102 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 36, 1891. 



AT THE DEPOT. 

 'T^HE night express is late, and still prevails 



The storm. Far up the frowning mountainside 



It rages in its anger, power and pride, 

 Then, stooping lilje an eagle, fierce assails 

 The groaning pines and hemlooiis in the vales. 



The air is thick with snow, and lav and wide 



Resounds aloud the unabating tide 

 Of storm. Deep in the woods, between the gales. 

 The yelping foxes scold the hitter night. 



While I my wrapping furs the more enjoy, 



And pace the sheltered platform, as a boy 

 G-oes forth to hail the winter with delight. 



But harls! Now clicks the key, and through the gloom 



Breaks the fierce headlight like the day of doom! 



S. Nelson McAdoo. 



HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY. 



BY CHARLES LANMAN. 



[From the forthcoming revised edition of "Haphazard 

 Personalities."! 



''f^HE name of Sibley has been familiar to me ever since 

 X I was a boy of ten years, when I first met Henry H. 

 Sibley at the house of his noted father Solomon Sibley, in 

 the city of Deti'oit. About twelve years afterward, when 

 he visited New York for the purpose of purchasing Indian 

 goods, of the noted firm of Suydam, Jackson & Co., I not 

 only gave him the prices and boxed up the goods, but re- 

 member to have marked them for a region that seemed to 

 me at the time on the other side of the world. 



And then again, in 1845, when spending "a simimer in 

 the wilderness" of the upper Mississippi, I found my 

 Detroit friend in a log cabin at the mouth of the St, Peters 

 River, performing the duties of an Indian trader. Not 

 only did we have some pleasant talks about dear old 

 Michigan and our many Wolverine friends, but he took 

 me to see the Falls of Mimiehaha and St. Anthony, also 

 furnished me with a horse and an Indian guide to take 

 me to Crow Wing, further up the Iilississippi. I also pur- 

 chased of him, at the time, a Mackinaw blanket, large, 

 blue and fine in texture, for use in my prospective camp 

 life — ^probably one of the specimens I had packed up for 

 him in Pearl street, New York, and which, though 

 now changed by the dyer to a bright crimson, I have 

 often utilized in later years for the sake of the old times. 



After another turn of the wheel of fortune, when Mr. 

 Sibley was seated in the National Congress as a delegate 

 from Minnesota, it become necessary for me to "take his 

 life" for my Dictionary of Congress: and as he is at this 

 present writing a remarkably healthy old man, I am re- 

 minded of a bit of advice, which he gave me in W ashing- 

 ton, to the effect that tbe drinking of a glass of water 

 every morning immediately after leaving one's bed was 

 a very beneficial habit. 



The career of Mr. Sibley as a Western pioneer is in 

 keeping with the progress and present condition of the 

 extensive and splendid region of our country, with which 

 his name will ever be honorably identified. He was 

 born in Detroit in 1811, and after receiving a good educa- 

 tion became fixed with a desire to live and labor in the 

 wilderness, and it was not Wtig before he joined the 

 American Fur Company and was assigned to duty at the 

 Sault St. Mawe and at Mackinaw, Having made liis 

 mark by his abilities, the managers of the company de- 

 cided to send him to look after their affairs on the Mis- 

 sissippi River. His fiii-et stopping place was at Prairie du 

 Cbien in 1834, between which place and his Ultima Thule, 

 at the mouth of the St. Peters, the distance was 300 miles, 

 with only one log cabin to break the monotony, and over 

 which he traveled on horseback with an Indian guide. 

 After spending some ten years in doing what he could 

 for the fur company he was compelled by circumstances 

 to turn his attention to matters more closely allied to 

 civilization than the purchasing of furs. As the immi- 

 grants tumbled into the new Territory of Minnesota Mr. 

 Sibley was elected its first delegate to Congress, and then 

 when the State Government was organized he was 

 elected its first Governor; he also served as a Brigadier 

 General in the war for the Union, and in 1863 com- 

 manded the forces which succeeded in suppressing the 

 noted outbi'eak among the Sioux Indians. At a banquet 

 which was given to the General and ex-Governor in 1884 

 the leading speaker, C. K. Davis, summarized his career 

 in the following words: 



"From the beginning in all that was intended for our 

 Avell being, for the cause of education, for public morals, 

 for social benefit, for our municipal advancement, for 

 our chamber of commerce, for our railroad system and 

 for private benefactions, in all acts which demanded in- 

 tegrity, benevolence, business talent and tact and nerve; 

 in all these he hjis been a leader and an originator. Such 

 debts can never be paid by aught excepting our abound- 

 ing and inadequate gratitude."' 



That a man of noble physique and indomitable energy, 

 like General Sibley, should have had a fondness for the 

 sports of the field, forest and prairie, was quite natural. 

 Because of his reputation as a sportsman he has long 

 been known in the West as "Hal a Dacotah," and certain 

 published recollections from his pen, entitled "Hunting 

 on the Western Prairies" and "Buifalo Hunting," are 

 full of information and highly interesting. He was a 

 devotee of field sports from his boyhood, and it was this 

 mania which induced him to cast his lot on the frontiers 

 of civilization. While hunting for the buffalo and other 

 wild animals he had many narrow escapes from injuries 

 and death, and yet the greatest danger to ' which he was 

 ever exposed came from the assault of a favorite deer- 

 hound, one of a pack to which he was devotedly attached. 



Several Indians on one occasion, to use the language of 

 a friend, had dropjaed into his office to ask counsel of the 

 pale face warrior, whom they regarded with awe and 

 veneration, when the savage dog evinced a desire to 

 attack the intruders. In attempting to quiet the brute, 

 Gen. Sibley awakened the latent tiger-like nature of the 

 hound, and with the i^remonitory symptoms only of a 

 low growl and fiery flash of the eyes, he sprang at his 

 master. The assembled "braves" fled precipitately, and 

 left the owner to subdue the hound or become a victim to 

 his ferocity as the case might be. Grasping a long iron 

 poker, which he kept conveniently near to be used in case 

 of emergency, Mr, Sibley struck the dog a heavy blow 



across the shoulders, but instead of disabling the hound, 

 he succeeded merely in still further exasperating his dan- 

 gerous antagonist. Deterbiined to conquer at all hazards, 

 he seized a heavy oaken chair, which fortuna.tely was of 

 the most substantial kind, and as the maddened beast pre- 

 pared to spring, dealt him a terrific blow, following up 

 his slight advantage and striking as fast and forcibly as 

 circumstances would permit. For some time the com- 

 bat continued, with the utmost fury on one side and 

 deliberate courage and coolness on the other, until the 

 hound, utterly subjugated, retreated to a corner, and his 

 owner advanced and patted him on the head in token of 

 reconciliation. An instant of fear or hesitation would 

 doubtless have resulted in the terrible laceration if not 

 death of the owner. Mr. Sibley ever regarded this as 

 one of the narrowest escapes of his life, and when the 

 conflict was over could but marvel at his own daring in 

 assailing a beast scarcely inferior to the panther in 

 strength and courage. The stout oaken chair was shat- 

 tered in the savage fight, attesting the desperate nature 

 of the conflict. Not long after he had another encounter 

 in the same manner and place, and demolished another 

 of the oaken chairs, but this was the last difiiculty he 

 experienced with the hound, who was ever after com- 

 pletely at his master's command. 



The long-continued and intimate intercourse that Gen. 

 Sibley had with the Sioux and Chippewa Indians gave 

 him an influence with them which was almost unex- 

 ampled. He always treated them with respect, but never 

 yielded to their wldms, and it was undoubtedly true that 

 his first conflict with a Sioux hunter had an important 

 influence in securing the respect of the Indians. The 

 incident occurred soon after Mr. Sibley had reached the 

 wilderness, and was to this effect: He was out upon a 

 duck shooting expedition, and having killed not less than 

 eight birds out of a passing flock with his doublebarreled 

 gun, he was suddenly startled by the report of another 

 gun in his vicinity, when a stalwart Indian came out of 

 his ambush and proceeded to pick up the game the white 

 man had killed. Mr. Sibley said nothing, b^^t approached 

 the Indian, coolly took all the birds as his property, and 

 left the Indian to his own contemplations. He nursed 

 his vn-ath to keep it warm . and was wont in after years 

 to relate the incident to his people, but was careful never 

 to cross the path of the duck hunting white man. 



During the forty-three years that have passed away 

 since General Sibley entertained me in his cabin in the 

 shadow of Fort Snelling, the great domain with which he 

 has been so honorably identified has had a truly marvel- 

 lous career. The spot where he traded with the Indians, 

 together with the neighboring post of St, Peter, now con- 

 tain not less than 300,000 inhabitants, and the States of 

 Minnesota and Wisconsin are to-day perfect paragons of 

 cultivated beauty and the homes of unexampled prosper- 

 ity and intellectual contentment and peace. And as 

 General Sibley was the man who built the first stone 

 residence on the banks of the upper Mississippi it seems 

 to be the most natural result that, at this present writing, 

 the people of Minnesota should be planning for the erec- 

 tion of a marble monument, in a prominent locality, as a 

 tribute of their regard for the most eminent pioneer of 

 then- Commonwealth. 



P. S.— General Sibley died at his home in Minnesota in 

 Febr\iary, 1891, and the press commemorated his long and 

 useful life with earnest and loving testimonials. 



THE CHARMS OF INDIAN RIVER. 



ROCK LEDGE, Fla., Feb. d.— Editor Forest and 

 Strewn: No one has seen Florida who has not 

 visited the Indian River; and Rock Ledge is the gateway 

 to the whole region. Here come the toui-ists, the sports- 

 men and the health seeker, and all find themselves satis- 

 fied and well rewarded. The orange appears here to have 

 found its home, undisturbed by enemies, either of climate 

 or of the insect world, and ofPers the grower a sure and 

 abundant return. The pineapple is aheady yielding 

 fabulous profits to those who have gone into its culture. 

 Along the ridge known as Rock Ledge, the hammock 

 densely wooded with oak and the tall palmetto runs close 

 to the water edge, where the wayfarer can sit in tbe cool 

 shade at all hours of the day, or can stroll for miles along 

 the trail, which follows the indented line of the shore. 

 This old Indian trail, now a beautiful path, has without 

 doubt been a highway for many generations of red men, 

 and before them of the Mound Builders, whose remains 

 are scattered all along the river. New vistas appear at 

 every turn, while from behind the cottages appear the 

 groves heavily laden with the golden fruit. On the broad 

 bosom of the river appear all sorts of craft, steam and 

 naphtha and sail, while the number of steamers plying the 

 whole leiigth of the river proclaim the fact that here at 

 least they are still unvexed by railroad competition. 



So fai-' as the tourist and the sportsman are concerned 

 there need be no hurry for the railway. If you look 

 toward the other shore the reports of guns tell of the 

 sportsman's success among the ducks which swarm along 

 the river. The venison upon the table, with an occasional 

 steak of manatee, with the showing of a panther skin 

 seven feet long attest the supply of game in abundance. 

 Those who desire to shoot ducks go over to the Banana 

 River, where good shooting is assured. 



An example of the intelligence of water fowl is shown 

 at Titusville, where for several years the shooting of 

 ducks has been prohibited on the river along the city's 

 front, and where, as evening comes on, thousands of 

 ducks come swimming in toward their sleeping place, 

 until the water for many rods from the shore is literally 

 black with them. Rock Ledge must shortly pursue a 

 similar plan and protect all water fowl in front, as the 

 birds add greatly to the attractions for visitors, who do 

 not care for shooting them, but who like to watch their 

 graceful movements. 



Indeed, Florida must at once proceed to the enactment 

 of proper laws if the game of the State is to be protected 

 from extinction. There are so many who call themselves 

 sportsmen, who kill for the sake of 'killing without care 

 or thought of the future, that it will be but a few years 

 before the wonderful abundance of game in Florida will 

 be a thing of the past. 



It is devoutly to be hoped that the coming session of 

 the Legislature of Florida will enact proper laws for the 

 Ijrotection of game and the prohibition at aU seasons of 

 the killing of bu-ds of plumage and song. Even now 

 there are long stretches of the Indian River from which 

 the heron and egret liave fled and are seen no more, 



To those who are expecting to visit this region, the 

 jresent hotel accommodations, which are of the best, add 

 argely to the delightfulness of the sojourn. Rock Ledge 

 now offers ample entertainment for all comers. The 

 Hotel Indian River is delightfully situated a httle way 

 from the bi-ink of the river with a grove of tall oaks and 

 palmettos in front and a small fleet of all sorts of boats 

 from a canoe to a schooner, giving ample opportunity for 

 all sorts of recreation on the water, while an orange 

 grove of forty acres affords the tourist the opportunity to 

 study the deUcious fruit at its very best, D. W. W. 



A THANKSGIVING CLIMB. 



EVERYONE was going to the lake for a Thanksgiving 

 shoot. Canvasbacks, mallards and teal were just 

 waiting to be filled wMi lead, so reports ran, and there 

 was no reason why I should not enjoy myself. But I had 

 been there before, many a time, and experience taught 

 that, should the day be clear the ducks would rest com- 

 placently in the sedges a mile or two from the shore, and 

 should it be cloudy and the waves choppy the five miles 

 of sportsmen that lay along the marshy brink would have 

 all the fun they desired without any assistance. Hence 

 I took to the mountains and hence this yarn. 



It was 9 o'clock when we set out, a clear, sharp, bracing 

 moi'ning. Over the summits of that mighty range, that 

 stands, a fortress, between the great inland basin and the 

 rolling prairies, a faint suspicion of the dawn came steal- 

 ing, and through those yawning chasms, rent by up- 

 heavals and worn by the glaciers and torrents of mil- 

 leniums, the breath of winter came sweeping down upon 

 the sleeping valley. From the light, the warmth, the 

 comfort, we went facing both the winter and the dawn. 

 There were three of us, T., the banker, C. , the la wyer, 

 and myself. T, was sure that we would run across a bear. 

 He carried a large navy revolver. C. had heard that 

 there were eight deer near the forks of the caiion. His 

 weapon was an old Winchester. I pinned my faith to 

 willow grouse and fool hens, so it is needless to relate 

 what I carried for self defense. 



A walk of two miles brought us to the mouth of Slate 

 canon. We turned. Below lay the city, the faint white 

 smoke lazily crawling from a few chimneys; beyond a 

 pale haze overhung Utah Lake, and fainter yet across the 

 water the purple hills that fringe the great desert caught 

 on their upmost battlements light lances from the rising 

 sun. And then we went into the darkness. The massive 

 walls closed behind us. We were alone with Nature. 



Oh, these canons of the Rockies — eternal, yet ever new, 

 ever marvelous! I love them and I dread them. There 

 is a time in June when their rugged sides are veiled in 

 blue and yellow, white and green; when the wind sings 

 softly among the nodding wild flowers; when the fierce 

 torrent has dwindled to a babbling brook and the buzzing 

 of the bees mingles with the notes of the birds. Then 

 they are lovely. And in mid summer, when the wlrite 

 coats of the sheep glisten like pearls amid the upland 

 emerald, when the pipe and the horn awaken the slumber- 

 ing echoes, they are beautiful. And again, beneath soft 

 Indian-summer skies, when every shrub and tree flaunts 

 the oriflamme of war, they are sublime. But in winter 

 they are awful. The trembling vine has fallen from the 

 bare, black rock. The leaves are driven down upon the 

 plain. There is not song of bird, nor hum of bee, and the 

 unchecked wind, glancing from clifE to crag, shrieks with 

 the death wail of the Valkyries. Naked and somber the 

 massive walls rise thousands of feet on either side, and 

 the light that shines above, yet never reaches those dark, 

 cold depths, is but a ray of hope eternally eluding the up- 

 looking spiiits of the lost. 



As we walked up the cailon we saw ablaze just ahead, 

 and on reaching the spot found a surveyor making a 

 mineral location. Silver is supposed to be silver since 

 the last session of Congress, and an impetus has been 

 given to prospecting all over this Territory and Colorado, 

 By the fire we took our first rest, and as I filled my pipe the 

 surveyor remarked: 



"Y'ou had better put that up, for you'U need all your 

 breath before you reach the top." As he was rapidly 

 emptying a sack of Durham, I did not follow his advice, 

 though within an hour I found that smoking and walking 

 could not be indulged in at the same time and at such an 

 altitude. Higher we climbed, the surveyor with us, and 

 all along the way were the posts of claims where many a 

 man had sunk his all, and posts of other claims where 

 men hope yet to make great fortuaes. At length the sur- 

 veyor turned back, telling us that we were about 3,000ft. 

 above the town and that we must climb 4,000ft, more 

 before we could reach the peak that was our goal. Still 

 no sun and still no game. Along the narrow trail, over 

 sharp rocks and huge boulders, we went in Indian file. 

 Tom was ahead, and as he stepped into a little level spot, 

 bush-covered and warmed by the rays that stole down 

 through a cross canon, he pulled his revolver and fired. It 

 took about five seconds to get the shells into my gun, and as 

 Istepped up the word "laheasants" fell upon my ear. Now 

 I had supposed the pheasants of this part of the Wasatch 

 to be the Pedioccetes, but as no fiight followed the report 

 of the revolver I knew I had met something else in the 

 bird line. I could hear them running amid the thicket in 

 the dry leaves, and the way they hid themselves was a 

 caution. Only one luckless wight was slow and heedless 

 of the danger. He lifted his head from behind a shelter- 

 ing log, and as 1 saw the ruff upon his neck I thought 

 that I had met with my old friends that I first saw upon 

 the Orange Mountain, before that beautiful range of hills 

 was covered with the stately mansions and villas that I 

 am told ai-e there to-day. But the browner color pro- 

 claimed this ruft'edgrousetobeof the variety iimbelloides, 

 and in spite of his name and of old associations I dropped 

 him, T, drew him while I hunted in vain for the re- 

 mainder of the bevy. 



The delay brought to our party two boys who had fol- 

 lowed us all the way from town. One carried a 10-bore 

 and his shells were loaded with buckshot. The other had 

 a new rifle which he kept in his case, and had a deer 

 jumped within 10yds. of him it would have been out of 

 sight before he could get his traps unlimbered. A mile 

 more was without incident. We were amid the huge 

 aspens, and mountain mahogany and laurel were abund- 

 ant. At length we reached a snowbank and at its base a 

 little spring. Here we flushed more young grouse, and 

 the bii-ds started off on a half walk and a half fly, after 

 the style of a wild turkey. All blazed away, though I 

 had the only luck in scoring a dead bird. Stopping a 

 while to examine the mineral formation, I heard the 



