S60 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
I[Oct. 28, 1899- 
A Trapper's Story. 
Ms. George E. Bartlett, who is well known to shooters as a 
Marlin expert, has shown himself facile with rhj'me and rhythym, 
as the subjoined verse abundantly demonstrates. Mr. Bartlett, by 
the way, has had a life experience which should give him material 
for yarn-spinning galore. "I came from the \Ve3t," he told us 
the other day, "where I served fourteen years in Dakota as 
Deputy United States Marshal. I was a scout at Pine Ridge 
Indian Agency, South Dakota, at the time of the ghost dance 
war in 1890-1891; and I enjoyed the Indian name of Wounded Knee, 
having been wounded in the right knee while engaging in a light 
with horse thieves. The famous Wounded Knee fight between 
Big Foot's Band of Sioux and the 7th U. S. Cavalry occurred in 
front of my trading post, Dec. 29, 1890, when 410 Siouje were 
killed and forty-three United States soldiers. 
"I drifted East with a theatrical company called the Great Train 
Robbery melodrama, in which I was engaged to give an exhibi- 
tion of rifle and revolver shooting; also to furnish a band of eight 
genuine Cheyenne Indians to give color to the plan. We visited 
New Haven in Jaoiuary, 1898, at which time I engaged with 
the Marlin company. The recent visit of the Wild West show 
here has caused me to resurrect some almost forgotten verses 
which I have written from time to time in memory of old John 
T. Nelson, whom the Sioux call Fills the Pipe or Cansasa Opagi. 
Old John was for seven or eight years representing the character 
of an old-time scout, guide, interpreter and hunter with the 
Wild West show, and the stories he would tell the unsophisticated 
tenderfoot who happened by his tent in the shoV grounds would 
put to blush the greatest liar that ever cast a line in Long Island 
Sound." 
A Trapper's Story. 
'Iwas a trapper's camp, in a shadj' nook, 
Near a winding stream you would know at a look; 
For skins were scattered over the ground to dry, 
And wild game was hanging in the trees near by; 
A trapper sat there by a fire so bright. 
Watching the shadows of approaching night, 
Wlien from around the bend, borne up by the gale, 
Came a donkey's bray — a sonorovis wail. 
And a lone trapper, leadin' an ancient jack. 
Stopped before the camp-fire and undid his pack. 
"I reckon,"' said he, "that I'll stay here to-night 
It you ain't no objections^ I'll make it all right." 
"You bet," came the answer, with a pleasant grin. 
For it was Nelson's camp, and the host was in. 
Thus the tired trapper, wearied by his tramp. 
Took up his lodging in Nelson's camp, 
And soon his host's welcome he was made to feel 
By a pleasant engagement with a wholesome meal. 
He talked of the past as all trappers do — 
Their future— but another pelt, maybe two — 
He talked of hunting buffalo, elk and deer, 
And the crude hospitality of the mountaineer; 
Of men who desperate danger would dare. 
And in mountain jungle killed the grizzly bear. 
Of the story-teller — for above the rest, 
Stood he who told the biggest yarns, and told them best. 
Of all those who were for tales or prowess famed. 
Then asked Old John if he knew the ones he named. 
Of course he knew them well, each and every one; 
You would have thought he had lived since time begun. 
And straightening up and throwing back his hair, , 
Said, "Pardner, ever know John Nelson out there?" 
A pleasant gleam shot from the stranger's eye 
As he relit his pipe and made this reply: ^ 
"Do I know John Nelson? Well, you can jest bet; 
And he's the biggest liar I ever met. 
It's about his doings you want me to tell. 
Well, let me see, I reckon I may as well. 
See, I knowed all them old chaps from years ago; 
An' he's about the likeliest one I know, 
An' he had the jaw-breakinest Injun name. 
But we'll call it Fills the Pipe, that means the same. 
You'd like it sorter as the story goes on. 
But seein' you knowed him I'll jest call him Old John. 
An' Old John had sand; he would stand like a pine; 
An' I never seen him worsted but this one time, 
An' he'd a heart in him bigger'n a wolf; 
There wasn't a better hearted man this side of the Gulf. 
An' about ordinary things John wouldn't lie, 
An' in business matters he was square as a die. 
But when the day's hunt was done, an' John was through. 
An' his traps all set, an' nothin' else to do, 
He'd kinder square hisself like he'd cum to stay. 
First he'd light his old pipe; then he'd fiire away; 
An' of all the big lies that ever you heard, 
He could grind them out, and never want for a word, 
There was never no fights but he'd been in 'em, 
Was allers at the death and helped ter skin 'em. 
He had been a ranger, courier and guide, 
A hunter, trapper, an' trader beside; 
He had been a scout under Buffalo Bill, 
Was an old mountaineer with a hand an' a wiL'. 
AVe was camped up in the Dakota Black Hills; 
Was all trading that winter, Petes, Jims, Johns and Bills, 
With a band of Injuns that was camped near by; 
An' they was gettin' bad, acting devilish sly. 
An' although we traded with 'em every day, 
We didn't know what time they might fire away, 
An' clean out our camp, for all along the range 
There was talk of war, and it wouldn't a-been strange 
If they had turned loose; but us boys up there. 
Was allers ready an' wasn't easy to scare. 
Well, things stood this way when Old John went below. 
We tried ter git him ter stay, but no, he must go. 
Didn't care for Injuns; he wasn't afraid; 
Goin' after supplies and have suthin' ter trade. I 
With all our talk we couldn't git him to stay; 
So he took his pack horses and started away. 
After he'd been gone about three or four days 
I The dev'ilish Injuns begun to change their ways: 
They wouid come up ter our camp an' feang around, 
A.a' lean up against tr-ees an' set down on the ground. 
An.' laugh an' joke, for they seemed ter be afraid 
That we'd all go away, an' they'd lose all cur trade; 
I So they held a pow-wow in their Injun way, 
' An' promised us a good winter's trade if we'd stay 
So some more~^ of the bos'S went down after goods. 
An' the Injuns moved back from the edge of the woods, 
After the Injuns had moved, an' the boys had gone, 
We made up our minds to have some fun with Old John 
't 'lowed th§t bs pTter be nji his way back. 
Narvous, uneasy, watching every sign and track. 
An' the boys he met would say it was all right; 
Everything was quiet, wouldn't be any fight, 
Fer to allers be on the lookout is hard, 
An' we counted on this throwing him off his guard. 
So we agreed, us boys, ter take turn about, 
Keepin' watch from the mountains — a sort of lookout. 
Think 'twas the evening of the third or fourth day 
AVe seen him near a creek 'bout three miles away. 
An' stop down there, turn his ponies out ter grass; 
We could tell it was him by the aid of our glass — 
An' soon we see a fire brtrn kinder bright. 
An' we thought he was fixin' ter camp fer the night, 
So's ter let his tired ponies graze around, 
'Cause he was allers ter home when the sun went down. 
Well, then we all dressed up in our Injun clothes. 
With war bonnets an' feathers, paints, arrers an' bows. 
See'n' we had sech things as these all ready made; 
We had ter take sech things in our Injun trade. 
Well, we boys agreed on a plan ter begin. 
Then we all started out ter take the old chap in. 
An' we soon made a sneak on the old man's fire; 
(,VVe liked the old cuss if he was sech a liar. 
We only wanted ter sorter let him know 
That all gewhollipers he told us didn't go.) 
His fire Avas well started, his packs undone, 
An' he'd gone after some water and left his gun. 
That's what we wanted — we hadn't come ter fight — 
An' was middlin' anxious 'bout his gun that night; 
Fer I'll tell you he didn't nuss that old gun, 
An' carry it 'round the country jess for fun. 
He'd use it, stranger, but we kinder stole 'round. 
An' when he come back we started up with a bound. 
He didn't jump nor holler, nor stand an' stare. 
But he jess reached fer his gun, but it wasn't there. 
Stand still. Fills the Pipe, said Pete in regular Siotix; 
An' I tell you, stranger, he understood it, too; 
We hadn't no trouble in talking, you see. 
For he could talk Injun an' so could we. 
But we hadn't come ter talk — that wa'n't our plan — 
An' what little talk there was, was done by one man. 
They called him Pete — I've forgot his other name — 
But no matter, the story goes on jess the same; 
An' he looked like Scttin' Bull, this grizzly Pete, 
When he told Old John we wanted suthin' ter eat. 
So John begun cooking, in a hurry, too; 
An' ter keep from laughin' was all we could do; 
For he muttered English, an' cussed every breath. 
But we set sour an' grim like a circle of death. 
While John got supper — an' it wasn't the best. 
But the coffee was good — didn't care fer the rest; 
An' as we didn't know what Old John might do. 
We made him set down an' eat supper, too. 
Well, when we got through we kicked the packs all round. 
And scattered his tin dishes all over the ground. 
Well, pardner, we jess acted Injun, you see, 
An' you know how cussed mean an Injun can be. 
So, after we'd done all the meanness we could, 
Pete told John to dance a war dance, and do it good. 
Yes, of course, this kinder surprised the old chap, 
But we picked up some tin plates an' begun ter tap, 
An' Pete wet the. feather end of his arrer 
An' told John ter dance if he would see to-morrer, 
I guess he'd 'a' run, but ther' wasn't a chance, 
'Less he run ag'in arrers, so he had ter dance. 
Wall, we hollered an' sung, an' beat the tin drum, 
An' ter see him hoe it down I tell yer 'twas fun — 
War dance — Pipe dance — Omaha — ^he done 'em all. 
Wasn't choice 'bout partners; didn't wait fer the call. 
Well, sir, we danced Old John till his legs got numb, 
Then at a sign from Pete we all went as we come. 
In a rush through the brush — a double-quick run — 
Not because we was afraid, fer we had his gun — 
But we all scooted out an' run a keen race. 
Three miles fer camp, an' got everything in place. 
We had jess put our Injun trinkets away, 
*n' got into clothes we wore every day. 
When Old John rushed into camp all out of breath. 
Course we was glad ter see him; yes, tickled ter death— 
We shook his old hand with a terrible grip. 
An' asked him all sorts of questions about his trip. 
"Oh! I've had war with the Injuns— bet yer life, 
I'd explored the flume but fer my gun an' knife. 
Wait till I picket an' put away the packs, 
'\p I'll tell yer all about it— tell yer the facts." 
Uuess we could have stood it— but John couldn't wait. 
So he rattled away at the foUerin' rate: 
"Lordj but they whooped it up ter me for a while. 
But, boys,' ! fixed a few of 'em so that they'll spile." 
Here one of the boys asked, ''John, where is your gun?" 
"Oh, it's lost, I reckon; I come on the run; 
I've been flying, an' my pack wasn't well tied. 
So if I've got half my goods I'D be satisfied." 
Well, he'd got through, an' we was all in the house, 
An' every one was listening as still as a mouse, 
While Old John told of his wonderful hard fight 
He'd had with the Injuns down on the creek that night. 
"W'ell, I'd been cooking an' had jess got through, 
When here come a war party, and the arrers flew. 
I'll jess tell you, folks, I thought I was gone. 
I sez, 'All's over now, the ghost's callin' you, John.' 
But I grabbed the old gun and sez: 'Here she goes!' 
An' you bet that one of them turned up his toes. 
This kinder stopped 'em for a minute, you see. 
So I made a spring, an' got behind a big tree; 
An', Lord! how their arrers come whizzin' by! 
The tree v/as filled with feathers till I thought 'twould fly; 
But T kepi a-poppin' to 'em jess the same; 
An' they soon found out I could play at their game. 
An' I reckoa they thought that it didn't pay, 
Fer they soon picked up their dead an* scampered away." 
"Dead?" sez old Pete, with a sly wink in his eye, 
"Yes, dead," sez Old John. "Do you think I would lie? 
1 tell you I killed three, an' wounded four. 
An' if they hadn't skipped out, I'd V had some more 
It's lucky my bosses was down on the creek, 
Fer if they'd. V seen 'em, they'd whooped 'em off quick/' 
Well, s-ir, he filled us so full of his lias that niglit. 
That we all went ter bed, an' left him in the figM 
Iti a few days all the rest of the boys come. 
All' they give the whole darned snap away to Old John. 
Lord! but he was hot— but didn't raise no fuss. 
But when one of us woflld laugh, whew! how he would cuss, 
"pardner, maybe you knowed Old John— knowed him well: 
But this is one of the yarns that he'd never tell." 
"Hold on there, stranger, you've gone far enough; 
I'm tired of list'nin' ter this cussed stuff. 
I'm Old John Nelson — Old John as you say. 
An' never seen yer in my life 'till ter day; 
An' while you've been guUin' me here to-night, 
I've had a mind ter invite yer out ter fight. 
Not because you've called me a liar, oh, no! 
But 'cause you've beat my best lyin' record so. 
To tell the truth I did kinder aspire 
Ter be the great chief an' champion liar. 
An' I've held the belt for many a day. 
But you knock me out in sech a easy way. 
That I give it ter you; wear it with pride, 
Fer you're the lyinest liar that ever lied." 
"All right, pardner; maybe I did get it mixed; 
It was some other Nelson — that's easy fixed. 
But I guess you're tired an' would go ter bed; 
Wrap in this robe — take my saddle fer yer head; 
It's a right good piller — I've used it a sight. 
My coat an' boots will do me fer to-night." 
Geo. E. Barti-btt. 
IN NEW JERSEY* 
Jeannette Gun Club. 
Oct, 20. — ^The club shoot of the Jeannette Gun Club was held 
at the Guttenburg race track to-day. The birds were a fast lot, 
Some excellent kills were made by J. Lott, Otten, Brunie and 
Karstens. Class A medal was won by Otten, Class B by J. 
Bohling, Jr. 
In the team shoot Otten's team won on the score of 22 to 20. 
H Otten, 28.. 1221121121—10 Karstens, 28 2212110110- 
J Bohling, Jr, 25. . .2012122222— 9 Ferguson, 25 0200011011— f 
J Mohrmann, 25. . .2111001120— 7 C Bohling, 28 0220011001— J 
Job Lott, 33 1222222002— 8 AV Ralphs! 28 0110110022— ( 
C F Peters, 25 2022021100— 6 W P Rinckhoff, 30.1111200201—* 
C N Brunie, 28. .. .1212201110— 8 Steffens, 33 0122112020—' 
J Kroeger, 28 1222001121- 8 t , 
Team shoot: 
Otten 22202—4 
Job Lott 02222—4 
Karstens 11200—3 
T Bohling 12022—4 
'Mohrmann 12101—4 
Steffens 21121—5 
Brunie 20101—3 
Kroeger 22122—5 
Peters 02021—3 
C Bohling.. 11000—2 
Rinckhoff 01120—3—22 Ralphs 00201—2—21 
Trap at Lyndhurst. 
Oct. 18.— An excellent lot of birds were offered to the shooters a 
Tom Morfey's grounds to-day. and pleasant weather favored th« 
competition. The main event was at 25 birds, $10, birds extra 
three moneys. This was won by Mr. Harold Money by the scor 
of 23, losing his first dead out. Piercy was second with 22. 
A number qf miss-and-outs were shot: 
No. 1, miss-and-out, $2: 
" Money 22221222220—1 
Morfey 22222112222—11 
Tierny 120w 
No. 2, 10 birds, ?5: 
Morfey, 29 2222202202—8 
Piercy, 28 *2*2111022— 7 
Money, 30 1222220222—9 
No. 3, 10 birds, $5: 
Morfey, 29 222222*222—9 
Piercy, 28 2222*21122—9 
Money, 30 2220211222—9 
No. 4, 25 birds, $10, three moneys, birds outside purse: 
Trap score typf — Copyright, 1S99, by Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 
Morfey, 29 0 1100111111102 11111111111- 
Piercy, 28 2 1111101111111111110*1111- 
Bruyere, 28 111*201211-1 
Bunn. 28 1201210121- ' 
.Sanders. 27 2201210221— ! 
Bunn, 28 .. ..1201020212- 
Bruyere, 27 11*2201122- 
■21 
-25; 
Money, 30. . 
Heflich,29., 
Bruyere, 26. 
..* 11101 11111 1'11121111111!2 1— 2S| 
.1111*111112111111*111*01 0— 2C 
vr'N ^ i \.;'' \ ^ \/'' 1 1 1 
.1 0*211222111211011110111 1-2J 
Sanders, 26 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 
Bunn, 2T. 
..1 11*110110011121001121 1 1 0— IS 
Hackensack River Gun Qub. 
East Rutherford, N. J., Oct. 20.-;The club shoot of the Hacken' 
sack River Gun Club had four visitors — Messrs. Barbier, Ayere; 
Stoude and Hall. Messrs. Jack and Heflich scored 7 points each: 
The scores: 
Points. 
Barbiers, 28. .1012022012— 7 .. 
F Jack, 28. . . .1111110*U— 8 7 
W Ayers, 28.201*U002a- 6 .. 
H Stoude, 28.0002021112— 6 .. 
F Hall, 30... 2020212111— 8 .. 
Five birds : 
F Hall 22200—3 
H Heflich 22222-5 
F Jack 1*111-4 
J Chartrand 22*11-4 
Match, miss-and-out: 
Heflich 222222222—9 
Match, 10 birds, for birds: 
Tie. 
Hawenstein . . . .22000*1'*22— 5 020 
Points. 
Heflich, 30... 1222222222— 10 1 
Chartrand,28. 2*111211*1— 8 6 
Weickert, 28.2121202111— 9 6 
Haw'nst'n, 26.1211102020— 7 4 
Barbier ,00101— J' 
Hawenstein 22020—; 
Ayers 11011—4 
Dr Weickert 21210—4! 
Hall 12222222*— J 
Tie, 
Ayers 00*222*202—5 OlC 
Inanimate Target Cfiampionsliip. 
New York, Oct. 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: Mr. W. Ri 
Crosby informs me that he accepts Mr. Gilbert's challenge for the 
E C inanimate target championship trophy, and names Batavia, 
N. Y., Oct. 30, and 2.30 P. M. as the place, date and time for 
holding the match. 
Kindly make a note of this in your current issue and oblige 
Edward Banks, Sec'y, 
The American E C & Schultze Gunpowder Co., Ltd. 
In a pretty Wisconsin town, not far from Milwaukee, there is 
a "spite fence," which cuts off a view^ across a num.ber of beautifui 
lawris. The man who lives on one side of it evidently feared the 
fence would bring down on his head the condemnation of his neigh- 
iiOrs. Not wishing to be unjustly blam.ed, he has therefore painted 
on his side of the fence, in letters that can be read a block awayv 
these words: "He built this fence. I didn't do it." The m-an on 
the other side also had no idea of letting a false impression get outj 
Accordingly he haspwnted on the other side of the high barrier? 
"I bad to do it."— Kansas City Star. 
aetice iiskei! of stnonyinoitte coisusiianicatlosis 
Whitney. — AVill Mr. William Alfred Whitney please send address 
to this office. 
The America Cup, or the America's Cup, as it is properly called, 
was given bv the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1851 as a prize foi, 
one race open to yachts of all nations. It W3S iipt ^yen by tht 
Queen, ancf is not a "Queen's crap." m ' . . ; 
1 4 
