Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-09-06
GRAN yPATBER'S
PANTHER STORY.
BY c. A. STEPHENS.
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u BY c. A. STEPHENS. n
Observation-Disclosures.
Grandfather used to tell us the TO-
lowing story Of an adventure he had
with panther when boy.
He never speaks of panther
though. Catamount is his name for
the creature; though sometimes
when he is talking with any of the old
hunters and trappers, they speak of
1t as the Indian devil" That was
the name the first settlers here gave
It, because the Indians used to have
such a dread of 1t. But it's all the
same thing. Catamount. Indian dew
H." cougar, and puma. all mean panth.
or, and still more general name fol-
1t in this country is the North Ameri.
can tiger.
suppose one reason why it has so
many names is because it differs in
color and size through different lati-
tudes of the continent Along; the
northern portions of the United States
and in Canada it is of a maltese gray,
fading into white upon the under parts
of the body. But farther south the
fur takes sunny tint growing tawny
In the Southern States. While still
farther down, in Mexico and South
America, 1t becomes spotted and mot.
tied, like the tiger and leopard, and
the people here call 1t the jaguar. In
California they have named it 1.-The
Californian lion" And up in Oregon
and Washington they have "a purple
panther" at least they say so.
at was in the year 1872 as grand
father tells it. 81 was nothing but a
{ boy at that time, and the country was
all new around here. My father had
moved up two years before. and had
got a clearing of some fifty acres
made. and a frame house up. There
was but one family nearer than the
settlement in the lower part of the
township. where the village is now.
Jeremy Edwards had come up the
year before father, and felled the
trees across the stream there, where
Edwardses live now.
In 1872 was Jim Madison's war
with England. They didn't volunteer
then; troops hal to be raised by
draft. Father and Edwards were
both drafted. well remember the
night they were summoned. Terrible
time among the homefolks! Mother
and Mrs. Edwards and the girls cried
all night. But there was no help for
It. There was no such things as sub
stitutes then. They had to go the
next morning. and leave us to take
care of ourselves the best we could
up here in the wilderness.
Little Johnny Edwards-old Uncle
Jack, as they call him now-was Just
about my age-,ets see we were four
teen then-and the men away, every
thing depended on us. Those were
tough times; we had something to do.
tell you. But we used to change
works, as we called it, so as to be to-
gether as much as we could for it
was rather lonesome planting and
hoe!ng off in the stumpv.. sprouted
clearings. All! that was long, anxi-
Gus Summer. He was somewhere on
La'es Cnamplain. But the weeks
dragged by, and cold weather came
on.
We were getting things fixed up
to pass the Winter as well as we
could, when one night about the first
of November. Johnny came running
over to ask If we had seen anything
of Brindle. the COW. 1t had been a
bright Indian Summer day, and they
had turned her out to browse, but
she hadn't come up as usual and
was nowhere in sigft. 1t was already
dusk, but taking the old gun we start
ed together. aud hunted both clear
ings well over. Brindle was certain.
ly not in the cleared land.
Have to give her ND tonight.
Johnny" said /. "But I'll go with
you in the morning. She's lost in the
woods, or hedged up somewhere,
among windfalls. We heard the lu-
civees crying. and as we went back
along saw bear digging ground-nuts
under a rock. Although these were
common enough sounds and sights
In those days. still we didn't care
to go of into the forest after dark.
ut showed during the night, sew
eral inches. But Johnny was over
early. Brindle hadn't come in. He
had brought his gun and taken Cub
along Cub was .Johnnys dog), and
we now started off for thorough
hunt in the woods.
How queer everything looked that
morning-so thick and white and
ghostly! The snow had lodged upon
all the trees, especially the ever
greens. bending down the branches,
and every stump and bush was
wreathed in binding white. AS the
COWS used frequently to follow up the
valley to northward. we entered it and
kept on to where 1t opens out upon
the Sachem's Pond, at the foot of the
Great Crag, which rises right UP from
the waters edge some two hundred
feet, a sheer precipice, naked and
rocky, with Just footway between
II and the pond which is very deep
of there. About the pond and the
crag the trees are mostly low black
spruces. This morning they looked
like white tents lined with black, in
Infinite multitudes. And this appear
ance, with the ground all white. and
the not yet frozen water looking black
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