[unting Bighorn in Montana. 
e aeronautic enthusiast certainly has no ad- 
ge over the Rocky Mountain sheep hunter, 
t: aeronaut reaches an altitude of ten thou- 
i feet without publishing his remarkable feat 
.least? At this inspiring height the balloon- 
tils along secure in his wicker inclosure, 
vvelve thousand feet and over the sheep 
i r crawls from ledge to ledge, thankful for 
mallest footholds. Yet given a choice be- 
i the two, who would not be a sheep 
. r ? 
ir camp was situated at about ten thousand 
lamong the rugged granite peaks of the 
:.es. To the southwest, about twenty miles, 
tepped over the boundary into the confines 
le Yellowstone National Park, while to the 
!■' were successions of towering mountains 
Jeep gloomy canons. At this elevation we 
•d the graceful lodge pole pine of the lower 
try and were well content with those hardier 
imbers, the balsam and spruce. We found 
slves about at timber line, and where the 
n and spruce halted beautiful green parks 
Id the mountains; while further up on the 
itain peaks these in turn gave way to stubby, 
red growths of small misshapen pinons; 
jeame the slide rock and rugged granite 
v the true home of the bighorn, 
t agility, keenness of vision and sureness 
lot, the Rocky Mountain sheep or bighorn 
I takes first rank among our so-called big- 
i creatures of to-day. Add to these natural 
i'es the inaccessibility of their retreats far 
: the very summit of the highest mountain 
s, and the successful hunting of this grand 
. re takes on a significance not to be under- 
"ited. The sheep hunter must be a moun- 
<r, with good wind, perfect heart, tried 
n and possess feet that have not lost the 
il instinct for gripping. 
ar some very expert horse wrangling the 
1 : ponies were at length driven into an 
(vised rope corral. The pack mare, on ac- 
of her immense size and awkward gait, 
I I the White Elephant, was also rounded 
id securely loaded. Bolting what might 
-been a very late breakfast or an early 
i' - , the riders swung into their saddles, the 
(mare grunted and the cavalcade was in 
il. 
' went on through two large open parks, 
into the timber again, always at the pace 
’ the pack mare, who effectually blocked 
ail and held everybody behind her. This 
ot all, for in swampy places and in cross¬ 
beams and ravines she had a habit of sud- 
i. halting on the down grade, usually pull- 
e man at the end of the lead-rope down 
i back, and then without warning she would 
i up the steep places, forcing the person 
to sprint up these inclines at wind¬ 
ing speed to save himself from being 
[d on. The man at the end of the lead- 
i ieeded to be relieved many times in the 
of a mile. We worked our way slowly 
up and across one mighty range and down into 
a canon on the other side. The trail led along 
a steep wall of granite and over slide rock 
where a slip by the little cow ponies would have 
thrown horse and rider into the torrent in the 
canon far below; but the ponies knew their busi¬ 
ness and did not slip. The traveling was hard 
on the horses and it was well along in the 
afternoon when we at length reached the edge 
of the water in the bottom of the canon. 
This stream must be crossed, as our hunt¬ 
ing grounds were on top of the range on the 
opposite side. The water was swift and as I 
urged my pony into the current, the lead-rope 
of the pack animal was handed to me. I rode 
carefully until the rope tightened and then came 
to a halt, for the White Elephant, with braced 
feet and extended neck, refused to enter the 
CLIMBING. 
water. The rest of the party came gallantly 
to the rescue and by dint of much pushing, 
pounding and yelling, the pack mare at last 
floundered into the water and plowed her way 
to the other shore. 
Just before sunset we reached our little hunt¬ 
ing cabin, situated at timber line on the edge of 
a large park, above which the barren, wind¬ 
swept peaks of the sheep country stood outlined 
against the sky. Before darkness settled down 
we hastily explored the borders of the park 
and found elk tracks in plenty, but as cold 
weather was approaching, the elk had all de¬ 
parted to the lower timbered country for shel¬ 
ter. Bear tracks were also plenty and it was 
evident that these animals were now working 
up to their winter quarters in the high ledges 
above us. 
Next morning at daylight our party started 
for the higher country. The outfit was divided 
into three details of two men each. The first 
couple were to climb to the pinnacles and work 
along the top of the range. My partner and I 
were to work on a line parallel with them and 
to cover the slopes about half way up, while 
the last two, being inexperienced in mountain 
work, were to work along at the base of the 
range near timber line. 
My partner and I soon found we had our 
work cut out for us, for the slopes of the range 
were steep and treacherous, often terminating 
in a cliff with a sheer drop of a thousand feet 
or more. Most of the time we were obliged 
to travel on the sides instead of the soles of 
our feet, and this soon became very tiresome. 
Many times during the day we were obliged 
to cross above these precipitous cliffs; at such 
times we dug footholds with our rifle stocks 
and carefully worked our way along over the 
loose sand and gravel, testing with our rifles 
before taking the next step forward. This sort 
of climbing may be favorably compared to walk¬ 
ing or crawling over the shingles of a steep 
gabled roof. 
We were now up something over .twelve thou¬ 
sand feet and saw many sheep tracks, but all 
were several days old. The view from this 
height was one never to be forgotten. Far be¬ 
low was the river, winding and twisting its way 
like a silver thread through gorge and canon, 
then widening out into a level valley flanked on 
either side by the brilliant green pastures of 
the lowlands. The mountains rose abruptly from 
these grassy plains. They were covered with a 
dense pine forest, broken at intervals by numer¬ 
ous open parks, the grazing grounds for bands 
of deer and elk, which work their way up from 
the valleys in summer to be rid of the flies. 
Above was the stunted growth and slide rock 
at timber line, and finally the rugged granite 
peaks rising high into the sky, with perpetual 
snow fields nestling near their summits. All 
this we observed and admired as we sat on a 
wide ledge of rock and ate our noon day meal, 
washing it down with ice cold water. 
Proceeding, we soon found fresh signs, and 
examining them closely were convinced there 
was at least one good head in the bunch. The 
sheep had neither winded nor seen us, for they 
appeared to be wandering along quietly and 
without undue haste. Every pinnacle was eagerly 
scanned, each white bowlder minutely examined 
with the glasses in the hope it might prove to be 
the much desired ram. 
At length the tracks led upward and our real 
work began. Crawling along narrow ledges, 
around pinnacles, crossing loose gravel and slide 
rock, we climbed steadily up. Our hands were 
cut, our feet sore and our hearts near to break¬ 
ing, but the sheep were ahead. Finally we saw 
them far ahead on a shelf and with the glasses 
counted nine and were enabled to identify the 
big ram, who stood apart by himself, gazing in 
the opposite direction from us. They were out 
of range, and throwing caution to the winds, 
now that we had sighted our game, we mapped 
out a route to take us above them and started 
for higher ground at a heart-breaking pace. 
Gravel rattled out from under our feet, we dis¬ 
lodged bowlders and sent them crashing down 
into the valley, perspiration streamed into our 
eyes, the blood roared in our ears and our heads 
throbbed, but up and still higher up we climbed. 
