Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-12-28
SAVAGE CRANES.
One Man Killed, the Other
Partially Blinded.
In Minnesota's WiIds.
Startling Adventure In Northwestern Swamp
Strange Fight with Big Birds.

In the heart of the country just
opened by the settlement of the Red
Lake Reservation in Northwestern
Minnesota there are interminable
swamps and muskeags, as the Indians
call them, which are masses of tangled
forest and low swamps of cedar and
tamarac woods, almost impenetrable
In these forests are the haunts of
myriads of wild creatures. Moose and
caribou roam the woods and their
paths, often worn to the depth of
foot or more along the edges of the wet
lands and surrounding the lakes. are
frequently met with. The red deer is
to be seen at any time. wolves are
naturally numerous where the deer are
to be found. and the black bear can be
seen in every BURBERRY patch or plum
thcket. The smaller game animals
are as plenty as the larger, and there
are no finer places in America for the
fisherman than the lakes and streams
that abound in all the region.
The few men who stumble into that
wilderness come out with queer tales
of their experiences and of the scenes
they have witnessed there. Not the
least strange of these was the expert
ence of a Black Duck settler. Harry
James. by name, who attempted to
cross the wilderness on his way from
his home to the settlements on the
west of the timber country in the Red
River Valley He was with a compan
ion, and they were attacked by blue
cranes One of the two men was
killed and the other barely escaped
with his life. and will probably be
blind in at least one eye for the rest
Of his life.
A few miles south of Black Duck
axe is a rookery of blue cranes cover
ing several square miles. 1t is said to
be the largest of its kind in America.
The birds congregate in this rookery
every year in vast numbers, and are
lust at this time Matching their eggs
md rearing their young. The rookery
in a spruce swamp, and is almost in
accessible on account of the lakes and
,athless woods that surround it. a
more dismal place would be hard to
ind.
The two men We're not acquainted
18th the woods, and. though old hunt
rs and pioneers, they We're soon tam
led in the wilderness of swamp and
rest near the edge of the rookery
bout nightfall. Making their way by
| he compass they We're attracted by
ne yelpng of their dog, fine hound,
nat was ranging a few rods ahead of
hem. The dog was evidently at
acked by some creature that was
aking it exceedingly disagreeable and
| eriouS for him, AMI they fastened to
is relief AT once the air seemed to be
live with cranes, and the dog came
owling and stumbling to them, COW
ed with blood and half blind. and
flowed by the birds. When the
irds spied the men they turned their
ttention from the dog and attacked
rem. Both We're struck by the beaks
the birds, and James was knocked
/ own. with several wounds in his head.
ce and neck. The other man was
ndered insensible by wound in the
nple. and the birds, which had be-
me Infatuated, continued their on
aught on both so fiercely that James
as unable to help his comrade. The
tier received wounds which caused
is death.
Shielding himself as best he could
nder a log beside which he had fallen.
ames opened fire on the birds with his
| Winchester. and kept it up as long as
| re had cartridges: but it appeared to
| 10 no good, although several of them
| ere killed. Darkness coming on, he
| rept off into the dense brush, but not
| 'ntil one of the birds had given him a
| low with its beak that ruined one eye.
The next morning he reached one of
| he surveying camps of the Farmers
| railway, and with William Hines, a
brother of the now famous Farmer
| Hines, returned to the rookery. They
| shot several of the cranes and retired
| carrying home with them one bird
| which stood seven feet four inches in
| height and measured eight feet across
| it's extended wings. Two others nearly
| as large were shot. The intrusion of
| the two men excited the cranes very
| much, but as it was daylight and both
men were shooting they kept at a dis
| tance.-New York Sun.