The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-11-25

AAS"AA SNS
OK is without question the rarest and
most difficult to bring down. The
grizzly bear is a much priced trophy in
h scale of the big game hunter, but
many a man has killed his grizzly. The
white goat of the icy mountains is ais
coveted, and the big horn ram can
only be secured by exercise of skill and
energy; yet the heads of these animals
are not i~nfrequently seen in the hills
of the weather. sportsmen or on the
cabin walls of the mountain men.
Even the buffalo, once S numerous,
now 80 rare, ma yet be classed as
within sporting possibilities, for there
Is at least one herd of wild buffaloes
left, though not within the bounds of
the United States. Every man has
friends who have killed buffalo, bear,
moose, mountain sheep or mountain
goats, perhaps even the rare white
sheep of Alaska. Yet what man has
a friend that ever killed a musk OK.
or who ever heard Of a man hat killed
or even seen one? What menagerie
ever displayed a musk TX or in a
great geological garden can one be
seen to day?
A live musk OK would be worth a
great eal Of money. A few live musk
Or calves, brought safely out Of the
far north, from under the arctic circle,
n delivered at any railway point on
earth would be worth a little fortune
to any man lucky enough to accomplish
this undertaking. Yet in all the years
there has been no record of a man
bold enough to entertain the thought
as possible, let alone as practical. 1t
was left for an American, a westerner,
a plain man of the name of Jones, to
not only conceive this idea but to come
SO near to it's actual completion that
he deserves the full credit of success.
FEW HUNTERS OF MUSK OXEN.
You may count upon the fingers of
the hand the men who have within the
last fifty years made musk OK hunts
in the far north. Warburton Pike,
an Englishman, spent a long time in
the sub-arctic region n shot a musk
OK and wrote a. book about his travels,
filled chiefly with ak about hunger
and something to eat. Mr.. Whitney. g
New York man, made a visit to the
barren lands and killed a musk OF
COW, n he also wrote a book, com
planning much about the hardships hi
encountered. Professor Russell, al
Iowa man, a few years ago made a tril
to the Cooper river country and wa:
SO fortunate as to kill and preservt
several fine specimens of the musk OK
which are now the property of tn
these men appear to have thought o:
trying to catch a musk OK calf.
''BUFFALO' JONES PROJECTS A
NEW FARM.
Buffalo" Jones not only went ant
came back alive. but came back angry
tives after he had success within his
grasp. He killed not one musk OK
but nearly a score. and he had fol
some days in his train the oldest an6
most valuable wild animals that any
animal taker ever had. He got his
"a VA NoANSo oAAo was lie SAASt
out of the country, in spite Of the op.
position of the Hudson Bay compan
and the hostility Of the native tribes
Superstition proved the final obstacle
which this man could not overcome
The Indians superstitiously believe
that if a live musk OK is ever taker
from that country all the other musk
oxen will follow it. They kill the cap.
tive calves rather than see them leave
alive. Thus Buffalo" Jones failed ir
his main purpose. The story Of his
trip is a remarkable tale of persona
adventure. The other men who havt
gone into the great barren grounds O.
the arctic region inhabited by these
few scattered remnants Of a unique
species have done so under the coach
ing and care Of native guides. Jones
could get no Indian to go with him
He was abandoned by his ~solitar!
guide as soon as the latter discovered
that he was to help take live musl
oxen. Then he and John Rea, a Cana
dian, resolved to go into the unknown
arctic region alone. They did go alone
and travelled for hundreds of miles
with only what wood they could draw
with them on their single dog .sledge
They went to regions probably neve
touched by white men before. They
got their calves and made a success o
the daring undertaking until they me
the final enemy. superstition.
JONES is A CHARACTER.
"Buffalo'' Jones lisa character. He is
q Kansas man and believes in free sill
yer. He was an old-time skin hunter