The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1941-01-09
Bio Game In Montana From
Early Historical Records
BY ELNS KOCH

have all left us a record OF their
visits to this region. The two most
famous sportsmen who ascended the
Missouri in the early days were
Macmillan, Prince of WED, and
that eccentric Irish nobleman, Sir
George Gore. !,
Attracted Big Game Hunters
Prince Macmillan, a German
naturalist and big-game hunter, mas
left us almost as vivid a record OF
game conditions on the upper Mis-
souri, as Lewis and Clark. In the
wear 1882 he assembled the Missouri
as far as Marias River just below
the Great Falls. His journal is
filled with descriptions Of the vast
herds of game which were contlnu-
: ally in sight. Like Lewis and Clark,
the prince had many encounters
with the ferocious grizzly bear.
They were particularly abundant
about the mouth of the Milk River
THE true country of these bears
is on the Missouri. Where they are
at present the most numerous is the
tract about Milk River. Here there
is no wood of any extent in which
they are not found . s. There Is
no other species of bear on the up
per Missouri, for the black bear is
not found SO high up
It is interesting to note that the
moose occasionally strayed as FAR
out on the plains as this. The
Moose deer or Original {Cervus al
ces Amer) is said to be common
toward the upper part of the Milk
River, and Deschamp himself had
killed several Of these animals on
the Missouri in the vicinity OF this
river
The bighorn sheep, which we or
dinarily now associate with the high
mountain country, was extraordl-
narily abundant along the upper
Missouri in the breaks and bad
land formations. Macmillan saw
bands of 80 to so at time.
The Sir George Gore hunting ex-
. petition of 1854 to 1856 has given
. rise to many tales and traditions OF
that most eccentric and 1ordly Irish
, man. His retinue consisted of AZ
, men, liz horses (some very fine
ones), IL yoke of oxen, IA dogs, 3
wagons, and "a carts painted red.
. He had one wagon loaded with guns
, and fishing tackle. For his own use
! he had rs rifles and Is shotguns
, He slept in state in brass bed
) stead, and carried milk cows to
supply his mess with fresh milk
With this outfit he advanced lei
l surely across the plains to Powder
River and up the Yellowstone tc
! Tongue River where he passed the
! winter. The party is reported tc
G have killed 5000 buffalo at Tongue
River.
nl On his return. down river he bull
: two MackinaW boats at Fort Unior
l to descend the river He attempted
0 to sell his surplus goods to the fun
company agent at the fort, but be
: ing unable to agree on a price, and
4 feeling that he was being held up
i he made a heap of all the wagons
Y and goods and burned the whole
G outfit, then threw all the iron parts
: in the river SO that no one could
use them.
The 80 years from 1910 to l84t
: were the golden age of the Rocky
Mountain fur trade. The hardy anC
adventurous bands OF trappeT.
! roamed the whole region, and there
is not stream in Montana on which
: they did not set their traps from
I source to mouth. While these roam
ing trappers lived exclusively OF
! the resources of the country, Their
: were not enough of them to ap
/ preciably affect the vast game re
. sources, though the introduction 0
:, guns, which better armed the In
!, dams, doubtless resulted in mucl
\ increased rate Of killing.
l. Fur Era Passes
= With the determination or thin
! ming out Of the beaver, the flu
: trade passed its crest in the forties
!, leaving little permanent impression
. on the country except bette
- knowledge of its geography, whicl
: made later settlement and develop
! ment possible.
- Captain Reynolds military, ex
= ploratory expedition of 1852 so give
= us picture of much country whic
- was still practically unaffected b
y the white man at that time. Hi
&c party travelled across the Powde
q and Tongue Rivers, up the Yellow
: stone, then south up the Little Bi
- Horn to the Oregon Trail, westwar
- through Jackson Hole, up Henry
: River to Henrys Lake, down tn
! Madison to Three Forks, and theme
= down the Missouri River. He thu
~ completely encircled the Yellow
!, stone Park, which was not to be O.
IL ficially explored until the Wasf
4 burn-Doane expedition of 1870.
a. Except in the vicinity Of the Or,
:, :; gon Trail, no inroads had been mac
~ in the game. On the Powder ar
~ Tongue Rivers the buffalo had {
- overgrazed the range that the me
i were unable even to find sufficiel
81 pasturage for their mules, and WEI
~ obliged to cut cttonwood from Whit
~ the lf-famished animals gnaWe
~ the bard and twigs This conditiC
a continued for two weeks trave
~ When they arrived at the valley
"a the Yellowstone Captain Raynol'
r; says, when my party first reachs
e. the bluff overlooking the yellow
Stnrp the SIGHT was nna which