1869.] 185 [Allen. 



two destroying agencies they are now rarely met with, and only in 

 an imperfect condition. In addition to the injury done them by the 

 fires that annually pass over the wild prairies, the two species of 

 Spermophilus and other rodents eat them, by which animals they are 

 said to be in a short time completely devoured. 



An old resident and hunter whom I met at New Jefferson, in 

 Greene county, informed me that but seven years before (now nine 

 years since), the elk were abundant in some parts of that county. 

 Prior to this date he used to see herds nearly every day, and some- 

 times several in a day, some of them of very large size. During the 

 early settlement of this part of Iowa they were of great value to 

 the settlers, furnishing them with an abundance of excellent food 

 when there was a scarcity of swine and other meat-yielding domestic 

 animals. But, as has been the case too often in the history of the 

 noblest game animals of this continent, they were frequently most 

 ruthlessly and improvidently destroyed. In the severer weather of 

 winter they were often driven to seek shelter and food in the vicinity 

 of the settlements. At such times the people, not satisfied with kill- 

 ing enough for their present need, mercilessly engaged in an exter- 

 minating butchery. Rendered bold by their extremity, the elk were 

 easily dispatched with such implements as axes and corn-knives. 

 For years they were so numerous that the settlers could kill them 

 whenever they desired to, but several severe winters and indiscrim- 

 inate slaughter soon greatly reduced their numbers, and now only a 

 few linger where formerly thousands lived, and these are rapidly dis- 

 appearing. Their home here being chiefly the open country, they 

 much sooner fall a prey to the " westward march of civilization," 

 through the most merciless treatment they receive at the hands of 

 the emigrant, than does the deer. 



From June to October the elk are said to be always fat and in 

 excellent condition for the table. Their flesh is described as being in 

 texture intermediate between beef and mutton, but superior in flavor 

 to either. In March the bucks shed their horns. As the neAv ones 

 begin to sprout they leave the herd and keep by themselves, in small 

 parties of about a dozen, till their horns are fully grown and hard, 

 when they begin to "run," as the hunters term it, and again join the 

 herd. About the twentieth of June the females are said to bring 

 forth their young. Towards autumn, when the calves have become 

 large and strong, the elk begin to gather in large herds. The horns 

 appear disproportionately large, especially when " in the velvet," at 



