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TeriUH, Five DollarH a Year. 
Ten CoiiIh a Copy. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1875. 
1 Volume I, Number 10. 
17 Chnllnuu hi. i«'llyllull *«qr.) 
For Fori ft and Stream. 
Roughing it ig Jgtinncsotn. 
BY IIAVILAND. 
* * TrER chicken,” said the farmer to us, as we three, F. 
JP H., and “yours truly,” sat smoking our pipes at 
the close of a hot, hard day’s work among the grouse on 
the uplands near Wadena, Minn., “you want to go to 
Parker’s Prairie; take in the putterldges an’ ducks on the 
way, then circle off towards Millerville, an’ the Mormon 
settlomeut at Clitherall, come back by way of Otter Tail 
and Deer Creek; it will take a week, an' I'll go with you 
for three dollars a day an’ found.” 
Promptly on time the honest granger was on hand, with 
a span of raw-boned horses and a heavy lumber wagon, 
into which we stowed our baggage and dogs. There 
were Grouse and Yank, the two pointers; Billy and 
Tasso, the setters; and Carlo, the curly haired Irish 
retriever, good for everything, and to be counted on 
under all circumstances; then wc added to our party mine 
host of the Wadena House, Mr. P., who thought the trip 
“would do his agor good,” and so rattled off over the prairie 
en route for the finest shooting ground the State affords. 
The ride for the first dozen miles avas devoid of any in- 
terest; the sun was hot, the horses slow and the driver 
prosy ; but a bottle of “/fiwtetter,” opportunely opened at 
a wayside brook, had its salutary effect upon the horses, 
and for a few miles we drove along at a lively rate. About 
noon we stopped for dinner at the “Half Way House,” a 
log shanty near a “sloo," or pond. With the aid of Carlo 
we secured half a dozen teal before dinner, which con- 
sisted of the inevitable fried pork and saleratus biscuits. 
The pleasant smiles of the good-looking hostess, however, 
helped to make this fare palatable. 
The six miles that intervened between the “Half Way 
House” and Parker’s Prairie led through a heavy, hand- 
some growth of hard wood, somewhat grown up with brush 
wood, and turning the dogs loose, we begau work on what 
the granger called putteridges, i. e. ruffed grouse. These 
birds were very plentiful, nearly full grown, and flew up in 
dozens every half mile. The dogs scurried around half 
wild with the sport, racing headlong at times, regardless of 
call or whistle, then pointing as steadily as in the open, 
each one doing his best. We hunted each side of the road, 
the wagon moving slowly along, and as we came out of the 
woods, and struck the prairie, we had as fine alotof ruffed 
grouse as ever a sportsman gazed upon, and five woodcock 
that we picked up out of a small “sloo" in the timber. 
The sun was just going out of sight as we came out of the 
timber, and a more beautiful scene it would be hard to find, 
evan iu Minnesota. Far away on either hand stretched the 
broad rolling prairie to the timbered hills in the distance, 
dotted here and there with lakes and ponds, their grassy 
edges green and soft as velvet; the patches of timber scat- 
tered about glowing with all the colors of the rainbow; 
the smoke from the settler's homes rising into the still, cool 
air, outlined against the many tinted sky, touched and 
kindled by the last rays of the sun into wavy pillars of 
gold; the air overhead flecked with flocks of geese, and 
long, straggling lines of ducks, going from the stubble 
fields to their resting places for the night; the whole con- 
stituting a perfect picture, such as no other country, or no 
other season, can hope to exhibit. As we sped rapidly 
ulong in the gathering twilight, the lines descriptive of the 
senson, penned by one of the truest sportsmen that ever 
lived, came to our memory: — 
••It Is a brilliant Autumn tim?, themost brilliant time of all. 
When the porgeons woods are gleaming ere the leaves begin to rail: 
When the maples boughs are crimson, uud the hickory shines like gold, 
When the noons are sultry hot and the nights ore frosty cold. 
When the country has no green bnt the sword grass by the rill, 
And the willows In the valley and the pine upon the hill; 
When the pippin leaves the bough and the sumach's fruit Is red. 
And the quail Is piping loud from the buckwheat where he fed. 
When the sky is blue as steel and the river clear as glass, 
When the mist Is on the mountain and the network on the grass; 
When the harvests are all housed and the farmer's work is done, 
And the woodland U resounding with the spaniels and the gun 
Nowhere in this wide world except among one’s own 
kindred can one get as warm, as open-handed a welcome 
as he can among the settlers of the frontier States, and such 
a welcome we received from Henry Viols. 
“Does Viets live here?" was the first query, as we drove 
up to his door. 
"He does,” was the reply from a broad-shouldered, dark- 
complexioned man. 
“Have you room for three or four sportsmen for two or 
three days?" was the next momentous question. 
“Well, if I haven't room I’ll make it; come in, gentlemen, 
and make yourselves at home." 
And at home we were, for as long as we chose to stay; 
and if wc did not enjoy ourselves at Viets’, it was our 
fault. The best the house afforded, the best the country 
afforded, was ours; Viets himself was up early and late 
for our benefit, and during the day driving his oxen and 
wagon over the prairie, wherever we chose to go, and never 
got out of sorts, except when oue of our party played out 
and had to stay at home one day. Mrs. V., blonde-haired 
and rosy-checked, did her utmost to second her husband's 
endeavors to make his guests feel at home, and with the 
help of our wood ducks and ruffed grouse, got us a smok- 
ing supper, which was properly taken care of. After sup- 
per the chances for sport having been thoroughly discussed 
and the dogs properly taken care of, we turned in to enjoy 
a long and blissful slumber, well earned by a thirty mile 
ride in a lumber wagon over a rough wood road. 
The morning broke clear and beautiful. It had been 
frosty enough to get the grouse into large coveys, and soon 
after daylight we were among them, using the setters in 
the forenoon, pointers in the lntter part of the day. There 
is no use telling the oft-told tale of grouse shooting on the 
western prairies; suffice it to say, the birds were in myriads, 
the dogs worked well early or late; the weather was every 
day like oue of Emerson’s “charmed days," and we shot 
grouse on the uplands, ducks and geese on the ponds, 
ruffed grouse in the thickets, more than we could use, more 
than wc could give away, till the time came to bid our kind 
friends good bye. 
There is only one objection to Parker’s Prairie as a re- 
sort for sportsmen; it is so far from the railroud that one 
cannot dispose of the game he kills, neither cun it be given 
away, as every settler can kill at any time, (almost in his 
door yard,) all the grouse and ducks he can consume; con- 
sequently the killing of game there os a sport degenerates 
into needless butchery. As a place to break young dogs 
and spend a few days in luxurious idleness umong the hos- 
pitable settlers at a moderate cost, wo know not its equal 
in the State. There would have been a railroad through 
this prairie before now, to connect with the North Pacific 
and Canada Pacific Railroad, had uot the bought-up 
engineer who surveyed this country said in his report that 
the prairie was a shaking bog, and that a railroad could not 
possibly be built across it. 
When the time came for us to leave, we hired a new 
driver, Jim Kasson, a farmer, who, with others, helped 
make our stay among them pleasant, and to whom we are 
indebted for many favors and much valuable information. 
He is a capital good fellow, full of fun, a keen sportsman, 
and a good shot. With him we left Parker’s Prairie and 
started for Millerville and home. The ride for nine miles 
was a repetition of our first day’s experience, only Jim was 
a different man to the frowzy old genius who first took us 
in charge, and kept us laughing at his keen witticisms and 
dry remarks about everybody and everything. About 
noon having passed over Indiana Prairie, where Hicks 
bought some tame chickens of a rare breed, Millerville hove 
in sight. Jim put the lash to his horses, and exhorting them 
“to shin up and have a little style about them," lie dashed 
up to the door of the only hotel the town can boast of, 
greatly to the surprise of the Q.uiet villagers, and the mani- 
fest happiness of a host of white-headed school children. 
Jim piled into the house, whip in hand, his hat on the back 
of his head, his blue eyes gleaming with fun, and ordered 
“dinner for ten men and sixteen dogs,” concluding bis 
order with the remark that “that’s the kind of a hairpin 
I am.” The hostess and a “fraulicn" started for the 
kitchen, and Potter made a straight wake for the bar, as 
he “felt a chill coming on.” F. wont over to the school- 
house and soon returned muttering something about an 
“old fossil," where lie expected to find something different, 
and then, with his hands full of game, started to help the 
"fraulien" get dinner, which he succeeded in doing to his 
own immense satisfaction, coining around promptly when 
the monl was ready, (not an unusunl circumstance, by tlui 
way,) spouting Dutch, and smelling loudly of n seductive 
drink called “kimmcll." The dinner was first rate, and 
Jim observed, os we took our seats at the table, that the 
“old lady more’n throwed herself gittin’ up this dinner;" 
three kinds of game, roast pork, fish fried, boilud and 
pickled, and half a dozen unknown dishes that made F. 
ask, ns ho passed them, “how are you on the confidence 
game?” 
The sky was growing dark as we left Millerville, and the 
wind blew fiercely us wu climbed the “Leaf Hills,” a 
range of small bluffs that divide Otter Toil county, mostly 
wooded, affording fine cover for ruffed grouse; but wo 
could not stop to pay our respects to these birds, us the 
rain began to come down, and it was dark when wo passed 
the hills, and came onto the desolate wind-swept prairie in 
a howling storm. To add to our woes, wo had lost a 
favorite dog; the team began to show signs of fatigue, not 
one of our party hud the least idea whore we were, the 
cold rain poured down, the fierce wind blew its bust, and, 
crouched in the wagon, we let the team go whore they 
would. About nine o’clock wc saw, away to our left, a 
flickering light, and heading our ponies iu that direction, 
we drove up to a settler’s, who told us where to go to find 
the slopping place at Clitheral Lake, and veering about, 
feeling better, with Joe's rich voice pealing out in the 
misty atmosphere to the tune of “If you want to get rich," 
we soon heard the low wash of the waves as they broke on 
the shore of the luke. A half mile further on wo saw Iu- 
distinctly through the storm, a glooiny-looking house In a 
gloomy-looking grove. After battering at the door awhile 
it cautiously opened, and a sour-faced man, in answer to 
our questions, hesitatingly admitted tliut lie “kop* tavern." 
As ii was “Uobsou’s choice," wo crawled out of the wagon, 
and were among the Mormons of Minnesota. 
The sour-faced man, who looked gloomily at us, and 
sighed when P. asked him if ho kept anything that would 
be good Tor a chill, was joined by two or three others, 
morose-looking men and boys, who, when wo asked for 
our fire and something to eat, said it was too lato for sup- 
per, and it rained too liurd to go for wood.' Jim, our main- 
stay, could not stand this, and gave the sour-faced man to 
understand what lie thought of him as a hold keeper in 
plaiu language, interspersed with some “sabre cuts of 
Saxon speech" that were doubtless new to that locality; 
and then, regardless of frowns and mutterings, started for 
the kitchen, where we now heard Ids merry voice and au 
occasional “to-hee” from the female Mormons lie had dis- 
covered there. He soon returned with his arms full of dry 
wood, and a promise of supper, which, after a long delay, 
we were informed was ready; and such a fraud as that re- 
past was I Saleratus biscuit, rancid butter, stowed pump- 
kin, nnd some nameless abominations In a side dish, .which 
a high-shouldered priestess insisted on our eating. Then, 
preceded by the sour-faced individual, hearing a tallow 
dip, and sighing every time anybody spoke to Inin, wo 
were put Into a hot attic, on some corn husks, alive with 
vermin, and so wore the night away. Breakfast was a 
repetition of the supper, except tliut the “yaller" biscuits 
I, ad been warmed over, and, a lough old rooster had been 
steered up, spurs und all, for our benefit. 
The Clitheral Mormons arc a small band of seceders, 
who, while living closely up to most of the regulations of 
the Mormon faith, incline more to the teachings of Joseph 
Smith than to Brigham Young; do not believe in polygamy, 
own everything in common, arc "hostile to the whites.” and 
to all intents und purposes are as good Mormons as if they 
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