Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1903, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co». 
Tbrms, $i A Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. I 
Six Months, $2. j 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1903. 
( VOL. LX.— No. 6. 
( No. 846 Broadway, New York. 
The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of entertain- 
ment, instruction and information between American sportsmen. 
The editors Invite communications on the subjects to which its 
fiages at-e devoted. Anonymous Communications v^'ill not be re- 
garded; While it is intended to give v/ide latitude in discussion 
of eUrieht topics, the editors are not tesponsible for the Views of 
CorreSpbhdents; 
Subscriptions may begin at iny tirhi. Terms: Por slngfg 
cbpieS; I4 per year, $2 for six months. For club tateS and full 
Jiariiriilars fespecfing siibscriptions. see pfospectus on page iii. 
AfJ INDIAN CHIEF. 
WHITE CALF, CHIEF OF THE BLACKFEET, DIEI) AT WASHING- 
TON, JAN. 29, 1963. 
For sixty years as boy, 5^oung man and fierce warrior 
he had roamed the prairie, free as the other wild crea- 
tures who traversed it, and happy in his freedom. 
He had been but a little fellow when the w^hite men 
first eame into the country to trade, but he was old 
though to have been present, and was well enough 
thought of in the tribe, at tbe signing of GoY. Steven's 
treaty with the Prairie People in I855, to dffix his mafk 
—as The Feather— to that paper. As ytt the coming of 
the white man meant little to him and to his people. It 
furnished them a market for their robes and furs, for 
which they received in exchange guns and ammunition, 
which made them more than ever terrible to their ene- 
mies. The Avhole broad prairie was still theirs to camp 
on and to hunt over. Their lodges were pitched along 
the streams from the Red Deer River on the north to 
the Elk River on the south, and their war journeys ex- 
tended south to the country of the Mexicans. 
More than twenty years ago happened the greatest 
misfoi-tunb that evef came to hiS tribe. The buffalo dis- 
appeared and never -returned. From this time forth they 
were forced to depend on the food given them by the 
white men, and, in order to receive that food, they were 
obliged to stay in one place, to confine themselves to that 
little corner of ground, their reservation. 
Long before this he had become the chief of his tribe — 
the father of his people. Already he was putting their 
welfare before his own, was thinking first of them and 
of himself last. 
For it was the duty of a chief to look out for the well- 
being of his people ; to care for the widows and orphans ; 
to make peace between those who quarrel; to give his 
whole heart and his whole mind to the work of helping 
his people to be happy. Such were the duties that the old 
time chief studied to perform. And since on his example 
and his precept so much depended, he must be a man who 
was brave in war, generous in disposition, liberal in tem- 
per, deliberate iti making up his mind, and of good judg- 
ment. Such men gave themselves to their work with heart 
and soul, and strove for the welfare of those in their 
charge with an earnestness and a devotion that perhaps is 
i^ot equalled by any other rulers of men. 
And this devotion to his fellows was not without its in- 
fluence on the man himself; after a time the spirit of 
good will which animated him began to shine forth in his 
c:ountenance, so that at length, and as they grew old, 
such chiefs came to have the beneficent and kindly ex- 
pression that we may sometimes see on the countenance 
of an elderly minister of God whose life has been one 
long loving sacrifice of self to his Maker and to his fellow 
men. And if the face was benevolent and kindly, not less 
sweet and gentle was the spirit that animated the man. 
Simple, honest, generous, tender hearted, and yet withal 
on occasion meny and jolly. Such men, once known, 
commanded universal respect and admiration. They were 
like the conventional notion of Indians in nothing save in 
the color of the skin. They were true friends, delightful 
companions, wise counsellors — men whose conduct toward 
their fellow men we all might profitably imitate. We do 
not commonly attribute a spirit of altruism to Indians, 
but it was seen in these old time chiefs. 
Such a chief was White Calf, long chief of the Blackfeet. 
In his day he had been- a famous warrior, and in the 
battle which took place in 1867, when the great chief 
Many Horses was killed, White Calf with two others 
had rushed into a great crowd of the enemy — ^the Crows 
and Gros Ventres — who were trying to kill Wolf Calf, 
even then an old man, and, scattering them like smoke 
before the wind, had pulled the old man out of the crush 
and brought him safely oS. It was not long after this 
that he put aside the war path forever, and since then 
had confined himself to working for the good of his 
people by the arts of peace. No sacrifice was too great 
for him to make, if he thought that by it the tribe might 
be helped; yet he possessed a sturdy independence that 
bullying and intimidation could not move— even that 
threats of soldiers and the guard house could not shake. 
When he was sure that he was right he could not be 
stirred. Yet if reasons were advanced which appealed to 
his judgment, no man was quicker to acknowledge error. 
Though nearly 80 years old, the chief was not bowed 
with the weight of time nor were his natural forces 
greatly abated. He was still erect and walked with a 
briskness and an elasticity rare for one of his years. Yet 
in a degree he felt that his powers were failing, and he 
sometimes avoided the decision of important questions on 
the ground that he was getting old and his mind was no 
longer good. 
A little more than two weeks ago he stood in the 
presence of the Chief Magistrate of the nation, who shook 
him warmly by the hand and talked to htm and the others 
of his people present. A few days later, just as they were 
about to leave Washington for their distant prairie home, 
the old chief caught cold, pneumonia set in, and just be- 
fore midnight on the 29th of January, he peacefully 
passed away. 
He was a man who was great in the breadth of 
Iris judgment, and in the readiness with which he 
recognized the changes which he and his people were 
now obliged to face and adapted himself to these 
changes; but greatest of all, in the devotion that he felt 
for his tribe, and in the way in which he sacrificed him- 
self for their welfare. Buffalo hunter, warrior, savage 
ruler and diplomat; then learner, instructor, persuader 
and encourager in new ways; he was always the 
father of the people. Just as for many years, he had been 
constantly serving them, so now, at the end of his long 
chieftainship, he gave up his life in the successful effort 
to protect them from a great calamity. 
SNAP SHOTS. 
North Carolina is considering the imposition of a 
license fee upon the non-resident shooter. The scheme 
has its origin with the Audubon Society, and the purpose 
15- to provide funds for the employment of game wardens. 
Public opinion in North Carolina is reported to he 
warmly in support of the proposition. This is not to be 
AYondered at, for it means the protection of game for 
resident and visitor alike, but altogether at the expense 
of the visitor. That is a scheme much in favor nowadays. 
The non-resident tax idea has taken hold upon the New 
York Forest, Fish and Game Commission. In the current 
report is a recommendation to tax the non-resident $50 
unless he happen to be a member of an incorporated club. 
1 his proposal is contained in the same report which esti- 
mates that "millions of dollars are annually spent because 
of the attractions of the woods and waters for health and 
pleasure seekers and sportsmen." A non-resident hunting 
license fee of $50 would he just the thing if the purpose 
were to confine Adirondack hunting to the ultra-wealthy 
who can afford to pay an added $50 for their sport 
without feeling it; but the excessive fee would, of course, 
be prohibitory as to the average man. New York can well 
afford to continue to extend, as now, a warm welcome to 
the sportsmen of the country at large to visit the Adiron- 
dacks to hunt and fish and enjoy the woods and the 
waters and the mountains. If for these outdoor privileges 
the State is to tax one. let it tax all, not the non-resident 
deer hunter only for hunting deer, but the non-resident 
angler for taking trout, the non-resident hotel guest and 
cottager and the camper.^ It takes money to propagate 
fish, why should not the non-resident pay for his fish? 
It takes money to paj' for protecting the forests, why not 
make the non-resident pay for his enjoyment of them? 
The system formerly in operation in this State govern- 
ing the possession of game in close season was one of ab- 
solute prohibition. By the terms of the law a dealer who 
had a stock of game on hand at the end of the open 
season for selling was given the alternative of selling it, 
sending it out of the State for cold storage, or storing it 
clandestinely in the city. Some dealers shipped their 
surplus to Boston or across the river to New Jersey ; 
some kept it in New York cold Storage vaults, as witness 
the Arctic Freezer Company seizure now before the 
courts. Last year a new system was provided by amend- 
ment of the law, whereby dealers were permitted to retain 
in storage whatever game they had on hand at the close 
of the season, and to keep it in bond, duly inspected and 
sealed by the authorities. This change was favored by the 
Forest, Fish and Game Commission, and when the law 
went into effect at the close of the season. Chief Protector 
Pond and his assistants visited New York and bonded the 
game. An amendment to repeal this provision and to 
restore the old system has been introduced by Assembly- 
man Wainright. 
The theory upon which the bonding system was advo- 
cated was that its operation would remove from reputable 
game dealers the hardship of destroying a valuable stock, 
and would give them an opportunity to retain their sur- 
plus game, dealing honestly with the State and being 
secured in their property rights. It was further assumed 
that by reason of the bonding the dishonest dealer wonld 
be prevented from disposing of his stock illicitly in the 
close season. The theory upon which the system was op- 
posed, and we opposed it, was that the enlarged oppor- 
tunity to store game would encourage the overstocking 
of the market, and would in consequence stimulate the 
killing for market. If a dealer could sell or keep his 
game, he would be very apt to buy more lavishly and 
acquire a larger stock than if he were given only the 
open season for selling it and must then destroy or dis- 
pose of what he had on hand. The actual operation of 
the law should have demonstrated which of these theories 
was the right one. 
It 
A newspaper published in Cody, Wyo., comes to hand 
with a suggestion that every non-resident of the State 
should be prohibited, under penalty of a tremendous fine, 
, from killing big game within the borders of Wyoming. 
As there are numerous citizens of Wyoming who for 
their subsistence depend largely upon what they can 
■ make out of the no«-resident sportsmen for whom they 
serve as outfitters, packers and guides, it is clear that the 
Cody editor will not find public sentiment and unanimous 
hoop-la in support of his medijEval proposition. A person 
who proposes seriously to keep non-resident hunters out 
of Wyoming shows his ignorance of the commercial value 
of big game on the hoof. In the wilderness where cash is 
scarce and barter is the rule, the money brought in and 
expended by the non-resident for pack horses and saddle 
horses and provisions and guides and cooks and acces- 
sories is sometimes about all the actual cash the recipients 
receive from one year's end to the other. The money 
is extremely acceptable to the men in the mountains. The 
next proposition to come from the logical Cody editor will 
be for a law prohibiting outsiders from buying cattle and 
horses in Wyoming. 
We referred last week to the preposterous bill of 
Assemblyman Coutant, at Albanj', to tax the non-resident 
of a county $25 for the privilege of shooting in any one 
town in the county. Mr. Coutant has been a laughing 
stock for the newspapers throughout the State, with the 
single exception of the Kingston Freeman, which takes 
Mr. Coutant in dead earnest, and hails the bill as a 
m.easure of lofty statesmanship. The Freeman editor has 
for many years been waging against the sportsmen of 
New York a campaign which, we feel confident, would 
produce the greatest consternation among tHem if they 
should ever happen to find out about it. From this day 
henceforth let it not be said that we have failed in our 
duty of warning them against the ferocious Kingston 
man. 
I* 
Something of what money value the protection of 
game in this country represents is hinted in a remark 
quoted on another page from the London Spectator, that 
the deer killed in New York last year amounted to a num- 
ber which "at the ordinary rate reckoned per stag in Scot- 
land (£40) would represent a sporting outlay of 
£169,000." In other words, the man who killed deer in 
the public lands of the North Woods enjoys a privilege 
for which the Scotch deer hunter would pay $200 ; and the 
total cost of the deer so reckoned for a year would 
amount to $845,000. These figures are fallacious, for no 
such value attaches to game in this country. Neverthe- 
less it costs many a successful deer hunter more th:\n, 
$200 to get his venison. 
