The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-03-12
MnLEINE In THE SINTIES.
A FRoNTIERMAN's STORY OF Wild Moy-
TANA LIFE.

| OF cared about the mOmentOuS strug
gle then going on for the preservation
Of the Union The captains of th'
steamboats, which came up the rive
| in the spring and early summer haC
brought few newspapers. month.
old, which described the great battle!
that were fought, and these haC
been read and passed from hanC
to hand. But these hardy from
tiersmen were waglng war Of then
own against the wild animals and still
wilder men they daily encountered
and had little interest in the great wal
SO far away They spoke of the states
the country east of the Mississippi
as Of some far distant land, and they
would talk Of the day when with gen
erous fortunes, they should return tC
make happy the declining years of the
old folks. But for many of them that
day never came. Some fell in battle
with the savages. some died Of vast
ing disease. and others deferred the
time so long that the old folks passed
away, and then they had no occasion
to leave the plains and mountains they
had learned to love
1t was so long ago that / cannot now
remember the names Of all of the
members Of our wolfing expedition
narrates correspondent from kipp,
Mont, in the New York Sun There
We're thirty five men in all, and some
Of them were accompanied by their
Indian wives and children Our trans
ports consisted of four heavy wagons.
drawn by four horses each, and a large
band Of saddle and pack horses. each
one OF us owning from five to a dozen
head. This little company was made
up OF eight different firms. and each
firm had its own camp and mess out-
fit, My partners were Dan I, and
Jeff D., two fearless and honest from
tiersmen, who many years before had
come west in the service Of the Ameri
can Fur Company.
1t was almost noon, one day late in
November that we left the adobe fort
and the cluster Of the low cabins and
pulled ont Of the valley Ascending
the long steep hill, and moving out
onto the rolling prairie, we found our
selves at once among small bands Of
buffalo and antelope; and as we NOV
ed slowly northward these bands in
creased in size and numbers. until
they formed a seemingly vast and con
tinuous herd.
Our objective point was Sweetgrass
hill; three lone pine clad buttes Just
sonth Of the Canadian line, and sixty
or moro miles east Of the Rockies. In
the afternoon Of the fourth day we
reached the west butte, and camped
on a little stream which flows from it
until finally it is lost in
the thirsty ground We did not dare
camp very near the butte, for had we
done so a war party would have had a
great advantage in firing down upon
us from the high points. Instead we
chose for our winter camp ground the
center of wide. level flat about half
Il mile from the butte, where we built
a strong high corral large enough to
hold our horses, and around the out
side put up our lodges. Then. after
hauling great piles Of dry cottonwood
and quaking ash for fuel, we were
ready to begin wolfng. Owing to the
danger Of being attacked by the In
dians, we arranged it so that at all
times there should be eight men in
camp, and ninth one with the horses
which We're corraled every night.
Never before nor since have [ seen
a more ideal place for the hunter than
the Sweetgrass hills in those days.
to the top Of the butte one
day | got out my glass, a long power
full telescope. and took a good look at
the surrounding country. North, south.
east and west, as far as the eye cOnld
reach. the prairie was fairly covered
with buffalo and antelope. Herds of
elk and deer fairly swarmed on the
pine clad sides of the hills; and higher
up, among the rocky lelges. the timid
)ighOrn made their home. Little
bands Of bears, nearly all grizzlies.
We're rowing about constantly, feeding
on carcasses the wolves had killed. and
occasionally securing some unwary
auimal themselves. As for the wolves
and coyotes, they We're everywhere:
singly, in pairs. in bands of fifty and
more.
Lest we interfere with one another,
the direction each outfit should take
in putting ont bats was determined
by lot. and [ was very well pleased
that my firm drew the northwest
course. Going from camp in this dir.
ection, we would pass over the west
shoulder Of the butte. thence out into
a broken prairie country, and on to
the long, deep coulies which led down
to the Milk river valley, about ten
miles away. Early in the morning of
a sunny day, old Dan and [ mounted
our n0rses and started ont to begin
our work. About a mile from camp
we sighted a band of elk and shot a
large fat COW. We ripped the animal
open from throat to tail and removed
the yiscera. Then we mixed two bot
ties of strychnine with the blood which
collected. and smcared it all over the
meat, cutting deep gashes here and
there. SO that the poison would work
into the thicker pats. A mile from
the elk We successfully stalked little
band OF buffalo. and secured d large
young bull, on which we used three
bottles of the poison Then. as the
wind shifted to the north and snow
began to fall, we turned back and
went home In few days however.
we got out all the bats we wanted.
and every pleasant day we would go
ont and skin the wolves which We're
not frozen. Nowadays it is very diff
cult to get wolves even TO approach a
poisoned bait. but in those times they
had not been educated. and We're so
ravenous that we often saw them 70
up to a carcass and begin to eat it be
fore We had ridden a quarter of mile
away.
The strychnine was SO rapid in It's
action that some of the animals died
with their heads resting on the bait.
Occasionally one of them wn11ll crat