CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1898-11-03


our national museum to get specimen
and could excuse myself by thinkine
that if was successful IN getting
them to civilization they would be
mounted and reproduced as natural as
life, thus preserving them for future
generations to see what once roamed
our forests at will. 1t is necessary
that this be done now, before this
soon to be extinct animal followi
in the wake of the buffalo.
looked across the great expanse
before me, over broken ridges Of dead
and down timber, over fats OF spruce
and brentwood to the lakes, then over
grass lands, muskeggs and fields of
ice, then to Sheep mountains covered
with snow, and then far beyond some
It's miles to smoking Alamins towards
Cooks Inlet where ] had to get all
my specimens to take boat by October
10th. and if it had been all sport mp
to this time work certainly commenced
now.
went over and put on my shoes,
returned and took measurements.
If you ever skinned a moose aaone
you know what a task | had. ]
reached camp after dark and, my two
packers being at the lower camp isft
a note directing them where to meet
me, / then returned to the carcs1B to
finish up the work on the skin and
bones. camped by him that night
with two pairs of blankets, and at
noon the next day the men found me
as had fired shots at interyals- The
next task was to get the antlers and
skin packed down to lower camp and
placed on drying frame nigh a the
ground under canopy of canvas to
protect it from the rain and slpall
animals. On the 26th we had es>ry-
thing packed out to the lake md
ready for our boat which w19jtoo
small to carry all my outfit far her
than across the lake to the head Of
the rapids in the river about fofty-
FIVE miles. Next morning w4s tpid,
with westerly drift in the sky, IL
though calm on the lake. Our 1oat'
was IS feet long, 5-foot beam nth
good lines. Ny outfit sunk ~ \ u
to within eight inches Of the u1er.
There were now but four In my pfty.
as | had dispatched the India1 =
their bidarka soms ten days pee1 &c Y
At9 9 o'clock a. m. my two ~
we're pulling hard at the oars; At ]
o'clock fair wind sprung up; We set
sail and headed for the foot of the
lake, while the wind grew stronger
and stronger, and at 3 O'Clock We
we're out in the middle and ten miles
from the shore; the white caps began
chasing each other, and We really be-
gan to be alarmed. ! held the sail
rope and Berg the helm, we saw we
we're in for it and we simply attended
to business and said nothing. A high
sea was now rolling and breaking
over the rails on both sides, while we
were plowing through the water at .
terrible speed.
Finally the wind grew so strong
we were compelled to take out the
boom and then the spirit This made
a very small sail but was large enough
to handle, and it viii always be re-
c,rded in my own mind that this was
one of the closest calls of my life,
for our boat could not have lived in
a higher sea. We hardly spoke .
word for two hours until We got under
the lea side of the peninsula in the
lake, where the water was not so
rough. At 6 p. m. we had entered
the neck of the lake and camped for
the night. Here We built raft to
divide the load, for l had decided we
could not run the rapids with the
boat loaded as it was. The next
morning We were at it early, having
felled three dead spruce trees four
teen to sixteen inches through. We
took two sixteen-foot logs from each,
then fell another straight-grained, red
spruce and took off log ten feet
long. This | split through the middle
from end to end with the AK and
wooden wedges. These two pieces !
used as cross bars for each end of
the raft and framed dove-tail ON
either end eighteen inches long, with
q six-inch face ON top and ten inches
on the bottom. then framed one OF
the heaviest logs ON each side with =
box dove-tail mortice to fit the dove
tail end of the cross-bar, then placed
them on, split the dove-tail and drove
:: ~l.~s ..-k;rh .rr,ad ~ 81 that II