The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-06-18
SIB|OE lBIG HORN BUCK
Cot Noah Parker Tells How One
Was Caught Alive in
1sgs Montana.
vFank Haksr Wasn't Hunting for
That Kind OF Came That
Day.
neA H captured It by Dropping on 1t
aad Thea Holding on to Il
Tightly

ssTheYe ara more lies told about tho
Rocky mountain big horn sheep thar about
any other living thing, not excepting bears.
said Col. Noah Parker. OF Parker's Springs.
Pc. 20 the New York Sun man. "bnt
know 4 true story about one. It's the story
81 I nan Who caught = big horn olive. Any
one Wild knows about she big morn sneep OF
The Rockies, knows that. generally speak
Ing, IL would be quite a. essy TO graz a
streak 81 lightning and hold it al II would
be 70 got his hands on one OF these wary,
~ and aaile animals. In the irst place,
"a - even within long rifle range of a big
horn. unless by accident. is scmsthinR that
che mort expert mountain hunters are able
Is do only BY the greatest strategy. the
seysrsst toll, and no little risk. to such al
most inaccessible Businesses does the sharp
eyed. keen.scented. sure-footed big horn
retire with ease at the frat indication OF
danger.
is.The Rocky mountain big horn 10 In
stinctively suspioious, cautious beyond any
other animal that lives. and possessed OF
vslous powers OF speed and skill in
mskinQ ito way over places that ore mao
cessibis TO the most nimble footed of any
other American animal. This sheep is the
chamois Of America. / followed one once for
two weeks. day after day without missing
one. sleeping on the trail. until l pursued 1t
almost TO the clouds on the crest of the
Sierras before / managed TO get within rife
reach 81 II. II stood almost defantly on q
rocky shelf. overlooking q canyon, but
thirty feet or moro away from the chasm.
The shot was a long one, but ! felt that !
could put d rife bali under the big horns
shoulder easy enough, and I did. But the
determined beast beat me after all. The
proper thing for it to have done would have
bsen 70 drop dead somewhere else, to
which spot I could have traced II BY its
Ing 81 the kind. With ono mighty Leap,
when ths rife cracked. the buck cleared
The space between il n the edge OF the
canyon, and hurled itself into the tremen-
dous depths. To lose such q prize as that
after 4 struggle OF two weeks to win it was
heartbrenking.
snow, il Il is difficult TO get even a long
rifle shot at a big horn, what do you think
she capture OF one at close quarters must
be? And that's what Frank Baker did once.
ont at Boulder, Mont. That wasn't SO
many years ago and big horns were numer-
Ou0 SQ0Os LII Def buosS ISL . Ouo WAtulA q
thousand miles OF there to-day.
'.Frank Baker used to live here in Penn
e~ylyania, bat be went out to Montana and
started O cattle ranch. II Baker had been
ont hunting for big horn the day he came
upon this one the chances are that he never
would have seen IT; but he wasn't out hunt
Ing and came suddenly upon it at the foot
OF a sloping bank which was crowned by an
almost perpendicular cliff over twenty feet
high. Baker was accompanied by one of
hA--hsrd dogs, which had also been
trained as a hunter. The sheep started
~ y. 'h dos, ''0pi Tso 0aR sish f0l eiis o by
oil it's aIght up the mountain side and when
the big horn reached the foot of the cliff it
took ia the situation at once and turned on
the dog. Standing with its rump against
the cliff the great sheep presented a formid-
able front to the dog. which was wise
enough to keep out Of reach of the tie
mendous battering ram the sheep welded.
one blow from which would have smashed
the skull OF a buffalo bull. The dog kept
the animal at bay by safe and noisy
maneuvers. Casting his eye over the
strategic points OF the field. Baker made
MP his mind that by a bold but somewhat
risky movement he might be able to do
something that he had never heard of any
man doing or attempting to do before, and
that was to make q prisoner of the big
horn. He took his back track while the
dog kept the sheep at bay, and getting to
the end Of the cliff climbed the bank and
back along this until he was directly above
the big horn. which was still on the dcfen-
sive against the dog.
without stopping to calculate what the
probable result of his plan might be, Baker
Jumped from the top Of the ledge and came
down squarely astride the sleeps back. At
the same moment he threw his arms around
its neck, locked his fingers together, and
brought to bear on the big horns wind
pipe all tho pressure he was capable of. The
Instant Baker struck the sheeb's back the
big and astonished animal lost all interest
in the dog, and made two or three
tremendous bounds along the crest of
the hill. Finding it could not throw off its
surprising bu, den, the big horn threw
itself to the ground and rolled over and
over down the n In that brief but
rapid journey Bakers clothing was whipped
off OF him as if it had been stripped by
knives, and he was marked and pounded
and squeezed until he had barely u bit of
breath or an inch of sound skin. But he
held on to the big horn like grim death.
The dog had taken an active part in tbs
struggle. but the sheep paid no attention to
him, putting all Of his enc gv into efforts
10 loosen himself from Bakers hold md
burden.
1.-THE yells that Baker set up, Ii the
noise the dog made in the exciting and un.
usual melee, were heard by one OF Bakers
men at the ranch a quarter of Il mile away
The struggle between Baker and tho shee;
had taken them some distancs away frcn
b hill, and they were in sight of the ranch
The hired man grabbed n gun and huriiad
20 the scene. Baker was naked, bleeding
n covered with dirt. but ho called to his
man when he came within hearing to drot
his gun and 90 back md get q rope. HI
was determined to bag that sheer
alive or not st all. The man hur
1ied way to the ranch and by the timl
he got back with the lariat Baker
sheep and dog were ench about in tht
last stages of exhaustion. The man ~lassoeG
the big horn mud the captive WAS made
sure. Other help arrived by this time, an
Baker was carried to the ranch moro deal
than alive. The sheep was so nearly playet
out that 1t had to be helped along, too. ans
WAS penned up ut tho ranch. 1t was a weel
before Baker got over the effects of hi
fight with the big horn. He had intende,
to send his prize east, but finding that tn
sheep persistently refused to either eat oil
drink, and was visibly dying in captivity
he ordered the animal set free. In les,
than a minute after regaininR it's liberty i
had disappeared among the rocks far u
ths mountain"
A Vessel in Distress.
ATLANTIC CITY, n. j., June 17.-Excite
ment prevails here over the appearance
Down the coast of rockets apparently sho