Newport daily independent., 1911-03-06

& beautiful W en a h e e s: 5: ,. ! ! 5: $: : : < : 5 . ;
 C.MASA lake, and the valleys
 &s.E leading to it. The vines, l MMgss .Jagg naples and alders in all
 Ws4IsX XV the small canons were
 W&ssSw clothed in their gorgeous
 autumn colors, varying in
 hues from bright yellow to deep purple, and inlaid among the deep green of the pines and cedars, making magnificent landscape. As we ascended the mountains we came lpon a camp of Sfwash Indians, and l judging from the number of buck In | dians with them it appeared certain that they would kill all the game in the hills, or drive 1t so far up to the summit of the mountains that white man would not be able to get shot We made up our minds to go after the goats at the earliest moment, after reaching camp, which we intended to establish at a high elevation, because the mountain goat inhabits the least accessible solitudes.
 r. The North Fork of the White River runs through the camp ground, mak- 1 ing a narrow and ceep canon of sev- eral hundred feet with the most exqui- site scenery, consisting of waterfalls dashing over the cliffs, and through l small meadow of stream grass and rushes. Looking up through the canon we could see the glacier peaks | from the foot of which springs the White river
 Our guides, Bill and John, began | gathering wood for the night, and pre- pairing supper, while Neil, Ross, and myself, attended to the erection of the tents, and a general investigation of our surroundings. Ross and | climbed up dizzy summit that hid our camp from the main hill, to see If we could discern any game. On | reaching the top of the cliff we did not | see the sign of goat, but stood scan ming the hills for half an hour. Pres ently we saw white spot leap across narrow opening between two clumps of bushes, about half mile from us, and well up on the range to our right. Then we saw another, and still an other, and then the fourth goat. While we were watching these, a herd of eight goats passed the opening, and made their way leisurely down to a slide, where they stopped and began feeding. We saw that it was up to us to plan our strategy to gain a posi- tion above them where we could begin operations
 The mountain goat is extremely eau tious and observing, and when pur- sued will never go down hill unless when wounded, when they will often hide in clump of bushes, or in the crevices of rocks, rather than expose themselves to punishment.
 I have often watched goat try sev- eral times to get from one cliff to an other, that were separated by a small chasm, which it could easily leap across, but rather than take a chance, it would walk for half mile out of it's way so as to reach the other side in safety. When hard pressed by hunt CTS 1t will, of course, take leaps that 1t would not otherwise do in it's mo- ments of leisure. A goat, when pur- sued, will climb along shelves of rock Dn the walls of precipices, with appar- ent unconcern, walking in places that would completely shatter the nerves of any one who attempted to follow it. We had breakfast about four o'clock the next morning, and packed our lunches, loaded up with ammunition, arranged our gunnysacks and ropes on our pack straps, and started for the hills. We agreed that myself, with Bill, the guide, should work our way among the crags on the other side of the sheep and secure an ad- vantageous position above them, while Ross, Neil and John should get below them and drive them up past the posi- tion I would occupy. Bill and I climb ed to an almost inaccessible position among the crags, overlooking the canon, where we could see both the herd and our companions.
 With John leading the way and Ross and Neil following, they made detour and got below the goats, and here they began to shout The herd of five broke up into two sections, two of the animals heading for the canon that I commanded, and the other three broke off in a westerly direc- tion, heading for thicket of alder and willow, which offered them for the time being complete security
 At this moment Bill, the guide, with Ross, made bee line for the thicket the sheep were heading for, in the hope of intercepting them, while Neil fired his gun at the two sheep that were rapidly approaching my posi- tion The animals were soon within range and, of course had no suspicion that I was located right above them. Taking careful aim, singled out the leading goat and fired. I knocked him