FOREST A.ND STREAM. 
[Majrch 25, 1S99. 
An Alaskan Moose. 
The first of March, 1898, found me in compafiy with . 
my partner and several thousand others, bound for the in- 
terior of Alaska on a prospecting trip. In making such 
a journey, where everything has to be packed by man 
or animals, every pound of unnecessary weight must be 
dispensed with, and therefore I was for some time in 
doubt as to whether or not it would be advisable for me 
to take in my rifle and a stock of ammunition, As to 
this, I consulted with several old miners residing in ,Vic-- 
toria, B. C, who "had been in .Alaska, and they unani- 
mously advised me to take my rifle by all .means, as, if I 
should be so fortunate as to secure a single caribou or 
moose, it would inore than repay the trouble the rifle and 
cartridges would occasion. 
We arrived in Skagway on March j i, and,, after a month 
of severe physical toil, had packed and sle.lded our out- 
fit as far as the middle of Marsh Lake. Here we went 
into camp while we constructed our boats, suitable tim- 
ber being "found about a mile back from the lake. Trees 
were felled, gawpits constructed, and whipsawing begun, 
and by May 4 we were ready to start on. Our boats were 
well made. They were double ended, .30ft. long over all, 
3oin. wide on the bottom at widest part, and Sft. wide on 
top. The bottoms were of lin. and the sides of ^/gin. lum- 
ber. They were well stiffened by longitudinal strips, and, 
though capable. of carrying safely 3,ooolbs. and two men, 
they were easily carried by three men, For our party ox 
eight, we made three boats, but found it necessary to 
construct a fourth boat to relieve the others, as they were 
far too heavily laden for safetj-. This we did at a point 
about fifteen miles above Miles Caiion. 
• At this time there were immense numbers of geese in 
the coimtry, feeding- on the. flats, from which the. snow 
had recently melted, but they were very difficult to ap- 
proach, and we did not succeed in getting any. There is 
a splendid fish, a species' of trout, I believe, very abundant- 
in Lake Marsh. We did not succeed in catching any, 
though we saw many, but I was told afterward by a man 
who daily secured a plentiful supply, that he learned from 
an Indian that in angling for these fish it was. necessary 
to .allow the bait to move about on the bottom and agitate 
the; mud slightly. This procedure, it seems, imitates to a 
certain extent a small crawfish, upon which these fish 
feed extensively. There is no large game to be found in 
the ATcinity of the river and lakes forming the highway 
of the miners, but the Tagish Indians kill moose at some 
distance back from the lakes among the mountain valleys. 
On May 12 we ran our boats through Miles Canon, lined 
them through the White Horse Rapids, and on the i6th 
had gone into camp on Lake Le Barge to await the break- 
ing up of the ice; then too weak to bear our weight and 
top strong to force the boats through. Little game is to 
be found in this vicinity. Lake Le Barge has for years 
been a halting point for the miners, and, as many of 
them improve their time hunting, game is correspondingly 
scarce. One party s.ucceeded in bringing in a mountain 
sheep — all the game they saw — but stated that they had 
crossed over three ranges of mountains to find it. An- 
otJier party had killed two bear, and still another a moose, 
but hundreds returned from the hunt empty handed. I 
spent two days in a vain search for game, seeing nothing 
but a spruce partridge sim.ilar to that found in the spruce 
and tamarac swamps of northern Minnesota. There are 
numerous fish in Lake Le Barke, similar to those in Lake 
Marsh. Many of the miners were provided with gill 
nets, and these men had plenty of fish. I did not see or 
hear of any being caught with hook and line. 
On the 26th we had succeeded in making the foot of the 
lake, and next day ran the gauntlet of Thirty-Mile River. 
On the 29th we lost the contents of one boat in the Five- 
Finger Rapids, and, after taking a day to dry out, arrived 
at Fort Selkirk on the afternoon of June i. Here the 
party divided. Three went on to Dawson, but the rest 
of our party determined to .go prospecting up the Mc- 
Millan River, which empties into the Pelly about eighty 
miles above the confluence of the latter with the Lewes 
to' form the Yukon at Fort Selkirk. Taking with us 
about two months' supply of provisions and securing 
suitable poles, we began poling our two boats up the swift 
Pelly, now at flood stage. When only four miles above 
Fort Selkirk -we found it necessary to wait until the flood 
had somewhat abated, and so lost two days. 
There were several parties ahead of us, and more than 
100 to follow, but owing largely to the superior con- 
struction of our boats, we had no difficulty in overtaking 
and passing everyone. It was hard work. The river was 
deep and very swift; sweepers innumerable hung out from 
the bank and had to be cut before we could proceed. 
There is little chance for towing, so steep are the banks 
and so dense the growth of willows thereon. There are 
no very serious obstructions to getting up the river. In 
many place, it is necessary to haul the boat by main 
strength past some projecting rock, so swift runs the cur- 
rent. One place in the Pelly Canon it is necessary to 
climb up on a high rocky point then down on the other 
side to the edge of the rim, where a float is tied to the 
end of the tow-line, and by this means it is passed down 
around, the rock, where it is made fast to the boat to be 
hauled up. In rounding this and other rocky points in 
this manner, it i.s essential that the. one who steers the 
boat keep the stern well out into the stream. The 
tendency of the eddy is always to throw the stern up 
stream and the bow down, thus causing the broadside of 
the boat to be presented to the swift water, with the re- 
sult that the boat will be capsized, or the tow rope dragged 
from the hands of those hauling on the line. 
On June 9 we left the Pelly and entered tlie McMillan. 
After passing the mouth of Kalzas River, the next day, 
which connects a lake of the same name with the Mc- 
Millan, we saw nothing whatever to indicate that white 
men had ever preceded us. There were, however, occa- 
sional deserted fish camps of the Indians, but as we pro- 
gressed, the.se became less frequent, and finally ceased 
altogether. That they do reach the extreme head waters 
of these rivers at rare intervals, I have no doubt, for I mv-. 
self found the remains of an ancient camp near the head- 
waters of the McMillan, and fully 2,000ft. above the level 
of the stream, While on the- Pelly, we sa-'.if^ no game and 
very little signs of any, but as we poled our way up the 
McMillan, we saw increasing indications that we were in 
a big game country. Tracks of moose and bear could be 
" seen along the banks at almost any time, and judging by 
the havoc wrought among the willows and balm of Gilead 
trees there- were plenty of beaver, though we did not 
see many. - - ■ , - - - , 
The mosquitoes were now 'as bad as at any time on thq 
entire trip, yet no worse than I have seen them in the 
jungles of the Orinoco River delta, and not nearly as 
bad as I have encountered in northern Minnesota. We 
were provided with good nets to cover our beds, and did 
not suffer any very unusual annoyance. The big stories 
of the Alaska mosquitoes apply to the country around 
Circle City and Fort Yukon. 
After having poled our vray up stream' for twelve con- 
' secutive days, we made a camp and spent ten days pros- 
pecting without result. Then we. continued up the river 
five days more, and again constructed a prospecting camp. 
At this time we were joined by two more men, who had 
followed closely behind us from our last camp, and when 
we started out prospecting, we went for convenience in 
three parties, eacii- intending to be gone a week. At the 
end of that time, two of the parties came in empty handed, 
but the third brought in about four dollars' worth of 
gold, which the}' had panned off the rimrock about twen- 
ty miles up one of the mountain streams. Next day we all 
set off for the scene of the discovery, where, after pan- 
ning a few pans to satisfy ourselves as to the value of 
the discovery, we pitched a camp and agreed on plans for 
working. 
We had now been over four months without fresh meat, 
and as mine was the only rifle in camp, I was frequently 
requested to try for some moose meat. So one day at 
noon I threw down my pick and annovmced that I was 
going for that moose. After some simple preparations, I 
set off up the valley of the creek upon which we were 
camped. My rifle is a Winchester .40-65, fitted with 
Lyman near sight, and a strap for carrying, It weighs 
nearly .lolbs., and is a splendid shooting gun. With it I 
haye, while in South America, killed alligators 8ft. long 
dead in their tracks. Beside my gun, 1 carried my m.i- 
chete, which I had also used in South America, and it 
served the double purpose of knife and axe. 
I proceeded up the stream very leisurely, seeing many 
signs of bear and moose, but none of the animals them- 
selves. After passing a willow marsh bordering the creek 
and situated between low hills, I came to a lake about an 
hour before sundown (10 P. M.), and concluded to watch 
for a time. It was very still, the wind just a breath from 
no directi-on in particular. Two miles to the northeast a 
noisy stream from the snow'-clad heights above poured its 
icy waters into those of the lake. To the west and 
north lay a huge mountain, upon the sides of which grew 
a rernarkably thick gi'owth of spruce to an altitude of 
about 6ooft. above the lake. Above that only brown grass 
could be seen to the snow line'. Far away among the 
mountain crags I could hear in the perfect stillness of the 
summer night the ba-aa of the mountain sheep. It was 
not dark, though the sun was below the horizon; a strong 
twilight made objects almost as distinguishable as in 
daylight. 
I had not long to wait. As I lay wrapped in my blanket 
— for the night was chill-^watching the shote of the lake 
and the dense growth of spruce above, I saw four dark 
objects move into a small opening on the hillside, and a 
second glance showed that they were moose, three of 
which had horns. They were about 6ooyds. away, but 
were working toward me, browsing as they came. As I 
watched them f torn a thick growth of stunted mountain 
birch, it seemed as if they intended to enter the lake at a 
point about 2003'ds. from me, and wishing to shorten the 
range, I crept along the shore of the lake for some little 
distance. From my new place of observation, I could see 
the moose continue to approach, but before they were 
within range, they changed their direction, entered the 
thick growth, and I saw them no more. 
At midnight I decided to change my position, and so 
moved back down the creek to a knoll near the center of 
the willow marsh before mentioned. From this knoll I 
could watch a grass marsh adjoining the willow marsh 
which I particularly desired to do, for in my ignorance 
of the habits of the moose. I supposed they fed on grass 
whenever it was obtainable. By creeping through the 
stunted willows with which the kjioll was covered, I could 
see a considerable portion of the willow marsh, and I ex- 
amined this carefully at intervals of about fifteen minutes. 
About 3 o'clock in the morning, just as I was about 
to creep over to scan the willow marsh, I plainly heard a 
maugh ! of a moose and knew that my chance had come. 
Seizing my rifle, I crept rapidly through the willow, and 
there in the clear morning light stood a large bull moose 
with a magnificent set of horns, about looyds. away, quiet- 
ly browsing the tops of the willows, and 'vitterly uncon- 
scious of my presence. I will never forget the sight. For 
a moment I was lost in admiration and felt loth to 
destroy, but a recollection of my hungry companions as 
well as my.OAvn cravings overcame my scruples, so I 
raised my rifle and making allowance for the hump nu 
the shoulders, took careful aim and pulled the trigger. 
The cartridge did not explode, the moose heard the sharp 
click of the hammer and started to trot off. In the next 
ten seconds, I fired five shots at tJie moose whenever he 
appeared through the trees, four of which, we afterward 
found took effect. He' ran in a semicircle with me as a 
center for about lOOyds., finally stopping in plain sight 
about the same distance away as when I first saw him. 
The next shot was aimed at his fore shoulder, and I plain- 
ly heard the bullet strike the massive bones. Down he 
came with a grunt, and the deed was done. 
What a problem presented itself to me then. I know 
nothing of butchering, but after : a few trials, I ■ sue- , 
ceeded in cutting off a hind" quarter, a portion of which I 
carried to camp, where, you ma,y be sure, I was accorded 
a royal welcome. Mining, vwa^ for the time being sus- . 
pended, and all hands returned with me to bring in a 
load of meat. One of our part}^ an ■ Australian, was 
familiar with the butcher business, and under his skillful 
manipulation, the moose was skinned and the meat sepa- 
rated from the bones in a very short time. It was a 
matter of deepest regret with me that I was unable to, 
preserve the magnificent head. The spread of the horns" 
was several inches over the length of my rifie, and they, 
together with the head and a short portio.Ti tV imeck, 
must have weighed over 2oolbs. Yet I would have cheer- 
fully carried this load the thirty miles to the boats had 
there been any possibility of getting it to a taxidermists 
before it spoiled — How I wished for my camera! I laid 
the head reverently aside, and with genuine sorrow loft 
it to waste and decay. 
Though we ate as only hungry men can eat, the meat 
lasted us a considerable time. A rack was built, the 
meat hung thereon, and a fire kept smoldering beneath 
for several days. Very little of that moose went to waste. 
A week later, I chanced to pass the spot wheire the moose 
was killed. Not one bone remained attached to another. 
The bears had been having their turn. The splendid 
horns were in the velvet, and all the points were gnawed 
down. The .skin was torn to shreds and dragged several 
hundred feet. 
Though it is not at all probable that any of the readers 
of FOKEST AND Stream will ever visit that virgin wilder- 
ness for big game, I have no hesitation in saying that if 
they should, they would be well rewarded. There are no 
grouse, partridge, squirrels or rabbits to speak of, neither 
are there any wolves, but bear, moose, caribou and moun- 
tain sheep aboimd. It is not a country for long distance 
shooting, for the .game, never having been m.olested, is 
remarkably tame, the bear m particular. There are three 
kinds there, that I have seen, the brown, the cinnamon 
and the black bear. At one time I saw five brown bears 
climbing up a bluff. Two of our party had to make a long 
detour to get past a cinnamon bear that refused to let 
them pass in a narrow gorge. A brown bear and her 
two cubs paid no attention to a charge of shot fired, not 
at but toward them, by one of otir party, who was alone in 
camp, but came right up to the tent and played havoc with 
the things outside, but did not enter the tent, to the in- 
ten.?e relief of - the trembling inmate. While making my 
way with two companions up the narrow valley of a 
mountain stream, we came suddenly upon a black bear and 
two cubs feeding in a small grass plot. Thinking to see 
her run, we shouted, and waved our hats, but to our 
amazement and alarm, for our only weapon was my 
machete, she Avalked deliberately up to within 40ft. of us, 
and then raising upon her hind legs, looked us over criti- 
cally, while the cubs took to cover. Then she slowly 
followed the cubs, stopping many times to look at us, as if 
to .warn us not to disturb her in the future. We did not 
follow. 
To reach that far-of? country involves some personal 
risk and a vast amount of severe physical toil, yet those of 
us who admire nature in her various phases feel well re- 
paid for the trip. Though a desolate wilderness, and 
destined ever to remain so, there is something indescrib- 
ably attractive in exploring the countrj'- and being the 
first to set foot in these mountain fastnesses. It is 
enough to stir the blood of the most sluggish to gaze on 
those rugged peaks of dizzy height with tops covered by 
the everlasting snow and lighted by the midnight sun — 
scenes few. human eyes have ever observed; certainly 
never raised before the eyes of white men previous to 
ourselves. W. C. Weeks, C. E. 
Havre de Grace, Md. 
A Parting. 
Wjth the requirements of a duck hunter about tiSi -we 
waited for the word to board the sloop. There were 
sounds of creaking cordage, burdens dumped upon decks,, 
and the humming of boatmen's voices about us in the 
evening air. "It's going to be a kam night, Bill, and 
we will have to stay at the dock, same as we alius, does, 
and you city fellers can sleep to the hotel; we'll call yer 
in the morning," I was grumbling at the decision and 
about to comply, when the skipper whispered to me: 
"That's the usual bluff; the laws says you can't go down 
to the fine till sun-up. Sneak on board and lay low; 
something wifl. happen." It did, and I neticed about 11 
P. M. that the lines which held us to our moorings had 
parted — probably by chafing. The accident was noted 
by all and the crew labored with poles to push the out- 
fit back to its place. After four hours of work they dis- 
covered' that the needle of the compass had been de- 
flected by the cast iron stove, and that we had pushed 
ourselves fbvn- miles out into the fog. Discouraged and 
tired, we dropped the mudhooks and sought rest. I sup- 
pose we had the ."Larboard Watch" out for safety^ or for 
some time, or for instance. 
At times a heavy foot pounded the deck over my facr 
and 6in. above, while I tried to be comfortable in a cof- 
fin-like space i8in. wide, 12 high, and 5ft. long. Whe;. 
the feet above did not disturb me, the absence of feet in 
space and the presence of the feet of my bunkie ke^, me 
cognizant of time and wondering how it would seem 
to be buried alive. We were boarded in the night^Jjy! a 
garrulous old neptune, who crowded in among u§<cajjd 
kept his yawp pumps working off a stream of P«^^^ 
brag. I have one fairly good ear and one very baqj^rai 
When the good ear was down his volubility .dii|l!jB^ 
disturb me; when the good ear was up his verbosity: 
unbearable. A rubber boot shot through the dark cabifi^ 
in the direction of the voice. On its way it accidentally 
united with the coffee pot and they landed together on 
and about the speaker. He had "grounds" for complaint. 
As an amateur engineer, I explained that the lid to the 
coffee pot had rusted in place, and this, in conjunction 
with the fact that a potato had been driven into the spout 
to prevent the escaping steam, had confined it and 
explosion followed. The victim seemed satisfied, inas- 
much as he had something else to think about, and he 
gave his vocal organs and the rest of us a rest. 
• An hour before dawn we had the double battery an- 
chored and two hundred or more decoys bobbing about 
it. To those not familiar with this sport. I would state 
that the battery is a floating platform about 8 by loft. 
square; in the center and in direction of its length are 
two depressed boxes barely large enough to admit a 
man's reclining body; on the outer edges are hinged flaps 
of canvas that rise and fall with the waves and prevent the 
wash of water from filling the sunken parts; the whole is 
nicely ballasted with iron decoys, and this weight, with 
that of the occijpants, sinks the whole to the level of the 
suri-oirading water. 
My companion of many trips wished me, as usual, to 
bave the best of e-ferything,. and insisted tJbat T take the 
