VOL. XXXIX.
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 22, 1920
NO. 34
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Seductive Fruit
Is Ripe, So
Birds, Beasts
and Human
Invaders Popu
late Forests
BRUIN li
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BY DE WITT HARRY.
(Copyrlsth. 1929.
. RTJIN Is the epicure of the forest.
jnerrlng- nose and exquisite
taste, both developed by centu
ries of foraging for existence, lead
him to the real wild delicacies. Bee
trees lose their honey, all manner of
luscious grubs and Insects are
cooped from under rocks and stumps
into his rapacious maw. Xuts are
harvested, fish caught and even an
occasional kill made when necessity
Is severe. But through all this he
has one besetting weakness, fruits
and berries. Mr., Mrs. and all the
cubs like berries or fruits more than
anything else. While a bear is a
peaceful animal, that is the kind we
have In our Oregon forests, he will do
his best to harvest his fruit foods.
Contrary to the often accepted idea,
seldom has any bear been known to
how fight, and In trying to save his
berries from the pilferers he will
clasp them- in his arms and try to
finish the entire crop then In sight
before making a. hurried departure.
Of all the berry crops in the for
ests bears pay huckleberries the high
tribute of eating more of them than
any other variety. In addition to their
trait of walking erect on their hind
legs this is another thing that they
have In common with humanity, for
there are few men who can resist the
lure of a succulent segment of huck
leberry pie, with or without frothy
crown of whipped cream, and it is
just this common liking for nature's
delicacies that has precipitated such
a brisk competition in Oregon's for
ests. The battle is at its .highest to
day, for the huckleberry crop of this
state reached maturity Friday and the
picking Is now at Us height.
Prior Rights la Doubt,
The story of the huckleberry and
the bear and the Indian and the pale-
face has somewhat a similar Intro
duction to that of the egg and the
chicken, who got there first the
huckleberry, the bear or the IndianT
Who made the momentous discovery
. that the tiny purple berries were the
great fruit treat of the bountiful for
est? Did not the first Indian, when
.he essayed a taste of the alluring
globules and. smacking his lips in
ecstacy, gulped handful after hand
ful, hear aeep-throaied growls and
discover the real proprietor of the
patch in the offing, doing his best to
frighten the interloper away,-r was
It the other way round, did the red
man find his patch Invaded by a bear?
Be this as It may, the fact exists that
both of the original Inhabitants of
American forests have likely for cen
turies known of the wonderful taste
of the fruit and they have been rivals
in Its gathering. Only of late years
years has the game become further
complicated with the advent of the
paleface berry picker, who has in
this, as In almost everything eise,
come after his or her share and gen
erally managed to collect, only In this
case there seems to be plenty or tne
fruit to go around.
Of course poor Lo was the first of
the human race to go after the fruit
He went by trtbes and the berry
gathering In the fall of the year took
'In all varieties as they began to
ripen. The braves gathered up their
possessions, horses, papooses, blan
kets and squaws, and set off for the
berry patches. There camp was es
tablished and while the men did the
hunting, gambling and raced their
horses, the squaws gathered the crop
and dried it for winter use in their
spare moments after they tidied up
the wigwams, cooked the meals and
gathered. the wood. It was a truly
Ideal existence and kept the women
busy, as well as gave the tribe some
welcome food changes for their win
ter diet.
Palefaces Invade FoiM.
The bear ate his berries on the
job, the Indian did so also, but man
aged to take some of the ample crop
away for future use, and then enters
the further complication, the pale
face! " Whole tribes of them each
year In Increasing numbers make
their way Into the mountain region
and take out tons of the luscious wild
fruit. Huckleberry cities spring up
and in this state there are tw
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Huckleberry mountains, so called for ready 400 campers are at Lake of the
the reason that they are crowned Woods and Indications point toward
a tent city of 1000 population at least
springing up on the shores of what
has become southern Oregon's most
popular lake resort during August.
Kow these southern forests are by
no means the only places where the
huckleberry Is found, for It also ex
ists in plenty very close to home, as
we judge distances today. Right out
at Eagle creek there Is one big patch,
on Wauna point. This Is the high
with luxuriant patches of the fruit.
One of them, the most famous, is sit.
uated In the Crater Lake national
forest. This is a large, flat-topped
mountain on which huckleberries are
especially plentiful. The camp grounds
are reached by trail from the east,
via Seven Mile creek or from the
west via a trail branching off the
Rogue River road. In seasons of
plentiful crops of huckleberries the
camp grounds may have a shifting crag that the Columbia highway clr-
population of between 1000 and 2006
campers. For this reason the camp
ground is called "Huckleberry City."
There is good water here and pas
turage for grazing is reserved for the
free use of campers. As the. berries
are found to grow best at an eleva
tion of approximately 4000 feet and
this mountain approaches nearest the
Ideal In this respect, it draws its large
annual population. "
Out. in the . same region there are
other patches of greater or less area.
One of the largest, next to Huckle
berry mountain. Is near Lake of the
Woods, In the Dead Indian country.
The Dead Indian country Is best
reached from Ashland by the Dead
Indian road. The Lake of the Woods
is a very beautiful little lake and is
a popular camping ground, especially
when the crop of mountain huckleber
ries Is good. As such times a hun
dred or more people are sometimes
camped on the lake, all busy picking
huckleberries. There is good horse
feed at both ends of the lake and ex
cellent spring water at the public
camp grounds. A community of sum
mer homes is growing up under per
mit of the forest service and this bids
fair to become one of the most popu
lar outing places In southern Oregon.
Crop May Be Record-Breaker.
Lovers of huckleberry pie will be
delighted to learn that the huckle
berry crop in southern Oregon bids
fair to be a record breaker this year.
According to forest service employes
and returning campers the huckle
berry patches are loaded. An exodus
of cambers. Is now .taking- .place.. Ai
des, as it enters the gorge that con
tains the camp grounds, and the patch
crowns the topmost point, a good
stiff climb of some 2500 feet, but well
worth the while say those who have
been after the fruit and appreciate it.
Reports from this region are also to
the effect that the 1920 yield will be
a bumper one.
Right In the Oregon forest, which
is the one that takes in the slopes of
Moount Hood and this vicinity, there
are some large areas. The huckle
berry patches In this forest are much
frequented by . ranchers and their
families. They are usually at high
elevations. Notable ones are those
on the south slope of Mount Hood, at
Squaw mountain, east of Estacada, on
Huckleberry mountain, south of
Welches, and near Lost lake. These
mountain huckleberries are of large
size and fine flavor. The forest ser
vice excludes sheep from the berry
patches which are near popular sum
mer resorts and camp grounds.
Right today the Indians do not
reach many of the patches In the Ore
gon forest, though they do know the
locations. 3 ears are frequently In
all of the places, but there need be
little fear of them, as they are child
like in their simplicity as a general
rule and eeldom bother themselves
with visitors and even seem, at times
content to browse with human rivals
near at hand.
Across the Columbia, Tack in the
Wind river district, which is reached
via Carson by a brisk nine-mile
tramp, there Is another Huckleberry
mountain. Here -come the Yaklmas.
as well, as the scattering aborigines
who yet live in the region, as well as
a number of halfbreeds. Some of the
sites are far back In the forest from
the big mountain so easy of access,
even as much as 60 miles,' but the
Indian seems to relish this loslatlon.
He has a good time In the woods,
harking back as near as possible to
the day of his forefathers, when they
owned all the region, for he can hunt
and fish almost at will, not having to
pay a great deal of attention to game
laws compiled for the guidance of
palefaces. There are few Indian
camps at this time of the year that
do not have their supply of venison
or their fresh trout, for the liberal
interpretation of the national laws
says that the tribesmen may hunt and
fish any time they need food, and who
can state that they are hungry on
more authority than the fellow with
the empty stomach?
Herman creek draws Its full allot
ment of Portland people and up this
way at Mud lake, between eight and
nine miles from the highway and half
way between either Herman or Eagle
creek trails, is a ' big huckleberry
patch. The Portland Boy Scouts are
camped near there right now and
they will doubtless manage to strip
many of the bushes.
When in the berry patches bear are
almost insensible to other influences
than that of their taste and confine
most of thel efforts to cramming the
fruit down their gullets as rapidly as
possible. One of the predatory ani
mal hunters describes how he got a
big bear in a berry patch at one time
by coming up against the wind and
approaching to within 75 feet of the
busy animal without detection. The
feeding bear had his arms about the
bushes and was moving his head
along their length, with open jaws,
gathering the plentiful fruit in as he
went along. Juice was flying and
the happy feeder wore a heavenly
grin, if such an appearance can be
conjured, up In thinking of a bear, as
he glutted his appetite. The result
ing shot yielded S00 pounds of bear
meat and a first-class rug.
.Rangers at the Indian mountain st
up t
ill 4- t fi.rH
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tion and other points near Mount i
Hood have their share and more of
the fruit at this time of the year. It
Is only a short distance into this re
gion and it ia noted for the great size
reached by the mountain huckleberry,
the prime choice of the lot. There are
four or five varieties of the fruit, the
little red berry that can be found in
fair quantities on the hills Hack of
Portland, that-is rather tart to the
taste and makes a prime jelly, even
better than currants, according to some
experts, the blueberry met frequently
in the east and the mountain huck,
the favorite of them all. All along
the Eagle creek trail are patches of
greater or lesser area, and as it has
become almost impossible to purchase
them Id open market of late years. It
behooves those who have succumbed
to the vice to go and gather their
own if they would have a plentiful
supply.
One section, plentiful In the fruit,
but taboo for the Invader, is the Bull
Run watershed, held sacred on ac
count of being the source of Port
land's water supply. Here the picker
may not venture under threat of all
manner of dire penalties for tres
passing. Fire danger Is emphasized
by the guardians of all these regions,
for they are pleased to have plenty
of visitors, but they do not want the
forests destroyed. Old burns are the
most prolific places for the growth of
the . bushes, that find . they . can, get
sufficient light there better than In
the denser shade among the big trees.
. In Yamhill county the berries have
been ripe for some time and this is
also true of the Grand Ronde region, !
in the south. The reports from here
are also to the effect that the quan
tity this year is exceptional and the
quality all that can be desired. Berry
patches are much sought after by
grouse hunters when the season opens,
as these birds consume enormous
quantities and will hardly leave their
food supply under any ordinary cir
cumstances. While.it is difficult to get at any
authentic estimate of the hukleberry
production of the state, it is stated,
on good grounds, that the amount
gathered will be about half that pro
duced in blackberries. In 1919 some
30,000,000 pounds of blackberries were
gathered in Oregon and of this
amount fully 90 per cent were wild.
So far as can be ascertained there are
no cultivated huckleberry patches, so,
If some 15.000,000 pounds of the fruit
are to be gathered this year, and this
does not seem too far fetched, it will
mean that the forests of the state
contribute this great item to the sus
tenance of the population unaided.
Prices, there Is no basis for compu
tation, but 12 or 15 cents per pound
seems to be a normal estimate, though
market conditions, providing any
great amount are placed on sale, are
always subject to -actuations. Flgurr
Ing 10 cents a pound, this means that
the pickers In the forests this fall
will pick up about $1,500,000 in pin
money not so bad for an outing.
Bear Reported Plentiful.
In all of the coast mountain regions
huckleberries are exceedingly plenti
ful and the same Is true of bears. It
seems that both are nearly always
found in the same region. Though
chljdren revel In the exquisite thrills
of betdtlme bear stories, there seems
to be little ground for their fears, ac
cording to expert government hunters.
The bear of today is far different from
the animal that used to haunt the
dreams of our caveman ancestors.
That great beast possibly has Its
closest counterpart today in the griz
zly, now rapidly disappearing. Cam
paigns of extermination have just
about stamped this unscrupulous
beast from the fastnesses of the
Rockies and the black bear Is now
really the only remaining member of
the tribe who yet exists In westers
America in any numbers.
Nearly uniform In the several coun
tries where found, the black bear of
this period Is frequently given wrong
Identities. Thus the cinnamon bear
Is, in reality, so the men state who
have had great experience with the
beasts in their native haunts, noth
ing else than a black bear of a dif
ferent shade. Indeed these men also
say that in the same litter cubs will
iCoacluded on Face 2.)
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