The Arvada enterprise., 1923-01-25

= -ckpit upon that tiny patch Of turquoise water
s"s below. Choke Berry cove looked about
-. ~ :. . Ssisshtub Inst'nctivey' measured
our wings through e e"."eas ,' u, NY ~ a nnnssr.
looked down Mt the "S"..' ,,,a.a q" r,,h.
ts.c.. wc could not land ne se"p'Hhe '"ere WI.
~. s."c.,r. "S %own mountain. Hut the cove was
bigger than II looked from half 3 - =. ....I
and two minutes after our ears begahS -
from the increasing atmospheric pressureS .'ad
gilJed over the treacherous rocks at the 'tnd ehd
II che little bay. and were slipping along over
the surface Of the sen with the ease OF SURF
scooter coming In to roOst.
II was wild goat hunting that hnd attracted ua
70 Ban Cemcnte. We might have gone there BY
boat from Los Angeles, but we had chosen to wing
our way across the sixty miles OF open ocean
half q mile above the waves and we did It In 45
minutca
San Clemente In one Of the several large Islands
on the coast of southern California that has seeu
but slight development II 10 useful to man only
a. q sheep range. CabrlO. the Spanish naviga.
tor whO discovered the Island In 15l2. pronounced
the island worthless Cabrillo did one 'construc
tive piece Of work there. however On a voyage to
the Island subsequent to fis discovery Of II. he
brought over n herd Of Spanish goats. and liner
Ated them for the purpose OF propagatInK n source
OF fotAl supply for mariners who might he COM
reiled 10 land the island In distress. Tie gOnts
found a favorable habitat. Their numbers have
Increased tremendously. so that today the Island
IL Mternily infested with myriad herds Of Wild
mountain gonts. Through countless generations
the animals have reverted TO the wild state until
they have lost nearly every trace Of their original
dOMesticity They nre now the widest of wild
mountain stock. They mature enormous horns, In.
habit the toughest and most inaccessible crags OF
the islands extraordinary ruggedncss. and nre ns
fleet Of hoof ns deer over ground where Il man Is
scarcely able to move.
! After breakfast next morning we donned our
cartridge belts and hunting knives. shouldered
Winchesers, md set out up the cactus srewn
waterccurse Of the canyon above our camp. II was
<isicuit going, and In spite OF our hest efforts to
avoid them, we gathered up cactus slckers until
We felt like human pin cushions. Less than half
a nile from the camp we dropped In our tracks
In the sand wash when mn unmstnkahle "snh-
ah-nh" !" came echolng around the face OF the ridge
There was no way OF approaching the herd
without the old sentinel goat" getting wise to
US. we Just remained hidden until he hopped
down or his perch. The moment he Jumped down
our campaign Of action was outlined We would
scale the 5OO'foot ridge In front Of us. work our
way toward the gonts nlong the summit OF the
ridge. md then shoot down upon them from the
other side. and nt the expense nf innnerable cac.
tus stIckers In our hesh we reached our objec.
tive.
The goat I aimed nt collapsed In his tracks as II
every hone in his body had turned TO wnter.
jol,nson's billy did a backward nlp.hop. dove
hcnd,ong on the elf. and crashed into the bot.
tom Of the cnnyon 200 feet below followed by an
avaimnci,c NJ loose dirt and b"uldcrs
Getting our game into cnmp consumed the rest
Of the day. md II WIS mans work ut that.
-Four days of trnmping the hills. md Juggling
goats into camp reduced our weight considerably
and vet me to thinking nbout how simple II would
he to hy over the island with the senplane iocHte
Our game from the mir dive down. and shoot IT,
Could We hit the ronts while going over their
backs nj NJ niles mn hour1 There wns the cues.
ton The only way to decide this was to try II.
We were discussing this plan of aerial huntius