St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-04-29
SPORT IN EARLY DAYS
A Love of Adventure Induced
Gen. Sibley to Settle in
Minnesota.
He Recounts a Thrilling En-
counter With a Wounded
Buffalo.
The Changes of the Last Fifty
Years in the Land OF the
DacoJahS.
The Wonderful Progress OF
Minnesota and Its Bright
Future.

Gen. II. Il. sibley in Wildwood's Magazine.
When a traveller has nearly reached
the end of a long journey, he naturally
looks back from some commanding emil
nence, upon the region he has trayersed,
and recalls to mind the incidents that
have occurred during his wanderingS,
be they pleaSurable OF otherwise. 1t is
"a trite but true saying, that mans life
IS nothing more or less than such
Journey, and when he has passed, as
has 'Hal Dacotah," the limited period
allotted by Holy Writ to poor humanity
upon earth, the scenes he has witnessed,
the pleasures he has enjoyed, the SUI
ferings he has endured. the perils he
has encountered, and the manifold
changes that have marked each fieeting
year, rise before him successfully, like
the shiftingS of Kaleidoscope, and
seem more akin to dreamlaDd, than to a
reality. The brilliant coterie of writer's,
who enlivened the columns of Porter'S
Spirit of the Times, and other New
York sporting papers,
GENERATION OR so AGO,
have for the most part passed over the
dark river to 1.-The undiscovered country
from whose bourne no traveller returns"
Herbert Crank F0rester), Porter, Ken
dali, Thorpe, and many others with
whom | was personally acquainted, with
many who were distinguished in the
same field, are no more, leaving behind
them few veterans now ''ln the Sere
and yellow leaf" to lament the prema-
ture eXtinguiShment of those bright
and genial intellects. Being the only
correspondent in the unbroken wilder
mess now constituting the peerless state
of Minnesota, and the fourishing con-
tiguous territory of Dakota, the con-
tributions of ''Hal Dacotah" attracted
much attention, not on account of their
literary merit, but because they were
descriptive OF sport in vast area, which
was veritable terra lncOgnita, abound
ing with every variety OF furred and
feathered game. The following extract
from one of the articles furnished by
me to the collections of, the Minnesota
Historical society in the year 1878, pre-
sents sufficiently accurate view OF
the country as it was whent first en-
tered it: ''Our state has just sprung
into existence so recently that few Of
us now living have participated in, or
witnessed, each step Of her progress
from
PRE-TERRITORIAL TIMES,
when few hundreds of men employed
in the fur trade, were all the whites to
be found in this entire region. Less
than a generation since it was of i'm
portance only as producing in abund-
ance wild animals valuable for their
furS and skins. The bear, the deer, the
fisher, the marten and the raccoon were
the tenants of the woods; the beaver,
the otter and other amphibia, such as
the mink and the muskrat, were to be
found in the streams and lakes, while
the prairies were dotted with countless
herds of the bison and the elk, accom-
panied by their usual attendants,
wolves and foxes, which scarcely
deigned to seek concealment from the
eye of the traveller. The numerous
lakes and marshes were the breeding
places of myriads of wild fowl, includ-
swan. geese and ducks, Many of the
young men who sought employment
with the fur companies were, like my
self, more attracted to this wild region
by love Of adventure and of the chase
than by any prospect of pecuniary gain.
There was always
ENOUGH OF DANGER
also, to give ZeSt to extreme frontier
life, and TO counterfeit any tendency to
ennui. There were the perils of prairie