442 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[DSse. 81, 188f' 



TO THE WALLEB-IN LAKES. 



rv. — LAZY DAYS. ' 



npHE sun was sinning brightly into the tent door before we 

 rolled out of our blankets the next morning. We had 

 been thoroughly tired out the night before, and the effects 

 of our climb were still felt. As I walked out to the wagon 

 to grind the coffee I was as stiff and sore as if I had been 

 taking my first horseback ride in twenty years. Our coffee 

 mill, by the way, was rather primitive in construction, and 

 a description of it may interest some of your readers who 

 always go provided with the conveniences of life. The 

 engine consisted of three parts; first, a wagon tongue; 

 second, a small rag; third, the axe. When the coffee was to 

 be ground, the person who was to perform this operation 

 provided himself with two tin cups, one of them full of 

 coffee berries, the other empty, and with these in one hand 

 and the axe in the other betook himself to the front end of 

 the wagon. Here, after placing the cups in a safe position, 

 where they could not be knocked down or upset, he bestrode 

 the wagon tongue, and seating himself upon it, put a small 

 portion of the unground coffee in the rag, and twisting it up 

 so that none could escape, proceeded to pulverize it by 

 pounding it with the back of the axe on the tongue. As 

 soon as one ragful was made fine enough, it was placed in the 

 empty tin cup and replaced by a fresh supply of berries, the 

 operation being repeated until all the coffee was ground. 

 The coffee mill in question has its advantages. Its parts are 

 in a certain sense interchangeable. At all events they are 

 easily replaced. For the wagon tongue you can say wagon 

 tire, or flat stone, or hard piece of log, while the axe may be 

 replaced by a stone, a hard stick, or even the butt of a rifle 

 stock. It is true that a civilized coffee mill has the ad- 

 vantages of saving time, labor, patience and coffee, but we 

 had absent-mindedly neglected to provide this piece of camp 

 furniture, and so had to do our best without it. 



While I was hammering away at the wretched coffee, 

 which very obstinately refused to be groimd, I turned over 

 in my mind what we had better do during the day, I felt 

 rather too stiff to undertake another day on the mountains, 

 and determined to just loaf about camp all day long. 



In theory loafing is a most delightful way of passing the 

 time, but in practice it fails to satisfy. As long as one has 

 something to potter over — some pretense of an occupation — 

 he does very well. But after the rifle is wiped and the 

 frayed silk on the middle joint of the rod neatly whipped, 

 the rents in clothing mended and the broken strings re- 

 placed on the saddle, he becomes uneasy. A pipe or two, 

 smoked as he reclines stretched out at full length on his 

 blankets, fails to soothe, and he rises, walks out of doors, 

 stretches in the warm sunshine, yawns, and then concludes 

 that he must do something. This was just what happened 

 that warm September morning. By ^ 1 o'clock I heartily 

 wished myseK on the mountains again, but as it was too late 

 to think of making the climb, Appekunny and I walked off 

 along the trail to the inlet. I carried my rod and he his 

 shotgun. 



As we crossed the little stream within a short distance of 

 the camp, a ruffed grouse hopped from the ground in front 

 of us into the lower limbs of an alder, where she sat not six 

 feet distant and looked at us. There was at once a division 

 of opinion as to what course should be pursued with the game. 

 On the one hand it was suggested that the bird's head should 

 be promptly shot off. Against this it was urged that she was 

 raiiged and almost featherless, and had probably just reared 

 a brood, and this being the case she would not be fit to eat, and 

 that except for food it was not worth while to kill her. The 

 bird sat there like a judge and hstened with great gravity to 

 both sides of the argument, but as she said nothing, it is pre- 

 sumed that she reserved her decision. We could not agree 

 as to what should be done, and so passed on, leaving the bird 

 sitting there turning her head from side to side as if some- 

 what perplexed by the reasons that had been offered on both 

 sides. 



Passing along up the ridge and around the point of the 

 hill, we paused for a while to look out over the lake and up 

 toward the grand mountains to the west, south and east. 

 The shoal waters of the shallow bay at our feet, which swept 

 in a beautiful curve from the point near camp to the inlet, 

 were dotted with hundreds of ducks, and further out, where 

 they looked blue and deep, floated a couple of loons. Two 

 or three snowy gulls rested on the sand shoals. It was as 

 restful a scene as one would wish to look upon. 



About us on all sides towered the grand mountains, slop- 

 ing up for some distance in timbered acclivities, and then 

 above these again, rising in abrupt black walls that seemed 

 insurmountable. Most of the mountains near at hand seemed 

 square-topped, or worn into pinnacles only the ends of 

 these walls, but further away we could see jagged spires that 

 ran up like needles, far above their fellows. Snow lay upon 

 all the higher mountains, but that which had fallen since 

 our arrival had all disappeared. 



Still following the trail, we kept on round the hill and 

 down nearly to the lake level, and then crossing a little 

 stream proceeded cautiously through the underbrush to the 

 lake shore. As I parted the bushes that grew above the 

 beach and peered out through the leaves, I saw a flock 

 of widgeons close to me on the water. It was pretty to 

 watch them as they swam about, feeding or playing with 

 each other, so near to me that each motion, even to the 

 ruflling of a feather or the twitching of an eyelid, was 

 plaia.y \ isible. i »va,oii<.u them for some little time, and 



then the thunder of the double barrel woke the echoes of the 

 hills, the birds disappeared behind a point, and four little 

 gray feet kicked plaintively above two spots of white that 

 rose and fell on the dancing waters. The little dogs quickly 

 retrieved the birds, and we walked on along the beach to the 

 inlet. A wide, swift brook hurries down from the moun- 

 tains on the southeast, between spruce-clad hills, and enters 

 the inlet flat about half way between the lakes. This 

 stream pours its waters into the lake at the upper side of the 

 bay, and on the sand shoals at its mouth we saw a moose 

 track made within a day or two. A black bear, too, had 

 been prowling along the shore in search of something to eat, 

 and in the mud close beneath the overhanging alders we 

 saw where a shy whitetail deer had for a moment stepped out 

 of his cover and then retreated back into the silent forest. Fur- 

 ther along we saw more moose tracks, those of a cow and a 

 calf, and stepping back on a deeply worn but old game trail, 

 found a place where some Indians had built a blind at 

 the foot of a great tree to await the passage of some game. 

 It seems probable that there are some moose here and that 

 they spend the days in the swamps on the mountain side and 

 come down to the lake at night. 



Wading the deep, swift stream, which, in one or two 

 places almost threw us off our feet by the force of its rushing 

 waters, we went over to the inlet and began to cast for 

 trout. The east side of the stream is far more convenient 

 to fish than the west. Here there are wide gravel bars and 

 the stream is so narrow that with forty or fifty feet of fine 

 out it is easy to reach across it. On the other side the trees 

 and brush are thick and grow close to the bank, so that it 

 is not easy to cast with a long line. 



An hour's fishing was had without result. The trout would 

 not rise. All the flies in my book were tried in vain. Then 

 finding a deep hole in which were ten or twelve fish from 

 one to two feet in length, I put a piece of meat on my hook 

 and let it drift down under their very noses, but they paid 

 not the slightest attention to it. It was really very discour- 

 aging. Finally I put aside the rod and watched the fish 

 for some time, and at length made up my mind that they 

 feed almost entirely on the young whitefish, which are here 

 so abundant. The appearance of one of these little fish was 

 the signal for a rush on the part of every trout in the neigh- 

 borhood, and often one of them would make a false start 

 at some object carried down by the stream which bore some 

 resemblance to one of the tiny silvery creatures for which 

 they were lying in wait. 



Retracing our steps we killed another widgeon on our way 

 to camp, dined early, and then tried still-fishing for lake 

 trout, and being unsuccessful at this, set a net for whitefish. 

 We had just finished this operation and rowed back to the 

 shore, when we saw a horseman appear over a ridge a mile 

 further down the lake, and could see even at this distance 

 that he was an Indian. Before he had advanced fifty yards 

 toward us he began to ride in circles along the hillside, and 

 Yellowflsh called out, "He is drunk," to which I responded, 

 "No, he is signalling," This proved to be the case, for a 

 little later, when the Indian stopped at the camp to talk, he 

 said that he was informing some of his companions, who 

 were in sight but out of hearing, that he had discovered 

 some people. He was a Kootenay, but could talk some Pie- 

 gan, and told us that eight lodges of his people, under the 

 chief, Keh Kowitz-keyucla, which, as all the world knows, 

 means Back-in-sight, were camped some miles below on 

 the river. They had been out fifty days, and had been 

 quite successful in their hunting, having killed about forty 

 sheep, two bears — one black and one grizzly — one moose, 

 a few elk and plenty of beaver. Their main business was 

 trapping, and they hunted only when meat was required for 

 the camp. In these days he said game was scarce. There 

 were still sheep on the mountains, but they were high up 

 among the rocks, and it was hard to get to them. I asked 

 him when he had killed any buffalo, and he rephed that two 

 years ago back [east] of the Sweet Grass Hills he had killed 

 eight. Since then he had not seen one. So chatting about 

 the game and the country, we sat in front of the tent until 

 the sun had set, and then the Kootenay clambered on to his 

 steed and rode away into the shadows. 



The first duty of the following morning was the taking up 

 of the net. A fresh breeze was blowing and quite a heavy 

 sea running out in the lake, but after some trouble we man- 

 aged to get the boat in position and soon had the net and 

 the half a dozen fish it contained on board. There was one 

 lake trout weighing five pounds and five whitefish running 

 from two to two and a half pounds in weight. While we 

 "liad been at work at the net Yellowfishhad been busy getting 

 breakfast, and it only remained to cook a fat whitefish to 

 complete the preparations. 



Not long after breakfast four Kootenays rode up to camp 

 and dismounted, and we had a long talk and smoke. They 

 were going hunting, and if there had not been so many of 

 them I think that I should have invited myself to go with 

 them, but being too modest to do that, I concluded to ride 

 down to the end of the lower lake and try to catch some 

 trout in the St. Mary's River and perhaps visit their camp. 



Appekunny and I therefore saddled up, and leaving the 

 Indians still smoking in front of the tent, rode off down the 

 lake. The trail leads over a succession of ridges, generally 

 covered with a low growth of aspens, but sometimes bare, 

 and through the ravines by which they are separated flow 

 little streams with brash or cottonwood groves along their 

 banks. Many of these streams have been dammed here and 



there by the beavers, and on the muddy ponds thus fori 

 ducks collect in windy weather when, as was the case V 

 day, it was uncomfortable to be on the lake. On two of thes 

 ponds Appekunny made a couple of nice double shots at a 

 pair of mallards and a pair of widgeons, but in each case 

 the mud was so deep that it was impossible to recover the 

 birds, and we resolved that it was useless to attempt to kill 

 ducks where we could not retrieve them. 



A more satisfactory kind of shooting soon presented 

 itself. We were riding sleepily along at a walk over a 

 ridge, where the young aspens were only a foot or two 

 high, when suddenly my old horse braced himself, 

 threw up his head and halted, as out from under his feet 

 with a roar like an old cock partridge, started a great dark 

 bird and darted away before the wind, scaled down the hill, 

 and balancing itself this way and that, twisted into a grove 

 of trees. ' 'Blue grouse. Hurry up. There are more here, " 

 was the cry, and as the bearer of the shotgun tumbled off his 

 horse and placed shells in his gun, two or three more of the 

 grouse rose and went hke bullets after the first one. Then 

 another rose, and before it had gone ten yards turned neatly 

 over and struck the ground with a sound pleasant to the 

 sportsman's ear, and at the sound of the shot two or three 

 more rose and were soon out of sight. Appekunny walked 

 on and I followed with the horses, and a pair of outlying 

 birds which rose at long distance fell before his ready gun. 

 Then, as no more could be started, we rode on, and I was 

 forced, in spite of my remonstrances, to carry the shotgun so 

 as to be prepared for the next brood which we should encoun- 

 ter. This was down by the river just where the trail descends 

 the steep bank to cross to the other side. Here a couple 

 of birds again astonished Jerry by roaring out of the low 

 rose bushes under his very nose, but as the cover was only a 

 few yards away they were safe before I could twist round in 

 the saddle to shoot. After 1 had dismounted, another got up 

 behind me and made for the river bank, and as he had 

 further to go I was lucky enough to tumble him over at 

 about forty yards. Still another was started, but he was 

 cunning enough to just rise a foot or two and then dip down 

 behind a ridge which covered his retreat until long after he 

 was out of shot. We tried to start the two which had taken 

 to the cover close at hand, and might have got them had we 

 both been armed, but naturally they went out of the brush 

 on the side which was unguarded. 



A little below this point there are a number of deep holes 

 in the river, and leaving our horses on top of the bank, we 

 slipped and slid down the steep bluff to the water's edge. 

 The furious gale which swept down the stream made it im- 

 possible to cast, but the wind would carry line and leader 

 down over the water, and for an hour we had some very 

 pleasant sport. None of the fish which we took were very 

 large, but they were good fighters, and took the fly with a 

 rush which made the sport interesting. 



While we were thus occupied a couple of Kootenays, rid- 

 ing on a single pony, made their appearance on the opposite 

 bank of the river. One of them we recognized as having 

 been at the agency previous to our departure. It was im- 

 possible to talk at the distance which separated us, and the 

 conversation was carried on altogether by means of the sign 

 language, which is so universally employed among the 

 Indians of the West, The manner in which long conversa- 

 tions can be carried oh between individuals, each of whom 

 is ignorant of the language spoken by the other, always 

 seems very remarkable to one who for the first time sees an 

 interview of this kind, and though long familiar with this 

 method of communication, I myself still feel something of the 

 astonishment that I experienced when I first saw it. The 

 Kootenay asked where his people's camp was, and finding 

 that we were unable to tell him, asked a number of other 

 questions, and we in turn inquired about matters at the 

 agency. Then the two rode off down the river. 



A little later we stopped fishing, and climbing up the 

 bank again, reached our horses. As we mounted I looked 

 across the river and saw the two Indians galloping across 

 the wide valley to a point where a narrow stream valley 

 came out from the hills into the wide bottom of the St. 

 Mary's River. I watched them for a few moments, and as 

 they disappeared behind the point of the bluff I heard the 

 vociferous barking of dogs, which told me plainly that the 

 Kootenay camp was there. We rode up the river totheford, 

 and just before reaching the spot from which we had started 

 the dusky grouse, I dismounted, and walking through the 

 rose bushes put up two of the birds. They flew in opposite 

 directions, and at one of them, a superb old cock, I fired just 

 as he was topping the alders on the river bank, and then 

 turned to give the other my second barrel, but he had got 

 to the cover of the brush. I could not be sure that I had hit 

 the first, but handing the gun to Appekunny I went down to 

 the bank, and there was the grand bird beating his death roll in 

 the shallow water. Meantime my companion had gone after 

 the other bud, and after a little search saw him on the 

 ground dodging about behind a clump of brush. It took 

 some time for him to get a shot at it, for the bird would 

 not fly, and persistently kept the bashes between itself and 

 its pursuer. At length, however, it made a false move in its 

 dodging, which cost it its life. 



Hanging our birds and fish in the bushes we crossed the 

 river and rode briskly across the wide level valley toward 

 the Kootenay camp, which we soon reached. The first evi- 

 dence of its proximity was the horse herd of about one 

 hundred bead feeding close to the river bank, and as soon as 



