. 



Chas. M. Grover. 



ONE RESULT OF GAME PROTECTION. 



In July, 1899, a man was fishing with a 

 herring net near Bon Ami Rocks, about 

 a mile below the town of Dalhousie. Hap- 

 pening to look shoreward he saw a moose 

 take the water from Lighthouse Point, 

 close to Inch Arran hotel. An Indian was 

 passing in a canoe; he had been watching 

 the moose some time. Both men gave 

 chase, the fisherman in his flat boat. The 

 Indian caught up to the moose first, and 

 got his canoe rope around its horns. 



The fisherman and the Indian had plenty 

 of excitement for nearly 3 hours, trying to 

 tow the moose ashore. Finally they did 

 land him on a bar at the lower end of the 

 town. Fisherman, Indian and moose were 

 all thoroughly played out, the moose being 

 probably the freshest of the 3. 



A crowd quickly gathered on the beach. 

 A dozen men took hold of the rope and 

 started to walk ashore along the bar, 

 dragging the moose, but they did not go 

 far with him. He walked quietly for per- 

 haps 50 feet, then suddenly stuck out his 

 forelegs and braced himself. All the men 

 who could get hold of a 30 foot rope could 

 not budge him an inch. 



Various plans were proposed to get him 

 ashore. Finally a low truck wagon was 

 brought out. Some of the men took off 

 their belts, and strapped the animal's legs 

 so he could not kick. He was then lifted 

 on to the truck, hauled ashore, and put 

 into a stall, without being hurt in the 

 least. 



The fisherman and the Indian thought 

 they had a bonanza, but alas; in the after- 

 noon a lawyer, hearing of the capture, told 

 them they were liable to a fine, so they 

 had to let the moose go. 



