USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 97
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A Hunt Along the Chariton.
"In September, 1821, Colonel John M. Bell, John Harris and myself went to explore the country north of us. None of us had ever been any great distance in that direction and it, so far as we knew, had never been traveled except by the Indians or an occasional trader. We started early in the morning and traveled all day long until about sunset; we then turned down a branch of the Muscle fork of the Chariton river to find a suitable camping ground. Just as we entered the timber I saw in the head of the hollow, three deer feeding very. unconcernedly. I motioned to Harris and Bell, who were a short distance to my left,
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for them to stop; at the first motion they halted and I dismounted, and stepping a few steps . forward fired at a large doe which stood in fair view. At the crack of the rifle she jumped and ran a few yards across the gully and fell. The other two, which were fawns, stood still, apparently at a loss what to do. As quickly as possible I reloaded my rifle and shot one of them, which also gave a few jumps and fell dead. The other one stood quiet, looking a little alarmed, and I again reloaded and killed it. Bell and Harris rode up and said: 'You surely must have some camp meat from the shooting you have been doing?' 'Yes,' I replied, 'I have a deer apiece if that will suffice.'
"The next morning we started carly and went on to the Chariton river. While riding through some timber in the forks of a branch I happened to see bees working in a small tree not over a foot in diameter. I called Bell and Harris and we stopped and cut the tree down with a large hatchet. After it was felled we found in it a large quantity of most excellent honey, upon which we dined.
"After leaving this place about a mile or so, I heard Colonel Bell hallooing, and went to him as soon as possible. Upon arrival I found he had ridden into a yellow jacket's nest and they had gone for him and his horse, which had thrown him into the midst of the infuriated insects, and they were stinging at a lively rate, I can assure you ; his eyes were almost closed from the effect of the stings he had received on the face, head and neck, and plenty of yellow jackets were still buzzing around him ready and willing for some more.
"By the Wars!"
"The Colonel never swore worse than 'by the wars' and as I came up near him he said: 'By the wars, don't come here, for see how I am stung all over.' 'Why, Colonel,' said I, 'your horse has shown more sagacity than you; why don't you run away from the devilish things?' 'By the wars,' blurted out the Colonel, 'I never thought of that, I was so busy killing and brushing them off of me that I did not think of running away from the place; but they have all been killed or have gone back to their nests, so there is no need of running now.' The Colonel left his coat he had been riding on near the nest, which he dragged away with a long stick. We then took the track of his horse and found him down on a small creek, grazing as quietly as if he had never seen a yellow jacket.
"We then took our course and after going about a mile up the creek we saw two large buck elk that had been lying down in some hazel brush. At our approach they ran off in a westerly direction. Harris and I pursued them at full speed. I was riding a very fleet horse, and after running about two miles I overtook the elk and ran between them, but Harris' horse being slower than mine he was so far behind that the elk turned back and ran into the timber, which put a stop to the race. After resting our horses a few minutes we turned back to hunt Colonel Bell whom we had not seen for over an hour.
"At last we found the Colonel and saw that he had been riding round and round in a small compass, and on going to him asked him what was the matter. 'By the wars,' he said, 'I have lost all the bread I was carrying in the bag on my saddle.' We separated and after hunting around for a while found the bag of bread. We then pursued our journey and after going a mile or more discovered about two hundred elk, but they saw us and ran east. We followed the trail which was very plain, there being so many of them in a fresh country.
Trailing a Herd of Two Hundred Elk.
"We kept on the trail to the main Muscle fork where they crossed it. The trail was about two hundred yards wide at the crossing with the banks very steep and high, but the elk went plunging in wherever they could get across and happened to come. I expected to find some of them with their legs or necks broken, but they seemed to have got safely over and galloped away. We followed the trail for many miles, but could never come up with them again. Late in the evening we turned west for the Muscle fork and when we came to it we encamped for the night. Being away from our meat, we had nothing to eat but bread and water for supper.
"All of us started out in the evening to hunt for squirrels. Colonel Bell killed two
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shortly after starting, but I went down on the east side of the creek and when about a half mile below the camp I heard something run out of the high weeds in the bottom, which I supposed to be deer, but to my surprise I saw out on the high lands five elk. They stopped on a point of the ridge. One large buck, which seemed to be the leader, stood with the point of his shoulder towards me. I fired at him as I would have done at a deer standing in the same position. The ball struck him where I aimed, but the bone was so large that it stopped the ball from going into the cavity of the chest, yet it broke the bone, for I saw the point of his shoulder swing out as he started to run off. I followed his trail with the full expectation of finding him dead within a hundred and fifty yards of where I shot him, which would have been the case if it had been a deer, but I soon found it would not do to shoot at a big buck elk as if he were a deer, for he travelled on away ahead of me. I followed his trail by the blood about a half mile, when night came on; I turned back for our camp which I reached a little after dark. Next morning Harris went with me and we tracked the eik I shot the evening before, but tracking was all the good it did, as we never found him. We returned to camp and helped to eat the four squirrels that Colonel Bell had killed and cooked. After breakfast all of us went out hunting. Bell went up the creek, while Harris and I went east as far as the great Chariton river, along which we hunted with poor success until late in the evening. As we were drawing near camp a black cloud rose in the west, which looked like a heavy rain storm was close at hand, when I saw a large buck standing on a ridge to our left. I jumped from my horse and fired at him, a distance of over a hundred yards. At the crack of my rifle, Harris, who was stand- ing close by me, said, 'You certainly hit him.' I replied that 'I knew I had if the distance was not too great.' We rode over to where the buck had been standing and found blood, which, after tracking some seventy or cighty yards, led us to where the buck lay dead. We butchered him as fast as we could, but the rain came upon us before we reached camp. On arriving at our camping place we were very much gratified to find Colonel Bell sitting by the fire with the side of a large, fat, barren doe roasted, and only awaited our arrival to enjoy a hearty meal of roasted venison.
The Monster Buck.
"The next morning we started up the ridge leading to the east, and did not go over a half mile until we came upon over thirty dry beds, where elk had lain during the rain. We hunted around and found the trail leading to the west, which we followed. It crossed the Muscle fork not over 300 yards above our camp. After crossing the creek I followed the trail on foot, with the others behind me on their horses and leading mine. I trailed them out to the high prairie and at last discovered them leisurely feeding across the steep hills. After taking a good look at the country I went back to meet the men, mounted my horse and told them to follow me. We rode north to a branch that headed close to where the elk were feeding. From there we rode about a quarter of a mile up the branch, then stopped and tied our horses and went on foot up a small ravine to its head, and on gaining the top of the main ridge we saw the elk about 200 yards from us. I had a very good rifle which carried a half-ounce ball on a level nearly 200 yards. We remained where we were and watched the elk nearly an hour. They were on a hillside in fair view of us, but we kept behind the bushes which were very plentiful, but low. Colonel Bell became quite restless and wanted me to shoot a very large buck whose horns I yet believe were between six and seven feet long. He insisted that I could kill him, but I told him to wait until the elk passed over the top of the ridge of the next hill, and in this way we would be able to get quite near them.
"So we sat still and watched them until the last elk had passed over the hill; we then broke and ran down the hill and up the other as fast as we could. It was agreed that I should make the first shot, at a doe, for at that season the bucks were not good to eat. Upon arriving at the top of the hill, we crouched down in a stooping position. I saw some of the elks not over twenty-five yards from me, with the large buck I spoke of not over thirty yards from me. I was tempted to break the arrangement entered into and shoot him, and I have regretted ever since that I did not, for it was the only chance I ever had of shooting such a monster of a buck. However, I kept the agreement, and looking around
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I saw a large doe about sixty yards from me, so I determined to shoot her; I up with my rifle and fired, and at the report of my gun the elks collected in a body and made off, slowly at first. Bell and Harris ran up and fired at the group which was crowded into a little steep hollow so it was impossible to miss, for you could not see the ground for a space of twenty yards square where the crowd of elks were, and not over sixty yards from us. They began to realize what the difficulty was and away they went at a full run. We concluded to run over the next hollow and get on the other hill to see what they would do. In running over the hollow I discovered a doe elk lying down with her leg under her. I stopped long enough to turn her over on her side and plunge my butcher knife into her breast. The blood flowed as it would from a stuck beef. I then ran on and overtook the other two men, and after watching the gang going about a mile and a half we returned to the two does we had killed. The one I had shot lay down in the branch about a hun- dred yards from the other. It was very lucky that I stopped long enough to stick the other doe, for upon examination we found that Harris had shot her in the big bone of the neck and had only made a small hole in it, from which she had bled very little and the shot had only stunned her for a few moments; and upon recovery, if I had not stabbed her, she would have jumped up and run off, but the stab had saved her to us. We skinned the two does and cut off as much of the best meat as we wanted and returned to camp where we salted the meat on the hides. The next morning we made a scaffold and laying the meat on small sticks built a fire under it and dried it. We also stretched the hides and dried them.
A Supper on Marrow.
"I remember one mess we had that first evening at the camp. I cut out six or eight of the large bones of the elk and threw them on the fire, letting them roast well; we then broke them and filled a tin cup with marrow, salted it, and ate very heartily.
"The third day after killing the elks we broke up our camp and started homeward. In passing along near some timber we saw a small buck deer standing about a hundred and fifty steps from us. I said to the others that I could kill him from where I was; they said it was too far for a sure shot. I answered that I would show them. So jumping down off of my horse I fired off-hand. The buck ran about seventy or eighty yards and fell dead. We took his hide which was a fine one, leaving his carcass where he fell. After riding four or five miles we discovered two buck elks feeding very contentedly on the prairie about three-quarters of a mile distant. We passed on to the right until we came to the head of a branch that led down near the elk. We got down on the branch and knew by some trees which we had notched, that the elk were not far from us. We hobbled our horses,-a common thing when we left them for any time,-and proceeded cautiously to the top of a high prairie. We soon saw the two elks, one of which was very large, the other a size smaller. We agreed upon our course of action. We crawled abreast close together, and on getting in what we considered short range for our rifles, we sat up and rested our guns on our knees; I was in the center and was to shoot the large elk; Bell was to shoot the small one. We were within two feet of each other and it was understood that when I gave the click or whistle all were to fire. Giving ample time for preparation I gave the signal and we all fired at once, or rather attempted to, for my gun snapped or missed fire. The others fired together. I ran about fifteen yards to where the elks were passing over a short hollow. Soon as they reached the high ground they stopped in good range, but my gun again missed fire. On examination I found that the flint had broken or melted nearly off. When I shot the last buck the flint snapped off about half way to the jaws of the hammer and I had failed to notice it. By this accident or blunder we lost the big elk and probably both, for the little one we thought was wounded, but it kept up with its mate which seemed a kind of a leader.
Bees and Bears.
"In the spring of 1820, in company with my oldest brother, Benjamin, I started on the first of March with the intention of finding some bees, which were very plentiful. We
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took some corn for our horses, intending to camp out for two or three nights. The day we started was very beautiful until the middle of the afternoon, at which time we had found seven bee trees in the forks of a creek called Turpin's branch, where there was plenty of timber. We had become separated, depositing our camp equipment on the banks of the creek before starting to prospect. The wind in the middle of the afternoon began blowing very high from the northwest, and it turned so cold that the bees quit working.
"I started north to gain some information of the country, never having been in that part before. I had eight or ten dogs with me, though I could not depend on but one to start a bear. The rest would run bear well enough when started, but they would also run wild cats, deer and turkeys well, of which there were plenty. However, the dogs were brought along in the hopes of starting a bear. After going about two miles I came to a thicket in the forks, which was about such an one as a bear would likely stay in. Finding a very dense part of the thicket I called my start dog, Ring, intending to set him out to hunt through and keep the rest of the dogs behind me. On calling the dog which was behind me, a large bear that had been lying within twenty yards of me, ran out over a small branch. The bear kept up the branch and I, keeping her in sight, ran up the side of the branch with the dogs all running after me, but yet they had not seen anything of the bear. At last we came to an open prairie and I was within fifty steps of the bear. The dogs seeing her broke for her with all speed, and as the foremost dog came up the bear stopped in the open prairie, and in a few moments a fight was begun between all the dogs and the bear. The mare I was riding was untrained and would not go near. After trying to ride her up, I jumped off and tried to lead her near enough to shoot the bear, but she would not go. Hearing one of the dogs hallooing for help, I let the mare go and ran up and shot the bear in the breast, the powder burning her, the shot killing her instantly. Examining the dog which I heard yelping for help, I found the bear had caught him by the head with its teeth, one of the teeth piercing his eye-ball, bursting it.
A Pack Load of Bear Meat.
"After the fight was over I looked for my mare, but she was nowhere to be seen. I found her track and following it for about a mile and a half I found her hung by the bridle in some shrubs. I mounted and ran her at full speed back to the place where the bear was lying, hoping it would gentle her, but not so; I could not lead her within twenty yards of the carcass. I then jumped down, pulled off my leather hunting shirt, tied the sleeves around her neck so as to let the body of the coat hang in front of her eyes and while thus blinded I dashed her over gopher hills until she would stand still wherever I would leave her. I then skinned the bear down each side and broke its back, cut off its head and neck, so as to lighten the load as much as possible, for I think it weighed 500 pounds.
"It was a solitary situation after all, as I was alone in the open prairie, with a wild mare fifteen hands high and the sun almost down, with over two miles to the camp through a strange country. I led the mare up by the bear, unbuckled the stirrup leather on the left side and let it down on the ground. I then got down and put my shoulder under the bear where the back was broken, took hold of the stirrup leather and climbed up hand over hand until I stood straight with the bear on my shoulder, which was a considerable task, as I was six feet three inches high. I then shoved one-half of the animal over the saddle, slipped my arm out and adjusted it in the saddle as well as I could. After this I took my rifle and jumped on the mare and rode off with her still blindfolded. After riding this way about half a mile I got into the timber. It was now getting dark, and I began getting cold with nothing on my shoulders but a shirt, so I reached down and untied my hunting shirt and pulled it off the mare's eyes. She scared a little, but the weight on her being at least 700 pounds she concluded to get along as easily as she could.
"At last I rode up to the camp where brother Ben had a good fire. I handed him my gun and jumped down, when he looked astonished and said, 'How did you get that huge animal on the mare?' I replied, 'I got it on like the fellow got the hen off the nest, by main strength and awkwardness, and did it on open prairie.' 'Well,' said he, 'I would never have
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undertaken the job, but you were made for such feats as no common man could have done what you did.'
"We took the bear, got some scaly bark, and Ben held the light until I skinned it and cut it up. There were at least four inches of fat on the ribs. The next morning I told brother Ben that we would go back to the thicket where I found the bear. So we went back and, while we were riding through the thicket, one of the unruly dogs (Tige) took off after a turkey which flew up near us. After the dog had been gone some little time I heard him barking. 'Ah!' said I, 'that turkey has lit in some of those saplings,'-for I could see there were no trees where he was barking. Soon I heard another dog barking at the same place, and then I heard the old start dog, who never lied, give tongue. They were in a detached thicket on the bank of a prong of the branch.
"I jumped down, took Ben's rifle, gave him my horse to hold, and with a rifle in each hand started across a small prairie bottom between two thickets. When I got about half-way across I saw a bear aiming to cross the little prairie below me. I drew up my rifle, and as the bear ran past me I fired and broke one of her shoulders, when she turned into the branch. The dogs were all around her. I picked up Ben's rifle which I had lain down when I fired my own, and ran to the branch and fired, killing the bear. We then pulled her out of the branch, skinned her, cut her in quarters, and laid the skin on some bushes to dry.
"I had observed another branch about half a mile north of us, and I said to Ben: 'Let us go up to that branch and see what sort of a place it is, while the bear skin is dry- ing.' On arriving at the branch the same dog that had run after the turkey and found the bear that I had just killed, set off after another turkey that flew up at the edge of the brush. 'Now,' said I, 'it may be that Tige will find another bear.' He had been gone but a few moments when I heard him bark, and then another and yet another until all the dogs had joined in the barking.
"We rode out to the edge of the brush and took up the prairie until we got ahead of the dogs, when I dismounted, handed Ben my bridle and took his gun. Then I ran into the thicket, which was narrow at that place, took my stand and awaited the slow coming of the dogs. On their approach, I saw a monstrous bear, the largest I had ever seen, coming slowly towards me, throwing his head first to one side, and then to the other, trying to keep off the dogs which were all around him. When within twenty or thirty steps of me the bear sat down. I laid Ben's gun on the ground and shot at the bear with my own gun. He got up at the shot, walked down a small descent and sat down again, with his breast towards me. I then raised Ben's gun, which carried a smaller ball than mine, and took aim at his heart, but the dogs pressing so close on his sides made him keep his head in constant motion to keep them off, and as I fired his head came in the way, and the ball struck him in the nose, which made him snort and charge around at a terrible rate. I then reloaded my gun, and as he stood broadside to me, shot him through the heart. He certainly. was the largest animal of the bear kind I ever saw, and I yet think he would have weighed 600 pounds. He had eight inches solid fat on the ribs.
"We skinned and quartered him, carried him to our camp, then carried in the she bear we had killed on the branch, hung up all our meat, went home after a wagon, and hauled home about sixteen hundred pounds of the finest meat I ever saw in one heap. We for- got the bees and made a bear hunt of it that time, although we afterwards camped at the same place and got a barrel of honey.
A Hunt for Young Elks.
"In May, 1822, James Leeper, Henry Ashby and myself started with four milch cows and calves, intending to catch young elks. The first day while driving along a high prairie ridge we saw a large red buck on a low bottom near a branch, feeding quietly about a half mile distant. I told the boys to stay there and I would go and try to kill him. I left my horse for them to bring on as the deer was on the way we were going. I went down the side of the ridge out of sight of the deer, and went behind the ridge and crept up in close shot of him, about sixty yards. The buck having lain down I stamped the ground until he arose, when I shot him, and he ran some seventy or eighty yards and fell dead.
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"I was behind the ridge from my companions when I shot and when they came up they exclaimed that it was the 'best shot they had ever seen.' 'Nothing extra,' said I. 'Why,' said one, 'the deer was over one hundred yards away from you and running as fast as he could, and you brought him down at the crack of the gun. Do you not call that an extra shot?' I then understood it. The distance to them was so far that they did not hear the report of the gun until they saw the buck fall. This explained it. The buck was fat and we skinned him, taking the greater part of him with us. The next day as we were going through a large prairie, we saw a buck lying on a hillside, and I said I could kill him from where we were. The others thought it too far. I jumped off my horse and sat down in the grass and shot off of my knee. At the crack of my rifle, which carried a half-ounce ball, the deer kicked over. We went over to skin it and while there we discovered a bear coming toward us. The other two proposed that they would run it on their horses, as it was some distance to the timber. I told them that I would not run my horse after it, but as it was coming toward us and had a large hollow to cross, I would go and try to get a shot at it, and they might run it as much as they wanted to. When I saw the bear was coming toward us, I went to the top of the ridge and waited until it came within about eighty yards of me, when I gave a sharp whistle, at which it stopped and I fired. At the shot he ran about 100 yards up the creek and fell. The boys had in the meantime stripped their horses of all their baggage and were mounted ready for the race; at the crack of the rifle, here they came at full speed. I pointed up the branch the way the bear had run and away they went until they came to the top of the ridge that overlooked all the ground about them, stopped, looked every way but saw no bear. After muttering awhile they turned and rode slowly back to me, where I was reloading my rifle. 'You stopped the race, didn't you?' said one of them. 'Ah,' said I, 'I did not like to see you run your horses.' We then went down to the bear, which was a two-year-old in good order.
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