Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-12-01
DEER HUNTING IN MICHIGAN.
Life Among the Pines.

! A correspondent of the Cleveland Herald
sends to that Journal IN account Of re-
cent hunting experienced
! We are in camp forty miles from the
nearest postofiice, on the An Sable river.
We are forty miles from the village of An
Sable, on Lake Huron, and about one hun
dre6 and ton miles from the mouth OF the
Au Sable, by the way of the river. Orr
party consists OF John Erwin, nj. M.
Spangler, DR.. William Meyer, George II,
Hyman, Heman Oviat, A. Nj. Burke, FW.
Buutz and Jason Garfield, with their pack
Of hounds, among which arc the famous
dogs Sir 10. Drum, Sport and Root. heroes
of many a chase.
At tbs village OF Au Sable we met the
hardy lumbertIen IN large numbers. mos.
OF them getting ready for the woods. where
they soon go into camp to remain till
spring. From the mouth of the Au Sable
river immense RATS of pine logs were
winding their way out being towed by
large tugs, on their way down the lakes to
Tonawgnda and other points to be manu-
factured into lumber.
OCTOBER 1e.-The village of An Sable,
at the month of The Au Sable riyer, has
about nine hundred people. 1t has two
large sawmills and several fine stores and
the usual other buildings. 1t stands few
feet above the lake on sandy plain.
the houses being built among
from any one point The beds OF all
the streets are n,aie of saw dust.
They have no Sunday here in the woods.
The lnmbermen 20 into the woods in Oc-
tober and remain until spring. during
fl.av n vi
but that which Is connected with the cut
ting of pine tress into logs and hauling
them to the bank of the river, and their
evenings and nights around their camp
fires. No newspapers or foreign news
come to their camp, and for six months
thoy are isolated from the outside world.
Their caiiip5 are made Of pine logs from
forty to fifty feet square, etcrt eight feet
high, covered with two thickpesses CT cedar
or Eastwood logs. The logs are first
split through the cenSer, and then
their hearts taken oat, the first
tier laid on with hearts up and the
other with hearts down SO as to break
Joints, and the roof is complete. In the
centre they leave hole about six feet
square for the chimney, underneath this
hole is log pen built up about twenty
inches high and oiled With dirt on which
the fire is built. The caIGp is then chinck-
ed with moss and door put in. This is
the lumberman's home. The window is
the chimney, and here he spends his long
winto- evenings and nights from the time
he goes in in October till he goes down
the river with his logs in tie epring.
The Au Sable river for its size is the
finest river in the world. Its average
width is seven rods, its average depth Is
Ave feet for two hundred miles, and so
rapid the entire distance that it is impos-
sible to paddle up stream the hghtest
canoe. You can get soms Idea Of rapidity
of this stream in the fec. that from our
camp one of the lumbcrmen will paddle
canoe to the mouth of the Au sable IN
about ten hours IL seldom varies in
depth, as it is made entirely Of spring wa
ter, the soil being light sand, and absorb
ING all that falls, and the water is cold and
as clear rs a crystal 1t is we'll Allied with
species of fish which some call trout,
but unlike any other known trout. In
form the fish resembles the brook trout,
but is dark spotted fish, with larger
scales than the trout, but equally as good.
The banks, for great part Of the way, are
fringed with cedar swamps. so thick and
dark as to be almost impossible, and are
fine covers for wild game, while back OF
them, and now and then coming to the
river, are the high lands of the An Sable
so well known to the sailors OF Lake Huron.
The river runs very deep beneath the
hills. and so shaded by the cedar swamps
that it looks black, and consequently its
name Au Sable-black water.
OcToBE1 live breakfasted at five A.
NJ. At daylight Spangler and Burke start
the hunt, three miles back of camp, with
the seven hounds. Most of the hunters
60 on the river.
First two hounds are started, and when
they have got up their deer, some distance
away the next is started, and SO on till
they are all out and running like fun. and
different dogs in full chase of five different
deer dogs running alone, others by
twos, over the pine ridges and across the
pains, making the woods echo to the
tongues OF these excited hounds. When,
. ever and anon, on the ridges and plain. you
see the graceful bounding doe, or the more
majestic jump of the royal buck, before
the hounds keeping but a short distance
before the hound, seeming conscious OF
their ability to outrun the hound, until
heated and tired of the race, they plunge
into and swim down the Sable river-then
il is that the batteries of the hunter open
upon them, and the result of one days
hunt is two deers hung mp before our
camp. On his way TO camp, from the riv-
er, our doctor tried to drive in four bears.
but they persisted in taking the wrong
road, and the doctor failed to get them In.
OCTOBER 21.-Four grand hunting days
and the chase is over, and sadly it has ter
minated. As the result OF the four days
chase, we have thirteen deer hanging mp,
seven of which are splendid bucks. Car
brave "Sport" during the day had brought
into the river two deer, and one of them, q
wounded buck, he had chased for long
distance by swimming down the river afteI
him, giving tongue hotly and keeping with
in q few feet of him till he was finally killed
OF all the brave deeds of our dogs thli
day, '.Sport" seemed praised by all,
and we had but just arrived in oul
camp, and were detailing the brave
deeds of ''Sport," who was before us
when he WAS seized by spasms and died II
a few moments by poison. How or bl
whom he was poisoned is q mere conjec
ture. He died with brave deeds abou
him, in the zenith of his glory, and thu
grandest of hunting days, having slain nv
large deer, ends in mourning.
This morning We dug his grave on tn
bank of tne Sable. and with guns reversed
leading the other hound, slowly and sol
emnly we followed him to his grave, an
when our cook had buried him, we put {
deer's leg 10 his head rs monument, an
I fred ovor his grave twenty-five shots
There may he rest, and, if possible, dreal
3 of his many heroic chases.
A PIECE of Russian history has been NJ
! covered lately in the shape of four coffinl
7 each of them containing, as their wei
! preserved bronze plates betoken, The du'
!. of some man of importance in his spher'