464 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 13, 1903. 
The President's Park Trip. 
These notes of President Roosevelt's excursion in the 
Yellowstone National Park are sent by Mr. E. llofer, who 
accompanied the parti', and whose famiHarity with the 
Park contrihutcd in no small measure to the successful 
pleasure and execution of the itinerary: 
Yeixowstone National Park, May 14. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: Since my last nolcs about the game here 
we have had two distinguished visitors, as all the world 
knows, President Roosevelt and Mr. John Burroughs. 
1 had the pleasure of being one of the narty while on 
their canliiing trip. Our first camp was on the Yellow- 
stone, a little over a mile above Crevace Gulch ; from 
here excursions were made sightseeing. Within ten 
minutes after reaching camp, Major John Pitcher 
called the President's attention to a mule deer swim- 
ming across the Yellow.stone, and in a few moments 
two more deer wfilked down to the river and crossed 
at the same place. They appeared to swim straight 
across; the current did not carry them down any to 
speak of. This first sight of game was a foretaste 
of the whole trip. The view up the river with the cailon 
walls, timbered gulches, open meadows along the 
stream, boulder-strewn shore, winding river in the 
foreground, with snow mountains for a background, 
and the swimming deer, made a beautiful picture that 
impressed everyone who saw it. 
After Mr. Burroughs joined us here, we moved camp 
to Slough Creek. On the Avay there we saw over a 
thousand elk, many mule deer and other animals. Both 
the Pr.esident and Mr. Burroughs were interested in all 
the small animals and birds. It was a little early for 
the birds; still they saw a goodly number and heard 
many sing. The little water wren did his best to enter- 
tain the party. Once when the President and Mr. 
Burroughs were watching a family of woodchucks, they 
were st.ampeded by the song of a Townsend's soli- 
taire. Mr. Burroughs made a run over rocks and down- 
timber to the edge of a cafion and part way down the 
canon to hear the full song. The bird did not do its 
best, having a bit of a cold, I suppose. 
Our ride was over some rough trail, snow fields, 
through fallen timber, mud and rocks, with some good 
trail.- Hell-roaring Creek was crossed on ice. Still 
Mr. B., who had not been on a horse for forty years, 
made the trip very comfortably. The party had a bit of 
fun with a "picket pin" squirrel. Some were sure it 
was a picket pin and not an animal, until it got down 
from its upright position. Our camp at Slough Creek 
was beautifully situated, but in a place wdiere there was 
no fishing so early in the season. Most of the creek 
was covered with ice strong enough for our horses to 
cross on. Several trout had been caught at our first 
camp, enough to supply the table. 
Leaving Slough Creek camp, a ride was made up East 
Fork — Lamar River — a short distance on to a high 
ridge overlooking East Fork Valley. Here we spent 
some time looking at and counting elk. From this hill 
over 3,000 elk were in sight. On our hill, high up 
above the bands of cows, 53 large bulls were seen, and 
on the shoulder of the next hill a band of 14 more. 
These all had horns; they were carrying them unusually 
late. From this hill we rode down and crossed at the 
Cedar Ford, then along the wagon road. From the road 
great bands of elk were seen, other than those we had 
seen from the hill. Birds and small things were noticed, 
but made no notes as to kinds or number. It's such 
an old story with us here that I only call people's at- 
tention to them when I know they care to see them. 
We reached our camp near Tower Falls early. The 
camp was close to the edge of the canon, and it was 
the most interesting camp we had. Soon after reaching 
camp a band of mountain sheep were shown to us; the 
sheep had been there all winter, in sight and sound of 
the road camp, where a crew of meii -have . been blast- 
ing rock and working all winter. The evening of the 
next day the sheep gave an exhibition of rock climb- 
ing. That startled and excited the whole party, and 
concluded by going to the bottom of the canon to 
the river to drink. Thej' did such incredible stunts that 
I cautioned Mr. Burroughs not to tell of it in the East 
if he cared for his reputation for veracity. Several 
photographs were taken of them, but I think the dis- 
tance was too great for them to be of value for publi- 
cation. The walls of the cafion are very steep, in many 
places perpendicular; yet these sheep would run around 
perfectly at home. , 
Several hours had been spent on a fishing trip, and 
enough fish were taken to supply the party. The Presi- 
dent did not go with us, but took a trip alone and afoot; 
he went across the riv«r and to the other side of the canon 
from our camp to where he got within a few feet of the 
band of sheep. Other bands of sheep were seen, be- 
sides mule deer and elk. 
The next day we rode into Fort Yellowstone, stop- 
ping at Uncle John Yancey's long enough for the 
President and all hands to say "Howdy!" to Mr. Yan- 
cey. The fort was reached in time for luncheon. Mr. 
Burroughs making part of the trip in a surrey — the twen- 
ty-five mile ride at a trot being a little too hard on 
him. 
Next day a party consisting of the President, Mr. 
Burroughs, Major John Pitcher and Mr. Childs, of the 
Transportation Company, started out for a Geyserland 
trip. This trip was made with teams, and has been 
told of often in the papers. On the President's return 
a day was taken for rest and seeing the sights around 
the Springs, receiving calls " from the people on the 
Formation. Mr. Burroughs, who had not seen the 
antelope as yet, took a ride up on to McMinn's Bench, 
v.'here he saw all the antelope- he wanted to, besides rid- 
ing within a few yards of a large band of mountain 
sheep and seeing a lot of elk. Mule deer were very 
plenty, so many that no attempt was niade to count 
them. They were all along the trail and road. Mr. 
Burroughs made a trip over the Formation looking 
at the birds and small animals. Later we hope to hear 
from him about them. 
On Friday arrangements were made for the Presi- 
dent to lay the corner stone of the arch for the Park 
gate, A troop of cavalry went down to Gardiner an 
hour ahead of the President, to where there were at 
least 2,500 people waiting. At 4 P. M. the President 
and Major Pitcher, with no escort except two order- 
lies, rode down to Gardiner across country. The 
President wanted to put in every moment of his vacation 
sightseeing, and on this, his last ride for the trip, saw 
elk, deer and antelope. He mentioned the antelope 
when he reached the stand and was particular t(i thank 
the people of Gardiner, Cinnabar and those livirig along 
the line of the Yellowstone Park for the assistance they 
had given Major Pitcher in the protection of the game; 
and as a testimony to it he mentioned the fact of the 
tamettess of the game he had seen. 
There has been completed a wire fence — not barbed — 
that runs from the mouth of Gardiner River, in front 
of the toAvn of Gardiner, over the hills to the west for 
several miles. This is expected to be strong and high 
enough to protect the ranches from the elk, and to 
keep the domestic stock out of the Park, so that dur- 
ing the coming winter deer and antelope can be fed 
hay, even in part of the town of Gardiner, as they were 
fed last winterkill front of the post. Gates in the fence 
at two places," will protect the hay from loose stock 
and at the same time admit all teams to the roads. 
Anothci- winter will sec much more game in sight of 
the town >of Gardiner. It wiir be a common thing to 
see antelope, deer, elk and sheep from the streets of 
the town, as it- has been for years. 
• E. HOFER. 
A Pleasing: Pictttte* 
Riverside Farm, Byron, III. Decoration T)zy.— Editor 
Forest and Stream ': ; In the "Signs and Seasons" of John 
Burroughs the keenly beautiful essay, "A Sharp Lookout," 
closes w'ith, this paragraph: 
"Man can' have' hilt one interest in nature, namely, to 
see himself reflected o^ interpreted there, and we quickly 
ricglect both poet dncf-philosopher who fail to satisfy, in 
some me'asure, thi.s feeling.'' 
The photograph _ (see' Forest and Stream for May 16) 
of John Burroughs in the National Park, standing on the 
boulder bed of a mountain lake, a string of trout in his 
hand, himself lost to all save the glories of that im- 
mediate part of creation which surrounds and enthralls 
him, and of which both trout and man are such a pleasing 
part, the while he is being furtively eyed by E. Hofer in 
the background, a philosopher of the Daniel Boone type, 
as he casts his fly (in truth it might be bait), is a perfect 
example of the proposition laid down. 
How that picture thrilled the hearts of mountain-loving 
people the wide world over. To see so much pleasure 
given to one who for more than the third of a century 
has contributed so steadily and with such prodigality to 
the pleasures of his fellow men, the writer takes to be the 
greatest of all pleasure. Dr. A. J. Woodcock. 
The Rooster's Crow. 
Edit or. Forest and Stream: 
_ I perceive in a late issue that your contributor Hermit 
.i" JS'^eipt of a number of things in the way of com- 
ments upon his observations concerning the intelligence of 
wild things. I assume that he is the same Hermit who 
several years ago inspired me with energy to gather some 
wild bees from the forest tree. As you know, I got the 
bees-^but if this Hermit is the same, he that told how- 
nice arid easy it is to gather honey and bees, I am very 
courteously ' pleased that it now seems possible that his 
gleanings, of natural history are not absolutely infallible. 
I have thought at times, heretofore, that he omitted some 
things in his screed about bees, and I am now almost 
assured that the time I had with the bee-tree was not 
altogether of my own arrangement.'' " 
I have lived adjacent to intellig^ent wild things and to 
natural doings in the w^oods and ihountains for a goodly 
number of years, and in this combat of naturalists of 
various degree I wish to remark that with a few facts 
to rely upon many of them contribute too much conjec- 
ture, and this they do without sufficient deference to gen- 
eral intelligence. 
The subject is too ponderous to be settled by any 
individual. Most naturalists are too ambitious. Ambi-. 
tion inay be a splendid thing under careful control, and it '. 
may caus^ wisdom to gambol sadly. A man is fairly wise 
with a'modest fund of accurate information. If he thinks 
he knows everything about anything, he is really incom- 
petent' to deal with that thing. Wisdom seems progressive, 
not absolute. 
But r desire merely to dpve a few tacks into Hermit. 
He says in his version "Does the rooster teach its young 
to crow? Certainly it does. I am surprised that Mr. 
Burroughs should express a doubt upon the subject." 
Now, know all men by these presents that I, Ransacker, 
of the Mountains of Shasta, State of California, did dur- 
uig the past year come into possession of one hen, a 
female fowl, and the aforesaid hen had with her four 
chicks, two days of age. That this hen and her said 
progeny the chicks were the sole domestic fowls upon my 
premises for four months. That there were no other 
fowls nearer than one mile. That four months the chicks 
grew, and one only thereof proved to be a white rooster: 
That about the fourth month of his age the said white 
rooster attempted to and he did crow lustily, very much 
like many other roosters I have known. Furthermore the 
rooster still lives and crows as much or more like other 
roosters than ever. His mother, the hen, doth not crow„ 
She hath not even attempted to crow. If she crew I 
would know it. If the aforesaid white fowl, known to 
me to be a rooster, was taught to crow by his father, or 
other adult relative, Marconi did it. 
(Signed) Ransacker. [seal] 
Sha.sta Mountains, May. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
There has been considerable controversy lately as to 
whether birds have to be taught to fly or not. My ex- 
perience is that their instinct teaches them to fly; they 
need no other teaching, else how is it that if a young 
half fledged bird is taken and put in a cage to raise it 
will fly as soon as it is able, and has been given its 
liberty ? 
I once raised a robin that way which flew off as soon 
as it Avas able to fly. It came back to me, though. 
Its mother had not taught it to fly, unless she did it 
throuaii die bars of its cage, and I do not think she did. 
At another time I foutid some boys who had robbed a 
native sparrow (chippy) of her three young; I got the 
young ones from them for a cent each, raised them in a 
cage, and as soon as they were large enough to fly let 
them go. They seemed to have no trouble in going, and 
did not come back, either. 
All dogs can swim; some seem to be as much at home 
in the water as they are on land; a young puppy of one 
of those breeds will swim if thrown into the water when 
he is only a few weeks old ; he does not need to be 
taught. 
I have thrown a spaniel pup which had never before 
seen water into it just to see if he could swim; if he 
could not I would not let him drown, of course. He 
w^ould paddle out, then wait for me to throw him in 
again. He seemed to like it. Cabia Blanco. 
[So will the human baby swim if put into the water 
v/here it has the chance.] 
Senses of the Antelope. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The proposition that prong-horned antelopes depend 
more upon the ej'e than upon nose or ear to detect danger 
is quite as new to me as it is to yourself. 
Indeed, I should express an exactly opposite opinion. 
I suspect that a wrong inference has been drawn -from 
the conspicuous and even laborious use which the ante- 
lope does make of its eyes. But it has always been my 
belief that he does so because his sight is so far from 
keen that a careful examination is needed before that par- 
ticular sense conveys a definite confirmation of the warn- 
ing first gained through other sources. Hence the so- 
called "curiosity" of the species. I do not profess any 
exact information as to the quality of their hearing, for 
the other protective senses, be they what they may. usually 
put the animal on guard long before the ear could come 
into use. 
As two cases on the affirmative side for smell, I cite 
these: Long ago, when antelope were more plentiful 
and less wary than now, I, being down in an arroyo on 
soft earth where I made no sound that could have been 
heard twenty feet off, and whose banks were everywhere 
much above rny head, was discovered by a band of ante- 
lope at least eight hundred j'ards away and directly down 
wind; a careful study of the situation afterward being 
enough to entirely eliminate the possibility of either sight 
or hearing being involved. 
Again, in October, 1895, with three mounted men and 
five pack animals behind me, I rode up the trail from the 
ford across the Yellowstone near the mouth of Blacktail 
Creek, to strike the road from Uncle John Yancey's — 
peace to his ashes !— to the Mammoth Hot Springs, and 
up on the open rolling country we rode on to two buck 
and three doe antelope, within thirty yards before they 
found us out. A strong wind was blowing right in our 
faces, which of necessity would carry both scent and 
sound away from them and leave them largely dependent 
upon their eyes. It is true that these antelope were in the 
Park and had some idea of safety, but even in that secure 
haven give the nose a chance and a pack outfit will not 
ride within short pistol range of the prong-horn before 
discovery. Arthur Erwin Brown. 
ZooLOGieAL Gardens, Philadelphia, June 4. 
Elizabethport, New Jersey, June 6.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: In" your issue of June 6 Mr. Emerson 
Carney calls for instances which have come under the 
observation of your readers respecting the antelope's 
scent. In 1877, in Kansas, my father built his house just 
south of a ridge, which people told us afterward was a 
favorite runway for antelope, and, indeed, we saw many 
of them on the ridge the next year, although we killed 
none, as there was no rifle on the place, and I never 
could get near enough with a shotgun. 
In the summer of 1879 we had three cows at pasture, 
which were picketed on ropes about 250 yards south and 
in plain sight of the house. These cows were brought 
in each night, stabled, and milked and put out on the 
grass in the morning. One afternoon I stood in front of 
the house door looking southward, and saw a bunch of 
six antelope coming from the southeast. They seemed 
to have no fear of anything, stopped to graze at times, 
and steadily coming nearer. They finally approached 
within less than 50 yards of one of the cows, and one of 
the antelope came closer and closer until it actually ap- 
peared to rub noses with the cow, and I have always be- 
lieved that it did. It then turned and left in the same 
leisurely -way, and the whole bunch departed toward the 
southwest. 
Did the antelope fail to see the house? Was it accus- 
tomed to cows and not afraid of the scent? Or was its 
curiosity stronger than any fear it might have had of 
man and his dependents? I do not know. Bud. 
Adirondack Beavei** 
Holland Patent, June 2. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Mr. Ira Park, of this place, has just returned out of the 
woods from the Indian River, which runs tw^o or three 
miles from Horn Lake and empties into Moose River. 
He brings with him a handful of chips unmistakably 
made by beaver. 
He was fishing down the river and when casting his 
line diagonally down stream something white on the 
shore he was on caught his ej'e. When his line landed 
he looked closer and said : "What the deuce ! Has some- 
body been cutting way back in here. Someone must 
have a camp." He went over to the tree and then saw 
at once what it was. "Beaver !" 
The tree, a poplar about seven inches in diameter, was 
gnawed on the side toward the water and about two- 
