The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-02-28
BUFFALO BILL AS A GUIDE.
One Sportsman's Experience In the
Big Horn Basin.

Chicago Inter-Ocean: It's the only
place in the United States where big
game and lots of it can be found to-
day." enthusiastically declared George
P Everhart, on his return recently
from the Big Horn basin in Wyoming,
where for five weeks he was with a
hunting party arranged by Hon. Will
liam T. Cody.
L left Chicago on Oct. 2S.'' continued
Mr. Everhart, accompanied by H. NJ.
Gerens. owner of the Iroquois hotel in
Buffalo, n. Y, and Henry Foote, a
New York capitalist. both good sports
men. When we reached Billings, Mont,
we found Buffalo Bill's' private car
waiting to take US to Red Lodge, the
terminal of the Northern Pacific rail-
road. There our host, Major John M.
Burke, and Pony Bob the famous ex-
press rider of other days, were on hand
with bronchos and wagons to carry US
and our outfits over the Shoshone
mountains to the metropolis of the Big
Horn basin. Cody-the metropolis re-
ferred tots only two years old, and
has about 10 houses, one store, a black
smith shop and a big irrigation plant.
The town is near the center of the Big
Horn basin, which lies 1000 feet below
the summit of the Rocky mountains,
Massachusetts,. The Shoshone river
flows through it.
THE main street of Cody is along the
river The inhabitants call it River
street, Water street, Shoshone ave-
nue. and on extra fine days Major
Burke would probably call it Canyon
boulevard but Pony Bob and other
old timers always called it the Stink
ing water trail The Indians gave the
he Of
water and rightly, too, but it has been
discovered that the sulphur and car
bon springs which flow into the river
possesses wonderful curative powers.
Within a stones throw of each other
are two springs, one having a tempera-
ture of IS degrees, and the other OF 90
degrees. The waters of the hot springs
of the Big Horn basin possess the me
dicinal properties of the famous hot
springs of Arkansas.
But beautiful as the basin is,
adaptable to agriculture and rich in
the game that abounds in 1t
was the chief charm for me. l have
travelled all over this country and know
that the Big Horn basin is the sports
mans paradise. There's good hunting
in thousands of places-but no finding.
During the FIVE weeks in that country
I saw bears, mountain lions. elk. deer,
antelope. Rocky mountain sheep. W Ives
and coyotes. tc say nothing of small
game, which included the finest mallard I
ducks 1 ever tasted. The mountain I
streams abound in trout and grayling. I
The last day l fished l caught q /
trout. ranging in weight (
from one and one-half to two and one
half pounds.
"One day we saw herd of $50 elk. /
We only killed four of them. Our party /
made a record by killing in one day
our Rocky mountain sheep, the wariest
animal in the world. not barring the
,hamois. By the way. the story about
Rocky mountain sheep leaping from
rag to crag and alighting on their
lorns is-like lots of other good stories
not true The stories of the jumping
# the mountain sheep have perhaps
,een exaggerated, but the way they do
cap along the mountain is truly
wonderful"
Wasn't it very cold in that coun-
ry?''
"The lowest temperature was s de-
,rees above zero. but so dry is the eli
nate that we did not feel the cold.
20 mild are the winters that nearly
very day the men go around in their
hirt sleeves, and | bathed in the sui
'hur springs nearly every day.
Il hardly know which is more enjoy
BILE, hunting for big game in the day
ime, or listening at night to the remi-
iscences of Buffalo Bill. Major Burke
nd Colonel Henry Inman, who was the
uartermaster of Sheridan's army. The
My thing on the whole trip which
annot look back on with pleasure is a
ide which Buffalo Bill invited me to
AXE through Box canyon. 1t is only .
TX miles long, but no man ever passed I
trough it. 1t lies between the Rattle :
make and Cedar mountains, and its
'alls. hundreds of feet high. are al
lost perpendicular. In places we ;
assed the path was less than a foot in !
-idth. and a misstep simply meant
cath. {
Just like riding on Michigan ave- !
ue, complacently remarked Buffalo /,
ILL., after we had passed one of the :
lost dangerous places. think he took
lie out on that trip just to try my
erve- I followed him because, after
e had entered the canyon, there
asn't any chance for horse to turn I
round till we had gone for several
lies. ! wouldn't make that trip again =
~ he ac hxtc ~, y