4 62 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 7, 1886. 



TO THE WALLED-IN LAKES, 



V. — HUNTmfi WITH THE KOOTENAYS. 



'T^HE morning broke dull and lowering. Wo were early 

 ^ astir, and cast many longing glances toward the trail 

 down the lake along which the Kootenay would be seen as 

 he rode toward the camp. It was 10 o'clock, however, be- 

 fore any one appeared, and then the two riders who galloped 

 toward us were seen to be a couple of well-grown boys, and 

 not the Indian who had promised to come. By this time it 

 had begun to rain, and it seemed useless to start out, but the 

 boys, when they reached camp, told us that they could take 

 us to the mountain where sheep were plenty, and explained 

 the absence of our friend of the previous day by saying tbat 

 he had lost some of his horses, and had been obliged to go 

 off and hunt for them. Almost anything seemed to me 

 better than a rainy day spent in camp, and so Yellowflsh and 

 I saddled our horses and prepared to accompany the boys. 

 Appekunny preferred to remain in camp. 



We started about 10 o'clock, the boys in the lead at a wild 

 gallop, with blankets tlapping and quirts flying. Leaving the 

 trail at the big creek which flows into the inlet flat, and 

 keeping to the east of that, we rode for several miles up a nar- 

 row, open valley, bordered on either side by spruce clad 

 hills, and then turning to the left struck into the timber. 

 We had i-idden all the way at a fast lope, the Indian boys 

 having no mercy on their horses, and seeming to take a mis- 

 chievous pleasure in riding them as hard as they could make 

 them go. Every now and then the leader would look back 

 at me and laugh, and then would bring down his quirt as 

 hard as he could on his horse's flank. All this time it was 

 raining very hard, but as I had donned my rubber coat, I 

 was not wet much above the knees. There was but little 

 down timber in the forest through which we were now 

 riding, but the trees often stood very close together, and the 

 ascent was terribly steep. Generally we followed the hog 

 backs, but sometimes we would have to plunge down into a 

 ravine so steep that the horses would set their feet and slide 

 down the slope, and then on the other side have to stick their 

 toes into the ground hard, and scramble up like squirrels, 

 while the rider held on with legs and hands to keep 

 from shpping backward over his horse's rump. Here and 

 there was a faint trail, and I often saw the f resn horse tracks 

 made by the hunters of the day before. The boys, however, 

 were constantly losing this, and only kept on in the direction 

 they wanted to follow. 



At length we reached a point near the edge of.the timber, 

 where the boys signified that we must leave the horses. We 

 dismounted and then followed fifteen minutes of very steep 

 climbing up a slippery grass-covered slope, which brought 

 us to a level platform covered with dwarf evergreens, whose 

 gnarled and and twisted branches showed the tremendous 

 force of the winds to which they are continually exposed. 

 As we pushed our way through these, I could see by the 

 greater care exercised by the boys, and by the way in 

 which they looked into their guns to make sure that the 

 cartridges were there, that we had reached the hunting 

 grounds, and in a few moments more we looked cautiously 

 over the bushes on to the bare mountain side. At our feet 

 the i)lateau ended, the gi'ound dropped off sharply for a 

 hundred feet, and a deep naked saddle extended from the 

 spur on which we stood to tbe main mountain, which had 

 all the boldness and rugged ncss characteristic of the range in 

 this region. On the west the saddle broke off sharply in a 

 very steep clay slope, and to the east by a more gentle 

 descent into a deep ravine, in which grew a thick mat of 

 stunted spruces, among which were the fallen and decaying 

 trunks of some very large trees. Above the saddle for per- 

 haps 1,000 feet was the gray talus slope, rocks piled on 

 rocks in wild confusion, just as the fragments had fallen 

 from the heights above. The slope seemed too steep for 

 ascent, but faintly lined upon it in all directions could be 

 discerned the sheep trails leading up and down. Above the 

 talus was the massive vertical wall which constituted the true 

 summit of the mountain. This was black with the wear of 

 the storms of ages, and toward either end was weathered 

 into turrets and pinnacles of curious and fantastic shapes. 

 Away to the west the liare mountain side, rough with vast 

 masses of rock and seamed and broken by caiion and ravine, 

 stretched away toward the shores of the great lake. 



Some little time was spent in examining the mountain side 

 before we emerged from our concealment. We detected no 

 game, and creeping carefully down the steep and slippery 

 face of the bluff, gaiued the saddle. Here there were 

 numerous tracks of sheep that had been made this morning. 

 One of the freshest was that of a great ram, which had 

 passed along but a short time before, whase spreading hoofs 

 had sunk de^p into the soft soil. 



It had begun to rain with great violence, just after we had 

 left our horses, and now that we were on the bare mountain- 

 side and no longer protected by the forest, we felt the full 

 force of the storm. The wind swept down from the peaks 

 as if it were trying to lift us from our feet and carry us 

 away, and with the wind came showers of cold rain and 

 squalls of snow, and clouds of chilling mist. The sides of 

 the mountain were hidden from view. We gathered under 

 the lee of a huge fragment of rock, and after a few moments' 

 consultation the biggest Kootenay boy girt his blanket about 

 him and set out for the east end of the rocky wall above us. 

 The younger ©ne, who remained, told us by signs that hie 

 companion would try to start some game and drive it to us. 

 So Yellowflsh clambered a little higher up on the mountain, 



and sat upon a rock there while the younger Kootenay and I 

 cowered behind a great boulder a little below him. 



It was to me a wonderful thing to see that sturdy, bow- 

 legged Kootenay boy march steadily up the face of the talus 

 slope. He never hesitated or paused for breath, but marched 

 ahead as regularly, and apparently with as little effort, as if 

 he were walking up a pair of stairs. Slowly he grew smaller 

 and smaller to the sight, and at length, a mere dot, disap- 

 peared behind a pinnacle of rock. 



It snowed constantly and blew with great violence, so that 

 it was bitter cold and my comrade and I shivered behind the 

 rock. I found at length a dry spot on my clothing where I 

 could strike a match, and when my pipe got going I felt 

 better. I had taken quite a fancy to the younger Kootenay 

 boy, who had a lot of fun in him and was brimming over 

 with mischief, and as he seemed quite as miserable as my- 

 self I passed him the pipe, for which he seemed extremely 

 grateful. So for an hour or two we waited and shivered 

 and smoked. At length we heard a crackling down in the 

 ravine, and saw Yellowflsh gathering sticks for a fire, 

 which he soon had going finely. We joined him, and as we 

 did so, saw the other boy making his way slowly down the 

 mountain. When he reached us he reported that there were 

 plenty of sheep on the otlier side of the mountain, but the 

 snow and fog were so thick that he could not see them and 

 could do nothing with them. 



We went back to the horses, and, cold and wet, began the 

 descent of the mountain. This was even more disagreeable 

 than the climb up had been, for now we had not hope to 

 sustain us. We wound in and out among the tree trunks, 

 slipping down steep places and then scrambling up others as 

 steep, keeping as far as possible on tbe ridges, but often be- 

 ing obliged to cross deep ravines. Once or twice we tried to 

 follow one of these down toward the lower ground, but in 

 each case we found our passage barred by a network of 

 fallen timber, or else by the narrowing of the gorge, 

 which thus became impassable on account of the soft bot- 

 tom. The only incident that varied the monotony of this 

 climbing was a tumble which I had. Jerry was larger than 

 the Indian ponies, and not nearly so agile, and in attempting 

 to follow the boys up the side of a very steep ravine he tum- 

 bled over backward. When I felt him going I jumped from 

 the saddle, and horse and rider rolled down the steep bank 

 side by side. Neither suffered any injury, but I was very 

 well pleased that I had got out of the saddle in time to avoid 

 being struck by the horse. A more successful attempt to 

 mount the bank was made at another point, and I followed 

 the tracks of the boys until I overtook them at the edge of 

 the timber. 



In camp that night after dinner I was grumbling at the 

 bad luck which seemed to follow us, which was due largely 

 to the wretched weather, when Yellowflsh suggested a rem- 

 edy which had not previously occurred to me. He said: 

 "Why don't you promise to make a present to the Sun if 

 you get a sheep, when you hunt to-morrow?" The idea 

 seemed a good one, and the vow was accordingly made; 

 the terms being that if I killed a sheep on the morrow I 

 should give the Bear-pipe— e., the medicine pipe which is 

 sacred to the Sun and the other gods— a dance on my return 

 to the agency. 



Like other superstitious people, the Piegans endeavor to 

 avert threatened evils by presents to their deities. When the 

 gods are ill-disposed toward them, their favor may often be 

 purchased by a gift, or even by the sacrifice of something, 

 which, though precious to its possessor, can scarcely be sup- 

 posed to have any value to the being to whom it is offered. 

 This belief is common to most, if not all, Indians, and 1 

 have seen striking examples of it in several tribes. One 

 grizzled old Rce warrior, with whom I once campaigned for 

 several months, had cut off four or five of his fingers in 

 order that he might succeed in killing his bitter personal 

 enemy, and he related to me with infinite satisfaction the 

 story of his plotting and waiting for seven years, and how 

 finally his prayers and his sacrifices were crowned with suc- 

 cess, and having killed his enemy he took his heart home to 

 his lodge and then cooked and ate it. I have been told of 

 an instance in another tribe where a man attempted to pur- 

 chase the favor of the gods by killing his only son, a young 

 boy to whom he was deeply attached. 



The Sun being the chief of the Blackfoot gods, it was 

 natural that he should be mentioned by Yellowfish, but it is 

 probable that this was only a figure of speech for all the 

 gods, and that the offering was not to be confined to him 

 alone, but would be shared by Napi (old man), as well as by 

 all "above people," for when a Bear-pipe dance takes place 

 the prayers are addressed to all of these. Yo. 



THE FORESTRY COMMISSION REPORT. 



THE pressure brought to bear on the New York Legis- 

 lature to take some measures to arrest the destruction 

 of the forests of the Adirondacks, proceeding as it did, from 

 the most influential citizens of the Empire State, was too 

 determined to be ignored. Every obstacle was placed in 

 the way of immediate legislation by the lumbermen of the 

 region, who saw themselves charged with the reckless de- 

 struction of the forests, and the conversion of the pine-clad 

 hilLs into a bare rocky wilderness, and who feared that pop- 

 ular clamor might result in the imposition of undue restric- 

 tions upon the lumber industry. Several bills were brought 

 before the two houses in the sessions of 1884-85, none of which 

 became law, but a compromise satisfactory to all parties was 

 effected by vesting authority, in the Comptroller to appoint a 

 commission to examine and report upon the condition pt'^the 

 I forests, to investigate the causes of their destrxiction and to 



suggest measures for the future administration of the State 

 lands, and for such control over operations in private lands 

 as might be deemed essential to the public interests. 



Acting on the authority thus vested in him the Comptroller 

 appointed a commission composed of Prof. Sargent, of Har- 

 vard; Messrs. D. Willis James and E. M. Shepard. 



These gentlemen visited the region personally in the sum- 

 mer of 1884, appointed experts to determine the areas of the 

 timber lands and waste, which were indicated by shading in 

 a map prepared for the purpose; investigated the several 

 points at issue for themselves, secured information from 

 every possible source, and at the close of the year submitted 

 to the Comptroller a report which may be fairly character- 

 ized as a model of clearness, conciseness, and impartiality; 

 at the same time it affords abundant evidence of the consci- 

 entious thoroughness with which they executed a public trust 

 gratuitously undertaken. 



The total area of the Adirondack terrritory registered m 

 State property is 781,000 acres, but the Commissioners found 

 the boundaries so ill defined that a considerable amount of sur- 

 vey work will be required to secure the State in its posses- 

 sions. The amount of destruction by reckless felling and: 

 firing is described in language studiedly temperate, but the- 

 Commissioners illustrate this part of their report by an ad- 

 mirable series of photographs, depicting deserted fields, wittt 

 their exhausted soil, and stony hillsides divested of their 

 forest floor, in language more eloquent than pen could tell. 

 Contrary to general anticipation, and perhaps contrary tc 

 the preconceived opinions of the Commissioners themselveSv- 

 the lumbermen are not found to be the prime offenders in; 

 this work of devastation, although they too come in for a 

 share of public censure. The chief offenders are the farmers, 

 who, tempted by the cheapness of the land to carve out 

 homes for themselves in the wooded wilderness, defy the 

 hard climate, make light of the thin soil, and Clearfield after 

 field, only to desert them as soon as the thin coat of humus 

 is exhausted. This continual clearing, say the Commis- 

 sioners, involves frequent firing, purposely undertaken when 

 the forest is driest, and generally resulting in the spread of 

 the conflagration to the neighboring woods. The lumbermen 

 are let down easily. The Commissioners satisfied themselves 

 that felling operations are restricted to the pines and spruce, 

 which appealing mostly as isolated trees or small clumps 

 in the midst of hardwood forests, their removal does nothing 

 to destroy the forest character of the scenery, nature exert- 

 ing herself immediately to fill up the blanks with saplings 

 from the suiTOunding forest. It is nevertheless pointed out 

 that the amount of top lops and branches left on the forest 

 floor to dry, are fatally instrumental in spreading fires en- 

 croaching on the forests, and that these fires are frequently 

 due to the culpable negligence of men in the lumber camps. 

 They observe further that the hard woods of the region ai'e 

 likely ere long to come in active demand, and unless (as 

 seems improbable in private hands) these forests shall be 

 worked systematically for the maintenance of a permanent 

 yield of timber, wholesale denudation must be looked for 

 as a matter of course. 



Nevertheless the Commissioners, while holding the view 

 that it is desirable in the public interests that the whole 

 region be controlled and its forest character maintained by 

 the State, deprecate resumption by law of eminent domain, 

 as certain to result in the creation of artificial values, and in 

 committing the State to an extravagant outlay. They usually 

 deprecate all attempts at State interference with private mati- 

 agement, as opposed to the general sense of the community, 

 arguing with some justice that the State has not yet evidenced 

 any such capacity for the economic management of its own 

 forests, as would justify any interference with private 

 owners. The spirit of their recommendations on this head 

 is, "Let the State show what it can do with its own forests 

 first in the matters of arrest of destruction, restoration of 

 denuded area, and economy of management. The State 

 owns one-fourth of the region, and if destruction continues 

 to spread in the other three-fourths it will rapidly pass into 

 State hands for taxes due." 



In this connection the Commissioners recommend one 

 measure as pohtic as it is just, that State lands be chargeable 

 with their proper quota of local taxation; the fact that they 

 have not been assessed in the past has proved a temptation 

 to adjoining owners to buy up the lands in the market, on 

 speculation, as the burthen of added taxation would fall on 

 them equally if they let them pass to the State. 



After suggesting some general measures for the suppres- 

 sion of forest flres, the Commissioners recommend that the 

 management of the State forests be vested in an honorary 

 commission of three members, to be appointed by the Gov- 

 ernor, with the approval of the Senate, one of them retiring 

 at two years, the second at four, the third at six years, the 

 vacancies thus created being filled by the same authority as 

 they occur, so as to create a permanent commission, with a 

 periodical infusion of new blood. On this point only was 

 there a want of perfect unanimity among the members of the 

 Commission, Mr. Poucher expressing his preference for 

 vesting the independent control of the forests in a forest 

 warden or commissioner, subordinated to one of the public 

 departments; but all are agreed that the chief forest execu- 

 tive should retain ofiice during good behavior, and not be 

 liable to removal with change of pohtical party. 



Armed with this report, so well calculated to allay all 

 anxiety as to attempted undue interference with private 

 interests, the Legislature was able to put through a biU in 

 the sessions of 1884-5. This bill, which received the sanc- 

 tion of the Governor, vests the care, custody, control and 

 superintendence of the State forests in the Forest Commission, 

 together with charge of the public interests of the State, 

 with regard to forests and tree planting, and especially with 

 reference to forest fires, in every part of the State ; and in- 

 vests the Commission (subject to the provisions of the Act) 

 with "all the powers now- vested in the Commissioners of the 

 Land Office, and in the Comptroller, as to sucti of the said 

 lands as are now owned by the State," and leaves them un- 

 trammeled in their selection of the warden and his staff, 

 and in their distribution of the sanctioned annual expendi- 

 ture among all heads, stipulating only that the annual grants 

 shall not be exceeded. Everything has in fact been done to 

 render the new department independent of the control of 

 political party. ., , , , 



The supervisor of every town in which State wild lands 

 are situated is made ex-ojido protector of such lands, and is 

 subordinated to the Forest Commission in respect of them. 

 It will be the duty and, we suppose we may say, the privi- 

 lege of the super\asor to appoint the forest guard or guards 

 for his own township. The Forest Commission will deter- 

 mine the duties and pay of the guards. The supervisors of 

 every town in the State have also authority to appoint fire 

 wardens, who must be local residents, and to execute a map 

 of the fii-e district of tlieir several towns at a cost not exceed-^ 



