USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 96
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United States Marshal Shelby.
Some of the Eastern newspapers had a good deal to say of the appoint- ment of General Shelby for United States marshal in Missouri. They seemed to think that he belonged to those whose course in the war was unpardonable. One republican senator was quoted as saying :
"Nearly thirty years have elapsed since the termination of the war. All that one can ask-even the most loyal Unionist-is that the government shall not be confided to men who, during that awful time, represented not fair battle, but rapine, cruelty and chaos. We, or most of us, believe that Jo Shelby be- longed to the latter class. Still, we can do nothing to prevent the consummation
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of the outrage involved in making such a man the representative of law and order. All we can do is to enter our solemn protest."
This was only interesting as going to show how little the rest of the country even yet appreciated the fierceness and savagery of the warfare of the border, and particularly that which was waged within the limits of Missouri. Perhaps there never was a country so divided against itself and so continuously drenched in blood as was the State of Missouri. Certainly no other state came out with such scars. Virginia was fought over, but the Virginians were on one side. To the other horrors the Old Dominion did not have to add fratricidal strife and neighborhood contention.
As far as General Shelby was personally concerned sufficient answer to what was printed about him was found in the fact that ex-Commander-in-Chief William Warner, of the Grand Army, wrote a letter indorsing him for this appointment, and then tendered hearty congratulations on success, ,while ex- Gov. Thomas C. Fletcher, the war governor of Missouri, went in person to the attorney general to say that no mistake would be made in the selection of General Shelby. Union veterans vied with ex-Confederates in their mani- festation of good will to Shelby.
CHAPTER XXVII
MIGHTY HUNTERS OF MISSOURI
Strategy in Elk Stampedes-Turkey Slaughter in the Ozarks-"Shining Their Eyes"-Game Tallies Along the Iowa Border-Wild Turkey Sausage-Bear Homes in the Grass- Abner Smith's Sled Load from One Shot-A Missouri Esau-Millions of Pigeons-A Suit of Panther Skins-Squirrels by the Bushel-Coonce and "Old Betsy"-Sam Cole's Recollections-The Bandana Ruse-When Fish Clogged the Mill-David Bowles' Win- ter Record-Three Deer at One Fire-Dr. Graham's Nerve-Boys Chased by Angry Deer-Major Daniel Ashby-A Record of Official Integrity-Stories of Three Expedi- tions-When Game Abounded along Grand River-Bee Trails at "The Forks"-The Annual Harvests of Sweetness-Honey by Wagon Loads-Law of Bec Tree Titles- How Morrow Saved a Swarm-Madame Chouteau and the First Hive-"Yellow Boys" in Pioneer Commerce-The Tallow Fork of Beeswax-Barter at Glasgow, Richmond and Brunswick-Poor Tom's Creek-An Expert on Honey Hunting-Amos Burdine, the Missouri Munchausen-Eccentric Customs and Amazing Stories-"Jimps" Dysart's Temptation-Norman J. Colman and Charles G. Gonter.
I am now eighty-five years of age, but if I knew there was another country in the wide world like Missouri was when I came here, I would go there to spend the balance of my days, even if I knew I only would live six months .- From the Journal of Major Daniel Ashby, Mighty Hunter of Missouri.
Upon the Missouri prairies large herds of elk pastured but in the hunting of them, the first settlers made use of strategy in which the forests on the streams were utilized. It was the custom to ride on one side of a herd and start it toward the timber. The hunters followed until the elk were among the trees and then closed up on them. The antlers of the bucks caught in the low branches and made progress slow. In this way the herd was overtaken within rifle range.
For many years turkeys were so plentiful, especially in the Ozarks, that the hunting of them could hardly be called sport. They had roosts which they fre- quented. It was no trouble to slip up on a roost at night and slaughter the birds; but recovering them was another matter. Wolves followed the hunters, keeping in the dark and circling around to the vicinity of the roost. As a turkey was dropped by the shot, the wolves would rush in and seize the game before the hunter could get to it.
The Staffords, of Cyclone, in McDonald county, were a pioneer family. When Claib. Stafford was a small boy his father sent him out into the field on some errand and allowed him to take the family gun. The boy heard a noise in the corn near a log and a sapling. There was a patch of black in sight, which the boy guessed was a coon. He rested the gun on the fence and fired. On his way back home, without investigating, the boy met his father. The two
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went to the log and found a large bear dead. The patch of fur exposed had been the breast. The shot had gone through the heart.
Daniel Boone bestowed the name on Bear creek in Montgomery county be- cause of the number of bears he found there. North Bear creek in the same county was named by Presley Anderson, a newcomer of 1817. Anderson saw two cubs up a tree, laid down his gun and climbed up to take them alive. Hear- ing a great commotion below, Anderson looked down and saw the mother bear coming up after him. He couldn't climb higher. Measuring with his eyes the nearest tree he made a desperate leap and landed safely, and just in time for he could feel the breath of the she-bear on his ankles. Sliding down the second tree, he ran to the one from which he had jumped, got his gun and killed all of the bears.
"Shining their eyes" was a phrase used by the early hunters of Missouri when they went out after dark to get deer. Two men went together. One carrying a torch and the other the gun. Making their way slowly and quietly in the Ozark country the pair would come within range of a deer, usually at a salt lick or spring. The deer, instead of running, would turn and stare in wonder- ment toward the light. Then the hunter would aim with his rifle between the eyes which glistened in the distance, and which were all that could be distin- guished in the surrounding darkness. Occasionally bear or panther would stand and be brought down by the "shining the eyes" device.
Colonel John Shaw told of a hunt in the Ozarks, in which he collected "fifty beaver and otter skins, 300 bear skins and 800 gallons of bear oil." He col- lected these products at the headwaters of White river, built boats and floated down to New Orleans expecting to ship to Europe and get good prices. The "embargo." he said, was in force and the sale of all of the pelts and oil yielded only $36.
Great Sport Along the Iowa Line.
Clark county pioneers near the Iowa line handed down some of the almost incredible tales of game and honey. Uncle Joe Bennings told a younger genera- tion that his wife found fault with him for bringing to the cabin home so many wild turkeys. Deer were seen in herds of fifty. John Wade kept a tally until it showed he had killed 500 deer and then gave up counting.
Robert P. Mitchell, John Montgomery and George K. Biggs started on a wolf hunt, one winter morning with the snow a foot deep. They found a pack which broke up and started in different directions. Each man picked a wolf and went after it. Biggs' wolf ran towards the Mississippi river. Biggs over- took it. pulled one of his stirrup straps loose and struck at the wolf. He missed, but the saddle turned, throwing him on top of the wolf. Biggs got the wolf down and held it with both hands to keep it from biting him. Then loosen- ing one hand he got his knife and opened it with his teeth and cut the wolf's throat. As he made the thrust, the wolf jumped at his throat and caught his coat collar.
An old black she-wolf became the pest of the extreme northeast corner of the state. She carried off pigs weighing as much as eighty pounds. She stuck
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FOX HOUNDS FROM A MISSOURI KENNEL
LIFE IN MISSOURI In the days of the mighty hunters, the log houses were built without nails. Oiled paper served for window panes
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her nose into the cabin door of a settler named Stillwell and would have made off with a baby but for the quick action of the father.
Harvey Coombs, his brothers and two companions, William Price and Brad- ford Hanan, in a single day's hunt along the Wyaconda got thirty-five coons and left five more treed. They were too tired to continue the hunt.
William G. Mills and Andrew G. Darby of Scotland county kept their rifles with them while husking corn. In one day Mills killed sixty-five and Darby killed sixty wild turkeys. They saved only the white meat, mixed it with pork and made sausages.
Bears were so numerous in Missouri that they hibernated in queer places. When Captain W. K. Ramey was a boy, in Pettis county, he came on a heap of grass one March day, before spring had fairly opened. He pushed his hand in and felt a bear. Drawing away to a safe distance, he fired and killed the old she-bear. Two others, one a year old and the other a cub, came out of their winter home. While Ramey was loading the dog held the attention of the young bears. The yearling fell at the first shot and then the cub was brought down from the tree which it had succeeded in reaching.
Audrain County's Modern Esau.
What is, probably, the most marvelous story of turkey hunting in the early days was told by Abner Smith. This mighty hunter said he discovered a place where turkeys had been roosting. He cleared the brush and grass from a small piece of ground and scattered shelled corn there. This he did several times and noted that the turkeys came regularly to eat the corn. His next move was to drive two sticks in the ground with a small space between them. Be- yond the sticks he dropped some wheat. Smith had an old army musket. He loaded this with slugs, a heavy charge, and fastened it in the forks of the two sticks so that it would cover the spot where the wheat had been dropped. To the trigger he attached a string and concealed himself in the branches of a tree which had fallen not far away. Smith kept in hiding until daylight. Then the turkeys began to fly down from their roost. They found the little heap of wheat and began to crowd around and eat. When there were as many as could reach the bait, Smith fired. He said the old musket sounded as loud as a cannon. A glance showed there were more dead turkeys on the ground than a man could carry. Smith went home, hitched his horse to a sled and came back. He put fourteen turkeys on the sled, making as much of a load as the horse could well pull.
Abner Smith gained further local fame by trapping a wolf which had had one experience with the steel trap, losing a fore leg, and which had defied all of the ordinary devices of the farmers of Audrain county. Smith jumped a deer and killed it near the haunts of the wolf. He took the best part of the carcass home. The next day he visited the place, and, as he expected, found the tracks of the three-legged wolf in the snow. He located his trap in the water of the creek, hung the carcass over it, put some moss on the apron of the trap, so arranged that it appeared above the surface of the water. He did this because a wolf never wets his feet if he can help it. The next morning the wary wolf was in the trap.
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Smith was a story teller as well as a hunter. One of his tales was at the ex- pense of a neighbor, W. R. Cook, who had recently come to Missouri. . Smith had taken Cook out to show him some hunting. They started three deer which jumped up within twenty feet of Cook. Smith fired and killed one. Cook was seized with buck ague and didn't shoot. "Why didn't you shoot?" Smith says he shouted. Cook, according to Smith, replied: "Oh, I'm hunting snipe, I am. A deer looks too innocent to be shot down in that way."
Smith delighted to refer to himself as the modern Esau. When he first came to Audrain, he was offered a cabin, a fenced field and a land claim for $300. But he was so filled with the love of hunting that he had no idea of settling in one place. He said he wouldn't give $300 for "all of the land within the sound of a bugle blown from his cabin door on a calm morning." He hunted for years, went down to Texas and came back with new ideas about the value of Missouri land and secured a claim.
Pigeon Roosts.
In October, 1874, 2,500 pigeons were killed at the roost near Marionville in one night. J. S. Drake thought there were 25,000,000 at the time, for he remem- bered seeing the flying flocks shut off the very sunlight like a vast cloud.
When all of the country between Missouri and the Osage rivers was one county a settler named Fisher, living in what is now Johnson county, killed two deer before breakfast. After eating he went out to bring in his game. On the way he killed another deer within quarter of a mile of the house. In twenty- one consecutive shots he killed twenty deer.
Nicholas Houx, another of the settlers in that part of Missouri, killed nine panthers in one week. From the skins he made a suit of clothes and a cap. He hung one tail from his cap and the other eight tails from the border of his coat. The suit made such an impression on the neighbors that Houx was offered $150 for it. Houx made another record. He could get out 250 rails in a day and then visit with the neighbors until ten o'clock. He built the first brick residence in Johnson county.
Peter Cooper told the story of a hunting match in Callaway county. Two of the pioneers, David P. Calvine and Gabriel May, organized the match with three hunters on a side. This match followed a preliminary contest at killing squirrels with poles when the squirrels came to plunder the corn cribs. One side killed 176 squirrels and the other side got 286. It was then decided to hunt for twenty-five cents worth of whiskey, the hunting to be limited to a given number of hours. The game brought in was too much to be counted. It was decided to measure. May produced five pecks and Calvine nearly a bushel. Calvine paid the wager.
Reconstruction of Betsy.
As early as 1827 Jacob Coonce was a mighty hunter along the upper Osage and the Sac rivers. In 1831, according to the local tradition, he built the first cabin in what is now the county of St. Clair. There were so many attractive locations in this hunter's paradise that Coonce found it hard to make a choice.
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He built first near the Sac river and later moved to a new location near Brush creek. Coonce hunted with the old flintlock until some one told him of the new fangled percussion. He started on horseback for St. Louis to have "Betsy," as he affectionately called his rifle, changed. He wore moccasins, buckskin leggings, a coonskin cap and carried a blanket. On the way he stopped at the place of Robert H. Sproull in Henry county and told of his purpose in going to St. Louis. Sproull was a locksmith and convinced Coonce that he could do the job. "Betsy" was left with Sproull but Coonce having started decided that he must go on to the metropolis. Coming back Coonce received his remodeled rifle, patted it fondly and said to it, "Old Bet, you and I have never been parted so long and we won't be again." Putting a load in the rifle and a cap in the new lock, Coonce looked about him for a mark. He saw a squirrel on the top of a tree. Raising the rifle, he sprung the new lock and brought down the squirrel. Turning to Sproull and smiling, Coonce said, "She is all right," and rode away to his home in the hills of the Osage country. Other white men came, the Waldos, the Culbertsons, the Gardners, the Burches and scores more, but the hunting continued good. As late as 1840 it was possible to see herds of deer every two or three days in traveling through that part of Missouri. The settler who was a good shot could go out any time and bring back a buck for dinner.
Samuel Cole, Mighty Hunter.
Samuel Cole, who came to Central Missouri a boy, told these hunting stories :
"When I was about twelve years old, I started one morning to hunt for game. My brothers had an old flintlock rifle, which I carried with me. It was a large and heavy gun, and was.so heavy that I could not shoot it without taking a rest. I came up the river, keeping near the bank, until I got to where the courthouse now stands in Boonville. Under the trees, which then covered the ground in the courthouse yard, I saw five deer standing together. I selected one of the finest looking ones and fired. At the crack of my gun he fell; but when I went up to where he was, he jumped to his feet, and would have followed the other deer towards the river, had I not rushed up and caught hold of him, putting my arms around his neck. He pawed me with his sharp hoofs and horned me-his hoofs making an ugly gash on my thigh and his horns striking me on the forehead. The marks of both hoofs and horns I carry with me today. I held the deer until my dog came up. I then loaded the gun and shot him again, this time killing him. This was the first deer I ever killed, and although it was a dangerous undertaking, the experience only spurred me on to gather trophies of a similar character.
"I killed five bears just below the town-where Boonville now stands-and killed twenty-two bears in three days. I killed four elks in less than one hour's time. There were a few buffaloes in the county when I came, but these were soon killed or driven further westward. I never killed a buffalo, but caught five calves of a small herd near the Pettis county line. I have seen as many as thirty deer at one sight at Prairie lick. One day I went out upon the prairie, in the spring of the year, and saw about twenty deer-all lying down except one; this one was a sentinel for the herd. I approached within about three hundred yards of them and took my handkerchief, which was a large red bandana, and fastened it to the end of a stick and shook it a little above my head, when they all sprang to their feet and came towards me .. A deer has much curiosity, and they were determined to find out, if they could, what the red handkerchief meant. When one of the largest of the number came within gunshot distance, I shot and killed it. I often repeated the handker- chief ruse with great success. I have killed and carried to the house three deer before breakfast."
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Marvelous Stories of Fish and Game.
One of the most marvelous fish stories of pioneer times is about the Moreau in Cole county. It was told by the owner of a mill who was sent to the legis- lature. The fish of the Moreau were so numerous at the time, about 1835, that the wheels of the mills were not infrequently choked with them and the machin- ery was stopped until the gates were shut down. and were cleared of the wriggling masses. Some of the exploits of the mighty hunters have been told by Walter Williams :
"Joseph Petley, a Kentuckian by birth, an early resident of Audrain county, was the greatest hunter and trapper of his day. He is said to have killed more bears, deer, panthers, wildcats, raccoons, and wild turkeys than any two men in Missouri. He was very stout and was often seen carrying two deer, one strapped to each shoulder, and his gun at the same time. He would carry such a load as this for miles without appearing to become tired. He lived to a very old age and died in 1874. While he was lying on his deathbed he had his gun and powder horn, a set of buck's antlers and the skins of wildcats, raccoon and bear hung where he could gaze upon them as he died.
"Of David Bowles, a Virginian, who was a pioneer in Montgomery county, it is related that during one winter he killed 120 deer, three elk and four raccoons, besides taking 350 gallons of honey from the various bee trees that he found. The same year he killed the famous buck which the hunters had named Gen. Burdine, and which had thirty-three prongs on his horns. When his favorite dog was hung by a grapevine in the woods he quit hunt- ing. Bowles was twice married. The story is told that when the second marriage ceremony was performed he was so overjoyed that he danced about the room, waving his hat over his head in his excess of delight, struck a lamp on the mantel and dashed it to the floor. In a moment the house was on fire and was soon partly destroyed by the flames.
"John Kiser, a Tennessean, who came to Montgomery county, is said to have killed forty-five deer in a single day. At another time he killed three deer at one shot. Dr. Robert Graham, whose grandchildren yet live in Montgomery county, settled there coming from Kentucky. " He bought a Spanish grant of land situated on Loutre creek from Daniel M. Boone and built an elm bark tent upon it, in which he lived for four years. He was a very small man, but of a very determined will, and a nerve that could not be shaken. He was a voluminous reader and a great admirer of Benjamin Franklin. Dr. Graham was, as were most pioneer Missourians, very fond of hunting, and devoted much of his time to it. One day a large wolf got caught in one of his steel traps, broke the chain and dragged the trap away with him. With two companions, he tracked the wolf and came upon it where it had gone into the creek and was struggling in the water. Dr. Graham waded into the creek with the purpose of killing the wolf with his knife, when it caught one of his hands and bit it nearly off, but he finally succeeded in killing the animal. On another occasion, the doctor and a party of hunters ran a large bear into a cave and tried to smoke it out, but did not succeed, and finally shot him. After the bear was dead, Dr. Graham was the only one of the party who had nerve enough to crawl into the cave and drag the dead animal out. Wolves were plentiful in the woods in those days, and one day Dr. Graham killed thirteen of them."
Chased by Deer.
An old settler of Montgomery county, H. E. Scanland of Mineola Springs, remembered when he and his brother were chased out of a field by deer because they ventured too near the fawns. In his boyhood he built traps to catch quails which he sold for fifteen cents a dozen. Rabbit skins brought fifty cents a dozen at the hatter's shop.
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"I recall also in those days we killed our hogs in the woods, where they fattened on acorns, and we could have all the honey we wanted by going into the timber and chopping down a bee tree. And, just think of it! There was a rise in the price of wheat, and it got to be worth three bits (371/2 cents) a bushel, struck measure. Good horses were worth $20 to $24 and oxen $15 to $20 a yoke. Milch cows from $7 to $13 each. The kind of rails Abe Lincoln made cost 371/2 cents per 100-that was the price paid for 'making them.' A negro would hire by the year for $40 for the 12 months and two suits of cotton or linen clothing and two blankets. The best class of work hands got $8 a month and the common ones $3 to $4 a month. All of our shoes and clothing were home-made, and yet those were our happiest days, even if we did have biscuit only once a week, and that on Sunday morning. Venison and wild turkey with old-fashioned corn-bread johnny-cake and trimmings were good enough for us and made life worth the living."
Major Daniel Ashby's Journal
For a period of more than eight years Major Daniel Ashby had charge of the United States land office at Lexington. He was not called upon to make settlement with the government until he went out of office. He had taken in $1,650,000 from the settlers to whom he had sold land. When his books were closed it was found that the government owed him $34.25. The settlers paid for their land in silver dollars as a rule. This money Major Daniel Ashby put in kegs loosely, like nails. Periodically the major loaded these kegs in a wagon and drove to St. Louis, having with him two negroes. The drive was made over many long stretches of road where there were no settlers. In his journal, kept with wonderful fidelity, Major Ashby said he was never disturbed on these journeys. For six years this notable pioneer was a member of the house of representatives and for the same length of time he was a state senator, at one time president of the senate. He closed his journal with this quaint summing up of his sixty-two years of Missouri citizenship:
"I am now eighty-five years of age, but if I knew there was another country in the wide world like Missouri was when I came here, I would go there to spend the balance of my days even if I knew that I only would live six months."
Major Daniel Ashby by his will left his journal to his wife who in turn be- queathed it to her daughter, Mrs. Perry S. Rader.
As a mighty hunter, Daniel Ashby was ranked one hundred years ago with Daniel Boone. Ashby, however, had the advantage of Boone in that he could tell with fascinating detail his adventures of the pioneer days. Coming with his party from the vicinity of Harrodsburg, Ky., Major Ashby pushed the picket line of settlement beyond the Boone's Lick country. He brought vividly to the attention of newcomers the attractive opportunities of the Chariton and Grand river sections. Of three of his many hunting expeditions, Major Ashby left these narratives :
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