The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-11-11
GAME THAT ~ NO xoss.
III. Elk and Antelope tbss Once Ksssnsd
the California Valleys.

,orrv that crosses the bay these lovelJ
! autumn DAYS carries among It's passenger
a group Of hunters. with their traps siunt
across shoulders or tucked under arms
and the inevitable settlers, growing de
aa,ce AZ each other and the world. VI
a. ,he country the woods are full OF these
! fellows. IL seems as IL every man who
can borrow a canvas coat well studded
with riyets find a gun and coax dos
| 20 follow him has taken TO the hills
| Everything Ia game with them, from a
/ lark TO a ground squirrel. and the pop,
non. popping OF their shotguns and
emoo.hbores is heard on every hand,
! soaring the horses and startling the peace
fu kline patiently nibbling the stubble on
the hlllsIdes and in the valley pastures.
favOrte hunting ground for our city
| sportsmen IL still that portion or the
| Contra Costa Hills extending from Alta
mont. recently the scene OF the great MUIR
der mystery, south, and as far down the
valley as Gilroy. Game Is still plentiful
through there despite the inroads civil
lization Is making upon its preserves.
There are deer back In the hills, quail
Ia every brush, jackrabbits skitting
through the fields, and even now and
then a fat brown bear. One Of these
gentry was shot not long ago back Of
Mission San Jose, but he is the first that
10 be more plentiful than agreeable In that
vicinity. It is not so very many years
since the gay caballeros used to sally
forth to shoot him In the very streets
OF the village. or lasso them from horse
back and Jerk" their bears meat before
they killed II.
There are still rail to be shot on the
marshes around Alviso and Albrae. though
these birds are getting very scarce, and
ducks aplenty frequent the lagoons and
low shores Of the bay every winter. Local
hunters complain rather bitterly OF the
city gun clubs that have snapped up the
best hunting grounds everywhere along
the bay shore, In Sonoma, Solano, Marin
San Mateo. Contra Costa and Alameda
counties. They declare that the rural
huntsman. when he desires a days sport,
has first to have a days journey from
home before he finds a place where he
can fire Of gun without hitting a warn
ing notice against hunting over that sec
ton. AS to the plentifulness OF warning
notices the complaint is true, but never
theless the local pothunter. when he
starts on days cunning, generally gets
home at night with a well-flled bag,
from which II may be inferred that he
knows thing or two the gun clubs have
not yet become posted about.
Chinese market can still find an coca
sonal wildcat in Contra Costa or the
Calaveras and around Oakland last win
ter couple of California lions were often
seen awaiting the advent OF some plucky
marksman who wants a handsome rug
or two. These creatures are almost ex-
tinct, however, and the only California
lion at present known to be up In those
hills is Joaquin Miller. who is roaring
very mildly and melodiously these days,
and spends much Of his time listening to
the gentle patter of that artificial sum-
mer rain-stcrm he has contrived and so
arranged that he can AT any time send |
its silvery drops pattering down upon his |
roof. No, hunting days are not what |
they used to be, particularly In Alameda |
There used to be some famous |
hunters there, among the American set |
tiers.
The indiana never hunted big game, |
but cared only to catch fish and such |
small birds and animals as they could |
trap. These aborigines had not even ca
noes, but navigated the streams and the |
bay on bundles OF tules dashed together |
and pointed at both ends. On these frail
raft they would venture out TO sea in
pursuit Of the fish on which they sub
sisted.
,ame In abundance-and in his early his
DRY OF California Father Palou, our first
historian, relates Of the region now
Known az Alameda county that in the
ALLEY of San Jose the Portala party, who
anne up from Monterey by land under
captain Juan Bautista looking for san
Francisco, saw some animals which
hey took for cattle, though they could
rot imagine where they came from; and,
they We're wild and would
eater the tame one which they were
irving, the soldiers made after them
nd succeeded in killing three. which
we're SO large that a mule could with
Iiiic1fy carry one. being the size Of an
X, and with horns like those Of a deer,
nut 80 long that their tips were eight
eet apart" lie also adds that "the sol
ers made observation that they could
ot run against the wind, by reas,n of
heir monstrous antlers"
Reading this account II is not difficult
o recognize that these creatures were elk,
ONE few Of which remained even go
ate as the coming Of the Americans into
'allejo. Bidweli stated that he saw
ands Of elk swimming in the CarquiheZ
traits and feeding upon the pastures
long the shore. Vallejo saw them in the
an Jose Valley, and traditions of them
Till remain among the old hunters, who
card Of them as boys, or even saw them.
hey used to travel hundreds of miles,
rom pasture To pasture, among the
w green isles in the summer tules and
long the rich willow bottoms in the val
,ys Of the Coast range. j. C. Adams
Ills US that he hunted elk near PachecO
ass about 1852, and saw there band OF
fteen. II is probable, though. that there
not another one left in the State, al
Rough their first cousin the muledeer,
still 10 be found in some parts OF
outhern California.
The deer that have now retreated 10
lie farthest fastnesses of the mountains
FOUND the bay were once chick as bees" !
l through the foothills and the valleys.
he hunters thinhed them out, however,
I'd the gradual encroachmcnt of the
oanish cattle upon the valley and up
nd pastures finally drove them back TO :
r. mountains for feed and safety. Ira .
ton still remains Of big band OF ante
pc that at one time, and within the i
emory OF American settlers, were at
me III Corral Hollow. a canyon extend
g back from San Joaquin plain and
ening into Livermore Valley north OF
e present town Of Livermore. The an
lope, though, preferred large plains, and n
ere were never so many of them in the n
vermore and Santa Clara Valleys as c
und the broad acres of San JOAQUIN.
The big game has nearly all passed
way. but the country that remains must | :,
III be huntsmans paradise for many a q
ar 10 come 1t is not all OF a days
ort 10 hill, and even though the hunter
rough those hills returned empty
nded which he can hardly do yet he
ii nave bagged such lungsful Of pure | y