Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains: An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far WestDrannan, William F.
History
Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains: An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West
Drannan, William F.
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America -- Wars
After traveling a short distance we saw four deer coming toward
us, and I pointed out an opening and said: "When they get to that
place I will stop them; be ready, and when I count three, fire."
When the deer were all on the selected spot I gave a keen whistle,
which caused them to stop and throw up their heads. I counted
three and fired, but did not hear the report of the other guns.
Just as I turned to see what was the trouble, Capt. Mills fired,
but Lieut. Harding stood and held his gun at a "ready" and did not
fire at all. He said the sight was so pretty that he did not think
of his gun. I killed my deer, and the Captain wounded his by
breaking one fore leg. The other deer gave a few jumps and
stopped, and I took the Lieutenant's gun and shot it dead. We now
had two deer and were only about a mile from camp. I left the two
officers to dress the venison and I went back to camp after a
horse to pack it in. While I was away, and before they had got the
fallen game dressed, two other deer came along within gunshot of
them. The two officers fired at them and killed one deer, both
claiming the honor of the fatal shot. Now we had plenty of meat
for a start, and would, no doubt, get more before we consumed
that.
After arriving at camp with the deer I directed Jake, the negro
cook, to get an early dinner, as I wanted to take a big hunt that
afternoon.
While at the dinner table I suggested that as they could find deer
anywhere around there, for they were as thick as sheep and not
very wild, that they might kill that kind of game, while I would
mount Pinto and prospect for larger, for I thought there were elk
in that country, and if that was true we wanted some of them.
After dinner I mounted my horse and was off for an elk hunt. After
riding up the river about three miles I could see any amount of
sign. Dismounting and tying my horse, I took an elk trail where a
band had just crossed the trail on which I was riding, and I did
not follow it very far until I came in sight of the elk. There
were eight in this band, and I had to take a roundabout course to
get in gunshot of them, but when I finally did get a shot at them
I killed an elk that carried the largest pair of horns I have ever
seen, with one exception. I unjointed his neck about a foot from
his head and dressed him, but left his hide on. The head and horns
were all I could lift as high as the horse's back.
When I rode up to camp and the negro cook saw that head of horns
he exclaimed: "Hello, Marstah; what you got dar? You must hab
killed de debbil dis time, suah."
From the negro I learned that the officers had all been out, and
had seen more or less deer and had done more or less shooting, but
had only killed one small doe.
That night the elk fever raged high in camp, as that pair of horns
had set them all wild to go elk hunting the next day. That night
we ordered an early breakfast, so as to get an early start to our
hunting ground.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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