96 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 5, 1898. 



look) duly ensconced in the smoking car of the North Pacific 

 R.R. with a very boisterous crowd of those young men who 

 try to show their manliness by getting drunk and noisy on 

 the outset of a holiday. These cubs made it very unpleas- 

 ant for half the joiirney, but finally left the train much to 

 our relief. 



It is a peculiarity of California to name places and 

 towns from something that never existed on that particu- 

 lar spot. For instance, we have a Sti-awberry Valley up 

 in the mountains, but no one ever heard of a strawberry 

 within forty miles of the place. There is a legend, how- 

 ever, that it was named after a man who kept a roadside 

 inn; he was named Berry, and advertised good spring 

 beds, which proved to be of curled straw, hence Straw 

 Berry. 



Cloverdale is charming, being surrounded by vineyards 

 and fruit orchards in every variety. It is in a beautiful 

 valley, or rather at the termination of the one through 

 which the railroad runs, and here are villages with 

 cottages hidden and almost buried from sight in rose 

 bushes and every kind of flowers. In one of these lovely 

 spots resides your correspondent "Marion," on whom 1 

 should have been greatly pleased to call, only that rail- 

 road trains are obdurate and like the tide wait for no man. 

 I found in the train a resident of her village who knew 

 her, and in that way heard late news of her. 



Arriving at Cloverdale we secured our rooms at the neat 

 Uttle hostlery, ate our welcome supper, and then pro- 

 c eded to a stable to engage our horses for our next morn- 

 ing's long ride over the hills and dales that intei-vened be- 

 tween us and our fishing ground . 



We then settled down to the social comfort to be had 

 out of an arm cliair on the piazza and the little brier 

 wood pipes, the solace of the sportsman, where we sat in 

 the moonlight, smoked and planned oiu- morning work , 

 until that delightfully sleepy feeling that one feels only 

 in the country sent us off to b< d, and oh, how we did 

 sleep. The next morning in good season we mounted our 

 horses and set out. For four hours we climbed steep 

 grades up and tlien steep grades down, generally dis- 

 mounting and walking down tiie worst, though the'roads 

 were good, until we finallj^ struck off from the main road 

 iato a private trail that took us do%vn, down into one of 

 the beautiful vallej's so characteristic of California. 



As neither my friend nor myself had ever peregrinated 

 in the direction we were traveling, although familiar 

 with the country in almost every other, we stopped every 

 man we met to inquire our way to our rather obscure 

 destination. The last wagon we overtook, in which two 

 young men were driving, jsroved to contain the very 

 parties we were in quest of, owners of the ranch where 

 we hoped to stop. Our proposition was very heartily as- 

 sented to by our to be hosts, and much to our relief, as 

 otherwise we would have been obliged to camp for the 

 night or return without having any chance at the trout. 

 "We arrived at the ranch about noon, and after a hearty 

 lunch our two young hosts laid aside their ranch work 

 and accompanied us to the creek we had such high hopes 

 of. A walk of a mile brought us to the water, to be 

 dreadfully disappointed, for it proA^ed to be a mere rivu- 

 let, too low to promise good fishing, as proved to be the 

 case. It was rough fishing, a muchness of big boulders 

 and I'ocks, with a good deal of underbrush, that abomi- 

 nation and great annoyance in fly-fishing, and more 

 especially unless one is using a very short rod. In the 

 present case a six-footer would have been ample length. 

 It is needless to say we found virtually no fishing. Those 

 we caught were mere fingerlings, and all not injured 

 were thrown back. We had a healthy tramp and re- 

 turned with hearty appetites to supper, and after a smoke 

 were tired enough to tui-n in early. 



Our friends told us of another creek that emptied into 

 the one we had tried, about two miles below our previous 

 day's tramp; and they thought the additional waters of 

 this creek would give the one we had tried sufllcient water 

 to furnish better fish. So mounting our hoi-ses, after an 

 early breakfast the next morning, we started down, fol- 

 lowing a faint and by no means smooth trail along the 

 creek, with many ups and downs, through brush and over 

 fallen trees, which none but a California-bred liorse coifid 

 ever be pei-suaded to face; and we finally had to dismount 

 and lead ours, not being able to ride under the obstruc- 

 tions. At one obstacle, a largo tree that had fallen and 

 extended entirely across the creek, we dismounted; and 

 my friend essayed to lead his horse under, but made a 

 miscalculation as to the height of horse and saddle. The 

 pommel caught on the tree. The moment the horse felt 

 the strain, he sprang forward, as California horses trained 

 to the lasso are wont to do. As the California saddle 

 never gives away, and a big tree is not likely to. the next 

 thing was for the saddle to be carried back until the cinch 

 came under the loins of the horse, and then there iras 

 music. The horse whirled and phmged down the steep 

 bank an d " bucked" as only a California horse can buck. In 

 his first plunge he struck my friend, knocking him about 

 ten feet, landing him in a pile of limbs and rubbish left by 

 the freshet at the roots of an overturned tree; and fol- 

 loAved on himself until brought up by the same obstruc- 

 tion, and pranced and kicked over the prostrate body of 

 my friend, who lay flat on his back directly under'the 

 horse. I tried to drag him out, but that horse seemed to 

 have a dozen legs, and all M ere in motion, flying in every 

 direction. At last at the word "Whoa!" the animal sub- 

 sided, all in a tremble. It was not viciousness, but pure 

 and unadulterated fright that was the matter witli him. 



My friend crawled out from under the horse, and to my 

 hurried inquiry how many legs and arms he had left in a 

 sound state, he replied that he thought he had enough left 

 to wag along with, and wonderful to relate, he had 

 escaped any serious damage. 



I offered a wager at odds that he could not do it again 

 under same conditions and come ovit as well. He said it 

 was not his betting day, and declined. 



Having adjusted the saddle and gathered up the scat- 

 tered impedimenta, we made a fresh start, but encounter- 

 ing another fallen tree which shut us off the trail, we 

 essayed to cross the creek and scale the opposite bank to 

 get around it. We did get part way up, but the under- 

 growth was too dense, and our horses having scarce a 

 foothold we tried to get back again, but there was no 

 room for the horses to turn around. They were getting 

 excited and threatened a second catastrophe, but bysooth- 

 ing them we managed at the risk of all going down in a 

 heap in the creek to extricate oiu-selves from the unpleas- 

 ant predicament, and finding a level spot on the opposite 

 side of the creek, we tied up the horses and hoofed it the 

 remaining distance, to find the creek we were in quest of 



at so low a stage as to add but little volume to the main 

 creek, and the fish no larger. So we concluded to throw 

 u]3 the sponge and return to our horses, mount and retrace 

 our steps to the ranch. After a light lunch we set out on 

 our homeward ride, reaching our liotel at dark somewhat 

 tired and sore after our experiences and long ride. We 

 turned in, with a mutual agreement to take the early 

 ti-ain home the next morning, which we did. 



My last trouting had been in Canada, at the outlet of 

 Lake Edward, where I dealt with two and three-pounders, 

 and the contrast caused the painful consciousness that the 

 good old days when I was wont to fill my basket with 

 good-sized trout from Sulphur Creek and other California 

 streams had passed; and I determined that my next essay 

 would be next fall after Navara River salmon. 



I had been spoiling like the Irishman for a fight, i. e. , 

 a try at the trout, and I had it, with results as described ;- 

 and as the Frenchman, who was also spoiling for a fight 

 and got licked, "I am sati-sfy." I wdll have it out with 

 the salmon next October though, to make amends. No 

 fingerlings then, but ten and fifteen-pounders. 



My yarn is not very interesting, I admit, but just you 

 wait until I go up to Navara, and I will tell you of fishing 

 that will make your mouth water, and will take out of 

 mine the taste of this failure. But as for any more 

 Fourth of July excursions after fingerlings — in the words 

 of the poet, I am not in it. Podgers. 



MICHIGAN, MY MICHIGAN.— 11. 



Lansing, July 20. — Like the summer girl, everybody 

 in Michigan goes to the forest in hot weather. Some go 

 camping, others go fishing for a day or two, other take a 

 boating trip down some of the rivers to the Great Lakes, 

 but as a rule everybody who can go is bound to go, and 

 get into the outing swim in some way. A few days ago I 

 had a pleasant visit with ex-Representative Watson, of 

 Caro, Tuscola county. He had just returned from the 

 upper lake region, brown as a berry, and tanned like an 

 Indian. The skin on the back of his hands and wrists 

 was peeling off in flakes an inch or two square, and his 

 face was hke well-tanned sheepskin. He had not got 

 enough of it yet, and he and a friend were having a boat 

 made at Grayling for a trip down the Sauble. They were 

 to start Thursday last. I may, perhaps, find out some of 

 their doings, and if I do I will give them to you in detail. 



One of the jolliest, best feeling and all day sportsmen of 

 Lansing is A. H. Whitehead. He is a hunter and fisher- 

 man "from 'way back." Just when, or where, his sport- 

 ing days began, memory runneth to naught. He is a 

 member of tlie Rod and Gun Club and active in its affairs. 

 He can break a clay-pigeon with the best of men and as 

 a field shot he gets the game every time. He is well to do 

 and nicely fixed in worldly matters, and no man enjoys 

 his friends to a greater extent than Mr. Whitehead. ' He 

 has two nice cottages on Pine Lake, and owns entirely 

 tlie onlj' island in the lake. His cottages are nicely fur- 

 nished throughout and they are kept in shipshape the 

 year around. About every Saturday afternoon he takes 

 the train for the lake and returns eai-ly Monday morning. 

 He very seldom goes alone; more often he takes a few 

 choice friends with him. He has ample accommodation 

 for the entire part3^ and what he has goes free as water. 

 He reads Forest and Stream regularly and has done so 

 for the past twenty years. His jiilace of business is gaily 

 decorated with pictures of animals which have come 

 from time to time with Forest and Stream, and one feels 

 quite like being at Barnum's menagerie when inside of his 

 sanctum. 



Mr. Wir t head is the champion fisherman of Pine Lake, 

 and he holds the post of honor against all comers. Last 

 spring he invited Burt Robson, Dr. Dickson and Flart Far- 

 rand to take a trip to the lake after frogs, and the stor)^ 

 goes that they caught more frogs than a big wash boiler 

 could hold; it was a great day for frogs, so they said. Mr. 

 Whitehead has guns and tackle enough to equip a whole 

 regiment of men, and few men can handle the goods to 

 better advantage than he. To go hunting or fishing and not 

 ha,ve Cornie along, is like Hannlet with Hamlet not in it. 



Pension Examiner Maxwell is at Lansing for the sum- 

 mer. Maxwell is the kind of a fisherman who can go out 

 with hts rod almost anywhere, be gone a couple of hours 

 and return with a half dozen nice fish. He is a born fish- 

 erinan, and if there is a fish in the river he seems to 

 understand when Maxwell is aroimd, and to save all par- 

 ties time and trouble the best fish in the neighborhood 

 tumble into Maxwell's basket as promptly as good breed- 

 ing will admit. 



Mr. Frank E, Briggs, executive clerk in the office of 

 the State Treasurer, and Mr. Chas. E. Baxter, Deputy 

 State Treasurer, are arranging for a tfouting excursion 

 to northern Michigan. Last spring Mr. Briggs visited 

 Mr,. Frank Hershler at Alba, Mich., and while there he 

 did nothing but catch trout. He was so delighted with 

 his experience that he is fully determined to try it again, 

 Frank has a fine outfit, and takes more comfort sorting 

 his tackle and laying in supplies than most men can enjoy 

 in a long lifetime of actual exiierience. Mr. Clif Foster, of 

 Pine Lake, is the sometime hunting partner of Mi-. Briggs 

 and it is pretty well understood in this section that what 

 Clif , don't know about fishmg and himting is hardly 

 worth knowing. Clif and his great friend Hammond are 

 a team hard to beat. Clif has a flue farm on Pine Lake, 

 and liis home is open to his friends at all times. He is a 

 prince of good fellows, and his good wife is never so 

 happy as when assisting Clif to entertain his sporting 

 friends. A day at Foster's home is a pleasant one long to 

 be remembered. 



Mr. Bassett, of Chicago, and Mr. C. P. Downey, of 

 Lansing, caught the largest and finest string of bass and 

 pickerel at Pine Lake, one day last week, that ever was 

 brought to our city. The string was at least ten feet long 

 and it was all a strong man could do to take it out of the 

 wagon. Mr. Baesett has fished in many of the lakes in 

 the West, but he says that he never saw such a string of 

 fish before. It was a great sight. The same day Mr. 

 RoUo Fillmore and Frank HollLster caught at the "same 

 lake fourteen nice bass. The largest one weighed ilbs. 

 andl4oz. Jack Gary, .lim Price and Charles Clippinger 

 are in camp in Clare county, about three miles from 

 Dover. Mr. Gary, Mr. Price and their wives Avent over- 

 land by wagon, and sent their camp equipage by rail to 

 <_'lare and from tliere by wagon to the camp ground. 

 Mr. Clippinger went up by rail next day. They are after 

 trout. The next morning after they went into camp 

 they caught 47 fine trout before breakfast. They are 

 haA'ing great luck. Mr. Howard Sweet and Mj-. J, E, 



Nichols are arranging to take a run out to Iowa in Sep- 

 tember and try their hands at chickens. These gentle- 

 men are both great shots, and it is a good chicken that 

 gets away from them when they once get located. 



Capt. R. M. Fillmore, Dr. "Dickson, Dr. Hyatt, Jim 

 Edmonds and WiU Grove, of Lansing, and Fred Hyne, 

 Chas. Gushing, Peter Locke, Robt. Serteis, and two or 

 three other gentlemen of Brighton, have been in camp at 

 Oar Lake for about two weeks. They have just broken 

 camp and returned home, and they report one of the 

 most enjoyable outings that they ever had. Before leaving 

 Lansing they laid in a good sup'ply of eatables and fishing 

 tackle, and ncessities for camp life. 



Oar Lake is a charming little body of water in Oakland 

 county, about three miles southv/est of Brighton. Suky 

 Lake, Strawberry Lake, Bass Lake and several other 

 small lakes are all connected with each other, and with 

 Hm-on River, and they form a system of water commu- 

 nication in central Mchigan which makes that section 

 one of the finest camping regions in the State. People 

 from Ann Arbor, Jackson, Ypsilanti and other near-by 

 towns have built many cottages at the lakes, and many 

 business men with their families spend the summer there. 

 At Oar Lake the Brighton boys leased a tract of land 

 some ten years ago of Luther Moon, and they have built 

 a nice cottage 18x26, with a lean-to, for sleeping I'ooms. 

 They have a good barn, ice house, three boat houses and 

 plenty of boats and tackle. The house is comfortably 

 furnished, has beds, tables, crockeiy and everything that 

 is needed in camp life. If the number of campers is too 

 great for the cottage to accommodate nicely, Mr. Moon 

 opens his house, that all may be comfortable. The ten- 

 year lease of the ground will expire next season, but the 

 boys hope to be able to get another lease, and as Mr. 

 Moon is one of the best of good fellows, and enjoys the 

 visits of the campers quite as much as the campers like 

 Mr. Moon, it Avould seem that there was nothing in the 

 way to prevent the camp being a permanent one for some 

 years to come. The fishing at Oar Lake is excellent, bass, 

 pickerel, bluegills and perch abound. 



If one tires of Oar Lake a little pull of a few miles will 

 take him to any one of the half a dozen lakes which are 

 joined together by Httle outlets, which empty into Huron 

 Rivei*. Mr. Bilding, the Brighton livery man, in driving 

 the luggage wagon, had the misfortime' to lose the three 

 loaves of bread which had been taken along as a base of 

 supplies; so that the old-time staff of life was just a little 

 scarce. A fine spring of water bubbles out of the gromid 

 near the camp, and makes a beautiful little brooklet, 

 which is one of the attractive features of the camp. 

 Peter Lake officiated as cook during the outing. Capt. 

 Fillmore dressed the fish. The captain is quite an expert 

 fish dresser. His method is to cut a deep cut along the 

 back and belly, cutting well around the fins, and to strip 

 off the skin from either side. He never scales a, fish, and 

 he claims that no one who wfil take the ti'ouble to learn 

 how to skin a fish will ever dress a fish in any other way. 



I was amused at their story of float-fishing. They took 

 a couple of dozen three-pound cans that had been used 

 for canning corn, took the cans to a tinsmith and 

 had him cut off one end of the can and solder a long 

 funnel-shaped tin cup on the end, which made the entire 

 arrangement air-tight. At the tip of the fimnel part they 

 set in a hook and swivel, and to tlie swivel tied about 10ft. 

 of stout line, put on a large hook baited with a good big 

 sunfish, and threw the entire rigging overboard and let 

 it go. They had twenty or thirty of these arrangements 

 floating around the lake most of the time. The cans were 

 all painted white, and when a fish took the minnow and 

 started away with the can, the can could be plainly seen 

 and followed up and the fish captured. When a big 

 pickerel takes a can it is said to be great fun to watch the 

 can bob up and down. A fish soon tires out and gives up 

 the fight much quicker when he gets hitched to a can than 

 when he is caught by rod and line. Dr. Dickson and 

 Charlie Gushing did the frog act and kept the camp well 

 supplied Avith frogs. The mail came over every evening, 

 so that the boys kept weU uj) on World's Fair matters and 

 the doings of the outside world. Mr. Prout and Will 

 Grove took the largest fish, and a happier man ncA^er lived 

 than Will Grrove when he unloaded .six pickerel that 

 weighed 36lbs. and distributed them among his Lansing- 

 friends. The return of the campers has set the whole 

 town almost Avild on the camping way of taking an out- 

 ing, and other jolly parties are sure to try their luck. 



Some years ago Mr. E. W. Sparrow, of Lansing, Avith 

 Peter White, John M. Longyear and Horatio Seymour, of 

 Marquette, Mich., organized the Hm-on Jlountain Hunting 

 and Fishing Club. The new club house at the mouth of 

 Pine River on Huron Bay was formally opened last Mon- 

 day. The club house is built of selected Norway pine logs 

 Avith a frontage of 104ft. and Avith Avails 22ft. high. The 

 club was incorporated in 18S9 and OAvn and control the 

 hunting and fishing rights of over 10,000 acres of land. 

 This pi-opierty includes six lakes in the heart of the Huron 

 Mountains, the most boautiful spot on the soutli sliore of 

 Lake Superior. These lakes are easily accessible from the 

 Avaters of Lake Superior, and contain salmon trout, black 

 bass, great northern pickerel and Avall-eyed pike, while 

 the streams have an abimdant supply of brook trout. 

 Deer and bear, also ruft'ed grouse, are found upon the lands 

 of the club more plentifully than any other grounds 

 within a number of miles. 



It is proposed to make this region a himting and fishing 

 park, to build a club house and keep up the supply of fish 

 by restocking the streams and lakes. The grounds of the 

 club can be approached by Avater by Lake Superior, by 

 road from Marquette, and also by a road winch is about 

 constructed from Huron Bay — the Iron Range & Huron 

 Bay road — Avhich will greatly shorten the distance by rail. 

 This road will be completed from Champion, on the 

 Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad, to the foot of 

 Huron Bay during the prerent season. 



The membership of this organization is Limited to 100, 

 and it is a stock corporation, the par value of the stock 

 being $100. No one is allowed to subscribe to more than 

 five shares of stock. A number of shares of this corpora- 

 tion are for sale; $50 to be paid upon the delivery of the 

 stock and the balance when called for. 



The club association is strictly a private one. The 

 membership is limited to the immediate friends of the 

 gentlemen Avho were instrumental in organizing the club. 

 It is desired to make the club a homelike retreat, not open 

 to tlie public, where the members can go for rest and to 

 enjoy good shooting and fishing. The club is destined to 

 be one of the most popular and influential clubs in Michi- 

 gan, Julian. 



