The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1854-04-20
" One of The Gals"


ter from person travelling in the wild
portions of Delaware and Sullivan coun
ties, New York:
AS was trudging along one afternoon
In the town of Fremont, one of the bor-
der towns of Sullivan county, was over
taken by what | at first supposed was a
young man, with a rifle on his shoulder
and being well pleased with the idea OF
having company through the woods, /
turned around and said, 'Good afternoon,
sir Good afternoon, said my new ac-
quaintance, but in a tone of voice that
sounded, to me, rather peculiar. My
suspicious were at once aroused, and to
satisfy myself, [ made some inquiries in
regard to hunting, which were readily
answered by the young lady. whom |
had thus encountered. She said she had
been out ever since daylight; had follow
ed buck nearly all day, got one shot
and wounded him, but as there was little
snow, she could not get him; and was 60
ing to try him the next day, hoping that
she would get another shot at him, and
she was quite certain that she would kill
him. Although [ cannot give very
good idea of her appearance, [ will try to
describe her dress. The only article of
female apparel visible was a close fitting
hood upon her head, such as is often
worn by deer hunters. Next, an India
rubber hunting coat; her neither limbs
were encased in snug tight fitting pair
of corduroy pants and pair of Indian
moccassins upon her feet. She had a
good looking rife upon her shoulder, and
e brace of double barrelled pistols in the
side pockets of her coat, while formid-
able hunting knife hung suspended by
her side. Wishing to witness her skill
with hunting instruments, [ commenced
bantering her with regard to Shooting
She smiled and said she was as good q
shot as was in the woods, and to convince
me she took out her hunting knife and
cut ring four inches in diamater in q
tree with a small spot in the CENTRE
Then stepping back thirty yards, and
drawing up one Of her pistols, put the
ball inside Of the ring. She then, at
thirtyfve rods from the tree, put ball
from her rifle in the very centre. We
shortly came to her fathers house, and [
gladly accepted an invitation to stop there
over night. The maiden hunter, instead
of sitting down to rest as most hunters
do when they 90 home, remarked that
she had got the chores to do. So out she
went; fed, watered and stabbed pair of
young horses, a yoke of oxen and three
cows. She then went to the saw mill and
brought slab on her shoulder that [
shouldn't like to carry, and with an axe
and saw soon worked it into stove wood
Her next business was to change her
dress and get tea, which she did in
manner which would have been credita-
bic to more scientific cook. After tel
she finished up the usual house work, and
then sat down and commenced plying her
needle in very lady-like manner. [ as
certained that her mother was quite fee
BILE, and her father confined to the house
with the rheumatism. The whole family
were intelligent, well educated, and com
municative. They had moved from Scho-
haire county in the woods, about three
years before, and the father was taken
lame the first winter after their arrival,
and had not been able to do anything
since. Lucy Ann, as her mother called
her, had taken charge of ploughed,
planted, and harvested the farm. learned
to chop wood, drive team, and do all the
necessary work. Game being plenty,she
had learned to use her fathers rifle, and
spent some of her leisure time in hunt
ing. She had not killed deer yet, but
expressed her determination to kill one
at least before New Years. She boasted
of having killed any quantity of partrid
ges, squirrels and other small game. AT
ter chatting some time, she brought a vi
olin from closet and playing fifteen or
twenty tunes, and also sung a few songs,
accompanying herself on the violin, in a
style that showed that she was far from
destitute of musical skill. The next
morning she was up at four o'clock, and
before sunrise had the breakfast out of
the way, and all her work out of doors
and in the house done, and when | left, a
few minutes after sunrise, she had on her
hunting suit, and was loading her rifle
r. Al L T. Il