404 
"Doctor, we are hungry, and if you remember there is 
nothing to eat in camp but hard bread and bu.ter. The 
fish that we had cleaned and laid by for supper you fried 
for that e\er-hungry darky boy, there must have been a 
dozen at least. What will we do?" ! 
"Eat bread and butter, I suppose, for the ducks are 
tco freshly killed to eat. There are frogs enough bel- 
lowing around us, but it's too dark to get them. What 
do ycu say?" , , , 
"I say that bread, butter and tea are not enough, and 
as you 'say ihe ducks are too w-rm to eat. Just skin out 
the breast of one of the boy's pintails and I 11 get a 
catfish supper out of this river in short order; they are 
night feeders, and while I fish you gather some wood 
ai d have everything else in order." 
W ith a s rong hand-line and a dozen fair-sized hooks 
I ran out a set-line baited will duck, for there was no 
time to fish in the regular way. The line was staked 
out at each end. and ran out a hundred feet, lhen 1 
went ashore and was seated by the fire when the Doc- 
tor came in with a load of dry wood. 
"I thought ycu were fishing!" 
"I am." „ , T c , - 
If the Doctor was curious to know how 1 was nslung 
he said no more, but peeled bark for plates, and went 
on with his work. Bark plates, burned alter each meal, 
are away ahead of the tin abominations which need 
washing." Alter a while my watch said that the line had 
been fishing iwenty minutes, and I jumped into the boat 
and took it in. Of the twelve hooks, fpur were skinned 
and the others had one big. soft-shelled tunle. two 
medum sized eels and five catfish weighing from i 
to 6,bs Here was supper and breakfast too, and I 
took the overcoats from those eels and from three of 
the smaller catfish in short order, for in boyhood days 1 
always prepared mv catch for mother's table, and I 
was expert in rclicxing a bullhead or an eel of his jacket, 
and the Doctor had litem in the frying pan before they 
had time to make his acquaintance. An appetite is a 
thing thai improves with age. up to a certain point, 
where it vaiiisi"&. The odor from Doctor Gordons 
pan stimulated u rather fagged appetite and increased 
its energv. 
"Don't vou th.nk they are done. Doctor?" , 
"Just about done. You pour the tea and I 11 mst fry 
a couple of these hardtack that I have soaked m water. 
Here's an eel to begin on." 
Vcrilv. Louisiana is a land of plenty. If a man could 
get along without bread he could live for years as we 
lived. The woods and the waters would furnish food, 
and if he lacked ammuniticn he could get fish and 
game bv more primitive methods, if he knew how to 
spear and trap. The De Long party of wrecked arctic 
explorers perished in sight of game in Siberia because 
there was not a woodsman in the party. To them the 
footprints of the nocturnal arctic hare meant nothing; 
the deer did not stand to be shot, and they starved amid 
plentv. Perhaps the same party might have starved in. 
the Louisiana lowlands, surrounded by a wealth of life, 
but we never came near the vanishing point of hunger, 
nothing more than what they call being "sharp set, 
across the water. 
We had smoked, and were lying on the canvas aster 
a full feed in what I call "hog comfort." and it must 
have been a full hour before my friend remarked: "Its 
about time the moon came up; it's nearly ll now by 
my watch," 
Voices across the river were coming nearer, and as we 
heard men getting into the flatboat we knew that some 
ore was coming for the ducks. We listened and beard: 
"Yo\ Mose. yo' ain' pushin' hahd ; I kain stee ; an ef 
yo' doan push, an' we'll go down de nbbah." 
"I'se a-pushin' awn mah pole, but Ben and Pete is 
bofe awn he uddah side, an' I'se done ovah. I sees de 
fiah turn de camp an' I'se wuckin' to get dah, but dem 
bovs boun' to push me down ribbah." 
"Yo'. dah. Ben an' Pete! poan push so hahd agin 
Mose. o' we doan go 'cross." 
When they larded, young George was not with the 
party. His father explained that the boy was afraid 
to come back for the ducks. " 'Cause." he said, "dey was 
a man who said he was a Yankee and dat he sometime 
eat a cudud boy, an' he look at him 's if he like to chaw 
awn him. But I tell him dat Yankees is lak oddah peo- 
ple; but he doan want fo' to come." 
We eave them the ducks, the turtle and the two big 
catfish." and as they left I called the Doctor's attention 
to the fact that there was nothing in camp for break- 
fast, and that we must be ready to start for Piaquenune 
some time to-hcrrcw. and that it might be after dark 
vwhen we got there, and being human we must eat on 
the way. 
"My dear boy." said the Doctor, the richness of the 
fried eels and ca:fish may d : sarrange your internal econ- 
omy, and I advise that you take these pil's. As for a supp'y 
of food, I have so far relied on you for it, and there 
seems to be no reason why I should not rely on the 
same source for what we need on the morrow." 
"Thanks, Dcclor: but if you will get up early and 
catch fish enough for breakfast I wiil feel that you have 
no reason to rely entirely upon me for our sustenance; 
good night." 
[TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK.] 
Mr. Lee's Alaska Game* 
Hutchinson, Kan.. Nov. 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your favor cf Oct. 29 has just been forwarded to me at 
this place. As I am here for a few weeks, having some 
grand spcrt shooting quail and chickens. I note what 
ycu say about reprinting my interview with the Post- 
Intelligencer. There are some statemen s in that inter- 
view whic hare not as I gave them. It s ates that each 
animal was shot behind the ear. which is not at all 
ccrrcct. I shot a few cf the animals in the head, while 
ethers were shot through the neck and some back of the 
shouMer You will kindly make this correction. 
I shall ser.ei ycu a phcitc-graph, which I had taken at 
Siatt'e. ?s it gives a much finer view of the heads and 
wi.h it shall send a description in full of my hunt, which 
I think might be interesting to brother sportsmen. 
I have been a constant reader of Forest and Stream 
for twelve years. Harry E. Lre. 
The Ascent of the Grand Tetcn, 
St. Paul, Minn.. Nov. 7.— Editor Forest and S ream: 
My letter to Forest and Stream, which was published 
in' your issue cf Ncv. 5, was written in reply to the 
letter of W. O. Owen which appeared in an earlier 
issue of your paper. I had not then read Mr. Owen's 
letter which appears in conjunction with mine in the 
Nov. 5 issue of Forest and Stream. 
This last letter of Mr. Owen contains so many glaring 
but artful untruths, which, if not denied, may be be- 
lieved by your readers, that I ask in behalf of myself 
and the truth-loving mountain climbers of the clubs of 
America space sufficient to direct the attention of those 
who are most interested in this question to these mis- 
statements. 
In referring to my statement in Scribner's Magazine 
for June, 1873, relative to the knobs surrounding the 
Grand Tetcn, Mr. Owen sa s, ' There are no surrounding 
knobs," etc. I answer that there are such knobs .or 
pinnacles, and that the photograph taken by Mr. Owen, 
and published by him in the New York Herald of Sept. 
18 shows three knobs or pinnacles in addition to the main 
summit. 
In speaking of the ice sheet, Mr. Owen declares that 
in my Scribner article I say that Stevenson and I (I 
quote from Owen') "climbed over it for a distance of 
175ft. by kicking steps with their feet in the hard, blue 
ice." (The italics are Mr. Owen's.) 
Mr. Owen hpre gives utterance to a plain falsehood; 
and to intensify the deception he italicizes the false 
quotation. There is no such statement as that which 
he pretends to quote to be found in my article. That 
magazine may be found in the public libraries, and I ask 
every one who desires to ascertain the truth to examine 
my article, when this false statement wi.l be apparent. 
On page 143 I speak of this ice sheet as "a coating 
of ice and snow": and a fair inference from this state- 
ment and subsequent references to it. show that it was 
not "hard, blue ice," but a honeycombed mixture of 
ice and snow, such as we find on a mountain side, rapid- 
ly disappearing under the influence of the sun's rays. 
Mr. Owen also tries to make it appear that I assert that 
we climbed the face of this sheet of ice and snow. On 
page 144. line 6. I distinctly state that we climbed along 
the side or edge of the ice sheet, and made the ascent 
by "laying hold of the rocky points at the side." 
Mr. Owen, in presenting what he claims is a plausible 
reason why I still maintain my claim to having reached 
the summit, says: "Capt. Langford at the time of his 
alleged ascent was chief of a division of the Hayden 
Survey." 
This statement is absolutely untrue. I have never 
been even a member of the U. S. Geological Survey. 
The nearest approach to it by me was the suggestion 
of Dr. Hayden, made on the occasion of the union of 
the two branches of the Survey in 1872. that there be 
created an honorary membership, in which I might be 
included; but nothing ever resulted from this sugges- 
tion. My relations to the Survey at that time are shown 
from the following quotation from Dr. Hayden's re- 
port fcr 1872. page 5: 
"N. P. Langferd, C. L, Spencer and Dr. Reagles 
accompanied the Snake River Division from Fort Hall 
as guests." 
Mr. Cwen asserts that Beaver Dick was one of the 
ascending party, and to back up that assertion he pub- 
lishes the affidavit of William A. Richards, who swears 
that Beaver Dick, on or about June 30. 1874. stated to 
him ( I quote from the affidavit) "that he was one of the 
party, and knew just how far up the mountain Langford 
and Stevenson had gone, and knew that they had not 
reached the summit." 
This s'a'ement illustrates the recklessness and disre- 
gard of truth with which Mr. Owen makes his most 
positive assertions. On page 140 in my Scribner article 
I say that our ascending party was composed of fourteen 
persons. Hon. Robert Adams, Jr., now Representative 
in Congress from the 2d Pennsylvania District, Philadel- 
phia, was one of our ascending party. He was a member 
of the U. S. Geological Survey from 1871 to 1875, and 
in 1872 he was correspondent of the New York Herald. 
In a letter to that paper dated Aug. 1. 1872. a copy of 
which I have in my scrap book, where it may be seen 
by any interested person, he says: "The next morning 
the party of fourteen set out from camo: James Steven- 
son. Pre f, Bndlev. Mr. Taggart, Mr. Beckler, Mr. 
Hamp. Mr: Cculter (botanist), Mr. West. Mr. Lang- 
ford. Dr. Curtis. Dr. Reagles, Messrs. Adams, Spencer, 
Ke' set and Sh< rman." 
Mr. Adams, here gives "the names of the fourteen 
of whom I speak in my Scribner article. Beaver Dick's 
name (Richard Leigh) is not in the list. Where then 
was B<aver Dick while we were making the ascent? 
Mr. Stevensrn had sent him and Shep Medary in 
• search cf a feasible route over the mountains to the 
Firehole geysers, and on the day of our ascent, and for 
several days both prior and subsequent to it, he was en- 
gaged in this service. This statement is not an after- 
thcught; the fact was recorded by me twenty-five years 
atro in mv Scribner's Magazine article, on oage 148. in 
the following words: "Beaver Dick and Sheo Medary, 
who improved the time we had spent in visiting the 
Tetons by exploring a route for our train over the main 
range, returned into camp with the report that b.v fo'lefw- 
ing up Middle River we could pass over a divide at 
the head of that stream into the basin of the Firehole 
River." 
Beaver Dick knew that he was not one of the party 
making the ascent, and it is evident that Gov. Richards 
die! net rightly understand him. Beaver Dick was the 
guide cf the Survey: but on the day of our ascent he was 
fifty miles away, as the above record clearly shows. 
I have no doubt that Gov. Richards intended to state 
the exact 'ruth when he made his affidavit on Oct. 4 of 
this year but a quarter of a century is a lone? time for a 
busv man in rctive political life to look back and to 
accurately recall the dctai 1 s rf a- conversation of this 
nature. In my opinion Beaver Dick's statement whs 
misunderstood: but I leave the matter frr all who are 
interested to jndge whether Gov. Richards is probably 
mistaken or whether Beaver Dick's memory of these 
events had so failed that he made a statement which, on 
reflection, he would realize was incorrect. 
Hon. Chas. N. Potter, Chief Justice of Wyoming, says 
of Mr. Cooper: "I would have no hesitation whatever 
in accepting implicitly any statement made by him." 
Judge Potter's good opinion of Mr. Cooper will not 
be shared bv evcnlx dy. Mr. Cooper swears that he 
was a member of the U- S Geological Survey in 1872. 
Mr. Henry Gainett. Chief Geognpher of the Survey, and 
a member e.f it in 1872. says that Mr. Cooper was not 
a member in 1872. Mr. Cooper also swears that he was 
a member Hi the Wheeler expedition in 1,872. The 
Wheeler expedition of 1872 was under the direction of 
the War Department; that of Hayden was under the 
direction cf the Interior Department, and they were 
not connected. Was Mr. Cooper at the same time 
a packer in both the Wheeler and Hayden Surveys, 
separated bv long distances and mountain ranges? 
Mr. Cooper also swears that at the time in 1872 and 
1873 when he was with the Wheeler expeditions he was 
personally acquainted With me as one who had charge 
cf a division. In regard to this I say. what the members 
of the Geo'ogical Survey know, that I was never in 
the field with the Survey except in the year 1872. audi 
that I was never a member e f the Survey, nor hael! 
charge of a division. During the entire summer of 1872 
I was with the Stevenson branch of Hayden's Survey. 
I did not even know of the Wheeler expedition until 
long af'cr I now know that Cooper never saw me. 
His affidavit, well prepared in some respects, exhibits 
the inherent weakness of a d claration which, having 
a slight coloring of truth, is chiefly notorious for a dis- 
regard of facts. / 
Which of these statements of this reliable man would 
he have us believe? They cannot both be true, and yet 
he swears to brth. Whether the one or the other be 
true, the c ath of Mr. Cooper does not make either one 
more worthy of erederce. _ 
Frcm Mr Cooler's af'dnvh concerning his ascent of 
the Teton 1 mu te the following: "The aneroid given 
me by Prof. Havden. especially for this trip, showed am 
altitude slightly 'in excess of 13000ft— the exact figures 
I cannot recall, but I im.de a careful note of them at the 
time, and subsequently gave them to Prof. Hayden." 
Dees anybedy believe that Mr. Cooper, a packer ini 
the Survey, tossessid the technical knowledge necessary 
to commute from an aneroid registration the heieht of a 
mountain, cr l hat he made such a computation "at 
the time," as he swears? V leave the answer to this 
question to those who know how to make such com- 
putations for I do not know how they are made. 
As it is evident that vry many of the statements 
made by Mr Cooper in his affidavit are untrue, it be- 
comes an cpen euestien which each interested person 
will answer for himself whether any portion of Mr. 
Cooper's arFdaVit is entitled to credence. An examina- 
tion rf it will furnish to any one who is interested only 
in discovering the truth abundant evidence that the 
decorations imputed to Mr. Stevenson were never made 
by him. . . . 
Mr. Owen, in support cf his claim, quotes from a let- 
ter from Mr. Gannett, well knowing that Mr. Gannett 
had on investigation a'tered his views, and had so writ- 
ten to Mr. Owen. Mr. Gannett says in his letter to 
Forkst and Strka.m that Owen "shou'd have told not 
only the truth, hut the whole truth." and shou'd not have 
quoted his first letter and omitted the second. 
Mr. Gamiett's recognized abilities and the responsible 
position he occupies in the Geological Survey entitle 
his orinion to the highest consideration. Mr. Owen's; 
attempt to esab'bb his contention by publishing as. 
Mr. Gannett's opinion what he knows is not his opinion,, 
anel thus alleging to be true what he knows is not true- 
in this respect, taken in connection with the other mis- 
statements herein referred to. reveals the character of 
a man destitute cf any high ideal of moral honesty. 
The barometric computations from the aneroid which 
I carried were made by Mr. Gannett. They show that 
1 reached the same elevation on the Teton as that at- 
tained by Mr. Owen. It is a fortunate circumstance that 
Mr. Gannett is still living to give to an interested public, 
and especially to the various mountain climbing clubs 
of America, ihe truth connected with the history of 
an event which, with the lapse of a quarter of 3k 
century, has rassed DM of the memory of nearly all 
those -who were not directly connected with it. 
Mr. Owen attempts to ridicule the statement that I. 
carried an overcoat to the summit, and also that I found 
mosquitoes at that great elevation. 
It was for the purpose of freeing myself from all un- 
necessary weight rf clothing that I 'eft in the camp my 
camping ccat and were a much lighter overcoat, and 
none other. Mr. Owen need not worry over the thought 
that I burdened myself with two coats. 
Mr. Owen thirks that my statement that we found 
mrsquin es at our greatest elevation is conclusive evi- 
dence that we reached only the slab inclosure. On 
this point I have the testimony of Mr. Adams, who Irm- 
self leached a point hurdreds of feet above the line 
of perpetual srew. In his letter to the New York 
Herald he says: "Mosquitoes too extended far above 
the snow line, and undaunted'v attacked us during our 
progress." If ni'squi oes can live f ir above ihe snow line 
thev can live on the top of the Grand Teton. 
These straw argiments at which Mr. Owen <*rasns, 
are too frivolrus and puerile to demand respectful at- 
tention. It is incomprehensible how an intelligent mam 
can present such as they are in trying to bolster up his 
claim. . 
" Mr. Owen sti'l seems to think that the strongest proof 
that Mr. S'evenson and I did not reach the summit is 
found in the fact that we erected no cairn nor monu- 
ment. He savs: "I desire to nlace esoecial emphasis 
on the fact that rur mcst critical, conscientious audi 
thorough search failed to reveal the s'ightest shadow or 
a frrmer pscert. Not a stone was turned over, no 
cairn or mrnrment erected." 
I accent this challenge as a test of the fact at issue, and 
sy' m't <•' e marer -o th judgment of the mountain comb- 
ine ck bs of meriea. 
Arrrprs of tin* argument, the following quotations, 
which T am perniiued to make from a recent Vtter to 
Warren Upbam. secreinrv of the Mi-meson H ; ^ f oricaI 
Socirtv. frrm .Prrf. Charles K. Fay. the editor of 
Apra'achia. tbe.jorrna! of the Anpalachian Mountain 
Cluk is most interesting. Prof. Fay writes: 
"On the occasion of a most attractive hrs^ asc-ep^ in. 
