Aug. 7, 1800.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



47 



pake broke out, "Stop your bellering, young feller! What 

 ire you firing at the box for? Hit those fellers in the legs, 

 ,/ou' bet! Don't yon know nothing?" The mixture of 

 W^maml and invective insured the adoption of Jake's 

 Uan and the defeat of the hostile maneuver; but when 

 Hphot blood of coufiiet had calmed down, the position of 

 Pg^arrison was gloomy enough to partly excuse old Pit- 

 po's morose grumbling. 



I -^That ere squaw," he began, "aint no use, Jake. She'll 



twice as much as a man, and we're short of grub." 

 r»'That's my squaw, old man," was the answer, "and 

 Hftn't you forget it, you bet! She'll take her share with 

 KEfS rest, an' if she eats as much as a man, she's more'n 

 tour times as good as some men." 



i'jOld Pitkin did not take up the inuendo clearly aimed 

 nt his own kin, but changed his ground and made an at- 

 tack on the unoffending BeaverWoman still more malig- 

 nantly. 



I! ^You aint married to that squaw nohow, Jake," said he, 

 '•and you're bound to shed her, and pay a big tine to the 

 Sj&itory besides." 



For the Legislature of Montana, stirred by a sentiment 

 ^rnurity or desirous of filling the coffers of state, had 

 actually passed a law. making the unions of whites and 

 Indians penal offenses unless a certificate of marriage 

 vvere bled with the. county clerk. Jake's uneasy temper 

 ffiaa kindled to vehemeuce by the old man's speech, and 

 ffitkisin and strife would have arisen had not young Pit- 

 Ktt soothed the quarrel by assuring both contestants that 

 hies or imprisonments Avere trifling matters to people 

 fr-bose ; calps would soon dangle from the Blackfoot lodge 

 soles. Throughout all this discussion BeaverWoman had 

 : f it muffled in her blanket apparently resting from her 

 fxertions during the fight and unmindful of what was 

 laid. But an occurrence that happened in the night 

 showed that the poor thing had deeply reflected over the 

 ,aUnts of old Pitkin, for in the morning the old man 

 ooked around and shouted out that Beaver Woman had 

 inserted, pointing out her moccasin tracks in the snow 

 fading toward the Indian camp, 



Jake promptly resented the imputation of desertion and 

 iceused old Pitkin in direct and even insulting terms of 

 aging a meddlesome fool, offering to break his back, 

 .mong other amenities, if he opened his head again, 

 levertheless, the squaw was clearly gone, the garrison 

 Wdly better fed and weaker by one. 



Ib truth Beaver Woman had stolen out into the bitter 

 old night, feeling sure that the Indians (who take every 

 .reeaution against surprise except staying awake) would 

 feye no sentinel on the watch, with the intention of 

 uunnoning to the rescue a detachment of troops that was 

 tat i cued near the agency. 



Only when she had sallied out did she see how ill-pre- 

 lartd she was for the journey. When day came the 

 ight snow would betray her tracks to the then vigilant 

 uemy and she would be ridden down and sacrificed 

 vilhout accomplishing her mission. Then the idea of 

 ■tealing a. horse came to her. The Indian horses, to be 

 ' Id hardly let her catch them without making a 

 hsturbance, but the buckskin pony was as familiar with 

 ler as a dog. Him she sought noiselessly, found him. 

 latted him softly, coaxed him out of his captor's camp; 

 aiounted bareback and at daybreak was far on the road 

 ;q the wished-for succor. 



L'ist-coyote-but-one was indignant. His feelings em- 

 bittered his family relations so that, while his harem 

 fared not revolt, there was a feeling among them that 

 mch ears or other features as had not already been bitten 

 rtl would be safer if they too should steal horses and seek 

 be agency. From this air of domestic infelicity the chief 

 sought relief in action. Buffalo meat was still plentiful, 

 out the plunder of Fort Pitkin was running low and he 

 yearned for a continuance of luxury. Sugar was gone, 

 .'off'.e was gone. Tea did not suit his palate, and of the 

 whisky only the enervating effect was left. The braves 

 must be roused. One day must be devoted to the manu- 

 facture of ''medicine" and the next to its successful use, 

 aid he registered a vow to exterminate the enemy. 



Jake, after his fulminations against old Pitkin on the 

 morning of the squaw's flight, settled himself down in 

 logged "silence to prolonged literary effort. He cleaned 

 jff a corner Of the counter, brought out supplies of ink 

 and paper and began to toil seriously. Page after page 

 >£ labored manuscript was discarded. He would care- 

 fully compile a series of dates, localities, and formulas, 

 supposed by him to have a legal look, would read over his 

 production : ponder it ; and then muttering ' 'left something 

 jut again, you bet!" would consign the writing to the fire. 

 At last he seemed to take a final decision, and, writing off 

 R itb cr mparative speed a couple of lines, he put the paper 

 iarefully in his inside pocket, and turned with an air of 

 :elief to resume his martial duties. 



During the day the Indians could be seen moving about 

 tad at last gathering in the largest lodge, whence issued 

 it times the regular beat of rhythmic effort audible even 

 it the cabin, telling of the progress of the religious rites 

 leeded for the making of "medicine." The wearied 

 raders slept by turns during the day, thinking that the 

 indian preparations boded an attack in the night; but 

 he watchful night again passed undisturbed and morn- 

 eloped the Blackfoot tactics. 



Isolated warriors crept up along the little gulches that 

 learned the plain, found the best shelter they could, and 

 "tegan to get the range of every window and chink in the 

 ;abin to silence the rifles of the garrison, while the wagon 

 iaptured at Fort Pitkin was to be filled with dry wood, 

 uu close to the cabin and set on fire. Fortunately the 

 jround around the house was level for a good distance 

 Wad the sharpshooters had to take their posts so far off 

 hat their aim was inaccurate, but all the morning an an- 

 loyiug fusilade was kept up and two feeble attempts 

 were made to move up the wagon. 



The defenders, however, were in a miserable plight, 

 short of food, short of cartridges, short of temper and 

 nuch iu want of sleep. It needed not the Cassandra 

 noanings of young Pitkin, nor the growling of his elder 

 laniesake to show that the traders must perish if the In- 

 lians should at length try to fire the cabin in the night, 

 ls their momentary retirement, having the wagon in 

 lositi on, seemed to indicate. Jake, who seemed to need 

 i.o rest and certainly took none, found it harder and 

 larder to spur his men to exertion, either by exhortation 

 w reproach. The depression of the Pitkins was catching. 



xVbout 3 o'clock in the afternoon young Pitkin, going 

 h a window in a crouching position to take a peep, an- 

 nounced gloomily that the besiegers were getting their 

 norses and that the whites might just as well give up; the 



Indians could close in before they had lost half a dozen 

 men and carry everything. 



Jake, who had run to the window poked his head 

 out, commanded a wider view. "I knew it!" he cried 

 excitedy. "I knew it! She went for 'em. They're com- 

 ing, they're coming, you be*! Them Bloods know it if 

 you don't. You don't see no Indians rustle like that in 

 winter unless something's up, you bet/' 



Sure enough the Indians were busy and scarcely in a 

 hostile way. Some were hurriedly striking tepees and 

 lashing packs or travois on their ponies. Others, with 

 higher regard for personal safety, were already riding 

 far along the trail. Only a few aided their determined 

 chief in preparing battle, while faint and clear in the 

 distance now thrilled the ringing call of the bugle sound- 

 ing its brazen orders; and soon the skirmishers topped 

 the bluff, quickly followed by the command. Their rush 

 wa8 hardly resisted. Last-coyote-but-one still clung to 

 his savage, but now hopeless resolution of exterminating 

 the whites. lie shut himself in a tepee and began that 

 measured grunting, which is called the death song. 

 Through a slit in the leathern wall he pushed his rifle and 

 killed the first soldier who approached. The commander, 

 unwilling to sacrifice men, brought up a small field piece. 

 He had been using bad language during all the march at 

 the senseless order which forced him to drag such orna- 

 mental lumber over the prairie, but now it served his turn. 

 Two rounds of canister reduced the tepee to a mass of 

 rags and silenced forever Last-coyote-but-one. 



As the troops moved up to the rescued traders, old Pitkin 

 caught sight of Beaver Woman sitting a-straddle of the 

 buckskin pony in a most ungraceful bunch. Her black 

 locks, straggling from under the blanket that covered her 

 head, fell around a face drawn with weariness and ex- 

 posure, and her joy at success was clouded by doubt as 

 to the reception she would get. 



Old Pitkin, whose sullen enmity was stronger than his 

 sense of probability, really thought that the squaw had 

 sought safety by a double desertion, siding always with 

 the victors of the hour. His evil temper conquered the 

 pleasure he should have felt at his wonderful deliver- 

 ance. 



"Now then, Jake," he shouted angrily, "I reckon you've 

 got to shed that squaw. We won't have no such draggle- 

 tail spy 'round, noway. Come on now, boys, we'll break 

 a hole in the ice and duck her anyhow, and send her to 

 join her good relations." 



Jake, who was hurrying forward, stopped, and, giving 

 the old man a sounding blow, burst out into angry decla- 

 mation. "I don't shed not squaw, you bet! And no man 

 don't touch to hurt her, neither. I've got eight shots, you 

 bet, in my Winchester for any outfit that wants to try on 

 any ducking racket. I've got the certificate wrote out," 

 he continued, flourishing a paper excitedly, "and to- 

 morrow it goes in, andshe's my wife, you bet! same's any 

 white woman in the bunch." 



Filed among the valued records of Choteau county, 

 Montana, may be found the following document: 

 ' ' This certifies that Beaver Woman is my wife, you bet ! 



The formality of signing this instrument was forgotten, 

 but no one has ever ventured to doubt its validity. 



H. Gr. Dtjlog. 



HABITS OF THE WHITE GOAT. 



BY JOHN FANNIN AND GEO. BIRD GRINNELL. . 

 [Continued from Page 28.1 



THE white goat is gregarious in habit, and yet we 

 have never seen it in large bands, as is the case with 

 the elk, the antelope and even the mountain sheep. The 

 only record of anything like a large herd is that furnished 

 by Mr. J. C. McKinnon in a previous chapter, and of this 

 occurrence it must be said that the animals reported were 

 seen at a great distance, and that there is a possibility 

 that they may not have been of this species at all. We 

 have never seen more than twelve or fifteen individuals 

 together at one time, and even this is unusual. It is, 

 however, very common to see groups of from two to six 

 feeding in company. These are usually old females with 

 their young, or young females of one and two years old, 

 which have not yet bred. The males appear to be much 

 more solitary in habit, and to prefer to keep quite by 

 themselves. No doubt as the rutting season draws near 

 they gather about them groups of females. Only on one 

 occasion, however, have we seen an old male in company 

 with several females. This was late in November. 



We are unable to state precisely when the rutting sea- 

 son occurs, but presume that it is in December. The 

 young are born — in the main range of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains at least — in the month of May. A very young one 

 was caught by a Cree half-breed named Burd on May 23, 

 1889. Its mother having been shot, it remained by her 

 until captured. This animal was very small, its body 

 being only about as large as a cat. The Indians say that 

 two young are sometimes brought forth, but we have 

 never seen more than one following the mother. The 

 female does not breed until she is two years old past. 

 This is the testimony of the Indians, and it is confirmed 

 by our own observation, for we have killed many two- 

 year-old females and have never seen one that had bred. 

 The growth of the young is rapid. At three months old 

 they are well able to keep up with their mothers in climb- 

 ing the mountains. They continue to suck and to follow 

 the mother late into the fall, and we are ignorant when 

 they are weaned. The horns of the young males appear 

 to grow much more rapidly than those of the females. 

 The latter in October have only short knobs, less than an 

 inch in length, while on young males of about the same 

 age we have seen horns four or five inches long. 



The food in summer consists mainly of grass, a species 

 of moss which grows high up on the mountains, and the 

 tender shoots of the low-growing mountain willows 

 which abound in the moist ravines, which are found high up 

 on the steeps which it frequents. An examination of the 

 contents of the stomachs always shows an abundance 

 of woody fiber, which consists largely of the tips of 

 these plants. In the winter they eat pine needles and the 

 twigs of a plant known in the West as "buck brush." 

 Mr. L. L. Bales informs us also that they feed on the soft 

 bark of young fir trees. On the whole, however, little 

 that is definite is known about their food, and a careful 

 analysis of the stomach contents is greatly to be desired. 



The dung under ordinary conditions may at once be recog- 

 nized by the shape. It takes the form of pellets, which, 

 instead of being ovate or ellipsoidal in form, are smaller 

 at one end than the other, and take the form of a spheri- 

 cal triangle. 



The rugged character of the region inhabited by the 

 white goat is its chief protection. It is not swift of foot 

 like the deer or the mountain sheep, nor is it provided 

 with any special means of defense against the attacks of 

 its enemies. Yet along the steep precipices and among 

 the rough rocks where it has its home it can move as rap- 

 idly as almost any animal which may pursue it; and if 

 driven to bay, it lias abundant courage and can effec- 

 tively tise the short, sharp, awl-like horns with which 

 the head is armed. A dog or a wolf can readily be tossed 

 oyer a precipice by a swinging blow of the long, low-car- 

 ried head, though' against a larger animal like a bea,r or 

 a cougar the goat could make but a poor fight. 



Among themselves the inales have pitched battles which 

 are often severe. We have never seen one of these, but 

 instances are recorded where horns broken off in battle 

 have been found encysted in the flesh of males that have 

 been killed. The long, shaggy coat and the very thick 

 hide of these animals protect the combatants to a great 

 extent from severe injuries. 



We have known of a few cases where, when the white 

 hunter had unexpectedly come close upon one of these 

 animals, the creature has advanced toward the man with 

 bristling hair and threatening carriage; but of course in 

 all such cases the goat has been killed. 



Among hunters the white antelope has the reputation 

 of being a singularly stupid animal. It has neither the 

 keen sight of the antelope nor the quick ear of the moun- 

 tain sheep. Its powers of scent are, however, very good. 



The eye is small and flat, thus differing markedly from 

 that of many other of our herbivores, in which the eye is 

 so prominent that it almost seems that the animal can 

 see behind it as well as front. Its habit of carrying the 

 head low is no doubt one reason why it cannot see well, 

 or, at all events, is slow to detect moving objects which 

 are in plain sight. 



While its failure to hear sounds, or at least to pay atten- 

 tion to them, may in part be due to the fact that, in the 

 situations which it frequents, rocks are continually roll- 

 ing down the mountain sides, and landslides and ava- 

 lanches occur so often that they are common noises of 

 the mountains; yet we are inclined to believe that the 

 white goat is often partially deaf. On several occasions 

 we have noticed, in skinning these animals, that their 

 ears were full of wood ticks. In a single specimen we 

 have counted more than twenty of these insects, of all 

 sizes, deep down in the cavity of the ear, many of them 

 so gorged with blood as actually to stop up the auditory 

 canal. Indians have informed us that sometimes persons 

 get wood ticks in their ears, and that when this takes 

 place the person so afflicted becomes deaf until the para- 

 site is removed. Whatever the reason, it is certain that 

 the white goat displays little of the alertness and watch- 

 fulness that characterize most of our game animals, and 

 that it may be approached by the hunter with less cau- 

 tion than any other of them. 



[TO BE CONCLUDED.] 



BREEDING MINK. 



C CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., July 38.— Editor Forest and 

 ) Stream: In answer to your correspondent "E. P, 

 S.," in Forest and Stream of July 24, 1 will say that my 

 father about twenty-five years ago in western New York 

 made quite extended experiments in breeding mink, and 

 with considerable success, enough at least to warrant the 

 belief that these animals can be bred successfully in con- 

 finement if properly managed. 



My father had at one time thirty mink, mostly of his 

 own raising, and they were as tame and easily handled 

 as so many kittens, but the decline in furs and conse- 

 quently somewhat of our enthusiasm in the enterprise, 

 and our subsequent removal to Tennessee put an end to 

 the experiment. We lost a number, I remember, toward 

 the last by feeding them too much beefs liver. The little 

 animals were exceedingly fond of liver, and we threw 

 into the yard one day a whole beef's liver, on which they 

 gorged themselves for several days. This brought on a 

 kind of dysentery, of which a good many died. We also 

 lost a number from no cause that we could ascertain , 

 but which I now believe was from keeping too many con- 

 fined in too small a space. The mink is a solitary animal 

 by nature, and when too many are by force congregated it 

 brings on contagious diseases among them. 



Our inclosure was at first about four or five rods square 

 and surrounded a clump of small spruce trees, and had a 

 stream of water constantly running through it in a box 

 about a foot wide and the same depth. Later we found 

 that the animals had to be separated most of the year, 

 for they are vicious fighters, especially the old ones, and 

 thus the inclosure was divided up into small compart- 

 ments. The outside was an upright tight board fence 

 6ft. high, resting on a stone wall one foot below the sur- 

 face, with flat stones at the bottom projecting in, also 

 with a board a foot wide projecting inward from the top, 

 and the corners lined with tin. Then to insure their not 

 climbing out we used to clip the two front nails of the 

 forepaws. If this is done when the animal is young, and 

 the nail clipped close up — that is, taking off the end of 

 the toe with it — it will not be likely to grow out again, 

 and this quite effectually spoils the animal's ability as a 

 climber or digger. 



As a boy, it was my part of the farm chores to look 

 after the "minkery," and an agreeable duty it was to me 

 in many respects. The feed consisted almost entirely of 

 woodchucks, in which our section of western New York 

 abounded, and many an afternoon the excuse of being 

 out of "mink bait" was sufficient to let me off about 

 milking time, and many a poor woodchuck fell a victim 

 to my little smooth-bore at short range. The young ones 

 were fed mostly on milk, lapping it up greedily like 

 young puppies. 



A young mink is easily tamed, and they are the most 

 cute and playful little creatures in the world. They will 

 play together for hours at a time, rolling and tumbling 

 over each other in the water and out in the most amus- 

 ing manner. They were sociable and friendly and 

 seemed delighted when I came into the yard to see 

 them. They would crawl all over me and up my coat 

 sleeve and pantaloon legs, and let me feel of their sharp 

 needle-like teeth without offering to bite. I have seen 

 them rolling and tumbling in the water, when one would 



