Wichita eagle., 1889-07-27
rHr FRorIcsoME F1sHERs.
whsr. They Arc and what They Arc Doing.

40 the Euitor OF tne kaSie.
Arriving here Saturday evening, July ID,
covered with speckled dust, after very
pleasant stage ride from Del Norte, near
est railway station, we were inclined and
| persuaded to rest Sunday al the hotel, en-
| joying the refreshing baths and breathing
| the invigorating air of this altitude; bask-
| ing in the golden sunshine and smoking
Mexican concha-go-haras on the yeranda
of this beautiful resort. From our low
| window at the hotel / can see on every
side. without my glasses, mountains COW
| cred with the white snow of fifty years or
more.
| Our hotel is planted about one mile
south of the Gap, which is an opening be-
| tween two great mountains of hard rock,
rising almost perpendicularly towards the
navy blue sky to q height of some 1900
| feet, without break. The great rocks,
piled, as it were, one upon the other,
look like the immortal palisades
| of the Hudson river. but more
lofty and in this atmosphere more
imposing and quiet. Wagon Wheel Gap
| derives its none de plume from the first
plain white man that ever visited this
place, finding a real wagon wheel in the
river. How it came there the historian
nor the novelist has failed TO explain. but
| it is reasonable to suppose that Coronado
thousand years ago had lost it while
crossing the stream on his way to Wichita.
The wheel still can be seen through glass
lying as it did heretofore on the bottom OF
the river in perfect state of preservation.
After listening all day Sunday to the
sterotyped fish stories and lies, land if
any thing the writer does hate it is liar)
of the tourists, now here from all
parts of the country and a portion
OF Europe, we were ready for
an early start Monday morning up Willow
creek. This is small stream tributary to
the Rio Grande, full of fish and water.
Along the banks of this stream there are
great patches of bearded bushes. Through
these patches are paths which have been
made by wild animals. These bushes grow
to height of five feet and interpreted
among them is a small bush which pro-
duces very rich berry similar to a black
berry. 1t is safest to beat the bushes when
you want to stop and go for the fruit, SO
that if there are any wild animals lurking
about they will be frightened away. From
this comes the saying, beating around
the bush" We supposed all tenderfeet
were told this in order to make them
tlmid, but our experience of Monday has
taught me that it was too true.
Yesterday l donned my fishing tackle,
gun and basket, and with Sir Henry
Walsh, who has hunted the tiger in the
jungles of Africa, and who has shot hippo
pottamus on the Congo, also a man from
Pennsylvania, and gentleman from Ken
lucky with rubber boots on, started on a
hunting and fishing tour up Willow creek.
We wandered joyously followed the mean
behring's OF this clear stream of water with
our guns on our back and fishing utensils
III our hands, neither turning to the right
nor the left, sometimes wadlng waist deep
in the water with our long rubber boots,
again playfully climbing around lodges
OF rock to avoid the rushing waters and a
masculine water snake resting on the
verge of rock. at times in places where it
looked as if no foot of man had been be-
fore and past great rocks the faces of
which had never been touched by man or
the brush of the "bile bean" agent. Now
and then perching ourselves on the point
of a tender rock and casting our flies to
the two-lipped speckled trout basking in
the circling waters and landing them only
as old experienced fishermen can. We
met with splendid success, consequently
were not disheartened, in fact we caught
more trout than we could conveniently
handle. So for fear of losing our way as
we had gone quite distance
into the interior we blazed
the way by hanging fish on
poles along the stream to mark our route
to return by. Now the writer does not
claim this is original with him, but was
suggested by Sir Henry, who said he at
one time done the same thing in Africa
At one time himself, Albert Wales, (gen-
orally known i'll England as Prince of
Wales) and some other crown heads of
Europe, had an elephant hunt and went a
long distance into the interior, where the
country was very heavily timbered, and
they blazed their way by hanging ele-
plants on poles. Do you know, dear edi-
tor, that l am beginning to have my own
Ideas about some of his tales? But being
George Washington myself l am prone
to accept il as the truth. i shall not judge
him on such a small matter as this but |
am going to lay for him if he tells anything
out of the way He claims he is a great
shot, and he handles his gun as If he was
kind of careless like, you know, over his
shoulder with the shooting end most
always pointed at me, but | am not afraid
of anything of that kind. Some two miles
from the gap is an opening between the
rocks where the sun shone with vigor and
remembrance. Here we dlverged from
our intentions aud started to explore the
beyond, following the path between the
rocks for some three hundred feet we
landed in dark forest of pine and hem
lock trees where the sun had never shope
In here we found grouse so tame that you |
could knock them down with fishing
rod. Keeping close together, in order
to guard each other and assist |
in case of danger We boldly pushed for |
ward through this undiscovered forest |
until we reached the outskirts, when we |
came to a patch of bearded bushes, strik- |
ing path which seemingly had been !
beaten by unknown animals through |
them. We soon were among great patches |
Of berries, but had not gone far in our wild |
career before we were all Chat is to say, |
all except Sir Henry startled by a low |
growl close TO the earth, aud, strange as il |
may seem, there under bush lay a /
large saffron colored mountain lion, |
about Z feet 2 inches long / raped |
on the bushes with my fishing |
rod to scare him away. The lion with /
howl that seem to paralyze me land sound |
ed like Ed Wallis voice playing high five, |
and a spring landed close enough to me 10 |
take the back out OF my outing shirt. but |
almost at the same instant came loud /
report and the lion laid dead at my back, |
thanks to Sir Henry. He quickly came up |
to me saying, don't run away, il is all !
right. Now that man thought / was /
afraid. No, sir; but TO think only q few |
minutes ago / was thinking such hard |
things of him, and now ! would be dead /
but for his pluck and the beautiful use Of /
his Mortini rife, because the balance of i
the party at the first sign had run away !
/ tell you, dear editor, this old Saxon /
blood tells The next time we 20 /
up we are going TO take man /
along to take the skin of !
aud send it to the EAGLE sanctum in /
very short time. l had all the berries |
wanted or ever Will want again In that /
place We commenced our return trip fol- /
Ia 6.b