2 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 7, 1894. 
" Forest and Stream's " Yellowstone 
Park Game Exploration. 
No. 
* v 
The Headquarters on Hayden Valley. 
Billy went straight through the thick woods to where 
his camera was cached, and taking it along we skirted the 
edge of the island of timber, out in the open where the 
keen wind was whirling the fine hard snow across the 
country in wisps and strings , We concluded to cut straight 
across through the timber toward Alum Creek, intending 
to intersect the trail of the rest of the party, and not go 
back the way we had come, following it in from the point 
where we had left them, as this latter would make a 
longer journey. We traveled for apparently three-quar- 
ters of a mile through heavy pine forest, whose boughs, 
heavily laden with mats and masses of snow, formed 
almost a continuous roof of white above us. It was very 
white and silent in the forest. We saw no signs of life 
except where the porcupines had gnawed off the bark of 
some of the young tree, and except one elk trail, old, 
but deep and wide, as though a steam plow had gone 
through. 
We followed the gently falling hillside until we came 
nearly to the Alum Creek level, and still found no trail, 
nor could we hear the sound of an axe. We therefore 
turned back to the right, toward the point where the 
party had first entered this rnotte of timber, but though 
we went nearly half a mile in that direction, climbing a 
little again, we did not cut the trail. At length Billy 
Bmelt smoke, * 
and finally we 
found the 
camp, away up 
near the center 
of the timber. 
We had gone 
half around it, 
as the party had 
not gone in so 
deep as we had 
expected. 
We found 
that the others 
had dug a hole 
in the snow 
down to the 
ground, the 
level of the 
snow being 
about even 
with one's face 
as he stood on 
the ground. 
The hole was 
about 12 feet 
across. Arounc T 
the edge ( 1 
this, following 
Billy's general 
advice given 
earlier, they 
had stepped a 
number of 
poles, cut from 
young pines, 
about lti or 20 
ft. long, there 
meeting at thv 
top lodge-pole 
fashion. On the 
inside of these * 
poles wa s 
stretched in a 
semicircle the 
light lodge-lin- 
ing which Billy., 
had brought all . 
this way for^ - 
this express 
purpose. This 
lining was 
about 5ft. high. 
Above its height there was absolutely no covering at all, as 
the lodge poles were not numerous enough to make any 
covering or wind break . A fire was b uilt in the center of this 
"tepee," if such we could call our extremely well ventilated 
winter house, and the boys had cut a plenty of wood. A 
stairway, made by treading short logs into the snow, en- 
abled one to get downstairs into the hole in the snow, 
which constituted the salon, dining room and sleeping 
apartments of the edifice. Billy looked at it critically and 
said it would do as long as it didn't rain. Then we all 
went downstairs, melted some snow, made tea and coffee, 
and were happy. In the heavy timber the wind was not 
much felt, and down below the level of the snow it was 
hardly perceptible, though we could see the top3 of the 
taller trees swaying, and could hear the talking of the 
pines where the axemen had jarred off the Bnow. 
The First Sight of Elk. 
The advantage of experience now made itself felt. 
Billy knew right where to go to find the elk and buffalo, 
that is to say, the general direction and probable distance, 
subject of course to the limited movements of the game 
on its winter feeding grounds. He said he would not 
need to go far up Alum Creek, and as it was still early we 
hoped to do some work if the weather would only clear. 
At noon the Bun came out and at once we were off up 
the valley. Larsen and Holte, who complained of wet 
feet, were left at camp, all the others taking the trail. 
At a half mile from camp we saw a band of thirty elk 
feeding below us, close along Alum Creek, Tout as we saw 
no antlers we passed this herd by without disturbing 
them. At two and a half miles out we saw three big 
bull elk lying down in the shallow snow close to the 
creek, where the ground seemed warmer. We left these 
to the right and kept on up the creek, hoping to strike 
the buffalo. We saw still other elk, but did not stop, as 
we wanted to use the fight we were having on [the rarer 
subjects, the buffalo. 
Buffalo. 
At length Morrison, who was slightly ahead, pushed 
back from the summit of a ridge a.nd motioned to us to 
get down. He had sighted five buffalo above us. We 
tried to get the attention of Billy and Burns, who were 
off to the right, and finally succeeding we all began the 
stalk, taking the benefit of a wind which happened to be 
in our favor. We made a long swift detour through the 
hills, taking one or two runs on the skis, and after 
about a mile of this we came out, breathless and eager, 
on the point of a hill directly above the buffalo and not 
more than 100yds. from them. 
There were five of the huge creatures, looming up large 
enough against the white background. They were all 
lying down and did not see nor scent us. It was a mag- 
nificent opportunity, a great chance among those chances 
for which we had come. Bdly and Mr. Haynes silently 
and swiftly got their cameras ready, and we all crept 
close to tbe edge of the hill, which brought us about 50ft. 
above the buffalo, which seemed then to be almost directly 
beneath us. 
The buffalo seemed not to notice us. Not so, however, 
with a band of ten elk, which were lying down about 
250yds. from us, beyond the buffalo. These trailed out 
on the run, leaving the creek and making into the deeper 
snow after a little. Then the buffalo rose, stupid and be- 
wildered, and apparently uneasy but unable to locate the 
cause. As they stood, humped up and undecided, Billy 
and Haynes both got a fair shot. Then, as they located 
us and lumbered off down the creek in that odd, ungainly 
but speedy gait of theirs, Billy lay flat on his back on 
the brow of the hill, and with his camera between his 
knees industriously took shot after shot at them as they 
ran, using the sights which he had had mounted on his 
long box like peep and globe rifle sights. The buffalo 
followed w the trail of the elk, and as the latter turned to 
Sergt. Morrison, 
.lis.. Hough. 
Bohbie Burns. 
Billy Hofer. 
FORDING ALUM CREEK, 10° BELOW ZERO. 
Photo by Haynes. 
leave the creek, Billy got a shot at the whole procession, 
thus accomplishing the rare and probably unduplicated 
feat of photographing wild elk and buffalo at the same 
time running. 
The reader may now have a ieir idea of the necessities 
in success at this work. One must get near the game, 
wait for a proper light, then locate the game, finally 
stalking it far more carefully than if one were hunting 
for a shot with a rifle, which could be taken at much 
greater distance. Lastly, at the critical moment he must 
not get nervous and forget the requirements of a camera, 
a much more complicated weapon than a rifle. He must 
act promptly, for the opportunity lasts but for a moment 
— a camera does not carry so far as a rifle. These being 
the conditions, it may be seen that success does not come 
as a mere matter of course. The successful man at this 
muBt be something of a photographer and very much of a 
hunter. All through the work of that and other days, 
Billy Hofer's great experience and rare skill as a stalker 
of big game came into valuable play. 
Various Ways of Crossing a Creek. 
We were all very much pleased with our good fortune 
here, and concluded to push on further up, toward the 
"hot country," or Violet Creek, hoping to locate the main 
herd of buffalo, of which we had yet seen no sign, though 
the shallow snow along Alum Creek was all yarded and 
pawed up by elk. We took a long slide down an accom- 
modating hill, and brought up alongside Alum Creek. 
The next question was, how were we to get across the 
creek? Billy said he knew where there was a little island 
in it, and at that place he thought we could get over. 
We found the island, and extending out to it was a thin 
bridge of snow ice, the main channel, broad and shallow, 
being in too much of a hurry to freeze up. We went out 
to the verge of the island and made investigation. We 
threw our skis all across and prepared to jump, the dis- 
tance being 10 or 12ft. Billy cleared it, using his ski staff 
as a vaulting pole. Morrison followed, and barely got 
over, leaving an ugly break in the fringe of ice which 
made the landing place. My turn was next, and as I 
stepped back to get a start, smash! I went through the 
thin ice bridge behind, which had been strained with too 
much weight. I landed ankle-deep in the ice water. 
The thermometer was well below zero, and camp was 
miles away. Under the circumstances it did not take 
long for a fellow to make up his mind what to do. I 
sprang forward over the island into the main channel, 
plunged through the shallow water and crawled up the 
icy bank beyond, considerably alarmed about my feet, 
which now had a first-class opportunity to freeze about as 
solid as those of the Chicago statue of Christopher Colum- 
bus or the Montana silver statue of Justice — though I do 
feel rather bashful, in a way, about comparing my feet 
with those of Miss Rehan, or even those of Columbus. 
However, thanks to the high-tongued overshoes and the 
tight leggins, I escaped without getting wet through — I 
was only in for a couple of steps — and though my feet and 
ankles were soon cased in solid ice, the excellent footgear 
prevented them from freezing. There was small chance 
left for Mr. Haynes and Burns to get a jump. Not daring 
to risk a slip into the water, they both had to strip off 
shoes and stockings, and wade across barefoot; — a most 
cruel thing to look at or to think about. As quickly as 
they got over we fell upon them with their own rough 
stockings, and rubbed their feet and legs until they were 
red. Then they put on their shoes, and we all went on 
after more buffalo. 
A Shot at Elk. 
We soon got into a region of tremendous hills and 
valleys, which gave us hard climbing and swift running 
on the skis, for a distance of perhaps two or three miles 
in all. We could not get trace of the buffalo, even on 
the steaming hot country beyond Violet Creek. Billy 
complained 
that he had 
never seen so 
little game on 
the Valley in 
all his life. He 
thought it was 
because recent 
haying opera- 
tions by the 
traasportat i o n 
companies had 
cut down the 
feed on the 
limited strip of 
country where 
the game can 
get down 
through the 
snow in winter. 
We saw noth- 
ing for a long 
time but one 
lone bull elk, 
which, under 
Billy's guid- 
ance, we stalk- 
ed until we 
were above it 
on a high steep 
hill. Arrang- 
ing a signal, 
Billy and Mr. 
Haynes both 
let go and sped 
swiftly down 
the steep slope, 
sweeping 
around to the 
right at the foot 
of the hill. The 
bull turned 
back, and they 
saw not one but 
three bulls, 
grouped ;to- 
g e t h e r. Mr. 
Haynes was 
ahead, but did 
not get a shot. 
Billy got a shot, 
and got a nice 
picture of Mr. 
Haynes and the three elk, one of the most interesting of 
our series. 
More Elk. 
We now soon swung back toward camp and were grat- 
ified before long by the sight of a band of elk, which we 
knew to be the same we had started when we saw the 
buffalo because there was one cow and one calf, a little 
fellow among ten bulls. They had come back into the 
hills from Alum Creek, following the valley of the little 
hot stream, where the snow did not fie deep. With a 
swift ski run down hill we got right on to them before 
they could escape. They broke across the little creek 
and plunged single file into the heavy snow of the hill- 
side beyond, not 50yds. from us at first, a magnificent, 
but somewhat pitiful sight, the great creatures were so 
helpless in the snow. I can say truly that one feels no 
disposition to kill under conditions such as these, the 
emotion being much rather one of pity. Yet the power 
of the great beauties was admirable. They plowed a 
trail 4ft. deep through the snow, and made a pretty 
decent gait of it, though rising and plunging and stum- 
bling shoulder-deep in the treacherous snow. As we 
noted when we had started this band before, the old cow 
led and the baby elk came far to the rear, with an old 
bull behind it. After a time the cow got too tired and 
fell back, a bull leading the way in turn. The band at 
length turned down the hill toward the creek, plunged 
wearily through the deep snow till they got a footing on 
the "warm ground," and then rapidly made off down the 
creek, after having afforded fine chances indeed for 
photographing. Billy here got a very interesting pic- 
ture of the band in full course of plowing single file 
through the snow. A better opportunity would be hard 
to get. 
The Buffalo Looked Pleasant. 
Our good luck was not to end here, it seemed, for it 
was not long thereafter till we located a solitary buffalo 
bull, standing apparently wrapped in thought down on 
the bank of Alum Creek. He was over half a mile away, 
but the wind was right, and under Billy's skillful stalking 
