The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-01
THE LAST HOME OF THE BEAVER
The 'Trapper sun May Pursue Him Tn
the Rio Grnnde Canyon.
From The Chicago Tlmes-Herald.

From the Chicago Times-Herald.
So far as my knowledge extends there
is but one readily accessible place in the
United States wherein the trapper may
pursue his ancient and honorable art with
proft and without disturbance by the
snoring locomotive, the inquisitive gov
eminent agent, or the interfering farmer
civilization has so far extended It's lines
and its nusances that he is Fortunate
man who is able TO find primeval nature
and a sensible man who keeps his knowl-
edge to himself. ! have never met
trapper who was willing to betray his IA
vorte ground to any one other than
brother Of the craft and only then when
under the loosening influence OF any guam
tty of frewater The place nave IN
mind is the Rio Grande canyon. Ihere
the land and the water and the air are as
Cod made them, and they will remain I'M
altered for many and many year 10 come
l hope.
az course. there are streams here and
there wherelrom an occasional beaver Is
taken. BY searching diligently in the
roarLets Won will run across an otter skin
that is new now and then. Minks, which
are prolific animals, are taken always and
AZ an seasons IN many sections of the
country There is no money now how
over in pursuing the beaver and the OF
ter: no money. that IS, anywhere save in
the canyon aforementioned. Here ana
there in the mountains OF the South, es-
pectally i'm Arkansas, men sometimes take
ottere There are not enough OF the an
innals to make their special pursuit pay
inp one In the canyon Of the Rio Grande
boue,,er the beaver and the otter stfll
exist in large numbers They have been
once disturbed. Probably II Will be long
before their bailiwicks are again invaded
The Rio Grande canyon begins eighty
miles south Of El Paso and ends sixty
miles above Eagle Pass. II Is approx
rnately 200 miles long. The estimate Is
r,ere approximatiOn, because singularly
enough. il has never been surveyed by
The nearly ubiquitous government engl-
neers who have been everywhere else.
Away back in the early jOs there was a
government expedition which made pre-
tense of surveying IL, but the work was
only a pretense. They did not go into the
CANYON itself, except al one or two places
hui contented themselves with claiming
a course parallel to It and high up on tie
tablelands. far below which II runs Ms
tortuous course downward.
TrntiI 1889 practically nothing was known
Of the interior of the canyon. In that year
three trappers from the lower edge Of
Western Canada appeared at El Paso
Thev built three small, strong boats
loaded them with supplies, weapons and
trans and drifted down the river They
gave the names Of Pierre Bauduy, Al
pbonse Pichot and Edouard Coco The
current swept them between the dark
Jaws Of the canyon two days later and
for months there were no tidings Of them.
At the end OF that time Baaduy who
was a darlx-featured, taciturn man of 40
years, appeared, drifting down the river
above Eagle Pass. lie had one boat IN
low. He landed az the frontier town with
one rife. no clothing. except that which
he wore, no traps, no food and 400 beaver
skins, which he sold on the spot for Sc