Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-02

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much in evidence as guns.
Evidently the younger generation of
American sportsmen, being ex-members
of outdoor study clubs or eg-Boy
Scouts, are aware of a fact that well
known naturalists have long since
urged upon our attention-namely, that
it is much more exciting sport to pho
tograph wild life than to kill it. AS
DR.. William Hornaday says, "any duff
fer with a good check book. a profess
%sional guide and a high power repeat
ing rifle can kill big game, but it takes
good woodcraft, skill and endurance of
to secure a really fine photograph of a
fine wild animal in its u~nfeathered
haunts."
This very difficulty. while frightening
off the lazy and timid. is an additional
incentive to the maj who seeks in hunt
ing not the spells of an easy victory
but the satisfaction Of matching his
skill and cunning against the superla-
tive cunning Of wild animals. Further
more. a game bag filled with squirrels
or reed birds represents but a temper
airy triumph, while a game bag filled
with Photographic plates represents a
permanent achievement. Then there is
a qualification Of the creative impulse
in hunting with a camera, which is now
almost totally absent in killing game.
Our ancestors used to kill with a con-
structive purpose-bec6ese they needed
meat or clothing for their families
but since the necessity motive has been
eliminated from hunting, shooting c4-
petitions have largely degenerated into
little more than cruel orgies.
1t was the introduction of the light,
ever-ready, universal kodak about the
beginning of the present century which
first suggested the interesting POSSIBLE
ties in photographing wild animals. By
this time, according to DR.. Hornaday.
the long continued slaughter Of Ameri-
can big game had begun to produce
on the public mind certain strong eff
fects. People began to realize that
the deadly efficiency of the high power
repeating rifles and automatic shot
guns was rapidly eXterminating the
game of America. great and small. Con-
sequently. thousands of sportsnen be-
came so disguised with game slaughter
that they hung up their guns forever.
ITO this group" says Hornaday, "the
possibilities of hunting with a camera
instantly appealed. Hundreds took to
the camera"
Originated in Colorado
To Mr.. A. G. Wallihan. or rather
to Mrs. A. G Wallihan, belongs the
credit Of furnishing the first great i'm
pulse in America to the photograph
ing of wild game on the hoof, free in
its own haunts. Like most great pio-
neers, the Wallihans CHANGED upon
their discovery quite by accident. One
day. while Mrs. Wallihan was crouch
ed in the sage brush on the outskirts
Of her home town Of Lay, Colorado,
she looked up to find herself closely
surrounded by Il herd Of mule deer,
What a wonderful picture she
thought, IF it We're only possible to
take it with a camera" On the way
back to the house. she pondered the
idea-the idea Of photographing wild
animals with the aid of a blind, a fix
ed camera.
Mr.. Wallihan. who was a profess
sional photographer, at once recognize
ed the value Of his wife's suggestion.
In d short time. the couple were in
pursuit Of wild mule deer and prong
horned antelope and elk, armed with
heavy tripod cameras. which they
carefully, set up and tended along the
game trails. They camped, cooked,
packed and trailed and fought wind
and weather for 10 adventurous years
in order to secure the delightful pic
lures published in 1901 by Doubleday
Page and Company under the title,
Camera Shots at Big Game"
This publication practically marked
the beginning of d new art, for the pie
lures were hailed with respect not
only by biologists but by famous ar
), lists as well. Paintings Of wild ami
mails, with few exceptions, have always
been something of a joke to biologists
as the artists studies have generally
t had to be made in zoos and museums
r where the animals have quite a diff
ferent appearance from those in the
wild state. On the other hand, photo
graphs of wild game have often pro-
voked snorts Of disgust from artists,
: because they nave lacked composition
and good shadow effects. 1t remain
ed for the Wallihans to produce the
first wild animal photographs of gen
5 nine artistic merit-at least in this
country.
Since then, the list Of art photo.
| graphers of wild animal life has
: grown by leaps and bounds until to-
dax it would be impossible to give
: honorable mention to all of them N
: the space Of this article. AS an in.
inspiration for the reader who would
Law down his gun for a kodak, how
= ever. we recommend the work OF Dr
William Hornaday, John NJ. Phillips
George Shiras ESPECIALLY his flash
Y light pictures); Carl r. Akeley, Nor
$ man McClintock, Edwin II. Sanborn
Kermit Roosevelt, Edmund Heller. W
: Lyman Underwood. and A. Radclyff'
Dugmore, who was the first to produce
! Photographic masterpieces of African
game.
Sporting Element Not Lacking
S Those who doubt the sporting OPP
: ~portunities of camera hunting as com
nared with gun hunting should be i'm
pressed by the account of Mr.. Dug
more's African expedition, given by Mt
James l.. Clark, well-known New fori
r taxide fanist, who accompanied Dugmor'
and. shared his thrilling hazards in OBJ
= tanning photographs of lions, hlppopot
amuses and rhinoceroses.
D "As we topped a little knoll on
. morning relates Mr.. Clark, I'VE say
e about 100 yards ahead of us in thu
yellow grass the black outline of
rhinoceros back. We approached t.
about 80 yards, where we had a goo'
view of him, and from this point Dug
more took a telephoto picture. AL
I though in plain sight, we moved slowl.
0 aud cautiously toward him, and at abou
r go yards Dugmore took another pic
l ture. Being sure Of two pictures. b.
then changed his lens to one with