The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-06-19
A Beavers Charmed Life.

Orvin 5. Mapes. Among tho articles
disposed of was beaver-skin cap,
which was made seventy.one years
ago out of the fur of the last beaver
ever captured in the Chemung Valley,
If not in the State. The beaver was
killed by the father of Orvin Mapes,
after it had been hunted for twenty
years. ... .... .r.I
There were very few beavers left in
the waters of this State or Pennsylva.
mia in 1874, when Benjamin Patter-
son a noted hunter and trapper of
those days, discovered colony in Mud
Creek, tributary of the Upper Che
mung River This was the first colo
ny of beavers that had been found
therabouts for some years. Patterson
has set his trap, and caught beaver
every night for seven nights. On the
eighth night beaver escaped from
the trap and left one of its hind legs in
| it, ...0 n- ...f. -.'' .
1t is a peculiarity of the beaver fam
lily that if all the members of colony
but one are captured or die, the suryi-
vor will never again seek another colo
ny or follow the regular life of a bea-
yer, but will become wanderer, hid
ing wherever it can, and displaying a
cunning and sagacity that were strange
to it when it lived in a colony. After
finding the beavers leg in his trap, and
falling to capture any more of the ami
mails, Patterson knew that he had tax
en- all but one of the entire colony, and
that that one had become crippled
wanderer. .-.r. &. .- ...H'
These solitary beavers were called
tramps by some trappers, and bachel.
ors by others, Patterson lost track of
the missing beaver, but the next year
/ he came upon signs of it. He could
not find its hiding places, however,
and for five years he followed the Grip
pied beaver up and down the Chemung
and its branches, always on its trail,
but never succeeded in outwltting its
cunning. AT the end of five years Pat
terson declared that the beaver bore a
charmed life, and that there was no
use in wasting time on it. His brother
Richard thought differently, and con-
tinued the search for the bachelor bea-
yer. 1t was heard of all over the val
ley, first in one place and then in an.
other; but Patterson had no better
luck in trapping for it than his brother
had, and in 1907 all signs of the bea
yer disappeared. 1t was thought it
had died or left the locality. d
In 1909 Richard Patterson was trap
ping on the very head waters of the
Chemung and he discovered signs of a
beaver He could not locate it in any
one spot, and it kept moving down the
stream. Patterson followed it all the
way to Newtown, where Elmira now
stands, without getting sight of it.
AT Newtown Eddy the beaver left the
stream, and Patterson discovered by
its tracks in the snow that it had but
three legs, and he made up his mind
the crippled bachelor beaver of 1894
had turned up again. The trail led
across country seven miles to another
stream, where it disappeared and all
trace of the beaver was lost.
Nothing was heard or seen of it
again for nearly four years In 1912
benjamin Patterson was fishing in the
Iioga River near Painted Post, and
was surprised to see beaver crawl
out from clump of willows near by
him and draw itself up the bank One
OF its hind legs was gone, and Patter
son felt thai he was once more in the
presence of the charmed beaver. He
picked up club and sprang toward
the animal, but it quickly disappeared
in the water. Patterson ran to house
near by and got rifle. When he re-
turned to the river the beaver was
in the middle of the river, swimming
for the other shore. Patterson took
good aim and fred at it. 1t disappear
ed beneath the water. Patterson, be
lieving that he had killed the beaver at
last, jumped into boat and started
out to look for its body. Before he
had gone far he saw the beaver climb
up the bank on the other side and dis
appear. Patterson then swore that he
would never again make any attempt
on the life of the bachelor beaver
All sign of the mysterious tramp was
again lost In the spring of 1914 there
was an usually large freshet in the Che
mung. Ira Mapes, father of Orvir
Mapes, was working on raft will
two other men some distance above
Newtown. The flood became 30 strong
that just after the men had gone tC
their raft to work early one morning
the rope broke and they were carried
down stream. The raft landed on al
island near Newton. A crop of corr
had been raised on the island the yea
before, and some of the shock of stalk
had been left standing. The weathe
was very cold, and Mapes and the mel
started for one of the corn shocks t,
shelter themselves until they could b,
taken off the island. There had beer
slight fall Of snow during the night
and the men noticed peculiar tract
leading from the river to the corr
shock toward which they were going
The track had been made by an anima
with but three feet. The men picke,
up clubs, and, surrounding the corr
shock, routed the animal out.
1t was a very large and a very gra,
beaver, and it was soon killed. One o
its hind legs was gone, and the mel
then knew that the crippled bachelo
beaver that had foiled all the best trap
pers for twenty years had met il
death at their hands. Mapes bough
all interest in the beaver for 50, an
subsequently had the fur made into
cap. When his son Orvin was maj
ried, in 1880, he made him weddin
present of the cap. 1t was only wor
on State occasions Orvin Mapes' so
was married in 1879, and the cap wa
presented to him. He was killed /
Colorado two or three years ago, an
the cap was returned TO his father, VIII
died last fall. The cap had a great Il
cal fame
| lohnny WAS in tho habit Of ,oL;o,.