404 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[]Sfo\t 22, igoi. 
Norwegian colony was envelopeci in blood and fire; 
and when first I saw the rums of the little settlerrient only 
the weed-grown fields and crumbling fences identified 
the stricken place 
Choosing the quiet of a summer Sunday morning, 
when many of the adult population were assembled for 
religious worship, the cowardly wretches made their 
first attack upon the women and children remaining at 
their homes, and when the uproar had stampeded the 
assembled congregation, many a bloody trail throijgh 
adjacent cornfields bore awful witness of unavailing 
flight on the part of the unarmed worshippers. 
Owing to the high vegetation of the fields surround- 
ing their houses, many succeeded in escaping from their 
foes, carrying terror and apprehension to other exposed 
settlements along the line. 
Overwhelmed with terror at the awful suddenness of 
the assault, some gave up without a struggle and died 
like curs. One man, who had gone to meeting, sprang 
into his wagon and drove away, leaving his family to 
their fate. Another ran homeward and, approaching 
his house under the cover of his cornfield, reached home 
just after the murderous wretches had departed, and 
found among his slaughtered family two little boys of 
some three or four years of age, who gave some sign 
of life. 
In their ferocious haste the savage brutes had tried 
to dash out the brains of the little ones on top of the 
cook stove, but though horribly beaten, the little boys 
were still alive. Taking one under each arm he ran 
down through the cornfield toward the river, and before 
sunrise of the following morning staggered into the 
little settlement at Spirit Lake, Iowa, and laid down 
his precious burden, twenty-five miles from where he 
first took it up. 
Let any man on this green earth — Sandow not ex- 
cepted — try carrying such a burden as the limp bodies 
of two little children, of a probable lOO pounds weight, 
for a distance of 25 miles in 18 hours! 
As Mrs. Stowe says of the flight of Eliza in Uncle 
Tom's Cabin: "Sublime is the dominion of the mind 
over the body, that can, for the moment, make the weak 
appear so mighty." 
One of the children died in the father's arms — all un- 
known to the fleeing fugitive— and one lived and recov- 
ered completely. 
When the escaped fugitives had told their several tales, 
it was found that no report whatever came concerning 
two Norwegian families located at the extreme northern 
end of the little settlement; and the uncertainty concern- 
ing their fate aroused the men of the frontier and led 
to the forming- of the expedition, of which this tale is 
the chronicle. Mounted couriers scoured the country, 
calling out each and every man, and 25 men were 
quickly assembled at Estherville, and an equal number 
at Spirit Lake, and hurrying forward they joined forces 
at Jackson, and together marched up the left bank of 
the Des Moines on their errand of mercy, to save any 
possible survivors of the massacre and to bury the dead. 
It was a motley force. Some were mounted and others 
on foot, with little pretense of military order in their 
march, and with any and all kinds of firearms possible 
to obtain. Hardly had they joined forces and com- 
menced their forward movement, when from some all 
unknown locality, came a mounted man riding up in 
front, where, calling a halt, he pompously announced: 
"I am Mr. So and So, Lieut. -Colonel of the United 
States Army. I have come to take command of this ex- 
pedition, and you are all under my orders!" 
For a moment the little army of pioneers stagjgered 
under the grandiloquent announcement, but quickly siz- 
ing the fellow up, they marched on, and he, after riding 
up and down the line bawling out orders, to which no 
one paid the slightest attention, finally subsided and 
took his place in line, and made a pretty good volunteer 
soldier. Reaching the house where the Norwegian peo- 
ple had been gathered for worship on that fateful Sun- 
day morning, they halted, and collecting and burying 
the scattered victims of the bloody foray they hurried 
on to learn the fate of the two families from whom no 
tidings had yet come. 
As a band of horsemen were deployed in their march 
through a belt of timber, they suddenly started a gigan- 
tic Norwegian fugitive, who had escaped the massacre 
and remained hidden in the woods, and who, taking in- 
stant alarm at the approaching horsemen, rose from a 
thicket and bounded off like a startled buck. 
Three mounted men raced in hot pursuit of the 
frightened fugitive, yelling out to him to stop — that they 
were friends — but he only ran the harder, and finally 
turning down into a slough, where the pursuing horses 
floundered in a vain attempt at crossing, gave them the 
slip and disappeared in the woods. 
A mile or two further on all were rejoiced to come 
suddenly upon the house where the two famihes were 
gathered, still "holding the fort," and still keeping- 
watch and ward in the hope of coming succor. At the 
time of the massacre the husband and father of one 
family, having gone alone to the meeting, fell among the 
first of the victims; and when the awful outcry of the 
massacre- reached the ears of his wife, she quickly gath- 
ered her children and ran with them to the house of the 
neighbor, who, fortunately, proved to be a man of cour- 
age, and, who, gathering his own and his neighbor's 
family into his log house, the heavy walls of which were 
bullet proof, barricaded the doors and prepared for de- 
fense. 
A careful search revealed btit three cartridges for his 
gun, and just as this discovery was made, a voice was 
heard in English calling upon him from a brushy ravine 
just back of the house, and demanding an immediate 
surrender. Shouting defiance and daring the whole 
Sioux nation to the attack, the brave Norwegian ran 
upstairs and began knocking out the plaster and the 
wooden blocks which formed the "chinking" between 
the house logs near the roof, thinking that from that 
height he could command the enemy's position in the 
ravine. As the sound of his blows, followed by the 
falling mortar on the outside of the house revealed his 
position, a volley from half a dozen guns smashed into 
the logs in front of him, sending the dried mortar in a 
cloud of dust into his face, but fortunately without hit- 
ting him. 
He now ran down stairs, and making what demonstra- 
tions he could at one of the windows fronting the ra- 
vine — but without exposing himself — he at length suc- 
ceeded in again drawing a volley from the Indians' 
guns, which sent the glass flying in all directions. 
Springing to the window, he fired into the smoke of his 
enemy's guns, and evidently with efl^ect, for the attack 
ceased immediately; nor did he afterward note the 
slightest indication of the presence of his foes. And 
until the coming of Jim and his friends five days after- 
ward the little group of pioneers remained barricaded, 
keeping watch night and day. 
Jim said that of all the glad and grateful people he 
ever saw, they certainly headed the list. 
As the little army bivouacked here for the night, they 
were given the free use of all the farm produced, and 
the vegetables, chickens and pigs of the grateful Nor- 
wegians furnished materials for a feast which lasted 
until nearly midnight. 
As night drew on guards were stationed around the 
camp at quite a distance, and as the little army was 
composed of two equal bands, each still under its own 
captain, each detachment fairnished guards for half of 
the circle around the camp. 
About ten in the evening, as the feasting went merrily 
on around the camp-fires, from out a clump of bushes 
close to the camp-fires suddenly arose a tall form, and 
stalking forward into the firelight, reveajed the big 
Norwegian, whom the horsemen had raced so furiously 
during the day. He had watched the arrival of the 
white men from the edge of the neighboring woods, and 
had witnessed the rapturous greeting they ha'l met ircm 
the imprisoned people; yet so overpowering was -the 
panic fear which possessed him, that he dared not trust 
his own eyes; and not until he had crept forward in the 
darkness and finally overheard the Norwegian people 
conversing in liis own mother tongue, did he dare re- 
veal himself! 
He now seated himself by the fire and told his story 
of what he had witnessed of the slaughter of his peo- 
ple, ending with an account of how he himself had 
that very day been furiously chased by three mounted 
Indians, who, yelling frightfully along his trail, almost 
overtook him when he ran down through a slough where 
the horses of the Indians were mired down until he had 
finaMy made his escape. 
In vain did the pioneers trj' to explain the true situa- 
tion, pointing out to him the very men who had tried so 
hard to catch him. Not a bit of it! He knew they were 
Indians — had had too close a look at them to be mis- 
taken — and in spite of their assertion remained uncon- 
vinced. 
At midnight, when all in the camp were asleep, the 
guard was reheved b}'' a new detail, and suddenly from 
a point on the guard line came the report of a gun, 
quickly followed by others half way around the camp. 
In a panic of fright and confusion half the camp 
sprang to its feet in haste to seize weapons and repel 
attack; and not until the whole outfit was in uproar was 
it finally understood that one talented captain had 
evolved from his own inner consciousness a peculiarly 
idiotic system of tactics, and without explaining the 
matter to any others of the force, directed his own half 
of the guard just relieved, to fire oft' their guns in a 
half circle around the camp. 
When the smart Aleck performance was finally un- 
derstood, and the echoes of the consequent profanity 
had died away in the distance, the little army again lay 
down to rest, and the night passed without further in- 
cident. 
In the morning the return march was begun, and the 
little handful of survivors of the fated Norwegian col- 
ony safely escorted back to civilization, when the little 
army of frontier warriors melted away as quickly as at 
the call of mercy it had assembled. 
But of the abundant and all unnamable evidences of 
fiendish ferocity inflicted on the women and children 
of this devoted Wyoming of the West I cannot write. 
Orin Belknap. 
Wimam K. Moody C Special''). 
From the Boston Herald, Nov. 16. 
Mr. William K. Moody, editor of the "Market Spe- 
cials" in the Herald, died at the City Hospital at 10 
o'clock last night at the age of sixty-two. Mr. Moody 
had suffered for years from an internal, constitutional 
weakness, which developed phases which compelled him 
to quit his desk on Saturday, Oct. 26, never to return to 
it. The disease bafiled the skill of the family and con- 
sulting physicians, who, as a last resort, recommended 
a surgical operation, which was performed Nov. 6 at the 
City Hospital. The result failed to meet expectations, 
and his active and useful life was brought to a close. 
William K. Moody was born in the town of Strong, 
Me., April 19, 1840. He was the oldest son of Dea. Johji 
Moody, well known in Oxford count3^ The elder Moody 
was for years employed by William King, the first Gov- 
ernor of the State of Maine, and naturally his first-born 
was named after that distinguished citizen. He was 
educated in the public schools and at Hebron Academy 
and Waterville College, now Colby University, 
He taught school for a time, but shortly after leav- 
ing college entered the newspaper business as the editor 
and publisher of the Winthrop Gazette, a weekly news- 
paper established b3'^ him at Winthrop, Me. After spend- 
ing two years in that town, he removed to Mechanic 
P"alls, where he established the Androscoggin Herald 
He remained here four years, and then, taking advantage 
of a favorable opportunity, purchased a half interest in 
the Somerset Reporter, upblished at Skowhegan. Latejr 
he purchased his partner's interest, and for a time was 
sole owner. 
In 1875 Mr. Moody sold the paper to Messrs. Kilby & 
Woodbury, and came to Boston, where for a time he 
acted as editor of the Weekly Advertiser. Later he was 
publisher of the Woman's Journal, with which publica- 
tion he was connected for several years. While con- 
nected with that paper his attention was directed toward 
commercial affairs, for which he had a natural aptitude, 
and for a short time he filled a responsible position on 
the Boston Commercial Bulletin. 
About this time he wrote a series of articles for the 
Herald on Boston banking methods, which attracted wide 
attention, and secured him recognition upon the regular 
staff. Und£r his direction the market specials depart- 
ment was started, and early grew into a positit)n of wide- 
spread influence and importance. 
Mr. Moody was also a frequent contributor to other 
departments of the paper, his articles always being valu- 
able and interesting. He was particularly interested in 
everything pertaining to hunting and fishing, especially 
in his native State, and his vacations were always spent 
at this favorite recreation. For many years he had a 
camp on Richardson Lake, in the Rangeley region, until 
failing health led him to dispose of it. 
In this connection he was widely known among sports- 
nicu. and was a recognized authority upon matters con- 
nected with the rod and gun. He took a deep interest 
in an-iending the laws of Maine for the preservation of 
game and regulating the taking of the same. He was a 
frequent contributor of articles to the Heral'd during the 
fishing season, and was also a regular correspondent of 
Forest and Stream. 
Mr. Moody was a lover of nature in art and left many 
photographs of wood anti water and mountain scenes, 
taken "by himself during vacations. He was an ardent 
amateur photographer, and was the inventor of several 
patented articles for photographers' use. He was also a 
builder of cameras for his own use, being skilled in metal 
and wood work. 
Mr. Moody was respected by all with whom he came 
in contact in daily business and social life. Honest and 
upright, he could not bear to see anybody or anything 
oppressed, artd always championed the cause of _ the 
Aveaker party. He will be much missed by a wide circle 
of friends anti business associates, beside the immediate 
relatives. 
Pacific Coast Letter. 
The death of "Old Whiskers" should have been men- 
tioned in my last letter. This magnificent niember of the 
red deer family had roamed the mountains near San 
Jose for years. 'Local sportsmen deemed it an ex- 
perience even to have missed a shot at him. Super- 
stition for awhile declared him to lead a charmed life. 
Hunter Saxe Shalton, of San Jose, while hunting in the 
Mt. Hamilton range, two days before the season closed, 
Overcame the "hoodoo" and brought Old Whiskers into 
town. The antlers numbered eleven prongs and the 
deer weighed 175 pounds. The kill was a fine one, for 
which the lucky man should be congratulated; but the 
canons of Mt. Hamilton range have been impoverished 
by losing their greatest incentive to hunt. We wear 
our inconsistent shoes out to take a big one and then 
deplore his dea:h. 
Senate Amendment No. 18, in relation to the di- 
vision of California into fish and game districts and_ to 
be voted upon at the coming election, proposes adding 
to Article IV. of the State Constitution a new section 
that shall be known as Section 25^2, and shall read as 
follows: "The Legislature may provide for the division 
of the State into fish and game districts and may en- 
act such laws for the protection of fish and game there- 
in as it may deem appropriate for the respective dis- 
tricts." County ordinance may not now lessen re- 
straint imposed by legislature, though regulation may be 
enacted more stringent in its purpose, and the State laws 
are uniform for all sections, hence a complaint of over- 
protection in districts with too much game. Only a 
person familiar with the great variety of conditions to 
be confronted here, either in going from the coast in- 
land, or the length of the State, will appreciate how diffi- 
cult it is to pass measures suitable in every part, or how 
hard the problem for a country in which rough contour 
with var5ang degree favors production. 
It adopted the amendment may yet preserve the salt- 
water fisheries along our sea coast. Too little attention 
has been given to this purpose. Avalon Bay is now 
nearly the only bneeding water in the south protected 
by law from the purse netter, and it but indifferently by 
county ordinance, though there are many spawning 
places along the southern coast. Intelligent supervision 
in this regard would eventually mean a great deal to 
the Pacific States. Experience of the East might serve 
as warning of what will occur through neglect. As a 
biological laboratory will soon be established on Cata- 
lina Island, so says U. S. Fish Commissioner Geo. M. 
Bowers, the second on the Pacific, for the study of ma- 
rine life, more practical ideas may be inculcated. 
President David Starr Jordan, of Stanford, who has 
spent the summer at Samoa, in the interest of the U. 
S. Fish Commission, and is now overhauling his speci- 
mens at the university, reports that he secured upward 
of 600 kinds of fish, perhaps 25 per cent, of them un- 
known to scienice and unclassified. ' 
The United States Government has lately withdrawn 
from entry 6,000,000 acres of public land, in northern 
California, to be divided into forest reserves as fol- 
lows: Klamath River reserve, 3,780 square miles; Mt. 
Shasta, 3,024 square miles; Lassen Peak, 1,292 square 
miles; and Diamond Mountain, 822 square miles; the 
respective localities indicated by their names. The reser- 
vation of these vast tracts, beside the protection it will 
afford to timber by means of a ranger patrol, must re- 
sult in preserving untold quantities of^ game from fire 
or other destructive agent, and thus will prove a boon 
to hunters and to students of natural history. 
Great numbers of wild creatures are destroyed when 
the wilderness is burnt over, through asphyixation and 
other causes, there being often no safe refuge from 
speedy flame or volume of smoke even though water be 
reached. This was evident after the Washington forest 
fires of the past autumn. The surface of Woodland 
Lake, in Clark County, was found to be a putrid mass 
of bears, lions, wolves, deer, foxes, and numerous small 
animals, that had been driven to the water for relief, 
then had succumbed to heat and smoke or drowned. 
This destroyed country, too, it should be remembered, 
will be barren of forage for years to come. 
The forest ranges throughout the south had pre- 
vented any fires occurring up to the time of the first 
winter rain, and nbw feel there is no longer the slight- 
est danger. Planting barren parts of the reservations 
