FOREST AND STREAM. 
42B 
sarily a part of the history of the trip I feel that this 
article would be incomplete without if. 
We had been at Paddy's cabin probably three weeks, 
when our stock of coifee and flour began to run low 
Laying the matter before Paddy, we were informed that 
about tliirty or forty miles across the mountain lived 
an old miner, who usually had a good supply of provi- 
sions and would probably sell us what we needed, so we 
decided to dispatch Jule on horseback for the necessary 
articles. lie was on his way before sunrise of the follow- 
ing day. We thought he should reach his destination 
by evening, rest over night and return to camp late the 
next day; but the next day and the time we expected him 
to return came and passed, together with a greater portion 
of the following day, and still no Jule appeared. 
Fearing he had met with accident, we decided to in- 
stitute a search. So leaving Paddy at the camp, Roy and 
I set out across the mountains on foot. We were pushing 
along through a thickly wooded section at the base of a 
mountain, the sun had gone down, and that time of day 
called twilight was setting in, when we heard a rustling 
of the leaves and branches, and looked up to see a large 
jrown bear not 20 yards away, coming down the moun- 
tain. 
From the manner in which he was moving, it was 
evident he was unaware of our presence, and would 
have passed on had not Roy, who was carrying a shot- 
gun (which contained only a charge of small bird-shot) 
thrown it to his shoulder and fired. This was the most 
unfortunate thing that could have happened, for it did 
no further damage than sting him into a violent rage, 
and with a vicious snort he made at us. I being m 
front received his attention. I made for a small tree 
not larger around than a man's head, Roy for another. 
I did not have time to climb it; there was no other chance 
of escape, and I saw there was nothing left but to fight. 
D rawing my hunting knife, which fortunately was a large 
one, and using the tree for protection, I drove it into 
lis heaving side, with all the power I could command. 
This for a moment — but only for a moment — checked 
his onslaught, and I saw nothing short of death would 
stop him. 
One of the peculiarities of a bear in making an attack 
is that he will invariably raise on his hind legs, with 
the intention of grasping you with his paws. This gave 
m.e a great advantage, for each time he would raise up 
lis movements necessarily became slower, and with a 
unge I would drive the knife into his breast, hoping 
to reach some vital spot and end the struggle. 
Around and around the tree we went, the bloody froth 
pouring from his mouth and nostrils — the knife had en- 
tered his lungs. Was ever a beast so vicious before, and 
would he never succumb to those terrific thrusts? How 
ong we fought I do not know, but it seemed a week, 
inally he staggered and almost fell. The loss of blood 
was telling, but he rallied and came again. This time, 
lowever, he was slower, and I was better able to choose 
my place to strike. 
Throwing myself forward and straining every muscle, 
plunged the knife into his neck, severing the wind- 
pipe, and he sank to the ground in a heap. Springing 
upon him with an agility born of desperation, I drove 
the knife again into his carcass to make sure that the 
ight was ended, and it did not end any too soon, for 
lad it lasted a few minutes longer I surely should have 
succumbed to exhaustion. The sleeves of my sweater 
were torn into shreds and my arms were scratched and 
bleeding, but the tree had protected my body from injury. 
In fact, had it not been for this small tree I fear I would 
not be here now to write this account of it. 
Examining the body, we found seventeen Icnife wounds 
ihat had been inflicted; however, a number of them were 
made after he had fallen. A few minutes after this Jule 
came riding up, having secured a good supply of coffee 
and flour, and we made back to camp. 
To give the reader an idea of the amount of game in 
this section, I think it will be safe to say that had we 
so desired we could have killed a hundred or more deer 
and other game in large numbers during our stay. 
Frequently we would awake in the morning to find 
addj'^ missing. He usually remained away all day, re- 
turning about night. These expeditions we of course 
surmised were to his mine. However, we made no at- 
tempt to watch him, feeling he did not care for us to 
enow of its location. Finally one day Paddy inquired 
low much longer we intended to remain, and being in- 
ormed that we would take our departure within three or 
four days,, requested us to wait until the end of the fol- 
.owing week, when he would be ready to return to the 
'burg," and would show us a way out of the country 
much easier of travel than the way we had come in. To 
his we gladly consented. 
On the day before we were ready to break camp Paddy 
asked me to accompany him on a little hunt, and we 
tarted of? together. We were moving down the side 
Df the mountain probably a mile or more from camp. 
Paddy had marched along for some distance without 
atteri'ng a word; his eyes were fixed on the ground, and 
ie seemed in a deep study. Presently he turned around 
ind said, "Look er here, pard, you've done me some 
^•ood turns since you've been here, 'specially puUin' that 
darned tooth, for I spect I'd er had toothache all summer 
ef it hadn't been fer you, and ef you tell me I kin trust 
, ou never to tell a soul I'U show you what no other 
ivin' man ever seed before, my mine." 
Extending my hand at once to seal the promise of 
lecrecy, we started on. Pu.shing our way further down 
;he mountain, we came to a deep ravine, and climbing 
iown into it, followed along its course for some dis- 
tance; then taking another smaller one leading to the 
eft, where we were compelled to wade in water up to 
our knees most of the way, we finally came to a black 
tunnel-shaped hole in the side of the mountain, large 
rough to walk in without stooping. 
Lighting a pine torch, we entered. To an inexperienced 
eye it seemed nothing more than a tunnel in a bank of 
sand and gravel. 
"Well, pard, we're here, and I'll show you what tis 
to dig out gold," said Paddy. Taking a miner's pan 
which was handy, he put in three of four shovels of sand 
and gravel, walked back to the stream and proceeded in 
true miners fashion to wash the sand and gravel from the 
gliltering nuggets. After he had finished, he exclaimed: 
By gosh, Pard, she's gettin' richer every foot— there'.s 
nigh on to three dollars in that pan." That amount is' 
considered by miners to be a very large yield to "the pan 
of dirt." 
"Now," he said, "you've promised never to tell a soul, 
but I'll say this: I ain't got no kin livin', and Paddy 
will never tell any one else, and I ain't going to live all 
the time, so if ever you hear of me bein' dead you can come 
here and take it for yourself. Now, I'll put this in with the 
rest," indicating the gold he had pust panned out, "and 
show you what I'm goin' to lake back to the burg." 
Pulling aside a rock which covered a hole in the sand, 
he drew forth a bag, which he said contained "eight 
hundred or so." 
"Paddy," said I, "what name have you given your 
mine?" He answered, "I ain't named her." Upon this 
I asked him the privilege of naming the mine, and said. 
"If you agree, I shall name her after one of the most 
beautiful girls in old Kentucky, my native State. We 
shall call her the Alice Castleman." 
I trust the lady in question will pardon the liberty I, 
a stranger, to her, took in using her name — for he con- 
sented at once, saying, "That's fine, by gosh! An' ef 
she's as purty as them shining nuggets I'd just like to 
dig out enough , to go thar and see her." 
So now there lies buried aw-ay in one of the most in- 
accessible sections of the great Sierra Nevada Range one 
of nature's treasure vaults, bearing the name of one of 
Kentucky's fairest daughters. 
Dr. F. S. Byington. 
San Francisco. 
Philander Simmons. 
Denver/ Colo., Nov. 15. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I hand you new^spaper notices of the death of one of the 
few remaining old-time mountaineers of this region. I 
knew him verj^ well. The papers treated him very fairly 
and with reasonable correctness. He was buried the 13th 
by the Colorado Pioneers in the ground of the society. 
Wm. N. Byers. 
We quote frofn the Rocky Mountain News report Mr. 
Byers sends : 
Philander Simmons, pioneer of Colorado and the West, 
mountaineer, trapper, miner and guide, died at the county 
hospital j^esterday afternoon. Death was due to the in- 
firmities of old age and the wear and tear upon his con- 
stitution during a life of hardship in the wildest part of 
the West. 
Three j^ears ago the old pioneer, upon earnest solicita- 
tion, wrote an autobiography. The manuscript of this 
book is now in the possession of Nathan A. Baker, of 1525 
^yest Fourteenth avenue, and he says that it will be pub- 
lished soon. 
The story of the life of Philander Simmons reads like a 
romance. Its scenes are laid in all parts of the globe, and 
the adventures participated in by him are thrilling in the 
extreme, so many and of such a varied nature that per- 
haps few living men can lay claim to a. similar life 
hi.story. He was born at Batavia, N. Y., in 1821, and 
celebrated his seventy- eighth birthday last summer. In 
his biography he states that his parents died when he was 
very j'oung, and that he w^as thrown upon the world at the 
age of fourteen. 
Always having a strong liking for the sea, he made his 
way to New York and became a member of the crew of a 
whaling ship bound for the Southern Pacific. On this 
ship he went around Cape Horn and spent some time in 
Chilian waters. The vessel cruised about for months, and 
then went to the Sandwich Islands, where he met an old 
man and woman who told him the story of the murder of 
Capt. Cook, which they had witnessed. From there the 
ship went to Japan, and eventually returned to New 
York. 
In 1836 Mr. Simmons left St. Louis, where he had 
drifted with a trading party bound for Mexico, but the 
party failed to get through. Leaving this party he spent 
some time on the plains, and eventually fell in with Bill 
Williams, one of the old trappers. 
Accompanying this character he made hi-s way up the 
Arkansas River to a point near where East Pueblo now 
stands, reaching there in 1842. From there he went to 
Fort Laramie, visited Sand Creek and went up the Ute 
Pass in tlie vicinity of where Manitou now stands. 
That was the first A^sit of Pliilander Simmons to 
Colorado. He made several subsequent visits to the 
State. Probablyr the most important of these was the one 
in which he piloted the famous Cherokee expedition to 
Pike's Peak in 1858. His own account of that expedition 
has apneared in public print and is very clear and interest- 
ing indeed. 
Upon his first visit he remained but a short time and 
put in most of his time hunting and trapping in the 
vicinity of Fort Laramie. For some time he was with the 
trader Bent, and visited the old fort named after that 
dealer. 
In his travels al30ut the State he followed the Platte 
River to where Denver now stands. The biography is 
very interesting at this point. The writer tells of killing 
a big buft'alo on the ground where now stands the eastern 
section of the city, and one member of the party killed a 
bear on the site of West Denver, and two deer were killed 
in the forests where now is North Denver. 
While he was at Bisinet's Fort, Simmons met John C. 
Fremont, who was then on his first expedition. In 1884 
he returned to St. Louis, and in the same year returned to 
Colorado with a teaming outfit. On this visit he engaged 
in the trading business himself and made trips into the 
Crow Nation and the Blackfeet Indian country. During 
this visit to the country he became acquainted with Jim 
Beckwitfi. Kit Carson and many other famous characters 
of the timg. 
In 1848 he again returned to St. Louis, met General 
Fremont and was urged to accompany him on his famous 
trip into the Rocl<y^ Mountains. He attended the funeral 
of General Kearny. Simmons refused to accompany 
Fremont and went to St. Paul and from there again 
worked his w^ay westward, and eventually returned to 
Colorado in 1852. 
After various adventures on the plains and in the moun- 
tains he went to San Fraocisjcq. reaching there in 18=55 
and going from there to Sfe, Lotris via Nicaragua and the 
Mississippi River. From there he went to the lead fields 
of southwestern Missouri and in 1858 joined the famou,^ 
Cherokee expedition, which he assisted in guiding to 
Pike's Peak. 
Simmons did not remain with this expedition until the' 
gold discoveries were made, but went to the city of Taos 
and from there to New Mexico and Texas. While he was 
driving stage in Texas he heard of the gold discoveries 
and returned to the State and went to the scenes of the 
alleged discoveries. Finding them not to his liking he 
returned to Denver in 1859 and went from here to the 
Arkansas Valley country and from there to New Mexico. 
Refusing to take any part in the war, he engaged in 
mining in the vicinity of Cation City, Black Hawk, and 
Avent again to Santa Fe, Las Vegas and Albuquerque in' 
1866, and returned to Silver City in 1873. In 1874 he 
made another visit to St, Louis zpd returned' the same 
year to Cafion City. 
Since that time he has lived in Canon City and Pueblo, 
being so worn out that he was maintained generally by 
his old pioneer friends or by the authorities out of the 
public funds. About 1895 he came to Denver and has 
lived here ever since. Members of the Pioneers' Associa- 
tion and others assisted in his maintenance, and he was 
for a time at the county poor farm. Later he was allowed 
to occupy a house owned by W. J. Curtis and lived in it 
for a short time. Three years ago he was allowed to move 
into the little cabin at 1926' Center street, owned by Nathan 
A. Baker. 
True to his manner of living in his early davs of rough- 
ing it on the plains and in the mountains, the pioneer lived 
much as a recluse. He refused absolutely to live in a 
house with other people, and kept his little cabin just as 
he did in the long ago when he was miles and miles from 
civilized habitations. 
The little cabin was arranged in true frontier style, and 
m It the old pioneer appeared to be perfectly happy and 
contented to entertain all with his wonderful tales of ad- 
venture when the Indians roamed the plains. On the 
walls hung his rifle and long keen hunting knife, and the 
bundle of herbs which every old mountaineer learned to 
use in his dealing with Indians and the rude and primitive 
furniture made of the abode a sight that gave a glimpse 
into a past full of events. 
American Ornithologists' Union* 
The seventh congress of the American Ornithologists' 
Union convened in Philadelpliia Nov. 13 and continued 
until Thursday, the i6th. 
^ The evening or business session was held in the 
Council Room, and the public meetings, commencing 
Tuesday, the 14th, in the Lecture Hall, of the Academy 
of Natural Sciences. 
The active members present were Prof. Witmer 
Stone, of Philadelphia; William Brewster and C. ' F. 
Batchelder, of Cambridge, Mass.: Drs. J. A.' Allen, 
Jonathan Dwight, Jr., and Messrs. Frank M. Chapman 
and William Dutcher, of New York city; Drs. Fisher, 
Merriam and Richmond and Mr. WilHara Palmer, of 
Washington, D. C; Chas. B. Cory, of Boston; Dr. Thos-. 
S. Roberts, of Minneapolis; Hon. Geo. B. Sennett, of 
Youngstown, Ohio; William E. Saunders, of London, 
Ontario, and John H. Sage, of Portland, Conn. ' 
The associate members present during the session 
were: Mrs. Julia Stockton Robins. Miss Lucy H. Baird, 
Miss Elisa AY. Redfield, Miss Emcline Maddock, Josiah 
Hoopes, George Spencer Morris, C. J. P^nnock, Samuel 
N. Rhoads, Wm. A. Shryock, Henry W. Fowler, W. E. 
Clyde Todd, Dr. Spencer Trotter, Dr. Thos. H. Mont- 
gomery, Jr., Frank L. Burns, David McCadden, Chas.' 
A. Voelkner, C. Few Seiss, H. L. Coggins, Wm. L. 
Baily, August Koch, J: Harris Reed, I. N. DeHaven, 
Dr. W. E. Rotzell, Walter W. Maires, Joseph W. 
Tatum, Dr. W. E. Hughes, Ernest L. Clark, Arthur 
Cope Emlen, Ernest M. Evans, Stewardson Brown, 
Nathaniel E. Janney, Robert D. Carson, John A. Nel- 
son, H. L. Coggins and Wm. M. Maule, of Pennsyl- 
vania; Mrs. OliA^e Thorne Miller, Miss Mary Mann Mil- 
ler and Samuel Wright, of New York; F. C. Kirkwood 
and Henry H. Hindshaw, of Maryland; Vernon Bailey, 
H. C. Obcrholser, Mrs. John Dewhurst Patten and 
Nelson R. Wood, of Washington, D. C; Walter Deane, 
Geo. C. Deane, Reginald Heber Howe. Jr., R. M. 
Strong and J. D. Sornborger, of Massachusetts; John 
W. Daniel, Jr., of Virginia; Mrs. Elizabeth B, Daven- 
port, of Vermont; Miss Margaret T. Hubbard, of Min- 
nesota; Henry Hales, of New Jersey; Dr. Louis B. 
Bishop and Judge John N. Clark, of Connecticut 
Robert Ridgway was re-elected Pre.sjdent; Dr. C. Hart 
Merriam and Chas. B. Cory, Vice-Presidents; John H. 
Sage, Secretary; William. Dutcher, Treasurer; Charles 
F. Batchelder. Frank M. Chapman, Ruthven Deane, 
Jonathan Dwight, Jr., A. K. Fisher, Thomas S. Roberts 
and Witmer Stone, Members of the Council. 
W. R. Ogilvie Grant and Arthur H. Evans, of Eng- 
land, were elected corresijonding members. 
The report of the committee on protection of North 
American birds, read by its chairman, Mr. Witmer 
Stone, showed that an increased interest is taken in the 
preservation of wild bird life at the present time. In- 
vestigation proved that many of the birds now used in 
millinery were imported from countries where there are 
no bird laws. The committee had used its influence to 
prevent excessive collecting of eggs and skins for cora- 
mcrcial purposes. The report will be pubhshed in the 
Auk, the official organ of the Union, and reprinted as a 
separate pamphlet. 
.\ donation of $100 was reported as having been re- 
ceived from Miss Juliette A. Owen, of St. Joseph, Mo., 
an associate member of the Union, to be devoted to any 
ornithological purpose that might seem fitting to the 
Council. Miss Owen wrote that the amount sent was 
about the cost of the journey she expected to take in. 
order to attend the congress, but was prevented from 
going. 
By courtesy of Miss Lucy H. Baird, Witmer Stone 
was able to compile and read the letters' of John j. 
