Search: I. 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



108 



km* j§ng md §ntf. 



toLMrm all commmimtkms to the, Forcxt and Stream Pub. Go. 



Antelope and Deer of America. By J. D. Oaton. 



price $12.50. Wing and Glass Ball Shooting with the 

 rape. By W. C. Bliss. Price 50 cents. Rifle, Hod and 

 VSkn in California. By 1\ S. Van Dyke. Price $1.50. 

 |sfib?'e Birds. Price 15 cents. Woodcraft. By "Mss- 

 ElBfc." Price £1. Trajectories of Hunting Rifles. Price 



&) cents. The Still-Hunter. By T. S. Van Dyke. Priced. 



PILGRIMAGE OF THE SAGINAW CROWD. 



n. 



THE ranch house of the Saginaw Cattle Co. is inside 

 of the fence line about, 1 should imagine, a mile and 

 ft half . It is a one story log-house built in three parts, all 

 connected together with the regular southern gallery, a 

 HftLway area roofed with shingles, like the rest of the 

 htinse. One part is used for a kitchen and dining room, 

 ,iik1 the other two facing each other, one at the right for 

 Hfip general living room having its big roaring fireplace 

 lmd best furniture air, the other divided off into sleeping 

 reoms. At the rear is the spring house where the butter, 

 figgs and milk are kept cool, for up out of the solid rock 

 rjubbled a clear crystal spring of the usual cold spring 

 temperature. At the rear of the house are the stables in 

 which the team horses and other horses in use are kept. 

 Below is the horse pasture, some 200 or 300 acres fenced 

 in "bordering on the banks of the Ute. Facing the house 

 lg a growth of heavy timber, and at the time we arrived 

 the ground seemed to be literally covered with all kinds 

 tjf nuts; the squirrels were playing about, the quail call- 

 ing, and tbe air was filled with the songs of many birds. 

 Pit the other side of the ranch from which we approached 

 gurgled and bubbled a sprightly little creek that wound 

 '5b crooked path between rocky crevices and joined the 

 river below us. Its steep banks on the ox her side proved 

 toerely a balking spot for the not much to be depended on 

 Horses, as we afterward found. 



We were warmly welcomed by Jerome and Paine, both 

 members of the company from our own town, and Combs, 

 I, Tennesseeau, who is interested in the ranch. It was 

 I lie time of the round-up and most of the cowboys were 

 jut with the cattle, and the three amateurs had just come 

 m from the last night's camping ground, some fifteen 

 \ miles beyond, to give us a welcome. The addition of our 

 I party made the house rather full, and it was necessary to 

 Iput up a few beds on the floor. However, as we came on 

 1 a camping trip this was considered no hardship, but in 

 [fact rather something to be appreciated. 



The household was looked after by Mrs. Davidson, the 

 wife of the foreman, he being away with the outfit at the 

 round-up. Mrs. Davidson had as an assistant in the 

 kitchen a Creek squaw, with about as villainous a face as 

 one ever saw, and it was a good index to her nature as 

 we afterward learned. She did not seem to take kindly 

 to us, and we heard her tell Mrs. Davidson one day that 

 }f we were a sample of the miserable white trash that 

 came down to take the poor Indian's land, she did not 

 Binder that some of them were killed; showing that her 

 disposition was not thoroughly angelic nor cheerful. 

 However, this did not interfere with the Saginaw contin- 

 gent's consumption of a ton of well-cooked rations. A 

 nice piece of beef had been brought in that day, and was 

 well cooked, and with plenty of sweet potatoes and a few 

 vegetables from Mrs. Davidson's kitchen garden, we felt 

 much better and were willing to sit around the open fire- 

 place with our pipes and cigars and discuss the prospects 

 tor the coming hunt. 



The boys wanted us to join them at the round-up the 

 next day, saying that it would be a sight well worth see- 

 ing, and as it was soon to break up, the most favorable 

 opportunity would be on the morrow. This plan was 

 decided upon and soon good-nights were said, and nothing 

 was to be heard but the melodious snore of the City Official 

 accompanied by a solo on the nasal flute played with 

 good effect by Brooks. Bright and early we were awake 

 in the morning, the dogs were fed, and all was hurly 

 burly for the round-up. This is told by the City Official 

 and I will make a little addition thereto after you have 

 read what he has to say on the subject. 



■"Preparations were made for an early start on the 

 morning after our arrival, and shortly after daylight we 

 set forth, a portion of the party in a two-seated wagon 

 and the remainder, with Messrs. Jerome. Paine and 

 Coombs, mounted on bronchos. 



"The distance to where the round-up was in progress 

 was about 13 miles, and through as lovely a country as 

 one could wish to see, being very rolling and interspersed 

 with 'draws,' which were heavily timbered with oak, 

 pecan, hickory, walnut, etc., but mainly oak, somewhat 

 dwarfed. The weather was simply delightful, a coat of 

 any kind being unnecessary. Between 9 and 10 o'clock 

 we arrived at the place selected for the round-up, which 

 was a large, level plateau, surrounded by hills, with 

 ravines or draws leading up into them ; from our station 

 it was a pretty sight, and a very encouraging one to the 

 stock raiser, to see in the distance the herders, or cowboys, 

 coming in from every point of the compass, driving before 

 them motley covered droves of fine fat cattle of all ages 

 and sizes. 



"in a short time all the herders were in with their 

 charges, and we had before us a crowding, pushing, hook- 

 ing and bellowing mass of from 3,000 to 4,000 steers; this 

 was the round-up. The next thing in order was the 'cut- 

 ting out' or selecting from this great herd, of all the 

 cattle of proper age and condition for shipment, and this 

 proved to be quite an interesting scene. The herders 

 woidd ride into the crowd and selecting a steer which 

 was suitable, would make a dash for it, and notwith- 

 standing the reluctance of the animal to leave its com- 

 panions, would follow it madly through the herd and 

 finally succeed in driving it out from the others and across 

 the plains for a distance of perhaps 500 yards, where it 

 was taken in charge by two or three cowboys, whose duty j 

 was to keep together all the beef cattle 'cut out' from the 

 main herd. 



' f It seemed quite wonderful to watch the bronchos in 

 this operation. They seemed to follow by instinct the 

 animal selected by the rider and woidd dodge to and fro 

 m pursuit at full speed through the other thousands of j 

 cattle, yet, once put upon the track, never make a mis- ! 



take but kept at the heels of the animal chosen, until it 

 was driven over to the herd of 'cut outs'. The operation 

 of cutting out was continued until all the suitable animals 

 had been selected, when the cowboys, with a whoop and 

 a general charge and cracking of whips drove the re- 

 mainder of the herd off a quarter of a mile or so, and then 

 left them to scatter over the beautiful pastures until again 

 wanted at the next annual round-up. Tbe beef cattle 

 selected were then driven off to join those which had been 

 cut out at other parts of the range, and the round up at 

 this point was finished, 



"Our party were then invited to ride over to the 'outfit,' 

 so called, being a four-horse wagon which accompanies 

 the herders, and carries the cook, kitchen, blacksmith 

 tools and blankets of the men. We found the outfit about 

 one mile distant, under some oaks on tbe bank of astream. 

 Dinner was ready, and we all partook heartily and with- 

 out being particular as to the names of some of the dishes. 

 After dinner we witnessed the branding, etc., of some 

 yearlings, which operation appeared to me to be cruel, 

 although undoubtedly necessary. The yearlings were 

 caught by two riders by means of lariats, one being 

 thrown around the neck of the animal and the other 

 around its hindlegs. By means of these ropes it was then 

 thrown down, bound and branded. 



"The outfit being out of fresh meat, a two-year-old 

 steer was shot, butchered and cut up in a rather rough 

 and primitive manner, although the work was rapidly 

 done. The best parts of the meat were placed upon the 

 wagon, and the balance left on the ground for the buzz- 

 ards and coyotes; the outfit then moved off to be in 

 readiness for another round-up in a different part of the 

 range, on the morrow. Our party remained near the 

 camp for a while after the departure of the wagon, and 

 it was curious to see how soon the buzzards caught sight 

 of the remains of* the slaughtered animal; for although, 

 when killed, there was scarcely a bird to be seen, yet 

 within fifteen minutes after the wagon drew out, there 

 Avere scores of them upon and around the carcass, and 

 more com jug in every direction, as far as the eye could see. 



"We then returned to headquarters to be in readiness 

 for our first hunt, which was to begin next day." 



The City Official omitted to state that two of the dogs 

 were taken with us that day. After getting some seven 

 or eight miles from the cauip, Mose running along by the 

 side of wagon suddenly put up his nose and going into a 

 little draw of red top, came to a stiff point, and stood 

 there like a picture. Those on horseback turned their 

 heads, and finally their horses see the sight, and we in the 

 wagons hastily tumbled out, put cartridges in our guns and 

 walk four abreast toward where the dog was standing 

 like a rock. We were confident that a whole covey of 

 birds was to be flushed, but such did not prove to be the 

 fact. It was only one old hen and she got up in front of 

 Brooks, who very nicely tumbled her over. This was the 

 only one to be found, and after hunting the ground well 

 over, we bundled into the wagon again and went on. 

 Finally topping a high hill, down in the valley before us 

 spread out for a long distance was the cattle herd. In 

 the bright sunlight with the vivid green as a background 

 it was as pretty a picture of moving five colors as one 

 would wish to see. However, this beautiful view and the 

 anticipated pleasure of witnessing a round-up were count- 

 erbalanced by something more potent in the minds of 

 Brooks and the writer. I had spent many weary days 

 thumping cattle in Texas and knew too well the process 

 of roping, branding and cutting out. Therefore, when 

 turning to the left in the opposite direction from the herd, 

 we saw meandering tlnough the valley a little water- 

 course, fringed on either side with the usual quota of 

 trees and foliage, and noticed that it joined another 

 branch some two miles further down, and that they both 

 then strove to reach the point where the nooning was to 

 take place at the round-up, the temptation could not be 

 resisted to get out and hunt down its banks, and meet the 

 boys some time in the middle of the afternoon for the 

 homeward journey. This was all well planned and sup- 

 posed to have been understood. We understood that we 

 were to go to the top of a high hill midway between the 

 forks of the creek and the round-up, and there await the 

 return of the vehicle did we not get in to their camping 

 place, but this was misunderstood as subsequent events 

 showed. 



The day was very warm, and after leaving the rest of 

 the party, Brooks took the bank and I the bed of the 

 creek, following it along for probably half an hour, when 

 suddenly old Bob came to a point and Mose backed. The 

 trees were very thick at this point and a large covey of 

 quail rose with a whir, disappearing in every direction, 

 and the three shots counted but two birds. They scat- 

 tered badly and we had very poor luck, getting but 

 four out of the covey. It became very warm and the 

 dogs could not w r ork if they were away from the water, 

 and this being our first tramp, we were not ambitious; 

 but by and by began to wonder if we had made a mistake 

 in leaving the wagon. One or two coveys of quail were 

 found in this way and our bag began to assume fair pro- 

 portions. Noon came and passed , and as we came into 

 the valley where we expected to see the round-up ahead 

 of us, not a single animal was in sight. We could not 

 have made a mistake as we had been following the water- 

 course, and we had plainly marked it out from the hill 

 top, but where had that immense herd moved and what 

 had become of the party? When anything of this kind 

 takes place one either suddenly becomes very thirsty Or 

 very hungry. There was plenty of water near so we 

 could not be thirsty, but we immediately imagined we 

 were starving, and mounting the high hill on which we 

 were, as we supposed, to await the return of the boys, 

 and nothing being in sight we moved further up to where 

 it was fringed wdth a thin and scattering growth of scrub 

 oak. The wind by this time had come up, and seemed 

 to be blowing a gale. It was a relief in one sense as it 

 cooled the air, but it made it dangerous to light a fire, and 

 we had firmly resolved to have some of our quails broiled 

 before we budged another inch, so we run the risk. The 

 coals were glowing, and stuck upon a twig, each was hold- 

 ing a bird over the embers. We had no salt, but we did 

 ! have a little jig water in our flasks and it answered as an 

 excellent substitute. We poured about a tablespoonful 

 over each bird, and I am frank to say that never did a 

 m orsel taste better to either of us than these broiled quails 

 with the liquored seasoning. We lit our cigars and 

 stretched out on the grass for half an hour's smoke, and 

 still seeing nothing of the missing party began to be 

 slightly alarmed, when between two hills away off to the 



left we saw a moving body of cattle. This we were con- 

 fident was the round-up, and we were sure that the boys 

 must be near there, as the cattle were moving toward 

 the stream and the general direction was where we ex- 

 pected to find them; therefore we once more hurried to 

 the river bed and about the same time finding a nice 

 covey of birds began to enjoy the sport. Both had made 

 a nice clean right and left and were congratulating each 

 other on our good shooting, when it occurred to us to look 

 at the time and saw that it was nearly three o'clock, an 

 hour past the time for starting home. The situation 

 began to look serious to us, as we were probably fifteen 

 miles from the ranch in a direct, fine and what that line 

 was we hardly knew. 



Crossing the creek and moving up the hillside toward 

 where the cattle were going we saw away in the distance 

 some one riding as if bent on business and coming in our 

 direction. When within hailing distance this proved to 

 be Jerome. He seemed quite excited, saying- he had been 

 ransacking the prairie in every direction, that we had 

 not kept to our agreement as to the place of meeting. 

 There was no time for explanations, but he insisted on my 

 taking his horse and riding in the direction he pointed; 

 he said at a certain point I would find Paine waiting, and 

 then I was to take Paine's horse and ride in the direction 

 he was to show me, and he was to bring his horse back to 

 himself and Brooks who would be tramping along in the 

 direction I was to take. Argument was unnecessary and 

 I mounted his horse and set off at a rapid gait. After I 

 had gone about a mile I found Paine and the rest of thj 

 programme was carried out. I was directed to a point 

 crossing a ravine and here George was waiting for me, 

 and said that the party was a mile or two beyond us and 

 that the City Official and the rest of them had given us 

 up for lost and were very much exercised and afraid that 

 we w r ould have to lie out over night. It was rapidly 

 nearing sundown and there was no track over the prairie 

 to guide us back. Jerome, Paine and Combs were to stay 

 with the herd for the next day's round-up and then ride 

 into the Agency some sixty miles distant, and we probably 

 would not see them again while at the ranch, consequently 

 we had no one to pilot us back, but our own recollection 

 of the direction taken in the nioming. 



George and myself rode side by side toward where the 

 wagon was waiting, passing by the way, at the foot of an 

 old dead tree, a dead cow, and "in a circle around it, in tiie 

 air and on the trees were probably a thousand turkey 

 buzzards, screaming and fighting for their repast, and 

 making a very weird and uncanny spectacle. The City 

 Official was very much relieved when he saw me with 

 George. Combs was at the wagon, and after Brooks 

 joined us on Jerome's pony took the two horses back, 

 bidding us good-bye ana cautioning us about driving as 

 fast as we could, and pointing out the direction to take. 

 We started off feeling quite confident and happy, but had 

 not gone over a mile before one of the horses balked, 

 being played out. Our little jehu, Charlie, had neglected 

 to bring corn enough for his team, and they were hungry 

 and fagged out, but he had brought a plentiful supply of 

 tobacco, and if the amount of tobacco juice expectorated 

 could have been equalled by horse food, a good sized 

 livery stable could have been maintained thereon. But 

 it did not seem to worry him, notwithstanding the fact 

 that all of us ripped and profaned considerably. There 

 was nothing to do for it, however, but jump out to see 

 what they would do with the empty wagon. They would 

 pull that, but every time any of us got in they would balk. 

 We were in a hurry and a long wav from 'home, and it 

 was rapidly growing dark. The City Official being 

 weighty and not given to walking, was urged to ride, and 

 finally the jaded tags consented to pull him, and the rest 

 of us swung out at a good pace and really distanced the 

 tired horses. After going four or five miles we struck 

 the main road and then knew the direction home for a 

 certainty. The horses seemed to feel better and the road 

 was easier for them, the evening cooler, and our spirits 

 began to rise, and as if affected in like manner the horses 

 began to pull us. With much persuasion they were gotten 

 into quite an acceptable trot, and we had great hopes of 

 reaching home that night. However, we knew we had 

 to ford the Ute at a very dangerous place, and as it was 

 liable to be a very dark night this was quite a stumbling 

 block in our way, still, if the horses did not again give 

 out, we were all right. An hour before we had sent the 

 Doctor ahead, he riding a mustang, to try and reach the 

 ranch or Whistler's and send out some fresh horses to us. 

 _ We found that by striking up some lively air, and all 

 singing at the top of our voices, the horses were so badly 

 frightened that they dare not stop trotting, or else they 

 appreciated the music so much that they repaid us the 

 best they could. At any rate, when the so-called music 

 commenced, the horses pricked up their ears and quick- 

 ened their pace. An hour or so rolled by and we were 

 confident we had travelled twenty miles instead of ten, 

 for it certainly was the longest hour's ride I ever had, 

 when out of the black darkness ahead loomed up a light, 

 and it proved to be the Doctor on horseback, with a lan- 

 tern. He said that we were near the ford and we were 

 glad of it. The lantern was carried across ahead of the 

 horses, and all jumped out before attempting to ascend 

 the opposite bank, as they Avould at least pull the empty 

 wagon to the top. We finally arrived home, and were 

 welcomed by the baying of the hounds, and to a more 

 practical extent by Mrs. Davidson's well-cooked supper. 



I suppose the incidents that took place that day would 

 have made four times as lengthy an article as this, had I 

 time to narrate them, but this bids fan to be long enough 

 without, and I will describe now the following day's 

 hunt which had been partially agreed upon the night be- 

 fore, but definite arrangements were to be made in the 

 morning. _ Blizzard Bill. 



, About Sights. — Norristown, Pa.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: In your issue of the 23d inst. your correspondent 

 "Denemite" closes with the following remark: "That 

 Zimmerman should prefer Capt. Clay's peep sight to the 

 Lyman is to me a little queer." In "this "Denemite" has 

 fallen into a somewhat singular error, as in the communi- 

 cation to which he presumably has reference 1 did not 

 touch upon the sight question at all. As a matter of fact 

 there are no sights that I prefer to the Lyman. For uni- 

 formity of results under varying conditions of light, etc., 

 I know of nothing to compare with them.— W. D. Zim- 

 merman. 



Small Bores. — Will some of your readers who have 

 used 20-bore guns give through your columns their ex- 

 perience with these arms? — W. E. P. 



