Delta chief., 1883-09-19
SPORT ON THE GRAND MESA.
A Hunting and Fishing Trip Over this
Famous Resort,

| region abounding in deer, elk, bear, noun
tain lions and wolves, while its waters
swarm with trout and beaver, and its lakes
TEEN with wild geese, brant and duck" the
statement is usually received with indulgent
incredulity, and the arabasgues with which
it is adorned are appreciated at their true
value only by the man of experience who,
while constrained to admit the necessity for
their existence, looks back with regret upon
the number of times he has been deceived by
the beauty of their designs the Ingenious
ness of their construction. How many times
has the writer been beguiled by these specious
statements, and how regularly has he every
summer loaded himself down with hunting
and fishing accoutrements and sailed forth
to some such paradise in the Adirondacks or
in the wilds of Maine, only to find that in
stead of swarming with trout the waters
abounded with mammoth spikebilled mos
quitoes as large as pelicans, while the only
thing that prevented the statements regard
ing the deer from being an absolute myth
and tradition was pair of diminutive ant
lers, usually in the hotel bar-room, that look
ed as though they had witnessed the early
struggle of the pilgrim fathers, or at least
were contemporary with the defeat of
Braddock. However, it was always "a little
farther on" that this sportman's paradise ex-
| listed, and we have come to the conclusion
that we have finally got there, or at least
have just returned. Probably in the order
of narrative an enumeration of the members
of the party would come next, and while
they might all, or nearly all be classed under
| the general head of "rusters," the baptismal
name of each, together with the various sou.
briquets that become attached to them while
in camp, will serve to identify them the more
readily if they should ever be brought before
the bar of justice for any sins of commission
against the game laws.
To dispose of them summarily, therefore,
would mention first the name of Mr.. Pierre
Noel of New York, who from the facility
with which he led us into the wrong trails
and the readiness with which he persuaded
us against following the right one, was aptly
surnamed the Pathloser. Col. Boyd, whose
military air and department always carry
with them the credentials of his title, was
ably supported in the line of march by his
adjunct, Mr.. Thomas, of Forked Tongue the
well known African explorer. Finally as
the rear guard followed Mr.. John Trickle,
the celebrated Rocky Mountain rustler and
guide, and myself the correspondent / must
not, however. forget in the enumeration,
Kaiser, the dog, whose never-to- be.forgotten
hungry look at all times and marvellous ap-
petite led to heavy odds being offered with
no takers) that he could devour by consecu-
tive chunks an entire deer, if the body was
kept in the background SO that the sight of
it should not discourage him. His owner
posed him as Gordon setter, but he assured
me confidentially that che was three-quarters
bloodhound" and the rest, queried /, seeing
him hesitate, "well the rest is mostly just
dog" this with burst of quite refreshing
candor.
A trip over the Grand Mesa during the last
days Of summer cannot be adequately de.
scribed and can only be appreciated fully by
those who have endured the heat of the val.
leys below for couple of months. The road
winding through groves of quaking asp,
across innumerable streams of ice cold water
wherein the festive trout can be seen disport-
ing in all the unterrified serenity of the un-
broiled, through beautiful parks whose
smooth surfaces are interspersed with clumps
of spruce until the summit is reached, and
before us lies the country of the Grand and
its tributaries. Our first camp, on top of the
summit, was enlivened by visit from a
mountain lion that serenaded us with such
effect that the Colonel arose toward morning
and climbed tree in the immediate vicinity
for the purpose, as he said of getting high
enough above the brush to have view of
the beast. Some of the outfit seeing him |
descend from very lofty perch about sun
rise suggested that he had climbed so high as
to overlook him entirely! From the summit
the road by rapid descent reaches the valley
OF Plateau creek, over which we crossed, and
camped on Buzzard creek, one of its tribu- |
tares. Here it was that the Pathloser be.
guiled the Colonel and the African explorer |
from the trail and led them around through
sage brush parks and by the side of running
waters till after ten o'clock, and then capped |
his exertions by shooting through roll con-
tanning his coat and blankets with deadly |
effect. This unlocked for shot SO agitated
our guide that he dove into clump of will |
lows, evidently fearing that the Philistnes, in |
the shape of some stray body of Utes, had in.
vaded the camp. His explanation that he had |
gone into the willows for fishing pole we
received with cold disapproval, although |
considering the lateness of the hour and the |
wildness of the country doubt If any one of
us could have extemporized a better lie. On |
the following day we reached our destination |
on the head waters of Buzzard creek, nothing |
having happened to mar our enjoyment of
ride, lest 1t was the efforts we were compelled |
to make in order to induce our pack animals
IN. IL nVg Il al, n,,I aN.