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RECREATION. 



is worth while to see these animals. Even 

 persons who have been raised in the far 

 West and used to all kinds of game can see 

 more wild game in the Park in a day than 

 they ever saw in their whole lives. It is a 

 great breeding ground, and the surplus will 

 wander over the borders of the Park into 

 adjoining States and keep them thoroughly 

 stocked. 



I believe Montana has a more varied 

 Rocky mountain game than any other 

 State in the Union to-day. We pos- 

 sibly have not so many birds as some other 

 States, but what we are shy on the bird 

 crop we have in the big game crop. 



Another good feature of our law which 

 has been in force ever since 1897 is the ab- 

 solute prohibition of the sale of game. We 

 are a young State, but we are among the 

 first to inaugurate that feature of game pro- 

 tection. In Montana you may travel 

 months and never find a piece of game on 

 sale anywhere. You may go to any restau- 

 rant or hotel or eating house in the State 

 and you would not find a piece of game on 

 sale. That is the foundation for all game 

 laws. As soon as you stop the sale of game, 

 you destroy the incentive of the mar- 

 ket hunter. A hunter will not go out and 

 live on sow belly and kill game if he has 

 no way of disposing of it that will bring 

 him revenue. He will turn his hands to 

 pursuits which are more honorable and 

 profitable. 



Another question I have worried about a 

 great deal is the Indian proposition. I don't 

 know whether you Eastern gentlemen ap- 

 preciate the situation, but my Western 

 brothers, no doubt, will agree with me when 

 I say it is a difficult problem to handle. 



In Eastern Montana the Missouri river 

 winds down in a zigzag, crooked way. The 

 lands in the bends, when large, is 

 known as bottoms, and when' small, 

 as points. The Indians surround one of 

 these bottoms, or points, and send the 

 women and children in with tin pans, 

 bells or anything they can make a noise 

 with, to drive the deer out, and they are 

 slaughtered in countless numbers. It is an 

 evil that needs careful consideration and 

 demands the attention of the National Gov- 

 ernment. 



We passed a bill which made it unlawful 

 for any Indian to leave his reservation 

 armed in any way, and we tried to enforce 

 it. We confiscated guns and have several 

 lawsuits pending. I don't know just where 

 we are going to get off (laughter), but we 

 shall keep at it till we land somewhere. 



Now that we have a license law we have 

 prosecuted some Kootenais for hunting 

 without licenses ; but when you are abso- 

 lutely certain that you are convicting a non- 

 resident Indian, you are liable to be mak- 

 ing a mistake. They all look alike, and you 



can't tell whether they are Flatheads or 

 Crees or Kootenais. We are up against it, 

 and ' I should like to see the Legislature 

 enact some law that would reach these 

 cases. 



Idaho, Wyoming and several of the West- 

 ern States are in the same box. As to the 

 League of American Sportsmen, no other 

 organization has helped us as the League 

 has. As Mr. Fullerton said, it seems to be 

 fearless ; more so than the local organiza- 

 tion. A man who belongs to a local club 

 will come to you and say : 



"I want to tell you about something I ran 

 across up the valley the other day." 



He will explain all about it ; "but," he 

 says, "don't bring my name into this case." 



"Why not? Can you give me an idea 

 where I can get the facts ?" 



"No, no, I can't do that; but you don't 

 know how much violation is going on up 

 there." 



"Well, won't you give me some idea ; let 

 me send a man." 



"No, no ! If you send a man up there 

 they will know it was I who told you ; but 

 something ought to be done there soon." 



They come around with such propositions 

 and then go out and scatter the report 

 broadcast that you are not doing your duty. 

 People of that kind are no good in any com- 

 munity, especially along the lines of game 

 protection. I have found the League mem- 

 bers to be made of different stuff. They 

 try to assist us in every way possible, and 

 •they have done great work out there. In 

 regard to the official organ of the League, 

 you may go anywhere, even in the thinly 

 settled sections of our State, and you will find 

 on top of the sewing machine an almanac and 

 a copy of Recreation. (Applause.) So the 

 League is doing great work and is making 

 public sentiment for us, and that is all that 

 is necessary. Public sentiment is the main 

 thing. (Applause.) 



AN APPEAL TO SPORTSMEN. 



- Many sportsmen when on hunting trips are in 

 the habit of shooting, simply for practice, birds 

 that can in no sense be considered game. Large 

 numbers of red birds, martins, larks, woodpeckers, 

 sapsuckers, flickers, catbirds, bullbats, and birds 

 of like character are destroyed every year. With- 

 out considering the aesthetic side of the question, 

 such birds should not be killed, from an economic 

 standpoint. They are of great value to the public 

 as worm, bug and insect destroyers. A drove of 

 bullbats is of more value to a malarial district than 

 a grove of quinine trees, as the diet of these birds 

 in spring and summer consists principally of mos- 

 quitoes. No true sportsman will kill these valu- 

 able servants for practice shooting. 



This appeal is made to the sportsmen to con- 

 sider the great value of the non-game birds, and 

 it is believed that they will not only abstain from 

 killing such birds but will preach the gospel of 

 protection at all times. 



J. E. Redding, R. VV. 

 Yazoo Chapter, League American Sportsmen. 

 — Yazoo, Miss., Herald. 



