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IWTINGiriE
Prong Buck
BY
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
ICopyrlKtit. 1893, by G. P. Putnam'i font-
- r, , J - - - -
Iil.ll.h.i4 tin.1if nrrur.vr.mcnt with fl.
Putnam's Buns, New York and London
O
the wide plain where
the pronn buck dwells
the hunter uiUBt aotne
tlinoH ftirc thirst, ai well
uh lire nnd frost The
only tlmo I ever really
suffered from thirst wil
while bunting prong-buck.
It was lute In tho summer. I was
with the much wagon on the way to
join a round-up, and aa we were out
of meat I started for a day's hunt
After two or three hours' ride, up
winding coulles, and through the
Scorched desolation of patches of Bad
lAiidH, I reached the rolling prairie.
The heat and drought had long burned
the short grass dull brown; the bot
toms of what had been pools were
covered with biird, dry, cracked earth.
The day was cloudless, atid the heat
oppressive. There were many ante
lope, but I got only one shot, breaking
t buck's leg; and though I followed It
for a couple of hours I could not over
take It Ily this time It was late In
the afternoon, and I was fur away
from the river; so I pushed for a creek,
In tho bed of which I bad always
found pools of water, especially to
wards the bead, as Is usual with plains
watercourses. To my chagrin, how
ever, they all proved to be dry; and
though I rode up the creek bed to
ward the head,. carefully searching for
any sign of water, ulght closed on me
before I found any. For two or three
hours I stumbled on, leading my horse,
In my fruitless search; then a tumble
ver a cut bank In the dark warned
me that I might as well stay where I
was for the rest of the warm night
Accordingly I unsaddled the horse,
and tied him to a sage brush; after
awhile he began to feed on the dewy
trass. At first I was too thirsty to
sleep. Finally I fell Into a aumber,
and when 1 awoke at dawn I felt no
thirst For aa hour or two more I
continued my search for water tn the
creek bed; then abandoned It and rode
straight for the river. By the time
we reached It my thirst had come
back with redoubled force, my month
was parched, and the horse was In
quite as bad a plight; we rushed down
to the brink, and It seemed as If we
could neither of us ever drink our Oil
of the tepid, rather muddy water. Of
course this experience was merely un
pleasant; thirst Is not a source of real
danger In the plains country proper,
wheress In the hideous deserts that
extend from southern Idaho through
Utah ami Nevada to Arizona, It ever
menaces with death tho hunter and ex
plorer. In tho plains the weather Is apt to
bo in ektrsmes; the bent la tropical,
the cold arctic, and the droughts are
relieved by furious floods. These are
generally mora sevcro and lusting In
the spring, after (bo melting of the
snow; and fierce local freshets follow
the occasional cloudbursts. Tho large
rivers then becomo wholly Impassa
ble, and even the smaller are formi
dable obstacles. It Is not easy to got
cattle in roNM a swollen Btream, where
the curri'tit runs like a turbid mill-race
over the bed of shifting iptlcksand.
Once five of us took a thousand head
of trull steers across the Little Mis
souri when tho river was up, and It
was no light task. The muddy current
was boiling past the banks covered
with driftwood and foul yellow froth,
and the frightened cattle shrunk from
entering It. At last, by hard riding,
with much loud shouting and swing
ing of ropes, we got the leaders In, and
the whole herd followed. After them
we went In our turn, tho horses swim
ming tit one moment, and the next
Staggering and floundering through
the qulckNHtid. I wits riding my pet
cutting horse. Muley, which his the
provokltjg habit of making great
bounds -where the water is Just not
deep enough for swimming; once he
almost tfiiseated me. Some of the cat
tle wrni rsugbt by the currents and
foiled orj-r and over; most of these we
were able, with the help of our ropes,
to put on their feet again; only one
wns drowned, or rather choked In a
QUli ksnnd. Many swam down stream,
and In conaequence struck a difficult
landing, where the river ran under a
cut bank: these we had to haul out
wtth our ropes.
Although I have often had a horse
down In qtilcksnnd or tn crossing a
swollen river, and hr had to work
hnrd to save httu, 1 huve never myself
bwt one under such circumstances.
Yet once I snw the horse of one of my
men drown under him directly In front
of the much house, w till ho was try
ing to cross the river This was In
early spring, soon nftir tint Ice had
broken
hen making long wagon trips over
the great plains, atrtclop often offer
the oi.M source o' meat supply, shyc
f r o. i :iilontil w liter fowl. ne fowl, I
pvil tlilvle fowl tVe slwp-tul'ed
priilrle fowl, lie ( uu, lei 'Stood 'Hil
ls tlie i'harn torl-fle itrv -e f t i
f i .. '''.'
Towards the end of the summer of,
02 I found It necessary to travel from
my ranch to the Black HlUe. some two
hundred miles. souths Th ranch wag
on went with me, driven by an all
round plainsman, a man of Iron nerves
and varied past, the sheriff of our
county. lie was an old friend of
mine; at one time I bad served as
deputy-sheriff for the northern end of
the county. In the wagon we carried
our food and camp kit, and our three
rolls of bedding, each wrapped In a
thick, nearly waterproof canvas sheet:
we bad a tent, but we never needed It
The load being light, the wagon was
drawn by but a span of horses, a pair
of wild runaways, tough, and good
travellers. My foreman and I rode
beside the wagon on our wiry, un
kempt, unshod cattle-ponies. They car
ried us all day at a rack, pace, single
foot or slow lope, varied by rapid gal
loping when we mudo long circles aft
er game; the trot, the favorite gait
with eastern park-riders, Is disliked by
all peoples who have to do much of
their life-work In tho saddle.
Tho first day's ride was not attrac
tive. The heat was Intense and the
dust stifling, as we bad to drive aorae
loose horses for the first few ' miles,
and afterwards to ride up and down
the sandy river bed, where the cattle
had gathered, to look over some young
steers we bad put on the range the
preceding spring. When we did camp
It was by a pool of stagnant water, In
a creek bottom, and the mosquitoes
were a torment Nevertheless, as
evening fell. It was pleasant to climb
a little knoll nearby and gaze at the
rows of strangely colored buttos, grass
clad, or of bare earth and scoria, their
oft reds and purples showing as
through a hase, and their Irregular out
lines gradually losing their sharpness
In the fading twilight
My foreman and I usually rode far
off to one side of the wagon, looking
out for antelope. Of these we at first
aw few, but they grew more plentiful
as w Journeyed onward, approaching
a big, scantily wooded creek, where I
had found the prong-horn abundant In
previous seasons. They were very
wary and watchful whether going sin
gly or In small parties, and the lay of
the land made It exceedingly difficult
to get within range. The last time I
had hunted In this neighborhood was
In the fall, at the height of the rutting
season. Prong-bucks, even more than
other ganio, seem fairly maddened by
erotic excitement. At the time of my
former hunt they were In ceaseless
motion; each master buck being Inces
santly occupied In herding bis harem,
and fighting would-be rivals, while sin
gle bucks chased single does as gray
hounds chase hares, or else, If no does
were in sight, from sheer excitement
ran to and fro aa If crazy, racing at
full speed In one direction, then halt
ing, wheeling, and tearing back again
Just as hard as they could go.
At this time, however, the rut was
still some weeks off, nnd all tho bucks
hud to do was to feed and keep a look
out for enemies. Try my ls.'st, I could
not get within less than four or five
hundred yards, and though I took a
number of shots at these, or even
longer distances, I missed. If a man
Is out merely for a day's hunt, and hits
as prong-horns; but no others are so
whimsical and odd in their behavior
at times, or so gubpect to fits of the
most stupid curiosity and panic. Late
In the afteiuiMin, on topping a rise I
saw two good bBi'ks racing off about
three hundred yards to one side: I
prang to the ground, and fired thsee
shots at them In tain, as they ran like
quarter-horses until they disappeared
ever u slight swell. In a minute, how
ever, back they came, suddenly ap
pearing over the crest of the same
swell, immediately In front of me.
and, as 1 afterwards found by pacing,
some three hundred and thirty yards
away. They stood side by side facing
me. and remained motionless, unheed
ing the crack of the Winchester; I
aimed at the right-hand one, but a
front shot of the kind, at such a dis
tance. Is rather difficult, and It was
not until I fired for the fourth time
that he sank back out of sight I
could not tell whether I had killed him,
and took two shots at his mate, as the
latter went off. but without effect
Running forward. I found the first
one dead, the bullet having gone
through him lengthwise; the other did
not seem satisfied even yet, and kept
hanging round In the distance for
some minutes, looking at us.
I had thus bagged one prong-buck,
as the net outcome of the expenditure
of fourteen cartridges. This was cer
tainly not good shooting; but neither
was It as bad as It would seem to the
man Inexperienced in antelope bunting.
p!e, vigorous body with Its markings
of sharply contrasted brown nnd
white. I pulled trigger, and away
he went; but I could see that his race
was nearly run. and he fell after going
a few hundred yards.
ir t't tht Itoiti-it in and the uhole
herd folJoiiYiL
all the time ho wishes, he wl'.I not
scare tho game and waste cartridges
by shooting at such long ranges, pre
ferring to spend half a day or more In
patient waiting nn.l cnieful stalking;
but If he N traveling, and Is therefore
cramped for time, lie must take liis
chances, even at the cost of liuruiiig
a good deal of p-.w,:.T.
1 was liua .v I c; . 1 to i.;,ess hv "
t.-r.i fie )!
They ttood title by tide facing me, and
remaitud tnotUmUa.
When fresh meat Is urgently needed,
and when time is too short, the hunter
who is after antelope in an open flat
tlsh country must risk many long
shots. In no other kind of hunting is
there so much long distance shooting.
Throwing the buck Into the wagon
we continued our Journey across the
prairie, uo longer following any road,
and before sunset Jolted down towards
the big creek for which we had been
heading. There were many water
holes therein, and timber of considera
ble size; box alder and ash grew here
and there iu clumps and frluges, be
side the serpentine curves of the near
ly dry torreut bed, the growth being
thickest under the shelter of the occa
sional low bluffs. We drove down to
a heavily grassed bottom, near a deep,
uarrow pool, with, ut oue end, that
rarest of luxuries In the plains coun
try, a bubbling spring of pure, cold
water. With plently of wood, delicious
water, nmple feed for tho horses, and
fresh meat we had every comfort and
luxury Incident to camp life iu good
weather. The bedding was tossed out
on a smooth spot beside the wagon;
the horses were watered and tethered
to picket pins where tho feed was
best; water was fetched from the
spring; a deep hole was dug for the
Are, and the grass roundabout care
fully burned otf; and lu a few mo
ments the bread was baking In the
Dutch oven, the potatoes were boiling,
antelope steak were sizzling In the
frying-pan, and the kettle was ready
for tho tea. After supper, eaten with
the relish known well to every hard
working and successful hunter, we sat
for half an hour or so round the Are,
and then turned In under the blankets
and listened to the walling of the
coyotes until we fell sound asleep.
We determined to stay in this camp
all day, so as to try and kill another
prong-buck, as we would soon be past
the good hunting grounds. I did not
have to go far for my game next morn
ing, for soon after breakfast, whllo
sitting on my canvas bag cleaning my
rifle, the sheriff suddenly called to me
tlist a buuch of autelope were coming
towards ua. Sure enough there they
were, four la number, rather over half
a mile off, on the first bench of the
prairie, two or three hundred yards
back of the creek, leisurely feeding In
our direction. In a minute or two
they were out of sight, and 1 Instantly
ran along the creek towards them for
a quarter of a mile, and then crawled
up a short shallow coullo, close to the
head of which they seemed likely to
pass. When nearly at the end I cau
tiously raised my hatlcs head, peered
through some struggling weeds, and
nt once saw the horns of the buck.
He w as a big fellow, about a hundred
and twenty yards off; the others, a d v
and two kids, were !:i front As I lift
ed r.r se'.f on ivy e"-ows l.c ! 'i, ,l an 1
MARK TWAIN'S JOKE,
This One Has a Moral Which
Does Not Require a Label.
AND IT SUGGESTS A SERMON.
The Txt Is Advertising, and the Talk
It on How to Catch and Hold Home
Trad and Build Up th Builneit
and the Burg Togethsr.
Mark Twain is an Inveterate Joker,
ns most people have discovered, but
very often there Is a distinct moral to
one of bis Jokes which does not re
quire to be labeled; It can be seen
with the naked eye. Many years ago
the now famous humorist was editor
of the Enterprise, a newspaper pub
lished at Virginia City, New One day
he received a letter from a subscriber
who appeared to be a bit superstitious.
The subscriber explained that he had
found in his copy of the Enterprise
that week a live spider, and he wanted
to know whether that meant good luck
or bad luck. Editor Mark, who was
plain Sam Clemens at that period, sat
himself down and wrote a brief reply
in hla "Answers to Correspondents"
column. "That spider," he said, "was
merely looking over the columns of the
Enterprise to find out what merchant
doesn't advertise In bis home paper.
The spider wants to go and spin Its
web across the door of that man's
place of business, so that It may have
a long life of undisturbed serenity."
This Is the age of advertising. If
you doubt It, Just take note of the fact
that up to a few mouths ago the circu
lation of the leading mail order month
lies of the United States aggregated
25,000,000 copies. Why? The "litera
ture" contained In most of such publi
cations Is not of high class, and there
Is no such enormous demand for that
class of journals merely for reading
purposes. Their circulation bad been
pushed by various methods, In many
cases the papers being practically giv
en away to carry the advertising of
big city establishments and smaller
catchpenny schemes to the town and
country districts. These papers with
their enormous circulation were sup
ported by advertising. The advertis
ing even paid for the white paper and
the expense of mailing. Advertisers
paid a stiff rate because they were
satisfied of the wide circulation of the
sheets. They knew a good thing when
they saw it and they were willing to
pay for It
It Is estimated that since the recent
ruling of the postottlce department re
garding subscription lists and sample
copies no less than 18,(100,000 of this
enormous circulation has been cut off
compulsortly. Many of the journals
j with the biggest circulation have sus
pended altogether.
The local merchant may congratulate
' himself upon this fact, but there nre
many reasons why he should not sit
down placidly and expect to get back
such patrouage as the mall order peo
ple have taken away from him. The
biggest concerns In the cities, which
thrive on trade from country districts,
by mail orders, print gigantic cata
logues and distribute tbem with a gen
erous hand. These catalogues curry
price lists and pictures aud descrip
tions of goods which could not be
printed In mall order journals because,
of tho high cost of space and the lack
I of enough space to accommodate the
prluted matter. The catalogues are in
nowise affected by the postal rulings.
Now that the mall order advertising
j avenues are fewer than they were the
j catalogue houses are sure to Increase
their output of catalogues. They will
, buy up the names and addresses of the
defunct subscription and sample copy
lists and flood the country with cata
logues. As remarked, this Is an advertising
age. The home merchant If he holds
his trade or hones to Increase It, must
be awake and active. Unless he takes
measures to keep his business and his
bargains liefore the eyes of the peo
ple dwelling In his trade radius he
rsnnot expect prosperity. The home
newspaper Is the one medium for dis
seminating publicity to the people.
Men, women and children In town and
country have acquired the habit of
readlug advertising matter to find
what they want. If they do not dis
cover Iu the home newspaper any
hlnta as to bargains which may be
seen In town wtth the naked eye, they
are Inclined to take their chances on
purchasing by mail from the cata
logue hints.
It may be taken for granted that
most people prefer to spend their mon
ey lu the home town If they can get
what they want at reasonable rates.
They are always on the lookout for
bargains. The catalogue people are
very well aware of this fact and they
act accordingly. To combat mall trade
the local merchant must realize this
fact ami g-t hi 'Hie wlfj the spirit of
,::'' " '' ' "- tVat he most sd-
Special Colonist Rates
"in effect from Sept. 1, to October 31, 1908
SEE LOCAL AGENT
TO GRANTS PASS, ORE.
on any Railroad, from Kausis City, St Joseph
Omaha, St. Paul, Minneapolis; $35 SO from St.
Louis; $38 00 from Chicago; $ 40 15 from Indian
apolis; $44.75 from Cleveland; $47 00 from Pitts
burg; $47.15 from Briminsham; $55.00 from
New York City. Proportionate rates from every
city in the United States.
For imformation about Grants Pass, address
Grants Pass Commercial Club
H. L. Andrews, Secy.
run
I The School
BUSINESS COLLEGE
WASHINGTON AND TENTH STREETS
PORTLAND, OREGON
WRITE FOR CATALOG
Places You in a Good Position
that
A live business training school. Endorsed by business men. The school
whose graduates seonre positions and hold them. Living expenses lor
School in continuous session. Send for catalogue.
SALEM, OREGON
W. I. STALEY, Principal
f'THE SCHOOL OF QUALITY
Tenth and Morrison, Portland, Oregon A. P. Armstrong;, LL.B., Principal
C.We occupy two floors 65 by 100 feet, have a $20,000 equipment,
employ a large faculty, give individual instruction, receive more calls
for office help than we can meet Our school admittedly leads ill
others in quality of instruction. It pays to attend such an institutioa
CSald a Business Man : " Keep hammering away everlastingly on thorough
work. It will win out In the end." Said an Educator: "The quality of instruo
tion given in your school makes it the standard of its kind in the Northwest"
COpen all the year. Students admitted at any time. Catalogue fret
References: Any bank, any newspaper, any business man in Portland
IRRIGATED
Best, irrigated small farm in Jackson County
for $2500. 40 acres in tract. 30 acres under
ditch. 20 acres under cultivation. Come and
see for yourself.,
BEN A. LOWELL
HOODVILLE.
OREGON
Courier
and
OregoniM
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