New Siberian Elk. 
At a meeting of the Zoological Society of London, held 
Feb. i8» Mr. R. Lydekker exhibked two pairs of antlers 
and the skull of an elk from Siberia, which had been 
furnished by Mr. Rowland Ward. The district from 
which they come lies beyond the Altai Mountain?. In 
presenting the material, Mr, Lydekker called attention to 
the fact that although the specimens belonged to adult 
animals, as shown by the teeth, the antlers were prac- 
tically without palmation. This characteristic appeared 
to him sufficient to warrant the giving of a specific name, 
Alces bedfordice, to this Siberian elk. 
Wild Sheep for New York. 
It is announced that the Zoological Society's Park in 
the Bronx will shortly receive a young male moun- 
tain sheep. The animal is said to have been captured in 
the Southwest, by a Mexican, and to have been purchased 
by Mr. W. M. Harriman, as a gift to the New York 
Zoological Society. If it reaches here in safety it will 
be the first American wild sheep that the Society has 
exhibited. 
B^s m & 0 m 
Proprietors of shooting: resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Foskbt abd St&eah. 
- A Big-Game Hunting Trip to 
Jackson's Hole Country. 
, In Two Parts — Part Two. 
The next morning Leak and I packed our sleeping bags 
and some grub on a pack horse and left camp for a two 
days' side trip through Two Ocean Pass and the Conti- 
nental Divide to Jay Creek and the Yellowstone River, a 
distance of about twenty-five miles from camp, intending 
to hunt along the way. Both Atlantic and Pacific creeks 
head in the Divide, and at their source are but three feet 
apart. I filled my cup half with Atlantic Creek water and 
half Pacific Creek water, and we sat down and ate our 
lunch, sitting between the two creeks. Atlantic Creek 
flows into Yellowstone River, and finally into the Atlantic 
Ocean. Pacific Creek flows into Snake River, and finally 
nto Pacific Ocean. We saw a beaver dam and a beaver 
iouse. The dam was four feet high and twenty feet 
yide, damming the water back to that height, all built 
:mt of twigs, willows, etc. — materiaL with which man 
rould not construct such a dam if given a year in which 
to do it. 
We got to Yellowstone River about 4 P. M., but did 
not see any evidences of game, and so decided to return 
to Jay Creek, about four miles, and go into camp there. 
We did so, and got there a few minutes before dark. Just 
as we were crossing a little park. I riding behind, heard 
a noise and turned just quick enough to see an immense 
big bull elk cross the edge of the park some fifty yards 
from us, running like the wind. We rode about one-eighth 
of a mile further on and found an old camp used last 
year by Uncle Jack, an old settler who camped there 
with a party, and from which camp they got several 
bear. While Leak was making camp I took my gun and 
went back and got on the trail of the elk, and followed 
it a short distance, but it soon got too dark, and I could 
only see that he had gone up the canon. I returned to 
camp and found Leak, had a good fire made and supper 
pretty nearly ready. After supper we sat around the 
campfire until 9, and then went back under the trees, and 
I went to bed in my sleep-'ng bag, and although it was my 
first experience sleeping in the open air, I slept well all 
night. I told Leak when I turned in that if any grizzlies 
came around and scratched my hair he would hear me 
hollo, but none came. 
We had decided we would get up at daylight, and 
after an early breakfast start on foot up the creek after 
the elk. The next morning we were up early, and after 
a hasty breakfast we left camp on foot at 6:20. Crossing 
the creek, we went up the canon ; after about an hour's 
still-hunt, slipping quietly through the timber, we came 
out on the edge of a little park, and just ahead of us, 
coming out of the timber on the other side of the same 
park, was our elk. I only saw the point of his horns 
moving between the bushes, but knew it was he, and 
called Leak and dropped to my knees. I slipped forward 
as quickly as I could, each moment getting closer. He 
came toward us some little distance and then turned up 
the side of the canon. When about 125 yards distant I 
fired, hitting him just back of the shoulder. He flinched 
and started to run ; I fired again before he got into the 
timber, hitting him in the side, and then after him we 
went on the run, as fast as we could. We came up to 
him after a hard chase of about five minutes, and I 
finished him. W"e found him a fine five-point, perfectly 
formed, and I was very proud of him, as he had given us 
a chase long to be remembered. Well, after taking off 
his head and a good supply of meat, and preparing what 
remained for bear bait, we hit the trail for camp, packing 
his head and some meat on our backs, and packing up, set 
out at 11 for our permanent camp, where we dined about 
5:30, and found Porch and Charley were there ahead 
of us, reporting no further success. Leak and I felt that 
at last since we had broken the ice we could now hope 
for more success. 
I shot at a coyote on our way in, but again missed him. 
Up to this time we had seen game every day, but on our 
next day's hunt we failed to see anything, although we 
hunted hard all day. 
The following day we decided to do little. Porch and 
Charley went up the ridge to see if they could see any- 
thing of some elk he had shot at the day before, but 
came in a couple of hours later, reporting they had seen 
nothing of them. Leak and I decided to ride up the 
cation and look for bear. When about two hours out, 
while slipping quietly up a dark canon, we heard a growl 
and caught a glimpse of a black head sticking up over a 
log, and one bullet from my .30-40 permitted us to carry 
a fine bear hide into camp. 
FOft&ST AN 3D STREAM. 
The next morning Charley and I took a pack horse, 
loaded our sleeping bags, blankets and three days' provi- 
sions and left camp at 9:30 for the top of the mountains 
tb hunt sheep, and to try to get an elk on the way. We 
rode down North Fork Buffalo Creek to and up Soda 
Spring Fork. We rode through a fine big-game country, 
stopping at Soda Spring to get a drink" of natural soda 
water, which runs out of the side of the canon in a good- 
sized stream. About 1 130 we arrived at the head of Soda 
Spring Fork Creek, and saw a nice waterfall just where it 
comes out of the mountain. The water rushes out of the 
side of the canon and* pours down over rncks about 
twelve inches deep, and about twenty feet wide. We took 
a picture of it and then passed on. 
About five minutes after we rode out into a park, and 
when out in full view we saw ahead of us on the opposite 
side of the park a b:g bull elk. I saw at once that he. 
was an unusually big specimen, and quickly jumped off 
my horse. The distance, I thought, was too far to shoot, 
but also knew it was my only chance, as we were then in 
full view, and before we could get back out of sight he 
would have gone. I dropped on my knee, and taking 
unusually careful aim, I fired. He staggered, and I knew 
he was hit hard. I quickly fired again as he ran, and 
saw him stagger again. He ran behind trees, and just as he 
came into view again fired, and missed, and just as he w r as 
going up the hill at the edge of the park I fired again, and 
he dropped down full length. I ran forward and found him 
dead. Charley now came up with the horses, and the 
first thing he did was to say, ''That was sure good 
shooting." 
We examined him, and Charley said he was the. biggest 
elk he had ever seen, but not fat. He had a fine head, per- 
fectly formed, 48 inches spread, length of main beams 
47 r /4 inches. My first shot was fired at 225 yards, while 
the last one was just 300 yards. We took off the head, 
and after getting some more meat, rolled him down the 
hill behind a big rock, in the. hope that he would prove a 
good bear bait. 
Loading up the head and meat, we again ''hit the trail," 
going into camp about an hour later, alongside of a- 
lake about one-quarter mile long by one-eighth of a mile 
wide, near the top of the mountains. After making a 
good fire, we cooked supper, sat around the campfire, then 
turned into our sleeping bags and slept very well until 
morning. 
We woke up at 6, and after breakfast started to hunt 
sheep. About 9 we sighted a big bull elk on the top of 
the mountains. We rode over toward him; dismount- 
ing, watched him lie down at the top of a deep canon 
about one-half mile distant. Taking my kodak, we slipped 
up (the wind and lay of the ground being all in our 
favor) until within fifty yards of him. When we got 
there we found he had gotten up and was walking slowly 
across our front to the left. We stood out in plain 
sight, perfectly still ; he looked at us, and we saw he had 
a fine big head with six points on one side and seven on 
the other. I snapped a complete picture of him. All 
the while he would stand gazing at us for a moment, then 
he would take a few steps, then toss his head and whistle, 
then stand and repeat, and so continued for some minutes. 
At last I started to walk, and he instantly gave a whistle 
and toss of head of alarm, and away he went, passing 
soon out of sight He presented a magnificent 'sight, and 
I felt glad I had already shot my full number of elk and 
was not allowed to shoot him, although his head was one 
of the few exceptions. We proceeded to look for sheep, 
and although we hunted hard all day, I saw none, so we 
returned to our temporary camp. 
When we got up in the morning we found the ground 
covered with snow, with snow an inch deep over our 
beds. We again hunted sheep all day, but saw none. We 
sat down and ate our lunch at the head of the Gray Bull, 
the stream on which Ernest Seton Thompson wrote and 
founded his story of Wahb in his "Biography of the 
Grizzly." The scenery at the head of this creek is the 
most rugged and wildest one could imagine, consisting 
of one sharp mountain peak after another, with deep, 
rocky canons between each, rising almost straight up to 
heights of about 3,000 feet. Returning to camp, we 
packed up at 4 and started down the canon, camping just 
before dark about one-quarter mile from where we had 
shot our elk. 
During the night it again snowed, and 6 o'clock found 
us up and on our way, slipping through the timber and 
snow to the remains of our elk, to see if we could not find a 
bear at it, but found nothing but a coyote, and he ran 
away before we got a chance to shoot. So, after re- 
turning to our temporary camp and getting breakfast, we 
packed up and started for our permanent camp, twenty-five 
miles distant, where we arrived at noon on Thursday, 
having been away since early Monday morning, and having 
been on an altitude of from 10,000 to 12 500 feet all the 
time. We found the temperature decidedly colder and 
lots of snow. 
During our absence Porch and Leak had paid a visit 
to my first elk, on Jay Creek and Two Ocean Pass, re- 
turning to camp about 7 o'clock, bringing in a young 
grizzly bear, which he had shot early in the morning. 
They also reported Porch had shot his second elk just 
before coming to camp, making two elk for each of us — , 
all we were permitted under the State law. We had four 
choice heads, and in size they exceeded our expectations. 
The next morning Charley and Porch went out to 
bring in his elk head, which he had shot the day before, 
about two miles from camp, while Leak and I left camp, 
intending to ride over through Two Ocean Pass. Arriving 
at the foot of a gulch we left our horses and started up 
through the timber. We had gone but a short distance 
when we heard an awful racket and growls, and thought 
at first there must be several bear ahead of us, and we 
were more careful, slipping along without any noise and 
keeping a sharp lookout on all sides, both of us carrying 
our guns for quick shooting. When we came in sight we 
saw a good-sized brown bear, and I quickly shot, drop- 
ping him instantly. _ It commenced to rain and sleet, and 
while Leak was taking off the hide I walked up the canon 
about a quarter of a mile to see if I might run on to some- 
thing else. I took a stand in the shadow of a tree, and 
although I waited almost an hour, while it continued a 
steady downpour of rain and sleet, I saw nothing. Re- 
turning, I found Leak had just finished taking off the bear 
hide, and we got our horses, and after a little excitement 
in trying to get on them with the bear hide, an occur- 
rence that is sure to accompany any attempt to go near I 
the horses after working around bear, we rode to camp j 
through a cold, driving rain, that wet us thoroughly be- 
fore we reached camp, which we did about 2 o'clock. We ! 
soon changed clothes and spent the rest' of the afternoon 1 
drying ottt_ our wet clothes and preparing and stretching 
the bear hides. This has been a very lucky camp. We ! 
have each gotten two elk and two bear from it, Porch 
having had the luck to shoot his first cne, a big black , 
bear, and a young grizzly, while I have shot a black and a 
brown bear. We seem to be followed with more than usual 
good luck, as up to this time we had hunted just twelve 
days and had four bear, four elk, one coyote— nine heads 
in all. 
The weather so far had been most miserable part of 
the time. Any amount of snow, sleet and rain, but we 
had hunted through it every day, and this same bad 
weather added very largely to our success, as game is 1 
more generally on the move during bad weather, while 
the rain obliterated the signs made by us in traveling 
around. 
We have had an endless variety of meat, trout, grouse, 
ducks, bear and elk. Brook trout were plentiful; we 
could catch all we could use in less than an hour at any 
time. Porch caught three trout 19K inches long in one- 
half hour. Although I had never before cast a line, I 
caught five fine trout for supper one even'ng in less than 
an hour; within twenty minutes thereafter they had been 
baked and were on our supper table. Elk were in as 
prime condition and as fat as any well-fed cattle. One 
of those I killed had fat four inches thick. Ward, our 
camp cook, dried and smoked some elk meat for us, which 
we afterward took home in good condition, and also got 
a nice lot of bear's oil from the bears we had shot. 
The two following days were spent hunting as usual, 
but without any marked success, and on the following 
Monday morning we decided to break camp and "hit the 
trail" for the antelope country, to try our luck on black- 
tail deer, antelope and perhaps make another attempt to 
get a mountain sheep. So after packing up we started 
about 11 o'clock for the antelope country, Porch and I 
leaving camp about two hours ahead of the pack outfit, 
and following the directions given us we had no difficulty 
in keeping the trail until after we passed Soda Spring 
Fork, going down the North Fork of the Buffalo, but 
after passing that point we soon lost the trail, and for 
the next four miles we, as it were, made our own trail. 
After wandering around for about one mile, during 
which time we found and lost the trail, or rather what 
little there was of it, repeatedly, Porch stopped and said 
he would go no further. I told him we were undoubtedly 
off the trail, and if we stopped there the outfit would 
pass us, and so I pushed on alone. I got into all kinds 
of places, none more serious, however, than to get my 
horse "mired." I got off, and after three attempts he 
pulled himself out, and I airi free to confess I don't 
think I drew a good breath until we were out on the 
bank again. At last I got to the South Fork, but there 
found a bluff 500 feet high straight down to the creek. 
After hunting around for some time, I luckily found a 
trail along the side of the canon, over which I succeeded 
in getting down, and there at the forks of the creek I 
sat down to wait, and I had a lcng one of it, for it was 
just four hours afterward that the outfit arrived. Porch 
got there a few minutes before them. 
After the arrival of the outfit we left Buffalo Creek 
and w;ent up the side of the canon to Black Rock Creek, 
traveling one and one-half miles in one and one-half hours 
over the roughest combination of swamps, dead and down 
timber, and steep climbing, we ever struck. My horse 
fell over a pile of logs into a swamp, and it Was a 
scramble as io whether I or the horse had the right to 
be on top. Several of the pack horses were down at 
different places, and Porch's horse made good his name 
by bucking at a little gully and refusing to cross it. After 
several unsuccessful attempts to get him over, Porch at 
last dismounted and got behind with a pole, while one 
of the men led him. Little Buck jumped at least twelve 
feet. Finally, however, we reached the top of the canon 
and went into camp for one night on Black Rock Creek, 
near the Military Road, calling our camp Break Neck 
Camp, putting up a notice of the name and adding to it a 
sign bearing this inscription: "If you go one-half mile 
from this camp without breaking your neck you will be 
lucky." 
We got away the next morning at 9:30 after a good 
night's rest, and taking the Military Road — a road con- 
structed by the Government — leading from Fort Yellow- 
stone east to Fort Wassiker, some 200 miles distant, we 
traveled east for a distance of some eight miles to the 
top of the Divide. Near Two-go-tee Pass we left the 
road and traveled south to the head of Fish Creek, and 
then down Fish Creek until within about two miles of 
its mouth, where it empties into Gros Ventre River, 
some twelve miles east of where Porch and I shot antelope 
a year previous, and there went into camp at 4:30. having 
been in the saddle continuously for seven hours, and 
we were all pretty tired. Nothing of particular interest 
happened during the day, other than that one of the 
pack horses — Old Baldie— got his pack loose and then 
started to run, stopping only after he had scattered his 
pack all along the trail for about one-half mile, causing 
us to spend an hour getting the stuff together again. 
About 10 o'clock the next morning found us on the 
way again, traveling down Fish Creek to its mouth, then 
up Gros Ventre River to its source, in the Gros Ventre 
Mountains, where we camped for the night. The ride 
was mostly up a wide valley, until about 4, when we 
got into the mountains again. It was while traveling up 
this valley that we met an outfit on its way from the 
Hoback Basin to the country we had just left. It was in 
charge of McBride, of Jackson's Hole, as guide, and 
party consisted of Mr. Philips and Mr. Roth, both of 
Pittsburg, Pa. We had a short chat with them, that was 
of more than usual interest, as although they had left 
the Hole the same date we had. they had seen a Denver 
paper dated Sept. 11, and it was they who first informed 
us of the attempted assassination of President McKinley 
at the Buffalo Exposition on the 8th, and that it was 
thought the President would recover. Although the 
18th, this was the only news we had received since we 
left the railroad. We went into camp that night in the 
highest peak of the mountain, on an altitude of 12,500 
feet, and found it very much colder. 
