The sun., 1919-05-18
CATSKILL MOUNTAIN
GUIDES RECALLED
Good Old "Garry" of De Bruce,
N. Y, and His Contemporary
"Zeke" Curry.
BACKWOODs sPORTsMEN
Men Who Piled the Fly Rod,
Cruised for Bee Trees, Trapped,
Shot and Hunted
BACKwOODs spORTsMEN
ny TAMARACK.

That was nice tribute my friend
saltwater paid to Garry. the aged
hired man" Of the inn on the willowe.
moo. But saltwater" possibly In com.
mon with others who view Garry from
a present day perspective. fails TO GRASP
tne former status of this worthy old
Ulster and Sullivan county guide,
In the days when staid oxen were still
engaged in hauling tanbark from tine
hemlock clumps Of the Catslkill noun.
tain tops to the tanneries nesting ir
cove and valley below when the lumber.
men as yet had made but an initial
preach Into the spruce of upper Sullivan
county and the inroads OF axe nno
primitive sawmill were little more thar
under way in Ulster and Greene counties
considerable areas OF wild lands existed
throughout the locality.
Thither the passenger pigeons mi
grated with the breakup Of winter to
nest and to forage on the beach mass
roundabout woodcock and ruffed grouse
hourished. and the cogitation Of the
northern hare suffered small interruption
through human meddling; mink, marten
skunk, raccoon. fox and lynx had sur
vived the trapping which had its incep-
ton In the coming OF the Swedish and
the Dutch settler from the lower
reaches of the Delaware into these hunt
Ing grounds Of the Lenape; never were
bears moro numerous thereabout: the
original II sadly decimated deer stock
haunted the valley which marked the site
OF ancient beaver flow, che pond whose
muskrat dwellings succeeded the lodges
OF the castors and the hardwood ridge
Of the wild pigeons. while In every Ri,
and brook and creek over the length and
breadth Of the Catskill plateau and foot
hills the Indigenous CHAIR carried on
propagation in the fullness of pristine
state.
"Garry" and "Zeke" Curry.
The foregoing is an impression of the
Catskils of my childhood, taken from
the image indelibly craven upon my
memory. And this environment, with
Its fsh and game and the comradeship
OF the sportsmen Of the times, constituted
the earlier sphere of Garry" and his
contemporary. "zehe'' Curry.
I have cast alongside many masters
OF the ny angling art and in widespread
parts, and have yet to meet the angler
be his station in life what II may, who
for delicacy of technique and familiarity
with the year around natural history of
trout and Of the filmed and larval and
winged creatures comprising the chief
feed OF these fish has excelled the native
sons of tho countryside environing the
Neversink amply typifled in those two
homely fishermen.
The character OF Garry" always par
took more OF that of the guide for hire.
while in -Zeke" were evidenced the at
tributes of the oackwoods sportsman OF
some leisure who piled the fly rod,
cruised for bee trees, trapped. shot pig
q Nd Nd taA Aaa
and deer a good deal for the pleasuraIole
compensation afforded by these activi-
ties
Fly Casting Down big Bend.
The coolest sight ever witnessed was
that of ''Zeke" Curry perched on a rock
by my side fly casting down by the Big
Bend during n driving snow squall.
''Zeke" wore overalls and was minus
underwear. and the wind clasped the
soaked fabric of his neither garments
tight to his sparse shanks, while the
rudy flesh OF his sockless feet protruded
through holes in his shoes made to af-
ford an outlet for tho creek water I
recall we shortly afterward beat II
ashore and after taking a sip of "medi-
cine built fro and thawed out.
I don't know whether "Zeke" still is
with uS VI nut IL - d SOOu years
since saw my old friend. The last
OF our outings together was done on
snowshoes to the top OF Slide Mountain.
We climbed the east aspect of the peak,
where there was no trail. Before start
ing up 'Zeke" said his heart had been
Kinder bum" OF late.
1t was-missed, backhred and was
timed wrong. However, old nurse Ma
ture had bound the organ up with hay
wire and done n rough repair Job here
and there and this compensated some.
Tho summit OF Slide having been
reached, "Zeke" observed that the "old
pump took hold fust rate" And I trust
the "old pump" is still dutifully plugging
away.
AS a matter OF fact superannuated
woodsman doesn't die in the sense in
which We urban mortals give UP the
ghost He gradually shrivels up and
after a spell becomes sort OF mummified.
Comes high wind and the Rameses is
afterward missed from his accustomed
haunts; whereupon his cronies remark,
"Hain't seen him around sin the big
blow. hev YEP Wall. meow. / callalate
he's been took off,"
Hence II tho angling patrons of the
inn up De Bruce way value those boun-
tfful wood fires they had better guard
good old Garry" mighty carefully these
belated spring days