The record-union., 1896-05-11
HUNTER AND GUIDE.
Urs. A. q. Wallahan, Her Quick Eye
and Steady Nerve.


AS a crack shot and hunting guide,
Mrs. A. G. Wallahan has but few equals
west of the Rockies. She has the two
requisite qualifications of a successful
hunter-a quick eye and steady
nerve.
She has studied with nature rather
than with men and books, and has
learned the 'lay of the land in hunt
ing regions, and has so familiarized
herself with the habits and peculiar
tiles Of mountain and prairie animals
that in the West her statements about
hunting are regarded as authoritative,
and the tenderfoot who can secure her
guidance for his first crack at an ante
lope or mountain sheep considers him
self in luck
1t has been said that no woman in
America knows more about bringing
down big game than Mrs. Wallahan,
and to her also belongs the credit of
first conceiving the idea Of photograph
ing wild game.
Il first learned to shoot to please my
husband" said Mrs Wallahan, in
speaking of her Western experiences.
Il was often alone in my mountain
home, and felt it unsafe to be totally
ignorant of the use of firearms. I be-
gan to practice regularly whenever
was alone. At first l could not lift an
eight-pound gun without having
it shake so that a careful aim was i'm
possible. But I at length grew accus-
toned to the weight, and also taught
myself to sight moving objects quickly
and finally one day killed rabbit that
was scurrying past the door.
My first successful wing shot was
wild goose. I brought it down with a
single shot and afterward prepared it
for dinner, to a running fire Of half
amused, half-fattering comments from
MY husband, and I, myself, felt a little
Inundated that my first bird should be
a goose.
After I began to shoot we'll I began
to accompany Mr.. Wallahan on all his
hunting expeditions. 1t was while
waiting with him for a herd of deer to
come down the trail that first thought
OF photographing wild animals.
We had no end of trouble to get a
good camera, for we were a hundred
miles out from civilization. At last,
however, we heard of a young man who
was going off to a mining camp, and
was willing to sell a camera for SO.
I had only So in cash with me at the
time, but Mr. Wallahan contributed
two pairs of fine buckskin gloves, and
between us we secured the prize. Since
then we have never missed an oppor-
tunity to get interesting photographs
of game.
And 1 can assure you," Mrs. Walla-
han continued, sit Is far more difficult
tc photograph animals than to shoot
them. 1t is necessary to get much
closer to them, to await for them to
assume an interesting pose, to study
the surrounding scenery with view to
its appropriateness as background,
and, last of all, to manage a camera
skillfully and noiselessly under most
difficult circumstances"
Mrs. Wallahan's horse and dog are
her inseparable companions. She
speaks OFF them with the same affection
with which she alludes to her gun and
camera. Her favorite hunting piece is
well-worn Remington rife, which
stands, always we'll cleaned and ready
for use, near the door from which she
shot her first rabbit. A small frontier
town has sprung up about the Walla-
han ranch, which has grown to be the
headquarters for hunting parties in
Western Colorado.
In appearance Mrs. Wallahan does
not suggest mighty feminine Nimrod.
Her skin is still delicate and white, in
spite of twenty-five years of out of
door life, and her expression is thought
full and benevolent rather than hard
and fierce, after the fashion of the
average frontiersman.
Mrs Wallahan's hunting costume is
at once neat and serviceable. Her ia
vorite color is dark gray, in cheviot for
winter, and lightweight flannel for
summer. The skirt is short, scarcely