boa slelileleie oie e jeer eeitets ca ate ewes . roe iS rae Fe eetees a ane arate oe. ote ta! coeers ae 2 rkh sis, BORER RESTS oe detce oe 6 +=4~8 @ en 0 bron 0 OO OO ? Rot aahe eelelech et $ pesigstetesss EE a «yi UT Upeer* 8 ees “e eee te egies feeelalele > we oF 7,2 * = a 4 = : ~ ‘ - Cae 4 - - y v . ° H | < . } : —\¥ Ke - . ‘ > a ~ 7 = ‘s ~ — i? wl y - * _ iS = of ones 8% 7 ¥ ~* a4) ‘ * ate #'s PGP ode \ ein ‘ ie bar a ps THE AUTHOR. HE SHADOW OFAGUN> BY H. CLAY MERRITT CHICAGO: THE F. T. PETERSON COMPANY 1904 LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two Gopies Received OCT 81 1904 Copyrignt Wr O42 a, (YF e. 1 NO: "Gs 42 DEDICA TORY: In memory of my old friend, Vincent M. Wilcox, Late of Madison, Conn., Who, on his wedding day, delivered to us these com- forting words: “I am now a benedict. I shall be the father of one child, and only one, to show you all what I can do,” I inscribe this volume. As it is the first, so also shall it be the last. Faithful to his promise. Address, R. Wess Witcox, New York City. THe AUTHOR. Copyrighted 1904, by H.. -GLAY MERRITT. INDEX OF SUBJECTS. Page. PO CMEALONY. «tase aes cea ote nets 4 P2GOTARCCH Mie. sper oe ee cate cee ies 9 FPCTMIMISGEN GES! ei Sele sic oe wteeses.e 3 Geos DIMMs che een ee ere 25 Simenia: SCMINAL YS) os .eeccss ae at Climbine \Che* ROOLW 7 jaewele stele 29 Walliams): COll6se: isis Get clots 30 Post Graduates Hunting...... 31 A Remarkable Scent.......... 32 Woodcocks on Hillsides...... 33 Partridges Hold Scent......... 34 “Go West, Young Man’’...... 35 Phew rairie] Mande eeenes ewes 37 WISE. FUGA CION: Vee sce cis secs oes 39 Learns in New York of Eng- MUST ST Ce os hes teaie. eeciteche dete 41 Rienty + COUNtY «1D SoD es setts o's 42 What Was and What Was TSS COILEY 6 sal Re 8 Ace ey 43 ACOs COMIN. vcs. co aes 44 Iee and. Guns Scarce.......... 45 Swarms of Game; No ane LiCO Lia tae Cea aog on eee Pe ea oer eens 46 Begin ‘Shipments of Prairie CHICKENS Mace lee here eites seers Ae VASIE LOS "AN Tay Wales acc else 48 Kill the First Jacksnipe...... 49 Geo, Mowcraft Geo. Cutmore & Dorr & Hig- ey Bowen Goes to Atkinson in Winter.. 53 Prairie Chickens in Henry Co. Nearly Exterminated ...... 54 ha ethe -Mirst DEC. feces vere 5b Trapping” Bir Games... cs... 57 Wild Turkeys on Penney’s Slouch: Col. HS. Bonds:%, 59 Ships First Car of Game to N. Y. from Geneseo......... 60 Myriads of Snipe on the Big peJCROF =a) AT eee reer Chi caren rae Prices Decline to Sixty Cents 0) INS Wee GILG ee riven iether ty Sele 62 IVEISON sy JiOLSS Toners acme cele eieecraleae 63 The “Gamey”’ Woman........ 65 Quails in Knox Co., “1856- 1860. 66 Sells Live Prairie Chickens.. 67 Sells Nelson Joles a Wagon.. 68 North of Oneida— “Sweet PIOUE Of JP TaAHiEL + acessieccs © se 69 No Sale for Snipe in 1860...5 2 70 Cyclone of 1860—Visit to Min- MIRE SO rates eaic ee aerats a rele lecot = otis aye ater 71 John A. Lyon and A. & E. TEX] 0) C110 ae pear ee rn ae RT le Snipe and Plover ‘Advance, RT! cra tS] Og Dam er NE CERERCRER ER ERTPSNE REE Edward Sumner Overloaded Markets Sell SiMe se WO Wa Meiosis ac esses se Lots of Golden Plover........ ae High Price of Game and Cer- BPS 5 LeeGelen- strates ee ie ovore oroce lobia ox 78 Page. The. Country “Smilesiss...2) 2 ee 79 Packing -»-Wookcocks) , 2.2222. .2; 80 Rock River Bridge at Colona 82 Habitat of the Woodcock.... 83 A Bargain in Furs, Wm. Bar- ORT, sek a He nhs Coe Sor oe eee 84 Aj Collings ah Savanna is. .e2 87 Nate Tompkins; His idiosyn- crasies 8 Did Not Care for Soft Drinks 89 Tompkins at Sabula, 1864.... 90 ee ee ee | Chas. Collins and Specht’s SEP OTIS |). . od tale visio re ee See ee 91 Woodcocks Disappear in Summer, Of WRba ee ee ee ee 92 Woodcocks Fly to Highest PPO CUS! Hi die teres olw'c 3 ots wusgoeeto Siiote aes 93 Ruse on Tompkins Succeeds. 94 Cassville and Dewey Hotel.. 95 Chas. Collins’ Misfortunes... 96 cere Sabula Hunters Secede in TET Stee tir Aude Breet Lost in Kickapoo Bottoms... 98 A. Collins Disturbs a Bear.. 99 A Vicious Rattler 1 Dog Stands Upon a Rattler..101 We Settle with S. B. Randall.102 Collins Asks Questions....... 103 The Long Bridge at Potosi..104 The Highest Mode of Exist- GNC! 35) Sede lee ces oe aa 105 "Thre" “Waision’? sacs Suc 5 eee 106 iA. -Collins% *SueGeéssiv-.2s.e ee. 107 The Three Propositions....... 109 Freezing Game Begins........ 110 First Frozen Mallards... 2. 111 Builds a Freezer in Atkinson.112 Sells Damaged Jacksnipe....113 In 1879 We Pack Snipe in Cans A New Shipper Comes in at Erie, Ill. Competition Begins. but Soon IES) sca ox stants See ee eae 11 High Prices, 1878 to 1885...... 117 Sells $1,000 Worth of Game...118 Pack Quails in nae ner idiot y.2 fo eekt sehr aereden tire a es ar Canvas Backs and Red PRCAUS +s. oie laeea cas cami acia deans 20 Sells 6 bbls. Canvas Backs BOTS SE Oe oetrcueoitlc feet tetetie tee IPA Sells 30 bbls. Red Heads..... 122 Steamboat Firefly, 1868........ 123 Built at Davenport, Iowa....124 Pass the Mississippi Bridge. 125 Get on Wrong Side of the EPL VIGIL ee aiee nee Ale okee obec 126 Stuck on the Rocks Below UGS OWATONNA: sous cs ciclqelers ca Series 127 Get Some Free Advertising. .128 We Reach Sabula and Hunts- ville 129 wor er ene eer eseseree se eesetas INDEX OF SUBJECTS—Continued. Pag Among the Islands Below Dubuque Turkey River and Cassville, BVA S atic ators Be Serticiteye aa haere tialeereishar tents 135 Get Tangled up with Steam- GOT ragh sate cotomise siete aetic aia svetere stale ee 138 We Hunt below McGregor, Iowa Seyberts and Collins Have a Racket Adventure with a Rattler...142 Mrs. M. Interrogates the In- dians The Smokestack Gives Out...145 Seyberts and Collins Land to Fight of We Return to Turkey River During Eclipse of Sun...... 147 And then to Cassville and Below Return to Cassville and Hunt.149 Run Channel of Rapids...... 150 Boat. Rests. HWasily «2.0.53... 045 151 We are Rescued from Rap- ids City Firefly Lies at Garden Plain. 153 Chas. Stannard 154 Third ‘Trip of the Firefly in USS hle Sirs geveweres ealscat IC eiot are he Bragg Pues 155 Storm above Prairie du Chien.156 We Land Just Below De Soto and .have Fine Success—Boat ee ee ee ee er Gets Loose with Dog........ 156 Annoyed by the Indians...... 157 Family Returns Home........ 158 Prairie Chickens Sell for $1.00 EOvan), Zo Pe Me PD EUIM cee erciils, cassie ete 159 Pe. FS RGOM: wie yale Ste bc sielessiei esd laciuets 160 Aer IVEG TTA © st ych vera s ero ere ateveieiots 162 RNG. OP GENS morceau ocusmceutoneine 163 - Their Dissolute Character....164 A Remarkable Trio........... 165 Ike Seybert a Degenerate....166 1 nok” wel Data Bc Wl Vey ae ia es ae ie ce Pele 167 Cause of the Cresco Disaster.168 R. E. Bailey Manages Badly.169 Try Frozen Grouse at Cresco in 1873 Boss the Last Trip of, Firefly UTA AUS festa ec efastreccsotalaaigcsiontetet ce hctere ere 171 Remarkable Woodcock Coun- — try on the Little Iowa...... 172 Greatest Banner Day Ever FLCCOT OEMs Fo ict.d ches si oa aruieckes ware Hight Hundred Birds in Seyv- OV AVS te said econ becatieh neo coats Klee 174 AP Cal ASUGTNG Ih tsgeltes waew cick 175 “presh Aish’ F(6air?? 2.22)e.iseene 177 Game Business in Henry Co. Nears an End in 1870....... 17 Trade in the West Begins...179 Dow Birds of Nebraska..... 180 Golden Plover in Minnesota.181 Summer Grass Plover not Plenty in Nebraska......... 181 Grouse of Nebraska............ 182 Decline of Ducks, Destruc- tion of “Pigeons ke o-eeeeeeee 183 Slaughter of Pigeons in Mis- souri, at (Low APricese.necece 184 Annawan Trade—John Lyle. .185 hee aaa Prairie Chickens in 60) Prairie Chickens in Towas a Chas:. Davenponte:s: cee eeaeeee 89 Mapes Brothers .........05e00- 190 Prices from 1856 to 1895........ 191 H. L. Lawrence of Boston..192 A Bad Deal with N. Dur- Wem Sob sheets Oe. ceteris oso 194 Before Freezers Were in Common Users. .seesoneee 195 Bad Game Spoils Markets....196 Game aws Destroy Fixity Of “PTIGES). “ceases. oe 197 Trade in Partridges............ 198 No Red Heads or Canvas Backs in, Uiinois...... 228 ae 199 Best Way to Make a Bag....200 Prairie Chicken Shooting ye 1866 Quail Hunting in Knox Co., Illinois Quail Plenty in Henry Co. in WRGO? Sis Helkvaas 2c ore hoe ee 203 Freezers and Trade in Fro- Zen “WGaAMe <6 sah hase nae eee 204 Refrigeration Started at World’s Fair in 1876.......... 205 Partridge Trade Ruined by St.Paul - Dealer: Meiseaeeras 206 Mapes Brothers Continued...208 John Mapes. Hunters ran MOUs 8: shhh Seis ee ee 209 George Beers as a Financier.211 Hunters Made Money Easily and: Spent: Hreely. o...c.sau0ee 212 By Pe Whipple... i: .aceseeeeeee 213 Saloons Pay in Some Way..214 The Race for Wealth is the Scaffold for Morals.......... 215 The Public Conscience......... 217 “The, Indian, )Wards) ....<, e7e2es Fon ny An TAVON s2ie. hk vow sone 219 AMOS \HROBDINSY < 5c om Oisee ere 221 Edward Sumner The Happy Hunting Ground IN}O 2 MEGLG 5 2 sabe deena oh aeons 225 Serville ctstes adeaiose seep 227 Don’t Expect to Dig up Dia- MIONGS: “los seit... eae ee 228 Me DOR 2a tcc atioce ne lee Mente Remit 229 Sancho—The Dog .............. 230 Characteristics of Dogs .231 Future of Game and Game Business Future of Game and Game Birds Changed Conditions are Fatal toiGameé, Birds....22.. ciseaw steetde 237 ee ay ee | INDEX OF SUBJECTS—Continued. Page Water and Cover Essential for Game: Birdsi\c. ci. esaeees 238 Quail Thrive Best ‘Among bearer SF es I ac Ha eee 239 Sport So-called is Ignoble....240 Taking) Life for’ > ‘Sports. is Brutal 2 Hunter for Profit Has Had His Day English Snipe or Jack Snipe. 343 PAR DZ ; Te. GAME BIRDS OF THE MID- DLE WEST. welds oe boo wl eee) a wom lets (ep 6) VERROG COGS: eco tc SAR ee oe eee ae 249 PP rArien CHICKEN. oBticeien eiers 6 «08 258 Prairie Chickens, Pintails ....264 Kansas Prairie Chicken...... 265 AUCH ai) tekslaciek eweteak es sloseeeOO PEERS PUI i oaisielateic wins eves 272 COV Ula on etree seein Gon saen A aie ik Se ole «wele (Olden: PIOVER | ch Siiele'e cele vaieis's 6 281 Grass Plover ..... Ce BEES See 285 PVM TOC Bos 5 wie nau craetie’s «cs 289 ADEE) Lys] DRUK Gh tt ae eS OER CIs ree Races 295 Green Wings and Blue Wings.297 Teal Duck 2 Canvas Back and Red Head. 301 RTT Ch NEWS nis) nwo 2 sicteur ots ieialejeld 304 PEGE P ie LING sO TIPMEDN s cipsece, rales & ais corere 309 Game Trial at Cambridge for MlesaloShippine ue suee. eas col0 Game Trial at Cambridge...311 Game Trial for Possession of StOGk.y we. 25d. Ss eete hohe debra 314 Conspiracy of Warden and Ghicaezo le PEalers Wh ness ms on 316 Enforcing Game Laws Makes Himiy Ce RIGGS, saiectt sad «ores soit 317 Game Warden Seizes N. Y. SARIMUCULES. cietsihe cunminerne te Brat sices 318 Game Warden Sues for Plea wy Damages peels iar seid clos 319 Trial Brings Proof I Shipped Onlys-asie A SCM san ose ee 320 Verdict for Defendant........ 301 Game Dinners Unfashionable.322 Great Neglect of the Game VTEC CTY 3.51: oc dace coed 323 PART’ Iff. EVOLUTION OF THE GUN. Oriein: of the Guniss oc. cheeks 324 Garden- of Wdenin cc e006 0k bene 326 The First Weapon a Sword. .327 Weapons of the Jews...... 328 IDM into cash. As a married couple, we thought we would go east and see our relatives in the spring, and on the 7th day of May, 1857, we left for New York City. The weather was unusually cold and I have never seen such a spring before or since. At that date there was no grass to feed cattle; every- thing that supported them had to come from the mow or the stack. The day before we left I went down on Indian Creek to kill a few snipe which I had seen there quite plenty a few days before. There was not one to be found, but there were a few grass plover in pairs about the fields and of these I killed quite a number, and added to these T LEARNS IN NEW YORK OF ENGLISH SNIPE. 41 put one chicken. These I put inside the trunk, where, after a passage of three days, it was no sur- prise that the birds I had were a little tender, but I took them out of my trunk and proceeded to sell them on the streets of the city. I got as far as Washington Market, when the buyers were so plenty and eager to buy and so thoroughly blocked my way that I was compelled to stop and put a price on them, and though the price seemed enor- mous, they were soon disposed of at what I asked. Not a policeman stood in the way; not a soul asked me what I was going to do with that prairie chicken. The dealer before whose stand I negotiated my trade had apparently a half bushel of small, dirty birds, water soaked and of such a hue it was hard to tell what manner of game they were, and at my inquiry what they were and what they were worth he assured me that they were English snipe; that they were worth three dollars a dozen, and that he would give me that price for all I could get that spring. It was too late for further shipments that season, but I formed in my mind what I would do with them the next year. Added to this I had found woodcocks plentifully in the woods adjoining the open lands where I found the snipe. Prairie chickens could be found everywhere in Illinois at that time. The corn fields were full of them in the fall, golden plover in countless droves flew over the fields in April and May, and with the ducks in thousands, it did not seem a bad proposition, to kill and market them if I could ship them safely to a market a thousand miles away. How this was ac- complished we shall try to relate. Henry County is our starting point. It is fortunate in many respects, it is fortunate in its rivers, which, beginning with small and unimportant creeks, flow into Green River, 42 HENRY COUNTY IN 1855. thence into Rock, and finally into the Mississippi be- low Rock Island, or the waters might take another direction and flow into the Illinois. It is a productive county with rich, arable soil, sloping slowly back from the river banks, making a perfect water shed which rains cannot inundate. It is in the Military Tract which the government set off to pension the soldiers and which embraces the counties of Adams, Henry, Stark and Bureau, lying north of the Ih- nois River. In describing the appearance of Henry County in the early fifties, we can better designate what it was not than what it was. It was a new. country and new people, and settlements were few. You could travel almost in any direction outside the limits of small towns and tracts of timber where settlements were begun without being harassed with fences. Probably more than half of the land was unoccupied. The prairie land was largely neglected. The settlers came from the East, where timber was plenty ; it was a luxury here. What trees were stand- ing were scorched and scarred where the forest fires had run through them. Their skeleton arms threw dark shadows over the highways. The highways stole softly around the hill sides or they clambered up where a ravine threatened to obstruct them, they paid no moment to section lines. Sloughs that had little or no travel in rainy weather were impassable, — Sometimes they were bridged, or had been, or had a few round logs thrown across, which threatened you’ with a delay, if not with a bath. The woods, where they were fenced, threw up a heavy undergrowth of shoots and wiry grass and young bushes fertilized with the rains upon decaying embers. In the low grounds along the creeks and streams the cucum- ber vines flung great arbors which it was impossible to walk or drive through. Vines of wild grapes WHAT WAS AND WHAT WAS NOT. 43 - hung from the blackened limbs and shrouded in deep mourning the enwrapped forest. Wild plums, with their ripened color and perfume, covered the hill- sides. Little streams here and there trickled down. The surplusage was held in tiny craters which did not run into the rivers or the sea. Tile and tiling were unknown. On the prairies it seemed desola- tion, neglected by man, a wilderness of waste land, it was roamed over by wild birds in the day time. The wolf sat and whined on the hill side or set up his sharp, short cry as evening set in. Cattle were few in the cultivated fields, on the prairies they herded or roamed in small bands. The summer heat was terribly oppressive. As Fall came on the heavens were vocal with birds heading south. In the Spring they remained until May. Thousands of pigeons in the cultivated fields and some nested in the country. Cranes stalked abroad in Spring and Fall on the open lands. Some nested here. Their call was caught up by moving flocks in the heavens as the summer days came on. The fields seemed nearer the heavens, farm houses clustered along strips of timber, the dews fell neither in few nor sparse drops. Your neighbor was distant, perhaps many miles, your crops brought low prices and transportation by wagon to market was long and arduous. The little cash you had was like the sur- vival of the fittest, not to be measured in value by things around you. You must pay taxes, but few things you could sell. You did not want many things. Taste and fashion did not live wheré you dwelt. You raised your own meat, you could and did often do without it. With grated corn you made bread for your breakfast; mills were miles distant, and your travel there was necessarily infrequent. In time you fenced your acres and improved them, but 44 RAILROADS COMING. you were not anxious to add to them. They were of no certain value, nor any great value. If you were sick you suffered in silence, or drove long distances for a physician to cure you or a priest to pray for you. Out in the corner of the field, on that little rising ground, the story. was told, if told at all, of your family, of its members as it came and went, of the little corner reserved for someone, your wife, if remaining, and for you. HOT WEATHER A. BURDEN With the coming of the railroads new life was in- fused in the County and State. The C., B. & QO. came in the southern part of the county in 1854. The Rock Island in the northern part two or three years later. Crops of wheat and corn began to be called for; farms that lately had no cash value brought good returns from the crop when corn was selling at fifty cents and wheat at one dollar fifty per bushel. Many farms paid first cost with only one crop. Little sta-— tions started here and there along the line of the railroad every few miles. All kinds of wares the farmers needed were offered for sale; the roads that traversed between towns began to be improved. Fences were built up, the lines straightened. Many farms that skirted the timber broadened out into the prairies, and increased their pasture where the land was not tillable. Labor brought good wages. Many of the comforts of life were lacking. Malaria was in. the air. In the low lands sickness was almost uni- versal, and mosquitoes a torment to man and beast. No contrivance existed that could keep them out of the house unless the doors were closed; blinds and screens were unknown. By reason of the fences you could not dodge the sloughs and go around them; many roads had no bridges at all, or they were built ICE AND GUNS SCARCE. 45 far away where the old roads traversed. Where the roads had been worked in the Fall and built up they were impassable in April; rains fell unceasing- ly; travelers went on horseback and left their ve- hicles mired in the roadway. Where one horse went in it took two to draw it out; flies, insects and sum- mer heat were the portion of all. The railroads did little to foster trade; their trains were infrequent, their time little better for passengers or perishable goods than present freight trains ; it took three days to reach New York. The express on perishable goods was high and often prohibitory. As a con- sequence, many goods perished; many goods that were consigned to distant markets were never re- ported by the consignees, if they received them. Losses were seldom paid and seldom recouped by new shipments. As a consequence, trade languished in all but the necessaries of life and goods in which slow time was unavoidable. There was no cold storage heard of, no refrigerators and no inquiry for them. Even ice was obtainable in summer only in towns and villages, and in limited quantities any- where outside of large cities; the price was so high but few people except butchers supplied themselves ; the means of cutting and storing it in winter were crude, and it was often hauled from long distances. Guns were few and of poor quality. The farmers and householders had only what they brought with them when as pioneers they came into the country. Rifles prevailed; muzzle shotguns were few and hardly obtainable ; the whole country could not have shown a respectable wagon load. In the winter time, during snows, prairie chickens perched on the fences, or on the old, swaying, croaking oaks that had not fallen on the hillsides, and morning and evening gathered around the unpicked cornfields, 46 SWARMS OF GAME, NO MARKET. What birds were killed were perforated with rifle balls and of little value; if they were ever marketed it was in the winter and for short periods only, and then disposed of in neighboring villages or sent to Chicago. Game dogs were hardly thought of. Un- til 1857 there was not a bird shipped out of Henry County in warm weather farther than Chicago. With the increase of new farms, game birds increased per- ceptibly, the grass sprung up everywhere where forest fires were kept out, and the quail nested and were prodigal of large flocks where the springing bushes supported the tangled vines and held up the grass tops. The cornfields distant from the woods harbored the chickens as soon as the corn was high enough for shelter, and they built their nests and multiplied on the hillsides not very far away. Woodcock were plenty along the streams in sum- mer. Snipe and plover fed along the low outlying lands in Spring and Fall in great numbers, and bred abundantly in the swamps, which were never drained. Immense flocks came and went during their passage North and South, the whole bottom land north of Annawan was one hideous squawking of ducks and geese and cranes which could be heard for miles in March and April. Moving herds and droves that made the circuit of the farms every day to feed, returned at nightfall to whiten the marsh and confuse and drown every sweet note and voice until they disappeared. Nobody seemed to think there was any market for any game anywhere ex- cept in cold weather, nobody knew how to pack in hot weather. Wing shooting was so seldom seen or practiced that a good shot was set upon as one to be watched and in genera: avoided. In the summer of 1858 we shipped our first box of grouse to New York, ice packed. The express was six dollars per BEGIN SHIPMENTS OF PRAIRIE CHICKENS. 47 hundred, and the box was packed so heavily with ice that, although the birds brought seventy-five cents per pair, we got but a few dollars out of it. About one-half of the birds were green and they brought only about half price. Two things we learned we must now do; we must cut down the weight of our packages by using less ice and lighter boxes, and we must draw our birds when we killed them. We kept the birds out of the reach of flies. We bought some birds when we could do it favorably to keep our stock fresh and make frequent shipments. We were the only shippers in the market, but the trade was new and weak, and in a week or two more we forwarded more birds than the market could use. We were advised to hold a few days until the mar- ket recovered. To do so we had to cut off our help. When it was gone we were ordered to send more birds, and so we seesawed one day with another, now a surplus and then a dearth, until the season passed away. We got not much cash, but we did get the experience, which was more necessary, that — we could kill and market in hot weather and expect moderate margins. The limitations which had been so frequent at first we began by steady sieges to work off. When cold weather came the demand in- creased rapidly and we could not find game to sup- ply it. Quail were wanted in October and Novem- ber and months following, and by increasing my staff of hunters, we made many strong shipments and received very good returns. We moved over to Geneseo and was in that neighborhood hunting for several years until the defenders of the noble art became jealous of us and made such war upon us: that we shifted our quarters to other parts of the county and to Kewanee, but never left the county only for short seasons afterward. 48 A VISIT TO ANAWAN. In the Spring of 1858 we traveled on foot to An- nawan, the first time we ever saw that village, in- tending to hunt English snipe if we could find them, as they were wanted in New York. There were only two men hunting there at that time beside us, and they were entirely engaged in killing ducks and geese. I endeavored to find out from them if there were any jacksnipe around there, or if they had ever seen any, and they could not even tell me what a jack snipe was. Snipes there were in plenty, they said, but when I came to pin them down they turned out mostly to be sand snipe of very little value, and finally they declared they would not spend their time killing such little birds if there were any. Pointing in the direction of the marsh, they said, ““Look over there,’ where the ducks and geese were flying in thousands, “‘l'inat is the kind of game we are hunt- ing, and that is worth something.” It was now about the first of April, no snipe as yet appearing ; and I accompanied the two hunters for a few days waiting for snipe to come, and we killed ducks and geese in abundance, but there was little sale for them and that was soon supplied, and the only re- turns we could get was to strip the birds for their feathers. In two hours’ shooting in one afternoon I loaded a horse with all he could carry and rode to Kewanee and sold the birds there. We usually shot late in the afternoon, and camp- ing out over night on one of the small islands, took in the morning flight and then returned to town till the afternoon again. We established our camp fire where our hunt ended, hung up our trophies on the adjoining trees, and turned in under cover of a few blankets. Some time in the night I began to feel uncomfortably warm on waking up, when I dis- covered my coat was on fire, and rushing up I called KILL.THE FIRST JACKSNIPE. 49 out to Bice and Porter, the two hunters, to “put me out,” “put me out,’ which they proceeded to do in the most primitive and unstinted fashion., In his last days Bice never forgot to mention that occur- rence whenever I met him and to inquire if I had been put out any more afterwards. Until the 15th of April very few snipe appeared. What few came were of poor flesh, and as I had not yet got used to shooting with my left hand and could not discharge the gun with my right hand, which had been crippled, they did not suffer much from me. When a bird flew to the right I could shoot as well as ever, but to the left it was much more difficult. On the morning of April 16th there was quite a fall of snow ; in the course of the forenoon it warmed up rapidly, little streams of water formed and ran along the highway and emptied into the gutters until they were full and overflowing, and the open space around the depot was soft and muddy. A little to the north- east some sags formed in the surface the water ran into and formed little ponds several rods around them, and further on into Latham’s, as it then was, the ponds were larger and the mud was heavier and deeper, so that we did not go there for a day or two. On that first day in the village of Annawan, with- in the limits of Railroad Square, we saw and sum- moned to surrender more jack snipe than we had before seen alive in all our life. Any good shot of this day would have killed one hundred birds easily where we barely killed forty. In a few days George Mowcroft associated himself with us and we took southwest from Annawan around the edge of Mud Creek and the low lands adjoining. We found snipe very plenty and golden plover were flying in large flocks across our track every few minutes where you could kill from three to six birds at a shot, and no 50 GEO. MOWCROFT. unusual thing to bring down ten or twelve. We had not learned the philosophy of using a team and wagon, and if we had we should have found it too expensive, and we let flesh and muscle bear the strain. George was an unusually good hunter. He never wanted to ship and I had to buy his hirds. He followed with me for two or three years ti the win- ter season, sometimes in Knox County, sometimes elsewhere, but he was always on hand in the Spring till prices fell so low in two or three years that he abandoned the game business altogether. If he had waited for the reaction he could have done a fine thing for himself, but he finally became discouraged and went to Nebraska, where I lost sight of him, and where, I learned, he afterwards died. No weather was too cold or too hot for him if there was a bird to be shot or a mink to be caught, and so he had funds enough to cover his expenses he cared for nothing further. When he went away I was owing him quite a sum, which still rematns in my hands subject to the rightful claimant. However, we continued to kill with little help till the first week in May, when the weather became very warm and the birds left us during one night. Our last ship- ments were damaged somewhat by heat, as we did not use ice and did not know how to use it, but Messrs. Robbins informed us we should break it up, mix it with sawdust and lay it on the birds, which we afterwards did. At that time all our sound — snipe sold from 18 to 21 cents each, and golden plover at something less, about 12 to 15 cents. In the summer I associated myself for a while with George Cutmore, who was said to be a good shot and had the best dog in Kewanee. I think the latter statement was true, as I used one of his pups afterwards, which I named Sancho, of blessed mem- GEO. CUTMORE AND DORR AND HIGGINS. 51 ory. With a Mr. Dorr, who furnished horse and wagon, we went west three or four miles and on the side of a hill in a wheat field we found a flock of chickens late in the afternoon. Dorr was a few rods away and the first bird that rose between Cutmore and myself was killed instantly. The moment it dropped Cutmore rushed for it and shouted, “I killed that,” without waiting for anyone else to claim it, put it in his bag and proceeded to load. He dumped in his load of powder in a great hurry, and, raising the hammer to renew the cap, he was surprised to find his gun had not gone off, and he had two loads in his gun instead of one, This created a great laugh and he took out the chicken and threw it over to me. In the rush he made to get the bird he frightened up the remainder of the flock and we only secured two or three of them. We did not take Cutmore with us any more, and. Dorr and myself hunted by ourselves. We could not find any outlet for our birds at home, although we offered them at one dollar per dozen. In Chicago some sold at two dollars, but if we had any old birds among them we could not get over a dollar or a dollar and a:-half. About this time, in August, pigeons began coming into the wheat fields five miles away from here, and Mr. Elliott, of the city, frequently asked to accompany me. We went out on the Frye place and in one afternoon we killed in the neighborhood of two hundred. Mr. Elliott took all he wanted and I shipped twelve dozen to Chicago, but never could ' get any track of what became of them. Altogether, the trade was not flattering, and Mr. Dorr soon gave it up. After that Charles Taylor and Clint Higgins brought in birds and I began packing for New York. In the first shipment of which we have reported of prairie chickens we had a few quail which brought 52 GO TO GENESEO WITH WM. BOWEN. twenty cents each, and these being light to ship left us a good margin when we bought at one dollar per dozen. We decided to try Geneseo, and in October, with five or six men, we went there. We killed along Green River hundreds of quails and they brought us about fifteen cents each. My first check from A. & E. Robbins was over eighty dollars, and I presented the same to Mr. Squires, the landlord of the Howard House, as the present Geneseo House was then called, for our board, and it frightened him. Board was then only three dollars per week and it did not count up very fast. We stayed there ten or twelve days and so many men came in and wanted to hunt I let our home crew return and trusted to this new contingent to supply its place. I also hired William Bowen to furnish team and hunt with me, which he did for over a year. In that time we had shipped from Geneseo over five tons of game and were getting a little start when the disturbance came on, as before related. In that time we had become acquainted with every hunter of note in that country, and my going back to Kewanee and later opening up at Atkinson was no disaster to the trade. From Atkinson I received all the birds north that was killed, and I operated there until New Years and bought much poultry. Everything prospered reasonably well. In the Spring heavy lots of snipe and plover would come in and I packed them promptly on ice, then placed them close in single boxes without ice, and they went through in safety to New York. Sometimes we met the Joles’ at the Green River Bridge, and once, when that bridge was washed away, they ferried their game over to us in skiffs. I carried in my buggy a full supply of ammunition and sold it to them to be paid for in birds. After a while I had some trouble with some GOES TO ATKINSON IN WINTER. 53 outsiders that did not pay up and I changed my plan. Instead of paying for the birds and after- wards selling out the goods on trust, I inquired of each man what ammunition he wanted, laid it aside for him, counted out his birds, took pay for the am- munition and cashed the balance. Mr. Joles would say, “Merritt is getting sharp, he does not believe in paying for game and trusting out the goods at the same time.” After 1863 I did not go into Knox County again, but hunted through the winter, sometimes at Colona and sometimes in Iowa, but the hunters continued to meet me and bring in wagon loads of birds when- ever they could reach me. In this way I received several thousand quails that were brought by Joles and Beers to Kewanee. After spring shooting was over we hunted woodcocks on Green and Rock River, commencing about June 15th and lasting till July ist. After that time we went up the Missis- sippi, after 1861, and hunted there till October. Some of the time we went into Iowa for chickens after 1869, but always was home again in Atkinson for the fall trade. From 1865 to 1870 the chicken shooting was good around Atkinson at first, and later on the Edwards River, and I found it much more profitable to hunt them than snipe or quail in the fall, except in cloudy weather. About 1870 I went to Atkinson in October, as usual, and south of the Grove to my usual haunts, and I came home ter- ribly discouraged. I found very few chickens along Mud Creek and west of there, where I had before found them plenty, and the market price was not improved, so I decided I could do better business only to buy and not to hunt regularly. Then for two or three years, till the summer of 1873, 1 hunted fit- fully, bought more poultry, had to employ help in 54 PRAIRIE CHICKENS NEARLY EXTERMINATED packing, and met and corresponded with hunters wherever I could find them, and started a nice trade west of the Mississippi. about 1880, to compensate my loss here and supply my increased customers. This is the outline for fifteen years, which the fol- lowing pages will endeavor to fill out. In 1859 I was at Geneseo, as related, and went to New York with a small carload of game. On com- ing out of the city I met, at Jersey City, a man of middle age who told me he was coming west to Henry County, to Colona, and I rode with him to Chicago. Hle said he had bought some property in Colona and was going to build a hotel there. In the previous fall I became acquainted with a hunter by the name of Bacon, about five or six miles north- west of Geneseo, who told me that quails were very plenty between his place and Colona, and I went down there in the early spring when the ice was breaking up and boarded with Mr. Sharp, who kept the hotel, and shot quails through all that hilly coun- try, sometimes with two or three hands beside me. When I was alone I tramped five or six miles or more up in the hills that adjoined Green River and sometimes camped out, made my fire and slept by it, and returned next day with two loads of quails on my back. It was most too cold to camp out with no cover, and I soon found a place where they would keep me over night close by, so I stayed there. When I camped out I could hear the deer snorting around at night in the timber and the next time I came that way, after lodging over night, I went out in the direction of where I had previously heard the deer snorting. This was the first day of April, 1860, and it froze hard and was very cold that night. As my dog was running along through the brush on the side of a little sag in the woods, he suddenly KILL: THE FIRST DEER. 55 pointed. I walked up expecting to find a flock of quails, when suddenly a deer sprang up from the cover, ran around the side of the hill so as to give me a square shot. I sighted behind his fore shoulder and blazed away at him. I never could tell how it happened but it seemed to break a leg. The shot Kills a Deer with Quail Shot. were very small and the deer carried that leg as in a sling, and I immediately fired the other barrel as he proceeded. I was rather dazed at the occur- rence which had so suddenly happened, but followed out into the woods in the direction which the deer had taken and in the course of twenty rods found him lying dead. I could not carry him but managed to pull him up into a tree where the wolves could not reach him and went back to Colona. I described the place so accurately that Mr. Sharp was able to 56 Ribs? THE FIRST DEER: bring him in next day in his wagon. I brought in fifty or sixty quails each trip. When returning I depended entirely upon my dog, as I was so heavily loaded that when he found a flock I would throw down my load till I had killed what I could and then press on again. In returning I ran through a flock of pigeons that were lighting on the trees, and they were not wild, considering that the limbs were bare of leaves and I added a large number of them. They brought eighteen cents each, about the same as the quails. In a few days snipe began to appear and, putting them together, I made out a small box and shipped them to A. & E. Robbins, and they sold for twenty cents each. They did not come in plenty enough and I moved up to Geneseo. Later we shot quite a good many wood- cock. on Green River northwest of the city after spring shooting was over and early in July. In August the birds were getting scarce there and I took a new man by the name of Samuel Cramer and we went over on Dutch Bottom, five or six miles north of Geneseo, to hunt chickens. We found a place to stop at the foot of the hills on your left as you descend into the valley of Rock River. I] do not now remember the name of the family but we will care it Moore. The man was a hardy but slender looking pioneer and his wife was always ail- ing with some kind of disease, or else it was im- aginary, and the man was frequently called in from his work to assist her in getting the meals. He never manifested any impatience at her frequent calls and she was very tender towards him, always calling him “Hubby” or “Hubby, dear.” The wife’s sister-in-law lived but a short distance away and was often called for when anything unusual oc- curred, or when any very sick spell happened, which TRAPPING BIG GAME. 57 Mrs. Moore was liable to get. When we came in at evening Mrs. Mocre was in bed and she was groaning and carrying on awfully, and the hus- hand was kept running constantly after one thing or another as the wife suggested, till he was nearly tired out. “Now, my dear,” she says, “my bed will have to be changed and you know you can’t do it alone. Run over to John’s and see if you Trapping Big Game, : 58 TRAPPING BIG GAME. can’t get Antionette to help you.” Cramer was near as Moore came out and he volunteered to go as Robert said he did not dare to leave. Cramer re- turned shortly and the two women proceeded to put the sick woman in order, while Cramer and Moore stood near ready to help if wanted. Mrs. Moore was lifted on the lounge while the bed was reno- vated and after many directions of “Now, Robert,” “Robbie, dear,” she was replaced as carefully as possible on the bed again. She did not seem to rest just right and Antoinette, who was standing at the foot, thought she would crawl under and see if she could not adjust the slats so as to raise the foot a little, and in so doing, she threw the weight all on one side. The slats broke down and the bottom of the bed caught her square on the back and held her down. Mrs. Moore was lying with her eyes closed. . She felt the weight fall off from her feet, and while Cramer rushed to relieve Antoinette, Mrs. Moore sang out, “There, stop now, Jeave me where I am, I am perfectly easy.”