Jan. 81, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



3 



copper-colored friends I had known, and I was about to fol- 

 low up the pumping operation still further when the crack 

 of a riiie, followed instantly by a loud shout from one of 

 the Doyles, brought both of us at once to our feet. From 

 our position we could see by the swaying brush that the 

 brute had been started and was coming toward us as rapidly 

 as the nature of the thicket would permit. Stepping a few 

 yards apart, in order to command as much of the front as 

 possible, we cocked our rifles and awaited the result. Nearer 

 and nearer he came, the loud cracking of the brush accu- 

 rately marking his advance, until the brushes parted in front 

 of Wilson, who stood in plain sight in the knee-high salal, 

 and a long-legged, gaunt, red and white steer of the genuine 

 Texan stamp' came into full view almost at a bound. We 

 had arranged it thus with the expectation that as soon as he 

 saw us in front he would attempt to turn and re-enter the 

 thicket, giving us a chance at him behind the shoulder as he 

 turned, and driving him back toward the Doyles should we 

 fail. This would probably have been the result had he not 

 been so desperately wounded, but with the blood dripping 

 from his mouth, if he had any intention of showing the 

 white feather it was not visible, for with accelerated speed 

 he charged straight for Wilson, who coolly stood with his 

 rifle to his cheek near the log upon which we had been 

 sitting. 



Unable longer to stand the tension upon my nerves, I 

 tired quartering at the steer's head, but unfortunately just as 

 he dropped it for the assault. The .44-caliber bullet struck the 

 far horn squarely near the base, shattering it in pieces, and 

 the next instant, either dazed by the shock or choked by 

 blood from the bullet of Doyle, which had evidently pierced 

 his lungs, he stumbled and came down upon his knees, only 

 a few feet from Wilson, who sent his bullet through his 

 brain before he could recover himself. We were surprised 

 to find him in such poor condition, considering the great 

 abundance of feed around us, until we found an old bullet 

 wound in his lower jaw that had carried away several teeth 

 which must have seriously interfered with his eating, and 

 rendered it a matter of much doubt whether he would have 

 been able to survive the following winter. 



"That ere feller had a leetle idee of showing fight," said 

 Wilson, as he drew several bullets from his pocket, and after 

 carefully selecting one placed it in the palm of his hand, and 

 from his horn poured out sufficient powder to just cover it, 

 which was his method of measuring a charge, then putting 

 a strip of buckskin over the muzzle he placed the ball on top 

 and forced it down until it was level with the end of the 

 barrel, after which he trimmed off the surplus buckskin 

 with his sheath knife, and sent the lead home with the 

 hickory ramrod. 



We were soon joined by the Doyles, and learned that the 

 old Texan had been lying in a little opening overgrown with 

 rushes, probably the bottom of what was a pOnd in the rainy 

 season. Ben had heard him as he jumped and started to 

 run, but was unable to see him while Charley, who was a 

 little in advance and at some distance to the right, caught a 

 glimpse of him just as he reached the edge of the surround- 

 ing thicket and fired with the result above stated. We were 

 unable to find any fresh traces of the remainder of the band, 

 but as we found the encampment of a party of straggling 

 Indian hunter, that did not appear to have been deserted 

 more than a week, it is possible they may have been able to 

 have given some information upon the subject. After skin- 

 ning the animal we slung between two poles the hide and 

 such portions of the meat as we wanted and returned to 

 camp. It was still early in the day, but as we expected to 

 leave the burn in the morning, and already had as much 

 meat as we could easily pack out, we concluded to do no 

 more hunting but to devote the remainder of our time to 

 mending our clothes and lounging by the camp-fire, where 

 more or less cooking was going on nearly all the time. 



Our trip had indeed been a very satisfactory one, for al- 

 though we had only hunted a little while in the morning 

 and evening of each day, we had killed eleven deer and one 

 black bear— grizzlies are not found in that section of Oregon 

 — besides as many blue grouse as we cared to shoot, which 

 was not many, as we took no notice of them, unless close to 

 camp, and we had a chance to make a fancy shot at their 

 heads. The only real temptation I had from them was one 

 morning while passing around the butt of a fallen tree I saw 

 a number of them sitting on the other end, and could easily 

 have killed three with a single shot from my rifle, but as they 

 would have hardly been worth picking up after being shot 

 through the body with so large a bullet I passed them by. 

 Black bears were plenty enough, but as nobody would eat 

 bear meat at our camp so long as fat bucks could be obtained, 

 that incentive, at least, was wanting in the chase. 



Late in the afternoon, after completing as far as possible 

 our arrangements for departure the next day, my idle 

 thoughts reverted to the old Texan and the first sight we 

 had of him; and turning to my companion of the morning, 

 I said, "Wilson, how sure was Kit Jackson's mule?" 

 "Well," said that worthy, who was busily engaged sewing 

 a rip in his bootleg with a buckskin whang, "according to 

 Kit himself there wasn't anything he warn't sure of doin°- 

 that he started in on. He allowed that mule could out-puli? 

 out-kick or out-buck anything that went on four legs and 

 wore hair, and as far as I ever heerd on Kit was about right; 

 but where he got the name of being so dead sure was one 

 day when Kit came to the village, and after taking in a big 

 load of bug juice, begau, as he allers did, to brag on his 

 mule, and tell how far he throwed a feller that tried to ride 

 him. 'I tell you what,' said Kit, as he stood at the bar set- 

 ting 'em up for the boys, 'ennybody but me that thinks he 

 can ride that mule is a dern fool, for he is going to get 

 throwed sure pop. ' Now, there happened to be a chap from 

 the cow counties in there that day, who called himself a 

 buckarer (vaquero), and he allowed the mule might throw 

 'em some pops, but when Jackson or ennybody else talked 

 about its being sure pop, he was ready to chip in, as he cal- 

 kelated he could ride ennything that ever wore a saddle. 

 Some words passed between him and Kit, and he bet the 

 drinks for the crowd that he could ride the mule. This 

 offer suited everybody there, and they all took a hand in 

 fixing up the thing, because, you see, thev all had an inter- 

 est in it 



"Kit trotted out his mule and pretty soon out came the fel- 

 ler with a Spanish saddle with two hair sinches and a crup- 

 per, got up on purpose for the occasion. Now that ere mule 

 knew thar was suthin' uncommon going on, the minute that 

 chap began to draw up on them two sinches, so he began to 

 swell up just like a big toad. But it was no use. Dunk, 

 that's what they called the feller, had been there before, and 

 he drawed up first on one latigo and then on the other till 

 the mule couldn't stand it no longer, so he jest looked 'round 

 race with a wicked twinkle in his eye and let go his breath 



till the sinches were up to the last notch. Well, begot on, 

 and for about live minutes there was some of the tallest 

 buckin' ever seen in them parts. The mule dropped his 

 head between his knees, reached his back; aud some of his 

 stiff-legged jumps, they said, measured ten feet, He fetched 

 the blood out of Dunk's nose and mouth, but he couldn't 

 fetch Dunk. Then he opened up on a new deal and tried to 

 fall over backwards on Dunk and smash him, but that didn't 

 work either, for when he was just balanced and going to fall, 

 Dunk would slip his right foot out of the stirrup and step 

 onto the ground and let him come down ; then as soon as the 

 mule got on his feet again, he found Dunk on his back with 

 the rowels of his big spurs hooked into the sinches. 



"Then he made for the trees along the sidewalk and tried 

 to scrape Dunk off by running under the low limbs and 

 against the trunk at the same time. No go. Dunk seemed 

 to ride just as well with his toes hooked round the cantle of 

 the saddle and his body down by the mule's knee as he did 

 anywhere. 



"The boys had been betting on the mule all the time, but 

 they begun to hedge now. Things begun to look a little 

 streaky for Kit, when all at once the mule made a break for 

 the river. What he was going to do there nobody could 

 guess. In he went and started as if to swim across just 

 below the bridge, but when he got right over the deepest 

 place down he went, mule, rider and all, plump out of sight, 

 like a porpoise. Then the boys got scared and made a break 

 for the bridge as fast as they could hook it. Looking over 

 the rail down into the deep water, there they saw old Jeff on 

 the bottom hanging on to a big root with his teeth, and Dunk 

 on his back a clappin' the spurs into his ribs and jerkin' on 

 the bridle, trying to raise him to the top. When Kit's backers 

 seen that they got fast, again to bet on the mule, for you see 

 they allowed that as old Jeff knew what he was going to do, 

 he'd fill up his bellusses before he went down and so had the 

 bulge on D«nk; but the rest thought that Dunk had dropped 

 on it time enough to get in a square breath; and even if he 

 didn't the mule was sinched so tight he couldn't hold much 

 wind nohow. 



"Pretty soon, though, they seen Dunk look up, then he let 

 go of the saddle and made for the top. He didn't say noth- 

 ing when he got, up, but j est took a good long breath and 

 went down again, but he was a leetle too late, for jest as soon 

 as he let go the bridle, Jeff slid out from under him and 

 started for shore with his head and neck stretched out like a 

 loon after shiners. 'Twas no use for Dunk to try to ketch 

 him then ; it couldn't be did, so he paddled for shore too. 

 When Dunk had crawled up the bank aud shook himself, he 

 cum up to Kit and said, 'Mr. Jackson, 1 was wrong; and 1 

 ask your pardon. When that are mule starts in to do any- 

 thing, he's going to do it, sure pop. Boys, less all go up and 

 take suthin.' " 



"Had that account been properly sworn to before a jus- 

 tice when you heard it?" said I, when Wilson had finished 

 his bootleg and his yarn at the same time. 



"Well, I can't say as to that. The crowd that put in their 

 spare time at the Bullwhackers' Retreat, didn't fool away 

 much spare cash on legal dockyments, leastwise during saloon 

 hours; but that's how the boys cum to swear by Kit Jack- 

 son's mule." . Forked Deer. 

 San Francisco, Jan. 7, 1884. 



BETWEEN THE LAKES. 



Second Paper. 



the camping ground found. 



TT^HEN an Indian skipper. Captain Kishkatog, and his 

 T T able and his ugly mate, Dan Sky, sailed away and 

 left us at our camp on the Ahmeek-we-se-pe, it was with the 

 knowledge on our part that we were nineteen miles from the 

 nearest point to which we could look for relief in any con- 

 tingency. We were in an unhacked wilderness — a wilder- 

 ness in whi«h men had been lost and never found. It is true 

 that steamers were not infrequently seen from three miles 

 out to as far as one could see, but for all the relief any 

 steamer would or even could bring to us, it might as well be 

 on the broad Atlantic, when our man left us, he left us 

 alone; left us beyond the reach of wearying clients and vex- 

 ing students, and book and insurance agents and lightning- 

 rod and tree peddlers, with no sounds to hear beyond the 

 circle of our own voices, save the sounds that came from out 

 the woods and from off the waters. 



Were we happy at being thus left? Was not this the ful- 

 filment of the dream of each one of us ere we left home? 

 Yes, but I dare say not one of us but nursed an uneasy feel- 

 ing, as he watched the Indian's boat dancing away on the 

 bosom of the broad waters. What if something should hap- 

 pen? What if one of our number should get hurt, or become 

 sick or get drowned? These and like questions our thought- 

 ful wivas had propeunded before we left home, and with a 

 courage born of a then state of safety we had answered 

 lightly, as became truly brave men; but now, when we stood 

 alone in the wilderness, the anxious faces of our dear wives 

 looked out from the little cloud of mist that overhung the 

 Ahmeek-we-se-pe, and we thought of the questions they had 

 once asked, but our courage was gone. The questions were 

 unanswered. 



Away with forebodings ! Let us look around ! Here upon 

 this sand bluff, sixty feet above the lake's level, in the edge 

 of a little grove of Norway pines, whose straight aud tall 

 and slender boles ceaselessly wave to and fro in the breeze, 

 our white tent lifts its humble comb and is to be our roof -tree 

 the coming three weeks. The view lakeward in storm or 

 calm will never fail to please. Ah! The gorgeous sunsets 

 we will see, and the tempests of rain and thunder that will 

 drive over the bosom of the waters! Four miles westward a 

 great rock promontory, three hundred feet high and a thou- 

 sand feet long, and crowned with a forest of evergreen trees 

 —the Grand P»rtal of the Pictured Rocks— gleams in the early 

 morning sunshine like a great wedge of gold. At the foot of 

 Our sand bluff the Ahmeek-we-se-pe, flowing from beneath a 

 drift of stranded trees, races over the bar down to the lake 

 and leaves a long rippling trail in its waters. Beyond the 

 belt of Norways, to the south, is the ' 'deep, tangled wild 

 woods," through which a footpath winds half a mile, ending 

 at the shore of the Ahmeek-sah-kah-e-gan, the Beaver Lake 

 of the Ojibwas. This lake, a mile in width and two in 

 length, with its longer axis parallel with the great lake shore, 

 is surrounded by an unbroken fringe of green woods— woods 

 as green and impenetrable as on that day two hundred and 

 forty-two years ago, Father Alloftz first sailed the south 

 shore of the great lake. A lovelier sheet of water is not to 

 be found in all this region of lovely lakes. Next the shore 

 the water is shoal all the way around, but as it recedes, it 

 becomes gradually deeper until at a distance varying from 



fifty to one hundred yards from the shore it suddenly drops 

 down into a deep basin; and lying close in against the rim 

 of this basin arc bass and pike', in size aud numbers seldom 

 equaled. 



West of Beaver Lake and connected with it by a narrow 

 and short canal is a small lake, one not much short of three 

 miles in circumference, and east of it is a cedar swamp and 

 next a pond, after which comes a small deep lake which has 

 never been fished. 



This system of small lakes and pouds and swamps, is a 

 peculiarly interesting geological feature of the region. Lying 

 in the shape of a strung bow with the back to the hills and 

 the arms curving to the great lake shore, they suggest that 

 once they formed a part of the great lake itself, No doubt 

 such was the fact. The evidences here and elsewhere along 

 this south shore are indubitable, that at some period in the 

 remote past, there has been a subsidence of not less than 

 sixty feet aud probably a great deal more than that, of the 

 waters of Lake Superior. As that subsidence went on, the 

 drifting sands from the Pictured Rocks above, lodging at the 

 wide mouth of a narrow bay, a high bar or ridge was piled 

 up, back of which lay a semi-circular basin six or eight miles 

 long and one in width, which has since developed into these 

 small lakes, besides ponds and swamps. On this high sand 

 ridge grow soft woods almost exclusively, while back on the 

 sandstone hills— the true ancient lands of the region— hard 

 woods mainly grow r , interspersed with occassional white 

 pines of enormous size. 



The region is not only interesting from its goological his- 

 tory, but from its classical associations also. In that unique 

 poem, "The Song of Hiawatha," a poem that carries with it 

 the odors of the pine woods and the gurgle of trout streams, 

 we are told that after the mischief -making Paw-Puk-Kewis 

 had 



"Vexed the village with disturbance," 

 by teaching the young men 



"All the game of bowl and counters," 



and by raiding the house of Hiawatha and insulting old No- 

 komis his mother, and Minnehaha his bride, and finally, 

 from the lofty brow of the Grand Portal, by killing his 

 chickens, the gulls ,that greatly wronged hero, in great rage, 

 set out to bring the evildoer to just punishment. Long was 

 the pursuit and well sustained the flight. After many and 

 marvelous vicissitudes, however, the wily fugitive took re- 

 fuge among the beavers, who in some mysterious manner 

 changed him iuto a beaver, and made him 



-Ten times largerthan the other beavers," 

 after which he became their king. As might have been ex- 

 pected, his elevation to the beaver throne puffed him up 

 enormously, so much so that he could not pass the doorway 

 of his palace ; and so, when Hiawatha had discovered the 

 place of his retreat he cut the dam, and after the waters had 

 run off the beaver king was at his mercy. He and his young 

 men, 



"Pounded him as maize is pounded, 

 Till his skull was crushed and broken." 



The region we are now in, is the locus in quo of this tragic 

 tale. Beaver Lake was the Ahmeek-sah-kah-e-gan of the 

 Ojibwas, and here was in ancient times a great beaver center, 

 aud even yet a few stray beavers linger around the seat of 

 that ancient empire, whose "signs" may be seen on every 

 stream. The story as told by the poet is founded on Indian 

 tradition, and as every tradition has some groundwork of 

 truth to rest upon, I looked around me to see if I could find 

 some one stream where the greatest number of conditions 

 were to be found, which made probable the supposition that 

 it was the one across which a dam was built, and where a 

 beaver colony of such magnitude was established, as to ex- 

 cite the Indians' particular attention, and thus give rise to 

 legends and extravagant stories. Into the south side of Beaver 

 Lake a stream flows, and between that and the hills south- 

 ward many miles of stream intervene, though as the crow 

 flies the distance is not over two and a half miles. Along 

 that stream in its upper half, I traveled for I know not how 

 far, and as I whipped the little pools aud eddies and filled 

 my creel with richly tinted trout, I remembered that Paw- 

 Puk-Kewis in his flight 



" * * * * came unto a streamlet 



In the middle of a forest, 

 T* a streamlet still and tranquil 



That had overflowed its margin;" 



and here, thought I, is the forest and the tranquil streamlet, 

 and what was more to the point, the entire course of the 

 stream as far as I explored it, was filled with the ruins of 

 ancient beaver dams and habitations. Indeed these curious 

 animals have not altogether abandoned the stream yet. Oc- 

 casionally fresh cuttings were met with, as also was an 

 Indian camp that had been occupied the preceding winter, 

 from which I secured a handful of the yellow and beautifully 

 curved beaver teeth, plucked from the numerous decaying 

 jaws lying around. This stream has been seldom visited by 

 any save the Indians, and as it is unnamed in the Michigan 

 maps, I venture to ask that it henceforth be known as the 

 Paw-Puk-Kewis. 



In addition to bass and pike in the small lakes, every 

 stream in the neighborhood is a trout stream. Three miles 

 west of our- camp a stream thirty feet in width plunged over 

 a rock wall, falling according to one authority one hundred 

 and fifty feet. We did not visit this stream but were t»Id 

 that it abounded in tiout of good size. Mr. Frank Milligan, 

 a D. M. & M. Railroad official, had fished in it, and he said 

 the trout were so plentiful and took the hook so greedily, 

 that one soon tired of the sport. 



We spent a longer time making camp than I had antici- 

 pated. One of the Judge's favorite maxims was, "That the 

 success of a camping excursion depends mainly upon the 

 comfortable arrangements in the camp itself." "No matter 

 how successful in your hunting and fishing and tramping ex- 

 cursions," the Judge was wont to say, "unless you have a 

 nice, comfortable, cozy camp to go to you will soon grow 

 restless and discontented, and want to go home." And now 

 that we had selected a permanent camping ground, I soon 

 learned that, according to the Judge's standard, who was 

 ably seconded by the Greek Professor, a camp meant a great 

 deal more than setting up a tent. An awning was erected 

 separate from the tent, which not only accommodated our 

 table but afforded us protection from the dews as we sat in 

 front of our night fire aud talked over the events of each 

 day. Boxes were converted into cupboards for the conve- 

 nient and safe storage of provisions: racks were made on 

 which to hang cooking utensils, and the camp ground was 

 cleared of unsightly rubbish. The tent itself received par- 

 ticular attention. A gun-rack was set up at the head of our 

 bed, and the bed itself was a work of art, "More than a 



