180 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 23, 1898. 



A ROCKY MOUNTAIN HUNT. 



On the 16th of October, 1892, I bestrode Banjo. He is a 

 horse with a history, only a little of which I know. He 

 had been captured by the Crow Indians in one of their 

 raids against the Blaclifeet, and that afterward some men 

 visited the land of the mai'audei's to reclaim th^r prop- 

 erty. Among other horses described for identidcation 

 by a visitor was Banjo. He said, "You have a dark 

 bay hoi-se with a white nostiil, and a black tuft of long 

 hair about as large as a silver dollai- just below the root of 

 the right ear, a medimn-sized animal, very kind and 

 docde, an easy pacing gait, but when on the run none 

 faster." The Crows grunted, smiled and said, "Yes, the 

 black spot at the root of the ear in enough to say; we 

 have him." Such in brief is Banjo, now the property of 

 a wealthy ranchman of Montana. Behind me trotted 

 Queen, a mongrel setter dog, a present to me from Hemy 

 Norris, of St. Mary's Lakes, Montana. 



When we arrived at Bird's ranch, on the south fork of 

 Milk River, the hospitable Mexican, with his comely In- 

 dian wife, made us very comfortable for that night. _ Tlie 

 next morning I resumed the saddle, slung my gun on the 

 horn and started for the mountain home of Mr. Henry R. 

 Norris, situated between the upper and lower St. Mary's 

 Lakes. I arrived there at 3 P. M. and was met at 

 the door by that cunning hunter with a hearty welcome, 

 and after picketing Banjo and disposing of a good dinner 

 we resorted to pipes and began to talk hunting. Hank, 

 as he "is usually called, told me about the visit of the 

 Helena outing party to his place some weeks before my 

 advent. The party consisted of a score or more of gentle- 

 men from the capital of Montana who had been hunting 

 and fishing hei-e. From all accomits they must have en- 

 joyed themselves hugely judging from the heterogeneous 

 display of camp debris about Hank's premises. 



After a good sleep we took our rifles and covered two 

 or three miles of country in search of black-taU, but we 

 saw none and returned to the house; but even that jaunt 

 has a recollection which I shall not soon forget. We 

 stopped a moment in a pine thicket and within 8ft. of us 

 there sat on a hmb a bird known as the "fool hen." 

 Hank said to me, "Kill it with your pistol," which I wore 

 in my belt to stand off bear at close quartei-s. At this 

 suggestion I fired, once, twice, thrice, four times, five! 

 only one more cartridge. Bang! the bird sat as motion- 

 less as a statue, unharmed. Getting out of patience with 

 myself I leveled my Winchester at its eye, puUed trigger, 

 off went its head and it feel a corpse at our feet. At the 

 house we found Mr. Schultz, who had come up to borrow 

 a few cartridges, and after dinner, which was quite late, 

 we sought our pipes and rest. 



I was up with the sun next morning; the air was sharp, 

 crisp and dry. At breakfast Hank said: "What are you 

 going to do to-day?" I replied I thought it would be a 

 good idea to go up to and around Single Shot Moun- 

 tam and try and get a sheep. So after tying up Queen, 

 who begged piteously to go, I saimtered forth, armed 

 with my pistol aforesaid, my hunting knife and my .45- 

 70 Winchester. I trudged alOng up the mountain.side until 

 I had reached a point about a mile and a half from the 

 house. I was alone, for Hank had remained to finish his 

 new quarters for his family, wliich they were to occupy 

 this winter. Oceasionally while ascending I had seen old 

 signs of bear, but now I discovered fresh ones. Here, too 

 was a thin layer of snow sprinkled in the long green grass 

 common at liigh altitudes in the Rockies, and in this snow 

 could be seen tracks of bruin , and big ones. The wind 

 was blowing stiffly and cold from the west away toward 

 the lower lake. An occasional flake of snow went sailing 

 past me. I had stopped to look around and study the 

 signs. I really hoped I would not meet a bear, for that 

 was not what I was hunting; I wanted sheep. 



Discovering no bear, I advanced slowly and cautiously. 

 Suddenly I perceived a rank peculiar odor; it reminded 

 me of that I encountered at the Zoo in Philadelphia, in 

 1884, while I stood contemplating some bears in the pen 

 below. I now knew I was very close to a bear, and that 

 from the location it must be a grizzly. Oh! how fright- 

 ened I was. I had never met a grizzly; what I should do 

 I hardly knew. The thought of being alone too, and out 

 of sight and hearing of Hank, all made me quiver and 

 shake hke an aspen. Whfle thus meditating, and looking 

 in every direction, and trembling from head to feet, I 

 soon saw the cause of the odor, standing on all fours with 

 its tail toward me quietly digging in a liill side. My heart 

 went like a trip hammer, I coidd hear the blood rushing 

 up through my carotids, and feel its impact against the 

 base of my brain; my throat was dry, and my hands 

 trembled as I grasped my rifle. 



I surveyed the huge brute a few seconds and saw that 

 he was about 80yds. away. I stood on a hog-back, or 

 ridge, and between the bear and myself was a ravine 30ft. 

 deep and fiUed with a thicket of underbrusli. The grizzly 

 stood on clear grormd. It did not take long to see that I 

 had the adv mtage; this was the head of the canon; to my 

 right was a black thicket of pine, in front was the animal, 

 to my left the canon stretched away to the lake. A small 

 sapling grew where I stood; I let myself down on my 

 knees and toes, and projected my piece over a branch of 

 the sapling. I was waiting for the bear to give me an ex- 

 posttre of its side. The wind blowing briskly from it to 

 me gave it no opportunity to scent me. My sensations 

 were those of resignation to my fate. I felt as I imagine 

 a soldier feels on tlie eve of his first battle — only more so. 

 I i-ealized fully what a small thing I should be in a hand 

 to hand conflict with that wounded and infuriated mon- 

 ster; but I was determined to fight if it cost me my life. 

 I remembered my ten weeks of typhoid fever at Garfield 

 Hospital in Washington, D. C, when I thought my time 

 had come. 



By this time I had become more composed; my nerves 

 had resumed their usual tranquility; I was thinking of 

 what an everlasting shame it would be to my conscience 

 to steal aAvay and let that magnificent beast get off with 

 its fife; and Avhfle thus cogitating the bear slowly moved 

 into the position I desired, and when there, -with a steady 

 nerve I glanced along the blue barrel of steel and fixed 

 the sights on a line with a spot about where I thought its 

 heart lay, held it there a second and pulled the ti-igger. 

 Bang! went the magnificent arm, and sunultaneously the 

 grizzly leaped into the air, uttering a loud, prolonged cry 

 ■ of pain. Through the smoke I saw it fall on one side and 

 quickly recover itself, its head was t^iward me; with 

 mouth wide open and head erect it began the charge. I 

 threw another cartridge into the bai-rel. I looked, and it 

 had reached the bottom of the canon and was making its 

 waj' througli the bmsh, blowing and snuffing. I coolly 



awaited its emergence, but it never came out. Midway 

 the thicket I cordd see some of its branches quivering, but 

 could not see the bear. 



At this juncture another grizzly, larger than the one 

 shot, came out of the pine thicket to my right and bounded 

 down to the spot of the quivering bushes in the bottom of 

 the cafion, and was also lo.st to sight; I did not have time 

 or opportunity to shoot it. Immediately behind me in the 

 timber I hea,rd the cry or wad of stfll another bear. This 

 again terrified me beyond expression. I thought that the 

 one in the rear would endeavor to form a jimetion with 

 his fellows, and in doing so would necessarily have to iim 

 over or very near me. Now I was cool and ready for the 

 fray. If I did miss my ' 'fool hen" six times yesterday, I 

 knew a bear was not to be missed with my revolver even 

 once. But the bear in my rear put in no appearance; he 

 evidently got wind of me and his cry became less and less 

 distinct, but I knew the other two were within forty yards 

 of me in that brush, and Avhat to do I did not know. To 

 charge them would be insane, so I concluded that I would 

 stand my ground xmtil they took the initiative. I sat there 

 gazing at that thicket one hour by the watch, 13:30 to 1:30 

 P. M. , Oct. 19, 1892, and no bear appeared. All was still 

 as death, and from inaction I began to get chilly. No 

 amount of money coifid have induced me to venture down 

 to those two mammoth brutes in that cafion. I did not 

 even know that one was dead, and was painfully aware 

 that one at least was untouched. So believing that a skill- 

 ful retreat is as good or better than a poor victory, I 

 decided to return and get reinforcements in the shape of 

 Hank. 



I did so, and when we reached the spot we advanced 

 abreast. Queen in terror at our heels, into the thicket. 

 We found one bear stone dead, but the other had gone. 

 Before we began to remove the pelt Ave estimated her 

 Aveight to be 700lbs. It proved to be a female. On our 

 return Hank carried the skin and I the skull and gims. 

 From the tip of one fore claw to the corresponding one 

 behind measured 10ft. Gin. From the hindquarters, which 

 Hank packed doAvn on a horse the next day, he obtained 

 six gallons of oH. 



The next two or three days I was busy stretching and 

 drying my skin. I was in absolute ignorance of the 

 modus operandi of tliat process, but I learned from my 

 companion all about it in a very little while. There is 

 some little labor connected thercAvith too, and as Hank 

 was busy finishing his house, I was fortimate enough to 

 secure tlie entire job. I was glad of it too, for now I am 

 independent of pelt stretchers. 



After the excitement and flurry of killing a grizzly had 

 subsided in my brain, I Avas athtrst for more blood. It 

 must be remembered that we had no fresh meat, and 

 after the fat AA^as removed from the hams w-hich hung 

 outside the house from the projecting ridge pole of the 

 cabin, it needed no suggestion to Hank to immediately 

 proceed to carve simdry steaks from the tempting bait. 

 On this meat we feasted several days, and although we 

 found it somew^liat coarse and rank, still we nianaged to 

 digest it without trouble. As Ave butchered the bear v>^e 

 tracked the course of the bullet through both lungs and 

 through the center of the heart. I shot only once. 



The next victim to my rifle AA-as a black-tailed deer, 

 which A\ras found in the black timber opposite Hank's 

 house and across St. Mary's River. She was shot tlu-ee 

 times while running. The fu'st baU struck the foreleg just 

 above the knee, inflicting a flesh woimd; the second the 

 opices of the scapulae, and the third passed through the 

 lungs, which brought her down. We now discarded bear 

 for the more palatable venison. 



I noAv Avanted a goat and Hank and I went eight miles 

 to Goat Mountain. We discovered one about 700 or 800 

 yards aAvay on the mountain side. I began firing and I 

 shot sixteen times before I stopped her. She was running- 

 all the time. One shot took effect in the right flank and 

 another broke her neck. The carcass we left on the 

 mountain , the head and pelt Ave brought home. In going 

 to Goat Mountain I Avas struck with the beauty of the 

 scenery of the upper St. Mary's Lake. The deep blue of 

 the water, in Avhich was reflected the adjacent lofty 

 peaks, and the far aAvay glacier that forms the source of 

 St. Mary's Lakes and river, presented a picture of beatity, 

 grandeur and subhmity that I shah not soon forget. 



This concluded my outing, and I felt well repaid for the 

 hard Avork I had performed, and the trying ordeals 

 through which I had passed. The lakes aboimd in 

 mountain ti-out, and we coidd take a rod and catch all 

 the large beautiful ones we wanted at any time. From 

 1 to Gibs, are the ordinary sizes caught. In returning to 

 the Agency we were caught in a severe bhzzard and 

 lost the road on the prairies; I was on Banjo, followed by 

 Queen and Hank in a Avagon Avith his wife and little girl. 

 We wandered imtil 10 o'clock at night, Avhen, to our 

 great delight, we accidentally ran into Bird's ranch. We 

 AA'ere coA'ered Avith ice and snow, and at one time I felt as 

 though we would be lost. It was a dreadful sensation Ave 

 experienced Avhile groping about in the darkness trjang to 

 find the rancli; but Hank said all the time that Ave were 

 aU right. At one time I doubted hun, and thought he 

 said that to keep my spirits up. The next day was bright 

 and fair and we returned to the Agency without further 

 trouble. Z. T. Daniel. 



A Wise Lioon. 



One calm day m the faU of 1890, my brother, while gun- 

 ning off Cohasset, succ«eded in severely Avounding a young 

 loon. After a sharp chase he penned the bird between 

 his boat and the rocks, which Avere some hmidred yards 

 distant. As the loon dived, my brother roAved on for a 

 dozen strokes, and then stood up, gun in hand, expecting 

 to secure the loon when he rose by a qiuck shot. To his 

 astonishment, hoAvever, no loon appeared, and, after 

 waiting a few minutes, he was about to resume his oars 

 and row back to his decoys, when he suddenly discovered 

 a narrow cleft in the rock, and, more from curiosity than 

 from any real beUef that the loon was concealed there, he 

 rowed toward it. As he approached he saAv that the cleft 

 extended in some six or eight feet, and w as partially filled 

 with Avater. Taking in his oars, he went forsvard, and, 

 as his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, he saw the 

 loon at the extreme end of the cleft, stretched out at full 

 length, Avith only his head and neck out of water. Back- 

 ing water for a few sti'okes, my brother raised his gun and 

 ended the loon's earthly career then and there. I think, 

 however, that a bird Avho made such a plucky fight for his 

 life and came so near escaping should have been left un- 

 molested in the hiding place which Ins Avondeii ul sagacity 

 had gained for him. E. H. C. 



A SPORTSMAN^S INVITATION. 



Tacoma, Wash., Feb. 14. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 We have read your valuable paper during the last six 

 years and are deeply interested in your commendable 

 efforts in every dkection tending toAvard the preservation 

 of game and the elevation of the morals of field sports. 



We know many of your contributors and occasional 

 correspondents personally, and feel that Ave belong by 

 natural right to the "Rod and Gun" family. We read 

 every stoiy of hunting and fishing told by your brilliant 

 staff of contributors, and with them live over again our 

 OAvn delightful experiences in the Maine woods, the Ad- 

 irondacks, the lovely forests of northern Michigan, and 

 among the cornshocks of the Old Dominion. To have 

 thrashed brush with that big-hearted and poAverf ul prince 

 of sportsmen, Polk Miller, and to have ransacked the 

 Roanoke bottoms with that inimitable story-teller WMt- 

 ney are experiences worth remembering. And we do 

 remember every httle incident, every shaded nook where 

 the speckled trout loved to hide, eveiy little patch of 

 blackberry bushes, where the pheasant loved to feed and 

 flutter in the dust. As we read your stories we feel the 

 breezes of the lakes and -^^oods, and hear again the rust- 

 hng of the leaves. And Av-hen you brag of your strings 

 and bags we laugh, not incredulously, for we believe you; 

 m fact Ave knoAv it must be so, for it was that way with 

 us once. We have tramj^ed fifteen miles a day and fished 

 assiduously at the rate of one 4in. fish per mile, and all 

 that ourselves, and can fuUy appreciate the pride and sat- 

 isfaction such a catch will bring. 



But noAv? Oh, that's different. Now as Ave read your 

 inimitable stories and anon glance from the Avindows of 

 our otfices at the iUimitable expanse of primeval forest, 

 the snow-capped summits of the rugged mountains, and 

 the Avide stretch of placid waters spreading out in a glori- 

 ous panorama for a distance of over a hundred miles in 

 every direction and teeming with every form of bird, 

 beast and fish that ever inspned or rewarded a sportsman, 

 Ave laugh. 



Our own experience then and uoav affords us a nevei-- 

 eiiding fund of amusement; and every time Ave hear you 

 tell us of yom- toils and triumphs, avo long to have you 

 come out here and share with us the very richest of sport, 

 where the breezes are the softest, the A'-oices of the Avoods 

 the most A^aried, the scenery the grandest, and the recom- 

 pense for work the very highest. 



In a city of 45,000 peojjle, adomed by substantial build- 

 ings and beautif id parks, and provided with every modern 

 device contributing to advanced and luxuriant hving, Ave 

 actually dweU in close proximity to the beasts of the 

 field, and from oiu- AvindoAv^s watch the flights of the 

 fowls of the air and the gambols of the monsters of the 

 deep. Bears, deer and cougars are killed within ten mm- 

 utes ride of the court house; seals, Axhales, dolphins and 

 inexhaustible hordes of food fishes croAvd into our harbor 

 and sport at our very doors. 



Twenty minutes' ride in an electrical or steam car, an 

 hour's walk or row, or half an hour ujion a beautifully ap- 

 pointed steamer, waU conA-oy the ardent sportsman into 

 better Inmting or fishing ground than any or aU the places 

 enumerated in the beginning of this articlH. 



I could particularize until I tired you, and as I Avrite I 

 can see a JiOOUis. black bear hanging in the market across 

 the street Vviiicli Avas shot oue and a, half miles from my 

 office last week, and the legs of my chair rest upon the 

 skin of a cougar shot ten miles from that city Jan. 23, '93. 

 If Mr. Alex. Starbuck Avill stroll out here this fall he shall 

 be entertained in a hotel better and bigger than the Bur- 

 nett House, and I wdl put liiin into Avater that I will 

 guarantee to yield aA^erage catches of 4ilbs. rainbo\v trout, 

 and all he can carry out at tliat, while salmon of 25 to 

 451bs. are quite the usual tiling. Come out here some of 

 you and touch this wonderland Avith tlie magic of your 

 pens, and provide yom'selves witii a fund of story and ad- 

 venture that you Avill never forget nor regret. 



J. A. Beebe, M. D. 



THAT GUN TAX SUGGESTION. 



Medina, Term., Feb. 11. — Editor Forest and Stream: In 

 your issue of Dec. 29, 1892, you have an article, "The Gun 

 Tax Again," signed by "Stanstead." 



The people of Tennessee, almost to a man, hunt more 

 or less, and have one or more guns. They at this season 

 of the yeai-, in fact from November till February, have at 

 their command a great deal of time. A great portion of 

 it is spent afield, and they make the most of it, and a 

 good many of them are expert in the use of the shotgmi. 

 Their surplus game is sold to those Avilling to buy, and I 

 venture to say that Avhen the balance is struck they do not 

 come out even on the amount expended for shells, ammu- 

 nition, etc., outside of the pleasure they liaA'e had, I am 

 speaking noAv of those Avho sell their surplus game, and 

 not one of them I have met but has invited myself and 

 friends to hvmt Avith them. No one can therefore call 

 them selfish in their ideas of sportsmanship, Yet here is 

 a man avIio comes among them a strangci-, and Avishes at 

 once to have a law enacted and rigidlj^ enforced to tax 

 every gun in the State of Tennessee, and let non-residents 

 hunt and shoot at their ow^n sweet will. This may do in 

 Vermont where "Stanstead" claims to own and have ex- 

 clusive control of extensive shootmgs of woodcock, ruffed 

 grouse and other game. But not in Tennessee. Oh, no! 

 It won't do here. He also says Ave are here for sport and 

 divide our game with the farmers. I Avish to say that 

 when that article was written, to my certain knowledge 

 he had never given a bird to any man, find I know of but 

 two birds that he killed that have l:>eoii passed around to 

 the farmers. No, sir! The birds that \\ ere passed aroimd 

 were shot over my dogs, and by me and assistant. 



He also mentions one nuisance, as he terms it. That is 

 the negro. He must have met Avith a change of heart, as 

 he has now one negro whom he has armed with a rejoeat- 

 ing shotgun, and he now stalks about the country display- 

 ing his marksmanship. 



To give the people of the vicinity Avhere he is located, 

 and to the many readers of the Forest and Stream, an 

 idea of w^hat some people call sportsmanship and shooting 

 for pleasure, I Avould say that there Avas billed to Hum- 

 boldt, Tenn., for him, a box of ammunition of which the 

 shells w^ere not aU loaded with shot (the shot Avas bought 

 here) that Aveighed 2281bs., which he intended to use "for 

 sport" only over the gromids of people that he would have 

 taxed for "the guns they own to shoot over their own 

 property, Avhile he, a stranger, could roam at Avill. 



R. B. Morgan. 



