June 25, 1910.] 
1011 
however, that MacFarlaine gives as his only evi¬ 
dence the fact that he had partaken of the flesh 
of this species brought in by the Indians. As 
a result of Mr. Preble’s personal investigation 
he was only able to report hearsay information 
that goats existed in the Nahanni Mountains 
and the ranges opposite Fort Norman. (North 
American Fauna, No. 27, page 158, U. S. De¬ 
partment of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological 
Survey, Washington, 1908.) 
From my personal investigation in the coun¬ 
try I know that goats do not exist on the west¬ 
ern slopes of the Rockies from the head of the 
Pelly River north. It is difficult for anybody 
not having investigated the stories of the occur¬ 
rence of goats in the Yukon Territory and 
Alaska to realize how frequently they are con¬ 
founded with sheep. It is safe to assert that 
one-quarter of the population of miners, pros¬ 
pectors, trappers and others report goats for 
sheep. This fact must be considered when hear¬ 
say evidence is obtained. It seems 
clear that all of the above records 
north of latitude 59 0 10' are based 
on hearsay evidence. Mr. Stone 
penetrated the Nahanni Moun¬ 
tains north of the Liard, and also 
the main Rockies west of Fort 
Norman, latitude 65°. In both 
places he killed sheep, but did not 
find goats. 
Madison Grant advises me that 
his record of latitude 63° 30' was 
given on the authority of Mr. 
Stone. Mr. Hornaday gives a 
record at Frances Lake on the 
authority of Mr. Pike and my¬ 
self. Mr. Pike has since inform¬ 
ed me that having killed goats at 
McDame’s Creek, he assumed 
they continued further north to 
Frances Lake. 
The record I gave Mr. Horna¬ 
day was obtained from an Indian 
from Fort Liard whom I met 
up the Pelly River. He indicated to me moun¬ 
tains to the south of Frances Lake in a some¬ 
what indefinite way, and I assumed the Too- 
Tsho range near the lake. Had I understood 
the Indian’s idea of distance as well then as I 
do now, I should not have suggested that rec¬ 
ord, and must here confess the error, as the 
Indian might have meant mountains 200 miles 
further south. 
In the absence of more definite information, 
the record of Mr. McLean quoted by Mr. Horn¬ 
aday must be held subject to positive verifica¬ 
tion. Mr. Hornaday advises me that he has mis¬ 
laid Mr. McLean’s letter. He is an old Hudson 
Bay man, familiar with the north, but certainly 
not more so than Mr. McFarlane and the Hud¬ 
son Bay men who report goats in error. 
In 1905 and 1906 I met and discussed the goat 
question with trappers who, for three winters, 
had ranged about the mountains to the east of 
the Pelly Lakes, a direct continuation of the 
Too-Tsho range. They reported sheep, but no 
goats. 
The following letter from Mr. Preble in 
answer to my inquiry for more definite informa¬ 
tion than that given in his report is pertinent: 
present in the mountain ranges just west of the 
Mackenzie. I had reports (partly at second 
hand) of their presence west of Norman and 
in the Nahannies, but in the light of later knowl¬ 
edge do not consider them reliable. Ross re¬ 
ported specimens of goats from west of Simp¬ 
son and from La Pierre House (west of Mc¬ 
Pherson), but in the latter case at least he 
was undoubtedly mistaken, having in mind the 
sheep. His own notes on sheep in his various 
lists are very brief and general, and he likely 
confused the two as has been done by others. 
The sheep of course is known to occur all along 
from the Liard to the Arctic coast just west of 
the Mackenzie. 
Edward A. Preble. 
J. H. Keele, geologist of the Canadian Geo¬ 
logical Survey, who has spent many years in the 
Yukon, exploring and studying the geology of 
the country, passed part of the winter at the 
SONG SPARROW AND NEST. 
From a photograph by William C. Herman. 
Washington, D. C., May 11, 1910. 
I have no positive evidence that goats are 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
head of Ross River, and part of it at the head 
of the Gravel River in the Rockies on the east 
side of the divide, about latitude 63°. He is 
extremely interested in natural history and took 
special interest in the occurrence of goats. He 
stated most positively to George Bird Grinnell 
and myself that no goats exist in those ranges— 
only sheep. In the spring he descended the 
Gravel River to the Mackenzie and discussed 
matters with the Hudson Bay men at Fort Simp¬ 
son. 
The most positive data on the subject are 
given by Charles Camsell, a member of the 
Canadian Geological Survey, born in that re¬ 
gion, where he acquired the Indian language. 
He has always been keenly interested in natural 
history. His geological reports of his explora¬ 
tions bear evidence of the trained observer. His 
letter should be conclusive: 
Ottawa, May 25, 1910. 
I have received your letter referring to the 
distribution of Rocky Mountain goats in the 
north. I believe it to be quite true that there 
are no goats in these mountains north of Liard 
River. This conclusion is the result of my own 
observations in that region covering a period of 
about eight years. From 1894 to 1900 I wan¬ 
dered over a great part of that region from the 
Coppermine River to the Alaska boundary and 
north of about latitude 6o°. I have wintered at 
Great Slave Lake, at Fort Simpson, Fort Wrig- 
ley and Fort Norman, and four times crossed 
the chain of mountains lying between the Mac¬ 
kenzie Valley and the Pacific coast. I have also 
made both winter and summer trips westward 
into the mountains from Fort Norman and Fort 
Wrigley. I have seen sheep, or signs of sheep, 
on the Liard River and on Frances .Lake, and 
I have shot sheep on the Gravel River, the head 
of the Peel River and on the mountains over¬ 
looking and to the west of the delta of the Mac¬ 
kenzie River. I have never yet seen any goats 
anywhere in there. 
Some of the natives and halfbreeds in the 
Mackenzie Valley speak of goats as being in this 
country, but I have it from the more intelligent 
of these people and those who know the dif¬ 
ference between a sheep and a goat that all their 
so-called goats are sheep. 
Of course it is quite possible 
that there may be a few goats 
on the southern portion of these 
mountains, but I do not know of 
any authentic record of such. 
My own experience of that re¬ 
gion is as wide as any one that 
I know of. I was born at Fort 
Liard and lived there until eight 
years old, when I was sent out 
to school. "When I went back in 
1894, after graduating from col¬ 
lege (to spend six years), it was 
going home to me. My father 
was still in charge of the region 
north of Great Slave Lake for 
the Hudson’s Bay Co., and I 
could travel anywhere through 
there and be well received on his 
account. I could speak the native 
language fluently and the Indians 
were always ready to assist me 
with information or other help. I 
went back there for the Geological 
Survey in 1902 and in 1905, but not since then. 
You have asked me for my experience in that 
region, and I have given you some of it merely 
to show that my knowledge of that country is 
not very limited, and my conclusions of goats 
not drawn from hearsay. I shall be pleased to 
write you further, if necessary. 
Charles Camsell. 
Finally a glance at the topography of the re¬ 
gion about the Liard River is suggestive. 
According to Dr. George M. Dawson, who 
explored and reported on the Dease and Frances 
rivers, the ranges immediately north of the 
Dease River are low and rounded. Further 
north they are isolated masses separated by wide 
valleys. The first important range is that of 
the Too-Tsho Mountains. (Report on an ex¬ 
ploration in the Yukon District, N. W. Y., and 
the adjacent northern portion of British Colum¬ 
bia, 1887, by George M. Dawson and R. G. Mc¬ 
Connell, Ottawa, 1898, pages 100 and 104.) The 
region south of the Too-Tsho range, therefore, 
does not appear to be a goat country. 
In the same report, page 196, Mr. McConnell, 
who explored the Liard River, notes that in the 
vicinity of Smith River the main range of the 
Rocky Mountains is interrupted: “The Rocky 
Mountains, regarded as forming the eastern 
