470 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 13, 1896. 
IN JACKSON'S HOLE. 
In Four Parts— Part One. 
To introduce the members of our party only a few 
lines are necessary. Sam Wester, Frank Gardenhire, A. 
B. Wingfield (the writer of this) and Will Johnson all hail 
from Tennessee; Bob Cooke, Mr. Ellsworth and his two 
sons live in Idaho, and Will McKamy lives in Texas. Bob 
CoOke was a former resident of our town and moved to 
Idaho several years ago, and it is due to his energies and 
glorious representations of the West that the party was 
formed for the trip. All of the party are great lovers of 
gun and rod. We were all thoroughly equipped, each 
having a Winchester express rifle, 500 rounds of cartridges 
each, and plenty of bedding and camp equipments, in- 
cluding tents, tarpaulins, saddles and bridles, etc. 
On Monday morning, Aug. 15, Wester, Gardenhire, Mc- 
Kamy, Johnson and I arrived at Beaver Canon, on the 
Butte branch of the Union Pacific Railroad. Here we 
hired a wagon to haul us four miles from Beaver Cafion 
to a creek, where we camped. We were anxious to get 
into camp in order to stop our expenses. Here we were 
found a few days later by Bob Cooke and Rev. David Mc- 
Reynolds, from Boise City, who had driven across the 
plains 300 miles. They had a new jolt wagon and a good 
spring wagon with seats for six, two pairs of large wagon 
horses, a small sheet iron stove, weight 201bs., and the rest 
of our camp outfit, all of which had been purchased in 
Boise City. Will Johnson, our teamster and cook, was a 
big, square-built youDg fellow, who had been raised in 
the mountains of east Tennessee. 
While in camp No. 1 our boys killed a dozen mountain 
grouse and caught a nice string of trout. On Aug. 18 we 
moved twenty-five miles to Indian Springs, where we 
found Mr. Ellsworth and his two sons in camp. Here we 
prepared for a two days' hunt in the Bitter Root Moun- 
tains. Indian Springs is near the foothills of the moun- 
tains, and we could plainly see snow upon the rugged 
peaks of the Black Mountain chain that rose abruptly be- 
fore us. After two pack horses had been loaded with 
tents, blankets, cooking utensils and provisions for two 
days, and all our saddle horses were in readiness, we rode 
toward the mountains. Mr. Ellsworth was the guide, as 
he had been in the locality before, so he took the lead. 
Our route took us up one of the big canons, and we 
climbed and worked our way slowly through the dense 
thickets of quaking asp and alder bushes. The wild 
huckleberry and gooseberry and currant bushes were so 
thick that we had often to stop and cut our way through. 
About dark we arrived at a place where a mountain creek 
dashed down through an endless succession of canons and 
gorges well up toward the top of the range. Here we 
camped and prepared a good supper, which was very 
acceptable to all, after the fatigue of climbing and break- 
ing brush. We tethered our horses and they filled them- 
selves on the rank grass which bordered the stream. 
Next morning by daylight all were up and ready for the 
hunt. The first thing we saw after emerging from our tent 
was a large cinnamon bear walking slowly up the side of 
a bluff on the opposite side of the canon. He was a big 
one and did not seem to be at all uneasy. He had prob- 
ably been down examining our camp and had moved off 
when the men began to stir. He was over 1,000yds. from 
us and so out of range. After breakfast we divided into 
pairs and started to find game. Sam Wester and I went 
together, Dr. McReynolds and Frank Gardenhire and Bob 
Cooke and Mr. Ellsworth were the other pairs, Sam and 
I hunted hard for four or five hours, but could not scare 
up even a deer. We saw plenty of bear and elk sign and 
found more than a dozen beds where elk and deer had 
lain all night, but we were new hunters of Rocky Moun- 
tain game and did not know their habits. We returned 
to camp about 10 o'clock and found all the other boys 
there. 
Bob Cooke and Mr. Ellsworth had each killed an elk. 
Dr. McReynolds was laughing at Frank Gardenhire about 
the big bear Frank had killed. Dr. Mack said that he 
and Frank got into a very dense thicket of wild huckle- 
berry and currant bushes, and were pushing and half 
crawling along and had gotten separated some 50yds. 
from each other; he could not see Frank, but could hear 
him. All at once Frank gave a yell like an Indian, and 
called for Dr. Mack to come quick, as there was a tre- 
mendous grizzly bear in the thicket just ahead of him. 
Dr. Mack started to go to Frank, but Frank commenced 
shooting his Winchester at the rate of about two to the 
second, and as the bullets were clipping the bushes all 
around Dr. Mack he very sensibly lay down behind a 
rock. Finally the magazine was emptied, and Dr. Mack 
sprang to his feet and rushed to Frank's assistance, ex- 
pecting to see either a dead grizzly or a dead man. When 
he reached Frank's side he was standing over the carcass 
of a badger, and told Dr, Mack that the bear was not as 
big as he at first thought he was; but it was a pretty good 
sized cub. Frank said that Dr. Mack had exaggerated 
his exploit, but as Dr. Mack is a preacher, and Frank 
acknowledged that he emptied his magazine and called 
to Dr, Mack to come to him, we of course had to accept 
Dr. Mack's version of the affair. 
After lunch we took three horses and the pack saddles 
and went after the two elk. After an hour or two of 
climbing and winding around through gorges and over 
masses of rock and fallen timber we arrived at the place. 
It was a wild and rugged country in the heart of the 
mountains, and considerable labor and skill were required 
to get the horses to the two carcasses. We found both 
elk to be full-sized animals, and the bull was a very large 
one with a magnificent set of horns. We took all the 
meat we could pack on the three horses, and left the 
hides, horns and front quarters. We were after meat to 
run us while on the trip through Yellowstone Park, and 
counted on getting plenty of specimens of horns later. We 
arrived at camp about dark, and after a good supper and an 
hour spent around the camp-fire in joking and story tell- 
ing, we retired and did not need any persuasion to sleep. 
Next morning we pulled up our tents and packed our 
outfit on our saddle horses and started back to Indian 
Springs, our main camp. We had to go slow, as most of 
us were on foot and had to lead our loaded horses. We 
jumped a band of elk before we got out of the mountains, 
and Frank and Bob Cooke both got scratch shots at them, 
but did not do any damage. We were very much elated 
over the result of our first hunt, and all agreed that the 
big hunting tales we had been told by the residents of that 
region were not myths by any means. We had only been 
out two days and had killed two large elk and had seen 
one cinnamon bear and a drove of elk on our return trip, 
and Frank had murdered a cub, as he called his badger. 
So we knew the mountains abounded in large game, and 
we were happy. 
At the main camp we found that they had not been 
idle. There was a marshy swamp, fed by the waters of 
the springs near camp, and the boys had found the tall 
grass full of wild ducks. The boys had gone duck 
shooting and had been out on the prairie killing Bage 
bens, They had a pile of gamo that surprised us all, and 
had bean good enough to skin and salt down several dozen 
sage hens and wild ducks for future use. A Western man 
never thinks of picking a fowl, A person who knows 
how to do it properly can skin and clean six while you 
are picking one. We tested this thoroughly before our 
trip was over. 
Sunday we lay around camp and rested, preparatory to 
forced marches. We were joined by Ed Simpson, a 
newspaper man, and editor of the Methodist Advocate in 
Chattanooga. He is a very bright young man and a 
splendid comrade. 
Bright and early Monday morning, with camp packed 
in wagons, we were on the trail toward^Yellowstone 
Park. We traveled hard, and camped that night fifty 
miles from Indian Springs, on the north fork of Snake 
River. The plain was literally alive with prairie chickens 
and sage hens. Cooke was determined to make time, and 
would not stop every time we drove into a covey of birds. 
So Wester, McKamy, Frank and I, who were about the 
most ardent hunters in the party, took turns in riding our 
two saddle horses. We would gallop on ahead of the 
wagons two or three miles, and then kill birds until the 
wagons came up with us. We certainly did slaughter 
them. That kind of hunting was a novelty to us — to be 
able to find more birdB than we could shoot at. By night 
we had a pile of them, and we all sat around the camp-fire 
and drew them, so they would not spoil. Bob said we 
were crazy to keep on killing prairie chickens when we 
did not need them; but we told him to hold his peace, as 
we had come out there 2,000 miles to hunt, and hunt we 
would. Then we argued that we would soon be in Yel- 
lowstone Park, where we could not fire a gun, and that 
thirteen hungry men would consume a big lot of game in 
the length of time we intended to be in the Park. 
We found a man on Snake River fishing for market. 
He would catch his wagon bed full of fish and then haul 
them to Beaver Cafion and ship them to Butte, Mont., or 
Pocatello, Idaho, and sell them. We arrived late in the 
afternoon, but Dr. McReynolds, Cooke and Wester soon 
had their lines out, and we had trout for supper. The 
fishing in this country is as fine as the hunting. All the 
creeks and rivers abound in salmon trout, grayling, 
speckled mountain trout and silver-side trout. The man 
we found on Snake River had caught several hundred 
pounds, and had them in large covered baskets in the 
water. We exchanged birds and elk meat for a good 
supply, which we salted down for future use. We could 
catch and kill all we wanted as we traveled, but we had 
thirteen hungry mouths to provide for. 
Tuesday morning by daylight we were on the trail 
again. By 9 o'clock we reached a settlement, where we 
left all of our heavy groceries, ammunition and extra 
baggage of all kinds. We were stripping for a flying 
trip through the. Park, and as we could not hunt we dis- 
posed of all of our hunting outfit. We reached Henry 
Lake by noon. At Henry Lake we found a ranchman 
who had a high inclosure full of elk and moose. The 
man told us that he made a business of capturing these 
a&imals in winter when the snow was deep, and that he 
hauled them to *he railroad and shipped them East once 
a year. He said he made a good deal of money at it, and 
I should think he would, as he must have had thirty or 
forty in his pen. He fed them on the native wild hay 
that grows abundantly on the plains. 
We camped that night on the bank of Madison River, 
not far from the line of Yellowstone Park. We went 
into camp early and had an hour or two of excellent fish- 
ing. The trout struck as fast as we could whip the 
stream and all the boys caught a fine string. 
The next day, Aug. 24, we were on the trail by day- 
light, and entered Yellowstone Park at Riverside about 
10 o'clock. We left all of our rifles and shotguns with the 
U. S. soldiers at this place, as no guns aie allowed to 
enter the Park unless sealed, and what good would a 
sealed gun be to any man? Besides we were all ardent 
sportsmen and were afraid to take our guns with us. We 
did not want to disobey the laws of the United States and 
get into trouble, but it would be hard to allow an elk or 
moose or buffalo to run over one. We camped that night 
after a tiresome day's travel over mountains and through 
valeB in the famous Lower Geyser Basin, or Fire Hole, as 
the Indians call it. We found a large number of people, 
among whom were numerous ladies and children, camped 
all through the valley. We pitched our tents on the bank 
of a stream near a large camp of tourists and enjoyed the 
sights, 
The Fire Hole in Yellowstone Park is a veritable fairy- 
land, and even an attempt at a pen picture of it is beyond 
my power. We visited that day the Prismatic Lake and 
the largest of the geysers. The next morning we were so 
fortunate as to see the Splendid, one of the largest period- 
ical geysers, in action. Then we visited Yellowstone 
Lake, Grand Canon, the Mud Geysers, Yellowstone Falls 
and every point of interest in the Park. We had splendid 
fishing all along the road and caught all the trout we 
could use. We saw a good deal of game, and often came 
to where a band of buffalo or elk had just crossed the road 
ahead of us. We also saw many large bear tracks along 
the creeks and in the soft placeB. We had a 4in. snow on 
the 27 th day of August, which we thought rather unusual;: 
but as we had come prepared for anything, it did not in- 
convenience us much. Altogether we had a delightful 
week in the Park. The Government has built magnificent 
graveled pikes to all the points of interest, which render 
travel easy and pleasant. We returned to Riverside, where 
we had entered the Park, on Aug. 30, and got our guns, and 
then drove back to Madison River and camped that night. 
We again had fine sport fishing, and the next morning by 
daylight were on the trail again. We reached the settle- 
ment that night where we had left the heavy groceries 
and ammunition. The next morning we repacked the 
wagons and got in readiness to start to Rexburg, where 
we were to meet our guide and make a start on the hunt. 
Ed Simpson, Mr. Ellsworth and his two sons now left us, 
We were very sorry to give up these congenial and whole- 
souled gentlemen, but no amount of persuasion on our 
part could change them from their purpose. Ed was 
afraid he was not strong enough to stand the hunt, and 
Mr. Ellsworth was obliged to return to his business. We 
traveled hard, following the course of Snake River most 
of the day. Will McKamy and Frank Gardenhire were 
riding on ahead of the wagons, and took the wrong trail 
and went about twenty miles out of their way. That 
night when we camped on the bank of the river they did 
not show up. We fired our guns, but could get no reply. 
We had killed a half dozen wild geese that day; 
there were several young ones in the lot, and we 
had two of them baked and stuffed with sage and 
onions for supper. We were very uneasy about Will and 
Frank, and knew they were cold and hungry that night. 
Men who are hunting and camping together soon become 
fast friends, and no matter how mean and heartless they 
may be in the business world, they will go their whole 
length for a hunting comrade. We knew there was no 
use looking for them at night, but we kept up aJbig camp- 
fire and fired our guns at intervals all through the night. 
By daylight we were through with breakfast and had 
saddled our wagon horses to retrace our steps to find the 
boys. We were about ready to start when we heard a 
gun ; we answered by firing three times, and in a few mo- 
ments Will and Frank rode into camp. They had taken 
the wrong trail, and instead of following the river had 
taken a diverging trail which led them back into a regu- 
lar wilderness. They had gone on and on, thinking we 
were behind, until near night they came to a large creek. 
As luck would have it, they found two trappers camped 
at the crossing of the creek. The trappers told them that 
they were twenty miles off the Rexburg trail, which we 
were following, but that they could stay all night with 
them and rejoin us in the morning. The boys took sup- 
per with the hospitable trappers and then slept until about 
midnight, then taking advantage of a full moon, they re- 
traced their steps and so joined us soon after daylight. 
We moved on that day rapidly toward Rexburg. We 
still followed Snake River and secured several more wild 
geese and a good many ducks. We had several long 
range shots at sandhill cranes, but did not bag one. One 
who has never seen a sandhill crane can hardly imagine 
what it is. The body is a trifle larger than a turkey's, but 
flying or stalking around the plains it looks to be almost 
as large as an ostrich. Their heads are 5 or 6ft. off the 
ground when they are walking, and their wings are from 
7 to 8ft. from tip to tip. The bird has very long legs and 
wings, and one would think their bodies were large, but 
they have quantities of very fluffy feathers, and so are 
extremely deceptive. You must make a dead center shot 
to kill one at 400yds., and you can hardly ever get any 
closer. We fired many shots and killed only two on the 
entire trip. 
We camped that night near Rexburg, on a creek, and 
caught a good string of trout, The next morning we 
entered Rexburg early, and drove at once to the hotel. 
We had been in camp now about three weeks and wanted 
to taste hotel cooking again. We found Ed Trafton, our 
guide, waiting for us. We consumed the entire day in 
filling out our list of commissaries and stores and equip- 
ments. Each man also bought a saddle horse. We got 
our mail and each one wrote a long letter home. We 
were going far into the depths o£~the wilderness, and it 
was with a feeling of sadness that we turned our backs 
upon the telegraph wires and post office. There would 
not be any possible means of communication with our 
loved ones for thirty days at least. 
It may be useful to some one to know approximately 
the quantities of groceries to take on a hunt of this kind. 
There were eight of us, and we were all healthy and 
hearty eaters, and were to be in the woods thirty days. 
Our list was about as follows: 5001bs. flour, 1501bs. sugar, 
2001bs. Irish potatoes, 1501bs. bulk side meat to use in 
place of lard, 2001bs. onions, lOOlbs. corn meal, 501bs. 
hams, 501bs. breakfast bacon, 5 gallons of syrup, besides 
about one case each of canned corn, tomatoes, string 
beans, succotash, French peas, French sardines, salmon, 
lobster, preserves and jams, also 1 bushel white navy 
beans, 1 bushel Clay peas, 501bs. rice, 501bs. grits, 1 case 
evaporated dried apples, some prunes and dried peaches 
and dried grapes and currants, also lOOlbs. salt and 501bs. 
pulverized alum for preserving skins. This would seem 
too much to the ordinary observer; but to run out of the 
simplest article in your culinary department will incon- 
venience you very much. We were not a drinking 
crowd, but we took good care to carry a moderate supply 
of best brandy and whisky we could buy. We were going 
back into the mountains 100 miles from civilization and 
could not send after anything, so we also had a medicine 
box with all commonly used drugs and liniments. 
We started early on the morning of Sept. 4 to drive 
across the plains forty miles to Haden, Idaho. Ed Traf- 
ton, our guide, lived at Haden and had to go by home to 
bid his wife and baby good-by and get his two horses, 
bedding, etc. We had an easy drive, as the road was 
good, and killed a great many prairie chickens along the 
route. We were all getting very expert in shooting their 
heads off with the rifle, and did not ask Sam Wester and 
his shotgun any odds at all; we had about fifty birds 
when we got to Ed Trafton's ranch. The prairie chickens 
in this far Western country are very tame, as they are 
not hunted at all; so you can often kill half a dozen out 
of a covey on the ground before they will fly. A.s the 
distance is usually not more than 20yds., a good rifle shot 
can pick off their heads with great ease. We never 
thought of bringing in a bird when we struck it in the 
body, as the boys would guy the life out of you for shoot- 
ing it in the body. 
We arrived at Ed Trafton's ranch and camped near his 
house that night, and Sept. 5 we spent in camp and 
caught some fine trout out of the stream that flows by 
Ed's door. We enjoyed the day shooting sage hens and 
prairie chickens, and fishing and examining the fine horns 
that Ed had at his house. Ed is one of the moBt expert 
trappers and hunters in the State of Idaho and had ac- 
cumulated quite a nice lot of very fine specimens. 
Sept. 6 we left our spring wagon and surplus baggage 
at Ed's ranch and took the trail for Jackson's Hole in the 
famous Teton Mountains. The three Tetons constitute a 
part of the Rocky Mountain range and derive their name 
from their peculiar shape, as the word implies. The 
Grand Teton is one of the loftiest peaks in the entire 
range and its summit has never been reached. We 
camped on the evening of the 6th on a moun- 
tain stream at the mouth of the big cafion through 
