26 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 30, 1890. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



BL ACKHAWK CLUB AND LAKE KOSHKONONG. 



CHICAGO, 111., Dec. 9.— There was in store at Black- 

 hawk club house an experience which I am sure I 

 wish could have been shared by all readers of Forest 

 and Stream. It is not all of ashing to fish, as I am 

 confident all will agree who follow the directions given 

 here for the cooking of fish, in the only way which fish 

 ever ought to be cooked. Some fish are good, and some 

 are not. Some folks like fish, and some don't. But this 

 method of cooking fish, just as Mr. Wentworth displayed 

 it at the club house that cool November morning, lifts 

 fish, fishing and fish eating clear above the level of the 

 purely practical, and transports the question into the 

 upper realms of poetry. 



In the first place, you catch your fish, which must be a 

 small-mouthed black bass weighing with his clothes on 

 about two and a half or three pounds and having a red 

 and wicked eye. This fish must be caught in cold water, 

 or taken from cold water such as that of the fountain 

 tank where we caught ours. After breaking the spinal 

 cord just before breakfast and back of the head, you skin 

 the bass, following precisely the following directions: 

 You make an incision on the right hand side of the back- 

 bone, extending from the neck to the end of the top of 

 the tail; then you make a similar incision on the left 

 hand side, meeting the first one in the tail. Those cuts 

 go deep euough down to sever and remove the bones 

 lying below the back fins. You lay hold of this strip 

 behind the south back fin, and pull out the entire strip 

 skin, fins, bones and all. The skin must be pulled from the 

 tail toward the head, or the fish will not taste so good. 

 You now turn the fish over, and remove a similar strip 

 of skin from the middle longitude of the abdomen, obser- 

 ving the same care to pull the skin from the tail forward. 



You have remaining two strips of skin, one on each 

 side. Eemove the skin from the right hand side first, 

 and be sure to pull the skin from the head backward 

 toward the tail. Any mistake about this will vitiate the 

 results. The left hand side is skinned in precisely the 

 same way. During these operations the fish should be 

 kept with the head pointing to the north as much as 

 possible, in order that the electric currents may be afforded 

 freer passage. 



The head and viscera of the fish are now removed, 

 and the fish is dried with a clean napkin. It is then 

 rolled lightly in cornmeal dust, and is ready for the 

 cooking. It must not be cut into pieces, but cooked 

 whole. The actual cooking is neither frying nor boiling 

 but both, and both at Once. A pot is half filled with 

 lard, and this is heated until it actually boils— not sizzles, 

 but boils. Into this boiling lard the fish is dropped bodily. 

 At once the entire surface is seared, and the taste or odor 

 of the lard never penetrates the fish, although the latter 

 is left in the pot for several minutes, until it is thoroughly 

 crisp and brown. Then it is coaxed out on to a hot plate 

 and drained. The man who can't eat the whole three 

 pound bass, or what is now left of it, never ought to 

 think of being the head of a household. 



Fish cooked in this way comt-s to the table dry and 

 flaky, and quite free from the suggestion of moisture 

 always to be found under the skin in fish boiled or fried 

 with the skin on. The action of the hot lard cm-Is the 

 ribs back upon themselves, and loosens the flesh upon all 

 the bones. At the touch of a crust the white and flaky 

 segments fall away from the backbone, and the smaller 

 bones arrange themselves in a pile at one side of the 

 plate. There is no trouble about eating fish cooked in 

 this way, except the trouble to get enough to eat. Care 

 should be taken to follow the directions implicitly, or the 

 Koshkonong grade of excellence can not be guaranteed. 

 This is the real, only, genuine Blackhawk way of cooking 

 fish, and the credit of its discovery and perfection is due 

 to Mrs. Wentworth. It was Mr. Wentworth who cooked 

 the fish for our breakfast, there being but three of us at 

 the club house, which was officially closed for the season. 

 He assured me that he couldn't cook fish a little bit beside 

 his wife, but if this be true there are beatific realms in 

 gastronomy which I for one dare not visit. I should not 

 wish to catch a whole boat load of fish on one day, and 

 eat them all for breakfast on the next. 



It was at this same breakfast that I was offered a 

 peculiarly sweet and pleasant sort of jelly, with the 

 remark that I couldn't guess what it was made of. I 

 couldn't. They told me that Mrs. Wentworth made it 

 from wild thomapples. I believe thiB is something else 

 new under the sun. The flavor was indescribably wild 

 and sweet. 



Lake Koshkonong is remarkable for the size of its 

 black bass. The small-mouthed and large-mouthed run 

 about equal in numbers, and the sport in season is fine. 

 One afternoon we were visited at the club house by Mr 

 G. W. Esterly and Mr. E. D. Coe, of Whitewater, both 

 members of the club. Mr. Esterly was for a number of 

 years president of the club. He has been very prominent 

 in matters of State protective legislation, as I have men- 

 tioned in an earlier paper, in company with Mr. Coe, who 

 is proprietor of the Whitewater Register. Around the 

 stove there was a general talk on game laws, in which we 

 were presently joined by Mr. Duane Starin. The latter 

 gentleman has not been satisfied with the result of the 

 late laws, and expressed himself as being in favor of a 

 law restricting the shooting to three days of the week. 

 As I understood it, such a bill was attempted to be placed 

 before the last Assembly; but the bill had a string to it. 

 It wanted to have only three days shooting in each week 

 on Lake Koshkonong, but carried a repeal clause abolish- 

 ing all other former laws on this head. This would be 

 protection with a vengeance. If Mr. Starin does not 

 know that the measure he favors has been presented with 

 just such a big reservation to it, he should investigate 

 the matter. A law which will keep the present laws, 

 and restrict the shooting by one-half more, is all right. 

 But nobody with good judgment wants the present 

 law repealed at any cost. It gives the wildfowl the open 

 water, and if they have that they can take care of them- 

 selves pretty well. Three days a week of "floating" 

 would disturb and unsettle continually. Make it not 

 easy, but hard to kill a canvas back. Then we will have 

 canvasbacks to look at, anyhow, and will appreciate one 

 when we do get it. 



From the talk of these gentlemen, I learned that the 

 f oolish law permitting fishing through the ice was allowed 

 to go in as a sort of compromise measure. Something 

 had to be done for the poor, down-trodden farmer who 

 wants to catch a mess of fish for his family, and who 



would be prevented from it by the hard-hearted and 

 grasping sportsman ! So the down-trodden farmer snakes 

 out game fish by the barrelful, and sells them in Chicago 

 right along. ° 



There is a law in Wisconsin forbidding the hunting of 

 rabbits with dogs. This also was a sop to the farmer ele- 

 ment, who didn't want city "fellers" coming out with 

 dogs to run across their land. To gain elsewhere, the 

 sportsman yielded here. It is pretty safe to say that rab- 

 bits are not hunted with dogs in Wisconsin,* and decl- 

 are. 



The river froze across while we were at the club house, 

 and Mr. Wentworth and I had a great time getting a 

 boat across when we started over for our visit to Mr. 

 Gordon, at Koshkonong Place, on the bluff. We passed 

 a good many pot-fishermen waiting for the ice to harden 

 on the lake. 



We saw a grand flock of prairie chickens, about thirty, 

 sitting on the ground and in the trees, right on Black- 

 hawk's old corn ground. There were enough in that one 

 bunch to make a good 3tart for next year's crop, if let 

 alone. • 



"I caught a man trapping chickens, last winter, over 

 there m that field just beyond the timber. We found 

 three birds in the traps one morning, and from the blood 

 and feathers it looked as if the fellow had caught plenty 

 more before that. We took him before an enlightened 

 ™ ' who im P° sed tne terrible punishment of a $2 fine! 

 1 hat's about how much our justices are in sympathy with 

 the law." 



There was some writing in Forest and Stream last 

 summer about the error of the engrossing clerk which 

 made the Illinois open date on chickens Sept. 15 instead 

 of Sept. 1. There was an error also in engrossing the 

 Wisconsin law on grouse, but this time the mistake was 

 against the sportsmen and not in their favor, as it was in 

 Illinois. The Wisconsin date was intended to be Sept. 1, 

 but the clerk made it Aug. 1. Noble date for chickens, 

 isn t it? There has been some mighty plain talk about 

 the clerk who made that particular "error." 



Along the foot of the lake bluff we saw countless springs 

 bursting out among the rocks, and saw the great spring 

 by the big rock, where Blackhawk is said to have gone 

 down for his water supply. It is no wonder Koskonone 

 is a cold lake. 



We could not help noticing also the countless "Indian 

 mounds" which cover the whole surface of this bluff. 

 Among these are some of the largest and most regular 

 ones to be found anywhere in this region. Many, how- 

 ever, have irregular and fantastic outlines. The old 

 "sacrificial mound"— so-called by the State expert who 

 opened many of these mounds— stands near the spacious 

 and comfortable house where Mr. Gordon makes his home. 



We also saw Mr. Gordon's flock of wild turkeys run- 

 ning around in the yard, or rather a part of the flock, for 

 it is broken into a number of bunches. Mr. Gordon has 

 more than 200 wild turkeys on his place, all showing the 

 distinctive chestnut bars and red legs that distinguish 

 the Mexican or southwestern wild turkey from the wild 

 bird of the northern latitudes. This band is the growth 

 from two pairs of wild birds brought up from the Indian 

 Territory, together with some crossing of tame stock. 

 The birds are not fed until winter time, and thrive 

 splendidly, the loss in nesting being practically nothing, 

 although the turkeys all nest out in the woods, wild. 

 Last spring 20 pairs went off and gathered up tame 

 flocks for over 20 miles, getting down into the country 

 as far as Johnstone. They never came back again. 

 Their owner thinks that wild turkeys are not desirable 

 game birds for a preserve, as it is impossible to keep 

 them on a territory in numbers beyond what the local 

 insect life will naturally support. When this food grows 

 scant, they "swarm," and work away to other covers. 

 For this reason Mr. Gordon is selling off his turkeys, in- 

 tending to cut down the size of the flock. 



Immediately about or near to the residence house 

 Mr. Gordon owns about 400 acres of land, and himself 

 and wealthy Chicago parties own about 250 acres more. 

 This, as I understand it, is arable la.nd, and on this is fed 

 Mr. Gordon's herd of registered Guernseys, numbering 

 120 head. Last year Mr. Gordon sold $10,000 of butter to 

 one Chicago restaurant man. This is said to be the larg- 

 est and best Guernsey herd in the world. I am not sure 

 just how much is the entire acreage controlled by the 

 Koshkonong Place people, including all the marsh lands, 

 but their prestige and influence about the lake is very 

 considerable indeed. i 



We were fortunate in finding Mr. Gordon at home, and 

 were welcomed by him and his assistant in the herd 

 management, Capt. F. E. Drake, being received in the 

 great hall, half study and half hunter's room, which is 

 the chief place of resort in this delightful abode. There 

 is a royal great fireplace here, and a good gun rack, and 

 all sorts of tilings appurtenant and dear to whoso maketh 

 or loveth a gun. I doubt the propriety of going further 

 into the appointments of a gentleman's private home, 

 and will merely say that I should think Mr. Gordon could 

 manage to worry through the winter there if the wood 

 and water hold out. 



We were treated to a rare sight here, and one which I 

 do not think is offered often to any sportsman. The view 

 of the lake from the gallery of Koshkonong Place is a 

 grand one even to the unaided eye. Increased by the aid 

 of the fine four-inch telescope which is kept mounted 

 there, it becomes magnificent. The lake at this time was 

 under the first freeze of the season, and was covered 

 with a light coat of tough ice over the greater part of its 

 surface. Here and there, out toward the middle, and in 

 one or two spots near to the cover-line, there were some 

 small open holes, and into these all the ducks remaining 

 about Koshkonong had piled headlong. When we 

 turned the great glass upon one of these holes a beautiful 

 picture was presented. The ducks appeared just less 

 than life size, and their every motion could be seen with 

 perfect distinctness. They were feeding, and we could 

 see them diving and coming up constantly, and once in a 

 while we would catch sight of another bunch, circling in 

 and alighting among the contented party already en- 

 gaged in the celery lunch. The ducks were mostly blue- 

 bills and goldeneyes. V/ e saw no canvasbacks in any of 

 the holes upon which we turned the glass. Away out in 

 the middle of the lake we could see two boats slowly 

 breaking their way to some spot of open water. Good 

 shooting could have been had on Koshkonong that day, 

 even from an open boat, at one of these holes, and a flat 

 boat or white blind, if legal, would have insured a great 

 quantity of game. This was Nov. 26. J 



After we had enjoyed the curious antics of the ducks 

 a while we formed a little hunting party of four and went 

 out after some of Mr. Gordon's rabbits, of which we saw 

 a good many, thanks to the virtue of preserved grounds. 

 The cover was very thick, and we had a great amount of 

 sport without hurting the rabbits very much, either in 

 the morning or in the little hunt after luncheon. It was 

 very delightful, this wandering around in the brown 

 woods and thickets; and all the time we were hardly a 

 mile or so from the house. Mr. Gordon may certainly 

 flatter himself on the quality of the entertainment he can 

 offer a shooting guest. There are few localities which 

 offer so wide a range of sport. With the wildfowl, the 

 snipe, the plover, grouse and rabbits, a great portion of 

 the year is covered, to say nothing of the fishing. 



Squirrels are not shot on the grounds of Koshkonon^ 

 Place, neither are the crows, hawks or owls. There are 

 not any quail on these grounds, nor, indeed, anywhere 

 about the lake, as far as I could learn. Yet they are native 

 to that country and were once very abundant there. A 

 better quail country could not be asked, so far as feed 

 and cover are concerned. Mr. Gordon expressed an in- 

 tention of stocking the farms with quail. I wonder 

 would he trade five wild turkeys for quail ? There is one 

 good covey of partridges in the woods. We saw but one 

 of these, which got away from us verv smoothly. That is 

 great ground for rabbits, for it is cut up with burrows of 

 ground hogs, etc., into which they run. Late in the 

 evening they seemed to come out. We saw many more 

 rabbits then, and as we walked home after dark we could 

 hear them pattering along in the dry leaves on either 

 side of the road. 



There is an odd character on Koshkonong by name of 

 Hancke, who traps, fishes, sells minnows and does sim- 

 ilar work for a living. We walked down through the 

 woods to his cabin, which lies below the bluff, near a 

 strong spring, which bubbles up and runs into the lake. 

 Hancke was not at home and the door was locked, but 

 we could look through the window and see on the oppo- 

 site wall a part of the great collection of flint arrow-heads 

 and spear-heads which he has made from this region and 

 which is probably the best of the kind in a long distance. 

 Hancke had the smaller pieces nicely arranged in order 

 of size and fastened against the wall. Upon a shelf near 

 by we could see a number of stone axeheads and other 

 implements of that curious time, of which we have so 

 many similar evidences. 



The chief attraction of this odd little corner of the 

 woods, however, was the great spring which here gushes 

 up from the earth. This spring was "boxed into several 

 compartments, the largest of which was perhaps 8ft. 

 square. Each box or room had a cover upon it, and all 

 were connected so that the water passed freely through 

 from the upper to the lower one. The water was about 

 2ft. deep, and the bottom, wherever we could see it, was 

 a pure white sand, out of which the water sprang over a 

 wide surface. I say, where we could see the bottom, for 

 it was hardly visible by reason of the thousands and 

 thousands of minnows whose black masses constantly 

 swarmed and surged about, filling the great boxes, it 

 would seem, almost as full as they could hold. This was 

 Hancke's bait box. He sells live minnows to the winter 

 pot -fishermen who fish through the ice, charging them 

 usually about a cent apiece for them. We made a rough 

 estimate by measurement, and thought that Hancke must 

 have 30,000 minnows, or nearly that, now on hand. He 

 travels the country far and wide, and seines these min- 

 nows out of the creeks. He feeds them by hanging a 

 piece of liver in the box, or tossing in a little cornmeal. 

 This is as nearly perfect a live bait box as one will be apt 

 to see. It shows the importance of the ice fishing on this 

 lake, and indicates the extensive preparations made for 

 it. 



Hancke has desecrated this spring, for this is what is 

 known as the old Mission Spring. There was once a 

 Jesuit chapel near where Hancke's cabin now stands, 

 and here the Indians gathered in numbers to hear the 

 teachings of the pale-faced priests. Tempora mutantur.' 



There is an old trail running near this spring, and tins 

 we were told was the old Chicago land trail from Green 

 Bay, in the fur-trading days. 



There was too much to see and talk about, and too 

 much in Mr. Gordon's invitation to stay the night; so that 

 Mr. Wentworth and I did not get back to Blackhawk 

 club house that "day, but passed the evening in a yarn- 

 spinning assemblage by the big fireplace, and the night 

 in sweet and dreamless sleep. There is no conscience 

 can trouble a consistent ranger of the woods. 



We said aclios the next morning, hoping to meet 

 again. We hail and vanish, so many friendly sail! 



Walking along the edge of the frozen lake near where 

 the springs kept the ground soft at the foot of the bluff, 

 I saw two jacksnipe and was wicked enough to put up 

 one of them and shoot it. It fell upon the ice and I 

 walked out and picked it up. This was, I believe, 

 Nov. 27. 



Jan. 23— To-day Mr. W. W. Carney writes me from 

 Great Bend, Kansas, the following interesting account: 



"You know that it is often said the coyotes run jacks. 

 Well, the other day I saw a pair chase and catch a white- 

 tailed one. I did not give them the pleasure of eating it, 

 for I chased them away and examined it, and so far as I 

 could see it was a full-grown jack, and perfectly sound, 

 excepting what they had injured it." 



It has always been generally supposed that the full- 

 grown jack-rabbit could escape from one or even two 

 coyotes. Mr. Carney does not say whether he saw the 

 whole chase or not, or whether the coyotes hunted in 

 their usual "relay ' system. He may have seen only the 

 close of the course. I wish he would be good enough to 

 describe this wild coursing more fully for us. 



Another Kansas friend, Mr. M. E. Allison, writes by 

 the same mail. I am sorry to see that in his despair 

 about any more big game hunting he has sold the pair of 

 foxhounds which gave us so much fun in the Nations one 

 time. I am sorry also to see that these dogs are now 

 being used in hounding deer. The boys will make noth- 

 ing at that, even in New Mexico. Better confine the 

 sport to cats and bears. The dogs will make noise enough 

 in the hills, at that. Mr. Allison says: 



"I have not had a hunt this winter, and I have got the 

 best pack of big game dogs (greyhounds) I ever owned 

 and nothing for them to do. They have not been out of 

 the kennels this winter. I have six big young dogs that 

 will catch and kill anything. They ought to be out in 

 some of the Western Territories, where their value would 



