108 
[Feb. 5, 1898, 
Prairie Chicken Alpha. 
In the spring of 1857, ^onr years almost to a minute 
BTior to the shot and shell storm on historic Fort bum- 
teY, my father, mother, three "kids" and hired girl the 
latter a family fixed quantity from the crad e age of the 
voungerlings, jumped their claim, a fertile farm, but 
^hort on acres, in Kalamazoo county, Michigan to jour- 
ney westward' to "grow up, young man, where land 
was as cheap as dirt, to be bought per acre at the pr ce 
of a laundered shirt, as laundered shirts may go other 
than the 50-cent sweat-shop excuse They rode by rail 
S where'the rail quit-Galena, 111., ^^^ojrr.d lor 
lead mines, its lazy, slow-creeping river, and latei as the 
home of Grant. There a shift to lumber wagon seven 
with the driver, who, for nearly ""^f ' 3°^^^^ 
as stiff-timbered axles as ever wheeled load of brick or 
^Dubuque, a city of bluffs and lager beer, l^ad barely 
disappeared from view when evidence of the _ wild and 
woolly West" was made manitest by the sight of a 
prairie chicken that went ambling down the road ahead 
of the team. I was then fourteen years old, the age o 
teasing curiosity and intolerable jabber. A new world 
we were in. Everything different but the air and sky, 
.and that annihilating space by its clearness. A river 
seemed but a brook to be hopped over; a ridge but a 
few moment's walk-to reach, a half day's .Journey. The 
booming of the wild fowls of the praines m the dusk of 
the morning and evening was as lonely as the croaking 
of frogs in a swamp, for be it known the spring is the 
season when the gentleman chicken invites his lady love 
to "come into the garden, Maud," where be plays a 
petit tambour rhapsody on a pair of drums hipped 
just below the ears. It is in the night time moonless the 
better that the prairie fires, in all directions, like the 
cannon at Balaklava, casting their reflections pn the 
skv put the whole world ablaze, as thrilling a sight as 
a carnival of vomiting volcanoes While far from spec^ 
tacular, the mad canter across the sloughs to save the 
wheels and animals from cutting through the spongy 
sod, and the fording of the streams, afforded game sport 
though by no means relished as a steady diet. And not 
the least in the newness was the desolation from sod 
houses, like scattering adobes of muskrats, where to-day, 
by the way. are palaces of contentment and independence. 
The new home was a story and a half log bouse, cast 
on the west bank of the Wapsipinicon River— "Wapsie 
for short— builded in advance. The loneliness of the 
outlook was heart-breaking to one trained to social com- 
forts Neither schools nor churches, except at long 
range and neighbors whose hospitality was principally 
to "git the loan" of anything from the kitchen stove to 
the family Bible. The breaking of the acres, planting sod 
corn with an axe. watching the cattle from raiding the 
fields and "going in swimming," was about the sum total 
of the summer's programme. With fall came the gather- 
ing of wild fruit— plums and crab apples and hazehiuts— 
through trips made to distant groves, ten and fifteen 
miles into the next county. Four-horse teams comprised 
the outfit that cantered over the wild prairie, with no 
regard for beaten road, and a gun or two to bag any 
chicken that might be so imprudent as to get in the way. 
But the prairie wolf, or coyote, was a different kind of 
bird. Driven out of the high grass, he would lope to 
the summit of the ridge, where distance lent enchant- 
ment, etc.. and there at his leisure look the party over. 
The circling henhawk, the wailing note of the prairie 
snipe, the cry of the sandhill crane, so far heavenward 
there is a rivalry as to who will sight him first; the 
yellow foliage of the great sea of grass, wild weeds of 
all tints, the mellow autumn haze and brisk south wind, 
with the laughter and chatter of the voyagers, lent a 
charm to the scene well up to the standard of charms. 
With winter fairly settled down to business came the 
climax of hardships. An Iowa winter is as nearly the 
whole thing as can be found any place between the 
Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer. Those who 
have made a careful analysis of the subject maintain that 
an Iowa blizzard will blow snow through a Carnegie 
armor plate; that is Iowa snow, every piece of which 
is as sharp and piercing as tl e tooth of slander. Jack 
Frost has no difficulty in sticking his nose down 6 and 
7ft. into tlje ground and remaining there until the middle 
of next July without sweating a hair — fact attested to by 
the evidence of post-holes. 
Winter caught the family shaking and burning with 
fever and ague. It was a lively species, healthy, nQt 
ttained too fine, fully developed, and able to take any 
amount of punishment, born and nourished on the thou- 
sands of acres of decomposing sod— so said the doctors. 
It was as systematic and precise as the rules of a train- 
ing ship going into the ring at prompt 8 with a freezing 
passage in tremolo. The only escape from a knockout 
in the early stage was to crawl under the kitchen stove, 
an old-fashioned cooker with two long hind legs, giving 
it the shape of a giraffe 'tother end to, while the hired 
girl — bless her Irish heart! — would haul the bed next 
the fire, where, between two feather ticks, the Fabian 
policy was adhered to through sufferance. The hot stage 
would come ambling along about twelve meridian, with 
the throttle thrown wide open, as regular as a hired man 
at his victuals, and just as gamy and persevering as a 
red ant, never failing to put the victim to sleep, who 
would invariably awake in a terrible sweat from the 
thoroughness of the nagging. It took three successive 
days of hammering to satisfy this triple alliance, leaving 
four to get in condition for another siege. 
The living that winter was frozen potatoes, bran and 
cornmeal bread, frozen salt pork and burnt corn coffee, 
and Perry Davis's Pain Killer. The poultry froze stiff on 
their perches, and only by diligent exercise were the ani- 
mals saved from going into cold storage. 
It was at this stage in the proceedings that there came 
a hungering for prairie chicken, a shift from salt pork. 
The ague-shaking colony hankered for chicken broth. 
In the treetops of the river bottoms on clear and quiet 
arctic mornings hundreds of these birds would gather 
for their breakfast , of buds, and presumably to discuss 
the latest henhawk raid and call the roll. How to get 
at them was the problem, for they were as wild and 
erratic as a Kansas' populist. In some way possession 
bad been got of a cheap cast-iron, gingle-barreled shot- 
gun, a weak piece of furniture with no aims iit life be- 
yond a bare existence, and so racked by kidney complaint 
and rust in the gambrel joints it took two and three 
blows of the hammer to explode the cap. A conspiracy 
had been concocted by which position was to be taken 
at the foot of a tree before sun-up, and wait for the 
-chicken to come and be shot, if you please. It was one 
of the regularly scheduled ague days and a morning of 
sun-dogs and high-pressure barometer. As the sun came 
peeping over the treetops a lone chicken now and then 
went sailing by. At last one mor& accommodating than 
the rest settled on a limb directly overhead. Would he 
remain long enough to' get the piece of ordnance into 
position? was the soul-harrowing question of the mo- 
ment. He seemed to be all right, for he went at the 
buds as if he were really hungry, and apparently oblivious 
of the fact that there was a cast-iron cannon right under 
him that might accidentally explode, or possibly he may 
have come in contact with the thing in the past and been 
advised of its physical decay. You can't alway.s tell 
what a prairie chicken is thinking about. The ague fit 
was getting up steam, and what with the shaking and 
fingers stiff and numb, the cocking of the poor, decrepit 
thing became a problem, solved by placing the butt on 
the ground and pressing back the hammer with the 
foot. Taking good aim, the trigger was pulled with 
difficulty, but she didn't go. Her record was still un- 
broken. The bird hopped to another limb, evidently 
suspicious, and he had reason to be, for danger lurked in 
the air at either end of the gun. .Again the butt of the 
blunderbuss went to the ground, again the foot essayed 
to press back the hammer, but this time she slipped, and 
a report like a cannon tore through the brittle air. There 
w^as a moment of innocuous desuetude by the closeness 
of the muzzle to the head, but Richard was himself once 
again; there lay the chicken a-putting in the finishing 
flutters of life. 
It was a plain case. If the old, kidney-racked and bone- 
s'-'avined piece of cast-iron had gone off the first time, 
that chicken might have lived to die a natural death. 
^E. P. MiLL.S. 
A Woods Tragedy. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your note the other day about a Canadian outlaw who 
had been taken in recalls a tragedy that took place last 
fall on Lake Tailon. a part of the Mattawa River, about 
seven miles from the village of Mattawa. As many of 
your readers have visited that section, they will remem- 
ber the locaHty, and as one of the parties has long been 
noted as a prominent guide after moose, they may have 
met him. 
A hunting party was organized at Mattawa in October 
to make a trip up the river to Lake Tailon and Pemissa 
Bay after deer. The party consisted of Sam Tongue, the 
guide; William Bell and J. Deacon. They spent several 
days on Lake Tailon, Pemissa Bay and Lake Cham- 
plain, and were very successful. The last day of their 
stay they had the misfortune to lose two of their dogs. 
After searching for them they returned to the villa§;e 
on Saturday without finding any trace of them. On 
Monday morning Sam Tongue and Bell took a small 
birch bark canoe and proceeded up the river in search 
of the dogs. They arrived at Pemissa Bay about 2 
o'clock. As they were crossing the northeast arm they 
saw a man in a canoe coming up the bay. Thinking he 
might have seen their dogs, they turned their canoe in 
that direction. When they were within 300yds. of him 
he rose up. and taking aim at them, fired a shot 
that just missed the stern of the canoe. This shot was 
followed quickly by two more that were very close, one 
striking the water about 6in. in front of the boat. The 
wind was blowing quite fresh, and they started for a 
point on shore about 6ooyds. away. They paddled for 
all they were worth, and the shooter also made for 
shore, but about looyds. above them. Tongue thought 
that if the shooter reached the beach first he could con- 
ceal himself in the bushes, and they would be at his 
mercy. Both canoes were now bounding toward the 
point, but Sam reached the shore first, and picking up his 
-38-55 Winchester, he brought it to his face and fired 
just as the other canoe was passing the other side of the 
point. They listened, but could hear nothing, and were 
afraid to go around to investigate. After hiding for 
some time they jumped into the* canoe and made their 
way home, where they told the story. The next morn- 
ing the authorities sent the chief of police with a party 
to investigate. On arriving at the spot the canoe was 
found on the beach, and the man hanging out of it in 
the water. Sam's bullet had passed through him just 
above the heart and killed him instantl3^ The body was 
brought to Mattawa and an inquest was held, which 
exonerated Tongue, deciding that he had acted in self- 
defense. The party killed was 1. McConneH, who had 
for a number of years been an outlaw. Several warrants 
were out' for him at this time. He was also noted as 
one of the worst pot-hunters and poachers in the upper 
Ottawa Valley. Tongue thinks he thought they were 
constables in pursuit of him, and as he had always 
boasted he would never be taken, he fired on them. Sam 
is a first-class guide, a good cook and an expert canoe- 
man. W^ H. Leavitt. 
Dwcfcs and Hawks. 
Port Arthur, Can., Jan. 22. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: On account of the mild weather this winter we 
have quite a number of wild ducks that are wintering 
along the north shore of Lake Superior. This is some- 
thing unusual. Duck shooting this fall was very pobr 
with us in this section. If you sportsmen south would 
shoot a few of the many thousand hawks you would have 
thousands more ducks to shoot in the fall, as the hawks 
are very destructive to the young ducks. I have seen old 
ducks flying about in pairs in July that have had 
their brood of young ducks destroyed. .A hawk will 
stay with a brood until the young are all killed off. Our 
shooting on prairie chickens and ruffed grouse was 
very poor this season; the wet spring arid the hawks 
are to blame for this. If I could induce some of your 
sportsmen to waste a few cartridges on the hawks, in- 
stead of shooting at so many bluerocks, you would reap 
the benefit hereafter. John E. Newsome, 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Denver Game. 
Jan. 29. — In Denver, Col., the State warden advertised 
in advance that he would interfere with the barbecue of 
the National Stock Growers' Association if any attempt 
was made to serve illegal game. The Stock Growers' 
Association advertised in advance that it would serve 
buffalo, elk, antelope, mountain sheep and quail. The 
despatches "from Denver of Jan. 27 advertise that at the 
barbecue the Stock Growers' Association did serve buf- 
falo, antelope, mountain sheep and quail "in large quan- 
tities," and that "hundreds of waiters were kept busy 
for hours." It would appear that Warden Swan, while 
a little late to prevent this serving of the illegal game, 
now has all the evidence necessary to prove that it was 
served. We should rightfully hope to hear something- 
drop before long. 
The Denver hotel keeper, F. W. Bailey, who was ar- 
rested for having "smoked antelope" on his bill of fare, 
evaded conviction in a shrewd if rather babyish and not 
very honorable way — or at least in such a way as leaves 
doubt of his business candor. He swore and had others 
swear that the antelope was not antelope, but mutton, 
smoked mutton from Omaha. The judge fined him 
for putting the name on his bill of fare, but unde- the 
Colorado law he could not be convicted of actually sell- 
ing the game. 
Illinois Lively. 
Things are not so bad in Illinois. Last week I men- 
tioned the case of Allen Ferris, of Lower Illinois, who 
was fined $3,000 for killing and shipping some 500 il- 
legal quail. Judge Grundy imposed the fine. What 
Mrs, Grundy says may be inferred from the comment 
of the Morrisonville Times, which hopes that Mr. Ferris 
will jump his bond since he can't pay his fine, and not 
stay to board out his little bill with the county. 
Last week the hustling Deputy J. E. Slocomb arrested 
Wesley Bros., of El Dorado, 111., for shipping game to 
Chicago. They got $100 fine. On the day following 
he did the sensational work of arresting a fellow war- 
den, Deputy Fred Smith, of Gallatin county, alleging 
that Smith was conniving at the illegal fish trap fishing 
on the Saline River. 
Deputy Slocomb was aided in his recent work by 
Commissioner Bartlett and State Warden Loveday. Mr. 
Lovedav wrote me from Harrisburg, Saline county, as 
follows in regard to his success, over which he has great 
reason to feel satisfied: 
"I am in the heart of the violators' camp, and I have 
got them on the run. By the time the State Sportsmen's 
Association meets to see about protecting the game of 
our State I will have rolled up over 500 convictions, 
and will have struck terror in the hearts of all violators. 
But it's a good thing to have them wake up. 
"I arriA'ed in this city only yesterady noon, and have 
tried and convicted three: one sent to jail and two paid 
their fines. Every constable the sheriff" has got is now 
out for to-morrow's grist. I came here from Jasper 
county, where I had five convicted and filed papers for 
four more. 
"Mr. J. E. Slocomb, my South End deputy, the best 
in the State, is assistino- and we will run two courts on 
Monday. Yours in haste, H. W. Loveday." 
I like the closing phrase, "Yours in haste," and hope 
Mr. LoA'^eday will keep himself and the law-breakers 
both busy for a while. He has been making the hotbed 
of violations pretty hot. 
Ohio Rabbit Law off. 
The Ohio game law was during the past week changed 
by the passage of Senator Decker's bill removing the 
close season on rabbits. The rabbit clause of the Ohio 
law was not of special importance, but it was made co- 
incident with the quail law, to protect the quail against 
men who would pretend to be out rabbit hunting and 
would reallv be shooting quail in the snow. Here we 
have the case of the loop-hole again, just as we have in 
the woodcock and wood duck laws of Indiana. The 
shooter says he is after woodcock in July and August, 
but really is hunting flopper ducks. Thousands of such 
loop-holes in statute or the "construction" of statutes 
attest the wisdom of broad, simple, sweeping and con- 
current measures in those State laws seeking to protect 
the State's game or fish. Now the Ohio men may shoot 
rabbits in February, and they will shoot quail then. It 
is so eas3' to track them in the snow. 
Florida Quail. 
Dick Merrill, of Milwaukee, is spending the winter in 
Florida, on the Homosassa River, We.st Coast. He 
reports the weather too warm for hard work, but is 
getting a few ducks and very fair quail shooting. 
One hotel at Ocala, Fla., reports 2,252 quail shot by 
its guests this season. 
The Circle Hant, 
Usually the "circle hunt" is well named. Its net re- 
sults are ordinarily represented by a circle — O. At Ker- 
sey, Col., last week 600 horsemen and 100 dogs held a 
circle hunt, coA'ering sixteen miles of country. They 
got nine coyotes and three wolves, and are so encour- 
aged that they are going to do it again next week, with 
T.ooo men in the lines. The results of such hunts are 
often disproportionate to the energy shown, but if a 
man wants to ride and holler a lot, a circle hunt is just 
the thing. 
The big jack rabbit hunts of the West, more especially 
Colorado and Kansas, are not circle hunts, though sys- 
tematically conducted. The hunters walk abreast in 
the drive and shoot the game as it starts ahead of them. 
Jack rabbit hunting as a matter of solitary and individual 
enterprise may be more prolific of results than a big 
circle hunt. In one way or another they are killing 
lots of jacks in Kansas. Sumner county, Kan., paid 
bounty on 19,171 scalps last Thursday. 
Pet Squirrels. 
A busy wafdeti at Cleveland, C, arrested W. J. Phil- 
Hps for havitig two squirrels in possession in doge sea- 
