262 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 27, 1887. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



IN THE SAWTOOTH RANGE.— V. 



T ROSE early after my long reBt. Charles, who was 

 JL stirring up the low camp-fire, suggested that I might 

 try to get a deer along the river to take down to Bunch's 

 that afternoon. So, after a sip of last night's coffee and 

 a bite of bread, I started, promising to be back early. It 

 was a dark and hazy autumn morning; a heavy mist 

 hung over the river and its banks, on which I leisurely 

 sauntered down to an old deer lick. Having crawled 

 through a patch of thick underbrush, and as I was turn- 

 ing a short bend of the river, I looked back and caught 

 sight of some large animal fording the stream near where 

 it forms an almost right angle, but the overhanging mist 

 and heavy fog obscured my sight so much that I could 

 not c' early see what it was. First I thought it might be 

 one of our horses strayed from the rest. Walking slowly 

 along and keeping my eyes on the straggler, the suddenly 

 increasing light enabled me soon to see that it was no 

 pony, but an immense bear. Meditating a moment, if I 

 had lost any such ugly-looking customer, then studying 

 the unfavorable surroundings and seeing no friendly 

 tree, nothing but brush, willows and a few thin, quaking 

 asps, I thought it wise not to interfere. 



The bear had crossed over to my side and shook the 

 water out of his thick fur. I saw now plainly it was a 

 monstrous grizzly. 



Though I often wished to meet one I must confess that 

 I did not feel very comfortable at the sudden sight of 

 this bear. 



The wind was blowing in my favor and I was almost 

 certain that he had not seen me. I expected to see him 

 put for the nearest gulch as soon as he should get into 

 my tracks, but imagine my surprise when, coming upon 

 my trail he stopped, smelling, then following them as 

 close as a dog would scent a bird. Disappointed in my 

 calculations and peaceful resolutions, I felt quite a little 

 embarrassed, but angry as well; so I made up my mind 

 to shoot at any rate. The old fellow was very cautious 

 and on the qui vive. Coming to a stop at the other side 

 of the thicket he gave me a good chance. Taking de- 

 liberate aim a little back of his shoulder I turned loose. 

 My aim was true, down he went, but up again in an 

 instant, and jumping into the thicket which separated 

 us. I now began to feel a little nervous, seeing the brute 

 meant fight. Once more I cast a hasty glance for some 

 friendly tree, but there was none near. The bear was 

 working through the brush, as I could plainly see by the 

 swaying and moving branches, but was too much hidden 

 for another successful shot. Seeing a large boulder in 

 the river, an idea struck me. I jumped into the water to 

 hide behind this large rock. The water was only 3 or 

 4ft. deep, but it was very swift; in fact, the current was 

 so rapid that, trying to get from above behind this 

 boulder, it took me off from my feet, obliging me to wade 

 from below to my shelter. Here I got into pretty deep 

 water, up to my waist. Laboring and straining against 

 the current, I had no sooner ensconced myself in my 

 refuge behind it, than I heard my ugly pursuer plunge in 

 after me, and I must admit I felt scared. Clutching my 

 rifle in one hand and holding on to the boulder with the 

 other, I saw the brute slide by me within oft. making for 

 the other side. I coidd see his wicked bloodshot eyes, 

 and almost feel his hot panting breath. I don't know 

 what prevented him from seeing me. Was he too eager 

 to reach the other shore, where, after hearing me plunge 

 into the water, he expected to find me, or was his sight 

 so impaired by my shot that he could not distinguish me, 

 or was it a providence which saved me? I will never, in 

 all my life, forget those fearful moments. 



While he made for the other shore I somewhat re- 

 covered and got into shooting position. He was wading 

 up the bank when I fired for the other shoulder. He 

 again broke down with a raging scream, but rising 

 quickly and now seeing me he jumped down the bank 

 and came for me again. I felt that this meant war to the 

 knife. Hastily inserting another cartridge, I fired the 

 third time. He slipped on some stones, and my bullet 

 struck a little too far back. He was evidently getting 

 weak and sick, but his anger and fury increased in wicked- 

 ness; he rose on his hind feet (as proved later, both of his 

 shoulders were broken), opened his fearful mouth, show- 

 ing the glittering teeth, as if to swallow me, and dragged 

 himself along with supernatural strength. He was within 

 15ft. of me when I fired again, and he dropped like a 

 log, clawing, pawing and throwing the water purpled 

 with his life blood all over me. The last bullet had broken 

 his neck, and thanks to my trusted old Sharps I was 

 saved. Hurriedly leaving my watery position for the dry 

 land, I cast one more glance at my vanquished enemy 

 and muttered a threat of relief, "There, you brute, if you 

 don't die now you'll drown sure." 



During all the time this deadly encounter lasted I kept 

 pretty cool, never lost my presence of mind, and was 

 fully aware of my perilous position; but after the excite- 

 ment was over the reaction set in, my nerves, strained to 

 the utmost, began to relapse; and being wet through and 

 through, I reached camp in a pretty high fever. Chang- 

 ing my soaked garments and taking a cup of tea, I 

 managed to relate my adventure. At the mention of 

 "grizzly" an incredulous smile stole over their faces. 

 But when later on in the evening I took them to the field 

 of battle, had my satisfaction when I asked if I had ex- 

 aggerated. They both pronounced him a regular "Cali- 

 fornia grizzly," and a perfect monster; in all their time 

 in the Territory they h4jd never seen one before. 



I regret that we had no facilities to weigh the old 

 fellow. Having read so much, pro and con, on the 

 weight of grizzlies, and as I am not exempt from the 

 proclivities of a sportsman, I think it safer not to express 

 my opinion ; but suffice it to say that three of us were not 

 able to get him out of the water. We managed to move 

 him into a shallow spot and were obliged to skin him 

 there. His skin with the head attached made quite a 

 formidable load for one of our ponies. 



It is simply incredible what tenacity of life this animal 

 possessed, all my shots were fatal, the first through his 

 right, the second through his left shoulder, one of them 

 piercing the lower part of his heart; the third was through 

 the intestines, and the coup de grace dislocated his neck. 

 On skinning his right foreleg we found that he had been 



in battle before, for it had been broken by a bullet, but 

 had knitted together again and was twice the size of the 

 other leg. After removing his hide we looked with 

 amazement at the carcass, almost startling in its re- 

 semblance to the body of a human being. His wide 

 breast and body muscles were spread out like whip cords, 

 and on his arms they stood out like an athlete's. He was 

 a perfect grizzly Sullivan. 



The next morning we packed up and in the afternoon 

 went down to the cabin of Bunch, who had promised to 

 go with us to the middle fork of the Payette for elk. 

 We took provisions to last a week. Getting to Pinney's 

 ranch by noon, we stopped to see the old gentleman; he 

 was out, but finding the larder well supplied we invited 

 ourselves to lunch. He came in before we had finished, 

 and expressed himself as glad that we had made ourselves 

 at home. Promising to bring him some elk, we continued 

 our travel along the fork to Boon's logging cabin, where 

 we camped. We spent a most pleasant evening, enjoy- 

 ing the recital of his numerous adventures in the forests 

 and mountains. 



He had just had a narrow escape. Coming home from 

 some logging inspection, as he was making his way 

 through a thicket, he rode plump upon a feeding brown 

 bear and a cub. The frightened norse reared and threw 

 Boon, who landed right in front of the bear, which was 

 also greatly surprised. He carried a short carbine in his 

 hand, with this he gave the astonished brute a terrible 

 whack over the head, stunning him momentarily. Then 

 Boon skinned up the nearest tree in great haste. The 

 weight of the blow had broken the stock of the gun; and 

 though he tried to* doctor the damage to use it from his 

 lofty position, he could not make it work. Old Eph after 

 arousing himself put off for the nearest gulch, without 

 inquiring what or who had struck him. 



Sunday we left Boon and camped nine or ten miles 

 higher up the river, where we noticed fresh elk sign. 

 Monday and Tuesday Bunch, Charles, Billy and myself 

 hunted around the vicinity but with no success. The two 

 brothers decided to go back the next day to finish their 

 cabin, while Bunch and I were to go into a high moun- 

 tain valley which he had prospected the year before and 

 where he had seen a great many elk. We were fully 

 aware of the risk we ran if a snowstorm should overtake 

 us. The valley was almost unknown; there was no trail 

 to it, and we had to feel our way amid the canons and 

 gulches to the summit, and then down the steep and 

 dangerous decline, on which we started a small band of 

 elk, but as we were paying all attention to our treacher- 

 ous decant, they got away unmolested. At last we were 

 down and camped near a large sulphur hot spring. In 

 the morning we went up the valley to look for elk, find- 

 ing perfect cattle yards of signs; but we did not run on 

 any until afternoon, when, coming upon an opening, we 

 saw a large bull going with swinging gait up the next 

 ridge. How his magnificent antlers showed in the fight 

 horizontal background when he reached the open sum- 

 mit. Stopping to look back from the knife-blade ridge 

 he presented a most striking picture, for a moment, then 

 disappeared on the other side. Bunch and Inow hurried 

 to the next ridge, and on the summit we separated, I to 

 go down a park-like meadow, while he kept on the side 

 of the mountain. Crossing a little creek I noticed very 

 fresh signs; following those with noiseless steps I soon 

 saw the large bull, not a hundred yards away, going up 

 the side of the ridge. At the crack of my rifle he gave 

 one sudden bound and kept going, and I managed to get 

 another shot before he disappeared in the timber. He 

 was heading right in the direction of Bunch, who must 

 have heard my shooting, and put himself on the alert. 

 But not hearing his rifle after some waiting, I followed 

 the tracks to see if I had hit the elk. Yes! here was 

 blood, he was bleeding pretty freely. Trailing him up, I 

 heard Bunch's hail and query if I had killed. I told him 

 I had wounded one severely and to be on the lookout. 

 Suddenly he shouted, "There he goes!" and sure enough, 

 driven back out the timber by Bunch came the elk. He 

 gave me a splendid opportunity, and after two more 

 bullets rolled over. It was a fine specimen of our noblest 

 game, American elk or wapiti deer (Cervus canadensis), 

 but his antlers were smaller than I anticipated. 



Dressing the bull I was somewhat puzzled at finding 

 only two bullet holes. My last two shots were not fired 

 at more than 60 or 70yds. distance and could not have 

 missed him, and I was also positive I hit him with one 

 of my first, as the bloody trail surely indicated. To con- 

 vince myself I followed the first track of blood, going 

 into a network of brush and low-branched pines, where to 

 my greatest surprise I found another elk lying dead 

 before me. This one was by far the larger of the two. 

 His immense antlers were the longest (56in. from base) 

 and the most graceful and symmetrical I ever saw. He 

 is looking down at me now while I am writing this, a 

 cherished trophy of my last hunt. 



We managed to pack out the antlers, intending to come 

 after the meat the next day ; but rising early we found 

 everything covered with snow which was still coming 

 down in great flakes. This kept us in camp, through the 

 forenoon, and in the afternoon Bunch set out to explore 

 down the valley to see if he could find a better way out 

 than the way we had come. I crossed the fork and went 

 to the opposite ridges until I came to the upper end, but 

 without seeing any game, though there were numbers of 

 fresh signs in the snow. The snow had turned into a 

 drizzling rain, making tracking difficult and disagreeable 

 so I make direction for camp. Having recrossed the fork, 

 I was on the side of our camp and on which we had come 

 down the day before. 



Remembering distinctly a creek we had crossed I was 



Fositive that I was going in the right direction, but when 

 came to the fork to my utter astonishment I found that 

 instead of running down it ran up the valley. Puzzled 

 and bewildered I sat down to reflect. Something was 

 wrong. It was raining hard now and a heavy mist hung 

 like a veil all over the valley, enshrouding the sun, moun- 

 tains or other landmarks, entirely with its gloom. De- 

 liberating carefully I came to the conclusion that intend- 

 ing to cross that tributary creek, I had got too far down 

 to the fork, which in some places was not much larger 

 than the creek, and mistaking that for the creek, had 

 crossed it and walking up instead of down. I found out 

 my mistake when getting on an overlooking ridge, and 

 weather clearing for a little I discovered the blue smoke 

 from our camp-fire on the opposite side. 



Bunch had not returned, so I went to work to get sup- 

 per, preparing a white moccasin rabbit, the only meat we 

 had, and making bread in the frying-pan from our last 



flour. When he came in it was snowing furiously, and || 

 we had to eat inside the tent. 



Our position now became rather serious, and we came 

 to the conclusion to get out of this dangerous encamp- 

 ment the quickest and best way we could before the snow | 

 should prohibit it entirely. We went to bed with heavy ]j 

 hearts, but hoping it might clear in the morning. Rising 

 before day we were sadly disappointed; the snow was I 

 coming down thick and fast. Having only one alterna- 

 tive, we hurriedly finished breakfast by candle light; then 

 packing and saddling up, we started, going down the 

 extreme lower end of the valley before we took to the 

 precipitous ridges which lead to the summit. Leading 

 one horse, with the other three tailed up behind each 

 other, we began the climb. 



Bunch explored ahead to find a passable way, going 

 sometimes through almost impenetrable brush," then up 

 some fearfully steep and now awfully slippery ledges. 

 The snow came down in sheets, darkening all about us 

 and shutting out the view. Bunch, as pathfinder, would 

 often be gone for some time, while I waited with the 

 tired animals for his signal to come on. Thanks to his 

 woodcraft and mountain knowledge, he found our old 

 trail; but we often had to clear patches of snow for signs 

 of our old tracks. At last, after tremendous labor and 

 perseverance, we felt the ah* getting colder as we neared 

 the summit. One more effort, and we reached the divide 

 with greatly relieved feelings. My flask contained some 

 whisky, which never came more appropriate; it revived 

 our exhausted nerves and put new life into us. 



We still had a hard task until we came down to the i 

 forks of the river; it was very tiresome traveling in the 

 two or three feet of snow now melting fast; and man and 

 beast rejoiced when at last Boone's cabin came in sight. 

 The kind good-hearted fellow was glad to see us; he had 

 contemplated going out to look after us the next day if we 

 did not come. He quickly had ready a red hot supper. 

 Sunday morning we left our hospitable friend, describing 

 to him as near as possible,where he would find our elk. We 

 made Pinney's for dinner. The old man listening to our 

 accounts, said he and Boone would go after the meat, as ; 

 soon as the weather allowed it. It was night when we 

 reached Bunch's home. 



I remained home the next day, still feeling the effects 

 of the terrible strain of the past days; but Bunch went 

 out to hunt, as there was no meat in the house. The 

 boys and Lee had gone to finish their winter cabin. In 

 the evening they came down with three deer; the senior [ 

 Mr. Bunch had killed the same number and Bess Bunch, 

 quite a youngster, had killed two, making eight in all for , 

 that day. Two days later we made for the boys' cabin, , 

 taking along flour and other provisions for their winter 

 use; and putting in the door and window, bunks, finish- j 

 ing with a table and a few benches. They had a very 

 comfortable log cabin. 



Hearing one day that elk were plenty on Deadwood 

 Fork, or rather in the "big timbered flats," Charles and 

 I, with a few days' grub, set out. It was a short day's 

 journey from the cabin, and we made a cut acrosB the 

 hills until we got to the regular river trail. Climbing up J 

 a steep hill we noticed on the opposite side of the river a ( 

 band of goats, and prominent among them a tremendous 

 large ram, which would not mix with the rest, but go j 

 ahead or else straggle behind; now standing on a com- 

 manding rock looking over at us with contempt, he dared j 

 and provoked us so much that we concluded to give him i 

 a trial. We took the horses near to the river, hoping to 

 find a place possible to ford, but were doomed with dis- 

 appoint cent, the river was too deep, swift and dangerous, 

 so we had to give it up. Getting again to our trail, we ' 

 saw the old patriarch on a high cliff, the wind blowing j 

 hia venerable long whiskers and with a satirical grin in 1 

 his face. This incident had considerably delayed us, and ) 

 we were obliged to camp on Elk Creek. 



In the morning we climbed to the summit, and, wend- 

 ing our way down the rocky decline not far from the 

 flats, discovered a band of elk going up a little ridge , 

 about a mile away. Waiting until all got over, we hur- 

 ried down to the flats, unloading the horses, then picking 1 

 up our rifles we were soon after them. Following in 

 their tracks cautiously to the top, and peeping over, we 

 saw the band not 75yds. away, some lying down and 

 some browsing. At our first fire the two largest rolled 

 over, the rest jumping up, undecided which way to i 

 escape. Charles, with his repeater, having the advantage 

 in rapid firing, shot eight times to my five, when we had 

 them down, seven in number, and all cows, yearlings and 

 calves. I felt almost ashamed of our slaughter. It was 

 dark when we had finished dressing and covering them 

 up securely. This wound up my active hunting on the 

 trip, and I had to think of my return. 



In the morning we left loaded with some of the meat, 

 Charles going only part of the way, then cutting across 

 to notify the boys to pack in the rest of the elk, while I 

 followed the river trail down to Bunch's cabin. 



Thursday I spent mostly in packing my hides, heads and 

 antlers, and had them taken by team to Myers's store in Pla- 

 cerville. Mr. Myers's freight team was going to the rail- 

 road, so I availed myself of the offered opportunity to ship 

 all my stuff to Mountain Home. I was obliged to go back 

 to my starting point, Boneparte mine, to get my civilian 

 attire and other things I had left, also to say good-by to 

 Mr. and Mrs. McK. Wednesday, Nov. 10, I had to part 

 from friend Bunch and his kind family. Playing a few 

 parting airs on my flute, at their request, I left this happy 

 family promising soon to come again. Bill remained to 

 go back to the new cabin, to which Charles intended also 

 to return, after seeing me safely back. At Placerville 

 Sir. Myers had kindly attended to my antlers and hides. 

 In the evening I entertained at Mrs. Steckler's hotel the 

 little community with some music, and spent a most 1 

 happy time. 



In the morning we started on our homestretch and 

 camped that night at a deserted cabin. Next day we 

 made Boise City; here I found letters from home, the first 

 since leaving the mine. Sunday we left this beautiful i 

 and livery town and got to Slater's ranch on Indian Creek i 

 in a severe snowstorm. We slept in the corral with our , 

 horses, which we had fed, as there was no pasture. We 

 hoped it would stop in the morning that we might cut 

 across the mountain to Long Tom's, saving thereby 

 fifty miles, but the storm increased so much that we had 

 to go back to the wagon or emigrant road. We came to ( 

 Hoist's ranch on Canon Creek, where we partook of Mrs. 

 Hoist's hospitality. Mrs. Hoist's brother went in the 

 morning * to Mountain Home, only eleven miles dis- 

 tant. As I did not need any of my hunting or camping 



