The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-04-07
HUNTING THE BIG HORN
COYOTE BILL AS A HUNTER
A Most Interesting Account of the Ad-
ventures OF Party OF Hardy Young :.
Men Along the Rattlesnake
River-The Hunters Home.

The following account Of a hunt for
mountain sheep in the wilds of the Rat
tlesnake, in Western Montana, which
apears in the. last number Of the Field
OF the chase. The article is written by
M. p. Spencer and is entitled Hunting
the Big Horn" The characters who
took part in the trip are all well known
in Missoula. The article is embellished
with handsome Photographic cuts of
several of the scenes written about:
Then, Hathaway. what do you say
to a goat hunt on the headwaters Of the
Rattlesnake?'
II raise both hands,: but what are
your plans for transportation, with SO
much snow ami no horse feed in sight?'
Build a t~oboggan, put on the traps
and we're or.
''Thi conversation took place one
cold, frosty morning in December at
Missoula, Mont. In Charles Emsley's
taxidermist establishment, between
two sportsmen of known ability and
reputation. h R~attlesnake Is a beau
til mountain stream, joining the Mis-
soula river at the town of that name.
AT its headwaters are a number of small
nv sho HttP ~ SdPPiAtu ~ "a
purest of water. The scenery is grand
and picturesque. The lofty mountains.
with their broken surfaces dotted here
and there with stunted pines, afford
ample shelter for goats and the big horn.
1t was dec,1ed that the headwaters of
the Rattlesnake was the proper place
To go for goats. as it had been reported
by Coyote Bill that he had sighted a
large and
Coyote Bill is one OF those charac-
tiers that the West only is capable of
producing. He Is recognized as au-
thority on game and the whereabouts
of mineral wealth. Coyote is a man
never to be forgotten after the first
meeting. He always makes it a point
to I'LL up a tenderfoot with. a yarn that
will cause him to speculate on the rare
presence Of mind and hairbreadth es-
capes of the narrator.
Coyote lived in a comfortable cabin
about IL miles up the Rattlesnake. 1t
was his place that the toboggan party
expected to reach the first night.
Have we everything now, Hatha-
way? Did you get your kodak? And,
by the way, have you put in that black
bottle?'
These and many other questions of
the same nature were passed oefore the
start was finally made. The toboggan
was 10 feet long and 20 inches wide. and
was freighted with all the necessaries
OF life to last two men a week. 1t look
ed like an overloaded Hat car. and as 1t
started over the frozen snow IL groaneJ
awfully under its burden.
w overlook Coyote on the road and
We were glad of il When 1t came to pull
ing that old ~toboggan. Talk about go
ing to Klondike with a sled-excuse me!
by goshens, boys remarked Coy
ote, Il guess ! had better go along to
the Hunters Home n get Did Sal to
pull you up The Hunters Home was
Bills cabin and old Sal was his favorite
razorback pack horse. We assured him
that we were thankful for his kind Of
fer, but declined on the ground that we
would lose all the glory.
What fools men are' Glory. indeed,
We would ave given all the glory and
everything else that we happened to
have on our person for that old cayuse
before We had proceeded another mile.
We threw out many. strong hints to that
effect, but Bill could or would not UNI
derstand.
We were moving slowly and painful
ly along, stopping occasionally to rest.
when the crack Of Coyotes gun rang
out upon the air with startling distinct
ness. We glanced in his direction. and
to our establishment saw that he was
emtpying his Winchester at a mountain
sheep that was making tracks up the
rocks about a hundred yards away. In
an instant all was confusion. Guns
guns! where We're our guns? Strapped
securely to the toboggan with about 500
pounds Of freight on top Of them. BY
the time we had unloaded and secured
@ guns the sheep was out of sight.
with Coyote fast disappearing upon its
tran. Shortly. there came floating back
to US, as Coyote reached the spot where
he had first sighted the sheep, Here's
blood!'
I'VE repacked our traps on the to-
boggan. The load was larger, and as
we tugged at the rope IL seemed much
heavier thar before. We came to the
conclusion that we did not care about
seeing the head OF the creek. that we
had not lost any goats. and IL we could
only hold out until We reached the
Hunters Home that we would try our
hand at sheep hunting.
Coyote overlook us in about an hour
and reported that he had sighted a |
large band OF sheep. BY goshens. boys. |
there was n old big fellow and 1 made
him jump. ! heard my bullet strike
him on the horn remarked Bill.
w knew better. for we had sighted
a large band of deer with our telescope.
also Bill i'm close proximity. But we did
not dispute him. for he was a large man
and we were a long way from home.
Moreover. we expected to accept his
hospitality during our stay on the Rat
tlesnake.
The trail crossed the creek twice
within a short distance before reaching
the Hunters Home. There were no
foot logs; we had either TO wade the |
icy water or break a trail through four
feet OF snow around the hillside. We
decfued to take the latter course. and
as is always the case. wished we had
taken the other. After fioundering
through the snow for half a mile we
came to the trail. reaching the Hunters
Home about ? o'clock. dead on our feet.
Many vows were made. and many
pulls were taken by everybody from
the black bottle.
by goshens. boys. that's the stun
remarked Bill. We can kill sheep to-