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

and skins, big and bulky as they were,
they took along with them.
NO CALVES FOUND.
But still no calves were found, mo-
even or the last leg of their course
southeast, which they thought was
about 100 miles. And then wood ran
out. The Indian said they must go
back to the wooded country or perish.
(So they went back to their last camp
at the timber edge. Here they rested.
1t was now March, and their trip had
not yet been successful. They had
seen no calves at all. 1t was there
fore necessary to face again the icy
t%errors of a fireless march into the un-
known land of ice and snow and silence.
They told the Indian that they were
going back again.
Why, oh, white man with the long
legs" asked the savage, "why do you
wish again to freeze? Have you not
already killed more musk oxen than
any who ever hunted for them in this
land?"
He could not see why they should
wish again to take such risks. At last
they told the Indian that they wanted
to go back and get some calves of the
musk oxen
"Nazulee! Nazulee!" screamed the
Indian. Very, very bad" Then with
a few hurried words of farewell he
packed his dog sledge and pulled his
freight" for home, some hundreds Of
Now were the two hunters indeed left
alone, and probably any two but they
would have called it enough, and
would have followed the Indian back
to the cabins, where tea and beans
could be had. A grimmer proposition
eve fronted any hunter in any and
They were out of -four They had been
shooting wolves, the great white arctic
wolves, which p~erpetually menaced
them as they travelled, until their am
munition was getting low.
INTO A NEW COUNTRY.
They did not intend to go over the
region where they had found NO
calves, but must go into a new and
unknown one. They were tired and
worn with this hardest of all travel
Yet neither Jones nor the steadfast
Rea showed any signs Of weakening.
This thing was still undone, and they
must go on until it was finished. Thus
alone, they two, with only one dog
train now, carrying with them what
wood they would need and what GOV
ering they must have, with only their
rifles to keep them alive, and that in a
country where the great wolves were
now fairly swarming-thus they sci
out.
This time they swung into new coun.
try, trying the Dubont river region
They had to make chart as they went
along, and to keep continuous recorc
Of the bearings Of the compass, as or
this depended their sole chance Of eve
getting out alive. They held or an6
on, thinking about how the,
were going to get back, but troubling
only to n their game. At last the,
did find it, and here Jones ability as :
wild animal hunter was shown. Al
through mis- long, hard trip Jones hat
kept with him six shepherd dogs, which
he had brought simply as hunters
These dogs saw as soon al
the men the strange, wild bane
Of the icy mist and advancing to
ward them across the plain. Thu
musk OK does not run, but fights it!
enemy, the wolf, like a gentleman, face
to the front. These musk oxen cam
on to meet the enemy, not turning
until within 100 yards. The coveted
calves were with them, five of them
and the time had come. The shep
herd dogs were loosed, and in a momen'
the circle of musk oxen was formed
the calves inside and the broad horn:
turned out toward these new little
wolves, for which the shaggy beast:
seemed to hav contempt.
KILLED THE OLD ONES.
Now came a cruel necessity. Ont
the cows being crippled by shot:
through the hind legs. The calve:
dared not leave the others, but still
kept behind the fighting crippled COWS
Then Jones, a skillful roper, came int
casting distance, and n by one the
calves, worth almost their weight ir
gold, were roped and dragged out
They were curious, ~sawed-off, shaggy
looking. little beasts, resembling {
"hammered-down buffalo," as Jones
describes it, in size about as large a:
a Jersey calf of ten months, though
covered with heavy, shaggy hair hang
ing down in mats. These were last
season calves, or about ten months IL
age. They were powerful and savage
them. They began to drive them {
few yards at a time toward the south
toward captivity.
This would seem a hard set of con
ditions, to be alone in that land o
cold, without wood, without -four O.
vegetables, hampered with a band o
wild and powerful animals, and con
tinually menaced by scores Of bandt
fof wolves, which now followed tn
captive calves and came into camp 81
7 closely that Jones once killei
one with an ak. 1t wa
> bad enough to get into that countr!
fully equipped and with every chanc
in ones favor. Yet in spite Of all TIL
I ohsAonloc and donuors fboso fu1o nnan