The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-27
nUEL OF TWO GREAT ELKS.
-yr TROPHY SECURED IN AN Old
TINE HUNT ON THE PLAINS.

and Excitement OF una Running.
r,,e Mon, Nov. 21.-Among the many In
letting things the sportsman may see in the
snitbsonian InstituS!on at Washington there
-, rair OF interlocked antlers Of enormous
Ia which instantly arrests ones attention.
a. ARMY are they intersprung that the antlers
..nnot be separated except by breaking one or
~ other set. They give one an idea Of the
,.,mspse force and deadly hate which brought
~ vsarers OF them together. never TO be
..n,rated again. even In death. The writer
~"s one OF the little party of hunters and trap
nsrs who found them, and. after passing
,hrourh several hands, they we're finally lent
n the Smithsonian by their present owner, q
naturalist OF worldwide fame.
There was much more fun than work in the
rrdlnn trade, yet one can get too much Of any
eood thing. When the hunters employed by
,bs factor returned from a hunt. loaded down
Nth dark, deep-furred buffalo hides, skins of
antelope. elk and deer. pelts Of beaver and the
,olt. and told OF the glorious time they had
had on the prairie and along the foothills OF
N, mountains. the confines OF the fort and the
,rads room would become hateful to me. and 1
would long TO get way for q time and Join
,b.se hunters in their wild. free life.
twas along in November-I hate to think
hW mD1V ytdlS ubO Sha "1 opportunity
,.me, All the Indians were following tho buf-
Mo, anxious to get a big supply Of robes before
,bs slaring light OF winter could bleach the
glossy brown fur. and trade was slack. The
fae,or gave me permission to accompany the
hunters going out that day with the under
standing that / should return in two weeks,
whether they did or not; also. he kindly offered
me the use OF his horse. known far and wide as
,ha best buffalo rune in the country. l lost
no time in saddling the horse. and throwing
ny roll OF bedding into the wagon we were of.
The party consisted of Ely Guardipee. the
leader; John Hudson. an English half breed.
and Nlght-gun. a civilized Blackfoot Indian.
Each Of them was accompanied by his woman.
and we were all to camp togetber In alarEe
tepee or lodge. Our means Of transportation
consisted OF two heavy wagons. each drawn
by four horses. and q large band of saddle and
pack animals which N~ight-gun aud l herded
along Ia the trail OF the wagons.
The Blackfeet. Blood and Cree Indians were
all hunting south Of the Missouri at that time.
80 we crossed the riYer. on the ice In front OF
hiSh prairie, struck out toward the east end Of
the Little Rocky Mountains. intending to camp
along the yarious small streams which flow from
them into the Missouri. At that time the whole
country north Of the river was an Indian reser-
vation. and the particular part Of 1t we were in
vading was owned by the, Assiniboins, as
hnoali uhu - jain u 40
ever lived; but we had learned that they were
art to the north, hunting In the vicinity of the
Divide Hills. and hoped they wound not dis
cover our camp.
We stopped Tor the night on a little willow
fringed stream. and while the men cared for
fire Of buffalo chips and prepared the evening
meal. II, had been a cloudy, raw day. and We
were glad to get within the shelter OF the warm
smoke and rest. After eating we felt better,
and as 1t was still an hour or more before. sun
down we concluded to make a little trip OF dis
on horseback. and NiRht-gun and l. carrying a
bnneh Of traps and. our rifles, atrolled up the
S assre a IL co Senyc had Fl aid Rfh IN their we win sSSn st tGs@ "a
holes through The ice and placing the traps as
time we had finished it was getting dark
and we returned to camp. We saw sew
eal bands of antelope and a stray buffalo
tsr water. but it was so late we didn't 20 after
them. John and Ely came in soon after. we
did, one with the skin Of a big wolf he had shot.
Inc IN placing before the fire to roast. They
WSpe not far to the westward. but as fuel was
M scarce here. consisting, OF small dead will
owni buffalo chips. we determined to move
ID the toothills before, hunting. !Guardipee
proposed that we should go to the foot Of the
d hsssy ss East 8 5 e tbee l1 IittIe Rostts sut but 2 to sf t6is
NEht-gun strongly objected,
know the, place well."' he said. When
order 70 survey the surrounding country. The
summit is covered with war houses built by
IaItieS Of Sioux. Crows, Snakes, Cheyennes
against the tribes Of this country. We would
not oe able to stay there even q few days be-
lore they would have our horses and perhaps
That being the case" said Ely" we will fol-
!ow up this creek until we strike timber. and
'fgit to luck to have our hunt out in peace"
There were three fine beavers In our traps
tne next morning. and a fourth trap had been
sprung. Having no time to skin them then.
we're We sD again aH Sa the Iafq ROAD 8 GGas fn:t end q ay toi H,S1GSs
y u uDu ne devious wlnd!ngs Of the valley, we
4 pulled pulls out onto tho high rolling prairie aud
tIe mountains. which we could see plainly by
game became more and more plentiful; bands
ngnt while countless wolves and coyotes lazily
t oSsya out OF our road and sat down
t IiSSse AL a. US 3 as we went BY. We arrived at the
~ ~ edge OF a cottonwood, grove near the
i S5ssf Il. AIR hiiel LUNCHEON we All struck of up
Sad deer Not far above camp the early SHOWS
nSl got the better Of the sun and covered the
a soSu a, p r a depth Of three Or four inches: As
wNng pines must shelter a vast quantity OF
t sndSS, l9r there were plain trails of elk and deer
aSroa8S ~ every direction, l started to follow
had - 80 N'u.' az lOohcdd 90 IL liz lIlN
v vsu eut recently passed. when I noticed a few
lsus beyond the remains Of an old. rotten
tsSA TGnieh had been torn to pieces and scat
od long claws after an ant nest" Thought.
HmI koIhg over there | found his fresh tracks
rris AM on quartering up the hill. The long
tba MARKS projecting several inches beyond
u nv IMPRESSION OF the toes showed that 1t was
St tE ~ "a grIzzly. Elk anddeer were now
y ttsrte5 70 thought OF: | wante the bear. and
n iimbeeuu Oh Dr.skly on his trail through the open
II and go' where l could see somed distance ahead.
IpsttcHhn q very cautiously whenever | came to
ltopnaSS a. ielIoW was evidently hungry. for he
sS%dPReu 70 examine every old log he came to.
Ew "NSurh over every stone and boulder he
i0r :o UT ld ne seem to care where he went.
NH SSmetmes he would be travelling up the
ths s,ntetlnes down. sometimes back toward
tis,tiaSS ana again to the west. Quite often I
iss,ssdtu bahd OF elk or a bunch Of deer, and I
lWay ~ ene n9lse they made as they crashed
bear 'ppnugh the timber would Brighten the
Tor thesDaI ~ must be used to that. however.
if6tt or Mnlid animals always fee at the mere
tHdsSUttlss cent OF him. Those that 1 scared aust
hs pssssyd nave come within the vicinity since
speed IN ~ way ahead Of me-. and increased my
MIaSs, run Whenever 1t was possible.
Is va csiiI approached the edge of a little park.
iadthsraa Z patch OF open ground in the timber.
coil saw my bear busily digging up the
soma ,ras quite out of breath and had to wait
Tia oSf eun In order to make a sure shot.
from NJ. 'ellow was not more than sixty yards
tore ONT snu ne looked very formidable as he
u 6sO srtat Patches of sod mt a single swipe
which PSw. carefully noted a nearby tree
l~eeSsityya ropId he easily climbed in case Of