Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-01-02

petent and faithful We were all mounted
on tough and serviceable horses, and we
relied upon our arms to furnish us with
food. We crossed the Minnesota river at
the Little Rapids, about forty miles
above Mendoza, without serious difficulty,
the water being shallow We then
entered the woods, and traverslng them
under the direction of the guide, we
emerged upon the open prairie ON the
following day The month was October,
the woods and prairie had assumed the
hues of autumn, and the weather being
warm and pleasant, the party having
secured sufficient game for supper, were
in merry mood, and made good head
way towards to the northwest. Deer
and bear sign was plentiful, but the
Indiansshad lately hunted there and killed
or dri%n the animals away. The
next Gay we travelled industriously,
but fell in with no game of any kind, and
we reached lake, bordered by thick
grove of poplars, where 1t was decided
to encamp for the night Having eaten
nothing during the day, and without
provant for supper, the situation was
ANYTHING but cheerful. The sun was dis
appearing in the west, when to our de-
light we heard among the poplars the pc
culiar chuckle of ruffed grouse when pre-
pairing to roost; and they were soon dis
covered and fifteen Of them secured,
which afforded very satisfactory meal.
That was the only day that there was
scarcity of food during the entire trip,
deer and water fowl being abundant. The
route was continued along the verge OF
the forest until, about noon one OF the
DAYS, we saw in the distance on the prai-
RE herd of elk, consisting OF 100 or
more, lying down on the top OF hill.
How to stalk them with success was the
problem to be solved. There was but
one chance in score that it could be
done, but l determined upon trial.
Leaving the rest of the party to care for
the horses, none of which was fast enough
to overtake the elk, | took with me
Young half-breed and Dowan, and started
on foot We were compelled to make a
march of three or four miles to reach the
only point from which to make an ap-
proach. The hill where the animals lay
was precipitous on the side where we
found ourselves, and if the
valley between US could be safely
crossed; we would be sheltered from sight
by the brow Of the hill. Stripping our
selves of all superfuous articles, we
wound prairie grass around our bodies
and crowned our heads with it. | kept
the half breed with me, and told Dowan
to crawl at little distance in parallel
line with us, but under no circumstances
to fire a shot or show himself until l ar
rived at the proper spot. Serpent-like we
worked our way through the grass for
distance of four or five hundred yards,
10 no H..
out alarming the game, when, to my I'M
speakable horror and indignation, l saw
the miserable savage Dowan rise from the
ground; run rapidly up the hill, and dis
charge his double barrel. was near
enough to the herd for a certain shot,
but the rising ground interviewed, shut
ting it out from my view. L ran at full
speed toward the Indian, intending to
beat him soundly; but he was a feet run
ner, and when l mounted the hill he was
in full chase of the elk and almost gun
shot ahead of me. Ifelt like putting a
bullet through the wretch, but he did not
make his appearance among us until late
at night, and my wrath had then subsid-
ed. What he had been doing in the
mean time no one could tell, but when
| questioned him the next morning he
said he had followed an elk he had wound
ed, put did not succeed in overtaking it.
l abused him heartily for his misconduct,
and asked him why ne had not waited
for me before shooting. He replied that
he cou Id not see me in the grass, and
supposed | had abandoned the chase.
How the fellow failed to secure at least
two of the herd, | cannot conceive, for he
was within twenty yards of them when
he discharged his gun. L have often
times had my patience tried by the STU
pidity of fellow hunters, or Of my men,
when instructed to perform some task
requiring tact and caution in approach
ing game, but nothing ever occurred to
me more irritating than the case l have
related. We fell in with other elk in
smaller numbers during the trip, but the
country was not favorable for stalking,
and trial to overtake them with our
horses on one occasion proved ludicrous
failure.
After reaching the valley of the Sank
river and looking with pleased eyes upon
a beautiful sheet of water, now known as
Osakis lake, and celebrated for the
abundance and excellence of the fish it
contains, the weather changed, threaten
ing a storm, and | determined to return
homeward by more westerly route. On
the second day thereafter huge bear
was killed by one of the party and the
carcass proved godsend to US, inasmuch
as q sudden now-storm, which lasted
two entire days, overlook US and drove
us to the shelter of the woods Hunt
ing was out of the question while the
snowfall continued, and we had to make
ourselves and our poor animals as COM
Portable as the paucity of covering material
would permit. The large kettle of sheet
iron was kept upon the fire and supplied
without intermission with the meat of
the bear which was our only recourse.
The amount consumed by the party of
nine while thus snow bound was simply
prodigious, there being little Of the bear
left for the wolves when we departed.
Our course led US through the Kandiyohi
region, noted for the size and beauty of
its lakes and the fertility of its soil. The
party arrived without accident at their
homes, after an absence of twenty-five
days, the only incident worth mentioning
being the bagging of four large geese
on the wing by the writer by single dis
charge of his gun on horseback.
first came to ST. Peters, now Mendoza,
in the fall of 1884, the trip from Prairie
du Chen, nearly three hundred miles
l,ov;n~ baa,, oo,,,