Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-11-27


are various wild rice
marshes where the birds from the
North linger in the late fall, feeding,
and over which they fly in the early
spring on their return to British
America. These wild rice marshes
We're more attractive eighteen and
twenty years ago than they are to-
day. Hunters were not so frequent
then, water more plentiful and the
fowl not SO wary. 1t was no unusual
thing for chance sportsman llnger-
ing in the vicinity of Abercrombie to
visit the marshes and from q morn
ing's shooting to return laden with
score or more Of birds. The Indians
had much favored the marshes before
they were driven out of the valley.
Early settlers sought them for the
fresh meat of the ducks, n welcome
change from the canned and salted
goods carried in the few general
stores.
How many acres these marshes COW
cred probably was never determined.
The lanes which ran through them,
lined on both sides with roads, If
stretched out one after the other,
might have extended to the Canadian
line. They were treacherous lanes,
one looking just like the other, appar-
entity without outlet, ever twisting and
turning, wickedly misleading in the
dusk Of the evening when the hunter
sought to bring his fiat-bottomed boat
to land.
Il wouldn't so out in 'em without
/ had 4 guide" said one of the farm
ers whose land ran down to the edge
of the marshes to one Of the surveyors
of the Fargo Southern Road who had
taken couple Of days from work and
intended hunting ducks. The hunter
regarded the advice as superfuous.
1t was the night before he was to go
out, and he sat at the west approach
to the shack looking out over the
marshes. They seemed to stretch away
to the very horizons edge, yellow
crested now in the light of the setting
sun.
"Pll bring you back the winged
duck to show you l can go it alone"
he said, with laugh. The farmer
shook his head.
There amt no mar ever chased the
red-winged duck in there" he said,
that ever come out alive. You let
that bird alone if you see it."
Now there was nothing more to the
"red-winged duck" superstition than
this: The first settlers on the edges
Of the marshes We're familiar with the
Indians, and these told them that the
rice fields Were sacred to the red
winged duck and must not be hunted
over. They said that the red-winged
duck was a special diety of the entire
duck family, that the red wing was its
distinguishing mark made by the
spirits of the marshes, that it had the
power of taking human life and of
enchanting enemies. 1t is more than
probable that the tale was told for
the purpose of keeping white men off
of Indian hunting grounds, but as the
years passed and fatalities became
numerous among the marsh hunters
the story grew in proportions until the
red duck became reality in the
minds of many.
Many professed to have seen the
strange bird, but their descriptions
varied, and if the fowl really existed
there was no exact data at hand with
| which to Identify it. So the surveyor,
whose name was Frank Adams,
laughed when warned and sought his
| bed quite unconcerned about anything
but getting an early start. He left
the farmhouse at the next morning
just before sunrise, and when he could
hear the wild fowl moving restlessly
in their hiding places, preparing 70,
flight with the rising Of the sun
Adams arranged his two guns in the
scow furnished him, secured his pad.
die and pole, and with the first sig,
of light in the East pushed away from
the land and was lost to sight among
/ the reeds. He took no bearings, mad;
10 mark as to where he was going OF
how lie would return. The retriever
he had with him laid cold and Uuiv
erlng in the bottom OF the scow
Ahead there was game; back, nothing
but the binding reeds.
For the first hour Adams had goo,
sport. His guns spoke often, and b,
the time he began to feel bit tire,
over dozen plump birds had beel
conquered by lin. lie poked in ant
out the reed lanes, heard the whirrin,
of wings and the startled cry of tn
fowl, reaped rich harvest, and final
ly made up his mind to paddle il
from where he had started from. H
stood high in the scow, but a millioI
reeds and PUSHES obscured his view
Water aislezopened in every direction
One ran into the other. Where the,
led TO it was impossible to determine
| lie could only settle down to paddlin