182 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 7, 1903. 
— m — 
A Trip to Wyoming, 
On September 21, 1902, four determined sportsmen 
boarded the Chicago flyer of the New York Central 
Railroad en route for the happy hunting grounds of 
Wyoming. The party consisted of Mr. A. Kuttrofif of 
New York, Mr. Carl Kuttroff of Sttittgart, Germany, 
Mr. Carl Buenz, and Dr. A. Caille, both of New York, 
Mr. K., alias the "Governor," carried the wampum 
belt, and the time-tables. He went hunting to recu- 
perate from the exertions of managing a large busi- 
ness, and because he was flush, having just received his 
salary as director of various charitable institutions. 
His brother, alias "Big Germany," a retired army of- 
ficer, had come here to "do" America, and we think 
he got his money's worth. Mr. B, alias "the Count," 
a noted German diplomat, who had personally con- 
ducted Prince Henry, and who was convalescent from 
the many dinners, went hunting for the purpose of 
casting off fourteen pounds of superfluous adipose tis- 
sue which had accumulated under the process. The 
Doctor went hunting because he doesn't know ".ny bet- 
ter, having been raised in Iowa on the banks of the 
Mississippi, where his blood became tainted with for- 
est and stream. Moreover, he is out of a job in the 
summer, as he has the knack of patching up his pa- 
tients to last to Thanksgiving Day. He wasn't suf- 
ficiently steeped in crime to entitle him to a regular 
"alias," but on rare and festive occasions when the re- 
lations betwen him and the "Count" became delight- 
fully strained, owing to a difference of opinion on the 
Monroe Doctrine, or the immortality of the soul, the 
Count would raise a warning finger and say in an im- 
pressive voice, "Beware, Iowa!" whereupon the Doc- 
tor invariably tendered a long-drawn peace protocol 
in the shape of a mild "Perfecto," and the affair ended 
in smoke, much to the satisfaction of the peaceful 
members of the party. 
The Chicago flyer is a "cracker-jack," but a passen- 
ger who will stand on the rear platform of the observa- 
tion car will be underground or under dust long before 
the train reaches the nearest suburban graveyard. 
Should this meet the eyes of the directors of the road 
we would suggest crude petroleum for the roadbed, as 
we want to go hunting again some daj'. At Chicago 
we were taken in tow by three of the loveliest men in 
creation, the Messrs. Miller and Mr. Poucher, business 
friends of our Governor. They gave us the freedom 
of the city and the courtesies of the Chicago Athletic 
Club and of the slaughter houses. At the Armour 
Company's establishment, where everything is saved 
but the squeal, we saw eight hundred hogs killed in 
one hour, and observed their progress and evolution 
into sausage, deviled ham and other delicacies. We 
think it unnecessary, however, that the hogs should 
be dropped alive into the scalding-vat, in which we 
have seen them swim about. Should this meet the eye 
of the jolly pig-sticker, he might oblige the pigs and 
do his work a little more thoroughly, even though 
Sarah Bernhardt, when she witnessed the slaughter, 
called it "grande and magnifique." The trip from 
Chicago to St. Paul, and from St. Paul to Livingston, 
Montana, over the Northern Pacific R. R., was im- 
eventful. The train service and accommodations were 
very good. After crossing the Mississippi we tra- 
versed twelve hundred miles of prairie, into the region 
of the Bad Lands and the cowboys. Many of the rail- 
road towns are prosperous in appearance. Others are 
simply a string of saloons with highfalutin names. The 
cowboys are either in the saddle or in the saloon. 
Their vault from the saloon to the saddle is less im- 
posing than vice versa. At Livingston, Montana, we 
met our guide, D. B. Sheffield. It did not take us 
long to size him up as the right man. He has seen 
the ups and downs of life. He has been Indian scout 
and deputy sheriff and has hung seven desperadoes. 
He is a great hunter, and he hunts like an Indian scout 
day long without resting. He is passionately fond of 
Turkish cigarettes, which he calls "coffin-nails." 
Ben had arranged to attend to the outfitting. There- 
fore, we had brought only our personal effects, and 
guns and ammunition. For the eight-day trip to oiir 
permanent camp, at Buffalo Fork, Snake Rivet, 
Wyoming, we took a warm suit, an overcoat, and 
Arctics. We stopped over night at the local hotel in 
Livingston, and the next morning we took the local 
train for Cinnabar. Our train-ride was enlivened by 
the presence of the jolly delegation of Heinze politi- 
cians whose good humor was only exceeded by their 
capacity for fire-water and chewing tobacco. We 
were pleased to meet and make the acquaintance of 
Dr. Way, a local dentist, who left us at Jackson's Lake, 
and got two fine elk heads in that neighborhood all 
by himself. At Cinnabar we met the outfit, one spring 
wagon for the tenderfeet, two large transport wagons 
for tents, provisions, etc., eighteen horses, Jim the 
cook, Ed the packer, and two additional Wyoming 
guides, Smithy and Collins. We also took along three 
bear dogs. We soon came into the region of the sage 
bush and crossed into the Yellowstone Park. 
At the Mammoth Spring Station, we were hospitably 
received by Major Pitcher, the reservation command- 
ant, to whom we had cards and who introduced us also 
to Gen. Cobbe, of the United States Army. Our 
guns were sealed and we wended our way with a 
hearty "Good luck" from the Major. It is not the in- 
tention of the writer to describe the Yellowstone Park. 
Favored by the finest of weather, we traversed the 
hundred-mile park, getting into a higher altitude all 
the time until we finaly reached the great Continental 
divide, at an altitude of almost 9,000 feet. We crossed 
the divide three times, and drank water from a brook 
which flows in two directions, and ultimately reaches 
the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. We met only one 
large hunting party coming out of the woods, and ex- 
changed courtesies. This party had been very success- 
ful in getting game, and had a number of magnificent 
horns to show up. We afterwards learned that we had 
met the Rev. Dr. Rainsford, of New York, who is w6ll 
known in this section as an advocate of outdoor life. 
We also exchanged greetings with a small party from 
the_ East who were traveling to Jackson's Lake. Two 
ladies in the party wore knickerbockers and rode 
astride, and had Nature's red roses on their cheeks 
from the exhilarating exercise. 
We saw the spouting geysers by the hundreds, and 
boiling geysers and mud geysers in close proximity to 
hot streams and cold streams where the speckled trout 
wihk the other eye and won't bite, else they might 
have been caught and boiled without- taking them oft' 
the hook. We were lost in admiration of the beauties 
of the Yellowstone Lake region, with the green foot- 
hills, and the rocky iceclad mountain-peaks of the 
Teton Range in the distance. We camped wherever 
we found good drinking-water, and at night the horses 
were hobbled and allowed to shift for themselves, feed- 
ing on the succulent grass for which Wyoming is noted. 
On our long' tramps, we sang and whistled and joked 
and acted for all the world like four overgrown school- 
boys. The Count would frequently entertain us from 
his fund of personal reminiscence. He had traveled 
in all parts of the globe and had met Bismarck and 
kings and queens, and all kinds of .big people. The 
Count is a most entertaining raconteur, and he is a 
great lover of the United States, its people and its in- 
stitutions. Big Germany is a gentleman of quiet 
tastes, who had seen service in the Franco-Prussian 
war. He was the best shot of us all, and what he 
did not know about the guns and the ammunition of all 
nations and of all times wasn't worth knowing. But 
when it came to sizing up the potential energy of a 
beautiful hand in cards, he was "vis a vis dc rien," and 
if we had played for money he would have been com- 
pelled to pawn his watch and wearing apparel at the 
ranch of Hell-roaring Jack, which was the first ranch 
we struck after leaving the Park. Our Governor, on 
the other hand, was not averse to a little game of 
cards, and his score was as high as the electric peak 
of the Rockies. He usually acted as the moderator in 
our party. He never lost his patience, and his author- 
ity was never disputed. But he also had his failings. 
He could tell in the darkest night the time of day by 
pressing the button of a fine repeating watch, and he 
would urge -us.^to. get up and wash up in icy water long 
before the 'coyotes about the camp had got through 
howling for breakfast. 
At Jackson's Lake we settled down for a few days. 
It was at this camp that we first had occasion to ad- 
mire and praise the culinary art of our cook, Jim. 
Heretofore he had regaled us with tin-can fodder and 
the .eternal sowbelly. Now the menu ran as follows: 
,Trout, venison, partridge, rice, prunes, French pota- 
toes, Spanish pancakes with maple syrup, coffee, tea. 
Oh, such food, and oh, such appetites! We certainly 
loved Jim. His good-natured "All together now" will 
never be forgotten, and if Jim would only leave 
.whisky alone in the winter he would be fit to walk 
right into the halls of Congress. 
At Jackson's Lake the party had its first general 
cleansing bee. A small army tent was rigged up as a 
•bathroom and barber shop, with a real live fire to 
make it comfortable, and each man trotted out his rub- 
ber bath-tub. Iowa had the best tub, because it was 
a corrugated, straight-front affair, it could stand on its 
<5wn bottom, and held water without coaxing and 
•swearing, and without slobbering all over the ranch. 
The other tubs had the falling sickness, and would 
neither sit up nor stand up. They were measly, flabby 
tubs, had probably been fed on the bottle, and had had 
no tonic management during childhood. They would 
lie right down and go to sleep, and slobber all over. 
,Th.eir owners, finally, spotted a trail to the Snake 
River, and performed their ablutions there, while His 
Excellency so far suppressed his dignity as to get on a 
friendly footing with a common tin washboiler. In 
:due time we broke camp again and traveled south for 
■two days, finally reaching the permanent camp at 
Buffalo Creek, Snake River. It Was an admirable 
spot for a camp. To the right was the creek, which 
gave us the best of water, and beyond the creek were 
the green foothills of the mighty Teton Range. To 
.our left was a mile of prairie, with other hills and the 
.happy hunting-grounds beyond. We now got into 
hunting trim, warm clothes, warm gloves, lumber- 
men's socks, hob-nailed shoes, and we split into two 
parties. Ben and Smithy started out with the Count 
and- the Doctor; Collins guided Big Germany and the 
Governor. 
First day's hunt: Party No. i saw six elk and came 
home empty-handed. Party No. 2 missed an elk, but 
Big Germany shot a coyote at long range, making a 
''record shot. 
. -Second day: The Count missed a bull elk and 
started a herd of about four hundred elk, who passed 
us in full view, flying down the mountain, a most mag- 
nificent sight. Toward evening the Count killed a fine 
"twelve-prong elk with a single shot at 150 yards range. 
Third day: Elk were seen by both parties, but were 
out of range. 
Fourth day: From 3 p. m. to dusk elk whistled and 
bellowed all around us. The woods were full of elk 
and elk music. We jumped bunch after bunch without 
getting a shot. However, at 4 p. m. the Doctor se- 
cured a fine head at 200 yards range by a regulation 
shot. The animal ran a hundred yards and started to 
, go for us as we approached. He was killed by a 
second shot. At 6 p. m. on the way home Big Ger- 
many killed at long range a magnificent great elk with 
fourteen prong horns, and at the same time the Doctor 
got his second elk, a twelve-prong animal, by a shot 
through the neck and another through the chest. Both 
animals were standing on the brow of a hill and 
showed no fear nor inclination to run. 
The fifth day was spent in photographing and skin- 
ning the animals, and no live animal was seen on that 
day. 
On the sixth day our Governor had his inning, and 
■ secured a very fine twelve-prong animal. Two more 
days were spent in this neighborhood, but the animals 
were shy and wary and would not break from cover. 
Elk are found in this region in the green timber, in 
the fallen timber, or in open places called parks. The 
hunting is done on horse or mule and is mostly up and 
down hill work. The inclines are often steep, and it 
requires a sure-footed animal to get over the ground. 
In many places we traveled over snow. To be ten 
and twelve miles from camp after dark, and to find 
your way over a number of steep ridges, and through 
almost impassable fallen timber, and dense under- 
brush, is a proposition which is trying, to say the least. 
But Ben knows every inch of the ground, and safely 
brought us back to camp every night without a mishap 
other than a few bruises and scratches and broken eye- 
glasses^ "which,, are a nuisance on a hunt. His horses 
and mules are wonderfully trustworthy and broken 
into the business. 
During our stay in this camp we had a few visitors. 
A squaw-man with his Indian wife in a red petticoat 
came to our camp for meat, and two game wardens 
looked us up to see that we had licenses and that we 
obeyed the law. The deputy warden was polite and 
mannerly, but His Royal Nibs, the chief, a big six- 
footer, with guns all over him and an ingrown nail in 
his conscience and a streak of yellow in his nature, 
was not so pleasant. He remarked that Wyoming was 
not hankering after sportsmen from the East, but he 
could not explain why under those circumstances they 
accepted forty dollars license from each iport and 
his logic was seven pounds lighter than a straw hat. 
He soured on us from the start. In vain the Count 
tried to explain to him that he was only a fly-speck on 
the wheel of time. In vain Iowa invited him into the 
tent to partake of good cheer and stay till after tea. 
Vy^e hope that he will continue to prosper and leave us 
his skull when he no longer needs it, as we are 
anxious to secure that ingrown nail. Should this meet 
his eye we expect him to take us good-naturedly and 
have a hearty laugh over the matter, for we want to go 
hunting again some day and are not yet ready to be 
done up by mistake and meet our ancestors in heaven. 
Our experience with the game warden need not 
deter others from coming here to hunt. In a few 
years at the utmost elk will be scarce or extinct un- 
less the Government should see fit to protect them by 
restricting a certain territory so that the animals will 
have a winter range for feeding where they will not be 
molested. As it is, elk are slaughtered summer and 
winter, and thousands die from starvation every win- 
ter. Elk are killed for meat, for horns, and for their 
teeth. The teeth bring from two to twenty dollars a 
pair, according to size and color. 
Bear are plentiful here, but the proper time to hunt 
them is in May. Our bear dogs were not in action at 
any time, because we found no bear tracks in the 
neighborhood of the carcasses of our slain animals. 
We now moved our camp once more, and traveled 
r.orth to siiend the balance of our time fishing and 
hunting for ducks and geese and partridges near Jack- 
son's Lake. This country is truly beautiful. The foot- 
hills of the grand Teton Range with its eternal ice and 
bold crags, dip into the clear water of the lake which 
abounds with fish, large and small. The writer and 
his friends had a glorious time trolling for fish with a 
No. 6 spoon hook. The trout caught weighed from 
one to twelve pounds, and we caught more large than 
small fish. The largest trout caught measured twenty- 
seven inches, and we also caught four land-locked 
salmon in this lake just at the inlet of the Snake River. 
Ducks are plentiful. Geese and loons are frequently 
seen, but are foxy and very difificult to get. There 
are a great many hawks throughout this neighbor- 
hood. Mountain sheep can be had here, but it takes 
a living skeleton to outclimb them. Antelopes are 
further south. The quaking asp with its variegated 
autumn leaves gives character to the scenery. 
During our stay here we had an increase in the 
family in the shape of a little eleven-year-old girl who 
was brought to our camp from a neighboring ranch 
where she lived alone with her father. We were re- 
quested to take her to Chicago and leave her in care 
of a rich Chicagoan who had been in this neighbor- 
hood on a hunt and had offered to give the child a city 
education. Little Catharine is the daughter of a ranch- 
man who was at one time the companion of a Mr. 
Hamilton from the East who was accidentally drowned 
at Jackson's Lake on a return trip from an antelope 
hunt. We agreed to see the little one safely to Chi- 
cago, and under the fatherly care of the Governor, 
who always had a piece of chocolate handy when the 
child appeared homesick, and the jolly friendliness of 
the Count, she was content and happy to remain with 
us. Ben rigged her up a "chambre separe" in the tent, 
and in the morning the Doctor was handy in groom- 
ing her into shipshape, braiding her hair and otherwise 
attending to her little wants. She was dressed in 
overalls and rubber boots, and her frail body was not 
.well protected in cold weather. But we were finally 
able to replenish her wardrobe from our own stores 
and make her comfortable. 
We were due at Livingston on October 23, and 
broke camp for the eight-day home trip at the proper 
time. On our way home we stopped one night at the 
Allen Ranch, where we each had a comfortable room 
and a real bed which was quite a treat after our camp 
life. We traversed the Park again, taking a more 
easterly road and saw hundreds of elk, some coyotes, 
and many ducks, birds and geese. We visited the 
Canon of the Yellowstone, which is a sight so beauti- 
ful and grand that it alone is worth the trip. In due 
time we arrived at Livingston without a mishap and 
in the best of health. 
On our hunt we bagged six elk, one coyote, four 
mink, and any quantity of fish and small game. We 
saw fully six hundred elk during our trip. As regards 
our guns it may be of interest to know that we had 
one 9 mm. Mauser, one 8 mm. Mauser, one 33-caliber 
Winchester, and one German triplet gun (two barrels 
for shot and one rifle barrel comlained). Big Germany 
and the Count had a telescope attachment for their 
guns, but, whisper it softly, it was no good for game 
shooting. We also had shot guns. We discovered a 
peculiarity of the black-tailed deer, inasmuch as they 
always wiggle their tails before they intend to run. 
Therefore, the best time to shoot them is before they 
wiggle their tails. We throw this out as a hint for the 
benefit of other sportsmen. We were disappointed in 
not getting bear, but we each ordered a silver-tipped 
