Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1892-03-28

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worn paths closely hugging tho river
bank, and made by the village nshef.
man prospecting for salmon. About
we came to the first noticeable
contraction in the river whore 1t swiftly
flowed through low stoney banks We
g,t 10 IN sails fairly set to strong
wind and by dint OF severe padding
and WaRnerian war-whoops, went
through like a rocket. just beyond 1t
widened and the Doctor pronounced 1t
fully equal TO the Tennessee ut Chatta-
nooga. Late in the evening we got
damp. unpleasant camp. but we had
made twenty five miles. thanks to the
stir breeze. Next forenoon t37th) We
saw mountain goats on the high south
ern cliffs, but the Indians seemed UNI
willing to hunt them. These anipals
are numerous throughout Alaskan
MOUNTAINS and l have never yet ira
versed q range (some seven altogether)
without seeing them in greater or less
abundance.
The river was now getting very
swift, and the big canoe quivered like
. high pressure steamer when polling II
against the current. This shaking OF
the poles against the boats side il very
trying to the nerves of the polemen, 80
they claim, and more exhaustiDg than
severe labor of q purely muscular char
acter. BY 5 o'clock mountain goats were
seen all around us. 20 that when the
work got 30 hard, polling and padding,
that even climbing the crags after
them was comparatively easy. the
Indians desired to exchange, SO we
pulled into . small bayou on the north
side to hunt these Alpine antelopes.
The nearest group was nanny goat
and her two kids, and they certainly
ought to have seen Us, although we did
keep reasonably quiet for savagsA
believe the greatest excitement in
hunting them lies more in the danger
Gus country they roam, than In any
extra wise precautions necessary In
stalking them. They were from 1000
to 200 feet above us, and two Indians
started for them, their arms being .
riticd musket and my Winchester 4O-ss
rifle, as felt too tried watching the
Indians pole and paddle all day, to At
tempt it myself Nothing was seen Of
them for q half hour, when shot was
heard, followed almost instantly by
another. The mother fell at once, and
SO steep was the mountain aide that
her death struggles carried her 400 to
I
to crag where the body lodged. TIE
kids scalnpcred of like rabbits, followed
by few shotA Their meat was proba-
bly, worth eating, but that Of their
dam was stronger than badger. The
hunters made their way to the goat,
gave it q ding, and followed this up
until it arrived by installments. II had
one horn gone, and do not think there
was an unbroken bone in its body.
This, they said, was the orthodox way
of bring ing such = carcass into camp,
and they thought it made the meat
tendercr. If this goat was any tougher
when it started, than when it arrived,
then l am willing to believe the
feet, lighting ON their heads, ETC., that
formerly doubted. ! never saw men
on trip care SO little for fresh meat.
That day but six mil. was made and
the next day only seven. We now ap-
preciatcd how much wo had lost in our
fine upstream wind. At our third
camp fresh bear tracks were in abund-
ance, but it was the only part Of the
animal we saw. One Of tho surprising
things to me was the kittenish playful
ness Of the Indians after camping and
after a very hard days work. Many Il
them wrestled and played tag" VOL
emily, while one amused himself cut
ting down q large poplar tree, just to
see some Of his fellows scampering to
get out of the way. have found this
merry-making universal among the
Tlinkits- The 29th the breeze came up
about 10 and we needed every puff Of
1t, for the river was now very swift.
On some of the shallow places we could
hear the rolling pebbles beat against
the canoe bottom almost like hail ON q
tin roof. In some places it was seem
ingly q fight for life 10 avoid being
swept down some side channel, swift,
shallow and bristling with drift tim
Ter. Once we were caught directly
against huge drift-log in mid-stresm.
over which the swift water fairly
boiled. Why We were not swept under
it or broken in two even the Indians
could not explain. We could not bulge
way the very least expected; the log
itself broke, and this, too, where il was
foot or two in diameter. 1t is not
often that q rotten log averts disas-
ter; 1t is more likely TO determine one.
There was not enough room along the
sides for all to pole effectively, az
the Doctors time was drawn to his
topographic work considerably, while
If stood up I threw the hydrostatic
, equilibrium OF the whole expedition
. into an cpileptic At. We two were
excused, but Russell, an excel.
.. lent river man, held his own fully
, with the others In the use Of the
paddle, however, we came to the front
and broke our share.
Later in the afternoon we came to
. our first canyon. Here the whole river
passes through a rocky gorge. with not
very high banks AMI some 1875 yards in
width. AS the current did not increase
, greatly, if At all, inferred it was Of IN
usual depth. Anyway. polling was out OF
the question and it required strategic
tracking toget the great canoe through.
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