USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 17
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In the forties, when Long lived above Falls Creek, he went through wastes of snow and icicled trees to find a buck that he had wounded, and took his son Jack, who was but a boy, along with him. On their way the dog scented some animal that was no deer, and Long told him to go. The dog soon treed a panther, and when the two hunters came to him they found two more panthers on the ground. The dog seized one of the animals, and Jack stopped to shoot the one on the tree, which, after he had shot twice, fell dead. At the same time Long threw his gun down in the snow, as he could not shoot for fear of killing the dog which had seized the panther. Long then ran to the dog's assistance and tomahawked the panther. Jack then came up to his father and said, pointing, " There is the other one looking at us." The dogs were urged on and both took hold of this panther; Jack ran in and caught the panther by the hind legs, the dogs having him in front. Jack was anxious to take this animal home alive and wanted him roped. Long got a rope from his knap-sack and tied it around the hind legs. Making a noose, he put it over the panther's head and tied the rope to a sapling, and Jack pulled back on the other rope, thus stretching the panther full length. The front feet were tied without any danger and the panther was soon secured, but when they had him tied and ready to move home, they discovered he was bleeding at the throat. On looking closely, they discovered the dogs had cut the jugular vein, and before they had the other two animals skinned, the third one was dead.
On Bill Long's first trip over to Chess Creek, he took Colonel Smiley with him. Nearly everybody in those militia days was either a colonel, a major, or a captain. Under this system Pennsylvania had one year forty-eight gen- erals. Colonel Smiley then lived between the town of Du Bois and where Luthersburg now is. They went on this outing for young wolves. On ar- riving near the head of Chess Creek, they found a very rocky ridge, when it was nearly dark. Long told Smiley they had better lay by for the night, as he thought there must be wolves near there. Smiley wanted to know where they would sleep. " There, upon that," said Long, pointing to a flat rock. Smiley then picked up a pheasant feather, remarking that he was going to have a downy pillow any way. Long, as usual, made a bed of hemlock boughs. and the two slept upon this bed on the rock. Smiley took his feather and there
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in this deep forest, with nought but the sky above their heads and the shadowy clouds that passed, wrapped in the arms of Morpheus, they slept until about the hour of one, when in the deep stillness of night they were awakened by what proved to be the bark of a dog wolf. Long told Smiley to listen to see if there would be an answer to this bark. Soon they heard an answer in a howl. Long then told the colonel to arise and set the compass for the direc- tion of this howl, for this was a slut, and by this means they could see if the howl was repeated in the morning at the same place. About daylight the dog wolf commenced to bark again, and was answered by the slut with a howl. Long said, " Set the compass now." This the colonel did, with the remark, " She is at the same place." "Now," said Long, " let us follow the direction," and the colonel, keeping the compass before him, they came, after about three- quarters of an hour, to where a big tree had been blown out of root. There was that she-wolf near to it. On coming up they found nine pups, and while they were getting the pups the old wolf came at them with her mouth wide open. Smiley drew his gun to shoot, but Long told him not to shoot, for that wolf was more to him than a horse, as he wanted to get her pups next year. Long then killed seven of the pups and took two of them to Oldtown, now Clearfield, where he sold the two live ones and got the bounty for the seven he had killed. Long got the pups of this wolf for three years afterwards, always near the same place. Shortly after this Long took his little boy Jack and started up Spring Creek on the Clarion River to the big elk lick there. He stayed at the big lick, and put Jack at a deer lick a short distance further up the creek. Long soon heard elk coming into his lick, when he fired and killed one. Jack, hearing his father's shot, came down to him the next morn- ing. Long left the boy to skin this elk and started for Ridgway to get a drink and some provisions. On his way up to the town he killed five deer. When he returned Jack had finished skinning the elk, which Long then " jerked," took to Brookville, and sold in cuts.
Our elk was what scientists called wapiti. Other common names were red deer, stag, gray moose, or gray elk. They usually lived in families. Their horns were round, with twelve or more regular prongs. A perfectly devel- oped set would weigh twenty or thirty pounds. They calved regularly in May.
Mike and Bill, with their dogs, started for the waters of North Fork, taking a bottle of whiskey with them. When near the head of this stream, the dogs took the scent of wolves and followed them under a large rock. Bill crawled under this rock and took from it eight young wolves. These scalps brought sixty-four dollars. Long went another time and took his son Jack, who was quite small, with him, also his dog, which he called Trim. I remem- ber this dog well. He was most thoroughly trained, and I have seen Long on a drunken jamboree in John Smith's bar-room, in Brookville, command this dog Trim to smell for wolves, when the dog would actively and carefully
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scent every part of the room. In man the most developed sense is touch, in birds sight, and in dogs smell. While on this trip Long crossed over to the waters of Little Toby, and at a certain point he knew from the actions of Trim that there was game somewhere near. Looking in the same direction as the dog, he saw a big bear on a tree and two large wolves at the foot watching the bear. Long told Jack to hold Trim and he would crawl up and shoot the bear. As he got within shooting distance of the bear, Trim broke loose from Jack and the bear seeing the dog, came down the tree and ran off. The dog then took after the wolves. The slut wolf ran under a rock and the dog wolf ran in a different direction. Long and Trim pursued the dog wolf, and in a short time Trim came back yelping with the wolf at his heels. Trim had about one inch of white at the end of his tail which the wolf had bitten off. The wolf paid no attention to Long, but went straight on. At shooting dis- tance Long shot him through the head. The two, father and son, then went to the rocks, and Bill crawled under, finding there seven young wolves,-six he caught, but the seventh he could not find though he could hear it bark. Long came out and gave his gun to Jack and told him that he would howl like a wolf and the pup would come out, and then for Jack to shoot it. The pup hearing Long howl, and thinking that he was its mother, came out, and Jack shot it. The seven pups and the old male made eight wolves at this time. Bill Long took the pups of that slut every spring for five years, find- ing them some place between the mouth of Little Toby and Brandycamp. When out on the ridge near where Bootjack, Elk County, now is, Long saw signs of a panther. He had two dogs with him, and soon came on the panther. The dogs were barking at the animal as it sat up on a rock. Long fired at the panther and wounded it. The dogs then rushed upon the panther, but soon let go, though not before one of them was badly crippled. Long at that time had a double-barrelled rifle. He then ran upon the panther, and, putting the muzzle of the gun to its head, killed it on the spot. In this adventure he had not only the skin of the panther to carry home, but the crippled dog also, which was too badly wounded to walk.
About the year 1845 Bill Long and two of Kahle's boys, John and Jacob, caught eight young wolves in a den. This den was on Mill Creek, that empties into the Clarion about three or four miles from where Siegel now is. John Kahle, on going in the ninth time, as he had done eight times before, armed with a torch, a stick four or five feet long with a hook on it to fasten into the wolves, and a rope tied to his foot, to pull him out by, caught the old one. Long and the Kahles thought she was not in. When young Kahle saw the wolf he pulled the rope and Long pulled Kahle out, but Kahle was not able to bring the wolf with him. When he told his story, Long tried to hire him for ten dollars to go in again, but Kahle would not. Long then tried to hire his brother, and he would not go in. Then Long whetted his knife, fixed his gun, and started in, but the way being too narrow for him, he came back
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before getting out of sight. After the fourth trial by Long, he came out and said he had seen the wolf, but could not shoot her.
As I remember Long, he was about five feet and four inches high, chubby. strongly built, active, athletic, and a great dancer,-danced what he called the " chippers" and the " crack,"-was cheerful, lively, and good-natured. He carried a heavy single-barrelled, muzzle-loading rifle. His belief was that he could shoot better with a heavy rifle than with a light one. Although there were dozens of professional hunters in this wilderness, this man was the king. He had an enduring frame, a catlike step, a steady nerve, keen eyesight, and a ripe knowledge of all the laws governing "still hunts for deer and bears." To reach the great skill he attained in mature life required natural talents, perseverance, sagacity, and habits of thought, as well as complete self-poise, self-control, and quickness of execution.
In these woods Long had great opportunities for perfecting himself in all that pertained to proficiency in a great hunter. Of the other hunters that approached him, I only recall his brothers, the Knapps, the three Vastbinders, the Lucases, the Bells, the Nolfs, Sibley, Fred. Hetrick, Indian Russell, and George Smith.
The professional hunter was created by the law of 1705 under the dynasty of William Penn. The law reads as follows :
" AN ACT FOR THE KILLING OF WOLVES-FOR PREVENTING THE DESTRUCTION OF SHEEP AND CATTLE BY WOLVES
"SECTION I. Be it enacted by John Evans, Esquire, by the Queen's royal approbation Lieutenant-Governor under William Penn, Esquire, ab- solute Proprietary and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania and Territories, by and with the advice and consent of the freemen of the said Province in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That if any person within this province shall kill a dog-wolf, he shall have ten shillings, and if a bitch-wolf, fifteen shillings, to be paid out of the county stock. Provided such person brings the wolf's head to one of the justices of the peace of that county, who is to cause the ears and tongue of the said wolf to be cut off. And that the Indians, as well as others, shall be paid for killing wolves accordingly.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every person or persons who are willing to make it their business to kill wolves, and shall enter into recognizance before two or more justices of the peace of the respective counties where he or they dwell, with sufficient security in the sum of five pounds, that he or they shall and will make it his or their sole business, at least three days in every week, to catch wolves, shall have twenty-five shillings for every wolf, dog or bitch, that he or they shall so catch and kill within the time mentioned in the said recognizance, to be paid out of the county levies where the wolves are taken as aforesaid."
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This act was repealed by the acts of 1782 and 1819.
Long's early dress was a coon-skin cap, moccasin shoes, a hunting-shirt, and generally buckskin breeches. The hunting-shirt was worn by all these early hunters, and sometimes in militia drill. It was a kind of frock, reached down to the thighs, had large sleeves, was open before, and lapped over a foot or so when belted. This shirt was made of linsey, coarse linen, or of- dressed buckskin. The deer-skin shirt was cold and uncomfortable in wet and cold rains. The bosom of the shirt served as a receptacle for rye bread, wheat cakes, tow for cleaning the rifle, jerk, punk, flint and knocker to strike fire with, etc. Matches were first made in 1829, but were not used here for many years after that. The belt was tied behind; it usually held the mittens, bullet- bag, tomahawk, and scalping-knife in its long buckskin sheath. The moccasin in cold weather was sometimes stuffed with feathers, wool, and dry leaves. The heavy early rifles carried about forty-five bullets to a pound of lead.
The hand-to-hand conflicts of this noted hunter with panthers, bears, cata- mounts, wolves, elks, and bucks, both on the land and in the streams, if written out in full, would make a large volume. Elk and deer frequently took to the creeks, and a battle royal with knife and horns would have to be fought in the water. Long was several times mistaken while in a thicket for a wild animal, and careless hunters shot at him. Once his cheek was rubbed with a ball. Dozens of Indians and pale-faced men hunted in this wilderness as well as he, and the table giving an exhibit of the aggregate number of animals killed by Long during his life as a hunter only goes to show what a great zoological garden of wild animals this wilderness must have been.
William Long died in Hickory Kingdom, Clearfield County, Pennsylva- nia, in May, 1880, and was buried in the Conway Cemetery, leaving two sons, -Jack, a mighty hunter, and a younger son, William.
Peace to his ashes. In the haunts of this wilderness, scorched by the summer sun, pinched by the winds of winter wailing their voices like woe, separated for weeks at a time in his lonely cabins from the society of men and women, and then, too, awakened in the dark and dreary nights by the howl of the wolf, the panther's scream, and the owl's to-hoo! to-hoo! Long steadily, year in and year out, for sixty years pursued this wild, romantic life.
THE HABITS OF SOME OF THE GAME LONG HUNTED
Our bears cubbed in February, had two cubs at a birth, and these cubs were about the size of a brown rat, without hair, and blind for nine days. They were suckled by the mother for about three months, when they reached the size of a cat; then the mother took them out and taught them to eat nuts, berries, bugs, little animals, green corn, vegetables, hogs, sheep, and sometimes cattle. A full-grown bear would weigh four hundred pounds. He was ex- ceedingly strong. He could carry a heavy burden and walk on his hind legs
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for a long distance. He was a good tree-climber and was not quarrelsome, but if other animals trespassed on his rights he became furious and vindictive.
He frequently gnawed himself out of hunters' pens, was a bold, intelli- gent beast, and his meat was considered a delicacy by the hunters.
Bears lived in " homes," holes, or dens, and sometimes in a rocky place there would be a " community." They, like deer, follow their own paths. He entered his den about Christmas time to hibernate, and remained there
A female panther (Pennsylvania) two years old, not full grown
until about the Ist of May, when he would come out, eat weeds and grass to purge himself, after which he would eat anything.
Our panther was fully as strong as the bear, but was rather cowardly, and especially fearful of dogs. A single blow from one forefoot or a bite from a panther would kill a dog. As a precaution, the panther hunter always had a trained dog with him, for a single bark from a dog would often scare a panther up a tree. The panther, as a rule, sought and sprang upon his
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A male panther (Pennsylvania) three years old, full grown
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
victim in the dark. He could throw a buck, hog, or cow without a strug- gle. A panther attained sometimes a length of ten feet from nose to end of tail. They lived in dens and had two cubs at a time.
Rowe, of Clearfield, says of the hunter Dan Turner, "Once, when going out to a 'bear wallow,' his attention was attracted by a panther acting in a strange manner. He soon saw a large bear approaching it. With hair erect and eyes glaring, the panther gnashed his teeth, and, waiting until bruin came up, sprang upon him. A mortal struggle ensued. Turner watched with much interest the fight, which lasted some ten minutes or more. At last the growls of the firece combatants became faint, and the struggle ceased. The panther slowly disengaged himself from his dead enemy and took position upon the carcass. It was now Turner's time, and, raising his rifle, he shot the panther in the head. After examining it, he was of the opinion that it could have lived but a very few minutes longer. Nearly every bone in its body was broken, and its flesh was almost reduced to a pulp by the blows and hugs of the bear."
Our wolves always had their dens in the wildest, most hidden part of the wilderness. They always managed to get under the rocks or ground to shelter themselves and young from all storms. The male fed the female when the " pups" were small. He would travel a great distance in search of food, and if what he found was too heavy to carry home, he would gorge himself with it and go home and vomit it up for the family. The wolf and fox were very chary and hard to trap. But Long and other hunters knew their habits so well that they could always outwit them.
A wolf could carry a sheep for miles in this way: seize it by the throat and throw it over or on his back. Wolves hunted the deer in packs; they all hunted together until a deer was started. The pack would keep up the chase until they were tired; then one wolf would keep up the chase at full speed, while the balance of the pack watched, and when the deer turned a circle, fresh and rested wolves struck in and pursued; thus the deer was pursued alter- nately by fresh wolves and soon tired out, and would then fly to some stream ; the wolves would follow, and while the deer would remain in the stream the wolves would separate, a part of the pack forming in line on each side of the stream, when the deer would become an easy prey to these ravenous creatures.
The most dangerous animal or reptile was the rattlesnake. We had two colors,-the black and yellow spotted. Millions of them inhabited these woods, and some were four and five feet long. Snakes, as well as other wild animals, travel and seek their food in the night. To escape this danger, each pioneer kept a large herd of hogs, who would kill and eat snakes with im- punity. Dogs, too, were faithful in this direction. But how did the woods- man and hunter escape? Well, he wore woollen stockings, moccasins with anklets, and buckskin breeches. A snake could not bite through these, and
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at night he usually laid his head on the body of his dog to protect his upper extremities.
It was seldom that the elk or deer had twins. The bear, panther, and wolf always had a litter. Wolves reared in the same pack lived friendly, but strange males always fought.
The deer, when frightened, circled round and round, but never left his haunt. The elk would start on a trot, and never stop under ten or fifteen miles.
The bear was and is a wanderer,-here to-day and away to-morrow. The wolf and panther were fierce and shy. Deer killed the rattler in this way: humping themselves together, and jumping sideways on the snake with all four feet, the hoofs of the deer would cut the snake in pieces. Elk travel in families or herds; the does lead and the bucks bring up the rear. They browse in winter and paw the snow for moss or wild grass.
" When it is remembered that the American elk ofttimes attains a weight of one thousand pounds, a height of sixteen hands, and has spiked antlers of five feet in length and four feet spread, some idea of the offensive capacities of one of these rearing, prancing, snorting creatures may be conceived.
" It must also be remembered that an elk fights with his sharply pointed front hoofs, as well as with his antlers, rearing on his hind legs and deliver- ing swift, terrific lunges right out from the shoulder.
" The bucks become dangerous each fall, at mating time, and in the spring, before their horns drop off ; for all male deer shed their horns each spring. By September the prongs are replaced. Each year the male elk grows an extra prong upon his antlers. The expert may ascertain the age of the creature by counting the prongs. However, if the antler should be broken off during a fight, or through any accident, the broken side grows out next season as a straight horn, without the usual prongs.
" During their seasons of anger the bucks will attack any living thing."
LAST PANTHERS AND WOLVES IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
The last bounty paid for wolves and panthers in Elk County as shown by the books and vouchers on file in the office of the county commissioners,
Wolves .- J. R. Green, November 8, 1871, one; James Bennett, Jr., Oc- tober 28, 1873, one; A. J. Rummer, December 13, 1874, one; J. R. Green, October, 1874, one; John Myers, December 14, 1874, one; George Smith, April 8, 1874, two; Charles A. Brown, December 28, 1874, one; O. B. Fitch, December, 1877, one; and this was the last wolf killed in Elk County. The last wolf reported killed in Forest County was by Emanuel Dobson, Jenks Township, in 1884. The last wolf killed in Mckean County was by J. W. Starks, June 24, 1868. A wolf is reported killed in 1886. The records show that a wolf was killed in Potter County in 1890. A wolf is reported killed in Tioga County by Levi Kissinger in 1885.
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Panthers .- Alexander Wykoff, February 18, 1850, one; Thomas Dent, May 20, 1850, one; Peter Smith, January 5, 1852, one; E. G. Deering, February 18, 1852, one; Peter Smith, March 7, 1853, six; Nelson Gardner, June 29, 1857, one. These were all killed in Elk County. Nelson Gardner, who lived above Ridgway, killed the last panther in Elk County.
During the thirties, when Jefferson County still embraced what is now Forest and Elk Counties, the bounties paid for panther, wolf, fox, and wild- cat scalps fell a little short of four hundred dollars a year. The last bounties paid for panthers and wolves killed in Jefferson County was in 1856. The record is as follows: March 18, 1856, Jacob Stahlman, one wolf; March 24, 1856, Mike Long, five wolves ; May 17, 1856, Andrew Bowers, Gaskill Town- ship, one wolf; November 19, 1856, Adam Hetrick, one panther, killed on Maxwell Run, in Polk Township. George Smith had chased this panther across the line of Elk into Jefferson County. The panther was an old and very large one. Fred. Hetrick, a great hunter, lived then at or near Green- briar, and this panther commenced to kill and feast on his sheep. The panther made the mistake of his life. Fred. knew at once what was killing his sheep, so he organized a hunting expedition against Mr. Panther, of himself, his son Adam, and four dogs. The dogs soon treed the panther. Fred. shot him while on a limb, in the neck. The panther then sprang from the tree at the dogs, killing one and badly injuring the second. He would soon have killed all four, but Adam gave him a second shot from the rifle, and this shot killed the last panther in Jefferson County.
It is reported that two panthers were killed on the Driftwood in what is now Cameron County by Isaac Rammage in 1851. The last panther in what is now Forest County was killed at Panther Rocks in 1848. A panther was killed in Mckean County by William Eastman and George Smith about 1858 or 1859. The last panther killed in Warren County was in Corydon Township, by Sylvester C. Williams, December 18, 1863, and the last wolf killed in Warren County was by James Irwin in Mead Township, March 17. 1866. The last panther killed in Tioga County was in 1841.
" JACK LONG"
Andrew Jackson Long, a son of William and Nancy Barlett Long, née Mason, was born in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, in 1829, on what is known and now called the Horn farm. He moved with his father to the neighborhood of Falls Creek, in Clearfield County, when he was about twelve years old. I knew him from my boyhood, and visited with him in his home for two days in 1899, when he gave me the following facts in regard to his hunting career :
" I have killed six deer in a day, often four or five in a day. I have killed four panthers in a day, and twenty during my life. The last panther I killed was in 1872. It was the largest one, and measured eleven feet from
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tip of nose to end of tail. I have killed about three hundred and fifty bears. In 1898 I killed nine bears. I have killed about fifteen hundred deer. I have killed about one hundred and fifty wolves. The last wolves-two in number-I killed in 1881. I have killed foxes, wild-cats, catamounts, etc., without number. I caught in traps twenty otter and one black fox.
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