The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-06-17
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mares gnawing bark for food, and some
times to an extent that killed the tree
The various ages of the different graw-
ings flor | think it Is only done when
the snow is on the groundl was appar-
eRt, and, / supposed, indicates the
depth Of the snow during the different
winter seasons. If So, it is not very
great at any time, certainly not enough
to interfere with stock-raising, while
the woods would give ample
protection in the coolest winds.
There were many burnt timber tracts
passed by us that day. but they were
small The maximum injury by fire to
an unsettled or thinly settled region is
reached in either a denscly timbered
country or one perfectly open, as our
great western plains. In a happy mean
between the two the trees are not close
enough to assist the conhagration with
out the help of the strong wind, while
the grass is not high, dense or dry
enough to aid it in that way As
usual In open countries this Indian trail
often scattered to an extent that no
definite path could be seen. the natives
simply following general direction.
Through a denSely wooded or rough
ments to the pedestrian an Indian trail
is always much palmer marked for the
same amount of travel than an open
one. In fact there Is no essential diff
ference between an Indian trail and
game trail of migratory animals, and 1
have seen well versed froutiersmen
study as to which kind certain path
could be- Twelve cases ont of dozen,
II Aol At
would be correct and the trail is used
indifferently by the game or human
animal, the only difference being the
Indians have sort of right of way
in using it whenever they want, while
game will not travel it while the scent
of the former is yet clinging to it from
a recent trip. That afternoon we came
to a profusion of light-colored moss
that the natives and frontiersmen here
call caribou moss. \ characteristic of
this is in its always being moist
whatever may be the state of
the weather and to this is
attributed its palata bility to the ami
NAL from which it derived its name.
1t was nearly , before we went into
camp, but as far as WEAKNESS was con-
cerned, felt as if could walk the rest
of the night.
That night mosquitoes were much
more numerous than they had
been along the river. Even worse than
the mosquitoes, however, was the sing
ing of one of my packers. who was a
whole light opera in himself, his re-
pertoire beginning and ending at the
Celtic Laundress" and which he kept
humming far into the night, but not
far from my bed. The humming of the
mosquitoes was much less irritating.
Just before noon we passed over
slope southward-facilgt that was almost
covered with Strawberries At the
same time bunca of spruce grouse
was flushed in the bottom near by but
they were so very wild that none We're
secured. Reaching the Strawberry
creek Ia funny name for sub-Arctic
stream we saw few grayting in it
and some were caught with fly by the
white men, the Indians securing a few
with poles and clubs.
Whenever we came to deep creek
log bridge would have to be built to
enable the dogs to cross without wet
ting their loads. Even in the shall
lower crossing they had TO be watched
for if the dog was warm and they were
fatigued they would lie down in the
water to cool off. That day, July 10,
was particularly bad on the dogs on
account of the fallen timber
that lay nearly everywhere across
the trail, and composed mostly of
small logs that were greater obstacles
. to the canine packers than larger
timber would have been. The even
ing's camp was near a clear stream and
a fair mess of grayling were caught
These fine game fish are in every clear
stream on the head of the Yukon that
has yet been investigated and without
any reference to the muddiness of the
receiving stream through which they
must have passed TO reach the clear
tributaries. We now began encounter
ing an obstacle TO pedestrianism that
Is common in interior Alaska and ad- !