270 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Hakch 30, 



AN EASTER CROCUS. 



I 'WATCHED a budding crocus 



As it rose to meet the light, 

 From a slumber 'neath tbo snowbanks 



Through the dreary winter uight, 

 Aud it seemed too pure and lovely 

 For a thing with roots in dirt. 



Came a whisper from Ostara: 



Stored up forces from the Suu 

 Sprang from out that bulb all-potent— 



And its mission was begun. 

 Then it pleased men with true beauty, 

 Though the roots were deep in dirt. 



Once on Easter morn a spirit 



In the form of man arose, 

 Calling forth a power eternal 



For beliyyers; to disclose 

 All the sin and human folly - 

 That we slumber in, as dirt. 



And to-day from all that's worldly 



May fine character arise 

 Out of envies, lies, injustice. 



There's to us a glad surprise 

 That such thing can spring from forces 

 Hidden in the midst of dirt. 



Dr. Eobbbt T. Morris. 



CAMPING ON THE TENDERFOOT.— II. 



Whethek I was justified in writing my first paper may- 

 be a question. To tiiose who love the outing for the out- 

 ing's sake I must look for my vindication, if to anybody, 

 for there was no story of either hunting or fishing in it. 

 There are not a few writers, I am sure, wlio belong to 

 that class, and as the fish and game more and more dis- 

 appear the class will grow in numbers. The time is 

 bound to come, and that, too, sooner than some of us 

 may think, when the majority of the readers of Forest • 

 AND Stream, this Forest and Stream possibly, but any- 

 way, some Forest and Stream, will simply be outers, and 

 not- hunters and' fishermen, for there will be neither game 

 to kill nor &sh to catch within their reach. I am still in 

 my prime, and yet I have witnessed the disappearance of 

 the cream of tiie fishing from the Michigan' An Sable to 

 the Wisconsin Brulij. Brethren, the fishing is, going, and 

 I sat down to write the story of my Tenderfoot experience 

 mainly that I might tell how one splendid trout and 

 grayling stream was stripped of its fish inside of ten days, 

 aiid that right under my own eyes. 



As we were slowly dragging our way up Tenderfoot 

 Cafion I asked our guide whether or not we would be apt 

 to see any wild beasts during our stay. "O yes," he 

 bravely answered. "You wiU see both black tails and 

 white tails; you may see bears and possibly elks; you 

 win certainl}^ hear Avolves howling and lions roaring." 

 ^C'^ether he believed his own words or took us for tender- 

 feet and was lying outriglit we did not certainly know at 

 the moment, but while 1 recognize as a rule of law that 

 every man is presumed to speak the truth as he under- 

 stands it, I nevertheless am firmly persuaded that our 

 guide knew at the time that he was not. And yet while 

 -w-e saw but few deer and never a bear nor elk,' and heard 

 jieither the howl of wolf nor roar of lion, evidences were 

 everywhere abundant that there had been the greatest 

 abundance of game in the Tenderfoot valley at a com- 

 paratively recent time in" the past. Chalk- white buffalo 

 and elk bones were to be seen gleaming in the sun 

 wherever one went, and on the less than an acre of vaUey 

 on which our camp was pitched we picked up a big 

 barrow load of broken elk and deer liorns and old buffalo 

 heads, which we piled in a heap at one side. 



If the game had largely disappea.red, it soon was made 

 manifest that the fish iiad not. At our camp the Tendei-- 

 f oot flowed in a swift and strong current 20ft. in width 

 and from 18in. to 2ft. in depth. It ran with such strength 

 a,nd swiftness that one had to use the utmost care iii wad- 

 ing to keep from being borne down. The valley is in all 

 places veiy narrow, and generallj^ very crooked. It 

 averages, 1 would guess, from 75 to 200yds. in width. At 

 every bend is a deep, rocky pool, and between these is 

 usually very swift water. Thfe stream has' its source in 

 the mountain springs, and from the f aUs to its confluence 

 with the Smith, a distance of about nine miles, springs 

 are constantly adding to its volume. With the great cliffs 

 overhanging in places its deep and cavernous pools, with 

 tlhe evergreen trees casting here and there their shadows 

 upon its wrinkled surface, and with now and then a 

 stretch open to the sun glare, one need not be reminded of 

 the stream's transcendent beauty, nor of the fact that it 

 must be the natural home of the choicest of tlie finnv 

 tribe. - . . J 



The waters of the Tenderfoot we found swarming with 

 trout and grayhng, A cast of three flies as often brought 

 in two fish as one. The Preacher, who is fond of experi- 

 menting, tried on six flies one day, and brought in four 

 handsome fish at one cast. We found the sport too good 

 on the Tenderfoot. It requu-ed few fish to supply oiu: 

 larder, and after two or three days we tired of catching- 

 trout and grayling to throw back into the stream. 



Not far from our camp we found a squatter's shack into 

 which a ranciiman of the country had moved dui-ino- the 

 haying season. We soon scraped acquaintance with the 

 ranchman and his men, and the first visit tlie latter made 

 to the faUs on a cattle and horse salting expedition, I 

 was of the party. Sittiag BuU, a venerable broncho, too 

 old, lame, gentle and safe for any of the "boys" to ride, 

 was thoughtfully assigned to me, and I must say that the 

 old fellow did his work well. 



At the Falls and for a half mUe or so below there was 

 no fishing. It was plain that the Tenderfoot had been fished 

 out at that place, and as there were two sets of campers 

 from Niehart, a new railroad town ten miles distant over 

 the Big Beit range, it seemed reasonable to attribute the 

 work to Niehart fishermen. Both Bill and George said 

 that the Niehart campers were using dynamite, and I think 

 they knew. 



In less than a week after my visit to the Falls, the val- 

 ley was entered by gangs of pot-fishermen coming from 

 the Niehart direction, and at once the work of destruction 

 began in om- immediate vicinity. Each gang charged 

 that the preceding had used dynamite, and we believed 



that each had told the truth. There was not a true fish- 

 erman among them aU. The first party to pass our camp 

 consisted of three. Their journey was attended with such 

 a fusilade of pistol tiring as to warrant the conjecture, 

 when we first heard the shots, that a troop was on the 

 march. They passed our camp in Indian file, the first 

 being fairly well mounted, the second was also mounted, 

 but rode bareback without a bridle, and the third footed 

 it along behind. Eacli carried a green pole cut from the 

 thicket, and wore a half-bushel sack, shot-pouch fashion, 

 in wfiich to carry his fish. For bait they had grasshop- 

 pers. These worthies fished for greed, and had the same 

 love for the business that the wolf has for the chase of the 

 lamb it devours. ' 'Trout and grayling are wortli in Nie- 

 liart," they said, "from 25 to 35 cents per pound;" and it 

 was the money they were after. 



Other parties came and went, tUl within ten days we 

 comited Sixteen new faces, and from morning till night 

 during these days the work of thrashing and pounding the 

 waters and the hoisting out of trout and grayfing went 

 steadily on. And when the ten days were up and the last 

 of the sixteen were ready to leave, they cussed those who 

 liad preceded them for being hogs and dynamiters, for the 

 trout and the grayhng were gone. The day before we left 

 I fislied the stream for a mile or more below our camp be- 

 fore I got a decent creel. It was a revelation to me, this 

 rapid and effective depletion of the Tenderfoot of its fish. 

 The teeming waters of the Smith Eiver wiU, of course, re- 

 jjlenish the Tenderfoot, but for how long? 



The work of destruction of game and fish is going on in 

 the mountain country more rapidly than we are apt to 

 think. Butchei-ing is the rule. I have before me a letter 

 from an Idaho man in which is an account of a Chicago 

 gentleman who, with his family, spent six weeks in that 

 State last season, and "during their stay they killed 2,000 

 chickens besides other small game. " Let us hope it is a he, 

 for what would even a Chicago gentleman do with 3,000 

 chickens during a six weeks' outing? And yet, while Ave 

 may hope that tlie story is not true, it is certain that the 

 Chicago man, was better than the most of his neighbors, if 

 he didn't kill every chicken he could, "besides" all "other 

 small game." 



On our way to Li'pingstone we went up the beautiful 

 valley of a, delightful trout stream, whose name escapes 

 me, for a distance of some four or five miles. All along,, 

 the banks indicated a recent and unusual invasion of fish- 

 ermen, and on trying the stream we found an unexpected 

 scarcity of trout. On inquiry of the ranchmen, we were 

 informed that a company of fishermen from a town forty 

 miles distant had spent ten days on the stream and that 

 they had "salted down" thousands offish. Our inform- 

 ants probablj^ gave them credit for taking more fish than 

 they were justly entitled to, but the fact was plain that 

 they had skinned the streani. 



The Yellowstone Kiver above the falls and within the 

 Park affords as fine fishing of its kind as perhaps can be 

 fomid in the world. But one hears fault finding wherever 

 he goes because the Government will not suffer the market- 

 fishermen to come in and take possession. 



But the market-fishermen are not the only people to 

 blame for the work of extermination going' on in the 

 creeks and rivers of the West. The day we spent at the 

 Y'ellowstone FaUs we noticed a couple of gentlemen set- 

 ting out on a fisliing excursion in the upper part of the 

 river. Subsequently we met one of these men, Avho told 

 us the story of his catch. It was 150, and I have no rea- 

 son to believe that he did not teU the truth. But that was 

 a shameful butchery. The fellow was certainly no true 

 sportsman, and I trust the time is not far hence when a 

 man would as soon think of purloiniug his neighbor'a 

 property as to kiU more game than he can find use for. 



D. D. Banta. 



THAT PARADISE IN THE NORTHWEST. 



Seattle, Wash. , March 13,— Though you wiU not find my 

 name on your list, I am stiU a constant reader of the best 

 sporting paper published. I am almost constantlv on the 

 move, thus have no fixed address, and consequently ob- 

 tain the Forest akd Stream of newsdealers. 



In your issue of Feb. 23 I notice a communication from 

 Tacoma from the pen of Dr. J. A. Beebe, in which he 

 literally makes this region a sportsman's pai'adise. As. 

 one of the disciples of rod and rifle I feel called on to cor- 

 rect some parte of the genial Doctor's sta.tement. He 

 evidently has the "Sound fever," and has it bad. (There 

 is no kn,own cm-e for the disease.) 



, ' 'l3ears, deer and cougars are killed M'ithin ten minutes' 

 ride of the court house," says the Doctor. It is true that a 

 cougar or bear does occasionaUy stray into some of the 

 "real estate" suburbs of the cities of the Sound, but these 

 are from foiu- or five to six or eight miles from the city 

 and surrounded by a jungle that would rival like places in 

 India or Africa. Decidedly the Doctor has only shown, 

 one side of the picture. 



"Seals, whales and dolphins * * * crowd into our 

 harbor and sport a.t our very doors., * * * Salmon of 

 25 to 451bs, are veiy common. * * * Rainbow trout of 

 4ilbs.," writes the Doctor, are to be caught (presumably) 

 right at the door. ' 'Twenty minutes' ride * * * or an 

 hour's walk or row will convey the ardent sportsman 

 into -" Paradise, tlie Doctor would giye you to under- 

 stand . Now 1-. t's see what is the sane version. First, ' 'dog," 

 or hairless seals, do frequent certain localities in the 

 Sound during salmon season, and then only in limited 

 numbers. Once in a generation, perhaps, a small whale 

 does get lost in the cliannels and strays up the Sound. I 

 have questioned quite a number of old settlers and my iq.- 

 formation is that some time several j^ears ago three small 

 whales actually got into Commencement Bay, Tacoma*s 

 harbor. I can find not even a tradition of any others 

 above Port Townsend, seventy-five or eighty miles frorn 

 Tacoma. Verily the Doctor's door is a wide one. Inquiiy 

 fails to find any one who has ever seen anything nearer 

 like a "dolphin" than a porpoise. Perhaps the Doctor 

 meant the latter fish, if so we can overlook his error. 



I caught a great many salmon myself last season and 

 inspected whole scowloads caught by the canneiy fleet of 

 Itahans looking for some of these fabled monsters of the 

 salmon tribe. The largest one I could fiad tipped a Howe 

 beam at 22|lbs. The Doctor must use "spring" scales 

 with a very Aveak spring. As to the trout, there are un- 

 doubtedly large trout in some of the mountain streams of 

 Washington. Just how large it would be hard to state. 

 I myself never saw one over 3 or 3llbs. , and don't know 

 what kind of trout he was, but am under the impression 

 that he was captured in one of the lakes. 



You of the East, of the Maine woods, of the Rangeley 



Lakes, of the Michigan or Canadian pines, of the crags of 

 the Rockies, you know not what the Doctor's "paradise" 

 is. Just put on your imagination cap and follow me 

 closely. First, we have a rough up and down hiU country 

 wdiich nature has planted with a solid grove of sombre fir 

 and cedar trees, whose plume tops find the simshine 200 

 or 300ft. above the grotmd and whose diameter 10 or 12ft. 

 from the earth will reach 6 or 8ft. to 12 or 15ft., and in 

 some cases much more. Hemlock and spruce form a 

 good imdergrowth, which shuts out the sun and vege- 

 tates the huge bunches, mats, festoons and stalactites of 

 green, gray, brown and yellow moss that covers every 

 stick in the woods, gathers a cold, clammy dampness and 

 lends a decided ice-house air to these woods. Don't think 

 for a minute that this is all. We must cleai* away a mass 

 of swamp alder, cottonwood, wild cherry and liundreds 

 of other "shrubs," including a mass of ferns of four or 

 five kinds which grow, some of them, almost to the mag- 

 nitude of bushes, and are all as high or higher than your 

 head. Mix with these a dozen or fifteen kinds of tliorny 

 berry vines and drop a few^ acres of that vegetable terror 

 known as "devil's clubs," here and there just carelessly, 

 so they wiU stab you, tear your corduroys and give you a 

 three or four hours' job removing the needlelike thorns; 

 then knock a lot of big timber down and pile it ci-iss-cross 

 in every direction, some of it so big you cannot climb 

 over it, and brush so thick you can't go around it; add 

 enough light to see newspaper print imder the thinnest 

 places of the vegetable mass above you and let a common 

 eveiy-day coast rain envelop you like a wet blanket (this- 

 is in deer season, J anuary ), and you have the most truth- 

 ful picture my pen is able to describe to you of this beau- 

 tiful "paradise" of the Doctor's. El Comancho. 



TAGS ARE UN-AMERICAN. 



Chicago, 111., March 25,— Editor Forest artd Stream: 

 You are right when you say that "tags are un-American." 

 I have fished the lakes and rivers of Illinois, Michigan 

 and Wisconsin Avith rod and hook for over thirty consecu- 

 tive years, and if the pieople desire to protect the sports- 

 man's interest, there is no necessity of licensing a hook 

 and fine, but let them keep the seines out of our small 

 streams, see that the waters are not polluted, and don't 

 introduce such spawn-eaters as the German carp, and our 

 rivers wiU yield enough fish to satisfy any reasonable 

 minded pei-son for a century to come. Old Nicic 



New York, March 24. — Editor Forest cmd Stremfv: 

 Your splendid editorial, "Tags are un-American," de- 

 serves the admiration and praise of every lover of fieldi 

 sports. I trust the time will come when such foolish 

 dickerings with law wiU be a thing of the past. "Non- 

 resident license laws" should only be passed by States' 

 who wish to build a Chinese wall, and not regard aS' 

 worth any consideration the amount of money is spent 

 by a constantly increasing sporting element tliat supports 

 thousands of summer places. I have traveled in thirteen 

 different States in the last nine months and always cany 

 my rod and gun with me, and have resolved never to stop' 

 at places where I am so im-welcomed with a non-resident, 

 license tax. I trust others will do the same. I agree witln 

 you that game preservation is important and necessary,, 

 but is non-resident license tax the remedy? 1 think not,. 



H. C. W. 



NEW BRUNSWICK BEAR BRAVES, 



The landscape Avas bathed in the soft light of the late 

 autumn sun when, one day, two hunters— mighty nim- 

 rods — left one of the fairest villages in the little Province- 

 of New Brunswick on a rabbit hunt. On their shouldersi 

 were their "trusty firelocks" and their pockete were fililed 

 to overflowing with cartridges loaded with No. 5 shot. 



As they crossed the long bridge that spanned the river 

 between the town and their hunting ground the windi 

 Avhistled merrily through the upper works of tlie bridge' 

 and also through the wdiiskers of the hunters. In the' 

 anticipations of the good things in store for them later' 

 in the day they were in high spirits. Only one little drop' 

 of bitter was in. their cup, they had not brought cartridges, 

 enough. It was too late now" to go back for more. And! 

 after they had slain either a rabbit or a grouse with each 

 of the six and a half dozen they had with therb they 

 would probably be tantalized by the sight of game galore 

 which they would be powerless to reduce to possession. 



Alas! that there should be so wide a margin between) 

 expectation and realization. When the day was fast wan- 

 ing, and they had tramped many a weary yard on the' 

 gromid where they had decreed that so much game was^ 

 to die, they found that: 



The steps of the "joe-buck" ■svere far and) fleet, 

 And the grouse kept aloof from the hunter ''s feet. 



The wind now sighed mournfully through the trees,, 

 and toyed not at aU with the whiskers of the nimrods, 

 "I'U teU you what," said one, "we've got to lie low till 

 after dark and steal into town unobserved. Then we 

 must keep mighty quiet for a few days or the boys will 

 have it on us good." "I know a trick that'll beat 'lying, 

 low' all hollow," replied he of the judicial mind. "Over 

 there, on the other river, is a man w^ho owns a tame bear, 

 which has grown so cross that he is dangerous. Let us^ 

 buy that bear, shoot him, and pass him off for one killed 

 in the w^oods, in fair fight, with No. 5 shot. Then we'll! 

 enter town in open dayhght; also in a blaze of glory." 



And they hied them to the owner of the bear, and trans- 

 ferred to his pockets a goodly number of shekels. Then 

 he of the judicial muid ventured within the scope of 

 bruin's chain. As the animal tried to resent the intrusion,, 

 he was "knocked speechless" by a charge of small shot,, 

 delivered at a point blank range. 



When they entered the village they left in the morning: 

 there was great rejoicing. They had met the fierce deni- 

 zen of the forest; he had attacked them and he was theirs. 

 Their fame went abroad in the land. They were pointed 

 out on the street as the men who in self-defense had slain 

 a bear with No. 5 shot. The bearskin was placed on ex- 

 hibition in a store wdndow. Their names got into the' 

 papers; yea, even into Forest and Stream, and theirs- 

 was great glory. 



One day an old hunter entered the village and stopped! 

 for a moment to look at the glossy pelt so conspicuously 

 displayed. "A br aw skin," he said, "and evidently that 

 of an individual of mark and distinction in his own 

 country. For, while we sometimes hear of bears wearing- 

 white shirt fronts, it is extra- ordinar' for one to wear a 

 collar, and the chafed ring on the neck of that skin is a 



