Deo. 39, 1892.] 



FOREST ANt) StREIAM. 



555 



the Hudson River R. R, to Rhinecliff, ferry connects 

 from there with Ulster & Delaware R. R. at Rondout. 

 Or by the West Shore R, R. to Kingston, where the 

 Ulster & Delaware R. R, can be taken. 



If all goes well and the weather should be favorable, I 

 expect to pas8 the holidays in hunting Lepus americamis 

 at Big Indian. OssiNlNa. 



THE PRESS ON THE PARK SCHEME. 

 A Mischievous Scheme. 



OiTR weekly contemporary Foeest and Stream is doing 

 a good service by circulating as a pamphlet an article 

 winch recently appeared in its columns, opposing the 

 projected railroad through Yellowstone National Park, 

 A like view was long ago taken in the Ti'ines, but its reit- 

 eration is called for by pending legislation. The object 

 of the proposed road is to connect "a small mining camp," 

 which rejoices in the name of Cooke City, with Cinnabar, 

 a station on a branch of the Northern' Pacific Riil way. 

 Cooke is just without the northeast corner of the Park on 

 Soda Butte Creek, and its proposed railroad would run 

 down that creek to the East Fork or Lamar River, and 

 thence to the Yellowstone. But that is not the only prac- 

 ticable route. Expert testimony given before a 'House 

 investigating committee has shown that a railroad might 

 be brought to Cooke wholly outside the Park, on grades 



, not exceeding 150ft. to the mile, or certainly not over 185. 

 These are high grades, but on the Union Pacific system 

 are found maximum grades of 175, 185, 190 and 

 81Lft, and on the Northern Pacific itself grades of 

 311, .348 and even 337ft. If such grades are 

 undertaken where there is no obstacle, except 

 what nature imposes, certainly inferior grades should 

 be submitted to where they can only be avoided 

 by sacrificing public interests to private, and intruding 



, upon a national Park, which for twenty years has been 

 established and kept free from such encroachments. 



* * * Outside the Park a road could also build up a 

 line of settlements for local traffic. Here, perhaps, it 

 ' may be well to explain that one bill pending in Congress 

 cuts ofi" from the Park the northeastern corner, including 

 the area north of the streams and i-ivers already men- 

 tioned, along which it is proposed to build the railroad, 

 so that the latter may be outside the Park border with a 

 river boundary intervening. To compensate for this 

 loss of area, it is proposed to add strips on the south and 

 east, which will much more than make up the loss, but 

 Forest and Stream argues that the scheme adds quan- 

 tity and takes away quality. "It robs the Park of beau- 

 tiful and accessible scenery, of a magnificent game pre- 

 serve. It gives in exchange an inaccessible mountain 

 region which tourists will never visit and which heavy 

 winter snows render incapable of supporting game." 



* * * It is alleged that land speculators and others at 

 Cooke City and Livingston are counting on Congressional 

 permission for the railroad in order to advance the value 

 of their property, and that they are the chief urgers of 

 this scheme. — New York Times, Dee. £5, 1892. 



An Impudent Job. 



PoEEST AND STREAM published On Dec. 8 a very full 

 exposure of the schemes of a lot of speculators and land 

 jobbers, interested in Cooke City, a mining camp situated 

 at the northeast corner of the National Park, to wreck 

 the Park for their own selfish interests. The Park should 

 be kept in its present form and extent as a great forestry 

 preserve and national pleasure ground, and no selfish 

 private interests should be allowed to intrude upon it. 

 Its boundaries were carefully fixed, when it was origi- 

 nally established, to inclose territory most interesting for 

 its natural features and most valuable as a preserve for 

 wild game and for the forf sts at the source of two of our 

 greatest rivers. 



The whole Cooke City business is a job, and to dis- 

 member the National Park and to open it to the raids of 

 private speculative greed should damn every member of 

 Congress who gives it a moment's countenance.— ioim- 

 ville Commercial, Dee. 20. 



Preserve the Yellowstone Park. 



But we don't want a railroad there at all. It would be 

 against the public interests any way, and could not be 

 defended as a local necessity. The minerals of the 

 Cooke City region might be hauled by wagon along the 

 proxjosed railroad route; and to that there would be no 

 objection, and in fact the Government could build the 

 road. Or the railroad, if it was insisted on, could follow 

 either of two other i^racticable routes, both leading di- 

 rectly away from the Park, They might be costlier to 

 make, but if the mineral wealth of the Cooke City region 

 is what it is represented to be, such a railroad, far outside 

 the Park limits, might pay for itself. 



Our esteemed contemporary, Forest and Stream, 

 shows the valley through which the proposed railroad is 

 to run to be "incomparably the finest in natural scenery 

 in the entire reservation. It is destined to be the great 

 scenic roiite of the Park, Here and here alone is a 

 coaching tour which cannot be excelled elsewhere in this 

 country. A railroad will so monopolize this route as to 

 ruin it for tourist travel." In narrow gorges there may 

 be hardly room to build both a road and a railway, and in 

 any case there would be constant danger of accident from 

 fright to teams. Besides, the proposed railroad would 

 pass directly through the finest winter pasturage for game 

 in the Park, where the grass is thick and luxuriant and 

 the snow moderate. 



The proper course for Congress to take in the matter is 

 very plain. It need not be put in a dilemma. When 

 asked to choose between two evils, it should choose 

 neither. If an increase of area is valuable for pictur- 

 esqueness and for guarding the sources of rivers, as is 

 said to be the case on the east, or for a breeding ground 

 of elk and deer, as on the south, let it be acquired. But 

 there is no need of giving up any desirable area on the 

 north in exchange for it. If the railroad now projected 

 is likely to devastate that area no right of way should be 

 granted. 



Yellowstone Park is a magnificent pleasure ground, set 

 apart for the enjoyment of the people of the United 

 States. The like of it exists nowhere else in the world; 

 and in a future generation, when its wonders and beauties 

 become more widely known, and access to it is easier, it 

 will be a resort for" all peoples. It is also the great zo- 

 ological garden and game preserve of the continent. 

 There are probably more buffaloes there to-day than are 

 left roaming in all the rest of the United States. Vast 



herds of elk and deer may be descried there by the tour- 

 ist, and hundreds of antelope in a single band. The value 

 of its fur-bearing animals, and the possibilities of restock- 

 ing from this source parks and preserves in various parts 

 of the country must be kept in mind. This noble reserva- 

 tion is also a valuable natural reservoir and water supply, 

 great rivers rising there which take divergent coui-ses 

 toward either ocean. A prime duty of Congress is to 

 guard against any injury to this national possession, and 

 to prevent any encroachment upon it in private interests, 

 — Neio York Sun, Dec. ^0. 



A Kansas Opinibn. 



Feom Forest and Steeam, a pamphlet entitled "A 

 Standing Menace," referring to the attempt of Cooke 

 City to secure a railroad through the Yellowstone Na- 

 tional Park, has been received. Congress should never 

 permit a change of boundaries (except to enlarge) of this 

 wonderful reservation, nor should a railroad line be per- 

 mitted to run through any portion thereof. The reasons 

 given by the editor of Forest and Strkam are conclu^ve, 

 and the greed of speculators should never be allowed to 

 prevail, The park is a national curiosity and should be 

 kept in a state of natural wildness. Ignorance, or the 

 power of a lobby, could be the only excuse for any legis- 

 lator favoring the opening of this park to a railroad. — 

 Olathe (Kansas) Mirror, Dec. ^2. 



CRIPPLED BY A GRIZZLY BEAR. 



I HAVE killed 126 bears without ever receiving a scratch, 

 but at last I have been badly mangled by one. 



I have been asked a great many times to relate my ex- 

 periences in bear fights and encounters with wild animals, 

 but have always touched very lightly upon the subject, 

 and some of those with whom I have talked have been 

 put ofl" with very unsatisfactory replies considering that 

 they came from one who has had so much experience 

 with bruin. Now that my time has come and I have 

 been so completely taken in, I feel that I have a subject 

 which may be of interest to many, if my precarious 

 condition will permit me to put it together intelligibly. 



My wife and I were camped on the west side of the 

 Wind River range in Wyoming, and after reconnoitering 

 as one has to do in a strange country for a day or two. 

 I succeeded in locating a small amount of signs high upon 

 the side of ithe mountain. On the morning of Novl 3, 

 my wife concluded to ride out for the mail, a distance of 

 seventy-five miles to Big Piney, expecting to return on 

 the fourth day. After seeing her safely started with 

 saddle and pack-horse, I started up the mountain side 

 looking in the fresh snow for the tracks of bears or any 

 other game that might be of value to me. Elk, deer and 

 antelope were seen every little way as I passed along 

 from bench to bench, zig-zag up over peak and crag, un- 

 til suddenly I came upon the tracks of bear. 



I was not long in deciding to follow them as they 

 seemed to be quite fresh in the last night's snow, but I 

 thought some distance would have to be covered before 

 starting them, so I stuck to my horse and followed the 

 trail as closely as possible over down timber, logs, 

 boulders and other obstacles which made very rough 

 traveling. Now and then I would get off and lead my 

 horse,making quite a circle from the trail and coming 

 back to it at a point further on. After following a few 

 hundreds yards I saw the bears had separated and I 

 learned that there were three of them — all large bear — 

 and as the toe nails or claws seemed to protrude a few 

 inches ahead of the toes, Ij was glad to recognize Ursus 

 horribilis. 



A good portion of the day was yet ahead of me, so I 

 pushed on cautiously and as fast as practicable. After 

 following about two miles, crossing open ground and 

 small patches of timber, the bears entered a dense growth 

 of underbrush. There I knew some hunting must be 

 done ; so leaving my horse behind, I pushed my way into 

 the brush, but after a few minutes' trial found it too 

 thick to enter without being sure to startle the bears 

 should they be in there, so I retraced my steps and made 

 a wide circle around the thicket, and before completing 

 my circle discovered that the bears had gone out of the 

 thicket and returned to the same mountain on which I 

 had first struck their tracks. 



Securing my horse, I lost no time in going back over 

 the two miles just covered, the bears having traveled 

 back in a line parallel to the trail by which they came to 

 this place, probably for the carcass of an elk. When 

 they started up the muontain side I followed, sure now 

 that my game was close at hand, so tying my horse and 

 making some other precautions, I took up the trail and 

 followed it, slowly, carefully, up the mountain side. I 

 had not gone very far, when I came upon a bed, then an- 

 other, then a third ; but these were not fresh, so I did not 

 think that they had taken alarm by any noise I had 

 made, the wind being in my favor all the time. 



After they had satisfied their hunger, bears will often 

 make from one to a dozen beds during a day, each time 

 getting up, taking a survey of the surroundings, satisfy- 

 ing themselves that all is well, then make another bed 

 not many feet perhaps from the one they have just left. 

 As. these beds became very frequent I knew I might ex- 

 pect to see these bears or at least start them any minute, 

 therefore it was necessary to advance as fast as possible 

 and at the same time make no noise that might attract 

 their attention. The drawing of one's pantaloons across 

 a little bush may seem to the ordinary hunter almost 

 noiseless, nevertheless it may be heard by the animals; or 

 the swaying of the twig may be caught by their watch- 

 ful eye, and then the next move or noise in that direc- 

 tion is sure to be seen or heard and then all his efforts 

 thus far are in vain. But I was after the bear and felt 

 sure that they could not be more than 50yds. or so dis- 

 tant, so that one mismovement of mine at this stage 

 would spoil all. 



Presently I discovered where the bear had gone back 

 on their back track, as it were, and passed in behind me 

 to my left. As the wind favored me from that quarter, 

 I now felt that I bad the best end of this hand. C^irefuUy 

 stepping over or going back around any little leaning 

 bush tbat a bear would go under, I passed on a few 

 yards, when I saw a very large bear lying in its bed; but 

 the brush being too thick for me to locate any vital point 

 and shoot it in that place, I concluded that a bullet from 

 my .50-100 placed near the center of that bear would do 

 its work. Besides, how could I know but that those other 

 bears were watching me at the same time, and should 

 any of them make one jump my chances were gone. As 

 the sound of my gun died away the air was filled with 



one of those hideous bawls, squeals or roars, such as are 

 made by the grizzly bear. 



I advanced cautiously, expecting that one of the two 

 other bears had crossed the opening to a bunch of brush 

 much resembling a sieve, only coarser. I placed a baU 

 in the center of this bunch as nearly as I could direct it, 

 when another roar r6nt the air and mingled with those of 

 the first. I now again advanced, watching in every 

 direction for the other bear, which I knew was near by 

 and might be looked for any place. Something led me 

 to believe that the third bear had preceded the second 

 one shot, I therefore passed by the first one as it lay 

 there apparently in the agonies of death, passed on to 

 where the second one was rolling around in the snow. 



As I failed to discover it, I returned to the first one 

 shot; but upon reaching the place my bird had flown. 

 Taking up the trail, I followed but a short distance when 

 I discovered it in a clump of bushes. It raised up on its 

 feet and I fired at it back of the shoulder, and it dropped 

 to the ground and commenced rolling over and biting 

 itself in bear fashion. I threw in another cartridge and 

 discovered that the bear was coming toward me. It 

 raised above the bushes, giving me what I supposed a 

 good shot, but just as the gun fired the bear dropped^ and 

 I knew that 1 had missed. As the bear came on, I dis- 

 covered that it had jumped a log and by coming down to 

 the ground had dropped out of my sight in place of fall- 

 ing. I endeavored to throw out tne old shell, but it 

 would not come. It was stuck and the bear was on me. 



Here came the point where I have always maintained, 

 and backed my assertions by strong arguments, that if a 

 man had nerve enough the bear might come very close 

 but would never come to him, but would always stop. 

 But that little "if" was in my way — I did not have the 

 nerve. I felt that the bear meant fight and that I must 

 get out of the way, so I started to a large tree that stood 

 near by and made a complete circle before I was over- 

 taken. The first thing the bear did was to strike me in 

 the breast, and down we came together. The bear then 

 grabbed my right leg just above the knee and commenced 

 biting and jerking with all the force of a ftirious beast. I 

 reached for my gun and tried once more to extract the 

 shell, but it would not come. All this time the bear was 

 biting so close to my body on my left leg that I concluded 

 it was best to sacrifice my right hand by placing it in the 

 bear's mouth so as to guard against, so far as possible, any 

 internal injuries and giving me the free use of my left 

 hand to wield my butcher knife. I drew this but found 

 that all the force I had was not sufficient to drive the 

 blade through the hide of this bear in any part that I 

 could reach. It now made a dive for my head, catching 

 me on the bridge of the nose witb its upper and holding 

 on to the cheek bone with its under jaw. It held me in 

 this position until consciousness almost left me. It was 

 so exhausted that it fell upon me while in this position 

 and lay there for some time. It would not do for me to 

 estimate the time, for minutes seemed hours. Presently 

 I revived and discovered that the animal had lei t me, and 

 cautiously peered around to see if it was ready for 

 another dive, but no bear was in sight so I got up, picked 

 up my gun and stood it up against a tree and started 

 down the mountain side to my horse. 



I would fall, then raise myself, fall again, bathe my 

 face in the snow and by efl'orts which seemed a little 

 beyond me succeeded in returning to my horse, bearing 

 in mind that all my troubles were not over, for on this 

 particular occasion I had a horse that few would ride 

 under the most favorable circumstances. Now that I 

 was covered with bear's and human blood, it would not 

 be surprising if he would be a little mean. Both of my 

 hands were Injured, almost useless, but I found in my 

 right hand two small fingers a little grip. I fastened 

 them securely around the horn of the saddle and by 

 making great effort I sprung squarely into the saddle 

 and he started with me on anything but a steady gait 

 toward the camp. My right eye was entirely olo=ed, and 

 I could only see out of my left by holding the lids apart. 

 When I passed near our camp I concluded that would be 

 a cheerless place to stop, as I expected no one for four 

 days, so I passed on, thinking to go to a ranch some 13 

 miles below, but most fortunately I met a hunter where 

 he was stop^jing for the night, and he offered me the hos- 

 pitality of his camp. 



I had already ridden 13 miles and was nearly chilled to 

 death and covered with blood. He offered me, and of 

 course I accepted, the best bed in the house, viz., one 

 saddle blanket and a few antelope skins. He then took 

 ray saddle horse and started for my wife and medical 

 aid, both of which arrived as soon as horseflesh could 

 bring them. 



This, brother sportsmen, is what I believe to be a fair 

 and just description of my fight, and while many of you 

 may feel like censuring me for not doing differently, I 

 believe, with the control I had of my mental powers, I 

 did the only thing I could, and all that 1 could under the 

 circumstances. Ira Dodge. 



Wyoming. 



Pennsylvania Game. 



We learn from ■ Fish Commissioner H. C. Ford that 

 eighty deer have been killed in Pike county during the 

 past season. A goodlv number of bear were shot; one of 

 them weighing over 400lb8. was obtained near Marshall's 

 Creek. Five or six wildcats were reported among the 

 captures, two at Pond Eddy, two at Dingman's Creek and 

 one near Porter's Lake. 



Commissioner W. L. Powell states that tipward of 100 

 wild turkeys have been brought to Harrisburg, The 

 largest one he has seen weighed fully 251bs. This fine 

 bird came from the South Mountain near Fayetteville. A 

 curious habit of the wild turkey in captivity was once 

 observed by Mr. Powell in connection with one kept in a 

 cellar. When alarmed by the approach of any person it 

 would run into the shelter of a vault and hiss like a goose. 



Marsh, Pa., Dec. 17.— Game in this section of Chester 

 county has been unusually plentiful this season. As 

 elsewhere, the gray squirrels have been many and good 

 bags have been taken, Eabbits are always with us and 

 quail have been more numerous than for years past. 

 Most of our local shooters are rabbit hunters and bird 

 dogs are scarce, so the partridges, as we call them, have 

 stood the season well, some bevies having never been 

 shot into, while the majority of them contain from seven 

 to ten birds for seed. Woodcock were scarce this year 

 and the pheasant is, doubtless, hunting more wooded 

 regions, although a few are still found on our hills. 



O. Bull, 



