The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-04-22
THE MAJAMA MONTANA.
Better Known to Laymsn by tho
Name Of tho Rocky Noun
tain Goat.

tain Goat.
How Lieut. Partsllo Captured an
Exceedingly Fine Animal
at Long Range.
Pure Specimen of tho Albino Goat Habits
and HMunts Of thu MnjaMa Mon
t~ana-spruas Partridge.
One cold and bitter afternoon In the fall
Of 1887 while travelling up = dark and
gloomy gorge Of the Rocky mountains in
western Montana it was my good fortune
to run across and bag a single specimen of
that rRrsst Of American game animals, the
"Aajama Montana" or Rocky mountain
goat.
To own the truth, the capture was an ac-
cidental one. and l was not aware Of my
rare good fortune until ! had scrambled
down the rough Jagged rocks a fow hundred
yards or 80 and picked up my game. which
had fallen from = lofty cliff when pierced
by my bullet. Then I knew T had made o
nost fortunate hit. for the animal was one
Of tho rarest specimens Of his kind.
When I first saw the goat standing high
mp on q prominent crag, distinctly OUT
lined against the clear sky, ! supposed him
to be (and so did my companions, an old
timer OF the west named Hobbs and Yankee
Jim. q curious frontier character, u of
the ordinary mountain sheep found in such
great numbers throughout the Big Horn
mountains in southern Montana and
northern Wyoming.
The watchful fellow already had his eye
upon us when first he jumped into view.
but as he was nearly 1000 yards distant
from our post Of observation-on a dead
level line without considering the altitude
he kept an immovable position on a sort
Of shelf in the trap rock, apparently feeling
perfectly secure in the distance that separ-
ated US. Hobbs was armed with a tmili-
tary) Springfield rifle, oallber forty-hve.
while I had brought M Remington Creed
more along. especially for the purpose of
trying my hand at picking off the big
horned sheep at long range.
1t was rather n novel idea, this using u
Investigated target rifle amid the crags and
peaks of the giant Rockies, but l had long
wished to try the experiment, and, as 1t
happened. the result was even moro success
full thar ] had anticipated.
Deer, antelope, buffalo, elk and even
mountain sheep can, under usual circum-
stances, be approached without difficulty to
within 500 or 600 yards, and as this was as
close a range as / desired, I felt little doubt
of occurring something of the kind before
our hunt came to a conclusion.
Often one can get within easy range. u
as two or three hundred yards. but as q
general thing most game animals take the
alarm before the %5CO-yard point is lessened.
and off they 60, bounding out Of range
before a shot can be fred with any GER
tainty of hitting. -
/ have come upon herds of buffalo and
thousands of antelope on the prairies that
it was impossible to get any nearer to than
six or seven hundred yards, the same AMI
mails scampering away ii you attempted to
approach, or else would stand and gaze at
you provokinplv when the distance was
considered safe by them.
In the case of mountain sheep, these
uEEulllC6Au IAAAuA0 VAOA
horns will stand and look at you sauci!y
from some lofty Drag, but somehow they
always manag to have the particular craR
they are occupying a pretty safe distance
shove md away from you.
To Ere into the cir, especially upward, is
very uncertain shooting, for OF all the noun
tain sheep in the west who have been d tar
get for professional as we'll as unprofes-
sional shots, not ono in fifty has scored a
hit. Sometimes two and sven three shots
can be fred before the animal takes the
alarm md decides to leave for safer parts.
The true way to hunt the big-horned
sheep, as we'll as the mountain antelope or
.Maiama Montana" is to go up to their
own stamping places and meet them in their
own altitude. This was the case with
Hobbs and myself. So we decided to so up
beyond timber line and pass the night, if
necessary, in the perpetual snow district.
The range of mountains we were climbing
is one of the spurs on the slope OF the
Giant Rockies, and about sixty miles due
north of the Yellowstone National park
boundary line. It was a famous place for
mountain sheep. and at the foot of these
lofty piles are also to be found one of the
rarest of game birds. the American spruce
partridge.
On one OF my former visits to this district
I met a curious frontier character named
"Yankee Jim,o who openly boosted TINT he
had never come in contact with civilization
for a score or more of years. This wonder
full old fellow had a cabin hung far up on
the south wall of the second canyon of the
Yellowstone under the shadow of old Emil
grant peak, and here he lived by himself
without friend or kith or kin, or even a dog
to keep him company in about the loneliest
spot on earth. The Indians. both friendly
and hostile, knew of his hnbitation, but not
one of them ever molested Yankee Jim,
whose prowess with the old-fashioned
smooth bore fintlock gun he carried was
one of the by words and cautious OF the
great unsettled northwest. =
Jim was q good shot. and seldom missed
his game. He it was who first told
me OF the whereabouts of the spruce par
fridge, and although l was never fortunate
enough to secure even a single specimen
myself, vet I have directed other brother
sportsmen to the locality, and once re-
ceiyed q pair of these strange birds from a
friendly Indian in return for a Kindness
rendered when he was wounded. These
rare grouse are a variety of the Canada or
black grouse only found among the Cana
dim Rockies, and onos in a while in north
ern Maine and tho Adirondack region.
Them BIRDS" said Jim. being so sell
dom visited by man, exhibit not tho slight
est alarm or concern ut his presence, but
continue feeding on the tamnrnck and
spruce buds which constitute their chief
diet, and all the while their mortal enemy
may be standing ia full view of them and
not five feet away
The plumage of the pair sent to me was
almost black on the back, iiecked with
white on the belly, While a brouu buud of