The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-11-24


meats, and his bread is made of
pounded corn. He digs ginseng in
simmer. 1t is a dubious root and is
chewed by the Chinese to ward off,
az they believe all complaints and ills
to which Chinese flesh is heir. But
the mossback's most congenial en-
ployments are hunting and fishing,
and many are the marvellous tales
told of their proves in killing the
deer, bear and other animals which
roam through the forests on the
mountain sides.
The most celebrated hunters of the
section are Bob Eastman, julie Bak-
or, a woman, and Louis Chichester.
There is law to protect deer. but it
snOt observed. Out of season veni-
son is called mountain mutton. julie
Baker is the wife of John Baker, and
lives near the mouth of Black Water
Fork. She can handle a Winchester
rife with the dexterIty and precision
lOf Old Misunderstanding, and hum
Ilreds of deer and bear have fallen
Victims to the nnerring bullets from
her rifle. Bob Eastman says he saw
her plunging down the mountain
tide through six inches of snow one
day with two rifles and a bear trap
strapped to her back and followed by
six dogs. She ran three miles to a
point where she thought a deer in
full chase would cross, and she got
there in time to see her husband kill
him. She is a big black. haired Wo-
man, very industrious, with a heart
as large as her foot, and the mother
of seven children. She is not pretty.
A few months ago, for silver dollar
she carried a valise weighing over
100 pounds seven miles for an engi-
neer. 1t is said that on one occasion
she carried a sewing machine from
Grafton to her home, distance of
sixty miles.
Louis Chidester is a hunter re-
nowned throughout the country. He
is romantic, honest fellow and will
not use dogs to hunt deer. He stalks
them altogether. Chichester is thor
oughly familiar with the country.
He tells of a mountain mystery which
is still unsolved. While hunting a
few years ago on Dobbin ridge, where
by the way, is the unoccupied resi-
dence of Judge Dobbin, of Maryland,
he found mound. and when he
kicked it his boot exposed the bones
of a human skeleton. Whether it
was case of murder or starvation no
one has ever been able 10 tell.
The fishing offers greater rewards
than the hunting. Bass. trout and
pike abound in the streams.
The ancestry Of the mossbacks is
involved in mystery. Many of them
do not know themselves where they
came from. They could never have
deliberately migrated to such a coun-
try SO little fitted for agricultural
purposes, nor could they have settled!
there for the hunting and fishing PX.
clusively. 1t is more than probable
that some settlers, while crossing the
mountains in the early part Of the
century on their way westward, lost
their way and wandered off through
the mountains, where they were
compelled to winter and to resort to
hunting and fishing for a livelihood,
Their horses died during the winter
their wagons were probably swept
away by floods, and they were I'M
able to get out Of the woods. 1t is
related of some of them that they now
look forward to the time when they
can continue to Missouri the journey
which their ancestors began. If left
to themselves century or two long
err there is no doubt but that in the
more isolated mountain regions they
would have gradually drifted into 6
savage existence. But now they are
brought into direct contact with civ
iIization and a bright future lies be
fore them. Baltimore Sun,