Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-04-23

| trout, Trout dTaulse, etc., very
pretty in their own tame conceptions,
but utterly lifeless in comparison
with this dashing, rock-impeded
mountain stream, forming deep, clear
pools at short intervals, over-hung
betimes by the mournful, whisper
ing pines, through which one caught
glimpses of the mountain beauty
surrounding. A fishing expedition
in March may seem little "pre-
yious" to my readers who live in far
off Greenlandish Wisconsin. But
let me respectfully inform them that
March in Montana is one thing and
in the Badger state quite another
There was no snow on the level,
lowland valleys, and the lingering
trace OF winter was only visible on
the mountain sides and in the pine
forests where the suns heat could
not well penetrate. The grasshop-
pers literally leaped with gladness
on the hillsides, where we caught a
supply for bait. But March is sub
ject to sudden storms (blizzards)
which sometimes last for day or
two, when it suddenly clears, the
sun shines warm, and the light fall
of snow is soon gone. The trail to
our destination was very precipitous,
and the passes, or trails, where they
led around the craggy defiles were
quite dangerous even in clear wealth
er. We pitched our tent at noon
under high cliff-the only human
habitation in that far off little valley
and save the numerous beaver
dams our tent was the only structure
in sight. The beavers seemed very
plentiful, though we did not catch
sight of any. We ceased fishing an
hour before sunset, and returned to
our little tent with about one hun
dred trout, cooked our supper, and
then, under the soothing influence
of a pipe of "Gold Flake" watched
the faint light fade from the snowy
western peaks, while the strange,
weird sounds of the primeyal forest
lent sensation of fearfullness to it
all What strange experiences and
wild, lonely thoughts come TO the
wanderer.
All three then laid our blankets
on the ground together in the tent,
tit being not large enough for three
separate beds, and we slept the
sleep Of the tired till morning, I'M
disturbed by any nocturnal prowler
| awoke to the sound of wind roar
ing through the pine trees, and peer
ing out saw the hard-driven snow ob-
securing everything. 1t was biz
zard. We had but two days pro-
visions on the start, so after the next
day, unless we managed to get out
we would go hungry, or be able to
break our fast only on fish. We put
ourselves at once on short rations,
not stinting ourselves with the trout
Breakfast went off very well by this
rule as we made it up on trout and
extra coffee The storm continued
undated all the morning. The
snow was not very heavy, but it OBJ
scured all objects at short distance,
being driven with such force, and
retracing our way over the danger
Gus trail was impracticable. The
horses were sheltered in the near
forest and had little hay yet eft
AT dinner, being hungry, we ate
more than half rations-improvident
as most mountaineers; we did not
eat so many trout That afternoon
we smoked, told lies and played
cards. Supper-we ate less trout.
The COMPOUNDED coyotes howled at
dark, and the poor horses in the for
est grew restiYe TO quiet them |
went out to them for a while till
they became pacihed.
About midnight, peering from the
tent, | saw the stars shining in the
north-the old familiar slipper.
Go where we will these little twink
ing speoks seem old-time friends
where all else is strange that is if
you stay on this side of the earth.
But the storm was only taking a
rest, for next morning it was as bad
as ever. We were somewhat anx-
ious after breakfast for we had only
one more insufficient meal left, not
counting some trout. That delight
full fish is good as II delicacy, but
when it comes to fish or nothing, it
is not so fine, it keeps a man picking
bones all the time to keep from
starving, and then one is not satisfied.
Vague hints were thrown ont as to
the edible qualities of horsetiesh,
and as | was the fattest of us three,
l could imagine that this was pre-
hminary to something worse-to
me. You see Montana must be
healthy when it enables one to gain
twenty-five pounds in one year.
We finally resolved to try the pass.
Down came the tent, out came the
horses, the pack-Aorse packed, our
boreas so15ta3 and auyav fhrOupb