Oct. S3, 18§?.j 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
8g§ 
IN PIONEER DAYS. 
Tbesb passages, from the private diary of a resident of 
Cleveland, O , have never before been printed. They have 
a doubled interest now as showing the wilderness conditions 
of Ohio and Michigan a half-century ago, when there were 
elk and wild turkeys and wolves: 
Dec. 11, 1838.— Started to-day on the steamboat Gen. 
Anthony Wayne, in company with G. and a Canadian, on 
an elk hunt to Michigan. We arrived at Port Huron, 
situated at the junction of Black and St. Clair rivers, one 
mile below Lake Huron. The night of Oct. 13, after pro- 
viding ourselves with a barrel of hard bread. 25lbs. of pork, 
an axe, frying-pan, three tin cups and a wooden paiJ, we en- 
.gaged a team to take us and our baggage to the forks of the 
Black River, seventeen miles from its mouth. We stayed at 
the forks over night with one Mr. Waddam, a large land- 
owner along the river and engaged in the lumber business; 
he took U3 to the edge of his woods, not far from the house, 
where lie showed us five acres of heavy timber land inclosed 
by a high and strong rail fence, in which inclosure was a 
fine buck elk, given him by the Indians, also several deer of 
various ages. The elk was very fierce and continually tried 
to reach us by forcing the fence with his horns. He was a 
fine animal, and the largest buck deer looked like a fawn be- 
side him. 
The next day we had the man take our camp baggage on 
an ox sled, made of a crotched tree, one day's drive into the 
woods, as the way went over logs and through swales and 
the bottoms burned out. Many elk horns hung up in them, 
and elk hair was all around where they had been dressing the 
skins. I opened a number of bags, hanging in the camp, 
containing several kinds of seeds, unknown to me. This, 
my second night, was colder than the first, and I suffered 
much; but by nestling close to the fire 1 managed to keep 
warm, though the sparks burned numerous holes through my 
clothes. 
The next morning I started very early on my way down 
the creek. About 10 A. M I saw some ducks, and suc- 
ceeded in killing one, and shortly after killed two partridges, 
when, feeling I should have something to eat that night, I 
felt in quite good spirits. At 2 P., M. I came to where some 
trees had been cut down, and looking around I found a dead- 
fall baited with a dead horse for wolves. I followed a kind 
of trail that led from it and soon came to a log house. The 
folks received me kindly, and gave me a good supper. They 
told me the nearest house was some ten miles oif on the 
Black River. Oq giving them an account of where we were 
camped, they said it must be near thp great Indian trail, and 
not more than three miles off. Next day one of them started 
with me, and I reached our camp at noon, when 1 found G. 
and the Canadian making preparations to leave, as they 
supposed I was killed. 
Although game was plenty, the woods were so dry and 
thick we had poor success. With porii, hard bread, tea and 
game we fared well, But few Indians were in the neighbor- 
hood, most of them hunting on the Canada side. Occasion- 
ally a band passed by. One day two fine elk were killed 
day was cold and crust on the snow very hard, so we ex- 
pected to see little, if any, game on the way. But in this 
we were mistaken, as we started several deer; had a number 
of shots, but secured none. 
On reaching the old camp we found the puncheons and 
poles that helped to make it, all down, the deep snow well 
covering them as well as the brands of our camp fire, just as 
we left them. The tracks of wild turkeys were plenty m 
the snow right over the puncheons. Sad and gloomy 
thoughts came into my mind as I reviewed the well-known 
trees and other objects, and witnessed the wild desolation 
where a deep and solemn silence reigned. Here a happy 
party of us, in the springtime of our txistence, spent a por- 
tion of the most pleasant period of our lives. All was life 
and animation; the noise of singing, laughing, talking and 
hooiing made the woods resound. But now how different! 
The great change a short time had brought about of that 
merry company, a part were scattered over the earth, while 
one of them was gazing in melancholy silence on the ruins 
of the old deserted camp before him. 
Returning next day, we went three miles into the woods 
near the Henrietta road, and made a large turkey pen, car- 
ried straw and corn to make trails to it. The next day, after 
going to our trap, we found a drove of turkeys, fifteen in all, 
had struck one of the trails and entered it. The door was 
down, but the birds had flown. The fact was the^poles over 
the top of the pen being rather light, the turkeys, by constantly 
jumping against them, had finally parted them and escaped. 
On our way to the house crossed the tracks of seven deer; 
WHEKE'S MA-MA? 
Drawn from s. life photograph by Frank Farnsworth. 
swamps we found slow and tedious traveling, and were glad 
when night came, when we prepared for the night by mak- 
ing a good fire of dry pine wood and prepared our supper. 
It rained hard in the night, but fortunately our ammunition 
was found safe and dry in the morning, owing to unusual 
care taken. 
The next day being clear and pleasant, we prepared for a 
permanent camp, choosing a pine grove near a swale. From 
pine trees we cut down we wtre three days in perfecling as 
snug a home as any hunter could desire. On the fourth day 
we commenced blnzing our lines. When the rest of our 
party suggested that in the meantime I should go out and 
kill a deer; after hunting some time and sfeing deer without 
getting a shot, I started back for camp. When travehng till 
tvening and not finding it, I built a fire, made a kind of 
shelter of spruce brush and camped out for the night. The 
night was very cold, and from the novelty of my situation, 
prevented me from sleeping. I started early in the morning 
and soon came to a creek, which I followed down till noon, 
when, getting fatigued, I laid in an old Indian camp to rest 
myself. In a short time 1 heard some brush crack, when, 
getting up carefully and looking out of the camp, I discov- 
tred a doe elk feeding some four rods off among the 
thick bushes. I immediately put down another ball in my 
rifle, and resting it across the side pole of the camp, was 
just on the point of shooting when a motion in the bushes 
attracted my attention, and looking, I discovered a buck 
elk right in front of me and only some two rods off; my 
heart beat terribly and my body shook violently, but, steady- 
ing my nerves as much as possible, I took aim and fired at 
his head. He immediately fell, but before I could get to 
him he got up and was off. From the noise the elk made 
as they crashed off through the underbrush. I think there 
must have been quite a drove of them. 
I did not follow them, but pursued my course down the 
creek till night, when I built a fire and camped. During 
the day I had seen several deer and many bear signs; par- 
tridges in numbers, and several deserted Indian camps, and 
in some of the camps I found birch bark mococks all with 
within a mile of our camp by one of their hunters. Bear 
signs were numerous on all sides. One night a huge fellow 
passed within five rods of the camp as we marked by his 
tiack in the morning. Wolves were also plenty. I found 
one day ihe remains of an elk freshly killed by them; the 
antlers, amoner the largest I ever saw, I brought home to 
Clevtland. We found also in the woods and brought them 
into camp a pair ol deer's horns that were fastened together, 
evidently when fighting. Four miles west of our camp wts 
the great trail of the Saginaw and Chippewa Indians. It 
passts near a cranberry marsh of several thousand acres. 
Here the Indians go every sea?on, make mococks of bark and 
take the berries down the Black River to Port Huron, where 
they sell ihem at $1 a bu hel. Having very nearly eaten np 
our groceriis and feeling quite satisfied with our expedition 
we packed up and started for Port Huron. 
Oq our way down the river we stopped at Mr. Waddam's 
for the night. On inquiring after the old buck elk, his 
housekeeper said that a lew days after we left, going up the 
Tiver, it broke out of the inclosure, and seeing ner through 
the window it dashed right through it after her, she barely 
escaping up the ladder to the garret of the log house. While 
there she screamed most lustily for Mr. Waddam, who got 
his rifle and shot the elk while in the house. Leavmg the 
Canadian at Port Huron, I arrived at Cleveland by steam- 
boat in restored health, with rifle, blankets, and the huge elk 
antlers killed by the wolves of Michigan. 
Jan. 20, 1839, — Some hunters who had gone to Russia, 
Loraine county, O., deer hunting, wrote that deer were 
plenty and hunting never better. By stage, in twenty- four 
hours I was with them; but a crust coming on the snow that 
night, we devoted our liine trapping turkeys. We made a 
number of pens, and made trails all ihrouijh the woods lead- 
ing to them. The squirrels and bluejaya sprung our traps so 
often that we caught none, but I had the good luck to shoot 
eight very fine ones. The rest of the party getting discour- 
aged, returned to Cleveland. The day they left I took one 
of the natives with me to make a visit to the old camp where 
we spent such a jolly good time two winters before. The 
followed them till night; got two shots, but without hair, 
blood, or much less a deer. I left them, and when within a 
mile of the clearing saw two coons walking around the foot 
of a large tree; before I could shoot they crawled into a hole 
in the tree. Qn entering the house I informed my host, who, 
with axe and dogs, started immediately in pursuit. Abo.ut 
midnight he returned with seven good coon skips, haying 
captured them all m this single large tree; a eood night's 
work, as they would average .30 cents each. JFive coons is 
tbe most 1 have ever Jknown to be cut from a tree before, 
and that was later ja the season. 
The next day A. visited our turkey pen. There being 
crust on the sn.ow and it being rf ally too late in the season 
for deer, I concluded to go for smaller g^me, squirrels and 
partridges bfiog very abundant and in good condition. This 
having' been a good year for shacks. aid of one of the 
coon dogs, that was good at treeing, I manag. d to return at 
night with thirty s.quirrels and four partridges. J. found A. 
returned before me with five floe turkeys. ' He in one of tfie 
turkey pens had found twelve birds, but on seeing him they 
fluttered aroimd so that they commenced breaking out, 
when he began shooting at them in the pen, and tucceeded 
in killing the flve before the rest escaped. The snow leav- 
ing rapidly, we settled the next morning with Mr. A. for 
board and started for home on too\; the snow being out of 
the roadj the horse was only able to draw the cutter and 
game. 
"Uncle I^isba's Outing," 
By Rowland E. Robinson, is now ready in an attractively 
b'luud volume ot 308 pages, the twenty four chapters re- 
counting the homely adventures of those Danvis folks with 
whom FoKEST AND Stream readers are so well acquainted. 
Sent postpaid on receipt ot price, $J.35, by the Forest and 
Stream Pub. Co. 
The FoBEST AND Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at if^ 
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