The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1906-01-04
LASSOING ELK.
Success of Experiment. to Transfer Ami.
mails to National Park.

Scenes that man never again may
witness in the western hemisphere are
now being enacted on the great mesa
along the Coast range, where. the only
surviving elk outside of parks in the
United States, the remnant of the
great bands of the antlered herd that
once roamed the western plains by
| thousands, are being temporarily
taken into captivity to be again
liberated within "a day or two in an
immense Enclosure in the Sequoia
National park, near the Yosemite
valley, some 100 miles to the north of
the present roundup.
Stirring scenes are those connected
with the capture of this antlered band.
Men whose lifetime training has been
! among the cattle herds of the west are
engaged in the work. Fifty of these
picturesque vaqueros, the pick of
the men who attend to countless herds
on the great cattle ranches, are lead
ing in the work of rounding up the
elk, and these animals, though swift
of limb, appear not to be able to es-
cape the moose thrown by the prac-
ticed hand of their pursuers.
A year ago an effort was made to
take the elk into captivity to transfer
them to the Sequoia National park,
but it was doomed to failure. An at
tempt was made to drive the animals.
On that occasion two brands of elk
were headed northward by vaqueros.
When the animals found they were be-
ing driven they scattered out over the
vast territory that is practically
desert, adjacent to the Coast Range,
and efforts to stop their flight re-
suited in the death from exhaustion
Of about thirty large elk. Now the
new method of lassoing and tying the
elk Individually is in operation and
has proved successful. After two
days work thirty two elk have been
placed in captivity in a strong stock
corral, and their transmission to the
park will be easy. l. .a4.
The history of this band is unique.
When the last of their kind had disap-
peared from mountain, plains and val
legs throughout the west, and when it
was presumed that so far as Califor-
MIA was concerned there were no elk
in existence, it was discovered that
there were a few survivors running
loose on the great ranges of Miller
and Lux, in the neighborhood of But
ton Willow, twenty-five miles south
west of Bakersfield. Occasionally
the vaqueros spied an antlered head
among the long horns in some lonely
canyon. and at times an elk would be
driven with a band of cattle into one
of the great enclosed fields.
And here on this great cattle farm
the remnant of all that is left of the
elk kind in California increased from
year to year until now there are be-
tween $50 and 800 full grown elk in
the bands that roam over the cattle
ranges across the mesa lands and in
the foothills of the Coast Range.
They have lost most of their timidity
for man, and it is not uncommon for
them to break into enclosed fields and
play havoc with the Egyptian corn
and other crops. For some years
past the ranch has been anxious to
have the government remove the elk
to the National park, and the plan
now being adopted to move the elk is
the suggestion from the interior de-
partment at Washington.
One elk was killed by exhaustion,
another died in the corral, and
third died from, injuries. When the
riders closed in the powerful bulls
became Infatuated and charged the
vaqueros. Here again great skill was
displayed by the cowmen.
AS quickly as the riatas were over
the horns other riders caught the elk
from the rear. The animals we're
thrown to the ground and tied. While
this contest lasted three ponies died
from the exhaustion and excitement.
At nightfall five stock cars, con
tanning thirty 1.-TWO elk, left Lokern for
Exeter. They will be landed on Mon
day and moved overland distance
of thirty miles to the government
reservation. The roundup will be
continued from time to time until the
entire herd has been captured. San
Francisco Call.