Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-07-08
Hunting Rocky Mountain Goats.

A MEMBER Of the Hadyn surveying ex-
petition writes as follows from Colorado:
As we rode through narrow canon,
walled on one side by steep bank COW
cred with trees and on the other by tow
ering mass of perpendicular rock, hap
penlng to glance upward we saw standing
on one of the lodges of the latter flock of
sheep, which some of us at first took for
antelope, which was very ridiculous
error. Every one observed them at the
same time, and for an instant so great was
our surprise not man stirred in his sad
die. There, with inquisitive gaze, I'M
mixed with fear, scarcely 100 feet above
us, were seven Rocky Mountain sheep, five
OF them full grown and two of them small
lambs. In our excitement we did not de-
termlne how many were rams and how
many ewes, but as both sexes are en-
lowed with horns this oversight may
have been excusable. At the same second,
as if at given Signal each man leaped
from his seat and, bending one knee to
the ground, picked out his animal and
hred. There was a quick movement
among our animals and almost instanta-
neously both mules and sheep were out of
sight The two little lambs, however.
appeared again in perpendicular crevice
near the summit of the rock, and, bleating
piteously, skipped over such seemingly
inaccessible places that they resembled
flies gliding rapidly up wall. This was
the signal for numerous wild shots; for,
although most Of the boys were good
marksmen, the sudden, unlooked-for ap-
pearance of this noble game unnerved
them and they shot wide of the mark
Thus it came about that we had no tender
wild mutton for our dinner
A few words in this place relative to
these animals May be of interest. A full
grown ram is as large. as a good-sized do
mestic calf Its coat Of hair resembles in
texture and color that of a deer, being
coarse and Of a gray color. The horns are
stout and curved backward, as in do
mestic sheep, with the exception that they
are much larger The female possesses
them also, being straighter and shorter
Hunters say that in descending from
rocky cliff they throw themselves some
times over fifty feet alighting on their
horns, which are so elastic that the animal
bounds into the air and alights on its feet
This is very plausible, as the Indians use
these horns for bows, possessing some
means of strengthening them out for this
purpose. An ordinary sheep will weigh
500 or 900 pounds.
The excitement being over (who can
blame a man for becoming excited on such
an occasion, when it is known that these
animals are becoming so rare even in these
mountains y there was nothing left to do
but resume our journey, regretting the
haste with which we had acted. But not
mule was to be seen. After few mo-
ments' search we found them in little
hollow surrounded by dense thicket, in
which they had 'unwittingly corraled
themselves, all standing in a circle, with
their long, solemn noses touching, SEEM
ing to be consulting among themselves
which way TO proceed to get away from
their prosecutors. We drove on for about
fourteen milessbefore stopping for the day
The road lay in dust six inches thick,
and as the wind blew brisl1ly we were con
stantly enveloped in dense cloud Our
eyes soon felt like deserts of sand with a
like blind men following the blind.