The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-06-24
BY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

BY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
Extracts from "The Wilderness
Hunter" copyrighted 1893 by G. P.
Putnam's Sons, New York and Lon
don.
Reproduced in this newspaper I'M
der special arrangements with G. P.
Putnam's Sons
The moose is the giant of all
deer; and many hunters esteem it
the noblest of American game. Be-
yond question there are few tro-
plies more priced than the huge
shovel horns of this strange dwell
er In the cold northland forests.
Having surveyed the ground and
found moose sign the preceding af-
ternoon, we were up betimes in the
cool morning to begin our hunt. Be-
fore sunrise we were posted on
rocky spur of the foothills, behind
a mask of evergreens; ourselves I'M
seen we overlooked all the valley,
and we knew we could see any ami
NAL which might be either feeding
away from cover or on it's journey
homeward from its feeding ground
to it's day bed.
AS it grew lighter we scanned the
valley with increasing care and
and almost as soon as it was up We
made out some large beast moving
among the dwarf willows beside a
little lake, half mile in our front.
In few minutes the thing walked
out where the bushes were thinner,
and we saw that it was young bull
moose browsing on the willow tops.
He had evidently nearly finished
his breakfast and he stood idly for
some moments, now and then lazily
cropping a mouthful of twig tips.
Then he walked off with great
strides in straight line across the
marsh, splashing among the wet
water plants. and blowing through
Doggy spaces with the Indifference
begOtten Of vast strength and legs
longerer than those of any other
animal on this continent
At times he entered beds of reeds
which hid him from view, though
their surging and bending showed
the wake of his passage; at other
times he walked through meadows
of tall grass, the withered yellow
stalks rising to his TANKS, while his
body doomed above them. glistening
black and wet in the level sun.
beams.
Once he stopped for few mo-
ments on rise of dry ground,
seemingly to enjoy. the heat of the
young sun: he stood motionless,
save that his ears were continually
pricked and his head sometimes
slightly turned. showing that even
in this remote land he was on the
alert. Once, with a somewhat awk-
ward motion he reached his hind
leg forward to scratch his neck.
Then he walked forward again into
the marsh; where the water was
quite deep he broke into the long.
stretching. springy trot which
forms the characteristic gait of his
kind, churning the marsh water
into foam. He held his head
straight forwards, the antlers rest
ing on his shoulders.
After awhile he reached a spruce
island. through which he walked to
and fro; but evidently could find
therein no resting place quite to his
mind, for he soon left and went on
to another. Here, after a little
wandering. he chose a point where
there was some thick young growth,
which hid from view when he lay
don. though not when he stood.
After some turning he settled him.
self in his bed just as steer would.
He could not have chosen a spot
better suited for us. He was nearly
at the edge of the morass, the open
space between the spruce clump
where he was lying and the rocky
foothills being comparatively dry
and not much over couple of hun
dred yards broad; while some 60
yards from 1t, and between 1t and
the hills, was little hummock,
tufted with frs, so as to afford us
just the cover we needed. Keeping