The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland ExpeditionsMarcy, Randolph B. (Randolph Barnes)
History
The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions
Marcy, Randolph B. (Randolph Barnes)
Overland journeys to the Pacific; West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
When the animal is wounded, and stops, it is better not to go near him
until he lies down, as he will often run a great distance if disturbed;
but if left to himself, will in many cases die in a short time.
The tongues, humps, and marrow-bones are regarded as the choice parts
of the animal. The tongue is taken out by ripping open the skin between
the prongs of the lower jaw-bone and pulling it out through the
orifice. The hump may be taken off by skinning down on each side of the
shoulders and cutting away the meat, after which the hump-ribs can be
unjointed where they unite with the spine. The marrow, when roasted in
the bones, is delicious.
THE DEER.
Of all game quadrupeds indigenous to this continent, the common red
deer is probably more widely dispersed from north to south and from
east to west over our vast possessions than any other. They are found
in all latitudes from Hudson's Bay to Mexico, and they clamber over the
most elevated peaks of the western sierras with the same ease that they
range the eastern forests or the everglades of Florida. In summer they
crop the grass upon the summits of the Rocky Mountains, and in winter,
when the snow falls deep, they descend into sheltered valleys, where
they fall an easy prey to the Indians.
Besides the common red deer of the Eastern States, two other varieties
are found in the Rocky Mountains, viz., the "black-tailed deer," which
takes its name from the fact of its having a small tuft of black hair
upon the end of its tail, and the _long-tailed_ species. The former of
these is considerably larger than the eastern deer, and is much darker,
being of a very deep-yellowish iron-gray, with a yellowish red upon the
belly. It frequents the mountains, and is never seen far away from
them. Its habits are similar to those of the red deer, and it is hunted
in the same way. The only difference I have been able to discern
between the long-tailed variety and the common deer is in the length of
the tail and body. I have seen this animal only in the neighborhood of
the Rocky Mountains, but it may resort to other localities.
Although the deer are still abundant in many of our forest districts in
the east, and do not appear to decrease very rapidly, yet there has
within a few years been a very evident diminution in the numbers of
those frequenting our Western prairies. In passing through Southern
Texas in 1846, thousands of deer were met with daily, and, astonishing
as it may appear, it was no uncommon spectacle to see from one to two
hundred in a single herd; the prairies seemed literally alive with
them; but in 1855 it was seldom that a herd often was seen in the same
localities. It seemed to me that the vast herds first met with could
not have been killed off by the hunters in that sparsely-populated
section, and I was puzzled to know what had become of them. It is
possible they may have moved off into Mexico; they certainly are not in
our territory at the present time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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