Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1886-01-20
rkAPPEes OF THR NORTH.
4 Dangerous Life Of Solitude Passed Ami
Snow and Ice.

- dangerous Lille OF Souto0o xB1ooO anna
Snow and Les.
A gentleman who has hunted much
for pleasure in the little-known regions
Of British North America, says:
The trapper has long been imbued
with q savage dignity, and his surround
ings have been made AZ poetical as the
genius or the author permitted him.
But it is far from being the case. /
have lived much with them, slept under
the same roof, and eaten OF the same
food; and all that ! can say il that the
closer the contact the more unlovable
did ] realize wal their life. and person.
ally, how unlovable a human being can
become when isolated from the refining
influences of civilization. They, for the
most part, have selected a. their help
meets sqnaws, and. though You would
at first imagine that the white men
would attempt to elevate these native
women to their own level, with the
trappers it is the opposite. Tho men
o sink to the level of the Indian.
You can hardly blame the poor trapper
for this marriage. His life is. perhaps.
the most desolate one led by white
men. Away from civilization, away
from friends and neighbors, he pursues
his dangerous calling in midwinter.
through banks Of snow, amid storms OF
wind and rain, exposed over to the fury
of the elements and to tho savage At
tack of wild beasts. A trapper, to be
successful, must necessarily be isolated
from his neighbors, for there are none
other in the remote interior but those
who follow the same vocation, and so,
ii . man wishes to insure . psotitable
winter. he travels entirely alone. His
traps often extend over a run OF rs to
LOO miles long, and these he visits in
rotation rs often as he can.
His method of procedure is rs fol.
lows: Having selected q range, he
builds q hut in about as convenient o
site as he can select and then lays his
traps, which branch out on either side,
in the r~avines of the umerou streams
with which that country is watered.
His headquarters is rather q preten-
tious shanty. 1t is built OF logs, and
has q fireplace in it made Of mud aud
stones. This is actually his distribut-
ing point, and this is where he stores
his provisions. Then following his
range. he builds, about a days journeys
distance from each other, tiny bark
shanties, in which he leaves provisions,
and sleeps during the night. By Sep
TENDER every preparation is made for
the winters work; and early in October
commences his dreary campaign against
the fur.producers. Long before the
sur is up, when the dim northern light
is beginning to brighten the forest
gloom, the trapper starts from his
headquarters. His outfit is but light,
consisting solely of a blanket, for.
should his caches be full, he would
have a load. perhaps, too heavy for him
to carry. Arriving ut his frst-trap, he
has to examine it; and if bats be eaten,
he again rebaits it and sets it more
carefully; hen the next may have
game, and. il so, there is more reba t.
ing to be done, and the animal has to
be promptly skinned, as the process is
much easier when the animal is warm.
Hence, all over his long course, stop
ping at every quarter of o mile or so,
his tedious range is not covered till the
week has passed. Coming to his head
quarters he deposits his furs thus taken
during the week, and again starts out
on his long and dismal journey. The
ranges OF each trapper are as much re.
spected as II he had purchased the ter
tritory outright and also had o posse
of armed men protecting his traps.
They run no fear of robbery, though
they be away from headquarters for a
week or ten days at a time and the hut
be loaded to the roof with the most
valuable furs.
It is q life Of endless toll, endless
trouble and vexation and danger,
though it becomes so peculiarly facin-
ating that there are some men who |
were in the old Hudson Bay Company's
still trapping in the wilds of
British Columbia, having followed the
business for over forty or fifty years.
Seasons do not always run alike, nor is
the market always the same. In some
winters q trapper may make several
thousand dollars. and the next winter
he may have q run of ill.luck and come
out with nothing. But. notwithstand-
ing their frequent reverses, there is no
evil which will cause a trapper to turn
his back upon desolation and try the
comforts OF civilization.
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