Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-24

and Pacific states as IT was in the Ca
madam states. One reason for this was
the lack OF the finer furs, which are not
round SO far south as a rule; and then
again, after the discovery of gold or sill
yer in California in 1S49 the quest for a
gold or silver mine was the western pho
neers only notion of a hunt. Still
many of the old Wisconsin hunters were
1ur traders. and much of the romance
LIE Count. a French Canadian by birth.
"- "-.ely DIED at Green Bay, Wis,
"a. une age of ninety-seven. This old
man was probably the last of the red
shifted, blckskin Dreeched French Ca
hadran Voyageurs and trappers; but sew
enty odd years spent below the bound
airy line had made of him a tolerably
Yankee. One of his many
fr!enos-for during the last ten years of
his life he was regarded as a sort of
state monument, and as such frequent
~ visited by those interested in the an
(tiquities Of Wisconsin-sent me a sheaf
of notes of his conversation, the sub
stance of which, in so far as they con-
Germ the present subject, is here set
down.
Like so many of the western pioneers,
his was a green old age. 1t vas not till
the very last that he lost his health
and spirits, neither was his memory
dinmed, in which, as in a mirror.
reflected seventy years of life by field
and flood. For some years LIE Coun
worked for the Canadian companies, but,
finding that he could get a better price
in the states and that there were no re-
strictions on the fur trade there, he de-
cided to transfer the scene of his opera
tons to the territory now called Wiscon-
SIN. Fort Dearborn. where Chicago
stand to-day, was then the center of
when lie Count began to hunt and trap
for his livelihood John Jacob Aston the
second of the name) was beginning his
abortive attempt to corner the fur trade
not only of the states but also of Can
ada. In the first part of his task he
succeeded. but in the second he failed
signally, and the only Gnomento of his
sdheming is the name, Astoria. of a small
town in one of the Pacific states. 4.
LIE Count. when Intercepted, was in
see Jak Astor" in his pride Of place as
the most curious experience of his ca
reer. It appears that Astor's agent at
Fort Dearborn was forever attempting
he made criticisms on lie Counts furs,
which hurt the old man Che was young
| enough them in his weak point-t11at
is to say, his pride as the first rate hunt
err was touched. According to Astor's
| agent, his beaver was too early Caught
too soon in the autumn to have the
finest natural gloss1, his otter skin was
taken from a drowned anima- n a
lain in the water too long. his mfnks
were all kits, and too small to be worth
the full market price. One year( whether
in 1928 or 1929 he could not remember).
happening to have money saved from
the previous seasons work he made up
lis mind to visit Astor at New York
and sell to him directly. Even If he
got no more than the agent offered him,
so the simple minded trapper argued,
| he would see not only a really big City
| but also a really great man. To the
western fur traders of that day John
/ Jacob Aston shared with Sir George
man in the world. Accordingly he trav-
eled to Buffalo by boat, thence to AL
bany by four horse stage, and from Al
aany by boat down the Hudson, taking
New York, he found he did not know
where Asbor lived, but after many fruit
Tess inquiries a real nice man took him
to Astor,s abode, which to LIE Counts
vast surprise was not a tracing pSace'
. y What happened next is best told in
the old mans own words. translated to
some extent: :,
Mot meaning to wilt after coming al
that way to see Jake, I climbed the steps
to the door, and I told him who I was
and what 1 wanted, and he said Mr.. AS
tor was not at home. I said I was
willing to wait till he came home, and
1.-THE man Snut une 0oOr. 30 SAL uow"
on the doorstep and waited till near sun
set-one, two, three hours. Then I pull
ed the knocker again, and Inc same man
opened the dooor and seemed kind OF
surprised to see me there still. I asked
| h.m again if Mr.. As;Or was at home, and
he laughed like a crazy creature and
Said he didn't think Mr.. A.stor would
ever come home for me. I stuck 1t out
for another hour after he shut the door,
and then the town wa tch came along
( --l r %NL1 hiV, Vr1oot T vxNo G vNoffNn q fnnr
Then he explained some things which set
me agin Astor for evermore, and I just
packed up by furs and started back for
Fort Dearborn and sohd my furs there,
but not to Astor's man. I never dealt
with axe Aston again."