444 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
pEO. 5, 1896. 
Bay to tbe guide, "What's tbat?"' and both 8°pmed 
intently listening in the direction of the shore. ray 
hearing impaired, I paid little attention, but kept on 
casting. Presently tbe guide touched me on the leg, 
wbispttrinji: : "There he is, shoot him" Sipposing it 
was a partridge, I quietly laid down my rod and picked 
lip my shateun, tasing from my pocket a N) 8 shell, 
and as I put it in the gun looked for the first time in the 
direction the guide had indi^iated, when I beheld a 
beautiful black bear within 100 t. of us, and looking as 
intently and surprised at us as we did at him. I quietly 
returned the shell to my pocket, closed my gun ami took 
a good look at bruin, till be made a pivot of his hmdfeet, 
and without any haste turned himself around and went 
cff into the timber. I have said he was beautiful, and he 
seemed so to me. I could see his ears, eyes and lips dis- 
tinctly as he stood breast toward me, and his coat was 
jet black and fairly glistened in the sua. My companions 
said '• Shoot," but I told them I was not was^ing any No. 
8 shot on bear. After he was eone it occurred to me that 
this might have been Brothf r H. mah's b^ar; certainly the 
graphic recitals of his bear hunts in thf> S tuthern cane- 
brakes flished through my mind, and I wished Cnptain 
B )bo horses and hounds could have b-'en there to have 
bagged the handsomest bear I ever saw. Now, Mr. 
Editor, please excuse this seeming digression, for, in fact, 
it is interwoven in the day's fishing, and will never fade 
till the lamp burns out. 
Having in previous years encroached on your space to 
describe our camp, Jakes, possessions and a general de- 
Bonpcion of the country, I beg only to say that each year 
I am more strongly cor firmed in what I h"ve sairl in past 
years — namely, if one delifjhts in testing hia skill with tl e 
instinct of the wily trout, and delights in a q uet rf treat 
in the country that G jd made and still goverus, where he 
can en j )y living and a recreation which can not be found in 
crowded towns, then he must secure by l^ase or purchase 
a section, small or large, that he can call his own, having 
these advantages, and such places are becoming rapidly 
leas every year. S jme one has said : " It is not all of life 
to live;" and everybody has used the paraphrase: Ic is 
not all of fishing to fish, and in this all speak the truth. 
If there is no sentiment attached to the rod and gun in 
these later days, then are we still behind the red man, and 
should try to make his bow and arrow and his barbed 
book and spear from a bone, and try to use them simply 
as he did to procure food; and in view of the depletion 
of game and fish I fear many of us would go hungry. 
While the trout seem to hold their own in our lakes, 
both in size and number, the club has decided not to run 
any risk in the matter, and henre has made arrange- 
ments for several thousand fi^agerling trrut to I e put in 
the lakes next spring, and has also ordered black bass 
for stocking Wright's Like, thw only lake we c 'Utrol 
■whose waters do not fl nv into the other lakes. We do 
not believe it is good policy to take all we can get, giving 
nothing in return. But 1 must close this imperfect and 
dieconnectf d sketch of one of the pl-'asantest outings of 
my life. Do we prize such things m"re as the number 
we can reasonably claim grows les^s? I think so. And is 
not this the best evidence that suca tpjrts are very dear 
to our hearts ? A, 
Haddam, Conn., Sept., 1E96. 
HOSPITALITY AMONG SPORTSMEN. 
The hospitality among epirtsmen is proveibiil. This 
virtue is not confined to one race or country; it is univer- 
sal, international, as two of my Americin friends here, 
students of medicine, will readily testify. B 'th of them 
are fairly good shots and stanch admirers of the rod and 
gun. They concluded last summer to spend a portion of 
their Tacation time in shooting partridges, and I assisted 
them in procuring hunting permitp, gu^s and ammuni- 
tion. Upon my suggestion they put an ad^^ertisement in 
one of the leading sportsmen's papers of this country to 
the eflf ct that twu young Americans were in search of an 
opportunity to enjoy a few weeks' snoctiog pp rt on par- 
tridges. My advice was followed, and within a wetk 
after their advertiFcment had app°"red in print my 
friends had received twenty -t ree i ff-rs frc m diffr-rent 
parties, mostly large estate owners, ail ov» r the ci uotry. 
Thfy concluded to accept an invitation from a gentleman 
Tesiding in Posen, near the Russian frontitr. and in due 
time boarded a train for their destination. After a ride 
by rail of about s^ven hours they arrived at the station 
nearest to the pittce they were bound for. A Ii.{ht car- 
riage with a coachman in spotless uniform awaitf'd them 
at the station and a second wagon had been sent for their 
bageage. 
"Hov far is it tj5 X?" fhey asked the coachman, 
after they had seated taemselves in the Crirriage, in 
German. The arswer came promptly, but it proved a 
conundrum to my friends, because it w^s given hy the 
coachman in his mother tongue — in Polish All their 
further attempts to secure ih-" desired irf 'rmation proved 
fruitless. But they were not kept in sut-p-'npe very long. 
After a ride of thirty minutes th*? final destination was 
reached, and they entered the gates of a castle like build- 
ing, surrounded on the three rear sides by substantially 
built barijB, etabh.s, etc Inside the gate they were re- 
ceived and cordially welcomed by the proprietor, a pleas- 
ant gentleman, whose figure gave signs of good living. 
He escorted bis guests to their rooms, which proved ex- 
ceptionally clean and richly furniHhed. A small chamber 
ae joining the rooms was assigned for the dogs. 
Fifteen minutes later they heard a e^e-ntle sound at their 
door, and in response to their ''Herein' — come in — a fair 
mflid entered and informed the newcomers that ''Die 
gnddigste Frau" — the most gracious lady — was ready to see 
her gutsts. 
Fortunately my friends were equipped with dress suits. 
These were pressed into service, and this done they made 
their initial call on the lady of the house. She first ad- 
dressed her guests in G rman, but alter "scf rtaining that 
they were Americans she conversed with them freely in 
good English, 
The conversation was interrupted by a servant who 
came to report that supper was ready. And what a sup- 
per had been served I The table was covered with the 
choicest mpats, warm and cold; fiahes, pastry and fruits; 
and last, but not least, the finest liquors, still and spark- 
ling wines. After supper a game of poker wbs played. 
At 9 o'clrcfc the following morning, and after a first-class 
breakfast, the landlord asked his guests to mount tbe 
wagons ready for tbe occasion. Eich gunner had his 
wagon aBsigised to bim and each gunner had & sermnt 
at his disposal. The eatables were prepwed by the lady, 
tbe refreshments by the landlord. The former were more 
than what my friends enpected, the latter simply fib for 
a L icullus. iP i,rtrii!<e=i wore o'eaty. F ur gun^ aad 189 
birds bagged the first day. Eiough. My friends had a 
royal time, and stayed ten days. And what did all this 
pleasure cost them? Apirt irom the railroad fare, not a 
single pennj ; even the servants had been strictly forbidden 
to accept any tips. It was simply a case of ppirt«raen's 
hospitalitv, nothing more. Armim Tennee. 
BKEIilN-SCHONEBBRG. 
THE PASSING OF COLORADO. 
Some of us whose heads are getting gray a good deal 
earlier than they ought to can call up a picture of the 
Colorado mountains in autumn something like this: 
A buck stands in the edge of the yellowing aspens; 
groves of spruce break in on the background, with their 
somber green. The buck glances back over bis shoulder, 
his great ears spread out, searching the broad park of 
buEch grass, which stretches downward, while at the 
side, amid tlie brown riband of fringing willows, a growl- 
ing brook rumbles cflE to j in its river. Sametimes in 
place of the buck one could }ret a glimpse of the spread- 
ing antlers of a six-point elk. and in the summer among 
the berry pitches you could hoar the soft crushing of the 
bushes and the gratified snvffl ) of the browsing bear. 
In the days when the Laile Pitts'^urg was a name to 
conjure by; when A°pen and its Molly Gibson were un- 
born; when Castle Fork had neither been built nor de- 
serted, nor changed itsnameto Ashcroft; when Carbonate 
(which was soon to be the county seat of the future county 
of Garfielr ) had not been founded, nor left, as it now is, to 
tbe sole possession of tbe mountain rats; in those days, I 
say, two modest prospectors campf-d where the slender 
eprings of the North Fork of the White gather to trickle 
down into Trapper Like, whence the stream bursts with 
Eower. These men saw the banded elk pour bugling and 
awling over the rim rock. They saw bucks spring 
regardant by the dozen at the approach of their scanty 
train. They even saw bears, glistening with a refl^ection 
of darkened steel, turn and twist on the slide rock whence 
they tried to dislodge some badger or gopher who had 
Bought refuge in the crevices, Oae of these prospectors, 
now searching rather health than wealth, has revisited 
these scenes. 
Starting from Glen wood Springs, the party of which I 
write took its way in tbe last days of September up the 
grade in a snowstorm to Bennett's Mills, certain deserted 
buildings standing now in an extensive timber reserve of 
the Government, Frr fifty miles each way stretches this 
tract. BaKinning at the west of Glen wood, some ten 
rviles distant, it reaches far enough to include the head of 
Williams F^rk of the Bear, and runs from Trapper Lake 
on the north down to near the junction of the forks of the 
White. 
From Bennett's Mills our party in two camps came to 
B'g Fish Like, lying between the Mar vine lakes and 
Trapper Lake, and shortly after crossed the North Fork 
of the Wnite and struck for Wdliams Fork of the Bjar. 
This destination we did not immediately reach, but 
owing to tae fantasies of our guide wo got "balled up" in 
down timber and precipices near Pagoda Peak. This 
rved ju-<t as well. We camped a day, got a small deer, 
and then by devious routes got over the divide and sought 
the headwaters of Williams Fork. Here we found a con- 
siderable number of ranches. 
Up to a certain elevation there was some plowing done 
on these ranches. It appeared that oats were the only 
crop that could be trusted to ripen at the altitude, and in 
one place we saw a farmer cutting bis oats green in 
October to save the crop. Higher still there were "horse 
ranches," where stacks of marsh hay had been cut for 
winter feeding, though I am credibly informed that 
neither cattle nor horses will prosper stanriing belly to 
shoulder deep in snow day and night all winter for the 
sake of a ration of marsh hay. 
From our camp on Williams Fork we hunted west over 
the flit-topped mountains to ih" head of Ladd's Creek on 
the north and far southward. We saw do^'S and fawns in 
numbers, but no elk, and but one buck quite distant and 
going like a locomotive. We did, however, see horse 
tracks and men's tracks and men and horses all over, and 
BUortly pu'led out down Williams Fork and over the 
country to Hayden, 
We crossed the Baar River at Hayden and in two days 
came to a region known as California Park. 
Tbis district, lying between tbe Bear's Ears and Sand 
Mountains, rout&ins the headwaters of Elahead Creek, 
which Hows into the B-ar below Hayden. 
Wt3 were disappointed to find that a wagon road 
though a dim one, led clear through the park, but we' 
made camp on the site chosen by some lormer party 
and found room, by clearing away cans and bottles, for 
our unassuming settl' ment. We hunted the Bear's Ears, 
we bunted the S^nd Mountains and stalked antelope on 
the fl^ it between. H re occurred the greatest feat of the 
trip. My packer and I started out one morning to hunt 
the Sand Mountains for eik. On the way we noticed two 
horsemen cross the wash a mile above us on the le-ft. 
Saortly alt^rward we sighted antelope — I began stalking 
a sentinel buck. He finally walked away down the back 
of the ridge and 1 started to run forward. Almost im- 
mediately the sentinel turned back to his post; so I 
crouched again, but something on the oth«r side startled 
the band and they sw ept by me at 40yd8. 
I fired at a fat antelope, but the band sped on solidly at 
that swift, graceful gait which puts an express train to 
the blush. I fired again and an antelope fell, sliding 
along the smooth, slop ing grass for nearly 40yds. before it 
came to a final rest. 1 signaled to my companion to 
bring tbe horses, but he showed me that a dead antelope 
lay near bim and 1 learned that 1 had made a double on 
running antelope— a feat that 1 shall hardly hope to re- 
peat. 
We climbed the Sand Mountains after dressing our 
game, and found elk pastures and elk sign, but no elk. 
We did, however, discover two hunters in a distant 
gulch and a copy of the Rocky Mountain News, which 
bad wrapped some one's luncn. We also heard twenty 
shots tired in less than a minute by antelope shooters, 
and at all times heard an interrupted fusillade of people 
shooting does and fawns in the woods. I say does and 
fawns because there were plenty of them and no bucks 
in that part of the country. 
We t6lt crowded out from Oaliforaia Park, and re- 
turned by a somewhat diflferent route to the North Fork 
of the White. Near here we discovered a fresh bear 
track in the snow. The bear was small because his tracks 
were small. He was lean because he did not touch h a 
heel to the ground, as fat bears do, and he was hungcry 
because he turned aside to snuff at every dry bone in his 
path in the hope of getting fat enough to "hole up" com- 
fortably, also be was speedy. We followed the track 
fast as long aa the snow lasted and for half a mile further. 
Then the track played out, and afterward we played out 
and returned to camp satiated rather with sport than 
game. 
It was curious to see that sq'iirrels and a coyote had 
followed the bear for a long distance. The equirrels 
were possibly looking for pine nuts that the bear might 
dig up. 
This was our last hunt. We soon reached the North 
Fork again, and from there in to Glen wood there was no 
chance for game. 
Yet this tract of country is just the part most vividly 
pictured in the memory of the old-timer. The region is 
an ideal one for game. It lies in the Government timber 
reserve, where no settlement is allowed. It has grassy 
pastures, thickets of aspen, forests of spruce, brooks, lakes, 
crags, parks and ravine=i, that once swarmed with game. 
And now not a hoof! Not a footprint broke the fair car- 
pet of the new-fallen snow. 
To the westward, toward Pagoda Peak, one finds a few 
does and fawns Then on Williams Fork more does and 
fawns. In C ilifornia Park and the country adjoining we 
saw about 200 antelope, while there were many does and 
fawns along the slopes of the mountains about. We saw 
probably over 100 of them. Altogether we saw fresh 
tracks of fifteen or twenty straggling elk and of one bear, 
besides seeing two small elk in the flpsh. But even thus 
late the game did not bunch up. There seemed to be 
practically no bucks. 
My men gave me the U3ual explanations for this seem- 
ing lack. The bucks had not yet come down. The bucks 
had gone down before the does. The bucks were back 
along the range. 
S^me of these explanations Have caused amusement 
for many years, particularly the last one with its grand 
indefiniteneas. 
In this especial case we had traveled with our pack 
train some 260 miles, besides making hunting excursions 
to the highest groimd and well down in the bottoms; and 
it became my opinion that theories of temporary hiding 
would not account for the lack of elk and deer. I think 
tbat, in fpite of its ridiculous apparatus of game laws and 
wardens and deputy wardens, the State of Colorado is 
losing its game as fast as the independent voters can 
butcher it. 
There are not enough elk now left in the State to raise 
a bugle or gather a band. Of course the rural citizens of 
Colorado are not tbe only ones who kill the game. 
The great tourist hotels at Glenwood and Colorado 
Springs send out gentlemen from New York, Manchester, 
Birmingham and Cincinnati. 
These gentlemen are, many of them, good hunters, 
They take their wiv?8, servants, families, crockery and 
other luxuries, making a moving village. 
There are also sportsmen's resorts at Trapper Lake and 
the Ma wine Club, the latter reached by a wagon road from 
Newcastle These resorts are managed by competent 
guides and hunters, who take the best of care of their 
patrons. But in all these cases a certain respect is shown 
for the law, and some of the guides have been appointed 
deputy wardens in order to act with the more authority. 
The statute of Colorado allows each hunter to kill and 
consume one adult deer, elk and antelope each season. 
All the population of the game districts violate the stat- 
ute in season and out of season, or sympathize with its 
violators. 
The ranchers are the worst sinners. They get good 
chances to slaughter when the snow is deep, and kill at 
every chance; 
I saw a cabin on the Williams Fork on the root and 
around the walls of which hung thirty bucks' heads not 
apparently a year old. I am told of another rancher who 
killed 100 deer in a season ; of another who used venison to 
feed his hogs, and so on. 
Besides the ranchers, there are the "boys" who go out 
for their "fall meat" or their "winter meat," as the case 
may be, Four-horse teams start from Leadville, Aspen, 
Newcastle and Glenwood, and come back loaded with 
carcasses. Sometimes the wardens catch these men and 
convict them. 1 1 is theu held a point of honor for the ' ' poor 
fellow" immediately on his release or on payment of hia 
tine to kill and waste enough game to soothe his wounded 
feelings. The taxidermists, who, by the way, seem to do 
wretched work, are also responsible for a small amount 
of illegal killing. 
Thus we have ranch butchers, meat hunters, spite hunt- 
ers and head hunters, all working with the sympathy of 
their fellows to destroy the game. 
The game is no longer back along the range. It is dead. 
Tfie Williams Fi rk this year was lined with hunting 
outfits all the autumn. They were killing does and fawns. 
There was nothing else to kill. The fusillade in California 
Park sounded like a Gatling battery at times. They were 
killing does and fawns. There was nothing else to kill 
except; a few wary antelope. We saw a doe and fawn 
lying by the roadside bloating and left to waste by some 
man who wished to show that he was big enough to break 
tbe law and avoid detection. 
We passed sleepless nights and lived laborious days try- 
ing to avoid our fellow creatures and find camping 
grounds that were not littered with cans, whisky bottles, 
rags, withering carcasses, and all the unsightly refuse of 
a half -civilized outing. 
We were, however, bound to tind the elk pastures car- 
peted in spots with the Rocky Mountain News and the 
Wahsatch Screamer. 
Colorado in its mountain portions is a beautiful State, 
and in the reservations exempt from settlement it affords 
an ideal home for game; but owing to the butcher-like 
and law breaking tendencies of its rural population the 
game is doomed. 
It does not need the mystical lore of life's sunset to 
prophecy that in two years one may hunt as profit- 
ably for elk and bear in Kansas and Illinois as in Col* 
orado. 
In five years deer will be as scarce here as wolves in 
the Adirondacks. 
The cause of civilization will, however, have gained a 
griefat advance. 
