The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-22
AN AGED INDIAN HUNTER.
ADVENTURES OF MITCHELL SABATTIs
IN THE ADIRONDACKS.
He and His Father We're the First settlers &C
Ions Lake. and His Relatives Say He %
lOs-Remtniscences Of the Days when
Panthers and Moose Were There.

lOs-Reminiscences u the Days when
Paathers and Moose Were There.
LoNo LAKE, N. y. July 2i.-Mltchell Sabat-
Tia. the old Indian guide. has suffered a second
stroke Of paralysis and Is fast losing his strength.
He Ia known 70 every visitor to the northern
part of the Adirondacks He does not know
himself lust how old he Ia. but his relatives say
that he must be nearly los. He lives with his son
Harry at the foot OF Mount Sabatus. which was
named after him. The house Ia about half a mile
from the shore OF Long Lake, where he has
passed the greater part OF his life In the quest
Of game and fish.
Mitchell was a son OF Capt. Peter Sabattis.
He IL one Of the st, Francis tribe Of Banakee
Indians and the last fuu-blooded member OF
the tribe In this country.
Capt. Peter Sabattis and his son Mitchell
gave the lakes. streams and the mountains
Of the region about here their Indian names.
To Ions Lake they gave the name Qua-nah.
ga wah because Of its shape. RaQuf tie Lake
retains it, original name. also derived from
It's shape. Forked Lake was called Nek-taw.
pa-koh. "out and In" as Mitchell says. To
Blue Mountain they gave the name Nep-pers-
long We watch-jo. because II Is always blue.
The name Utowana comes from tho Mohawk
Indians and Indicates an abundance OF game.
Saranac was named Sun-ha-lan-ok. Il being
an entrance to Lake Champaign. The Upper
lakes. large and small. have their names IN
Indian. Big Upper was called Pas-kon-Ra-
nah. supposed to apply to its round shape.
Little Upper was called Pa-gum-ga-nah.
seek. Mount Marcy In the language OF the
81. Francis tribe was known as Wah-um-de-
neg. meaning that II was always white.
A strange fact Of Mitchells long life In the
woods and his hunting and trapping expert.
enoes Is. no has mover suffered serious injury
by coming in contact with the wild animals.
and he has had many an adventure with pam
Tiers, moose and bears rs well as deer and
wolves. lie says that the panther was .
thorough coward and relates many stories
which bear out the statement. One Of his favor
tie panther stories Is as follows:
a pretty good shot and had lots Of pluck. ono
Pond and with the dog in a chain We follwcd
and started him up. I lei. go Of the dog and
he went after him. ] had with me n young
fellow who was considered to be one of the
best shots in the section. ] followed the dog
closely and the other hunter was not far be-
hind Up on the side Of the mountain the
panther came out between the other hunter
shoes and fell down. The panther jumped
through the snow and at each leap the dog
went into the hole that the panther had Just
left The dog finally got the panther by the
on until the panther shook him loose; We
could see the panther up ~ the tree and ! told
up. TO take his gun and shoot the panther.
But he said no. and we argued for some time
asto who should take the first shot at the thing.
at the first shot ] killed the panther. the
shot going through his heart.
"On that same day We found another track.
panther, The last track. wound around a
ledge Of rock on the side Of the mountain. We
followed that, track for some distance, but
that the panther had, gone down and back
In the track. After going for about forty rods
in the opposite direction we found the remains
OF going there and eating. after which he would
return to his hole. We saw where he had gone
In a hoe in the ledge The ledge was Just
BY getting on the ledge ! could see, far down
into the hole where the panther bad gone.
When stepped on the ledge the panther Jet opt
f Sns % made mae sG my 4 Sair stand md up SP'' ffs'I you ING
Better get Of. he said.
when l backed Of the ledge he. stopped
erowl again. The old fellow was pretty mad
up apO my mind from Of the sound Of his srowi that
be was up about sd feat above me and that
oas and a wsni back sG sey where ana the s%0 buck S Nas
lying In the snow. There | found some. fire.
wood and made a fire. The smoke did not
In there. though. and began 70 Rrowi again as
soon az ! stepped back on the rock. 49,.
.sCYt me q pole. said !. IN punch him out.
.d had s sesSPp ,s to get o Ssed to bis noise and my
mo. let him GO. said my friend.
Il got the pole and pushed Y Into the hole;
to the panther. 7 reached the upper ledge
time I jsbbed The stick into the hole BE sroxled
waking around inside there; l gave another
poke with the stick and the panther came
SGt R' t tas hsle' of % Ms' III p sss1s wan %' b ss sse
us vas a light ridge Of snow. lie never stopped.
and got well sGay. The dTf wa a,hI let lUDss
would S"1 not shoot As the dog followed the
panther be barked as though he was after a
deer When We came Yp TO the panther he
panther did not offer 70 hurt the dog. only
when he came too nssI be would strike at him:
,a1S my VI" mind &Sf that %' wa the end = ths doa. liz
dog began to back up and pulled the panther
He, was a monster and weighed about 2G0
pounds. measuring nine feet from tip to tall.
We took his SKIN ana IeIy the. meat, mat
made the second panther l had shot that day,
l got s62 a head from the State. In az kilied
nine panthers. have been twice within ten
feet Of O panther, but he never attacked me-.
ION one occasion ] VAS hunting on the side
Of a steep mountain. | started up q panther
and he jumped from one log to another. /
was Obliged to go around, got pretty close
to. him and stepped on a limb OF Q spruce tree
lying on the ground. The limb broke
with me and left me straddine the log with a
foot on either side. could not tpuch the
ground with either foot. / turned around
and saw that the panther was ten feet behind
me, and he had HE eyes on me. Had I been
facing him I could have shot him, ] scrambled
around to get a shot at him and he got away
before | could shoot him.
81 followed another panther under thu. roots
for me to get a shot, but he did not, he started
and my gun was not oyer two feet from him
when re, went past. Ny shot never touched
him. All ] could see OF him was the snow
falling from the trees as he passed dow the
II killed nine moose. The first moose I ever
In those DAYS In the summer we would camp
venient. In the winter We would get Into Q
Newcomb where we had lived many winters.
log house. Father was a great hunter for
through the woods looking after the traps.
camping here and there. Father would 20
into the woods and trap moose by deadfalls
npA b,,pt ,,avtap Nka startad fropo tho fnnt