142 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 19, iSoS. 
7(f ^^ortmum ^omhL 
Canute Feast with Bear Dessert* 
I LIVE in the Short Grass country, in western Kansas, 
west of the looth meridian. I've got a lot of young 
ones, a lot of cows, young and old; a lot of horses, mares 
and colts, and a big closet fitll of guns, rifles and 
everything that makes a sportsman's heart wai'm when 
he looks at them. , 
I have to keep it locked, fof my tw<!) bcys, I believe, 
could use up all ttty cartridges in a week on snowbirds 
and rabbits. 
I received a letter from Mr. Miguel Trebinio about a 
month since. He lives on Rita Azul, in New Mexico. 
It read thus: 
■'Friend Mine; Come at once to Rita Azul. I have 
a trade to make, and I Avant you to help me. It is our 
horses for cattle. I think if you come out, by the help of 
the Santa Nina (Blessed Virgin) we can skin him. I 
also have a bear in a hole for you. You are also invited 
to a Canute game and a feast. Your brotlier, 
"Miguel Trebinio." 
Who could resist that plaintive appeal? A bear, horse 
trades, canute and a feast were too much. I wrote: 
"Expect me Monday night. Meet me at the train with 
the buckboard." 
Sunday eve at 10:30 found me on the A,, T. & S. F. 
train, where the colored porter kicked because I wanted 
to put my rifle and shotgun to bed with me. I try to 
handle a riile as carefully as if it was glass, for a little 
careless knock may disarrange the sights, and it's heart- 
sickening to miss a deer after half a day's work with 
one's nerves on a strain all the time. I finally gave him 
50 cents to go and see if my setter .was all right in the 
baggage car; put my rifle to bed, and meekly turned over 
the shotgun when he came back. He took it and looked 
at the case a minute and then said: "If you want to sleep 
with that gun, boss, put him in bed. I guess he won't 
hurt noftin." So in it went, and I went into the smoking 
room and talked to the conductor for some time. He 
is a sportsman, and I made him very uneasy when I told 
him of all that was before me. At last I went to bed, 
unwillingly. I hate to go to bed and hate to get up. 
The porter aroused me at 8 A. M. with: "Boss, the 
train is almost got to breakfast." So I got up, and at 
La Junta we ate. In thirty minutes we were steaming 
toward the south. The Spanish Peaks came in sight, 
then the Raton Mountains. anU at last my own beloved 
Mesa de Mayo, or May Mountain. It is full of trees 
and grass and water and game, with a sprinkling of 
horse thieves and an occasional bunch of Ute Indians 
that make it, taking it as a whole, altogether lovely. 
Near Thatcher I saw a band of seven or more antelope 
grazing at a distance of a mile from the track. They 
were southeast from the station. They were not dis- 
tm-bed by the noise of the train, and were still feeding 
with their heads down when I saw them last. It looked 
encouraging, and I hoped that my bear was asleep and 
doing well. , t , , 
We steamed into Trinidad at 12 noon, and I had a very 
tough beefsteak at a restaurant and then went into a 
grocery store and bought things. I tried to buy a little 
of everything that .was easily cooked or could be eaten 
raw, and had them boxed in two Arbuckle coffee cases, 
leaving orders to ship them by express at once. Then 
I went to the Denver and Fort Worth Railroad Depot, 
and after thirty miles of a run on the north side of the 
Raton Mountains and parallel to them I got off at a 
woebegone little station called Trinchara. The place 
consists of a depot, a store containing a post-office, four- 
dilapidated cans of peaches, a bar of soap and a very 
drunken and disreputable proprietor— an American mar- 
ried to a Mexican woman. But here came Miguel driv- 
ing three horses before him, one with my saddle on him, 
the other two bare. "Why didn't you bring the buck- 
board, Miguel?" , , , 
"It is broken. Part of the harness is lost, and the 
workhorses are gone with the cavayard. They are all 
gone. I borrowed these horses from Jesus Mestis to 
come for you. My son Luis is off after the horses on 
a mule, and Inez is after them on her jackass." 
"I have two big boxes and a valise to pack, and we 
will have a time getting home, I fear." 
. "No, Senor, if the diamond hitch does not hold when 
I make it I am willing to leave the boxes in the road." 
So I meekly unrolled my bedding, made impromptu 
packsaddles, and those two boxes went on a horse, one 
on each side, with the grip on top. On the other horse 
Avent two sacks of oats and my two guns. In the two 
sacks of oats were twenty-four bottles of beer and a 
large jug containing 2gals. of fair whisky, my contribu- 
tion to the feast at the canute game. Mexicans are like 
Indians, crazv for anything intoxicating, and I am very 
fond of my 'Mexicans, and a little won't hurt them. 
Poor devils! they can't get anything decent to drink 
in the shape of stimulants often. The whisky of the 
wilds of Colorado is simply awful. 
And we started. The packs rode as if they were part 
of the horses. We landed at the ranch to find the 
horses all back and Inez cooking supper. I had a room 
all to myself in the old jacal. . , „ , . , , 
The ornaments amused me. A skull, a cheap print ot 
the Virgin Mary, and my photograph. It's a very 
saucy photograph. It shows me dressed in buckskin— 
old, Avorn buckskin— and I looked as wild as a hawk, 
and felt so, when I had it taken seventeen years ago. 
When I got my store clothes off and came out into 
the kitchen Luis had got into the grub boxes. Luis 
is sixteen years old and as inquisitive as a monkey. But 
it was all right. I scolded him as if he was my own boy 
and told him that his shame was lacking and his gall 
was large, and he seemed deeply affected. Then i con- 
soled him with some candy that he likes as well as 11 he 
were younger. 
We were hardly through supper before the guests be- 
gan to assemble for the canute game— about twenty men 
and women. j- . t 
Juan Madril and his wife, on horses, came first. Juan 
is about seventy years old. He is tall, lean, sinewy and 
dark He has an eye like a hawk, and long, straight 
black hair, and is as active as a boy. His father years 
igo, captured a Comanche girl, took her home and mar- 
ried her, down in old Mexico. She had many sons, and 
they were all smart men, and all of them now alive are 
well-to-do, but the Indian sticks out in them in many 
Ways. Doiia Luisa Madril is fair, fat and forty, and a 
good Avoman. They alighted, and Juan shook hands 
with me. He remarked that he was glad to see me alive, 
and I told him that I Avas glad of it also. A boy took 
their horses, and just then up came a wagonload of peo- 
ple. Miguel turned to receive them, and I heard Juan 
say to his wife: "Miguel is putting on much .style, having 
four peons for our horses." 
"That's El Dick's doing.s," replied Luisa, and \t Avas 
true; I had told some boys to take care of the horses, 
because I kncAv my Mexican conipadres Avould be cold 
Avhen they arriA'ed. and a man to take one's horse, a 
A\^elcomc, a cup of hot coffee and a good fire make any 
one feel contented. 
Don Andreas Lucero Avas in the wagon. He is ninety 
years old, almost blind, and as jolly as a boy of sixteen. 
His wagon was full of his friends, and they all tumbled 
out and went in. 
The Avomen Avere mostly dressed in black, Avith red 
shawls over their heads, and there Avere tAVO or three very 
pretty girls among the crowd. The best-looking and 
smartest of the Mexicans shoAved Indian blood. I think 
it must have taken an enterprising Mexican to catch 
an Indian lady seventy-five years ago. 
The house was brilliantly lighted up Avith about twenty 
candles, Avhile my head lamp was hung up at the main 
entrance and shone a long Avay doAvn the road. My 
head lamp is a Furguson, and is useful everyAA^here. I 
have killed a fcAv deer Avith it Avhen I was very hungry, 
but you had not better get one, because it's too easy to 
kill deer Avith them. I Avant every one but myself to 
still-hunt. 
Canute is pronounced kanyootey. It is a game in- 
vented by the Navajo Indians. It is played with four 
sticks loin. long, 2in. in diameter, round and like a big, 
fat candle; a hole in each stick 6in. deep; each stick is 
named and marked on the butt. No. i. No. 2 — the mulatto 
and the sinchow (or the one Avith a girth). The players 
choose' sides. There is a hole in each stick Sin. deep, and 
the game is to find an iron nail that the opposite side hide 
in one of the sticks. They hide the iron in one and plant 
all four sticks in a pile of dirt, butt up. One man walks 
up to the pile, and his aim is to pick up the stick with 
the iron in it third. Each side has on the start fifty-two 
beans, and the side that gets them all wins. If the 
hunter picks up the stick Avith the iron in it first, he has 
to pay ten beans; if second, he has to pay six beans; 
third, he does not pay anything, and he and his side 
do the hiding and the other side has to hunt the iron. 
If he picks it up fourth, he has to pay four. If he don't 
Avin the iron, his side has to hunt the iron again. The 
game is a rather dirty and noisy one. Men and AVomen 
all bet on it, and they most of them sing Indio-Mexican 
songs while the hunter is after the iron. This is one of 
the songs: 
Ora see, ora no, ale canyootey no sa van, 
Der la Avelta millyonara 
No mass yo say undestan. 
Or, to put it into English: 
Now yes, now no, 
The Canute does not go 
In this universe of millions, 
I'm the only one can know. 
And then they Avould all howl like Avolves, and the 
hunter Avould scratch his bushy pate and make a grab 
and get the unlucky stick. And then his side would jaAV 
and pay from their bean cup, and the other side Avould 
hide the iron again. 
I finally got excited and bet a hofse oft the game with 
Inez against her jackass, and lost it. She offered it 
back to me the next morning, but I observed that she. 
and Luis had got up very early and put her brand on 
it. Bless the old lady, I'd give her ten horses if she 
Avanted them, for she is of the salt of the earth. I love 
her, and she is the ugliest woman I ever saw, and sev- 
enty-five years old. 
At 12 o'clock we had the feast — lots of beef, bread and 
coffee, Avith no milk or sugar. I turned loose the stimu- 
lants, and all went merry as a marriage bell. At 12:30 
they commenced playjng again, and you should have 
seen them bet and sing and holler. I quit them after 
a little AA'hile and went to bed. The game broke up at' 
about 2 A. M. 
Miguel made me get up soon after day, and after 
breakfast aa'c went and I traded some three-year-old 
horses for some tAvo-year-old steers. Horses are un- 
salable and steers are cash, but I don't think I made a 
fortune, and told Miguel so. I believe he could have 
done better himself, but he is afraid that I Avon't like it 
if he trades. To tell the truth, I don't care much Avhat 
he does with them, for I bought them for him, and they 
are really his, though legally I own them. 
ToAvard night Ave rode up on the hills and over to a 
deep mountain gorge Avith a stream in it called Rita 
Buey, or Ox Creek. There are a fcAV big cottonAVOods 
in the creek bottom. We had concluded that the tur- 
keys Avould not roosL there that night: the old fefloAvs 
began to sail off the steep bank up a tree. I kncAv they 
must be fat, for they made lots of noise, and one missed 
the tree and had to go up the hill and try it again. 
TAventy-six big turkeys Avent to roost that night. We 
Avaited till they had got quiet, and then crept up under 
the trees. One old gobbler said "put, put," and I shot 
him in the head with No. 6 shot and smokeless pOAvder, 
and down he came with a crash, and I could hear him 
beat a tattoo on the ground. Miguel got one, and I shot 
another as soon as I could see after the glare of my gun, 
and the rest flcAV in every direction out into the night. 
We got our three and rode off home well satisfied. I 
could haAJ-e camped there till morning and got 
half the flock with a call, but we had all Ave Vv^anted. 
and I am going to hunt them next year, I hope. TAventy- 
pound turkeys, raised on spring water, grasshoppers and 
pifion nuts, are good eating, and old Inez came out 
bareheaded with a torch Avhen Ave got home, took the 
game and seemed very happy. 
After supper Miguel told Inez of the hunt, and she 
said that we had killed one too many; that we could 
get them anv time, and that AA^e were good hunters; and 
I swelled Avith pride and gave her a big package of 
tailor-made cigarettes from one of my grips. "Such are 
the rewards of the skillful flatterer." said Miguel. "Givf 
me .some, too"~which I did at once. 
Then Miguel told me about our bear. It appears that 
he had found a cave near the head of Rita Buey during 
the summer and crawled into it after being well satis- 
fied that there Avas nothing in it. It was 20ft. straight 
in, at the base of an enormous pillar of rock called the 
Big Nigger Head. It then turned to the right a few 
feet, and there Avas a nest. There was sign of a bear 
around there, and he Avas satisfied that it was holed up 
for the winter. 
It is, as all well-regulated and sensible people know, 
not pleasant to get up A^ery early in the morning. A 
bear Avhich has probably been asleep a month and is in 
a cave will be there at 10 or 11 as well as at 6; and so 
Avhen I Avent to bed I told Miguel to leave me alone till 
I Avanted to get up in the morning. 
At about 10 I crawled out and ate breakfast, and saw 
my horse and tAvo others already saddled. When Miguel 
and I picked up our guns and went out Inez came out 
Avith Luis' rifle instead of Luis, as I expected, and I 
heard Luis singing, as he Avashed the breakfast pans, a 
mournful dirge in Mexican, which, as translated, Avas: 
"My heart is broken by thy bright black eyes." I asked, 
Inez if she was going, and told her that she would catch 
cold; and she calmly informed me that she had on my old 
corduroy pants and Luis' boots; that she had not been 
hunting for some time, and that she was young. That 
settled the question, and Ave mounted and rode away. 
The old lady presented a queer spectacle, astride of a 
very frolicsome pony, Avith an old gray muffler, very 
dirty, turban fashion on her head; Miguel's old blue 
army blouse, a ncAV pair of gauntlet gloves that I gave 
her right there, for she Avas bare-handed; a calico skirt, 
my pants and those boots! She Avas smoking a cigarette, 
and I longed for the skill of Frederic Remington, or even 
a kodak. 
So aAvay Ave went. Miguel had a jadk rabbit in a bag; 
a long cord, a bunch of rags and a bottle of kerosene. 
After a long climb Ave got Avithin about 300yds. of the 
cave or den, and could ride no further; so we tied the 
horses and climbed up on foot. The den is on a ledge 
about loft. Avide, and runs under the cliff that towers 
up for hundreds of feet. When Ave got there Inez perched 
herself on a rock about loft. from the mouth of the cave, 
Avith a Winchester. ^ Miguel had my .45-90, and I had 
my 8-bore, 151b. shotgun, loaded Avith cartridges con- 
taining nine .44cal. buckshot and 7drs. of pOAvder. The 
programme Avas to tie the cord to the rabbit's le.g, tie 
the rags to his tail, soak them Avith kerosene, and send 
him into the hole, and when the bear came out, to kill 
him. If that didn't Avork I AA'as to put on my head lamp 
and craAvl in and pot him, or he me. I wanted that bear 
if he Avas there. 
Miguel took out the rabbit, and it squealed; tied the 
rags to his tail Avith about ift. of play; hitched the long 
cord to his leg; got down on all fours at the mouth of 
the den; pointed Brer Jack into the hole, and setting 
fire to the rags, turned him loose. He immediately 
Avheeled around and jumped OA^er Miguel's shoulder, 
2Avay from the caA'e. The burning rags hit Miguel a 
SAvipe on the Avhiskcrs and scorched them some. The 
labbit then jumped off the ledge and set the dry leaves 
afire to the length of the cord. I dropped the giiil and' 
Miguel and I Avent to puking out the fire. 
About the time Ave liad got the fire put out and I had 
turned the jack loose Ave heard a dull, muffled roar above 
us, and Miguel exclaimed, in accents of despair: "That 
old Avitch has gone in and killed your bear." We scram- 
bled up on to the ledge, and here came Inez out of the 
hole Avith my lamp strapped on her head and my big- 
gun in her hand. We Avaitcd. Some smoke came out 
of the cave, and all was still. Miguel and I both Avanted 
to .go in, and finally drew matches to see which of us 
should go, for two should not go in at once, If a man 
is alone he can get out better than if a man is behind 
him. Miguel Avon. In he Avent AA'ith the head lamp and 
the shotgun, and soon came out and said the bear Avas 
dead, and that Ave niust get a rope and tAVO of us go 
in and drag him out. We went down to the horses and 
got a rope, and both craAvled in and cut a hole through 
the bear's loAver jaw, and finafly got him out. He was a 
black bear, and Aveighed about 2oolbs. The top of his 
head had been bloAvn into a mush by the big gun. -Inez 
said that AAdien she got doAvn to the bear he looked like 
a big, round cushion of fur. She finally saAV his ears, 
shot him once between them and then came out Axry 
quickly. Miguel told her that she had done Avrong; that 
the bear was mine, and that I should haA'e shot him. She 
said that she Avas a very old woman and that we Avere 
young and could jM-obably find other bears before Ave 
died; that she had ahvays wanted to kill a bear, and 
that now she had killed one. I told licr that I Avas not 
angrjf. So Ave skinned and cut up the bear, and putting 
the meat on Miguel's horse and my OAvn, and the hide 
on Inez's horse, Ave slowly wended our AA'ay down the 
mountain, single file. 
I came home next day .and brought some bear meat. 
Avhich, by the Avay, is not very good eating. I made Inez 
take $10 for the hide, and she sniflled a little when I 
came aAvay, and said she Avas sorry that she had killed 
my bear. I am going to tan the skin and use it for a 
lap robe. Miguel informed me .privately that the 
next time Ave Avent bear hunting Inez should stay in 
camp, for she was too fast and inclined to Avant to hog 
things. He also said he hoped she would steady doAvn 
when she got older. She is about seventy-six noAv. 
Home. A bath, a shaA-e and clean clothes, a big pile 
of correspondence and some bills to pay. My wife and 
children seemed glad to see me, and my boy Will, Avho 
could not Avelf go Avith me this trip, made me tell him 
much mora than I hqve told you. 
Hasta la manana. W. J. Dtxon. 
Cimarron, Kan. 
''Men I Have Fished With/* 
Mr. Frank A. B.^T£S, president Boston Scientific Society, 
writes: "The book is most interesting, covering fishing and shoot- 
ing, hunting, trapping, woodcraft and clean-cut character sketches 
of many sorts of men. I have read it through twice, and when 
I feel tired and cross with the world I take it down and read 
a chapter of humor or pathos, and my brain is refreshed." 
Mr. George B. AVood, of Reuben Wood's Sons, Syracuse, N. 
Y., says: My dear Major Fred; I thank you for the sketch qf 
ray father and of my uncle Ira. Both are very lifelike, and while 
I did not know the other men in the book I know them mow, 
for each individual stands out clear and dist'.-.-.ct." 
