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FOREST AND STREAM. 
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Iowa fifty Years Ago. 
Sportsmen and anglers of the present day have 
but little idea of the sport enjoyed by those who 
fifty years ago found themselves in the terri¬ 
tory west of the Mississippi River, on what was 
at that time the frontier. Born and raised in 
the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts, 
my parents in 1852 decided to remove to Iowa, 
it then being regarded as almost “out of the 
world” by our relatives and friends, all of whom 
bade us “a fond farewell,” never expecting to 
see us again, m this world. 
At that time there was no railroad extending 
further west than Rockford, Ill., and as we took 
many household belongings with us, when Chicago 
was reached the most available route was via the 
Illinois Canal and River to Rock Island, and 
thence by steamboat up the Mississippi River to 
Dubuque. After remaining there for two years 
business interests necessitated a removal seventy 
miles further west tO' a little town of about one 
hundred and fifty inhabitants. There were a few 
scattering farms in the surrounding country, most 
of these in the timber where small clearings had 
been made, the prairies being entirely unfenced. 
Although only a boy, I was the proud possessor 
of a Kentucky squirrel rifle, a muzzleloader, of 
course, using bullets of home manufacture, run 
singly in moulds during the long winter evenings, 
and well greased patches of buckskin. In ad¬ 
dition a single-barrel gun, having a reputed 
genuine stub and twist barrel, gave an equipment 
for the procuring of game that really furnished 
more pleasure (and game also) than the high- 
grade guns of later years. 
The game question was in those days really a 
matter of necessity, the nearest place at which 
“butcher’s meat” could be procured being seventy 
miles away. However, the country literally 
swarmed with game of all descriptions, and the 
family were seldom out of meat. There were no 
buffalo in that immediate vicinity at this time, but 
an occasional stray from the northern herd, whose 
grazing grounds were less than a hundred miles 
to the west, was often shot, and during the winter 
months a quarter of buffalo and occasionally a 
supply of bear steak were hanging in the smoke 
house. Deer were very plentiful, when there 
was a heavy fall of snow in the timber, herds 
of them coming within the town limits in search 
of food. When a whole or a half of a carcass 
was bought, after a sufficient quantity of venison 
steak had been cut to supply the needs of the 
family for some time, the remainder was dried 
and smoked, just as beef is prepared at the 
present. Pemmican shipped from St. Paul down 
the Mississippi and thence hauled by ox team, 
could generally be bought during the fall and 
winter. This was buffalo meat cut in long strips, 
then hung over poles resting on crotched stakes 
driven securely in the ground, the pole being 
at a height from the ground sufficient for the 
strips to clear it by about a foot. With no other 
treatment or curing, aside from the sun and the 
dry air, it was allowed to hang until it was jerked, 
as the process was termed. When this was at 
the proper stage, small fires, preferably of 
hickory chips, were built along the ground beneath 
the lines of hanging meat, and when well started, 
these fires were covered with damp leaves, mak¬ 
ing a smudge, the smoke from which imparted 
to the meat a delightful flavor. The meat was 
then packed in tight barrels and over their con¬ 
tents the melted tallow and fat of the buffalo were 
poured, making an air-tight nackage which pre¬ 
served the meat perfectly for months. A long, 
thick strip of pemmican slit open its length and 
laid on the broiler over a bed of hickory coals, 
or as was more often the case when in camp, 
directly on the coals themselves, had a fine 
flavor. This pemmican was prepared in Manitoba 
by the trappers of the Hudson Bay Company and 
annually a train of Pembina carts, as they were 
called, left Winnepeg for St. Paul, loaded with 
the peltries procured during the season and a 
few barrels of pemmican to complete the load. 
These Pembina carts were made entirely of 
wood, no nails or iron being used in their con¬ 
struction, pinned together with wooden pins, and 
the two wheels on which the crate-like body 
rested cut from the butt of a large log and were 
from four to- five inches thickness. The axle be= 
ing also of wood, the noise made by them as they 
rolled along the road could be heard at a dist¬ 
ance of several miles, and as. they were pitched 
in various keys, it was far from enjoyable. In 
1852 I saw a train of over fifty of these carts 
with either one or two yoke of oxen as their 
motive power, enter St. Paul, at that time a small 
trading post and the market for the northern 
hunters and trappers. 
Pinnated grouse or prairie chickens were every¬ 
where abundant, and during the winters 1854-5 
and 1855-6 would fly down from the trees and 
take the corn that was fed to the domestic fowls. 
Traps were set along the garden fences in the 
outskirts of the town and one could sit at a 
window and watch them drop in, the trap cover 
falling from the weight of the chicken, and 
closing automatically in readiness for the next 
arrival. Several of the merchants in the little 
town, during the winter season, bought them, 
packed in barrels, and after letting them freeze, 
shipped to eastern markets. One enterprising 
individual stewed and* canned them, using _ only 
the breast and legs for this purpose, and shipped 
to eastern consumers. The farmers derived quite 
a revenue from their trapping, and often eight 
or. ten bob-sleds would be on the street at the 
same time, the wagon box on the runners filled 
high with the birds. One firm, using a vacant 
building for storage, underneath which was a 
cellar its full length, bought so many that from 
their weight the floor gave way and they were 
precipitated into the cellar. They were sold at 
from $1.50 to $2.50 per dozen, according to the 
available supply. 
I mention these facts to show how plentiful 
they were in early days. In preparing them for 
the table, the breasts and legs were the only por¬ 
tions used, and in the winter when all the flesh 
was dark, the breast portion was by many dried, 
smoked and packed away for future Use. At that 
time there was no law regulating their shooting 
or trapping, and by the first of July the young 
birds were large enough for the table. During 
the haying season the young birds would hide 
under the new mown hay, and, as they flew up. 
I have often killed them with the hand rake used 
in gathering it into windrows. When game laws 
were first enacted, July 15 was the beginning of 
the open season. Gradually it was made later, 
until in most of the States it is now Sept. 1. Hunt¬ 
ing parties usually consisted of four persons and a 
driver, a three-seated spring wagon completing 
the outfit, with usually a dog for each two guns. 
As there were but few fences, the dogs were al¬ 
lowed to range, the hunters remaining in the 
wagon until they found birds and then leisurely 
alighting and preparing for business. I always 
shot over two dogs, a pointer and a setter, tbe 
former covering a large area of ground while the 
setter worked much more slowly, quartering close 
to the hunters. Both were worked by the whistle 
and the motion of the hand. The early morning 
and the late afternoon shooting were the best. 
In the morning the birds were usually in the 
prairie grass along the swales or slough land 
from daylight until about ten o’clock. The 
hunters generally remained in camn from that 
time until about 3 P. M., by which time the 
chickens had worked their way into the stubble 
fields for the evening feeding, and from that time 
until dark the greatest numbers were bagged. 
About Aug. 1 the various broods had come 
gether into coveys. 
When the birds were first found the \vl 
covey would rise at the first shot, and usir 
fly a short distance before settling down in 
tall grass of some nearby slough, and when 
cated again by the dogs would rise singly as 
dogs drove them up. Prairie chickens were 
easiest shooting of any of the game birds, 
when killed they seldom dropped more than 
or five rods from the hunter, and the har 
lesson for the novice to learn was' to wait t 
they were a sufficient distance from him be 
shooting, so that the shot would not tear the 
so badly as to make it unfit for the table, 
the early shooting No. 9 shot was generally 1 
changing to No. 7 later in the season. 
For four guns 120 to 150 birds was consid 
a fair day’s bag, and while of course the n 
ber varied, less than this would have been 
sidered a poor day’s sport. “What did you 
with all of them?” some of the “restricted-tc 
birds” hunters of to-day may inquire. Non 
them were ever wasted, thrown away or 
There were many families in the little t 
whose “men folks” from lack of time or incl 
tion never hunted, and after such a day’s kil 
after reserving four or five birds apiece, acc 
ing to the size of their respective families, 
hunters would apportion the remaining b 
three for so and so, five for this family, an< 
on until they were all disposed of. 1 hen 
were tied in bunches ready for delivery, 
often it would be arranged to reach town a 
the time most of the inhabitants were prepa 
to, or had retired, and taking the birds assif 
to that household,'one of our number would 
a thunderous knock on the door and when 
alarmed householder, often clad in his roln 
nuit, would timidly open an inch or two of 
portal, with the trembling inquiry, “Who’s the 1 
the door would suddenly be pushed wide 0 
the bunch of chickens thrown in on the floor, 
without a word in reply the donor would 
to the wagon, climb in, and repeat the perfc 
ance at the next house on the list. 
Now the prairie chickens are nearly all £ 
from that section of Iowa, practically for 
same reason I heard given by Tom Obencl 
an old frontiersman, the owner of one 
the finest “timber farms” in the country, 
came in to mill one day in 1854 and rema 
to the proprietor. “Wall, Sam, I’m goin’ tc 
out of this here.” And when asked his re: 
for moving, replied, “Thar’s a fambly jist mo 
in over on Buffalo Creek ten mile east of 
place, and folks air gittin’ too pesky thick fur 1 
The Captai 
A 
Quail Refuges. 
Baltimore, Md., March 20 .—Editor Forest 
Stream: Reports received by State Game V 
den Dennis from the various - deputy game > 
dens show that the winter has not been 
hard on partridges. The idea of building a h 
for the birds is probably original in this S 
and was brought out by several citizens of I 
son, Md., wbo were prominent in starting 
Bob White fund for restocking Maryland 
year. A place of refuge has been built i 
deep wood after the style of an Indian wigv 
Barbed wire is stretched around the side‘ 
guard against enemies such as the fox, h 
and owl. There is a small opening to pe 
the birds to get in and out easily. Observa 
has shown that a great number avail themse 
of the protection. An appeal will probabb 
made to the farmers of the State to build 
or more of these shelters on each farm. 
W. J. Rft 
