April 6, iqqi.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
267 
basins. Nor can they find winter pasturage among the 
barren snow-clad mountains to the east and southeast, 
Pierre's Hole, sometimes called the Teton Basin, which 
was once a part of their favorite pasture grounds, is 
now densely populated, and they can no longer go there. 
And so they are now restricted for winter pasturage to 
the Snake River Basin. 
On my last trip through Jackson's Hole and the 
country lying south of the National Park. I discovered 
that a new peril threatens them. Sheep graze upon the 
same grasses and herbs and browse upon the same kind 
of twigs as the wapiti; and an expanding and profitable 
sheep industry is demanding the right to enter and oc- 
cupy that part of the basin of the Snake which now 
affords winter pasturage for the wapiti. 
Last summer thousands of sheep were driven to the 
southern rim of the basin of Hoback's River, and other 
thousands from the Idaho side were driven to the top of 
the Teton range overlooking the basin of the Snake from 
the west, where they were stopped by the show of armed 
resistance offered by the irate people of the Snake River 
Basin. 
The sheep men threaten to invade the basin during 
the coming summer with their great herds, and the 
Snake River Basin people have pledged themselves to 
resist such invasion, if needs be with force of arms. A 
serious conflict therefore seems to be impending, and 
unless the sheep men are restrained by the Secretary of 
the Interior many lives may be lost and much property 
destroyed. If this threatened invasion shall be success- 
ful the inevitable consequence will be that the wapiti will 
next winter find their pastures barren, with no alternative 
left but to there die of starvation. 
These noble animals, which, under the protection af- 
forded them by the laws of the United States and of the 
State of Wyoming, have thus far been preserved, must 
at last be sacrificed in the interests of the sheep industry. 
One of the most attractive features of the National Park 
is its magnificent fauna. To protect this against a wanton 
destruction, prohibitory laws have been enacted and en- 
forced at much public expense. Shall a few sheep men, 
to enrich themselves, be allowed to render the National 
Park practically a barren game preserve? Will the 
United States Government permit the noble wapiti, the 
property' and pride of the peoplfe of the whole country, 
to be thus destroyed? 
The winter pastures of these animals are almost ex- 
clusively on the public domain. Not one acre covers 
private land. The Secretary of the Interior could, with- 
out doubt, by an order forbid the pastuarge of sheep 
within the well-known pasture ground of these animals. 
Such an order, to be of any avail, should include all the 
public domain lying south of the National Park between 
the longitude of no and m and extending_ to the 44th 
parallel. This would give these animals a winter pasture 
in area about equal to that of the National Park — their 
summer pasture. 
Has neither Wyoming nor any other State a Senator , 
of Representative at Washington who will champion 
the cause of the poor, dumb, helpless wapiti and invoke 
the interposition of the National Government in its be- 
half, to the end that this threatened catastrophe which 
is about to overtake it may be averted? 
Will the sportsmen of the United States and others 
interested in the preservation of these game animals 
stand idly by and permit this great public wrong to be 
committed without entering even as much as a protest 
against it? 
The wanton and needless destruction of buf¥alo which 
was permitted to take place is a standing reproach to the 
people of the United States, and one which will last for- 
ever; and to allow the threatened and inexcusable de- 
struction of the wapiti (next in importance and number 
to the buffalo) to take place will constitute a "mea culpa, 
mea maxima culpa" that ought to cause our people to 
hang their heads with shame. X. X. X. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Duck Flight Still On. 
Chicago, III, March 30.— The unprecedentedly heavy 
flight of ducks which has excited so much interest this 
spring still continues in unabated numbers, although 
already a good body of the birds has passed on to the 
northward. The usual amount of mystery attends the 
actions of the wildfowl, and no one at this wr'ting is 
exactly certain whether the best of the shooting is to 
come or whether it is all going to end suddenly by a 
general north-bound exodus. 
Any duck shooter knows that it takes water to bring 
ducks, and the reason that we have more ducks in In- 
diana and Illinois this spring than we have had for fifteen 
years is that we have more water than we have had 
for fifteen years. The Mississippi River is reaching 
high-water stage, the Illinois River is away out of its 
banks and all the tributaries in this latitude are boiling 
full. Instead of dwindling, trickling streams, our rivers 
and marshes are vast lakes, and our lakes are seas. The 
north-bound fowl coming over such stretches of water 
naturally drop down to stay a while. It is the common 
report that the extremely high water is affording a good 
protection to ducks. They band up far out in the open 
water and hence are practically safe. This is the report 
from Savanna in the western part of Illinois, where there 
are a great many ducks, but where the shoot'ng has not 
been of the best, although some very creditable bags are 
reported. 
Millions of ducks still remain in Indiana and the ex- 
traordinarily good shooting has been a good th-ng for the 
new Indiana game law. The Tolleston marshes are full 
of birds and the members have generally taken out 
licenses. Nor is the general public behind the club mem- 
bers, and scores of shooters who go to Wate'r Valley and 
Shelby go with licenses in the'r pockets, Dick Turtle, 
who is just back to-day from Water Valley, say? that this 
is the second shoot he has had on hh licence. He reports 
literally thousands of ducks in on the overflowed flats of 
that point. He says he did not see many mallards, but 
mostly pintails, and says the latter could hardly be worked 
to any advantage at all. They were out in the open in 
the shallow water, and when put up would go away in a 
vast body, their wings making a roar that could be heard 
for half a mile. They showed the usual pintail perversity 
and refused to work to decoys. Some birds wti'en killed 
showed crops full of corn. It is likely that they go 
out very early in the morning and feed on the cornfields 
and. spend the rest of the day taking care of themselves on 
the marshes. There has been fine mallard shooting in the 
timber along the Illinois River this spring; but just now 
there does not seem to be very many mallards along the 
Kankakee near Water Valley. 
Reports from the lower Illinois River country are con- 
fusing. Mr. Hempstead Washburne, of the Swan Lake 
Club, and Mr. J. V. Clarke, of the Hennepin Club, were 
yesterday expecting telegrams advising them to start, but 
at last accounts had received no word. The country 
around Swan Lake. Lake Senachwine and Hennepin Club 
is literally afloat, and there is any quantity of water for 
the ducks to choose from. It is possible that the birds 
are working a little further north than these points. 
The ice began to move in Fox Lake, 111., this week. 
Shooters who have spent the past week at that point' re- 
ported no sport worth mentioning. The general supposi- 
tion IS that the flight is not yet up to Fox Lake yet Eddie 
Pope, who returned from there the middlde of the week, 
said that when out on the wet prair-es he saw thousands 
of birds going over very high and headed north. Kosh- 
konong. Lake Poygan, Winneconne and the Horicon 
mar.shes would be strong tips this coming week were Wis- 
consin an open State, but it should be remembered that 
sprmg shooting is not now permitted in Wisconsin. 
Hence there will be a splendid body of birds well used to 
the Wi^con^in marshes this spring, and in all Hkelihood 
the fall shooting will be fine. Fox Lake is just south of 
the Wisconsin line. 
The Indiana Law. * 
Shooters should not go down to Indiana on the sup- 
positiori that the new law is not going to be enforced. 
It U being enforced against non-residents, the wardens not 
siding in with the hotel keepers in their beliefs. Mr. 
R. B. Stiles, of Chicago, comments upon the workings of 
the law as below : 
"The people around Rose Lawn are very much onposed 
to th's law. and it being a typical Indiana swamp village, a 
very considerable portion of the people's money is now 
cut off. I was informed that 'deouty game wardens' were 
'selling' licenses at Shelby, and as the law authorizes 
clerks of the Circuit Courts that authority only. I pre- 
sume these 'licenses' are very valuable, and perhaps sold 
below market price of twenty-five bones. 
"The vigilance of the game warden at Shelby is very 
hkely toward collecting fees above all other restrictions 
of the law. a=; I met a traveling pot-hunter who had come 
through Shelby. Thayer and all along the river, having 
ooenly in his wagon two sink-tubs, boat and live decoys 
Shelby is notoriou.sly the field for the sink-tub, and it is 
used by almost all the market-shooters. 
"I have shot on the Kankakee River for fourteen years 
and naturally feel a pang of regret that I will have to 
look elsewhere in future— not that I can't 'raise' the 
twenty-five, but look upon the act as bending to a de- 
liberate and legalized case of hold-up." 
^ Mr. Stile? calls attention to the fact that there is nothing 
in this Indiana law which prohibits non-residents from 
shooting jackcnipe and rabbits. It will seem that the in- 
dustrious legislator exner'ences difficulty in the avoidance 
of loopholes in his handiwork. 
No New Illinois Warden. 
As stated last week, no commission has yet been issued 
by Governor Yates for a new State Game and Fish Com- 
missioner, and advice from Governor Yates to-day states 
that no new warden has as yet been appointed. State 
Warden Harry Loveday is exerting himself to retain the 
office. I do not hear of any organized effort on the part 
of any other candidate, and indeed do not know of any 
other Chicago man who is in the field for the office. 
'♦Chinese'" Quail. 
The heathen Chinese still seems to retain his reputation 
for ways that are dark. Moy Ung, a South Clark street 
Chinese restaurant keeper, this week sprung a trick which 
was vain. He was caught selling quail, which on the bill 
of fare were called Chinese quail. Inquiry proved that 
they came from Kokomo, Ind., and as it is just a little late 
for Kokomo quail, Moy Ung contributed $25 of American 
money with a view to supporting the dignity of our in- 
stitutions. He said he thought Kokomo was in China, but 
he knows different now. 
Wisconsin Acclimatization, 
Mr. Howard Bosworth, of Milwaukee, paid this office 
a visit during the week. Mr. Bosworth, as will be -re- 
membered, was one of the first and most successful 
breeders of Mongolian pheasants in the State of Wiscon- 
sin. His pheasantry was located at his summer place, on 
P'ne Lake, and his superintendent there occasionally took 
a hand at fish protection, with the result that he got some 
local fishermen fined for illegal net fishing. These local 
men resolved to get even, and one night not very long 
ago paid a visit to Mr. Bosworth's pheasant pens. " They 
hammered off the lock of the gate and left it opeii. 
About 300 out of the 500 birds escaped, or, at least, were 
missing on the following morning. There is a bunch of 
about forty of these birds at the head of Pine" Lake and 
another of about twenty-five lives near Mr. Bosworth's 
place. They are at the tender m.ercy of the people, and it 
is up to the birds to prove that they are able to survive 
and hold their own. Every once in a while some farmer 
kills some of them, but there are other farmers who be- 
lieve in protecting them. Mr. Bosworth's experiment in 
acclimatization was somewhat involuntary and a little 
expensive, but it bids fair to solve the question as to the 
game qualities of the Mongolian pheasant. 
Indiana Building a Railroad, 
In Wyoming the Burlington Railroad Co. is building a 
line into the Big Horn country, and the contractors have 
engaged a number of Indians from the Crow reservation 
near by. These Indians were put at handling scrapers, and 
at first they thought the scraper was a good vehicle for a 
chariot race. It took some time for the bosses to settle 
them down, but they are said to make fairly good work- 
men now. 
Another instance of progress in the wild West was in 
evidence here last ^vtek. There is a nfeil ctontrataor otrt 
at Depuyer, Mont., who has a sixty-mile stage route. 
He has taken a notion in his head that an automobile 
would beat a buckboard to death on this run. and he 
commissioned his friend, Joe Kipp, who just left here last 
week, to look into the automobile business for him while 
he was here. I should not be surprised if we should see 
a horseless carriage carrying mail on the Blackfoot reser- 
vation before very long, and ffom that it is only an easy 
stage to equip each cowboy with his own automobile. 
Grofa List for a Mountain Trip, 
That is going to be what my friend Warren Powell, of 
Taylorville, would call a "historical old bear hunt" when 
Joe Kipp and Old Man Brown and Billy Hofer and I. aiid 
maybe Jack Monroe, and certainly a cook or horse wran- 
gler or so meet on the Blackfoot reservation some time 
this month and head into the hills after my long lost 
grizzly. Billy Hofer doesn't belong up in that country, 
and we will probably lose him. but Joe Kipp wants him 
to come up and see what a really feood hunting country 
IS, so Billy has agreed to join us. This is going to be a 
lodge trip. We may allow one little wall tent, but the 
cooking and story-telling is all going to be done in an 
Indian lodge, which is the only kind of a house fit to be 
occupied when one is after his long lost grizzly. We may 
go up Badger Creek, may try 01c Creek, may go to the 
Two Medicine — I don't know where, so only that it is 
away from Chicago. We would rather get far to the 
northwest of the St. Mary's lakes, but that is more than 
100 miles from the base of supplies, and I fear we shall 
not have time. 
Billy Hofer. having nothing but time on his hands, has 
been elected commissary-general. The grub list has been 
placed in his hands, and if it runs short we shall know 
whorn to dislike. He figures on a party of six for twelve 
days in camp the following supplies: 30 pounds pressed 
bacon. 30 pounds side meat. 50 pounds flour. 2 pounds 
cream baking powder, five 3-pound tins of butter. 5 pounds 
of table salt, 5 pounds of coarse salt, 18 cans of St. 
Charles condensed milk, 6 pounds Eagle brand con- 
densed milk. 18 pounds sugar. 10 pounds maple sugar, i 
pound best black tea in four tins, 3 pounds evaporated 
apricots, 5 pounds evaporated apples, 5 pounds evaporated 
peaches, 10 pounds of coffee 20 pounds onions, 80 pounds 
potatoes, 12 cans baked beans, 10 tins i pound each corned 
beef, s pounds navy beans, 12 cans tomatoes, 12 cans jams, 
J4 pound pepper, 5 pounds Graham flour, 4 pounds Petti- 
john's breakfast food, 4 pounds rolled oats. 4 pounds 
farina_, 3 pounds lard, 5 pounds cheese, 4 pounds mac- 
caroni, 4 pounds of rice. 4 bars Ivory soap, 5 yards mus- 
bn. 12 cans succotash. He insists on having a steam 
cooker for the oatmeal, and has itemized several other 
frills, which I have edited out of the scheme. The above 
list may be useful to some one else going into the moun- 
tains, since Billy Hofer has had a long experience in out- 
fitting parties for the mountains. 
Meantime Joe Kipp is out on the reservation putting up 
flags of all the bear dens and getting things ready for 
a sudden start when the rest of us hit the reservation. If 
we had a full month out there it is far more than even 
betting that we would get our bear in the game sack, and 
as it is, we may be lucky enough to run across him. Joe 
says all his bears are trained to fight at the drop of the 
hat. and any grizzly that fails to start to the gun is a 
d sgrace to his tribe. I have hunted grizzlies over one 
hundred days all told one place or another and never was 
lucky enough to see one yet. Maybe Joe is going to de- 
liver the goods— at least, we all hope so. George Thorne. 
of Montgomery. Ward & Co., may go with us, the party 
dividing and meeting at the Summit Station now and 
then just at the crown of the Rockies. It is a lovely 
country, and maybe we will never^ come back, but just 
go on living chiefly by hunting and fishing, as they do 
in the geography. 
What Shall We Do with Them? 
What shall we do with the dog trainer who takes fifty- 
seven dogs to train, who sells a good dog now and then 
and reports it dead to its owner, who returns a dog 
mangy and so're-eyed, and only takes a dog out for exer- 
cise when its owner sends word he is coming to have a 
look at it? What shall we do with such a man as that? 
What shall we do, also, with the sportsman who is a 
bar; who goes into the woods, for instance, and buys a 
big moose which some lumbermen have killed, but whjch 
he never saw until the day after it was shot; who comes 
home and spins a long story of his adventure and his 
steady nerve, posing as that which he is not? What shall 
we do with such a man as that? 
Oddsfish! and also zounds! what a lot of little fakes 
and frauds there are in this sinful world. I wish we 
didn't hear of such things. 
Pretly Slow. 
Mr. F. B. Davidson, the holder of the long-distance 
bait-casting championship of the world, is now, and for 
some months has been, a citizen of New York, his busi- 
ness having been removed from Chicago to the latter 
city. Frank was out here last week, and expressed him- 
self glad to see old friends again. He says New York 
is a nice place, though a trifle slow, and think? it may 
grow if times continue good. 
First Tarpon, 
The first tarpon of the season at the Tarpon • Club, off 
Rockport, Tex., fell to the rod of a Chicago man, Mr. 
Hobart, a fish measuring 6 feet 2 inches. 
Going West. 
Mr. Edward Kemeys, the sculptor of wild animals, has 
owing to failing health, decided this spring to give up 
his Chicago residence for a little while and go out to the 
mounta:ns to live. He will reside at Taos. N. M.. for the 
coming summer. 
Spring Shoofiog Sifoation Good, 
Advice from headquarters of the Michigan anti-spring 
shooting movement, at Saginaw, says that they are peg- 
ging away and hope to succeed in abolishing spring shoot- 
ing for keeps in that State. E. Hough. 
Hartfoed BiraLDiNe, Chicaigo, 111. 
The Forest ahd Stkeau is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication shoald reach us at the 
latest by Mondar and as mwsh earlier aa tnmctieable. 
