132 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 14, 1889. 



time to learn. Sportsmen will not altogether agree with 

 the views of either in some regards, but there is in the 

 position of each a certain strength which at least entitles 

 it to respect, and in the Words of each something for 

 sportsmen to read and ponder over carefully. 

 , In person, Mr. F. A. Allen is not over medium height, 

 but though rather slight in build, it is said there are few 

 who would care to follow him all day on foot or in a 

 boat. He is fifty years of age, but looks in the thirties. 

 Col. E. S. Bond is a 200-pounder, and there are no flies 

 on his head. They couldn't stay there. He is the soul 

 of good nature and is loved by the sportsmen he abuses 

 so roundly. In him they recognize a clear-headed and 

 well-posted man, sure to act up to a high standard of 

 liberality and good sense. E. Hough. 



SHOOTING CLUBS OF CHICAGO. 



X.— THE HENNEPIN CLUB. 



THE Hennepin and Swan Lake clubs nearly join each 

 other in their riparian possessions, and what is true 

 of the one club is largely true of the other, so far as the 

 character of the grounds, the nature of the game, and the 

 manner of its pursuit are concerned. It is the boast of 

 the Hennepin Club that no equal acreage upon the whole 

 Illinois River— nor, indeed, in the whole State of Illi- 

 nois—affords better mallard shooting than that controlled 

 by it. Thus, for twelve days in the spring of 1888 the 

 average of one member (Mr. W. W. McFarland; was 40 

 mallards a day for twelve days in one trip, there being 

 such daily scores as 76, 90, 131. On one day 111 mallards 

 were killed. The shooting, consisting as it does largely 

 of timber or submerged cornfield shooting, is largely at 

 mallards, and the above scores will do much toward war- 

 ranting the assertions of the club. 



The Hennepin Club grounds lie higher up the Illinois 

 River than the Swan Lake grounds, and are reached by 

 the same railway line, the C. R. I. & P. The round trip 

 fare is in the neighborhood of $4 to Bureau Junction, the 

 same sleepy little town which was mentioned in the Swan 

 Lake* article. One reaches Bureau while it is still en- 

 wrapped in the cold shades of midnight, and the best 

 thing he can do is to go to bed and wait for a warm 

 breakfast before he goes any further. In the morning 

 Mr. A. Waugh, the common carrier for that section of 

 country, will ask him if he wants to go to Hennepin, and 

 will take him and his traps over if he does. 



The road from Bureau to Hennepin is a quiet and 

 pleasant one, winding around in a sleepy sort of way to 

 accommodate itself to the vagaries of deep and crooked 

 Bureau Creek. The low wooded hills to the right are 

 now pretty well supplied with ruffed grouse and squir- 

 rels; the warm bottom lands are much haunted by wood- 

 cock in season, and the wide fields are now again, under 

 the beneficent influence of the continuous close law, 

 showing bountiful flocks and coveys of that distinctively 

 American and Western bird, the prairie chicken. As 

 the sandy road twists into the timber of the Illinois 

 River there begin vistas of winding bayous and willow 

 flats and low fields of corn swept about by the arms of 

 the native forest, and there begin also stories of how on 

 such and such a day, at this or that point, almost visible 

 from the road, some certain shooter bagged nearly a boat 

 load of mallards. 



A loud halloa from the hither bank of the broad Illi- 

 nois starts from his sleep the owuerof the lethargic horse 

 ferry, which has always been found sufficient for the 

 people of that region. Him the way farers inform they 

 will give to him a silver two bits to bear them o'er the 

 water. But never, I ween, had Lord Ullin's daughter 

 and her lover escaped even so far as they did from the 

 irate Mr. Ullin had their boatman been so slow and their 

 boat this long and deliberate craft, whose almost sole 

 propulsion seemed to be the vis inertitr. 



Hennepin sits high on a bluff of lofty state and blinks 

 her eyes over the rolling stream of the Illinois, here just 

 1,000ft. wide. Hennepin is fifty-five years old. She was 

 once the rival of Chicago, and looked, indeed, with some 

 contempt upon that village. She has to-day about 700 

 inhabitants, when th ey are all awake at once, which 

 doesn't often happen. Hennepin has just three points of 

 interest — a court house, an artesian well, and George 

 Cunningham. The court house was built by George 

 Cunningham, and I am not sure he did not dig the 

 artesian well. He does almost everything there, besides 

 acting as steward for the Hennepin Duck Club. The 

 court house isn't very large, but it does for the necessities 

 of a county which embraces only four townships, and 

 where the term of court rarely lasts more than one week. 



The shores of the Illinois here bear evidence of the trail 

 of the market-hunter and the market-fisher, Big house 

 boats, long lines of tarred netting, hoops, stakes, and all 

 the fell appliances of the fresh-water fyke fishermen are 

 visible every way. This old trapper, whose home Ls the 

 big boat yonder, with the blue smoke coming out of the 

 roof, will inform you that during the high water in the 

 spring he sometimes takes as many as 100 rats a day. In 

 those times his cup runneth over. ' He is one of hundreds 

 of fellows in that country who loaf along the stream or 

 the sedgy banks of the * big lake marshes and pick up 

 what they can at trapping muskrats, netting fish, killing 

 ducks, or perhaps now and then luring as pusher to some 

 sportsman . 



After the oldest inhabitant has done the honors of the 

 place, and has showed you the artesian well, and the 

 court house, and George Cunningham, you introduce 

 yourself to the latter, and after that you are all right, so 

 far as the Hennepin Club is concerned. Mr. Cunning- 

 ham is not only architect, carpenter, boat builder, decoy 

 maker, club steward, guide and pilot; he is also a modest, 

 quiet, intelligent man, of ability enough to fill a wider 

 field at need. More than that, he understands ducks. 



Mr. Cunningham led the way down to the river bank, 

 and pointed out the big club boat which does duty as the 

 camping home of the Hennepin Club. The Hennepin 

 Club is still a young organization, though one of the 

 most vigorous of all the clubs. It numbers only twenty- 

 five members. It is pre-eminently a hunter's club, and 

 the big boat, which can be taken to any desired part of 

 the shooting grounds, has until now seemed home enough 

 for it in its strictly business employments on the marsh. 

 The club, however, will soon erect a big club house, and 

 knock all the romance out of itself, 



When I saw the Hennepin Club boat it was lying a 

 little heeled over, made fast high and dry at the foot of 

 Hennepin Bluff. The lifting of the top-board of the 

 Government dam at Henry, some miles below, had caused 



THE HENNEPIN CLUB HOUSE. 



a drop in the river and left the boat aground. We 

 entered it and found it a very comfortable and commodi- 

 ous affair. The interior was well fitted with roomy 

 sleeping bunks, so arranged as to leave plenty of space in 

 the main apartment. There was a big table, a good stove 

 spoke of the culinary possibilities for which I am in- 

 formed the Hennepin Club is somewhat famous. The 

 floor of the boat was arranged in big traps, and in the 

 cellar thus revealed in the hold below there were visible 

 receptacles for firewood and supplies of all kinds. Stout 

 rings along the outside deck showed where the hunting 

 skiffs were fastened, and a wide sweep or so suggested 

 the propelling power when a change of base was necessary. 



At times of high water, when the duck season is at it3 

 height, the Illinois River is a big and angry stream, fully 

 two miles wide, showing a considerable' sea, and per- 

 haps running full of heavy ice. Beyond the main body 

 of this stream lie the best shooting grounds of the club. 

 It might be supposed, therefore, that the boats we found 

 in the club boat houses at the foot of the bluff would be 

 what we found them — big, stiff, high boats, of a model 

 quite different from the marsh boats. Compared with 

 the Green Bay model the Hennepin boat is far deeper 

 and flares much more in the midship lines. It is nearly 

 or quite covered with iron or copper, as protection 

 against the heavy ice. I saw two boats, the Juliette and 

 the Cora, belonging to Messrs. W. A. Bond and A. R. 

 Barnes, which were built entirely of iron with air-tight 

 chambers fore and aft. It is claimed that either of these 

 boats if full of water would float two men and their outfit. 

 They were heavy and clumsy looking affairs, weighing 

 about 2401bs. and costing $80 each. A man would have 

 to work mighty hard to give me that kind of duck boat. 

 Yet their owners think they have struck just the thing. 

 That is what Mr. McFarland thinks about his big boat, 

 which is drawn to fine lines bow and stern, with vei-y 

 high sides and a trifling narrow comb about it. This 

 boat looks extraordinarily big and clumsy, yet it is said 

 to be easy to handle and very safe. The Hennepin men 

 hardly have any two boats alike. Each man is a theorist, 

 and is perfectly convinced that he can build a boat better 

 than an} 7 other boat that ever was. Mr. Cunningham is 

 the builder of many of the boats whose theories have 

 been carefully elaborated by their owners during long 

 months of patient study. There aire a few Hine boats 

 also in the club's boat house. I heard also that some one 

 was going to try a boat built on the Havana model, a 

 rather shallow boat, dra wn up to 2in. stem and stern, 

 and provided with a rail around the comb to act as a rack 

 for the decoys, etc. It is evident that the ideas of the 

 Hennepin Club on boats are in a formative shape. I can- 

 not help thinking that they would do far better to go 

 direct to some boat building firm that offers an estab- 

 lished article to the sportsman than to throw away time 

 and money in trying to build a boat which never will 

 come out quite as they expected it. It is, of course, im- 

 possible to build a boat which is both a good sea boat 

 and a good marsh boat, for the former must ride where 

 the latter must cut through; but there are fine models for 

 either, beautifully made boats, light and durable, offered 

 by the regular makers, and it is hard to see why these are 

 not better than many of the affairs which are intended as 

 improvements upon them. 



These boat houses were as full of hunting appliances as 

 an egg is of meat. Decoys, paddles, oars, woven rush 

 blinds, boat trucks, and all that, occupied everv inch of 

 space. The "Sibley boys" and Mr. Carroll make their 

 own decoys, and I believe built their own boats, which 

 are plain, open skiffs. There were some Elliston decoys, 

 but the great bidk of the decoy fleet has been made by 

 Mr. Cunningham, who does such excellent work that I 

 have made his method of decoy-making the text of a 

 separate article. 



The Hennepins, although a small club, are very active. 

 They have close upon 5,000 acres of valuable marsh and 

 timber lands bought or leased, and are all the time 

 quietly adding to their possessions. Mr. W. K. Reed, 

 cashier of the Dime Savings Bank, of Chicago, is the 

 mainspring of the committee on lands, and is a land 

 hustler from the remote behind. He is best known as 

 the North American map fiend. He makes maps of every 

 tiling he sees. He has every quarter section within ten 

 miles of Hennepin marsh down in colors, and can put 

 his finger down on any piece of marsh and tell you how 

 much it cost or ought to cost, how much the owner wants 

 for it, and how far it lies from the boat house door. You 

 can't talk to Mr. Reed three minutes without his pulling 

 out a hand-painted map on you. If you ask him the way 

 to the post-office he wdl explain it on a map. They say 

 he has the street car system of the city all mapped out, 

 and knows the number of the car which is due on any 

 corner at any given minute; and when lie goes to church 

 he consults a diagram to find where his own pew is. I 

 don't know about that. I only know he followed me out 

 on the street and offered me a map of the Hennepin 

 grounds, showing me how many mallards he was going 



to kill the next time he shot on the willow point on such 

 and such a section, Tp. number so and so, range I forget 

 how many degrees west of some principal meridian. Mr. 

 Reed is also the artist of the club. He kindly made the 

 sketch for the engraving of the club boat, and is also 

 responsible for the picture in the club register, showing 

 the condition of the club boat when it sank in four feet 

 of water. Appended to this is the legend, "All on board 

 were saved." 



Fully alive to all the modern phases of duck shooting, 

 the Hennepins have made and will make special efforts at 

 feeding the wild ducks. Much of their land is corn land, 

 subject to overflow. This land they will plant to corn 

 and buckwheat. They will also sow wild rice this year 

 in some of the localities specially adapted to it. They 

 have attempted to introduce wild celery into some of the 

 deeper lakes, but without very good success this past 

 season. The celery seed was lost in transit, and when it 

 finally arrived was thought t*> be spoiled. Mr. Cunning- 

 ham told me they would this year make a persistent 

 effort to plant the wild celery root, which they will 

 obtain at Fox Lake. He showed me his contrivance for 

 planting the root. It is a long-handled affair, provided 

 with a sharp blade which can be sunk into the mud. In 

 the side of the blade is an aperture into which the bit of 

 root is placed. The blade is sunk in the mud, and the 

 root is then discharged from it by the operation of the 

 handle from above, the latter being double, and sliding 

 upon itself. The deep, clear lakes of the Hennepin 

 country resemble the Fox Lake waters, which abound in 

 the wild celery, and are indeed almost a part of the same 

 system: they should be readily susceptible of planting to 

 this most excellent duck food. 



The once-famous Senachwine Lake lies between the 

 Hennepin and Swan Lake clubs, and just above Senach- 

 wine Lake, on the west side of the river, is the big pond 

 known as the Goose Pond. Old settlers say that twenty 

 years ago the clamor of the wild geese could be heard 

 from the Goose Pond, clear across the Illinois River bot- 

 toms, at Hennepin court house on any morning of the 

 season. Even to-day this pond is a great resort for the 

 honkers, although they do not nest there now to any 

 considerable extent. The Hennepin own bodies of marsh 

 upon both sides of the river, and own about one-half of 

 the Goose Pond. On the east side of the river they own 

 the Hennepin and Hopper lakes, and all the marsh be- 

 tween. I believe they do not own the Sister Islands, but 

 they often shoot on these well-known points. Mullin's 

 Slough, the Horseshoe and Third Slough are all highly 

 prized localities. All lying in overflowed country also 

 are Wood's cornfield, Stanton's cornfield, and the Mark- 

 ley timber. In Hennepin Lake, Bond's Point, Barnes's 

 Point and Carrollton are landmarks. McFarland 's Teal 

 Hole is another favorite spot. As to the Haunted Half 

 Acre, there is a tradition that a vast "hoodoo" abideth 

 thereover, so that no man may there gather the ducks 

 fallen to his gun. Zenor's Lake is good mallard ground, 

 and Seaton's Lake, another small one, is said to be much 

 used by bluebills. Dore's cornfield, Dore's prairie, and 

 Oak Ridge Lake are all mallard provinces. 



The Hennepin Club is to be congratulated upon its good 

 fortune in getting possession of the excellent and exten- 

 sive territory it controls. Its grounds are admirably 

 selected, and have for the most part been obtained at very 

 reasonable figures. Most of the land has been quietlv 

 picked up at prices like $1, $3 or $4 per acre, and at such 

 prices the land is a very good investment. In one case 

 the club seemed a thirty-years lease of 500 acres of good 

 marsh land for $75. Shares in the Hennepin Club are 

 $300 each, and the annual dues are $10. To meet the re- 

 cent expenditures made in purchasing land, there were 

 three assessments made last year. 



There is not in Chicago a more pushing, active and 

 thoroughly wideawake club than the Hennepin. It is 

 full of enterprise, alive to every sort of improvement of 

 its own resources, and has a business and sportsmanlike 

 record of which it might well be proud, but isn't. A 

 perfectly congenial, enthusiastic and harmoniously active 

 little body of sportsmen, it is a splendid example, of what 

 shooters can do and ought to do to-day. 



The bags of the Hennepin Club have been very good 

 ones, and run about as those of the Senachwine and Swan 

 Lake districts. Of eourse the club has felt the scarcity 

 which has been so general this past season, and indeed 

 there was hardly a decent bag made on the Hennepin 

 grounds this past fall; this, however, is exceptional and 

 altogether out of the way. The club is very sure that if 

 there are ducks in the country, they are due at the Hen- 

 nepin marshes. Mr. McFarland, a very successful and 

 well posted duck shooter, says he would not exchange 

 his one share in the Hennepin Club for three shares in 

 the other (Kankakee) club he belongs to, or for shares in 

 any other one club. Much of the success of the club, so 

 far as its ownership of valuable property is concerned, is 

 due to the untiring efforts of the president for 1888, Mr. 

 W. K. Reed, ably seconded by Mr. McFarland in the 



