410 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



I June it, 1886. 



AN ADVENTURE IN THE BURNT LANDS. 



OUR friend is a genial and intelligent man with a fine brainy 

 bead, erect and easy carriage, upon whom the weight 

 of many hard days' service and more than fifty winters sit 

 lightly." If a farmer's institute wants an address he can give 

 one both entertaining and instructive; if the Government 

 wants a land survey made he is just the one who can do it, 

 and it can be well assured that no states will be carelessly 

 placed or lines shiftlessly projected; and if corporations or 

 capitalists desire territory in the northern wilderness looked 

 up and its value estimated either as land or for lumber, and 

 purchases made, he is the man who will do the same with 

 integrity and discretion, and not infrequently he is an opera- 

 tor for himself. For more than thirty years he has spent nearly 

 every summer or part of the same in such pursuits in Mich- 

 igan's northern woods, and while his name is Cannon 

 (George Henry) and despite all the grand opportunity afforded 

 him to come in contact with the enticing and greater game 

 of the wilderness, he seems never to have been touched by 

 the spirit of hunting, for he never hunts, neither carries 

 gun or revolver for defense. In the winter he may gener- 

 ally be found at his pleasant farm residence in this locality, 

 where is displayed an intelligent culture of field products 

 and choice variety of fruits. 



While we were at supper, a little time since, a genial face 

 looked in on us and said, "Don't be in a hurry, I'm coming 

 to take supper with you." And after supper our talk ran 

 on long, for I like to go over the physical geography, waters 

 and lands, metalliferous indications and developments, game 

 and settlement of this remarkable region. Finally says our 

 friend, "Did I ever tell you about that bear I killed two 



or three years ago? It was told that killed it, but I 



myself was the one." "Let us have it," said I, and he pro- 

 ceeded to relate as follows: 



"It was in the Upper Peninsula of the State and near the 

 first of July. I had charge of two companies engaged in 

 looking up and taking notes of the lands which had recently 

 passed to the Mackinaw & Marquette Railroad interest, and 

 at the time was operating in that part of this peninsula 

 known as the 'Burnt Lands,' a peculiar and interesting region, 

 extending southward from the falls of the great St. Mary's 

 River to Lake Huron and westward for many miles, em- 

 bracing an area of more than twelve hundred square miles. 

 Upward of thirty years ago the forest fires raged with great 

 fury over the largest part of this region, clearing the surface 

 for the most part of the primitive forest growth, leaving here 

 and there the standing blackened trunks of immense trees 

 which the fires had not entirely destroyed nor the storms 

 prostrated. A second and as yet smaller growth has sprung 

 up, chiefly of the deciduous order, although clusters of ever- 

 greens, as the pines, spruces and cedar, are found every- 

 where in groups, which, interspersed in the grassy opening 

 (for the land is famous for grass, which springs up freely 

 wherever permitted), give to certain parts of the country a 

 park-like appearance, which is very pleasantly enhanced by 

 the tall and graceful elms which grow along the streams. 

 This region, too, abounds in game; the black and the brown- 

 nosed bear, deer, wolves, lynx and partridge, the last being 

 common. A remarkable feature of the country is the abund- 

 ance of several varieties of small wild fruits, each in its 

 season, such as the huckleberry, blackberry, raspberry, 

 wiutergreen berry and strawberries, thousands of acres 

 being thickly covered by the latter, of fine and delicious 

 quality, in the last part of June and the first of July, thus 

 constituting a fine and favorite feeding ground for the Mack 

 and brown bear, which are fond of all these berries, and, I 

 may add, seem to extend to the strawberry a partiality as 

 marked as that of man. 



"During the summer of 1881 1 was engaged with a party 

 of men in a careful exploration of this region. In the berry 

 season the bears congregate in large numbers in the openings 

 and grassy savannahs, and were frequently seen by us. One 

 day we saw seven in one group, quietly feeding on the ber- 

 ries. As they generally were some little distance away when 

 we saw them, and we had not been molested, no particular 

 uneasiness was felt in regard to them, and for many days 

 myself aud the several members of the party traversed the 

 country unai'med and often alone in the prosecution of our 

 work, without apprehension of danger. Upon two occasions, 

 however, we received a slight warning upon coming close 

 upon a bear unawares, when sharp growls and a liberal dis- 

 play of ugly-looking teeth gave unmistakable evidence that 

 our presence was not agreeable, and we each time made 

 quick steps in the opposite direction, feeling that they 'were 

 better missed than found/ 



"But one day our fancied security received a complete 

 setback. It was in the second week in July, and I had set 

 out early, accompanied by an assistant, to examine the 

 country to the east and north of our camp. We had pro- 

 ceeded less than a mde when we separated, he to explore 

 south and then westward to camp, while I was to go north 

 to a river and then return. I had with me a light axe, 

 which would weigh about two pounds, called by woodsmen 

 a half axe, and a pocket compass; with the latter I obtained 

 my direction, and with the axe would mark a line when 

 desired. Our purpose not requiring a chain survey, I pro- 

 ceeded on my course, carefully taking and counting my steps, 

 which was our method of measuring distance, and enabled 

 us to readily find the locality of the corners, and in the 

 practice of which we had become so expert as to be able to 

 rely upon not varying from the chain survey in the distance 

 of a mile more than from ten feet to ten inches. I had made 

 one tally, or twenty rods, and stopped to enter the re- 

 quired notes in my field book. This through, I stepped 

 over the small body of a tree lying before me, into which 

 I had struck my axe, and was trying to settle the 

 compass needle so as to continue my route, when I was 

 suddenly and greatly startled by hearing a peculiar and 

 startling sound, neither a bark nor a growl, unlike anything 

 I had ever heard and apparently coming from something 

 near at hand. Looking in the direction whence it came,_ 1 

 was astonished to see an immense she bear but a short dis- 

 tance away making furiously toward me, her glossy brown 

 hair fairly glistening and standing straight out, her mouth 

 wide open and viciously red, her whole look and bearing one 

 of intense rage and ugliness, and evidencing intent of the 

 most extreme mischief. To intensify the situation, I at the 

 same moment caught a glimpse of four other bears at a little 

 further distance, and it is not too much to admit that I should 

 have been glad, in contradiction of the usual significance of 

 the popular expression, to have been "up a tree." But no 

 such grateful retreat was within safe reach; the locality was 

 in the open, and while I saw a cluster of trees some rods 

 away which might afford me the means of escape if I could 

 reach it, an instantaneous measure of the distance by the eye 

 decided the attempt too dangerous, and that my chance lay 



in the result of a hand to hand conflict, to commence the 

 next instant. Dropping my compass, I seized the axe by its 

 handle, and as the bear came up and was about to rear and 

 spring upon me, dealt her the heaviest blow I was capable 

 of upon her head with the back of the axe, which so stunned 

 her that she fell over to the ground. Lucky stars! But the 

 big brute was not dead. She floundered about fearfully, and 

 aught I knew might the next moment rally to the conflict. 

 The determined blow had partially broken the helve of my 

 axe, but hastily turning the axe's edge to the front, I man- 

 aged to administer several deep cuts in her throat. 



"All of this transpired in the course of a few moments. A 

 singular and perfect coolness, without the sense of an effort 

 and undisturbed by a flurry, spontaneously possessed me, and 

 I instantaneously took in everything fully and clearly. It 

 flashed into my mind that I could defend myself, and that 

 her claws must not reach me or I was gone. I seemed to 

 coolly say in my mind, and have ever believed that I said the 

 same aloud, 'Yes, I see you, confound you, come on! I am 

 enough for you!' and felt as I exclaimed. 



"Believing the blows I had given the bear would prove 

 fatal I immediately picked up the compass which fortunately 

 had not been broken in the melee, and proceeded on the line 

 of my survey, for I did not like to linger, as I had some ap- 

 prehension that a scent of the blood might attract other bears 

 to the locality. I had never once thought to call to my man 

 for assistance who at the time could not have been more than 

 forty rods distant. 



I continued my survey to the river, and after completing 

 my work and after a couple of hours absence retraced my 

 steps, very cautiously, surely, when I approached the vicinity 

 of my encounter. Carefully approaching, I found my as- 

 sailant dead, but evidently she had struggled terrifically and 

 long for she had pounded the ground over a large space and 

 completely cleared it of sticks and leaves. 



"1 proceeded to camp where all my men had arrived, and 

 after dinner we started for the scene of conflict. We f oun d 

 the bear to be a she brown one of the largest size. She had 

 evidently been followed by four cubs which were, no doubt, 

 the bears I had glimpses of at the time of the onset. We 

 straightened her out and one of the men laid down against 

 her back to enable us to better judge of her size, when we 

 found her length to considerably exceed that of the man. 

 She was in good condition and must have weighed not less 

 than five huudred pounds. 



"Taking two paws for trophies and a ham for our cuisine, 

 we returned and enjoyed for several days the pleasure of 

 big bear meat at our table. 



"This was one of the extremely rare cases when the brown 

 bear of this region deliberately makes an attack on man. In 

 an experience of thirty years in the wilderness surveying and 

 looking land, I have known or learned of but two other 

 instances; in both of these the bear had been wounded and 

 the hunter was killed. The whole party were now convinced 

 that we had run many risks, and thereafter no one was 

 allowed to^traverse the forest alone at any distance from 

 camp. 



"In a close encounter with any dangerous or enraged wild 

 animal, I have great confidence in the small axe as a weapon 

 and much prefer it to a rifle, and don't you see good reason 

 why?" 



The above is by no means the most interesting matter 

 which can be drawn from the ample fund of our friend's ex- 

 perience, and some other day we intend to draw upon it 

 again. F. M. Wilcox. 



Rochester, Mieh., June 7, 1886. 



DAKOTA GAME. 



COLORADO GAME AND FISH. 



DENVER, Col., June 8.— I have just returned from a 

 hasty trip through the mountains via South and Middle 

 Parks, and offer a few notes that may interest those of your 

 readers who are so fortunate as to look forward to a summer 

 or autumn "outing" in this region. Last winter was rather 

 mild and the snowfall light in most of the mountain sections 

 of this State. In March and April there was a good deal of 

 snow that melted rapidly without packing, raising the streams 

 to maximum height by May 20, or about a month earlier 

 than usual. The streams are now falling rapidly. A few 

 trout are being caught with minnow bait, the settlers con- 

 struing the law as giving them the right to catch for their 

 own use. By July 1, when the law is off, fishing bids fair 

 to be first rate. All agree that trout are plentiful in all the 

 larger streams. They have not ascended the small streams 

 yet. 



Hunters and frontier settlers also agree in the gratifying 

 information that most varieties of game are increasing since 

 the Indians quit roaming over the country and the enact- 

 ment of our somewhat rigid game laws. It is true the law 

 is frequently violated in respect to both fish and game, but 

 wholesale slaughter, such as frequently occurred a few years 

 ago, is now seldom heard of. The increase is noticeable in 

 elk, deer, bear, beaver, and especially in grouse. The latter 

 is quite remarkable, and this, so far, is an exceptionally 

 favorable season for the birds. Buffalo have almost entirely 

 disappeared, mountain sheep seldom come into the park's 

 but are plentiful upon the high ranges where but very few 

 are killed. Antelope are hardly ever seen in either South or 

 Middle Park; a few years ago they were plentiful. 



A hunter, August" Bohm, on Williams Fork, in Middle 

 Park, recently killed two bears in one week— a black and a 

 grizzly — the latter a very large one, and for a long time pre- 

 vious a terror to the neighborhood. W. N. B. 



HOW LONG DO FOXES RUN? 



YOUR Virginia correspondent says no fox or hound ever 

 ran forty-eight hours, which means that he knows 

 nothing about our New England red foxes. Perhaps a 

 Virginia fox can be caught by hounds in six hours, but we 

 have a longer-winded set here in Massachusetts. I have 

 kept foxhounds for twenty years, and always the best I 

 could find, and I never owned nor saw the hound that could 

 catch an old fox on bare ground. I have had my dogs catch 

 them in light snows or in the last of February when the 

 females began to get heavy with young. But I do not be- 

 lieve the foxhound lives that can catch one in twenty that 

 he starts in October or November on the following we have 

 in this part of the country. Three years ago I bought a pair 

 of pups of Col. Tucker, of Gaston, N. C, as he advertises to 

 have the fastest dogs in the South, and expected they would 

 run away from our Northern hounds; but though they are a 

 little faster on a snow track they are not able to get away 

 from my old stock on bare ground, and it strikes me that if 

 "Red Eye," of Virginia, will come to Massachusetts he will 

 find that his fast dogs won't catch a fox in six hours or six 

 days running. I have shot one fox that I know had been 

 running more than thirty hours, as I started him early one 

 morning and the dogs drove him steady all day without my 

 getting a shot. In the afternoon of the second day I made 

 out to get a shot, and, as "Red Eye" says, "swindled him 

 out of his life." It is no uncommon thing in good following 

 for a good hound to drive a fox forty-eight hours, as hun- 

 dreds of our Northern fox hunters know. 



Henry C. Newell. 



ASHBURNHAM, MaSS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Every evening as I ride over the beautiful prairies of 

 Northern Dakota, I find many things to interest me. I see 

 the Eastern farmers and stockmen making new homes and 

 all happy because they at last had courage enough to quit 

 the crowded Eastern States and come to as grand a climate 

 and country as the sun shines on. The untold thousands of 

 acres of waving wheat attest the fact of the plenty in store 

 for all who may come, and the future for those who hesitate 

 but will yet come. Again I see that the crop of prairie 

 chickens is going to be large, I have not seen so many during 

 the three years I have been here, and we all look forward to 

 fine sport after August 15. The plover are here by the 

 thousands, and we go out and bring in all we want. 



I took a trip out West a few weeks ago. While at a little 

 town called Diekinson, a large silver-tipped bear was brought 

 in. He was poor, but dressed 498 pounds— a monster. Two 

 cowboys had killed him after a hard fight with nothing more 

 than their revolvers. They were riding, looking after their 

 stock; when they were going through a patch of very 

 high grass and sage brush, this bear, which was eating a 

 calf he had just "killed, rose up immediately in front of 

 them and struck at one of the horses, and had the horse 

 been less frightened or less quick in springing to one side 

 and then bounding away, there would have been one less 

 cowboy. The bear could outrun the pony, and had it not 

 been that there were two of them there would have been 

 trouble. I know that some folks think that a bear cannot 

 run fast. It may be that he cannot when he is fat, but I 

 have talked to reliable hunters in this country who tell me 

 that a large mountain bear, when thin iu the spring, will 

 get away from a pony on a run of half a mile. The cow- 

 boys put eight bullets through this one and he did not seem 

 to mind it; one penetrated the heart ; the ninth struck him 

 in the eye and killed him. 



On this same trip I counted from my car window twenty 

 antelope in one band, six in another, four in another, all 

 within rifle shot of the train ; and I saw a black bear within 

 three miles of a town out on the open prairie. All the people 

 in the train saw him and be was making tracks for a deep 

 ravine where most likely he had a den. There are hundreds 

 of antelope out there, and one hunter told me he had one hund- 

 red deer killed at one time last winter and they all lay in a pile 

 till spring and spoiled because he could not dispose of them. 

 The landlord of the hotel at which he was stopping said it 

 was true, as the man came in during the winter and told him 

 to go and get all he wanted, but being sixty miles away 

 and venison selling at three and four cents at home, he did 

 not go. 



I see a gentleman in your last issue asks where he may go 

 for a hunt. Let him come here at less cost than many other 

 places and I will send him where he can get all the deer he 

 wants; will be glad to correspond with any one. 



W. H. Williamson. 



Bismarck, Dakota. 



Beaks.— The Forest and Stream's grizzlies at Central 

 Park receive daily through the month of June. 



National Sportsmen's Association. — The first annual 

 convention of the National Association for the Protection of 

 Game Birds and Fish began in the Palmer House, Chicago, 

 June 8. At a meeting of the Executive Committee the fol- 

 lowing clubs were admitted to membership: Big Lake Gun 

 Club, of Little Rock; Pulaski Sportsmen's Club, of Little 

 Rock; Kent County Sportsmen's Ciub, of Grand Rapids, 

 Mich. The Committee on Credentials reported the following 

 clubs represented by delegates: Ouachita Rod Club, Hot 

 Springs, Ark.; Audubon Club, Chicago; Ringgold Gun 

 Club, Ringgold, Tenn. ; Dardenne Gun Club. St. Louis; 

 Leisure Gun Club, Evansville, Ind. ; Cumberland Gun Club, 

 Chicago; Arkansas Gun Club, of Hot Springs, Ark. ; Sports- 

 men's Association of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh; 

 Iowa State Sportsmen's Association ; Missouri State Sports- 

 men's Association; Santa Fe Rod and Gun Club, Santa Fe, 

 N. M. ; South Side Gun Club, Milwaukee; Michigan State 

 Sportsmen's Association; West Side Gun Club, Bay View, 

 Wis.; Capital City Gun Club, Washington, D. C; Chicago 

 Shooting Club, Chicago. Fish Commissioners Dr. J. G. W. 

 Steedman, of Missouri, and CoL H. H. Rattaken, of Arkan- 

 sas, were also present. The report of the Executive Com- 

 mittee recommended several changes in the constitution. _ It 

 also recommended that Congress be urged to take some action 

 to prevent the wholesale slaughter and netting of game birds 

 for export to Europe. The committee thought that the ex- 

 traordinary destruction of song and other wild and non- 

 game birds, in the past few years, for use for personal adorn- 

 ment by the women of the country, should be considered by 

 the Association. The committee recommended the adop- 

 tion of a resolution condemning the slaughter of song and 

 non-game birds, and calling upon sportsmen and others to 

 exert an influence in their families and among their associ- 

 ates for the discouragement of the practice of using them for 

 personal adornment. This was adopted. The Law Com- 

 mittee's report recommended that bills be prepared in each 

 State for presentation to the Legislature, for the proper pro- 

 tection of game, birds and fish; that game and fish wardens 

 be appointed in every State and Territory, and that a bill be 

 presented in Congress to regulate interstate commerce in 

 game, birds and fish. This report was adopted. Dr. F. B. 

 Norcom read an interesting paper on the ethics of sports- 

 manship. He divided sportsmen into three classes, the gen- 

 uine article, the pretenders and the bad element in every 

 community who kill in and out of season by every device 

 known to man. Dr. J. G. W. Steedman, of Missouri, fol- 

 lowed with a paper, in which he favored consolidation of 

 fish and game commissioners into one paid commission in 

 each State, with power to appoint and control paid game 

 and fish wardens. Secretary West also read a paper, advo- 

 cating better protection for game. 



Champaign, 111., June 6.— Quail in this vicinity are about 

 exterminated. Prairie chickens are doing fairly well this 

 year, and shooting in the fall will be good . But we start 

 out after them too early. I wish the law could be changed 

 from Aug. 15 to Sept. i5. — M. H. 



