THE SUNDAY OREGOJttAJT. . PORTLAND, DECEMBER 30, 1906.
38
it
Pi
Mighty Hunter Whose
Lodge is Within a Hundred Miles
of Portland
Reticent7 Mr. Jones Tells of a Few
Adventures. Different From Others
BEAKS t-j y
MR. MORDECAI JONES, wealthy
Welshman, mighty hunter and
fisherman, who has killed mora
than 200 bears and who expects before
ho dies to kill as many more, has his
hunting lodge about 12 miles north
of White Salmon, Wash., on the Trout
Lake Road. This place he makes his
headquarters when In America, and
here he entertains lavishly those who
Join him in the chase. Hunting for
Its own sake is his master passion,
and ho makes no profit out of the
pelts or the meat of the various ani
mals he kills. They all go to his
friends in Great Britain or here. It
Is rather an expensive pastime, and
tip to the present month has cost him
Just 7 per pound on every bear he
has relieved of existence,
i it was 21 years ago when only 18
yours of age that Mr. Jones came to
this country for his first hunt. That
first hunt lasted five years, and he and
his party assiduously hunted big
game of all kinds in Wyoming, Idaho,
Montana, British Columbia, and up into
'Alaska, They had 15 packhorses on
that trip, and touched civilization once
in six months for more provisions.
Since then he has come to North Amer
ica every Winter for his annual hunt,
and nine years ago he bought his
present place. His house is built of
native timbers, and presents the ap
pearance of a country clubhouse.
Kvery year Mr. Jones brings out a
party from England and Wales to hunt
with him. His wife Is as enthuslatlc
a hunter as he, and their children are
expert shots. At the age of eight,
under Mr. Jones' tutelage, they could
hit tin cans and such objects thrown
into the air nine times out of ten
with a 22-caliber rifle.
One has no difficulty in hearing
hear stories about Mr. Jones. The
whole countryside rings with his ex
ploits. "Jones has killed another
hear," is a regular item of hews when
neighbor meets neighbor, and wonder
ful stories of his endurance are re
lated. Ho is well-known In Portland
at the clubs, and indeed the latter ar
ranged with him to give Roosevelt
some sport on his last trip along the
Coast. But the President's Itinerary
was fixed, and so two mighty men of
valor missed meeting each other.
Mr. Jones is not merely a hunter.
He is Just as much Interested In the
natural history of the animals he
hunts as In ridding them of
life. Ho has kept a detailed diary
of every hunt, and some day will pub
lish it in book form. It will contain
besides a description of the hunt, his
observations on the hunted.
Mr. Jones looks much younger than
his 34 years. He is slightly below the
medium height, slenderly yet compact
ly built. He is quick and alert in
movement, and short and sharp in his
conversation. He is thoroughly British
in his unwillingness to talk about his
personal experiences, but warms up on
an impersonal subject, such as the
habits of bears, the breeding and
training of his dogs, or the cultivation
of an orchard. But, at his best, he
looks slightly ashamed If his enthusi
asm carries him Into a sentence con
taining over 15 words, as though self
convicted of being garrulous. He has
a habit of dropping the pronoun "I,"
whenever possible, out of his conver
sation. But with all his reticence, ha
is also most obliging, and will be com
municative for the sake of good fel
lowship. Of course, photographs would
add immensely to this tale, but you
don't get them. That Is carrying pub
licity too far for this modest Britisher.
Expressed desire to learn something of
the habits of the bear explains why the
present writer managed to hear some of
Mr. Jones' exploits from that gentleman
himself. When I was shown into tho
hall I found Mr. Jones standing with his
back to a large fireplace talking Chinook
with an aged Indian who sat almost lost
in a large easy chair facing the blaze.
Over the floor of the apartment were
scattered In careless profusion the pelts
of various wild animals, principally of
the black bear, while the walls were
v domed with other trophies of the chase.
Here and there gunracks were set, and
rods and tacklo gave evidence that the
hunter was also a fisherman.
When the Indian departed Mr. Jones
turned to me. "That fellow Is over 100.
Chief of the Kllckltats. Burned out late
ly, he and his wife. She's older than he
Is. You want to see me?" he asked as
by an afterthought.
I explained my mission, and later the
conversation turned to hunting. I told
him what I had heard about his reputa
tlon as a bear-hunter.
Ho Interrupted: "Why, yea, have shot
lots of them. It's no credit to me.
though. My dogs deserve the credit. If
It wasn't for them, would have killed
very few."
"Did Mr. Bear ever come near to get
ting you?"
"Yes, a number of times. Had a close
call with this fellow." And he kicked a
rug at his feet.
I asked for the story, and he frowned,
but complied.
A Big, Black Bear.
"This skin is off the biggest black bear
I ever shot. It measured 8 feet, 6 Inches.
The bear was in a patch of thick vine
maple. The hounds closed in on him.
Started Into brush to get shot at him.
Parted the bushes and saw the bear
about 12 feet away. The hounds were all
around him, and had him at bay. Just
ns I appeared he caught one of my larg
est hounds, weighing about 90 pounds,
and threw him straight at me as easily
as you would a kitten. The hound struck
mo across the groins and knocked me
down. Snapped the trigger, and the gun
missed fire. Bear charged at my knees.
People say that a bear never charges
that way. That is a mistake. Have had
several charge me that way. Well, as I
aid, bear charged. Just bad time to
THE "BEAK CHARGED
UP THE, IxTDGEL TOWAKP
ME
stick rifle between his eyes and fire.
That's all. There's his skull hanging up
beside the fireplace. No, the one with a
hole between the eyes."
Adventure With a Grizzly.
"It was years ago In Montana. A cow
in defending her calf was killed by a
grizzly. He struck her on the withers.
Smashed the bone down six or seven
Inches. Found the body that evening on
my way to camp. Part of the ham had
been eaten out. I followed bear's trail
a little in to the woods. Marked swamp
pine to enable me to find the place in
the morning. Next morning at daybreak
went back. Found whole cow had been
dragged into bush about 30 or 40 yards.
Knew bear must be close to swamp pine
up-wlnd. Crawled up close to pine in
a washout. Heard the crunching of bones.
There was a fallen tree on other side of
swamp pine. Crawled to this, fiat on my
belly. Looked over and saw the bear
eating the cow. It saw me at the same
Instant. He was standing sideways. He
swung his head, once, twice. I thought
he was going to swing the third time. I
shot for the neck vertebrae, but he
stopped short in his third swing. Hit
the: 'cayusb &vckep an&'&umpep
CLEAR S5?afA ZJNPEKm JJAf
him In the Jugular. It bawled, and then
came straight for me. It kept the tree
between me and him. Couln't see him
until he rounded the pine within six feet
of me. Made a quick shot the moment
I saw his head. He kept coming, and I
thought I had missed. There was a rose
briar bush between us. He rose up, and
came around It after me. Stuck end of
rifle on his nose, and blew the whole top
of his head off. I found on examining
him that I had hit him with my second
shot. The bullet went Just below the
eyes through the upper jaw. He was
9 feet 7 inches long and weighed 1200
pounds.
"Treed a bear once on the edge of a
canyon. There was a big precipice be-
low, so didn't dare shoot the bear.
Hounds would have piled over sides of
cayon after It. Had to take the hounds
away. Left another man to shoot the
bear. Two fox-terriers, however, hid
in the brush. When I was a quarter
of a mile up the mountain side, the
bear came down. It was openish coun
try, and I could see the whole thing.
The man was Just going to Bhoot when
he saw the terriers. Then he let. the
bear get away. It went 'along the can
yon, and crossed down to the creek
higher up. It tried to climb the steep
hillside beyond. The terriers fastened
on her, one on each side, and held her.
She kept climbing, but the terriers
held on. The exertion began to prove
too much, and she turned and broke
into the canyon. The moment my
hounds heard the terriers, they broke
away from me. The bear met the
whole pack at the creek. They fairly
took her down, buried and wallowed
her in the creek. Couldn't see the
bear for the hounds. She got away,
and treed again. The tree was bv the
"side of a cliff. Several hounds had
been lost during the day. Waited for
them all to get together before shoot
ing the bear.' That is my Invariable
habit. While waiting I saw there was
a way out for the bear. The cliff was
perpendicular about half way up the
tree. Then a knife-like ridge bent
steeply back to the uppert part of the
canyon. Bear could get onto this ridge
by a branch. I climbed up side of
canyon. It was too steep for the dogs
to follow. I came down hogback from
above. I crawled to within 15 feet of
the tree, sitting a-straddle the knife
edge. When the bear saw me she
charged up the branch to the ridge.
She got onto the ridge, and came for
me. There wasn't room for a cat to
pass. One of us had to go off. I
wasn't sure which It would be. I pre
ferred it should be the bear. I threw
a cartridge into the chamber of my
rifle, and waited. She charged almost
up to the gun. I was just going to
shoot when she turned back and
walked onto the tree." Jones laughed
heartily at the disgusted expression on
my face.
Specially Trained Bear Dog.
"How many dogs have you, Mr.
Jones?"
"Generally about 25. Now I am
short, having lost 14 through sickness
and fights with bear. On Monday one
of my best dogs was killed by a bear.
It is usually my best dogs that get
killed. You see, the others are afraid.
They won't take the chances. I have
dogs here that never come back from
a bear hunt unwounded."
"I have heard you breed your own
dogs. What is your method?"
'Cannot use a pure hound for bear
dog. He won't take a whipping from
a bear. If he gets torn once, he turns
coward for a year. So I put in a dash
of bulldog. I cross the English fox
hound with the bulldog. I crossed the
half-bull again with the hound, and
got one-quarter bull. Again, and got
one-eight bull, then one-sixteenth.
That gave me a hound with a pro
nounced fighting strain in it. These
are for fighters. I use the pure hound
for trailers. The fighters have no voice.
We follow the fight by the baying of
the trailers. We sometimes lose the
hunt, even as It Is. The hounds get
out of sight and hearing of the hunt
ers. We' may be going up one canyon
after them, and they may cross over
into the next canyon, and double back.
A fellow might go five miles after
the hounds had crossed over before
guessing what had happened. I have
been as much as 164 hours after one
bear. The hounds have been 24 and
25 hours with a bear befove anybody
saw them. Quite often I have run a
bear ten hours straight on end. Of
course, we use horses as far as possi
ble. Then we go on foot. I have a
little brown mare I always use. The
best in the country. She gets right
into the spirit of the hunt. Sometimes
when the hounds are out of sight and
hearing, she will fight to go back. She
hears the hunt, though I can't. I let
her have her way, generally. She will
then perhaps go straight up the moun
tain. Down in the next canyon we will
find the hunt. Most horses are afraid
of a bear, alive or dead. It Is there
fore difficult sometimes to get one to
pack out the bear.
"In the Fall of the year bear never
run far. They are too fat and heavy.
In the Spring, when they are thin and
poor, there seems to be no limit to
their endurance. Then is when we
have long hunts. A little 2-year-old or
3-year-old. will give a fellow the most
trouble.
"Bear will fight uphill first. When
they begin to get tired they will go
downhill. They cannot fight in an open
country. They .always pick the deep
est, rockiest, brushlest canyon they can
get into. Hounds do not dare to tackle
a bear in heavy brush.
Bear have cubs every other year.
The first year they go into Winter
quarters with them. They stay there
from November to January, February,
March or the beginning of April. It
depends on the weather conditions.
Have never seen them here before
April 5. Tho old she bear will come
out in March. The cubs will stay with
her all through the Spring. When the
running season comes she takes the
bear. She will have cubs the next
Spring. The second Winter she dens
alone, not with the yearlings.
"Here is something that may sur
prise a good many people. Most peo
ple think that the brown and black
bear are different varieties. I have
often seen both kinds with one brown
and one black cub. Conclusion sama
variety. I also have hides of bear
turning from brown to black.
A Sulphur-Colored Bear.
"There is a peculiar bear lives on
the mountains back of here, near
Mount Adams. They live up about tho
snow-llne, near the glaciers. This bear
is a bright sulphur-color, with a black
stripe across the shoulders, and down
the front legs. . I have seen one of
these bear alive, but have never shot
one. Mr. Saltmarsh, of The Dalles, has
three hides of this bear. They were
killed by Indians. It is a peculiar case
of adaptation to environment. There
are other bearB, there, too, more the
color of a coyote. I know of no other
place where these bear are found."
"How many varieties have you
hunted?"
"Grizzlies, cinnamon, baldhead, brown
if v-ff5
BYM JtfMP OP A'
7W7ST JJ RRQffS 7T3 Jtf?CXr
and black bear. I have shot a number
of bear that show slight variations
from these types. The great kadiak Is
about the biggest bear alive today. He
is a grizzly, found In Alaska. I have
never shot one, but am going after him
before long.
Broke a Deer's Xeck.
That evening in a White Salmon ho
tel the writer heard a number of other
stories about Jones, two of which he
considers worth relating.
A young man sitting next me at the
table told this one: "Last Winter he
and another man had been hunting and
had run out of ammunition. Coming to
the top of a ridge, they saw on the other
side of the valley a big buck dozing on
the further side of a large log. Jones
told his companion to stay where he
was, while he went down the side of a
hill and crept softly up the. other hill
on his moccasined feet till he reached
the log behind which the deer was lying.
He Jumped up on the log, and, whirling
his rifle over his head, brought the butt
down with a tremendous blow between
the buck's eyes. It spoiled the rifle,
nut only maddened the deer. Fearing
that it would escape him, he jumped
down and grasped it firmly by the
horns. The deer began plunging madly,
and the man across the valley began
coming down, .expecting to find Jones
killed. The deep Bnow hindered the deer,
however, and In one of its flounders,
Jones managed to throw it in the snow
In such a position that It couldn't rise.
Then by some kind of a twist he broke
Its neck."
"Just like him," commented the man
across the table, "but for presence of
mind and a cool head in the face of
danger, let me tell you an incident about
an old hunter called McConnell who used
to go out with Jones in. some of his
expeditions. Jones told me the story
himself. They had set a bear trap one
evening, and the next morning McCon
neil started up the canyon to see If a
bear had been caught. Well, a grizzly
had been caught in the trap over night.
but had dragged it, heavy timbers and
all, about a quarter of a mile further
down the canyon. McConnell, of course,
didn't know this, and he approached the
place where the bear lay hid quite un
suspicious of its presence. Suddenly the
bear rose up from a bush right beside
him. The cayuse bucked, and then
Jumped clear from under him, and ran
wildly up the canyon. McConnell held
onto his gun, dropped onto his feet, but
almost before he lit, his rifle shot
echoed through the canyon, and the bear,
shot through the head, rolled dead at his
feet." W. J. JEFFERS.
Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Where Black Walnuts Grow.
The Southwest.
Black -walnut Is produced in this
country at an annual rate of about 33,-
000,000 feet. The larger portion of it
now comes from southwestern Missouri,
Arkansas. Oklahoma and Indian Terri
tory, although there is some scattering
growth still picked up in Indiana,
Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia. The
most considerable Btand of the wood
remaining east of the Mississippi River
is on the uppT waters of the Guyan
dotte River in West Virginia. The
home demand for black walnut lumber
is only for comparatively small quanti
ties. Its use Is largely confined to gun
stocks, novelties, electrical work, etc.
The chief demand for walnut comes
from Germany, and Hamburg is the
great market:
Swiss Army of 337,000.
The Arena.
Practically all Swf.s serve from the
age of 20 to 50 in the militia and re
serves. The raw recruits go into schools,
the Infantry for 45 days, the cavalry for
80 days.
After this the cavalry serves 16 dnys
each year and the Infantry and artillery
14 days each every other year. The re
serves serve only five or six days every
four years. The officers, of course, are
carefully trained in good schools for a
period of years.
This short service would be Insufficient
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military training for boys in school and
rifle practice every year by practically all
Swiss citizens.
Target shooting Is the national pport.
and in accordance with the law a place
for target practice must be supplied by
every town in the country. As an en-nniii-Qonmitt
nHrps of all sorts are of
fered by the national government.
This little Switzerland, with a popula
tion of less than 3.000.000 people, has an
army of 337.001) of the most martial sol
diers of Europe armed, equipped and
ready to take the field at a moment's
notice.
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