314 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



rOCTi 14, 1898. 



THE SAGINAW CROWD. 



Pilgrimage of 1 892.— I. 



I SUPPOSE that as a sportsman grows older the more 

 certain he is to keep a diary. I have noticed of late 

 years that a good many of my hunting companions have 

 produced, at different times, a small and well-worn book 

 ifrom some inner pocket, and have withdrawn to the 

 quiet seclusion of a corner of the car or by the flickering 

 camp-fire to note down the exploits of the day just passed. 



When the "Old Saginaw Crowd" began its annual 

 pilgrimages, we thought it would be a good plan to keep a 

 record of our doings. One of the first and earliest efforts 

 in this direction was noted some four or five years ago in 

 FoBEST AND STREAM, under the title of "The Pilgrimage 

 of the Saginaw Crowd to the Indian Territory." Since 

 then, each year has furnished its quota of good times to 

 the majority of the same "old crowd," who have been 

 together somewhere each autumn. 



I have tills morning taken down the old record book; 

 and, on opening it, have run across a good many odd 

 memoranda, some recording notable shots and bags; and 

 nearly all bringing forth pleasant recollections of the 

 good times we have had. In fact, three-quarters of the 

 fun derived from shooting and fishing trips is in anticipa- 

 tion and retrospect. 



Among the scraps of paper dropping from the opened 

 book is one written on the back of some haberdasher's 

 billhead, as follows: "Write to Dick Carter for dog for 

 the Judge." Short, and to the point. Probably I could 

 write something that would be entertaining, or at least 

 I fancy it would be entertaining to the readers of Forest 

 AND Stream, either on Carter, the Judge or the dog, 

 separately, or on the combination. I do not intend to 

 do so; but the dog came, and was a daisy, with a good 

 nose, and lots of quail to work on. She was also the 

 means of developing a 20-horse-power voice in the Judge. 

 You could hear him across a 50-acre lot, yelling at the 

 dog, as soon as she began to show signs of game, or, in 

 fact, was doing just about what she ought to do. It 

 probably was his first setter; and as he had recently 

 joined our "Saginaw Crowd," coming from the north, 

 from near where, as Bing used to say of his Duluth ex- 

 perience, "about four miles this side of where Greely's 

 party was found;" he is excusable. The Judge was out 

 only twice before he learned that it was not necessary to 

 talk to the dog; that she could do the work just as well 

 without a political oration. 



Then comes a list of things on the car Oct. 36, 1892; 

 stuff left over from other trip, tomatoes, mustard, sar- 

 dines, ox-tail soup, etc. This reminds me that an inven- 

 tory was taken on the return of the last trip, and said in- 

 ventory shows we had run very close on the larder. 



Then here is another, dated Monday,written on the back 

 of a "Star Soap" letterhead, without other date, and, from 

 the fact that "Dad" Cross is mentioned, it must have been 

 during the shoot of '91. It starts with: "Monday morn- 

 ing. Eight of the party went for a morning shoot, Briggs 

 and Cross remaining in the camp; returning at 10:30 in 

 the morning, bringing in 66 geese, 14 sharp-tailed grouse, 

 18 ducks and 8 snipe." It shows that the boys evidently 

 were in the right spot that morning. 



I imagine that 1 would not as readily run across the 

 slips of paper recording the many days on which a simi- 

 lar party went forth and came back "skunked." We do 

 not tell of these days; it is only the men who strike it 

 right that we hear of; failures are not noted. However, 

 on the opposite side of the sheet is a record for ten men 

 for two weeks that is pretty good; it savors a little of hog- 

 gishness, but when you consider that twenty-one days 

 elapsed from the time we left home till the time we re- 

 turned, and that there are ten in the party, it divides it 

 up, after aU, to a pretty small average for each man per 

 day. We always give our birds away; that is, those we 

 cannot eat, and we eat a good many, for Bigelow always 

 has a good appetite, and our friends at liome can testify 

 to the fact that young goose fed on wheat is a very tooth- 

 some morsel. 



Then I strike a list of ammunition for last year, and in 

 fact for the year before. The boys sent me a list of their 

 shells, and we ordered of the Chamberlin people together. 

 For the trip of 1893 we stuck to E. C. powder, and it was 

 great stuff; we never had more satisfactory ammunition. 



Then there is the expense account, footing up $1,300. 

 This is something that may interest some of the readers 

 of this article, for many times the question is asked, 

 "What do you have to pay for taking along a private 

 car?" It simply means that you have to pay for fifteen oj 

 eighteen regular tickets, whether you have eighteen pas- 

 sengers or half that number, but then there is no charge 

 for hauling the car in addition to this. You are also fur- 

 nished with wood, water, coal and ice as needed. Buying 

 your own provisions, and having your own cook and por- 

 ter makes it a very economical trip. It amounted to 

 $144.43 each last year; there were nine in the party. This 

 included transportation and supplies. We also put up $5 

 per day for a sinking fund for the car. It also included 

 our biUs for liveries and men, both in the Bad Lands and 

 for the week when we were shooting east of the Missouri 

 River, and a day at the World's Fair grounds. 



Last, but not least, I come across a letter from the 

 editor of Forest and Stream reminding me I promised to 

 write up something as a result of some of these shooting 

 trips, and as I have repeatedly promised I would do so, 

 and business is a little dull this morning, I will make a 

 start at it anyhow. 



When the edge is worn off from our trout fishing in May 

 and June, we begin to think of getting together the "Old 

 Saginaw Crowd" for its annual October outing. Since 1883 

 not one fall has been missed that some of us have not gone 

 somewhere in the West together, almost always to Dakota; 

 and though the Crowd has changed some in all these years, 

 yet a good many old and f amiUar faces respond to the roll 

 call regularly each new October. 



In 1888 we made a trip into the Band Lands, the party 

 then consisting of Bob S., Barnard, Briggs, Ferd, A., Mc- 

 Graw, Bob, Jr., Mores and the writer, (Four of the party 

 of 1888 went last year.) Since that time McGraw, the man i 

 with the ginger whiskers, has married; and it was owing j 

 to the Gontimial advent of little McGraws that he did not 

 go with us last year, for he feieljs thftt it is his duty to take 1 



the youngsters out behind a trotter that is well in the list, 

 on the first outuag. It is told as an actual fact, that when 

 his first boy was two weeks old he was seen giving him a 

 spin, holding him on his lap in the sulky, behind one of 

 his fast trotters. 



Ever since .the experience of the 1888 outing in the Bad 

 Lands we have wanted to "do it again." We had an idea 

 that to put in a light draft boat in the Little Missouri, at 

 Menora, and float down stream to a point near the Kildeer 

 Mountains and there arrange for our teams to meet us, 

 would be a great trip — ^in fact, it would be. I wrote The- 

 odore Roosevelt about it, and asked his opinion as to 

 whether it would be possible. His reply was that we 

 could not do it with an ordinary state of water; that it 

 would be a dragging instead of a floating trip. The shal- 

 lows and sandbars are so numerous that it would prob- 

 ably not be possible; so we reluctantly abandoned -the 

 idea, 



Not until last year have circumstances been such that 

 we could undertake it. Correspondence was opened with 

 the Northern Pacific agent at Dickinson, and a guide se- 

 cured in the person of Paddock. Our experience with 

 guides has been varied and interesting; mind the word, 

 however— I did not say satisfactory; consequently we had 

 not taken much stock in Paddock: but we were happily 

 disappointed. He did not say, like the ancient mariner 

 on the Erie Canal, "Fear not, but trust in DoUinger, and 

 he will fetch you through;" but whenever there was a 

 sentiment of doubt as to the final outcome broached, the 

 quiet and confident look on Paddock's face reassured us 

 at once, and it was not long before we found out that he 

 understood his business. Later on I hope to relate some 

 of his experiences as he told them to us one evening as 

 we were lying on the grass under the shade of a spread- 

 ing Cottonwood, on the banks of the Little Missouri 

 River. 



On Saturday, Oct. 1, 1893, the "Crowd," nine in number, 

 met in Saginaw. The good car City of Saginaw, which 

 has carried us on many successful and pleasant journeys, 

 was side-tracked at Mershon Station, and all were busily 

 employed during the day in packing a,nd getting things 

 stored away. We take no trunks with us, but each man 

 has a locker large enough to hold all his stuff, which he 

 can get to at any time and which is much handier than a 

 trunk, and besides, it does not litter up the car. In one 

 corner of the car stood a Bond sectional boat; sitting 

 against it is a barrel of apples, nice big Northern Spies, 

 that we are taking with us as a present to Lee. Tents are 

 slung up in the turret, blankets and sleeping bags keep- 

 ing them company. In one corner of the car is the am- 

 munition in nice fresh boxes, just as it came from the 

 Chamberlin Co, ; above the ammunition is a newly-con- 

 trived shelf, on which rests the car hand organ with a 

 good supply of new music; while several cases of Milwau- 

 kee beverage and two or three boxes of decoys took up 

 the balance of the spare room. In the drawing room end 

 two racks, weU overhead, contain all the guns. 



The train was to leave from the Grand Trunk depot at 

 9 o'clock that night. The party consisted of Bob, of 

 Zanesville, O.; G. D. Seib, of Brooklyn, N, Y.; A, P, 

 Bigelow, of New York; Dr. C, R. Sumner, of Rochester, 

 N. Y. ; the Judge, Ferd. A. Briggs, and, aside from the 

 writer, Jack, or Brooks, of "Section 37" fame; George, 

 our porter, and old Harrison, the cook, made up as jolly 

 a crowd as ever pulled out of any raflroad station on' fun 

 intent. Van was too much mixed up in politics, and was 

 afraid that he possibly might not represent his district in 

 Congress if he went with us. McGraw came up to see us 

 off, and brought along two fine boxes of celery from the 

 McGraw farm. 



Sunday, the 3d, we were in Chicago, The car was 

 promptly transferred to the Wisconsin Central. Then we 

 went to Jackson Park to see what had been done on the 

 World's Fair grounds. We returned to the car, and left 

 for St. Paul at 5:47. The evening was spent in listening 

 to sacred music on the herophone, mainly ground out by 

 Jack and the Judge. 



Jack, for the first time on the trip, related his famous 

 exploit of catching a 401bs. salmon on the Cascapedia; 

 how, after being fast to it for an hour and running rapid 

 after rapid, the fish was at last gaffed and thrown into 

 the boat, and, as Jack tells it: "I placed one foot each 

 side of him and raised my club and hit him on the head, 

 and the fish gave a flop and jumped over the side of the 

 boat and got away, I tell you, boys, he was a whopper, 

 and a few days afterward we could see him in the pools 

 with a great white scar on his back where the gaff had 

 torn out. We christened him 'Scar-faced Charlie,' and 

 some weeks afterward he was reported as having been 

 seen away up the river." Jack told this story so many 

 times before we got back that it got to be something of a 

 chestnut; not but what it was varied from time to time; 

 the salmon never weighed less than 401bs., and sometimes 

 more; and at times he had struck Mm with the club sev- 

 eral times before he knocked him down, and got away. 

 As I said, he told this story so many times that at last we 

 paid no attention to him when he began to grind out his 

 tale of woe about losing this big fish. 



During the evening we were favored with a caU from 

 Mrs. Miller, managing editor of the Industrial Magazine. 

 She was fond of outdoor sports, knew how to cast a fly, 

 and could handle a rifle. We enjoyed her visit very 

 much, and Jack related his famous salmon story. We 

 kept straight faces dm-ing the recital, and Mrs. Miller 

 afterward published this miraculous fish story in her 

 magazine. 



We arrived at St. Paul on time Monday, Oct. 3, and 

 spent the day, as we usually do, in seeing the sights of the 

 twin cities. Nearly every one sees something that he 

 wants to buy, and thinks he needs — goose calls, hunting 

 knives and other tomfoolery that you never use after yoix 

 come to the himting ground, but which always look so 

 tempting, displayed in the store windows or show cases. 



After a pleasant call on Mr. Austin in the general ticket 

 office of the Northern Pacific, and putting on board a 

 supply of fruit, not forgetting the iisual crate of Cahfor- 

 nia grapes, we were willing to have the train start for 

 some unknown region. However, we were two hours 

 late in starting, and did not leave till 7 o'clock. We 

 passed through Flint, our old stamping ground, at 9 

 o'clock Tuesday morning. Owing to Bob's being uneasy 

 about his mother's health, he did not dare go with us in 

 the Bad Lands, where he would be out of reach of the 

 telegraph; so concluded to wait at Flint until our return. 

 The friends of years met us at the depot, and boarded 

 our car to shake hands before the train started. They 

 also left us a nice bunch of ducks and grouse, which 



were very acceptable, and were at once turned over to 

 Harrison. 



Our train speeds westward. We cross the bridge that 

 spans the Missouri River from Bismarck to Mandan, and 

 during our brief stop at the latter point we saw the usual 

 specimens of Sioux Indians that come up from Standing 

 Rock Agency to sun themselves on the depot platform; 

 a more villainous lot of savages never congregated in 

 any one spot than you see here. 



We had figiu-ed to arrive at Dickinson about 1 P. M. ; 

 and by having everything packed and ready, we had 

 hoped that Paddock would have hoi-ses and teams at the 

 depot on our arrival, so we could start that afternoon; 

 and by camping that night somewhere beyond Green 

 River, we could make the drive and get into camp on 

 the Little Missouri on the following day. One is greatly 

 upset at times by late trains; and in this case we did not 

 arrive at Dickinson until 4:40, and were promptly intro- 

 duced to Paddock by the Northern Pacific agent. Pad- 

 dock looked well and moved slowly; and we, fuU of fire 

 and enthusiasm, did not have much effect in hustling 

 him; for when we suggested that we ought to have 

 everything packed and start by 6 o'clock or earlier the 

 next morning, he "allowed" that 8 o'clock would be time 

 enough, and he would try to get around by that time. 

 We did the town that night; that is, what there is of it 

 to do. Jack showed us how to sharpen knives (for he is 

 the buyer for a large cutlery house and is supposed to 

 know all about it), and from that time on he employed 

 most of his time in sharpening some one's knife; whether 

 it was improved by his sharpening or not I won't say. 

 He was rigged out in a new white sweater, broad- 

 brimmed white hat, bran new leather cartridge belt, with 

 hunting knife and small revolver; and when he asserted 

 that he wanted a bucking broncho, and was prepared 

 to ride the whole seventy-five or eighty miles, Paddock 

 and the drivers smile^. 



We took Harrison with us and left George, the porter, 

 in charge of the car. We expected to be away aibout a 

 week, and were going northwest across the divide at the 

 head of the Knife River, down into the bottom lands of 

 the Little Missouri; therefore it was necessary to take 

 provisions for our party for that time, and tents, bedding 

 and ammunition. We went to bed that night tired out 

 with our exertions, and awoke bright and early next 

 morning. For some reason Paddock did not come around 

 as early as he intended; and it was half-past eight before 

 we started. We had one double team and wagon to 

 carry our baggage, provisions, etc. This was driven by 

 Hem-y, and Harrison rode with him. Then we had one 

 doixble team and three-seated wagon, driven by Ferd., 

 and containing Bigelow, and the Doctor, and Seib, and 

 at times. Jack. There was also a double buckboard 

 driven by the Judge, the other two passengers being 

 Briggs and myself. Paddock was horseback, likewise 

 was Jack on starting, and the one extra saddle horse was 

 led. 



We made about fifteen miles and then halted near the 

 crossing of the Green River, fed horses, and had lunch. 

 The enthusiasm that is always present on first starting 

 out on an expedition of this kind, found vent in numerous 

 feats of marksmanship performed by the membei-s of the 

 party in trying to knock the white label off from an 

 empty beer bottle with a Winchester. It was surprising 

 how easy the bottle was missed. 



After resting we hitched up for the afternoon drive, 

 and before starting I snapped my kodak on the par^, and 

 called it "The Halt on the Prairie." We had by this time 

 left civilization behind. Between Dickson and the cross- 

 ing of the Green River we had passed several farms, 

 taken up principally by Russians, In some cases not 

 only the outbuildings, but the houses as well, were made 

 of turf. All of the settlers seemed to be in fairly prosper- 

 ous condition, with plenty of horses and cattle about, and, 

 aside from the fields of wheat which had recently been 

 harvested, evidences existed of a good supply of garden 

 truck for the long, cold winter that was near at hand. A 

 sharp turn in the road discloses a gully washed out by 

 some stream in times past. Two farmers were digging 

 from under the bank their winter's supply of coal, poor 

 coal, no doubt, but yet it answered the purpose and was 

 cheap. 



An occasional sharp-tail grouse was seen, and as the 

 Judge had never killed one, I handed him my 16-gauge, 

 and he stepped proudly forth with a confident air. The 

 bird arose within easy shot, but like most every one who 

 has a sure thing, he missed it slick and clean with both 

 barrels, and returned to the wagon crestfallen to endure 

 the tavmts and jibes of the rest of us; however, next time 

 he did better and the bird tumbled. We picked up two 

 or three in this way, for we needed something for the 

 larder. Paddock rode ahead of us on his pony, and 

 checked our ambition for fast driving. He seemed to 

 have the idea that it was going to take about three day» 

 to reach our destination, and we had made up our minds 

 that by nightfall of the second day we were going to 

 have camp weU established. He was evidently saving 

 the horses and knew as much about it as we did. 



The cotintry was barren and was covered with brown, 

 dried-up grass; even the buffalo bones had disappeared. 

 What a great place this must have been twenty -five or 

 thirty years ago, when these grazing lands were covered 

 with buffalo, antelope, and possibly elk. We always 

 comment on this whenever we are in this prairie country, 

 and think what a shame it was ruthlessly to exterminate 

 them the way they did. At one time we had a guide 

 who told us that one winter, with two men to manage 

 the skinning and packing, he alone had killed 5,000 

 buffalo and taken their hides only. He would travel 

 ahead and do the shooting and the other two would 

 follow with the outfit and skin and pack away the hides. 



Our campuag place that night was Indian Springs, at 

 which place there is a horee ranch, and, strange to say, 

 one of the owners was a Michigan man, living near 

 Saginaw. No matter where you go, you run across some 

 one who is from home. 



The distance from Dickinson to Indian Spring is sup- 

 posed to be twenty-nine miles. We made camp in good 

 season, and our horses were being taken care of, and lug- 

 gage taken out and tents put up, when two or three of 

 tlie party started out after sharp-tafled grouse that we 

 had flushed when we came to the brow of the hill. On 

 going down to the spring we found it to be a bubbling 

 pool ten feet in diameter, sending forth the purest, coldest 

 water one ever saw. Near the marshy lands that took 

 up the overflow of the spring I put up two or three Wil- 

 son snipe. They seemed as lively and contented aa ever, 



