Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-10-14
A MIGHTY HUNTER DEAD
He FOLLOWED The TRAIL OF THe
LAST Pennsylvania ELK.

"a Was in the EarIy Part Of the w,a..,
of iss5s That the Last BaII Elk Wa
Tracked TO His Death by the Tir.l..
sports"an of the SlnaHmahoninx.
The man who was in at the death Of
the last elk killed in Pennsylvania died d
few days ago in Potter county" said 4
former resident of that part of the Kew
stone state. His name was Ira Par
menier. and he must have been uipet /,
years of age. He was born near the fork.
"f the Sinnamahoning where his father
who came from Connecticut with hi,
family before the close of the last cen
tury. was one Of the first settlers. Tn,
old hunter just dead was the last Of hi,
race, He had followed the life Of a hunter
and trapper until three years ago. when
he became partially blind and.was forced
f 10 hang up his rifle. He had lived during
the times when elk. wolves and panthers
all OF them now extinct. were numerous
~ the Pennsylvania woods. and he, prob.
ably more than any OF his contempora-
neous woodsnen, aided in bringing
about their extinction.
For many years he insisted that he
had killed the last panther ever known
To be in Pennsylvania. But Jacob Ben.
sley, AN old Pike county hunter, finally
brought such evidence 10 bear that n.
and not Parmenier was entitled To that
honor, that the latter acknowledged
Bensleys claim. That he WAS in th..
hnnt, though, which resulted in the kill.
ing OF the one lone elk that chung to its
native hills and fastnesses in the Penn.
sylvsmia wilds there is no doubt. al.
though the elk was killed by another
person. and an Indian at that This elk
hunt was Parnenter's favorite reminis.
cence, among the hundreds Of stirring
stories of his life in the woods that h..
was always ready TO relate, almost IN To
the day of his death.
On THE TRAIL.
This elk hunt occurred as late as
1867, although ii was supposed that the
last of the Wapiti race in Pennsylvania
had met its death twenty years before.
Not any OF the animals nor any sign of
them had been seen since ISIj, when
Seth Nelson, of Elk county, sho: what
was supposed To be the last one, and its
immense head aud antlers for years werr
exhibited at Peale's museum. in phila.
deiphia, as those of the last Pennsylva.
MIA elk. In the fall Of 1857 this same
Seth Nelson aud Ira ParInenter were
hunting along the headwaters of Ben.
netts creek, in Play Swamp, from which
water fiows on one side to the sources of
the Susquehanna, and from the other 10
the Allegheny feeders. They were on
the trail Of deer, when suddenly they
heard the peculiar whistle bull elk
sounds only at that time Of the year. the
whistle being the call for a mate. The
two hunters got their hounds on the
elk trail and followed II all day, when
a heavy and prolonged rainstorm came
up and the trail was lost.
The hunters roamed the woods for
weeks trying to strike the lost trail, but
did not succeed. The news that there
was still another elk left in the Sinna
woods spread throughout ths
region aud clear to the Indian reseryh.
tions over the New York state line.
Among these Was hunter and trapper
famous on the Cattaraugus reservation.
known Ia the whites as Jim Jacobs. One
day ia tne latter part OF November Ira
Parmenter and Seth Nelson started out
TO try again to find the trail of the lone
bull elk of the Sinnamahoning There
Was good tracking snow. aud on tie |
south edge Of Flag Swamp they discoy. |
cred tracks in the snow that they reeog- |
nized at once as an elk's, and at the |
same time they We're surprised aud by no /
means pleased to see the Indian hunter, |
Iim Jacobs, appear ON the scene.
THE INDIANS PRIZE.
Jacob was AN old man even then. |
although he lived and hunted for ten
Years longer, when he was killed by the
'ars at Salamanca. n. Y. He had
hunted elk for fifty years, and knew all |
heir habits and instincts perfectly.
'armenter and Nelson objected to the
indian joining them in the chase of tho
Tx, and he WAS forced 10 leave the trail.
The two white men followed the elk for
our days, and 1t led them through the
almost unbroken wilderness Of western
'ennsylvania clear down to the head
waters OF the Clarion river, in Clarion
ounty. There binding snowstorm
ame up, but they kept on, knowing that
he elk would not travel in tn. storm.
II last they discovered that the elk had
aken refuge in laurel thicket, and
hey felt that the prize was almost within
heir grasp, when rife shot rang out
'pon the snowy air from the thieket.
hey made their way into the thicket.
nd IN an opening in the center stood
he Indian, Jim Jacobs, one foot on the
ead body Of the elk, and his rife held
as he faced the white
unters creeping through the laurels.
The willy Indian had read the course
the elk by his knowledge Of the ami
laTs instincts. and had followed it as
nrely as II he had been ON its track
. the snow, and had actually reached
he laurel swamp where the animal took
efuge before the elk reached there itself.
he two white hunters, although dis ,
ppointed and chagrined over their fail ,
re to capture the prize they had follow
for hundred miles, were forced to I
eknowledge the wonderful skill and un- /,
ring Judgment OF the old Indian, and
Ided him in carrying his l rize home
he head and antlers OF the elk were in
acobs' house at Salamanca at the time
his death, and are probably in that
lace yet, New York Sun.
Making Market.
Stranger-Say Samho I'lI syiva -.