_ __ -F \;i;~~ 0 BUFFALO LAND: AN AUTHIENTIC ACCOUNT ,Adventures, and Mishaps of a Scientific and Sborting Party IN THE WILD WEST; WITH GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COUNTRY; THE RED MAN, SAVAGE AND CIVILIZED; HUNTING THE BUFFALO, ANTELOPE, ELK, AND WILD TURKEY; ETC., ETC. REPLETE WITH INFORMATION, WIT, AND HUMOR. CITY 3pentr Comprisx'iig a (Eiampl~tt (at for 5porsil an diligrants. BY W; F'.. W]E13B, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS. VrofUzelp lttuotratrb FRODML ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHS, AND ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY HENRY WORPAIL. CINCINNATI AND CHICAGO: E HANNAFORD & COMPANY. F s SAN FRANCISCO: F. DEWING & CO, 1 8i2. OF THIE Discoveries, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by E. HANNAFORI) & CO., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. STEREOTYPED AT THE FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY ciNciNNATI. - ~ . TO a, Orgi-nz TWesterne, an x~rst Tiuffz~o Hunter, E~i~ Cjrk i.5 ]Dbicateb, WITH PROFOUND RIBGARD. .v rf- u-fR I BUFFALO LAND. BY OUR TAMMANY SACHEM. HERE'S a wonderfill land far out in the West, Well worthy a visit, my friend; There, Puritans thought, as the sun went to rest, Creation itself had an end. 'T is a wild, weird spot onl the continent's face, A wound which is ghastly ard rel. Where the savages write the deeds of their race In blood that they constantly shed. The graves of the dead the fair prairies deface, And stamp it the kingdom of dread. The emigrant trail is a skeleton path; You measure its miles by the bones; There savages struck, in their merciless wrath, And now, after sunset, the moans, When tempests are out, fill the shuddering air, And ghosts flit the wagons beside, And point to the skulls lying grinning and bare And beg of the teamsters a ride; Sometimes'tis a father with snow on his hair, Again,'tis a youth and his bride. WAhat visions of horror each valley could tell, If Providence gave it a tongue! How often its Eden was changed to a hell, In which a whole train had been flung; (vii) BUFFALO LAND. How death cry and battle-shout frightened the birds, And prayers were as thick as the leaves, And no one to catch the poor dying one's words But Death, as he gathered his sheaves: You see the bones bleaching among the wild herds, In shrouds that the field spider weaves. That era is passing-another one comes, The era of steam and the plow, WVith clangor of commerce and factory hums, Where only the wigwam is now. Like mist of the morning before the bright sun, The cloud fromn the land disappears; The Spirit of Murder his circle has run And fled from the march of the years; The click of machine drowns the click of the gtiui And day hides the night time of tears. viii PiEFACE. THE purpose of this work is to make the reader better acquainted with that wild land which he has known from childhood, as the home of the Indian and the buffalo. The Rocky Mountain chain, distorted and rugged, has been aptly called the colossal vertebrae of our continent's broad back, and from thence, as a line, the plains, weird and wonderful,. stretch eastward through Colorado, and embrace the entire western half of Kansas. Fortune, not long since, threw in my way an invitation, which I gladly accepted, to join a semiscientific party, since somewhat known to fame through various articles in the newspaper press, in a sojourn of several months on the great plains. At a meeting held with due solemnity on the eve, of starting, the Professor (to whom the reader will be introduced in the proper connection) was chosen leader of the expedition, while to my lot fell the (iX) PREFACE. office of editor of the future record, or rather Grand Scribe of what we were pleased to call our "Log Book" The latter now lies before me, in all its glory of shabby covers and dirty pages. Its soiled face is as honorable as that of the laborer who comes from his task in a well harvested field. Out of the sheaves gathered during our journey, I shall try and take such portions as may best supply the mental cravings of the countless thousands who hunger for the life and the lore of the far West. I have given the mistakes as well as triumphs of our expedition, and the members of the party will readily recognize their familiar camp names. The disguise will probably be pleasant, as few like to see their failures on public parade, preferring rather to leave these in barracks, and let their successes only appear at review. The plains have a face, a people, and a brute creation, peculiarly their own, and to these our party devoted earnest study. The expedition presented a rare opportunity of becoming acquainted with the game of the country; and, in writing the present volume, my aim has been to make it so far a text-book for amateur hunters that they may become at once conversant with the habits of the game, and the best manner of killing it. The time is not far distant, when the plains and the Rocky X PREFACE. Mountains will be sought by thousands annually, as a favorite field for sport and recreation. Another and still larger class, it is hoped, will find much of interest and value in the following pages. From every state in the Union, people are constantly passing westward. We found emigrant wagons on spots from which the Indians had just removed their wigwams. Multitudes more are now on the way, with the earnest purpose of founding homes and, if possible, of finding fortunes. In order to aid this class, as well as the sportsman, I have gathered in an appendix such additional information as may be useful to both. The scientific details of our trip will probably be published in proper form and time, by the savans interested. In -regard to these, my object has been simply to chronicle such matters as made an impression upon my own mind, being content with what cream might be gathered by an amateur's skimming, while the more bulky milk should be saved in capacious scientific buckets. Professor Cope, the well known naturalist, of the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, received for examination and classification the most valuable fossils we obtained, and to him I am indebted for a large amount of most interesting and valuable Xi PREFACE. scientific matter, which will be found embodied in chapters twenty-third and twenty-fourth. The illustrations of men and brutes in this work are studies from life. Whenever it was possible, we had photographs taken. The plains, it must be said, are a tract with which Romance has had much more to do than History. Red men, brave and chivalrous, and unnatural buffalo, with the habits of lions, exist only in imagination. In these pages, my earnest endeavor, when dealing with actualities, has been to "hold the mirror up to Nature," and to describe men, manners, and things as they are in real life upon the frontiers, and beyond, to-day. W. E. W. TOPEKA, KANSAS, May, 1872. xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PLGt. lHZ OBJECT OF OUR EXPEDITION-A GLIMPSE OF ALASKA THROUGH CAP TAIN WALRUS' GLASS-WE ARE TEMPTED BY OUR RECENT PURCHASE ALASKAN GAME OF " OLD SLEDGE 7"-THE EARLY STRUGGLES OF KAN SAS-THE SMOKY HILL TRAIL-INDIAN HIGH ART-THE "BORDER RUFFIAN," PAST AND PRESENT-TOPEKA-MHOW IT RECEIVED ITS NAME-WAUKARUSA AND ITS LEGEND......... CHAPTER II. A CHAPTER OF INTRODUCTIONS-PROFESSOR PALEOZOIC-TAMMANY SACHEM -DOCTOR PYTHAGORAS-GENUINE MUGGS-COLON AND SEMI-COLON SHAMUS DOBEEN-TENACIOUS GRIPE-BUGS AND PHILOSOPHY-HOW GRIPE BECAME A REPUBLICAN,........... CHAPTER III. THE TOPEKA AUCTIONEER-MUGGS GETS A BARGAIN-CYNOCEPHALUS INDIAN SUMMER IN KANSAS-HUNTING PRAIRIE CHICKENS-OUR FIRST DAY'S SPORT,.............. CHAPTER IV. CHICKEN-SHOOTING CONTINUED-A SCIENTIFIC PARTY TAKE THE BIRDS ON THE WING-EVILS OF FAST FIRING-AN OLD-FASHIONED "WSLOW SHOT " -TEE HABITS OF THE PRAIRIE CHICKEN-ITS PROSPECTIVE EXTINC 'ION-MODE OF HUNTING IT-THE GOPHER SCALP LAW,.. - (xiii) 26-3t, 36-54 65-63 6 4.- 7' CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. PAIE,o A TRIAL BY JUDGE LYNCH-HUNG FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT-QUAIL SHOOTING-HABITS OF THE BIRDS, AND MODE OF KILLING THEM-A RING OF QUAILS-THE EFFECTS OF A SEVERE WINTER —THE SNOW GOOSE,............... CHAPTER VI. OFF FOR BUFFALO LAND-THE NAVIGATION OF THE KAW-FORT RILEY — THE CENTER-POST OF THE UNITED STATES-OUR PURCHASE OF HORSES -"LO" AS A SAVAGE AND AS A CITIZEN-GRIPE UNFOLDS THE IN DIAN QUESTION-A BALLAD BY SACHEM, PRESENTING ANOTHER VIEW, CHAPTER VII. GRIPE S VIEWS OF INDIAN CHARACTER-THE DELAWARES, THE ISHMAELITES OF THE PLAINS-THE TERRITORY OF THE "LONG HORNS "-TEXANS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS-MUSHROOM ROCK-A VALUABLE DIS COVERY-FOOTPRINTS IN THE ROCK-THE PRIMEVAL PAUL AND VIRGINIA,... *.. *..., CHAPTER VIII. THE " GREAT AMERICAN DESERT "-ITS FOSSIL WEALTH-AN ILLUSION DIS PELLED-FIRES ACCORDING TO NOVELS AND ACCORDING TO FACT SENSATIONAL HEROES AND HEROINES-PRAIRIE DOGS AND THEIR HAB ITS-HAWK AND DOG, AND HAWK AND CAT,..... CHAPTER IX. WE SEE BUFFALO-ARRIVAL AT HAYS-GENERAL SHERIDAN AT THE FORT INDIAN MURDERS-BLOOD-CHRISTENING OF THE PACIFIC RAILROAD SURPRISED BY A BUFFALO HERD-A BUFFALO BULL IN A QUANDARY GENTLE ZEPHYRS-HOW A CIRCUS WENT OFF-BOLOGNA TO LEAN ON A CALL UPON SHERIDAN,............ xiv 75 —83 84-98 99-111 112-123 124-1!*l CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. rAGF.S. LAYS CITY BY LAMP-LIGHT-THE SANTA FE TRADE-BULL-WHACKERS MEXICANS-SABBATH ON THE PLAINS-THE DARK AGES-WILD BILL AND BUFFALO BILL-OFF FOR THE SALINE-DOBEEN'S GHOST-STORY AN ADVENTURE WITH INDIANS-MEXICAN CANNONADE-A RUNAWAY, 142-160 CHAPTER XI. WHITE WOLF, THE CHEYENNE CHIEF-HUNGRY INDIANS-RETURN TO HAYS -A CHEYENNE WAR PARTY-THE PIPE OF PEACE —THE COUNCIL CHAMBER-WHITE WOLF'S SPEECH, AS RENDERED BY SACHEM-THE WHITE MAN'S WIGWAM............161-] 76 CHAPTER XII. ARMS OF A WAR PARTY-A DONKEY PRESENT-EATING POWERS OF THE NOMADS-SATANTA, HIS CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT- RUNNING OFF WITH A GOVERNMENT HERD-DAUB, OUR ARTIST-ANTELOPE CHASE BY A GREYHOUND,.............177-191 CHAPTER XIII. CHARACTER OF THE PLAINS-BUFFALO BILL AND HIS HORSE BRIGHAM THE GUIDE AND SCOUT OF ROMA-NCE-CAYOTE VERSUS JACKASS-RAB BIT-A LAWYER-LIKE RESCUE-OUR CAMP ON SILVER CREEK-UNCL] SAM S BUFFALO HERDS-TURKEY-SHOOTING-OUR FIRST MEAL ON THE PLAINS-A GAME SUPPER,.......... CHAPTER XIV. A CAMP-FIRE SCENE-VAGABONDIZING-THE BLACK PACER OF THE PLAINS SOME ADVICE FROM BUFFALO BILL ABOUT INDIAN FIGHTING-LO'S ABHORRENCE OF LONG RANGE-HIS DREAD OF CANNON-AN IRISH GOBLIN,................ 209-219 xv . 192-208 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. A FIRE SCENE-A GLIMPSE OF THE SOUTH-'COON HUNTING IN MISSIS SIPPI-VOICES IN THE SOLITUDE-FRIENDS OR FOES-A STARTLING SERENADE-PANIC IN CAMP —CAYOTES AND THEIR HABITS-WORRY ING A BUFFALO BULL-THE SECOND DAY-DAUB, OUR ARTIST-HE MAKES HIS MARK............... 220-235 CHAPTER XVI. BISON MEAT-A STRANGE ARRIVAL-THE SYDNEY FAMILY-THE HOM IN THE VALLEY-THE SOLOMON MASSACRE-THE MURDER OF TH FATHER AND THE CHILD-THE SETTLERS FLIGHT-INCIDENTS-OU QUEEN OF THE PLAINS-THE PROFESSOR INTERESTED-IRISH MARY DOBEEN HAPPY-THE HEROINE OF ROMANCE-SACHEM'S BATH B MOONLIGHT-THE BEAVER COLONY,..... CHAPTER XVII. PREPARATIONS FOR THE CHASE —THE VALLEY OF THE SALINE-QUEER 'COONS-A BISON S GAME OF BLUFF-IN PURSUIT-ALONGSIDE TH] GAME-FIRING FROM THE SADDLE-A CHARGE AND A PANIC-FALSE HISTORY AGAIN-GOING FOR AMMUNITION-THE PROFESSOR'S LET TER-DISROBING THE VICTIMS......... CHAPTER XVIII. STILL HUNTING-DARK OBJECTS AGAINST THE HORIZON-THE RE AGAIN-RETREAT TO CAMP-PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENSE-SE HANDS WITH DEATH-MR. COLONES BUGS-THE EMBASSADORS ALARM-MORE INDIANS-TERRIFIC BATTLE BETWEEN PAWNEE CHEYENNES-THEIR MODE OF FIGHTING-GOOD HORSEMANS - SCIENTIFIC PARTY AS SEXTONS-DITTO AS SURGEONS-CAMPS O COMBATANTS-STEALING AWAY-AN APPARITION,. CHAPTER XIX. STALKING THE BISON-BUFFALO AS OXEN-EXPENSIVE POWER-A BUF FALO AT A LUNATIC ASYLUM-THE GATEWAY TO THE HERDS-INFER XVI. . . 236 —249 . 250-263 . 264-'-79 CONTENTS. PAGE8. NAL GRAPE-SHOT-NATURE S BOMB-SHELLS-CRAWLING BEDOUINS "THAR THEY HUMP "-THE SLAUGHTER BEGUN-AN INEFFECTUA CHARGE-" KETCHING THE CRITTER "-RETURN TO CAMP-CALVE HEAD ON THE STOMACH-AN UNPLEASANT EPISODE-WOLF BAITING AND HOW IT IS DONE,. I......* * * * CHAPTER XX. THE CAYOTES STRYCHNINE FEAST-CAPTURING A TIMBER WOLF-A FEW CORDS OF VICTIMS-WHAT THE LAW CONSIDERS "INDIAN TAN - "FINISHING" THE NEW YORK MARKET-A NEW YORK FARMERS OPINION OF OUR GRAY WOLF-WESTWARD AGAIN-EPISODES IN OUR JOURNEY-THE WILD HUNTRESS OF THE PLAINS-WAS OUR GUIDE & MURDERER?-THE READER JOINS US IN A BUFFALO CHASE-THE DYING AGONIES,.............292-305 CHAPTER XXI. "CREASING " WILD HORSES-MUGGS DISAPPOINTED-A TION-HORSE AND MONKEY-HOOF WISDOM FOR PECTIVE CLIMATIC CHANGES ON THE PLAINS-T SPONTANEOUS GENERATION-WANTON SLAUGHTER AMOUNT OF ROBES AND MEAT ANNUALLY WAS HABIT OF THE BISON-NUMEROUS BILLS-THE "S THE PLAINS,....... CHAPTER XXII. . LIVE TOWN AND ITS GRAVE-YARD-HONEST ROMBEAUX IN TROUBLE JUDGE LYNCH HOLDS COURT-MARIE AND THE VINE-COVERED COT TAGE-THE TERRIBLE FLOODS-DEATH IN CAMP AND IN THE DUG OUT-WAS IT THE WATER WHICH DID IT?-DISCOVERY OF A HUGE FOSSIL-THE MOSASAURUS OF THE CRETACEOUS SEA-A GLIMPSE OF THE REPTILIAN AGE-REMINISCENCES OF ALLIGATOR-SHOOTING THEY SUGGEST A THEORY,......... xvii - 280-29 - 306-317 . 318-329 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIII. IP3 FROM SHERIDAN TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS-THE COLORADO PORTION O0 THE PLAINS-THE GIANT PINES-ATTEMPT TO PHOTOGRAPH A BUF FALO-THINGS GET MIXED-THE LEVIATHAN AT HOME-A CHA WITH PROFESSOR COPE-TWENTY-SIX-INCH OYSTERS-REPTILES AN FISHES OF THE CRETACEOUS SEA,...... CHAPTER XXIV. CONTINUED BY COPE-THE GIANTS OF THE SEAS-TAKING OUT FOSSIL IN A GALE-INTERESTING DISCOVERIES-THE GEOLOGY OF TH PLAINS............... CHAPTER XXV. A SAVAGE OUTBREAK-THE BATTLE OF THE FORTY SCOUTS-THE SUR PRISE-PACK-MULES STAMPEDED-DEATH ON THE ARICKEREE-THE MEDICINE MAN-A DISMAL NIGHT-MESSENGERS SENT TO WALLACE MORNING ATTACK-WHOSE FUNERAL?-RELIEF AT LAST-THE OLD SCOUT S DEVOTION TO THE BLUE,. CHAPTER XXVI. THE STAGE DRIVERS OF THE PLAINS-" OLD BOB"-JAMAICA AND GIN GER —AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE-BEADS OF THE PAST-ROBBING THE DEAD-A LEAF FROM THE LOST HISTORY OF THE MOUND BUILDERS -INDIAN TRADITIONS-SPECULATIONS-ADOBE HOUSES IN A RAIN CHEAP LIVING-WATCH TOWERS,..... CHAPTER XXVII. OUR PROGRAMME CONCLUDED-FROM SHERIDAN TO THE SOLOMON-FIERCE WINDS-A TERRIFIC STORM-SHAMUS' BLOODY APPARITION AND INDIAN WITCH-A RECONNOISSANCE-AN INDIAN BURIAL GROVE-A CONTRACTOR S DARING AND ITS PENALTY-MORE VAGABONDIZING xviii - 330-350 . 351-365 - 366-376 . 377-386 CONTENTS. PAGES. JOSE AT THE LONG BOW-THE "WILD HUNTRESS' COUNTERPART SHAMUS TREATS US TO "CHILEI"-THE RESULT,......387-39.5 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE BLOCE-HOUSE ON THE SOLOMON-HOW THE OLD MAN DIED-WACONDA DA-LEGEND OF WA-BOG-AHA AND HEWGAW-SABBATH MORNING SACHEM'S POETICAL EPITAPH-AN ALARM-BATTLE BETWEEN AN EMIGRANT AND TItE INDIANS —WAS IT TIHE SYDNEYS?-TO THE RESCUE-AN ELK HUNT-ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP-NOVEL MODE OF HUNTING TURKEYS-IN CAMP ON THE SOLOMON-A WARM WEL COME,................. 396-415 CHAPTER XXIX. OUR LAST NIGHT TOGETHER-THE REMARKABLE SHED-TAIL DOG-H RESCUES HIS MISTRESS, AND BREAKS UP A MEETING-A SKETCH O0 TERRITORIAL TIMES BY GRIPE-MONTGOMERY'S EXPEDITION FOR TH RESCUE OF JOHN BROWN'S COMPANIONS-SCALPED, AND CARVING H: OWN EPITAPH-AN lRISH JACOB-"SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 7 SACHEM'S POETICAL LETTER-POPPING THE QUESTION ON THE RUN THE PROFESSOR'S LETTER,........ 2 xix . 416-428 CONTENTS OF APPENDIX. PAGES. . 431, 432 PRELIMINARY TO THE APPENDIX,. CHAPTER FIRST. COME TO THE GREAT WEST-SHOULD THERE NOT BE COMPULSOR GRATION-"GET A GOOD READY "-HOMESTEAD LAWS AND R RIONS-THE STATE OF KANSAS-THE COST OF A FARM-A FEW PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS,...... CHAPTER SECOND. HUNTING THE BUFFALO-ANTELOPE HUNTING-ELK HUNTING —TURKEY HUNTING-GENERAL REMARKS-WHAT TO DO IF LOST ON THE PLAIN -THE NEW FIELD FOR SPORTSMEN....... CHAPTER THIRD. "tBY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES "-THE GRI.t,' WEST FALL OF THE RIVERS-THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS AN.) VALLEYS OF BUFFALO LAND-THE VALLEY OF THE PLATTE-THE SOLOMON kND SMOKY HILL RIVERS-THE ARKANSAS RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES -STOCK RAISING IN THE GREAT WEST-THE CATTLE HIVE OF NORTH AMERICA-THE CLIMATE OF THE PLAINS-CLIMATIC CHANGES ON THE PLAINS-THE TREES AND FUTURE FORESTS OF THE PLAINS-THE SUPPLY OF FUEL-DISTRICTS CONTIGUOUS TO THE PLAINS-THEVAL LEYS OF THE WHITE EARTH AND NIOBRARA-NEW MEXICO: ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, ETC.-THE DISAPPEARIIING BISON-TH FISH WITH LEGS-THE MOUNTAIN SUPPLY OF LUMBER FOR TH PLAINS,................. (xx) . 433 —450 . 451-463 . 465-503 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. F'rom Original Drawings by Henry Worrall, and Acetual Photographs. The Engraving by the Bureau of Illustration, Buffalo, N. Y. FRONTISPIECE,......G ALASKAN LOVERS-SEALING THE CONTRACT,.. ALASKAN GAME OF OLD SLEDGE,...... " WAUKARUSA"........... " TOASTS HIS MOCCASINED FEET BY THE FIRE,"'.. THE PROFESSCR-A REMARKABLE STONE,... TAMMANY SACHEM-PROSPECTIVE AND RETROSPECTIVE, COLON AND SEMI-COLON,........ DAVID PYTHAGORAS, M. D.,....... ONE OF THE MUGGSES,........ SHAMUS DOBEEN-HIS CARD,....... HON. T. GRIPE (BEATIFIED),..... "SPERIT, GENTLEMEN!......... OUR FIRST BIRD-SHOOTING,...-.. JUDGE LYNCH-HIS COURT,........ UNNATURALIZED,....~.. NATURALIZED,.............................................91 ( 91 (X.i) Pass ~ FACING TITLE PAGE . 27 ..27 ..33 ..... 33 39 . Jo... 39 * *.. 43 ...43 ....47 * *.. 53 *.*.*.. 53 ... 57 ... 67 ..... 77 . 91 N. ATURALIZED,. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. P".. ~ 96 . 96 . 105 . 105 . 115 . 115 RAIL. 127 . 133 . 137 . 137 . 147 . 147 . 157 . 167 . 172 . 197 . 219 . 227 . 259 . 271 . 301 "LOOKED LIKE THE END OF A TAIL,"....... THE RARE OLD PLAINSMAN OF THE NOVELS,.. WILD BILL-FROM A PHOTOGRAPH,........ BUFFALO BILL-FROM A PHOTOGRAPH,...... OUR HORSES RUN AWAY WITH US,....... THE PIPE OF PEACE-THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA,.... WHITE WOLF AT HOME,............ THE WILD DENIZENS OF THE PLAINS,....... SMASHING A CHEYENNE BLACK-KETTLE,...... MIDNIGHT SERENADE ON THE PLAINS,....... GOING AFTER AMMUNITION,.......... BATTLE BETWEEN CHEYENNES AND PAWNEES,. ONE OF OUR SPECIMENS-PHOTOGRAPHED BY J. LEE KNIGHT, TOPEKA, WANTON DESTRUCTION OF BUFFALO, EMBRACING: DAILY, FOR FUN,.... 300 A DAY FOR PLEASUREr... FOR EXCITEMENT,...... 100,006 FOR TONGUES,....... 2,000,000 FOR ROBES, TO GET WHISKY,.. Duo( OUT,............ TAKING AND BEING TAKEN,...... DEVELOPING-ONE OF THE FIRST FAMILIES,.. THE SEA WHICH ONCE COVERED THE PLAINS,.. WA'ONDA DA-GREAT SPIRIT SALT SPRING,.. xxii . 315 . 315 . 315 . -.. 315 . 315 . 3 2!P . 335 . 348 . 357 . 392 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PArI MORE OF OUR SPECIMENS (PHOTOGRAPHED BY J. LEE KNIGHT), EMBRACING: PRAIRIE CHICKENS,............. 413 HEAD OF AN ELK,.............. 413 WILD TuRKEY,........ 413 bEAT v,...............* 413 xxiii I I BUFFALO LAND. CHAPTER I. THE OBJECT OF OUR EXPEDITION-A GLIMPSE OF ALASKA THROUGH CAPTAIN WALRUS9 GLASS-WE ARE TEMPTED BY OUR RECENT PURCHASE-ALASKAN GAME OF "OLD SLEDGE ~'-THE EARLY STRUGGLES OF KANSAS-THE SMOKY HILL TRAIL-INDIAN HIGH ART-THE "BORDER-RUFFIAN,"7 PAST AND PRESENT-TOPEKA-HOW IT RE CEIVED ITS NAME-WAUKARUSA AND ITS LEGEND. HE great plains-the region of country in which our expedition sojourned for so many months-is wilder, and by far more interesting, than those solitudes over which the Egyptian Sphynx looks out. The latter are barren and desolate, while the former teem with their savage races and scarcely more savage beasts. The very soil which these tread is written all over with a history of the past, even its surface giving to science wonderful and countless fossils of those ages when the world was young and man not yet born. At first, it was rather unsettled which way the steps of our party would turn; between unexplored territory and that newly acquired, there were several fields open which promised much of interest. Originally, our company numbered a dozen; but Alaska tempted a portion of our savans, and to the fishy and frigid maiden they yielded, drawn by a strange predilection for train-oil and seal mneat toward the land of (25) BUFFALO LAND. furs. For the remainder of our party, however, life under the Alaskan's tent-pole had no charms. Our decision may have been influenced somewhat by the seafaring man with whomll our friends were to sail. The real name of this son of Neptune was Samuels, but our party called him, as it savored more of salt water, Captain Walrus, of the bark Harpoon. This worthy, according to his own statement, had been born on a whaler, weaned among the Esquimeaux, and, moreover, had frozen off eight toes "trying to winter it at our recent purchase." He evidently dis liked to have scientific men aboard, intent on studying eclipses and seals. "A heathenish and strange people are the Alaskans," Walrus was wont to say. "What is not Indian is Russian, and a compound of the latter and aboriginal is a mixture most villainous. One portion of the partnership anatomy takes to brandy, while the other absorbs train-oil, and so a half-breed Alaskan heathen is always prepared for spontaneous combus. tion, and if rubbed the wrong way, flames up instantly. He is always hot for murder, and if you throw cold water on his designs, his oily nature sheds it." And many a yarn did the captain spin concerning their strange customs. Sealing, a marriage contract consisted in the warrior leaving a fat seal at the hole of the hut, where his intended crawled in to her home privileges of smoke and fish. Their favorite game was "old sledge," played with prisoners to shorten their captivity. All this, and much more, probably equally true, we had picked up of Alaskan history, and at one time our chests had been packed for a voyage on the Harpoon; but at the final council the west carried it 26 -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - \~ I/ I: - "I -- -", - - - ALS. ALASKAN L,1-R-EAIGT ONTRACT.K :j\4 i I li a " BLEEDING KANSAS." against the north, and our steps were directed toward the setting sun, instead of the polar star. The expedition afforded unexcelled facilities for seeing Buffalo Land. It was composed of good material, and pursued its chosen path successfully, though under difficulties which would have turned back a less determined party. None of our company, I trust, will consider it an unwarrantable license which recounts to others the personal peculiarities and mistakes about which we joked so freely while in camp. It was generally understood, before we parted, that the adventures should be common stock for our children and children's children. Why should not the great public share in it also? Let the reader place before him a checker-board, and allow it to represent Kansas, whose shape and outline it much resembles; the half nearest him will stand for the eastern or settled portion of the State, of which the other half is embraced in Buffalo Land proper. It is with the latter that we have first to do, as with it we first became acquainted. Our party entered the State at Kansas City, and took the cars for Topeka, its capital. During our morning ride through the valley of the Kaw, memory went backward to the years when "Bleeding Kansas" was the signal-cry of emancipation. When gray old Time, a decade and a half ago, was writing the history of those bright children of Freedom, the united sisterhood, a virgin arm reached over his shoulder, and a fair young hand, stained with its own life 29 BUFFALO LAND. blood, wrote on the page toward which all the world was gazing, "I am Kansas, latest-born of America. I would be free, yet they would make me a slave. Save me, my sisters!" The great heart of our nation wvas sorely distressed. Conscience pointed to one path-Policy, that rank hypocrite, to another. And so it was that the young queen, with her grand domain in the West, struggled forward to lay her fealty at the feet of our great mother, Liberty. She made a body-guard of her own sons, and their number was quickly swelled by brave hearts from the north, east, and west. The new territory, begging admission as a State, became a battle-ground. Slavery had reached forth its hand to grasp the new State and fresh soil, but the mutilated member was drawn back with wounds which soon reached, corrupted and destroyed the body. In this land of the Far W est a nation of young giants had been suddenly developed, and Kansas was forever won for freedom. But there was yet another enemy and another danger. WVestward, toward Colorado, the savage's tomalhawk and knife glittered, and struck among, the affrighted settlements. Ad Astra per Aspera, "to the stars through difficulties," the State exclaims on the seal, and to the stars, through blood, its course has been. Those old pages of history are too bloody to be broulght to light in the bright present, and we purpose turning them only enough to gather what will be now of practical use. Kansas suffered cruelly, and brooded over her wrongs, but she has long since struck hands with her bitterer foe. -iost of the "Border 30 THE SMOKY HILL TRAIL. Ruffians" ripened on gallows trees, or fell by the sword, years ago. A few, however, are yet spared, to cheer their old age by riding around in desolate woods at midnight, wrapped in damp nightgowns, and masked in grinning death-heads. Although the mists of shadow-land are chilling their hearts, yet those organs, at the cry of blood, beat quick again, like regimental drums, for action. The Kaw or the Kansas River, the valley of which we were traversing, is the principal stream of the State-in length to the mouth of the Republican one hundred and fifty miles, and above that, under the name of Smoky Hill, three hundred miles more. The "Smoky Hill trail" is a familiar name in many an American home. It was the great California path, and many a time the demons of the plain gloated over fair hair, yet fresh from a mother's touch and blessing. And many a faint and thirsty traveler has flung himself with a burst of gratitude on the sandy bed of the desolate river, and thanked the Great Giver of all good for the concealed life found under the sand, and with the strength thus sucked from the bosom of our much-abused mother, he has pushed onward until at length the grand mountains and great parks of Colorado burst upon his delighted vision. About noon we arrived at Topeka, the capital, well situated on the south bank of the river, having a comfortable, well-to-do air, which sug'gests the quiet satisfaction of an honest burgher after a morning of toil. The slavery billow of agitation rolled even thus far from beyond the border of the state. Armed men 31 BUFFALO LAND. rode over the beautiful prairies, some east, some west-one band to transplant slavery from the tainted soil of Missouri, another to pluck it up. A small party of Free State men settled upon this beautiful prairie. South flowed the Waukarusa, south and east the Shunganunga, and west and north the Kaw or Kansas. Here thrived a bulbous root, much loved by the red man, and here lazy Pottawatomies gathered in the fall to dig it. In size and somewhat in shape, it resembled a goose egg, and had a hard, reddish brown shell, and an interior like damaged dough. The Indian gourmands ate it greedily and called it "Topeka." From the two or three families of refugee Free State men the town grew up, and from the Indian root it took its name. Its christening took place in the first cabin erected, and it is reported that a now prominent banker of the town stood sponsor, with his back against the door, refusing any egress until the name of his choice was accepted. It is even affirmed that one opposing city founder was pulled back by his coat-tail from an attempted escape up the wide chimney. The old Indian love of commemorating events by significant names is well illustrated in Kansas. One example may be given here. Waukarusa' once opposed its swollen tide to an explorinig band of red men. Now, from time beyond ken, the noble savage has been illustrious for the ingenuity with which he lays all disagreeable duties upon the shoulders of the patient squaw. He may ride to their death, in free wild sport, the bison multitudes; but their skins 32 I~~ 4 ~~ I ) #~i iv i I —. —1 - x VI/ i~ ~~\~\\\\~~\\>~411 -\11~~ \\~~~~"~~~~~ \ ~~~< > I.K O ~ ~ COLON SENIOR. his face also reflect his thoulghts, they would read about as follows: "fIugogs, you are a Briton, and this hotel must be made aware of the fact. Whatever you do, be guilty of no un-English act while in this outlandish land. Your skin is now full of knowledge, and let not other travelers, like so many mnosquitoes, suck it from you. Your forefathers blessed their eyes and dropped their h's, and so must you." And perhaps by this time, if the chops have arrived, he dines in seclusion and, by so doing, loses a fund of information which his fellow-travelers have obtained by common exchange. Again on the way, -,Iuggs nestles in a corner ot the coach and acts strictly on the defensive, indignantlv withldrawing' his square-toed, thick-soled Eng'lish shoes, should neighboring feet attempt to hobnob with them. On a trip through Buffalo Land, however, it is difficult for one of her Britannic l\ajestv's subjects to maintain the national dignity. But this fact Genuine fIuggs-our Muggs-evidently did not know. Hiad he known it, he would never have ,one with us in the world. 49 Another of our party rejoiced in the appellation of Colon." He obtained this title because his eccentric specialities of character several times came very near putting if not a full stop, at least the next thing to it, upon the particular page of history which our party was mnaking'. Long'itLudinally, MIr. Colon was all of five feet eleven; in circumference, perhaps a score or so of inches. He possessed a fair share of oddities, and what is better an equally fair one of dollars. The hemispheres of his philanthropic brain 49 BUFFALO LAND. seemed equally pre-empted by philosophy and bugs. Engaging in some immense work for the amelioration of mankind, he would pursue it with ardor, dwell upon it with unction, and then suddenly leave it, half finished, to capture a rare spider. Philosophy and Entomology had constant combat for Colon, and victory tarried with neither long enough for the seat of war to be cultivated and blossom with any luxuriance. At the time he joined our party one of his grandest charitable projects had lately died in a very early period of infancy, entirely supplanted in his affections for the time being by the prospect of a chase after Brazilian insects. During our journey it was no uncommon thing for us to see his thin form all covered with bugs and reptiles, which had crawled out of the collecting boxes carried in his pockets. If this meets our friend's eye, let him bear no malice, but reflect, in the language of his own invariable answer to our remonstrances, "It can't be helped." Should the public parade of his faults be disagreeable, he can suffer no more from them now than we did in the past, and may perhaps call them into closer quarters for the future. Mr. Colon's son, of two years less than a score, we dubbed Semi-colon, as being a smaller edition, or to be exact, precisely one-half of what the serior Colon was. So perfect was the concord of the two that the junior had fallen into a chronic and to us amusing habit of answering "Ditto" to the senior's expressions of opinion. Divide the father's conversation by two, add an assent to every thing, and the result, socially considered, would be the son. It may readily be seen, 50 DOBEEN AND GRIPE. therefore, why the professor for short should call him, as he nearly always did, "Semi." Shamus Dobeen, our cook and body-servant, according to his own account, was the child of an impoverished but noble Irish family. Indeed, we doubt if any Irishman was ever promoted from shovel laborer to body-servant without suddenly remembering that lie was "descinded" from a line of kings. At the time Shamus was added to the population of Ireland, the patrimonial estate had dwindled down to a peat boo,. As this soon "petered out," Shamus went from the exhausted moor into the cold world. He had been by turns expelled patriot, dirt disturber on new railroads, gunner on a Confederate cruiser, and high private in a Union regiment. The position of gunner he lost by touching off a piece before the muzzle had been run out, in consequence of which part of the vessel's side went off suddenly with the gun. Captured, he readily became a Union soldier, and could, without doubt, have transformed himself into a Cheyenne, or a Patagonian, had occasion for either ever required. WVhile in Topeka, our party made the acquaintance of Tenacious Gripe, a well-known Kansas politician, and who attached himself to us for the trip. Every person in the State knew him, had known him in territorial times, and would know him until either the State or he ceased to be. Flung headlong from somewhere into Kansas during the "border ruffian" period, he would probably have passed as rapidly out of it had he been allowed to do so peaceably. But as the slavery party en 51 BUFFALO LAND. deavored to push hlim, he concluded to stick. At that particular time, he was a moderate Democrat or conservative Republican, and consequently had no particular principles. But the slavery party supposed he had, and to them accordingly he became an object of suspicion. They assumed the aggressive, and lhe at once resolved into a staunch Republican. Had the latter first struck him, he would have been as staunch a Democrat. And Gripe has never known how near he came to being the latter. The Republicans had just decided to order him out of the state as a border ruffian spy, when the Democrats took action and did so for his not being one. Those were troublous times. IIe went to the front at once in the antislavery ranks, and has stayed there ever since. Sore-headed men are apt to become famous. There were those in our late war who were kicked by adversity into the very arms of Fame. Our friend had been in both the upper and lower houses of the State Legislature, and had rolled Congressional logs, moreover, until he was hardly happy without having his hands on one. 52 ((14I~I I \ II) II! I',L MI ~~ ___ _ _~~~~~~~~ I, ~ ~ I ~IoAJ _ ~ I ~ ~ ffi~~~ \\ / I CHAPTER III. TIE TOPEKA AUCTIONEER-MUGGS GETS A BARGAIN-CYNOCEPHALUS-INDIAN SUJ( MER IN KANSAS-HUNTING PRAIRIE CHICKENS-OUR FIRST DAY'S SPORT. - E had three or four days to spend in Topeka, v as it was there that we were to purchase our outfit for the buffalo region. With the latter purpose ill view, we were wandclering alongT Kansas Avenue tile next morning, when a horseman came furioutsly down the street, shouting, at the top of his lungs, "Sell um as he wars har! " Semi hastily retreated behind 3Ir. Colon, thinking it might be a Ja-yhawkler, while the professor adjusted his glasses. 3Augg's said the individual reminded him of the famious chlarge at Balaklava. Muuggs had never seen Balaklava, but other Englishmen had, which answvered the same purpose. The equestrian proved to be a well-known auctioneer of Topeka, who may be discovered at almost any time tearing through the streets on some spavined or bow-legged old cob, auctioneering it off as he goes. His favorite expression is, "I'll sell um as he wars har." What particular selling, charm lies concealed n this announcement even Gripe could not tell. Sachem thoug'ht that possibly he had been brouglht lip at some exposed frontier post, where, on account of Indian prejudices, wearing hair is a rare luxury. (55) BUFFALO LAND. To say there that a man was still able to comb his own scalp-lock denoted an extraordinary state of physical perfection. Expressions of praise for humans are often applied to horses, and so, perhaps, the one in question. "I have heard," quoth our alderman, in support of this assertion, "Fitz say of a belle, at a charity ball, what a'bootiful eweature; and I have heard him, the day after, in his stable, say the same thing of his horse." That horse-auction was a sight worth seeing. The crowd collected most thickly on the corner of Kansas Avenue and Sixth Street, and before it the cob came to a stand. And it was a stand-as stiff and painful as that of a retired veteran put on dress parade. The limbs would have had full duty to perform in supporting the carcass alone, which had evidently been in light marching order for years past. The additional weig'ht of the auctioneer must certainly have proved altogether too much, had not the horse heard, for the first time, of the wonderful qualities with which he was still endowed. Seeing a whole corner, with gaping mouths, swallowing the statement that he was only six years old, reduced by hard work, and could, after three months grass, pull a ton of coal, he would have been a thankless horse indeed, which could not strain a point, or all his points, for such a rider. And so, when the spurs suddenly rattled against his ribs, the old skin full of bones gave a snort of pain, which the auctioneer called "Sperit, gentler)e)!" and away up the broad avenue he rolled, at a speed which threatened to break the rider's neck, and his 56 Ill 'III __ I,, Il]= V ~, I.. l —-.' " if,l~ i III I ji ~' ~~~~\I\'~ Il/I / _ i\~~~j I j~W ~~~~ ~ ~;; fi = 3- = -! iI l ,i " SPERIT, GENTLEMEN! " AN UNFORTUNATE WINK. own legs as well. His tail having been cut short in youth, and retrimmed in old age, the outfit made but a sorry figure going up the street. The Professor said it suggested the idea of some fossil vertabra, with a paint brush attached to its end, running away with a geological student. After the return and cries for more bids, Muggs must have winked at the auctioneer-possibly, to slyly telegraph him the fact that in "Hengland" they were up to such games. At least the auctioneer so declared, and advancing the price one dollar in accordance therewith, finally knocked the brute down to him. Then the British wrath bubble& and boiled. The auctioneer was inexorable. Muggs had winked, and that was an advanced bid, according to commercial custom the land over. Articles were often sold simply by the vibration of an eyelash, and not a word uttered. The Professor remarked that in law winks would doubtless be accepted as evidence. It was a recognized principle of the statutes that he who winked at a matter acquiesced in it, and indeed such signals were often more expressive than words. Sachein sustained this point, and added further that he hald known many a man's head broken on account of an injudicious wink. The crowd, with almost unanimous voice, pronounced the auctioneer right and Muggs wrong. "Me take the brute!" exclaimed the indignant Briton; "why he can'ardly stand up long enough to be knocked down. Except in France, he could be put to no earthly use whatever.'Is knees knock to 59 BUFFALO LAND. gether in an ague quartette, and'is tail-look at it! It's hincapable of knocking a fly off; looks more like flying off hitself! " Muggs further declared the sale was an attempt on the owner's part to evade the health officer, who would have been around, in a couple of days, to have the carcass removed. The auctioneer waxed belligerent, the crowd noisy, and AIuggs, like a true Englishman, secured peace at the price of British gold. The horse was on his hands, having barely escaped being on the town, and an enthusiastic crowd of urchins escorted the purchase to a livery stable. Mluggs christened the animal Cynocephalus, and soon afterward sold him to Mr. Colon, who was of an economical turn, for the use of his son Semi. "I have heard," said the thoughtful father, "that the buffalo grass of the plains is very nourishing. All that the poor steed needs is care and fat pastures. Semi can give him the former, and over the latter our future journey lies. I have also learned that what is especially needed in a hunting horse is steadiness, and this quality the animal certainly possesses." From some months' acquaintance with the purchase, we can say that Cynocephalus was steady to a remarkable degree. We are firmly persuaded that a heavy battery might have fired a salute over his back without moving him, unless, possibly, the concussion knocked him down. Our first hunting morning, the second day preceding our hegira westward, came to us with a clear sky, the sun shedding a mellow warmth, and the air 60 INDIAN SUMMER IN KANSAS. full of those exhilarating qualities which our lungs afterward drank in so freely on the plains. Indian summer, delightful anywhere, is especially so in Kansas. From the advance guard of the winter king not a single chilling zephyr steals forward among the tarrying ones of summer. Soothing and gentle as when laden with spicy fragrance south, they here shower the whole land with sunbeams. Earth no longer seems a heavy, inert mass, but floats in that smoky, fleecy atmosphere with which artists delight so much to wrap their angels. It is as if the warmer, lighter clouds of sunny weather were nestling close to earth, frightened from the skies, like a flock of white swans, at the October howls of winter. But I never could agree with those writers who call this season dreamy. If such it be, it is surely a dream of motion. All nature appears quickened. The inhabitants of the air have commenced their southern pilgrimage, and the oldest and leading ganders may be heard croaking, day-time and night-time, to their wedge-shaped flocks their narrative of summer experiences at the Arctic circle, and their commands for the present journey. Sachem, I find, has recorded as a discovery in natural history that geese form their flocks in wedge shape that they may easier "make a split" for the south when Nature, with her north pole, stirs up their feeding and breeding-grounds in November gales, and changes their fields of operation into fields of ice. Sachem was sadly addicted to slang phrases. All game, I may remark, is wilder at this season of the year than earlier. If the earth is dreaming, 61 BUFFALO LAND. its wild inhabitants certainly are not. Men, too, have thrown off the summer lethargy, and shave their neighbors as closely as ever. If any one thinks it a dreamy season of the year, let him test the matter practically by being a day or two behindhand with a payment. In reply to a question, the professor told us that the smoky condition of the atmosphere was probably caused by the exhalation of phosphorus from decaying vegetation. Sachem remarked that out of twenty different objects which lie had submitted for examination, and as many questions that he had asked, nine-tenths of the results contained phosphorus in some shape. It was becoming monotonous and dangerous. While the party thus mused and speculated, we had come out into the open country, south-west of town, and were now approaching Webster's Mound, a coneshaped hill from which we afterward obtained some excellent views. For the trip we had been supplied with two dogs one a setter, belonging to the private secretary of the Governor, and the other a pointer, the property of a real estate dealer. The former was an ancient and venerable animal. The rheumatism was seized of his backbone and held high revel upon the juices which should have lubricated tlhe joints. Even his tail wagged with a jerk, inclining the body to whichever side it had last swung. He was so full of rheumatism that whenever he scented a chicken the pain evoked by the excitement caused him to howl with anguish. The pointer, per contra, was hale and swift, but had lost one eye; and a shot from 62 THE HUNTER'S TRIUMPH. the same charge which destroyed that organ, rattled also on his left ear-drum, and that membrane no longer responded to the shouts of the hunter. On one side he could see, and not hear-on the other, hear, but not see. Nevertheless, with gestures for the left view, and shouts on the right, fair work might still be obtained. Both dogs rejoiced in the uncommon name of Rover, and both possessed that most excellent of all points in such animals, a steady point. If any of my readers are fond of field-sports, and have not yet shot prairie-chickens over a dog, let them take their guns and hie to the West, and taste for themselves of this rare sport. With the wide prairie around him, keeping the bird in full view during its passage through the air, one can choose his distance for firing and witness the full effect of his shot. I think the brief instant when the flight of the bird is checked and it drops head-foremost to earth, is the sweetest moment of all to the hunter. 63 CHAPTER IV. CHfICKEN-SHOOTING CONTINUED-A SCIENTIFIC PARTY TAKE THE BIRDS ON THL WING-EVILS OF FAST FIRING-AN OLD-FASHIONED "SLOW SHOT "-TH] HABITS OF THE PRAIRIE-CHICKEN-ITS PROSPECTIVE EXTINCTION-MODE OF HUNTING IT-THE GOPHER SCALP LAW. W E had left the road and were now driving over the fine prairie skirting Webster's Mound, the grass being about a foot high and affording excellent cover. Taking advantage of its being matted so closely from the early frosts, the old cocks hid under the thick tufts and called for close work on the part of our dogs. Backli and forth across our path these intelligent animals ranged, the one fifty yards or so to our right, the other as many to our left, crossing and re-cross. ing, with open mouths drinking in eagerly the tainted breeze. This latter was in our favor, and both dogs suddenly joined company and worked up into it, with outstretched noses pointing to game that was evidently close ahead. The pointer crawled cautiously, like a tiger, his spotted belly sweeping the earth, and his tail, which had been lashing rapidly an instant before, gradually stiffening. He would open his mouth suddenly, drink in a quick, deep draught of air, and, closing the jaws again, hold it until obliged to take another (64) THE DOGS COME TO A POINT. respiration. He seemed as loath to let the scent of the chicken pass from his nostrils as a hungry news boy is to quit the savory precincts of Delmonico's kitchen window. The setter's old bones appeared to renew their youth under the excitement, and he was as active as a retired war-horse suddenly plunged into battle. Both dogs came simultaneously to a point-tails curved up and rigid, each body motionless as if cut in marble and one forepaw lifted. No wonder so many men are wild with a passion for hunting. Kind Providence smiles upon the legitimate sport from conception to close, and gives us a pose to start with fascinating to any lover of the beautiful, whether hunter or not. But one must not pause to moralize while dogs are on the point, or he will have more philosophy than chickens. All the party had got safely to ground and were behind the dogs, with guns ready and eyes eagerly fastened on the thick grass which concealed its treasure as completely as if it had been a thousand miles below its roots, or on the opposite side of this mun dane sphere in China. Not a thing was visible within fifty yards of our noses save two dogs standing mo tionless, with stiffened tails and eyes fixed on, and nozzles pointed toward, a spot in the sea of brown, withered grass, not ten feet away. The Professor took out his lens, ]Mr. Colon let down the hammers of his gun and cocked them again, to be sure all was right, while Sachem wore a puzzled expression as if undecided whether the attitude of the dogs indicated any thing particular or not. The 4 65 BUFFALO LAND. grass nodded and rustled in the light wind, but not a blade moved to indicate the presence of any living thing beneath it, while the dogs remained as if petrified. The Professor said it was very remarkable, and wondered what had better be done next. Mr. Colon thought that the dogs were tired, and we might as well get into the wagon. Another suggested at ran dom that we should set the dogs on, and Muggs, who ha(d probably heard the expression somewhere, cried, " Hi, boys, on bloods!" At the words the dogs made a few quick steps forward, and on the instant the grass seemed alive with feathered forms, popping into air like bobs in shuttlecock. Such a fluttering and flying I have never seen since, when a boy, I ventured into a dove cote, and was knocked over by the rush of the alarmed inmates. From under our very feet, almost brushing, our faces, the beautiful pinnated grouse of the prairies left their cover, and us also. Every gun had gone off on the instant, and we doubt if one was raised an inch higher than it happened to be when the covey started. The Professor afterward extracted some stray shot from the legs of his boots, and the setter, which was next to Muggs, gave a cry of pain for which there was evidently other cause than rheumatism, as was demonstrated by his retirement to the rear, from which he refused to budge until we all got into the wagon, and to which he invariably retreated whenever we got out. From the midst of the birds which were soaring away, one was seen to rise suddenly a few feet above 66 ~ - _ __ <~