Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-12-11
NO. 90.

! Frederick had seen a herd of elk
Scores, if not hundreds of them. were
laying, grazing, or gamboling. singly
or in groupes, far adown the opposite
terrace, fully thousand feet below us.
and half mile away; charming
scene tor painter. but practically too
far away for us, and without molesting
them we steered for band heard whiS-
tling nearer camp. Having an abun-
dance of meat, we now went for horns,
and cautiously approaching, with but
one ring of both rifles, brought down
the largest horned bull within range.
and then dashed, rife in hand, into the
herd for the loftieSt antlers near the
other side. There seemed about 100 of
them, mainly or year old bulls, and
rs these animals do not visit the Park.
probably few if any of them had ever
before seen a human being, for at the
report of our rifles, the most of them
looked hastily to the surrounding cliffs.
searching for the echoes; others ran
off, while some of the group around the
one we had shot gazed in silent wonder
at his reeling fall, spouting gore, and
dying struggles. Others snOrted in af-
fright, and two, perhaps rivals for
some favorite COW, charged boldly in
for a free fight with the fallen foe and
each other, too much occupied with
their sport TO notice u.s. until somewhat
divergIng from Frederick | ran up to
certainly less than 80 feet when they
observed me, and one of them ran of.
The other, noble 4-year-old, stand
ing nearly aStride the fallen one, with
CLASSY eye, arched neck, and lofty ant
lers, seemed to momentarily expand in
fierceness, to magnificent proportions,
and preparations for fearful charge,
and when he with fairly brist1ing hair
gave the fearful battle snort, his acrid
hot kissing saliva nearly reached me.
l have often and again heard their WOO
ing, whistle-snOrting battle challenge,
and clashing horns, but never before
when | was so near-most unmistaka-
bly, the party ehallenged-utterly ex-
posed, with no possibility of retreat.
and only a bare one of a fortunate shot
TO drop him before transfixed by score
of antler points. During over 40 years
of frontier experience, | have thank
fully sought the lee side of friendly
bluff, boulder, or breakwork from a
shower of hailstones or bullets, hid
den cOula from wounded bull, or q
dashing herd of buffalo, a forked tree
from 4 wounded black-tailed buck, and
4 lOw-branched one, easy to climb,
from pOwder-bUrned grizzly. but ne
yer before realized how terribly for
the usually umid. but fleet.
proud, lofty-antlered Rocky Mountain
elk could become when scenting blood,
aroused, and proudly fa-
cling the unknown biped man-belted,
armed and plumed, stalking erect into
his battle ring. Fora moment | would
have rather faced family of snorting
grizzlies. but unwisely, for. with my
shout of mingled challenge
and alright. the GOd-stamped fear of
his degenerate image-upOn nearly all
animals-reached him. but all too late.
for high in his first leap of retreat ri
fIe rang out. and his proud form and
lofty antlers crashed headlong i'm death
beside his fellow. As Fred had also
brought down another, we desisted.
not for want of game, but inclination
for wanton slaughter, With horse and
lasso we, without skinning, soon
dragged our game just past our spare
horses in a little sheltered glade, to our
blazing camp fire beneath the shelter
ing branches of an ancient cedar.