438 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



other people's affairs, and a commendable mind-ycur-own- 

 business style not appreciated in the South and East. The 

 roughest garb ofttiuies covers a brilliant intellect, while the 

 prevalence of superior information on general topics is quickly 

 remarked. The reason for this can be easily understood, on 

 patent ground, namely : It may be taken for granted that any 

 person who has pluck enough to work his way out West and 

 brave the hardships and dangers of pioneer life, has some- 

 thing in him more than the stuff that common men are made 

 of— qualities above the average, and a degree of intelligence 

 requisite to enable him to avoid, combat, and surmount the dif- 

 ficulties that continually beset him. These qualities, engraft- 

 ed upon native stock, make up the indomitable American 

 character. To cure vanity, selfishness, petulance, loquacity, 

 cholcr and pugnacity, try the Western air, young man s it is 

 a panacea. 



Brainerd, like Duluth, got a blow under the belt when the 

 Northern Pacific Railroad ' ' went up" four years ago. It was 

 a blow which did not make it double up : it has now about 

 half the population it had then. When all was activity and 

 bustle among its 5,000 people, it was a place for residence or 

 money making. The streets are laid out at right angles in the 

 midst of a pine and hardwood forest ; the houses are comfort- 

 able and neatly painted ; a public square has been set apart 

 among the pines, the underbrush being cut away, and inter- 

 secting avenues laid out.- On three sides of it are pretty 

 churches. Its farthest limit is the high bluff by the river side, 

 where the Mississippi rolls in deep and placid volume. Its 

 principal business street is built up with stores ; but a fire cut 

 out the most pretentious of them some time ago. I notice that 

 most Eastern people have obtained the notion that the fron- 

 tier buildings of our remote West are dug-outs, log cabins, 

 and tumble-down shanties. They will be surprised to find 

 great school-houses of brick in the open prairie, substantial 

 frame farm-houses, and as tasteful churches and ornate pri- 

 vate residences in the towns as can be found in the villages of 

 older States. A very substantial bridge crosses the river, giv- 

 ing appreciable advantages for the capture of large catfish, 

 which take the hooks freely. The Railway Company's offices 

 arc elegant and imposing. They are in charge of H. A. 

 Towne, Supt., R. H. Morford and T. C. Fernald, a gentleman 

 whose experience among the Indians, and general knowledge 

 of Indian character, are very large. The " Headquarters" is 

 a large and commodious hotel, noted for its good cheer and 

 the rough gambols of its hospitable landlord, Col. E. W. 

 Weed, a gentleman who has filled many offices of responsibil- 

 ity and trust on the frontier. He had charge of one of the 

 construction gangs which laid track at the rate of (?) miles an 

 hour on the day when the iron ties were joined across the 

 continent. I am indebted to him for the finest turn-out I ever 

 saw let loose on the prairies after grouse. 



Let me see how it was : Tom Cantwell, the " Wild Rice 

 Man,"* had notified me by telegraph to be in readiness on a 

 given morning. I arrived only the night before, but my only 

 preparation involved a change of clothing; for I have my kit 

 always packed and ready. Everything which experience has 

 taught me I need for my personal comfort will be found 

 among its contents, from a rubber blanket to a piece of chalk. 

 So, when the morning came around, I had it stowed in the 

 Wagon, and sauntered off to look at my friend's kennel. I 

 found a summer lodging-house, and a winter quarters partly 

 under ground, but well ventilated, inside a high fence inclos- 

 ing an ample exercising yard. Clambering up a ladder and 

 looking over, I saw a comical sight. All the dogs had mounted 

 to the top of the winter house for better observation, on 

 hearing us approach, and there they sat like the rescued in 

 the painting of The Flood. On the show-bench they could 

 not have been in better position for examination. "That 

 chap there," said Torn, "is my blue pointer 'Yankee,' bred 

 by N. C. Howard, oE Dayton, Ohio; the next is 'Blix,' a 

 black pointer, whose sire is Dr. Strachan's champion 'Pete ;' 

 those two cocker spaniels are ' Punch ' and ' Syrup,' and the 

 springers are named ' Gypscy' and 'Tory.' I think Yankee 

 is as good as they make anywhere." 



Well, it came to pass in due time that we tried the mettle 

 of Yankee's - breeding, and a truer dog I never care to shoot 

 over. Ned Hicks was along with his blue pointer Count, 

 Yankee's sire, and the setter Sullivan. Hicks is one of the 

 surest wing shots I ever saw, and death on hawks when no 

 chickens are flying. He made them " come " every time, of- 

 ten at incredible distances, shooting from the wagon as the 

 team walked at speed over the prairie. Together we shot 

 four varieties of hawks, I believe. By the way, a fast trot- 

 ting horse is a most desirable acquisition in grouse shooting, 

 and worth thirty per cent, more for a tally than a slow one. 

 i ndeed, for constant daily service on the plains or mountains 

 the fast walker is of more value than a trotter. For travel 

 day in and day out one seldom cares to trot. A good walker 

 ought to do four miles au horn for ten hours per day for 

 weeks together. I once rode 1,200 miles in five weeks over 

 the mountains of the Blue Ridge, and the beast got fat on it. 

 On that trip we three, in Col. Weed's wagon, beat over 

 rafljpy miles of prairie on both sides of the river from Brainerd 

 down to Lake City, and across the Mississippi to Fort Ripley, 

 and eighteen miles beyond, if we got but few birds it was 

 not the fault of outfit, dogs, or gunners. Two more tractable 

 horses under fire or better steppers on grass I never saw. 

 The dogs had rare pluck, as the sequel showed. There was 

 plenty of ice in the chest, pure water in the butt, and 



designated because Senas devoted much attention to tlie culti- 

 vation and distribution of wild rice iu places where it is not indige- 

 nous. 



abundant provisions in the larder ; of camp stuff, guns, and 

 ammunition, a full complement. Alljhe conditions were 

 favorable for a wagon load of birds except the hot and dry 

 weather, which, as all know, occasonQd absence of birds. 

 But the scarcity of birds only made the hunting better. 

 (" The less game, the more hunting," is an epigram which 

 has become an axiom.) In the comparative cool of an early 

 morning we helped the dogs into the wagon and "lit out." 

 The dust flew in clouds as we bowled out of town at a spank- 

 ing gait, settling in a white shower upon the foliage of the pin- 

 oaks that girted the roadside for several miles. The' country 

 was a wooded flat, with occasional undulations, and some- 

 times a dry bed of a creek, or a gully which the spring rains 

 had washed out. After several miles driving the oaks broke 

 off abruptly, skirting a broad treeless and fenceless prairie, 

 overgrown with low scrub and grass. The outlook was 

 monotonous, relieved only by an isolated elm or burr oak in 

 the far distance, or a tall pine towering like Anak in the 

 front ranks where the forest met the open field. Here the 

 wagon left the road abruptly j the dogs were bounced out of 

 the bottom and motioned afield, and in five minutes we were 

 alert, with Count and Sullivan ranging wide, and Yank in 

 the middle ground. As soon as the dogs showed up we were 

 over the wheels and off to the front in a jiffy, while the driver 

 followed with the wagon at discretion. Presently a white 

 gleam shot up out of the green, glowing for a minute in the sun- 

 shine—then another, and one more— giving each man a bird, and 

 every one dropping in handsome style to first barrels. But no 

 more got up, and so the dogs were told to " seek dead," and 

 presently they handed us tenderly the limp and warm bodies, 

 from which the bird-life had just flown heavenward upon the 

 little clouds of blue smoke that floated off on the air. We 

 picked up two or three more birds on that prairie after an 

 eight-mile tramp, and then tossing what we had shot into 

 the wagon box, called the dogs in, gave them water, and 

 drove on across-field to a line of cottonwoods which marked 

 the banks of a river, still in good stage of water. There we 

 camped in a log cabin belonging to a well-to-do Frenchman 

 who runs a large grist mill which grinds all the grain for a 

 circumjacent area of thirty miles in diameter. The French- 

 man kept an inn, of which our log cabin was one of the de- 

 tached dormitories. Its only furniture was a table, which 

 was more convenient in some respects than either pegs, 

 shelves, or brackets ; but there was ample room on the clean 

 floor for spreading many skins and blankets, and there we 

 luxuriated in sleep and rest. In the morning we walked a 

 few rods to another log house, w T hich was a combined kitchen 

 and dining room, and breakfasted on prairie-chicken, bacon, 

 and potatoes. In a year or two that Frenchman may feel 

 able to erect a handsome and commodious dwelling com- 

 mensurate with the size and importance of his grist mill, 

 which cost, I believe, $16,000, ami is really an extensive 

 establishment. 



Our work that day began at sun-up. At noon we dined 

 sumptuously at Lake City, and at dusk reached Dan Moore's 

 stock ranche, on the Mississippi Kiver, opposite Fort Ripley, 

 and about two miles distant from it. Although we worked 

 hard throughout we tallied low. The weather was too dry 

 for scent, and there were evidently no birds in the country. 

 If several dogs together range faithfully as ours did, when 

 the scent does not hold good to the ground, they 

 will cover a good deal of area and run over nearly every 

 rod of it ; and if birds are there they will flush many that 

 they do not nose of. (Knows of, is good !) Of course some 

 birds may fail to discover themselves, but the presumption is 

 that if no sign whatever is manifested the birds are not there. 

 Moisture, of course, makes a hot scent. Flowers are sweet- 

 est when the dew is on them. The grasses give out pungent 

 odors. The scent of the bird lies low and clings to the 

 ground and surrounding verdure. Hence the disadvantage of 

 a drought to the sportsman. I speak of this not as a novel 

 fact, but because most experienced writers omit instructive 

 points, which seem trivial to themselves, but which are 

 especially valuable to the tyro. I for one am not ashamed to 

 take my college diploma into the A B C class. 



There are not in autumn so many agreeable contrasts and 

 colors in Minnesota as in mid-summer. In the higher lati- 

 tudes the atmospheric illusions are not so constant and 

 striking as they are farther south. The scenery is more 

 like that which one sees at the east. The varieties of plants 

 and trees are much the same, and the big belts of timber, 

 which cross the State at intervals, remind me of Maine. It is 

 only when one strikes off into an open prairie, out of sight of 

 all landmarks, as it were, like a ship at sea, that he feels any 

 novelty in the situation. At such times the inexperienced 

 new-comer is bewildered, lost and helpless. Traveling over 

 the boundless expanse seems like voyaging in a balloon, and 

 open-air existence becomes a sort of day-dream, fleecy and 

 without form. In parallel districts along the Mississippi 

 River, however, one need only consult his compass and follow 

 due east or west to extricate himself from a dilemma, and 

 find a highway that will lead him to friendly shelter, or to 

 New Orleans. 



One seldom sees any snakes in this region except the harmless 

 grass and garter-snakes ; but the prairie is bored by sand-rats 

 andhoneycombed with gopher holes, into which unwary or un- 

 lucky horses often step with serious damage. There are squir- 

 rels among the oaks and hazels, screaming jay-birds on the 

 tree-tops, and rabbits that hide in the bunches of grass, 

 where they make their forms. Crows, hawks and flickers 

 are very common, and black-birds often fill the air in pass- 

 ing clouds of vast extent. 



Coursing along beside the Father of Waters at eventide, 

 when the after-glow of sunset rested on its broad bosom and 

 illumined its wooded islands, we listened to the evening 

 twitter of the cow-buntings and the sharp call of the cat-birds. 

 Gradually a sense of weariness and hunger came over us. By 

 the time the extensive hamlet of Dan Moore's ranche hove in 

 sight, wo were ready to stretch our limbs anywhere, in hay- 

 stack, loft or chamber. Buildings and stockyards lined both 

 sides of the road for many rods. Barns gushed with garnered 

 hay and grain, and numberless stacks outside complemented 

 the superabundance of a fulsome harvest. Lowing of kine 

 and the bellow of blooded bulls made the air resonant. 

 Turkeys and chickens without number leisurely sauntered off 

 to roost, and great corpulent hogs wandered about at will, 

 whose insolence and intrusiveness the artifices and courage of 

 the good dog Ranger could hardly circumvent or check. 

 When he had to take them by the ears they would give him a 

 side-long glance to see if he " meant business," and then 

 shuffle off with a shrug, turning up their noses and saying, 

 deprecatingly, that it was "rough, rough, rough 1" The 

 place was crowded with wagons and wayfarers, like a fair or 

 market-place. Possibly there were thirty brawny farmers, 

 wayfarers, herders and sportsmen, all of whom, it seemed, 

 desired accommodation for man and beast, and lodgings for 

 the night. Now, it so happens that Dan Moore, although 

 he is one of the wealthiest men and most frequent prize win- 

 ner in the State, has pitched his tent exactly on that part of 

 the traveled thoroughfare which is most convenient for 

 the wayfarer aud intermediate to other focal points. 

 There are no other houses near him, and so he is obliged to 

 entertain, willy nilly. His house is a large two-story log 

 house, fully fifty feet front, and being in process of repair the 

 outside sheathing and clap-boards had been torn off, leaving 

 spaces between some of the logs large enough for a man to 

 shove his leg through. All the partitions were down, making 

 one immense room in which a portion of his guests bunked. 

 (Mosquitoes might have been troublesome but for bars which 

 carefully protected the windows.) Other guests found lodg- 

 ing room in garrets, barns, outbuildings and haystacks. 



Before apartments had been allotted, I laid me down upon 

 the grass beside a bob-sled to snatch preliminary rest. The 

 sky had become overcast with clouds, threatening rain ; it 

 was so dark that objects were scarcely visible. There was 

 some commotion among a gang of cattle— bulls, cows and 

 heifers — which were self-corralled in an angle of the large 

 barnyard, but practically at liberty. Dan sent Banger to 

 quell the disturbance, and his efforts set the herd in motion 

 until he had them well scattered over the premises. They 

 hustled all about the place, and charged hither and yon in 

 droves and by twos and threes, investing the bob-sled and 

 making my situation precarious and anything but cheerful. 

 I made myself as thin as possible and snugged closely to the 

 side of the sled, for a while, but took the first chance to 

 "skin out " and make a break for safer quarters. 



This dog Ranger was the best trained w-atch-doglever saw, 

 a cross between a bulldog and a mastiff, if I am not mistaken. 

 He was perfectly docile and harmless. Unbidden he would 

 never molest or threaten man or beast ; but having once re- 

 ceived orders from his master he would tackle the prize bull 

 or charge the barn door without hesitation. He was not a 

 very large dog, but very powerful. His habitual amiability 

 was the strongest part of his composition, for trained watch- 

 dogs are almost invariably ferocious, the system of training 

 tending directly to make them sour. What method of in- 

 struction Dan employed to combine opposite characteristics in 

 the one animal I know not. The usual method, as given in 

 printed works, would not answer at all. 



A little rain fell during that night but held up in the morn- 

 ing, when the clouds being broken, we determined to cross 

 the government swing ferry in the flat-boat, which was 

 worked by the only two soldiers left in charge of the now 

 dilapidated and decayim i> i. called Fort Kipley r . Extending 

 our journey many miles beyond the Mississippi we made a 

 small bag of sharp-tails, and turned into a farm house for 

 dinner. When we started for home the sun was shining, but 

 a tremendous storm of rain soon came upon a driving'masa of 

 clouds from the west, and from that time on until we were 

 housed at our hotel in Brainerd, at 9 o'clock at night, it poured 

 in drenching torrents. Waterproofs were but small protec- 

 tion. Eveiy thing in the wagon was afloat and drenched. 

 There was no room for the dogs, and the poor creatures had 

 to foot it for seven hours, twenty-four miles, in the continu- 

 ally deepening mud and water ; yet, to their staunchness, be it 

 said that they showed few signs of distress the next day, and 

 on the day succeeding were as good as ever. The dry prairie, 

 which was dust the day before, became a shallow lake. In 

 the groves of oak the rain beat down so as to raise cinctures 

 of foam several inches high around the butts of the trees. 

 The dry beds of the creeks were bank-full and scarcely ford- 

 able. There were wash-outs all along the line ; and in the 

 dark traveling became hazardous. Glad were we when the 

 ligh ts of the town loomed in sight. The streets were all under 

 water, but taking our bearings by the beacon that gleamed 

 from the Head Quarters Hotel, we drove up along side the 

 welcome platform through a lake eight inches in depth, and 

 making one desperate leap for shelter, speedily "shucked" 

 ourselves and were happy once more. 



The next day was Sunday. The sun shone out warm and 

 bright, and no drop of water remained on the sandy bottom 

 where the flood had risen the night before. Haixoi k. 



— The Fobest and Stream is $4 per year in advance : $2 

 for six months ; $ 1 for three months- 



