The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-12
BRASS BAND GOOSE HUNT.
CAPT. TBRoOKMoRT0Nvs EXPEDI-
TIoN UP ri MISSOURI IN TBEGEN0A
10000 wild Geese on One sand Bar-Band
Played ana Geese Honked-.Band Quit and
They Attacked the Boar-Row ut Fort


with q steamboat and brass band Is about as
interesting sport, / reckon, as u mar can have"
One OF the patriarchs of the Platte Purchase
made this observation to the only arrival In the
town to-day, at tho drug store, where the arri-
val had entertained some Of the old constituency
OF George Belt, former Sheriff Sam Gilbert, polit.
ical dealer OF the Congressional district. Col.
Jim Burnes and John Doniphan. Tho only ar
rival had boen talking about deer hunting in
Maine and on Long Island. The patriarch,
without urging. continued:
1T was in 1851, on the Missouri River. Pas
senger traffic had lightcned, and In those days
few boats went up the river very far after Nov.
!. / remember that old Capt. Throckmorton of
tho Genoa asked his freight clerk how much
cargo was aboard the day before sailing. and
the reply was not encouraging. The next morn
ing in the steamboat advertisements the an.
nouncoment was made that the Genoa would
leave her wharf in st. Louis that afternoon for
the wild goose grounds of the Missouri as far
north Us Omaha, and that special rates would
be made to sportsmen. A band of music was
aboard. Some of you deer hunters may think
this would be a good place to stop the story. But
there ore other Incidents. When the Genoa
pulled out she had moro gums and ammunition
and hunters than she had cargo.
'The Missouri River was at low stage in the
fall. l want to say to you deer hunters who
nunV IN u country inc topography OF winch Is so
accurately described that you can travel with
your eyes shut, that there is no map, and there
never has been one made, of the Missouri River
which will enable n man who is not a civil en-
gineer to bet on its course. I was looking at q
map in my grandson's geography only the other
day, and i saw that the Missouri River was put
down just as it was put down in that boys
fathers geography. and as it was in my own. /
don't know why it is, but people never doubt a
map. Same way about railroad time tables.
at was tho continued shifting of the current
Of the Missouri River which caused the sand
bars to be the greater part of the scenery along
the course. There were miles and miles of
these bars at certain points. The further up
tho river you travelled the more sand bars you
saw. First on one side Of the river and then
on tho other. The only trees that ever grew
on these bars were cottonwood, and about the
time they got their start the river would wash
the bar away or leave it SO far from the mois.
On these sand bars, in the fall. the wild
goose stopped in its southwark flight. l won
we used to see in those days along the river.
Is 1t BECAUSE there are more people or fewer
merous than ever. / have seen wild Geese so
thick on these bars that when they rose in a
body o they dsrk enc whatever they passed oyer
like far-away.thunder. AS one flock would dis
appear another took its place, And i have
hoVA 49, AhAhi shtAShAs W tliNiiu lohA ulAC
With vt snow, and Ice ciiosEed the h T river. were "n''e
worthy the attention Of such an expedition,
vas on tho bars Just above Glasgow, and near
Missouri at that point was about seven miles
In extent-I don't know what it is now When
thousand If there was ono, gave us a reception.
Every goose spread his wings, stretched his
EiS onft5 ne ali a Axe h Snd ali at I9 ths s of ten m th0s q
He said it would be bad luck; that the SUR:
further up the river and they would disappear.
Besides, he said. the geese had given the Genoa
us Il we failed to appreciate it. The Captains
suggestion that the band should play was
that band consisted Of Pop Goes Goes the i W WeaSe p
L Went Dow e. Lgcy,s Hqnse Wal. 70, the
cow The geese stood silent during the drst
piece. Then, when It was over, they honkod
still again, and when that was over they honEed
and mapped their wings. The Genoa by this
slms bed bsil j iO slaT The Of Boat ste Started M ahs the th Sldg% 20:
off made the informal noise it always does. I
Locked h0s tho to see the sesse demgralizsd BY this;
did and they Hooked to TIE 6osI: They GOV:
CAPT; Throek9orton ordered the band to
had made a miscuo and lost tie horn IN the
river, and the leader was ratified. II you know
ShRyah'1 aSe a isader a E Sssss ra eaRd toy L bod Kn1w 'e eont
tagious. the rattle does. Then the Captain sig
nailed to the pilot to signal to tho %engineer to
the engineer mad and he came up on the hurri-
cane deck and demonstrated with Capt.
The geese kept on coming. They weighted
the Genoa, and sometimes when most OF them
oareened In the water. The wind was blowing
around the bend and coming down upon US like
ssaifloIpfins" snow. Which blinded the pile pilots "T Then
Capt. Throckmorton pulled the whistle wide
bell. / never heard such an Internal racket in
my life. The geese rose, circlod. ana came
were none. Why, we men were ratified, and
some Of US had been in the Mexican war.
and the trim little steamer shot ahead through
the slush, ice like an arrow. But. the geese
followed close in the wake. 1 looked back at
the bar, and 1t seemed to me there were more
Of it. looked up, and there were as many
geese in the air, It seemed to me, AS there were
snowtakes. stiil Capt. Throckmorton said it
about an ancient mariner who had killed an
albatross. and how the sea was ftllei with dead
ana q lot of other calamities thai followed. /
have learned since that the Ancient Mariner is
nothing, but poetry; but none of US knew that
when the Genoa had her fghI with the wild
geese of the, Missouri. The Ancient Mariner
a drink. We were surrounded with game.
game everywhere. but dassent shoot.
AT last Capt. Throckmorton ordered the bar
open and invited everybody TO take something,
especially the band. When the band was filled
up 1t was persuaded to go aloft and play.
never knew what the band PLAYED, and il never
did, am sure. But after il had played, or tried
to. for awhile the geese began leaving the boat.
They went back TO the sand bar. The band
kept playing, and the Genoa, uador full head of
steam, finally rounded the bend and proceeded
on her way. 1t was dark by that time, and l
reckon that had something TO do with the exc.
dus Of the geese from the Genoa. When the
boat got to Miami the next day the band mutt
MED and Capt. ThrockmOrton paid 1t of and put
1t ashore. l never heard whether 1t got back to
St Louis or not.
ave saw plenty of geese on the bars as we
steamed up the river. but saved our ammuni-
ton for the great bar near Leavenworth. Capt.
ThrockmOrton said that more geese hocked on
that bar than on any in the river. There was
nothing but sand for miles and miles. up tho
river and down, at that point. Leavenworth. at
tho time Of this goose hunt, was the metropolis
of that section. The fort made it. When the
Genoa touched there she tied UP for n day for
repairs and commissary goods. The
ing offer OF Fort Ieav~enwO1h'cane TO the boat