The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1895-01-31
CIRCULATING.
BY MARTIN HUNTER.

"Come, Ben, let us have that moose
yarn of yours. Charley, here, has not
heard it."
The person addressed as Ben was an
old white hunter of the Upper st.
Maurice, who was at hat moment
quietly enjoying a glass of grog, up
piled to him by some of his young ac-
quaintances and admirers of the town
of Three Rivers.
Old Ben used to visit towns once a
year regularly to dispose of his pelts,
have a good time, and GO back to the
wilds with n fresh supply of bacon,
tea, tobacco, ammunition, etc.
Nothing definite was known Of the
early history of Ben; in fact, the peo-
pie of Three Rivers knew not his sec
N name. They conjectured that.
like most men, he had a family name:
but this Ben kept to himself, and he
was known by n and all of his friends
simply as Ben
Everyone agreed that he had moved
in good society in his younger days, for
his early training would show out at
times in spite of his assumed hunters
English.
On the glasses being r~eplenished by
the young man called Charley, Ben
told them the moose story somewhat
as follows:
'Well, look here, boys, l had very
little to do with hat particular moose,
or the moose with me; but l had a
good deal to do on that occasion to
. keep from freezing. Howsoever, here
it is just as it happened:
sit was toward the end of March.
1865, that was camped, along with a
Wabanake Indian, on one of the large
streams hat fall into the west side of
the upper part of the st. Maurice. We
had made our head camp there in the
fall, and had done pretty we'll with
beaver till the ice formed, after that
we trapped for martens straight along
through the winter. Once only we
left our hunting grounds, and hat was
on New Years eve. Nicholas, the
Wabanake, my chum, said: Let's go
into Fort Weymontachingue and see
the Indians feast and dance;' for on
New Years it is the custom of the
Hudson's Bay company to hold open
house to all corners. So we took a few
marten skins to trade for tobacco and
went, and we saw big Indians eat big
much
"Ihad made a bargain with Nicholas,
before leaving Three Rivers, to hunt
together during the fall, winter and
spring and to go equal snooks on the
furs after the trapping was over. In
the beginning of spring, or rather, |
should say, the very last part of win
ter for If lyaS tho ap1 Of Eoh,,,o,, nv
partner found a yard of moose. Says
he: Now, Ben, we will just let those
moose put or fat till there is a good
crust on the snow, and then we are
sure of killing them
"'All right, Nick says I; just as
you think best
But, as bad luck would have it, be-
fore rain or sunshine came 20 form q
crust, we got news at one of the lum-
Der shanties hat there was a party of
surveyors up, running lines for timber
limits. l made inquiries in what di-
rection they were then working, and
found by what the shanty men told
me, that they would strike our moose
yard the following day or the day aft
err, at furthest. Well, l just pegged
home TO camp, a distance of about five
miles, and told the news to Nick; and
maybe he was not just hopping.
However, Ben says he, those beg
gars will Brighten our moose tomorrow.
So we may as well give them the wind
ourselves, and run the chance of kill
ing one. Let us start at once. and
sleep at the foot of the mountain, so as
to be ready at the break of day to wind
the critters
with biscuit and pork in our blank
cts, we reached the base of the noun
tain before dark, made a rousing fire,
cut plenty of green boughs, laid down.
smoked and told yarns the best part of
the night, for it was too blamed cold
TO sleep much. Morning came at last,
and, after a hasty breakfast, we start
ed. We each showed a biscuit in our
shirt and fastened n tin cup on our belt.
The cup uaS 20 melt snow in, if pushed
by thirst. Our blankets, OF course. we
left, as we wished to be us light as pos
sible.
I'VE had almost reached the top OF
the mountain, when Nick said: They
are off, His quick ear had heard a