202 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept. g, 1899. 
In the Mountains. 
One by one our ambitions are fulfilled or abandoned. 
It was ten years ago tbait one was born in the writer's 
mind, that has but recently been fulfilled. The ascent of a 
high mountain was the literal fulfillment of this lofty am- 
bition. 
Spending a few days in a valley lying between the 
Holston and Iron range of mountains, in that point of the 
State of Tennessee that projects up between North Caro- 
lina and Virginia and prevents their touching elbows. 
I had mountains to tile front, to the rear and in almost any 
direction. 
A kind and candid native assured me that only darn 
fools climbed the mountains "for fun," and offered to take 
me up if I was fond of squirrel hunting. So squirrel hunt- 
ing it was, and the Holston range was selected. Not antic- 
ipating any shooting on the trip, I had 'not brought any 
tools, so was compelled to borrow the necessary artillery. 
Two weapons were available, a heavy shotgun and a light 
rifle, I chose the latter. My guide urged me to take the 
shotgun, assuring me that squirrels were plentiful and the 
shotgtm would yield better results, but after '"hefting" it, 
and measuring the distance to the mountain top with my 
eyes, I refused to reconsider my first decision. 
The start was made from the house early in the morn- 
ing, and to my .surprise I was allowed a horse to ride, the 
guide knowing a trail that could be ridden almost to the 
mountain top. Had it not been for this favorable condi- 
tion not more than one-half of my ambition would have 
been accomplished that day, for I never could have made 
the entire ascent on foot. 
Fifteen minutes of climbing put us in the laurel, and a 
half-hour later we were in the big timber. My horse was 
a practiced mountain climber, and followed carefrtlly 
after the guide, leaving me nothing to do except to avoid 
limbs of the trees and to try to keep from slipping off over 
his tail. 
Several times I dismounted and crawled up steep places 
full of loose rocks, while my guide hauled the horse over 
them, practicing new ways of falling, both, up and down, 
and collecting a fine assortment of contu.sions, but neither 
the horse nor guide lost footing once, nor seemed to have 
the slightest trouble in getting over the roughest places. 
Our route led us along some steep places, where I could 
look doAvn into the tree tops and safely estimate that one 
misstep of the horse would land our remnant? at least a 
thousand feet below, but it was more fascinating than 
nerve trying. Our path followed for some distance along 
the bank of a stream that pitched and tumbled down the 
steep mountain side, just a succession of waterfalls and 
rapids. 
After turning off from the stream and traveling some 
distance, my guide halted on a rough rocky slope and 
bade me listen. A distinct roaring and humming, like the 
blended noises of a busy cit}' street, heard from the sixth 
or seventh story of a building, seemed to come from 
under the earth at our feet. 
"That noise," said he, "is the stream we followed up 
for some distance, that along here has an imderground 
channel. It runs underground for nearly a quarter of a 
mile, and can.be heard on the surface all the way, but this 
is the only place our road crosses it." 
R&suming our climb we soon began to see signs of really 
getting up in the world. The valley began to spread out 
wider and flatter at our feet, and the tops of the opposite 
range of mountains, instead of towering above, seemed 
just about our height. The timber also changed gradually 
from tall, straight, spreading monarehs of the forest to 
small, rugged, misshapen trees, struggling for very ex- 
istence with the storms above and the rocks beneath. 
Arriving at the crest of the mountain where it dipped 
down in a saddle-like depression, we left the horse and 
proceeded to make the last of the climb on foot. 
The timber on the summit of the mountain was small 
and sparse, and looked as if it had struggled long and 
hard against the storms that swept over it. 
A luxuriant growth -of blue grass covered the grotind 
as thickly as in the most fertile meadow, making an ex- 
cellent grazing place for the hardy cattle that roamed at 
large on the mountain. In the valley we had left the 
*rees in fresh spring foliage, leaves almost matured, while 
on the moimtain top the buds were just beginning to swell. 
The earliest wild flowers were barely peeping out, and 
among them I recognized many that I had supposed would 
grow only in the valleys. May apples, wild violets and 
mint grew in profusion. Coming directly from the valley 
where the wild flowers were in full bloom, the contrast 
was very marked.. 
On the crest of the mountain the timber was especially 
thin, and in many places a large space would be free from 
trees, affording excellent opportunities to view the sur- 
rounding country. A grand view was had from the 
highest point, and here I spent some time in spite of the 
impatience of my guide, who was anxious to get to what 
he considered the real business of 'the day. 
We had been followed up by two small dogs, insignifi- 
cant looking things, but little larger than cats, which, to 
my surprise, were taken seriously by the guide. "The 
yaller one," he explained, "ain't much good; but the black 
and tan is the best squirrel dog on the mountain." He did 
not look it, but after events led me to believe that if there 
were any better squirrel dogs anywhere they were surely 
artists. 
We walked along the top of the mountain, allowing the 
dogs to hunt the slopes on each side. I felt rather skepti- 
cal about finding many squirrels, but did not much care, as 
climbing to the top of the mountain had been my real ob- 
ject, and that was accomplished. The low, bare trees and 
a haze that had dimmed the intense brightness of the sun 
made me feel that the conditions were most excellent for 
good results with our guns if game was found. 
Walking along on the top of the mountain. I found the 
greatest surprise of the trip in a covey of birds — fine, 
strong-flying quail, on a mountain top. A herd of ele- 
phants would hardly have surprised me more, and yet 
rxw guide assured me that he often found birds up there. 
It is a A^ery short trip that even an experienced woods- 
man takes without the suspicion dawning upon him that 
there are really quite a lot of things that h^- don't know 
ajj gpd pyptything about, 
The small pair of canines soon found game and noti- 
fied us toi the fact by a series of short, sharp barks. We 
found them' on either side of a tree watching a squirrel 
that had located himself well up in a fork. 
My guide left me on the upper side of the tree in the 
best position for a shot, and went on the lower side to 
"stop him if I missed." At the crack of my little rifle 
the squirrel pitched out, shot through the neck, and was 
brought in by my evidently surprised companion. 
The dogs started off and in a few moments treed again. 
This time I held a little high and only succeeded in lifting 
a tuft of hair from the squirrel's back. My companion 
tried him running with both barrels without success. We 
were both loaded and ready for him when he reached a 
large dead tree, and fired together. Hard hit he managed 
to crawl into a hollow, well up, and there we finally left 
him, after firing a number of shots and throwing a volley 
of stones in a fruitless endeavor to dislodge him. 
Another squirrel was soon found, which obligingly lay 
still on a limb after I missed him with the first shot, and 
was killed b}' the second. The next one was a long shot, 
but came down to my first invitation. 
Exhausted by the rough climbing, I now suggested that 
we work down to the nearest water and get a drink. My 
guide then assured me that we were within a hundred 
yards of one of the best .springs in the country, to which 
we directed our steps. There, not twenty steps from the 
highest point on the mountain, was a spring of pure, cold 
water, bubbling over a sandy bed from under a large 
rock. Here we rested and drank, while our dogs lay and 
cooled off in the stream below. 
On the return trip to our horse the dogs tree again. 
Walking up to them we found a veritable covey. Two 
squirrels were up one tree and one up another close by. 
With two shots, right and left, I dropped a pair, and 
missing the third my man got it with the "scatter gun." 
We now had enough of both hunting and game, so started 
on the return trip. 
Reaching my horse and mounting him, I traveled but a 
short distance before concluding that walking was 
healthier. On the very steep places he would put all four 
feet together and slide anywhere from 3 to ,30ft., bringing 
up .suddenly, with me on his neck. Dismounting, I pro- 
ceeded to make the descent on foot, with little more mus- 
cular exertion and much less Avear and tear on my nerves. 
The next day I went into, instead of onto, the moun- 
tains after that oimce for ounce, and "inch for inch, the 
gamest fish that swims," the mountain brook trout. 
After a day of unalloj^ed pleasure, a season of forgetting 
that this mundane sphere had a seamy side, that wicked- 
ness, sorrow or suffering existed, I met my companion at 
the foot of a spreading birch tree and there on a flat rock 
we counted out sixty of the dappled darlings, twenty of 
which were from my creel. 
I am a lowlander by birth and breeding, but the moun- 
tains, under favorable conditions and circumstances, pay 
big dividends to the real sportsman. My companion on 
the squirrel hunt exacted a promise from me to return in 
the fall for a hunt in the famous Cross Mountain country, 
a little further back, and guarantees me a bear if I will 
bring a heavier gun. I hope to go, and will if I can cash 
my inclinations. Lewis Hopkins. 
A Midsummer Journey.— IL 
The departure of the surrey was a token to us that 
pleasure must give way to business. Our wagons wheeled 
slowly through the unbent grasses and unbroken sage- 
brush to Currant Creek, which marks the line between 
upland and desert. On the way we met several parties 
of Utes, and of course guns and rods were kept out of 
sight. On approaching Currant Creek the highway drops 
625ft. in half a mile, and slow, careful driving was re- 
quired. The little flat at the bottom of the hill is a camp 
ground of no small merit. Three white-topped outfits 
were moving as we drove down. We were not after 
company, and went a quarter of a mile up stream into the 
willows before stopping to feed. 
Currant Creek Valley was beautiful beyond description. 
It is from one-fourth to one-half a mile in width, the 
grassy plots being checkered with willows and service 
berries. Pines and cedars covered the hillside, and from 
this shade birds warbled at noontide as they had warbled 
with the dawn. I Avas not sorry that a lame horse 
rendered a halt until morning imperative. King, Sr., 
slept; Brimfull and Junior rode doAvn the canon to estab- 
lish a grade, and I, despite warnings to the contrary, 
Avandered up creek Avith my fly-book. To leave caiion 
fishing, Avith cascades and boulders, black holes and deep 
currents, and find level meadoAvs, over-arching sod, wild 
floAvers and rest Avas a most Avelcome transition. So 
narrow was the horizon that the snow-topped Wasatch 
to the west and Uinta to the east Avere completely hidden. 
Only the painted -cup, shoulder high, and the track of buck 
and bear in the white sand Avas a reminder that it was in 
the wild and wooly West. There was no great score 
made. Occasionally I would get a rise from a little 
spotted side, but for the most part I was contented to 
Avander on until the shadoAvs grew long and I knew that 
the smoke of the camp-fire Avould be signaling supper. 
About 7 o'clock Brimful] and King, Jr., returned. They 
brought with them a male golden eagle — extent Aving to 
wing, 6ft. iiin. It was shot at a distance of 106 paces 
Avith the little Colts, and the height of the cliff from which 
it fell was estimated at Soft. Junior swore by that Colts 
.22. nevertheless he traded it a week later with a hungry 
prospector for a half-interest in a copper claim. 
Knight, vSr. and Jr., left us at Currant Creek. The 
boys went with them, and space is too valuable to teM of 
the three days' adventures of the remainder of the party to 
Ashley's Fork. Prairie dogs, burrowing oavIs and black 
buzzards were our only game, and we did not hanker for 
them. Allegiance to the Stars and Stripes prevents my 
giAdng our impressions of Ft. Duchesne and the colored 
cavalry. They Avere not first impressions, but the re- 
sult of many summer trips to the post. I can, hoAvever, 
say a good Avord in the return letter. 
It Avas late oh the afternoon of the tAvelfth day from 
ProA'O when we crossed a sand ridge and looked doAvn 
upon Vernal and the beautiful Ashley Valley — a valley 
that is yet redolent with tales of Indian raids and frontier 
duels, a valley that needs only some Joaquin Miller or 
Bret Harte to make its history the last tid-bit of border 
romance that our ncAV We^t is to perpetuate. ^ fifteen 
miles the cottonwood ribbon curves amid lucerne and grain, 
orchard and bee garden. This is the great apiary of the 
mountains, rivaling even southern California in its output. 
A week of rest was delightful, and yet every day Ave were 
off looking at claims that finders would sell for little or 
nothing, and finding quartz-stained prospects which no 
money could buy. Almost every evening I cast my fly 
over the irrigating ditches of Vernal, and always a feAV 
trout would be my rcAvard. Especially did I Avonder at the 
great number of Eastern songsters that are making their 
homes in the newly planted orchards. So far as habitat is 
concerned, new editions of Cones and Ridgeway Avill soon 
become imperative. The eastern mountains, which be- 
long to the plateau province, are wild and broken on their 
sides, but on their summits are moist, level parks, grass- 
grown, shaded with heaA^y timber, the home of deer and 
elk. On our rambles we saw few chickens, but scores of 
cottontails furnished us plenty of fresh meat. Either at 
Vernal or at Meeker is the best place for outfitting for a 
mountain excursion in this part of the Rockies. 
One afternoon the Kings returned. They AA'anted Brim- 
full and myself to accompany them as far as White River 
and especially to make an exhaustive study of the gilsonite 
and asphaltum deposits on the old Uncompahgre reserva- 
tion. So we started out, with Charlie Glines as guide, on 
a chase that will either make or break us. We droA'e for 
seventeen miles through farmland, only stopping to satisfy 
my tJixidermical propensities. At Green River Ferry we 
had lunch. When we crossed the muddy stream we were 
in a new country. Greasewood and sagebrush, lofty 
mountains and rugged canons, mighty dykes of porphyry, 
barren islands in a desert sea — that Avas all to attract the 
eye. Even water was a luxury, and yet this was the 
country that the Uncompahgre Utes strove so long to re- 
tain. About 5 o'clock Glines and I took saddle horses and 
left the partjf, ostensibly to hunt rabbits. 
For myself I Avant to make a personal explanation. I 
am neither a guide nor a prospector. I have neither 
mines nor stock to sell, and I haA^e no adAnce to give. Two 
or three incidents on this trip have shown me that many 
people have been bitten by salted proposition.'-- right in 
the country we were exploring, and T have concluded th^t 
any man with money is non compos mentis if he buys 
even a fractional interest of his bosom friend's holding 
without personal inA^estigation of the property in question. 
So far as getting money back, I Avould rather trust a faro 
layout on "Barbary Coast" than advertised options in 
Utah and Colorado. Our route took us to great prospects. 
It was a matter of business, and the record here is merely 
incidental, though some points may be of interest to 
geological friends. 
Well, Glines and I shot rabbits and rode southAvard to 
a series of dykes that from a distance appeared to be recent 
lavas. They proved to be porphyries, and I Avas not sur- 
prised to find them banded with gypsum and scarred with 
iron and copper streaks. By chance Ave stumbled upon a 
black vein, apparently bituminous coal, and we were filling 
our pocket with samples Avhen a "avooI" called our atten- 
tion from things mundane, and we saw above us on a nar- 
roAv ledge a bear that might have been either a cinnamon 
or a small grizzly, Our horses were more alarmed than 
Ave, and I .shall never understand how the brute gave us 
warning unless it Avas a case of mutual surprise. I had 
only a shotgun, shells loaded with No. 3 and No. 8 shot. 
My partner had a heaA^y .44cal. revolver. Naturally I was 
foolhardy, and tickled ursus major Avith tAvo barrels of 
my heaviest. They both took effect, but only served to in- 
crease his wrath. Lud I (as the old stories say) it was fun 
to watch that creature fall a dozen feet and then amble 
toward us. Charles is a splendid marksman, but to shoot 
from a bucking horse requires more than ordinary skill, 
and he did not succeed in bagging the game. My second 
volley may not haA^e hit him, but it Avas an excellent bluff, 
for he turned tail, and Charles' horse, noAv brought under 
control, gave the rider a chance to plant a quietirs in the 
right place. We had considerable trouble with the horses, 
both Avhile skinning and Avhile packing the hide. It was 
late when we arrived in camp at K ranch, and perhaps our 
bear had magnified our coal location, for between the two 
we managed to keep the croAvd up until midnight. 
^ K ranch is deserving of an historian. Midwaj^ between 
Green and White riA^ers it is a stopping place for the 
mail and a haven for traA-elers. Its small patch of lucerne 
and grove of cottonwoods invest it with a peculiarly peace- 
ful charm, and the "K" brand is on all the cattle that 
roam the adjacent hills. K ranch can tell many strange 
stories. It is on the borders of Utah and Colo'rado. It 
has withstood Indian siege and cloudburst iury. After 
the Meeker murder, the White River Utes determined to 
wipe out the white settlers of Green River and Ashley. 
Here they held their council. Word was brought to them 
that soldiers were in pursuit and they changed their plans. 
The result was the Thornburg massacre and the escape of 
the Mormons. Hither, before the reservation Avas throAvn 
open, the Utes would come and inquire as to trespassers on 
the gilsonite beds, and then a brave would visit the pros- 
pectors with intimation that the band was near and hungry 
for scalps, but for $20 would not put in an appearance 
until next sunup. I have great respect for these Indian 
police. They remind me much of the rattlesnake. By the 
Avay. in talking with an Uncompahgre Ute, I note the dif- 
ference betAveen them and the Strawberry Indians and 
Pah Utes in sign language. To denote a liar, forked 
tongue, the Pah Ute uses the first and second fingers of 
the right hand, while the Uncompahgre crosses the index 
fingers of each. 
After supper one of our party thrcAv a piece of the so- 
called coal into the fire, and in a few moments exclaimed 
that we had struck a bed of elaterite. To prove his asser- 
tion, he pulled from the coals a semi-plastic, sputtering 
mass. It Avas composed of bacon rinds from the grease in 
which the rabbits had been fried. There might be a moral 
to adorn this tale. 
In our Avaking moments we heard the patter of rain- 
drops on the canvas, and the sun came out of a threaten- 
ing cloud bank. In spite of storms Ave left shelter to 
examine a claim far up the mountains. On our trip we 
saw many deer and some magnificent scenery. In the 
afternoon my friends Avent back to the coal prospect that 
Charlie and I had stumbled upon on the previous after- 
noon. I devoted my time to birds, and the rarest acquisi- 
tion was Audubon's hermit thrush. 
K ranch was behind us. and we traversed the deserts of 
the Centennial State. It seemed that we had chosen a 
rainy segsop for om trip. These moijntain cloijdbursts 
