New-York tribune., 1901-09-26
ROOSEVELT AS 4 HUNTER.
.eI.yIS6; THE rOTyGAR IN COLORADO
HABITS OF THE GAME AND
THE HOUNDS.

President Roosevelt has written. descriptive OF
the FIVE weeks cougar hunt which he enjoyed ii'
Northwest Colorado in January. 19ol- with
fhe Cougar Hounds is the title or this cohlrl-
button to sporting literature The authors COM
panions were Mr. Philip X. Stewart and DR..
Gerald Webb, of Colorado Springs MIR. Stew
art ne reminds us, was the captain Of the VIC
torious Yale nine of 's6. They reached Meeker,
where they were TO meet the hunter, John b.
Cioe after a forty mile drive from the railroad
in bitter winter weather Messrs. Stewart ana
Webb remained a fortnight in the region
Colonel Roosevelt and Goff stayed out three
weeks longer. He thus describes how they were
clad 10 hear the brunt of the season and the
character Of the country in which they hunted:
In mdwintei hunting horseback in the
Rockies is apt to be cold work, but we were 700
warmly clad TO mind the weather, we wore
heavy hannels jackets lined with sheepsklf'
cans which drew down entirely over our ears
and on our feet heavy ordinary socks German
socks and oVershoes. Gailoping through the
brush and among the spikes OF the oead ce9aIS
meant that now and then one got snagSea'
found tough overalls better than trousers, ana
most of the time did not need the jacket, wear
ing my old buckskin shirt, when Is TO my & IIllo
q particularly useful and comfortable garment
Ii is a high dry country. where the winters
are usually very cold, but the snow not under
ordinary circumstances very deep. IT Is Mllu
and broken in character. the hills and low noun
fajns rising in sheer slopes, broken by cliHs
and riVen by deeply cut and gloomy gorges ana
ravines The sagebrush grows everywhere upon
1he fats and hillsides. Large open groves OF
pinyon and cedar scattered over the peaks
ridges and table lands. Tall spruees cluster IN
the cold rsVines CottonWoods grow alois .he
stream courses. and there are occasional patches
of scrub cak and quaking asp The entire couli- i
try is taken up with cattle ranges wherever II
IS possible to get sufficient water suppi9'
natural artificial. Some thirty miles TO lie
east and north the mountains rise higher, the
evergreen forest becomes continuous. the snow
lies deep sll through the winter and such North-
ern animals as The woiverene lucivee and snow
pFTaH iph
summer home of the Colorado elk, whlch are
now rapidly becoming extinct, and OF the Colo
rado blacktail deer, which still very plentI-
5ul but which. unless better protected, VIII fol-
low the elk in the next decade or So
Colonel Roosevelt notes that lin cougar hunt
sng ths success of the hunter depends absolutely
upon his hounds" and he devotes considerable
space To celebrating the heroes of the pack with
which he hunted. Much depends, of course,
upon the training of the animals, and he begins
with tribute to his companion:
C4off was one of the best hunters with whom
] have ever been out, and he had trained ms
pack to point of perfection for it's special work
which / have never known another such pack
10 reach. With the exception or one new hound,
which he had just purchased. and of puppy,
which was being trained, not one OF the pack
would look at a deer, even when they were all
as keen as mustard were not on a trail and
when the deer got up but fifty yards from
them. BY the end Of the hunt both the new
hound and the PUPPY We're entirely trustworthy;
continually including new or young dogs with
the veterans. AS cougar are only plentiful
where deer are Infinitely more plentiful the nrst
sequisite for a good cougar hound Is that II
shall leave its Natural prey, the deer, entirely
alone. Goff's pack ran only bear, cougar ana
bobcat. Under no circumstances were they ever
permitted to follow elk, deer antelope or, OF
course. rabbit. Nor were they allowed to follow
wolf unless il was wounded for in such a
rough country they would at once run out or
sight and hearing, and, moreover, if they did
evertake The wolf they would be so scattered
as to come up sngly, and probably be overcome
one after another. Being bold dogs they We're
always especially eager after wolf and coyote,
and when they came across the trail of either.
though they would not follow it, they would
usually challenge loudly.
AS the dogs did all the work naturally
became extremely interested in them and rap
Idly grew to know the voice, peculiarities and
i special abilities of each. There were eight
hounds and four fighting dogs. The hounds
were of the ordinary Eastern type, used from
the Adrondacks 10 the Mississippi in the chase
of deer ana fox. Six Of them were black and
tan, and two were mottled. They differed widely
in size ana voice The biggest, and, on the
whole the most useful, was Jim, a very fast.
powerful and true dog, with great voice.
When the animal was freed or bayed, Jim was
especially useful because he never stopped bark
ing, and we could only find the hounds. when at
bay, by listening for the sound of their voices
Among the cliffs and precipices the pack usually
ran ont of sight ard hearing if the chase lasted
any length Of time. Their business TO
bring the quarry TO bay put it up a
end then TO stay with II and make a noise until
the hunters came up. During this hunt there
were two or three occasions when they had
cougar ur tree for at least three hours before
we arrived, and on several occasions Goff had
Brown them TO keep a cougar up a tree over
might, and TO be still barking around the tree
when the hunters at last found them the fol-
lowing morning
The fighting dogs always trotted at the heels
of the horses which had become entirely ac-
custonled to them. and made objection when
they literally rubbed against their heels. The
fighters never left us until we came TO where we
rould hear the hounds barking freed" with
their quarry at bay. Then they tore in a
straight line to the sound. They were the ones
who were expected 10 do the seizing and take
The punishment though the minute they actu-
ally had hold OF the cougar. the hounds all piled
on. too. and did their snare of the killing; but
fhe seizers fought the head while the hounds
generally took hold behind. All Of them, fight
ers and hounds alike. were exceedingly good
xatuleu anu t IoiIdte WIN thsII huIlidi
friends, though short tempered 10 degree with
one another
The pack had many interesting peculiarities,
hut none more so han the fact that four Of
them climbed trees. Only of the hounds.
little Jimmie, tried the feat; but of the
fighters. not only Tony and Baldy. but big Turk
climbed every tree that gave them any chance.
The pinyons and cedars were low. mutiforked.
and usually sent off branches from near the
ground In consequence the dogs could, by in
dustrious effort, work their way almost 10 the
Top.
The "bobcat" frequently encountered on this
"trip is known in the books a lynx. Touching
the variation in nomenclature Colonel Roose-
welt has this say:
Like all people of European descent who have
gene into strange lands Americans have
christened wild beasts with a fine disregard
for their specific and generic relations We
called the bison buffalo as long as II existed.
and still call the big stag an elk" instead
OF using for II the excellent term wapit; on
the other hand. to the true elk and the reindeer
Eye give the new names Of moose and caribou
excellent names, too. by the way. The prong
buck is always called antelope, though il is
not an antelope al all. and the white goat is
rot goat; while the distinctive name of big
iNr~ Is fnr --s..