144 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb, 20, 1897. 
his; bear too. headed down IiUl toward the beaver swale 
along the river. 
We started with coat tails flving to iniercept our "horse" 
short of the willow thicket. It was a mile and a quarter to 
traverse. Now, John had rheumatiem, as 1 have relat°d, 
but he had besides incipient asthma. His rreakin? back 
and gaspings for breath grew fainter to my ears as we raced 
along. I missed them more and more as I drew rear the 
point where we hoped to renew the shagey vi ion. There 
seemed a lessening honor in "breasting the tape" first against 
80 badly haodicanped a competitor. My chivnlry conquered, 
and I tarried, permitting my appreciated friend John to 
overtake me on its further shore. 
Togethpr with faithful Nell we passed along a game trail 
in the willows to an opening which again gave us full view 
ahead. A quick survey showfd that the bear had just 
dragged his or her drippine body over the stones on the 
bani, and into the wlHow jungle. Nell, relu- tantly obe- 
dient, followed in, but came hurrying back to refuge with 
us. 
I clo«ed the episode then and there by declining to di-'tuTb 
ft bear big enough to be a horse, and a erizzly bear, as it later 
pri/ved, which was within the shelter of a dense jungle, and 
protected as well by the partial moor light; and I now 
frankly say that my head was leveler than yours, my bold 
xeader, who would have fought it out at close quarters for 
tiie sake of glory. 
1b another paper I will introduce other bears, and a story 
•f how the Indian hunts elk — perhaps. TwraKLE. 
QUAIL AT SEA. 
Santa Catalina TsLAifc, Jan. 10 —Southern California 
is indulging m self-congratulations, and with good reason. 
I^ast winter the rain was much bflow the average, resulting in 
a late and short season ; but this year nature has smil- d broadly 
on the land. The first good lain came pourine down early 
In November— nt arly 3in. in sime localities; sufficient to clear 
the atmosphere, lay the dust and penetrate th*» ground for 
1ft. or more. A few days later it cleared, leaving the lofty 
p?ak8 white with snow, tne lower range with freshened ver- 
dure. 
In what seemed a few days indications of grefn appeared 
along the by-ways and urustd streets ; gropes th-)t had not 
been ploi'ghtd frr years took on a verdant look, the hills 
caught the infection, and old bar'ey fi<-ln8 volunteered ard 
sent up delicate ere«-n i-p'ruls. E^'h day th" color grew 
and when the Wi»rm suu poured nuwu alter the cltarii g off 
the alfllana made mt h rapid strides that soon the land, like 
magic, had put on its win'er coat ot g ef-n. 
In two we< ks another dtencbing liiia cime. and, for the 
first time in several y ars, the Caiiforniatis claim, a ijpical 
winter— a winter wh' n by I he 5 h of De' ember the country 
presented the spp aranoe of a beautiful green lawn. 
The beauty of this early winter is perhaps better apprecia- 
ted at sea among the islands, especially at Santa Catalina. 
Here the mountains rise like points of emeralds m a fetting 
of azure, the water thnt ripples against their, base being a 
rich and indescribable blue. 
Approacbing the island from the mainland, it is seen to be 
a mountain chain twenty-' wo miles in length cut by myriads 
of cafions that wind down to the sea, outlined in darker 
greens by the deep shadows ibat seem to lie restLss under 
the constantly changing sunlight. There are no forests, and 
few large tries; but the eastern sli pe is c<'vered with low 
trees and shrubs, wild lilac, various oaks, wild cherry, sumac, 
manzanita and others. 
Santa Catalina is a natural game preserve, and when 
stocked with deer and elk will present ideal conditions for 
the sportsman. At present it abounds in quail, doves and 
wild goats, which afford good sport. The little town of Ava- 
lon, which lies on the scuthe astern shore on a placid bay, is 
the headquarters of sportsmen. Here are the holeh and 
cottages or the winter and summer visitors, the natural con- 
ditions calling to mind San Remo. 
At one of the Ijotels a score of sportsmen are discussing 
quail shooting. Several have just returned from a eoat 
hunt, and relate wonderful stories of };ame shot across deep 
cafions, and veoturesome climbs along the precipitous wesiern 
shores. They tell the newcomers that to find ihe best quad 
country the upper island must be climbed, and the following 
morning the horses are brought out and the bunt begins. 
The trail leads directly back of Av-tlon. winding up the 
sides of the cafion, every lurn revealing new attractions In 
and out, facing deep canons where the descent is several 
hundred feel sheer; now facing the sea or the distant and 
interminable hills and mountains, the climb is slowly made, 
finally ending at the summit, a broad, undulating plateau. 
The horsemen walk to the edge and look away over the sea. 
To the east lie the distant mountains of the Southern 
Sierras, the h ftiest peaks capped- with snow and f^eemingly 
banging in the air, while to the west is the limitless ocean, 
with the flai-topped island of San Nicolas twenty miles 
away. 
Plunging down a little cafion the riders go; pushing 
through patches of wild rose; now in the bed of a brook 
beneath an arbor of willow. The horses stop and snort as a 
roar/of wings suddenly breaks the stillness, and scores of 
brown plumed forms go whirling over the brush into the 
thick cov- r of the mountain side 
The quail country has been reached, and not far beyond, 
where the cafion widens out beneath ihe shadow of a range 
of hills, is Eagle Camp, the mountain headquarters of sports- 
men in the isle* of summer. Leaving the horses in the care 
of the Mexican guide, the hunters were Foon walking down 
Ihe cafion in the warm January sun. Mountains and bills 
stretctied away on every side with no suspicion of the sea, 
yet a mile away it lay, its saline odors blowing in to mingle 
with the perfume of the island wild flowers. 
The cafion or Middle Ranch, as it is called, gradually 
widens our, carpeted with green, with here and there patches 
of cactus and groups of trees. Along the stream grows a 
hedge of willows, and breaking through the barrier the 
mouth of a small diverging cafion was si en. Ten steps 
through the chaparral and there rose on the air the welcome 
notes of the quail, then across the green gorge a responsive 
call. 
Quail shooting in California differs somewhat from that of 
the East. The moat successful method at Santa Catalina is 
to move on the flock as quickly as possible, separate and 
-then take the birds as they ii e This course was pursued, 
and presently through the brush, in the midst of a cactus 
patch, the flock could be seen. It was the oppo'tuni y of a 
llfttime for the pot-hunter. The birds were standing per- 
fectly still in attitudes of attention, listening to the warning 
of the cock in the distant brush, who had doubtless seen the 
enemy and was uttering his warning and defiance with all 
his power. But the flock, in fancied security, stood 'a 
moment and then began fee 'ing in the sand The males are 
beaut ful little creaturea, with a jet black throat and white 
stripes down the sides of the head, the brea ts gleaming 
with an almost iridescent tint of blue, while from the top of 
the bead rises a jaunty crest of eieht or ten f feathers tbat are 
enlarged at the upper end and incline forward. This orna- 
ment is subject to great changes of position. When the 
birds stop to listen it is cocked brav ly in the air, but when 
they run it seems to drop forward in a languiil manner. The 
crept of the hen is much smaPer and inconspicuou,?. 
The little birds have all the decorative beauties of the 
pheasants; the upper portion of thf abdomen being a rich 
golden brown, the lower portion black, and each feather 
richly col' red and edged with black. On the back of the 
neck are numerous eye spots, while down the side of the 
cheek are two pronounced white streaks— too choice and 
beautiful a creature 10 shoot if one continues long in con- 
templali n. 
Very soon the notes of the cock changed to a short, sharp 
call, which wan answered by the fijck. and then with a 
sudden movement they ran, and the hunters, guns ready, 
rushed into th^ open E-r-r-r-r! came the roar of wings, 
and scores of dark meteors si era* d shooting- through the 
air, plunging ioto the brush which lined the canon; while 
othfrs rose over the green slopes as though over a rising sea 
and dipappean d. It was then that the guns look them right 
and left, the frightened birds scattering in every direction. 
Some turned and flew into the lowlands behind the sports- 
men, others flew hither into the rangi^. Skirting the ridge, 
some on one side and some on the other, the hunters picked 
up the individual birds, which rose sometimes almost under- 
foot, darting away wilh marvelou'! rapinity. 
It was difhnult to find the quail in the brush, and when 
well scattered «nd they were ri ing rapidly there was alwavs 
the temptation to drop several if occasion offered before the 
first was secured. Retrieving was impossible in such a 
place and dogs are not employed. ^ 
One by one the birds were started and finally the flock was 
driven into another canon; later thef were seen to rise, a 
faint black cloud, skim over a gi'een' divide, for a single sec- 
ond hover in the air and then drop out of sight b hind the 
barrier o^ green. Up the canon the sportsnjen slowly fol- 
lowed, starting the buebir'^s that plunged down into the 
green aby.^s wiih discordant cri s, until the ridge was 
reached. A long steep slooe extended down to ihe oc an, 
rur, here and there with canons, into one of which ihe birds 
had gone. 
The afternoon fog in fleecy ma?ses was sweeping in, blow- 
ing up the cnflon, where it was rapidly broken up. Up 
through the mist came the roar ot the waves as they broke 
sullenly on the rocks a thousand feet below, while now and 
then the harsh barii of sea lio-^s told of the herd below. 
Taking <ine of the many zigzag trails which the goats bad 
cut, the hunters entered the bru h that hf recovered the slope. 
Presently out of the depths were heard the notes of a male 
q'jail, and further on the answtring call. 
The birds had joined other bird^i and soon tbey began to 
rise all about, the sharp crack of the guns reverberating 
down the cafion, starling others. 
Late in the day, with well-flUed basrs, the quail hunters re- 
turned to Eagle Camp, fully agreed that uownere had they 
found fo novel a quail couijtry as this uniciue island, where 
the winttr has all the agreeable features of a summer. 
Catalina. 
A FRONTIER INCIDENT, 
I NEVER expected to write this story for various reasons, 
but a man who lives in the East asked me to tell some- 
thing about the frontier life of twenty years ago, and so I 
will tell eometbing that is very vivid to me, fur I can re- 
member the day as if it were yesterday, and it happened 
in 1873. 
I went to Colorado in 72, and formed a kind of part- 
nership with a man on Trinchara Creek, thirty miles east 
of Trinidad. The spring of 73 came, and I concluded to 
buy cattle and stay there. About the 1st of June Texas 
Allen landed a bunch of cattle on the West Carriso, feirty 
miles east f)f the Trinchara. The Cheyennes had broken 
out from Camp Supply, Indian Territory, and came west, 
killing ranchmen wheu they could catch them, whicu was 
seldom; for they ran when they could and fought when 
cornered in a cheerful way, which must have been dis- 
couraging to a respectable Indian gentleman who was out 
after hair. 
My partner was gone to Pueblo, and New York and I 
were alone on the ranch. York was a nice boy, twenty-one 
years old. His real name was Addison J. VVhitnian, and 
he now lives somewhere in Colorado. He ha^d been in 
Texas and Colorado for three years, always on the frontier, 
and was able to take good care of himself tm all occasions. 
Prom what I have seen of him t think he enjoyed fight- 
ing. Now, I don't and never did, and I always try not to 
be there the day the war comes ofl", but I have been un- 
lucky all my life in that respect. I went to Colorado for 
my health and not to associate with Indians or rude 
people. 
Evj^ry few days we heard a new Indian story and knew 
that there must be several small bands near us, but we saw 
none, and finally one morning York said, "Let's go to 
Carriso and see those cattle. I don't think that we'll see 
any Indians;" and so we started early one morning. We 
were mounted on two little Texas stallions that were tough 
and fast. York had a Spencer carbine, .56cal., and foriy- 
two cartridges. I had a Sharps .45-70 and only had ten 
shells loaded, but I thought that was plenty. It was a 
lovely day, anel we rode slowly along the Bufialo Road, 
so called because it was made by the Mexicans, who went 
east every year to hunt buffalo. 
After we had gone eighteen miles I saw something that 
looked like some crows flying low just over a ridge about 
two miles away. They did not look jusf right, and so I 
tried the field glass on them. It was the heads of five In- 
dians who were riding to cut us off, I passed the glass to 
York, and he looked. "Shall we go ahead or shall we turn 
back?" said I. It was safe to turn back, but we were boys, 
and so we decided to make a run for Chagnau Canon, anti 
then make a stand if we had to. The Indians had to make 
three miles to our two to cut us off, and we commenced to 
lope our horses. Faster and faster we went, and then we 
fool boys haei a horse race then and there, and forgot the 
Indians till after I had beaten York's horse badly, and he 
yelled to me to slow up. We galloped across the e^afion 
side by side on panting ponies, and here came the Ineiians 
behind us, strung out and coming at a run. They were a 
mile away, but we had run our horses almost down, 
There was a little mound on level prairie just after we' 
crossed the canon, with a patch of scrub oaks on it that 
was about .30ft. in diameter. "We must make a stand 
here," said York. So we rode into the brush, dismounted, 
bol)bled and tied our horses in the center of the patch and 
crawled to the edge. The scrub oak was nothing but 
bushes, not high enough to conceal our horses entirely. 
The Indians could see their heads and the horns and 
cantles of the saddles showed. They saw where we were 
and circled south and then east; but they kept about 
400yds. away. I suppose they thought that we wanted 
to go east, and that they had cut us olf. I had a good look 
at them as they passed us on the south. There were three 
that looked like young men, and one old fellow that had a 
niuzzleloatling rifle. The fifth did not look like an In- 
dian. He was yellow, and had short hair that I think was 
kinky. All wore moccasins and leggings. Four wore 
blankets and dropped them when they commenced fight- 
ing us, and their copper skins shone as if they were 
grease. They had long hair that floated in the wind as 
they rode fast. The other fellow had a shirt and an old 
blue coat. When they charged us he swore at us in Eng- 
lish. The others howled. They were all mounted on 
little thin hammer-headed Indian ponies, but they ran 
better than they looked. They only had three guns; two 
were rim-fire Henry's, and one was a muzzleloader. When 
they hollered they "made me terrified. It's the worst and 
most savage noise I ever heard, and now I felt that the)'' 
would get us sure. 1 wished I had loaded more cartridges. 
I wished 1 had stayed in Hartford, Conn. I thought how 
much nicer it was to read a dime novel about Indians 
than to be where I was. 
I told York some of these things and he laughed at me, 
and said; "See me take that big buck next time he rides 
past us and cuts up his fool monkey shines." The Indian 
was circling around us, lying on the side of his horse away 
from us, and' had' cracked away at us several times. The 
next tihie he came past York cracked awaiy three times at 
him, and the last shot hit the horse in the neck. Dowm 
he came and the Indiatv turned several somersaulls, struck 
the ground hard, bounded up, and ran off on foot. Theru 
the four others charged us. and I ha-d to shoot. II did my 
best, and Yeirk keft banging away;; and though a good! 
many arrows came whist ing close to us, and I heard the 
purr of several balls, they did not touch us, and we made' 
it so hot for them that they turned' and rode off, but we' 
did not touch them either. 
Then they got together at about half a mile away and 
consulted and I plunked a ball right through the bunch 
and they seattered like a flock of quail, and I had only five- 
cartridges left. Then they separated and came up on all 
sides, and when we had made them go back I had only 
two cartridges left. I told York that the next m-an I fired 
at should not be over 20yd8. I told York also that I knew 
we would both be killed, and he said he knew better, and' 
said he liked it. But he didn't. 
The wounded pony had got up and was eating grass. 
He had a hole through his neck that I could see through, 
where York had hitliim. Pretty soon an Indian ran in 
and drove him away, but he was weak and reeled as he 
went, and York shot twice at the buck, but did not touch- 
him. They got the saddle off the horse, two got on one- 
horse, and they all rode away toward the southwest. I 
don't know why they quit us, but they did. 
We soon mounted our horses and rode east at a slow 
lope, and York told me not to say anything about the 
fight when we got to camp, for he was ashamed of our 
shooting and besides the Texans might say we were liars. 
I did not feel a bit good till we gfjt to Texas Allen's camp 
and found twenty cowmen well armed, and then all was 
well. But I have never been without fifty loaded car- 
tridges'since then. 
This is a dry tale and seems not well worth telling, but,, 
my boy, if you had been there and beard those gentlemen 
yell I "don't believe you would have liked it any better 
than I did. W. J. IX 
WOLVES AND COYOTES. 
Brooklyn.— In days long gone by I have watched the- 
large gray Avolves that follow bands of buffalo, and their- 
actions while on the move so closely resemble the fashion 
of a war party of wild Indians marching across the breaks 
of a rolling prairie country that the sight has more than 
once afforded me entertainment. There was little amuse- 
ment, however, in watching a war party, but more of con- 
cern and anxiety. 
The wolf will trot along the sheltered edge of a ridge or- 
swell of land, pausing now and then to peer about him and- 
survey the country, his companions meanwhile (and I have- 
seen them in packs of fifty or more) trotting noiselessly on 
in advance, Avith uplifted heads in movement of wild grace- 
that was significant of the roving habit, fixed with the re- 
morseless craving to satisfy the inner wolf. 
The "Okshena Dutas"— red boysof the plains— imitative- 
by instinct, utilize professionally the sly proclivities of the. 
wolf, fox and panther. 
I once came suddenly upon two gray wolves at a buffalo- 
carcass. They instantly broke away in opposite directions,, 
paused a moment at the exact distance to take a wild look- 
at me, then disappeared in the gulches. 
At anoth-r time we were pursuing "bad" Indians, whO' 
had counted roup on Custer and his men. The pursuit had' 
reached the Yellowstone River, and Bull Eagle, with most 
of his tribe, was on the opposite side. Our half-breed in- 
terpreter, Billy, had managed to parley with three or four- 
wild-eyed Sioux braves, who had been hanging on the 
flank of the column, and three of us rode up in a friendly 
way toward them. In response to Billy's promises they 
waited for us, but when we were almost close enough to 
shake hands the wnid instinct of the savage nature, never 
in repose, flashed out on a sudden, and they broke away in 
the same manner as the wolves, only they kept their eyes 
on us as their swill ponies carried them away. Our com- 
mander was a Utile bit mad, thinking an important con- 
ference had been interrupted; but it turned out all right. 
At that day— 1876— wolves had become very scarce in 
Montana, and, as a consequence, the buffalo and other 
game increased in numbers. In the few years that fol- 
lowed the cessation of active hostilities, the buffalo bad dis- 
