The weekly sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1886-09-16
DEER AND BUFFALO.
RnnsA LAfe and Exciting dame-ShootinG IN
the Fae- West

the Fae West
To see the rapidity with which the
Arger Kind of game animals are being
e1terminated throughout the United
States is really melancholy. Twenty-Five
year. ago, or even fifteen years ago, the
Western plains and mountains were in
places fairly thronged with deer, elk. ante
hope and buffalo. Indeed, there was then
no other part of the world save South
Area where the number Of individuals
of large game animals was 20 large
All this has now been changed. or else Is
being changed at a reslly remarkable
rate Of speed The buffalo are already
gone; few struggling individuals, and
perhaps here and there a herd SO small
that il can hardly be called more than
squad. are ;.li THAI remain. Over four
fifths of the;i, former range the same
tate has htfallcn the elk, and their pun-
Der, even among tie mountainous
baunts. which still afford them refuge,
B greatly decreased. The shrinkage
among deer and antelope has been rela-
lively nearly as serious. There are but
Hew places left now where it is profitable
Dor man to take to hunting as q pro-
meat butchers of the woods and prairieS
have done their work, and these buck
Skn-clad and greasy Nimrods are now
themselves sharing the fate Of the game
that has disappeared from before their
titles
Still. however, there is plenty Of sport
10 be had by men who are of g more or
less adventurous turn Of mind and suf
fcfently hardy and resoluse to be will
ing to stand rough work and scant fare;
and, of course, excepting men who go
out to spend some months IN travelling
solely for purposes Of sport, no class has
ss much chance to get it as is the case
with the raHchmon whose herds now
Fover the great plains OF the West, and
even range we'll up on the foothills of
Mountains. All Of my own hunting
has been done simply in the intervals OF
The numerous duties of ranch life; and
% order to understand the way we set
out ON a trip after game it is necessary
also to understand little about the
nature of our homes and surroundings.
Many of the ranches are mere mud
bowels or log shanties, stuck down in
any raw, treeless spot where there hap
pen TO be water or grass; but many
others are really beautifully situated,
Hnd though very rude in construction.
ere still large enough and solid enough
70 yield ample comfort to the inmates
One such, now in my mind, which is
placed in bend of the Heart river,
could not possibly be surpassed as re-
CARDS the romantic beauty of its sur
Eoundings. My own house stands in
bottom of the Little Missouri nearly
two miles in length. and perhaps half
m NIL o,.~ W ryflt 49, tAa h,ir l.
of the current to the line Of steep and
Ragged buttes that rise sharply up to
bound it on the side furthest from the
Gyer. Part of tho bottom is open COW
cred only with rank grass and sprawl
ing sage-brush, but th4re are patches OF
fense woodland, whsfe the brittle cot
ION wood trees grow close together and
stretch their heads high III the air. The
4euse itself made put Of hewn logs, is ii
8 large open glade many miles In ek-
tent 1t fronts ON the river with its
length OF sixty feet, and along the front
Guns grand veranda. where We sit
time WIN the days work is done.
Within il IS divided into several rooms
one Of these is where we spend the win
ter evenings at the time when the cold
has set in with bitter intensity hardly
known in any part of the United States.
A hinge fireplace contains the great logs
df cedar and cottonwood; skins of elk
and deer cover the floor. while wolf and
fox hang from the wall. antlers and
horns are thrust into the rafters to serve
as pegs on which to hang coats and
3ps.
In the glade, beside the house, there
sre several other buildings-a stable, q
~ -. u, 4
housos, beside high, circular. horse
cprral. with d snub6ing-past in the cen
ten. and fencedin patch of garden
land. The river itself is usually a shall
low, rapid stream that q man can wade
across, but that can not carry tho light
est boat, but when the SHOWS melt, or
after heavy rains, it is changed into a
boiling, muddy torrent that can not be
crossed By man or beast, and that will
bear huge RATS. 1t is at all times dan
Rerous to cross on account of the quick
sands. but after series Of freshets the
whole river can be described as simply
four or five feet Of turbulent water run
ping down over moving mass of quick
sand three feet in depth, that fills the
entire bed of the stream. In ordinary
floods there win remain certain fords
and rapids that can be crossed. but al
times any horse that dared to attempt q
passage. no matter where, would be al
most certainly lost.
Back from the river for several miles
extends stretch of broken and in
tensely rugged oeuntry. known il
plains par.;,:.cr a. bad lands Il con
Asts of chains Of steep buttes or hills
often spreading out into table-lands ano
separated by network of deep ravine
and winding vslleys, which branch GU
in every direction. When we pas
these bad lands we come to the opel
prairie, which stretches out ON ever,
side in level or unduiating eNpause a
far as the eye can reach. In few O
the gorges in the bad lands there ar