The Project Gutenberg eBook ofBuffalo LandThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Buffalo LandAuthor: W. E. WebbRelease date: May 12, 2012 [eBook #39674]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Julia Miller, Julia Neufeld and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO LAND ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Buffalo LandAuthor: W. E. WebbRelease date: May 12, 2012 [eBook #39674]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Julia Miller, Julia Neufeld and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
Title: Buffalo Land
Author: W. E. Webb
Author: W. E. Webb
Release date: May 12, 2012 [eBook #39674]
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Julia Miller, Julia Neufeld and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO LAND ***
Buffalo Land
ANAuthentic AccountOF THEDiscoveries, Adventures, and Mishaps of a Scientificand Sporting Party
WITHGRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COUNTRY; THE RED MAN, SAVAGEAND CIVILIZED; HUNTING THE BUFFALO, ANTELOPE,ELK, AND WILD TURKEY; ETC., ETC.REPLETE WITH INFORMATION, WIT, AND HUMOR.The Appendix Comprising a Complete Guide for Sportsmen and Emigrants.
OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.
Profusely IllustratedFROM ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHS, AND ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY HENRY WORRALL.
CINCINNATI and CHICAGO:E HANNAFORD & COMPANY.SAN FRANCISCO: F. DEWING & CO.1872.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, byE. HANNAFORD & CO.,In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.STEREOTYPED AT THE FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY, CINCINNATI.
TOThe Primeval Man,The Original Westerner, and First Buffalo Hunter,This Work is Dedicated,With Profound Regard,BY THE AUTHOR.
BY OUR TAMMANY SACHEM.
There's a wonderful land far out in the West,Well worthy a visit, my friend;There, Puritans thought, as the sun went to rest,Creation itself had an end.'T is a wild, weird spot on the continent's face,A wound which is ghastly and red,Where the savages write the deeds of their raceIn blood that they constantly shed.The graves of the dead the fair prairies deface,And stamp it the kingdom of dread.The emigrant trail is a skeleton path;You measure its miles by the bones;There savages struck, in their merciless wrath,And now, after sunset, the moans,When tempests are out, fill the shuddering air,And ghosts flit the wagons beside,And point to the skulls lying grinning and bareAnd beg of the teamsters a ride;Sometimes 't is a father with snow on his hair,Again, 't is a youth and his bride.What visions of horror each valley could tell,If Providence gave it a tongue!How often its Eden was changed to a hell,In which a whole train had been flung;How death cry and battle-shout frightened the birds,And prayers were as thick as the leaves,And no one to catch the poor dying one's wordsBut Death, as he gathered his sheaves:You see the bones bleaching among the wild herds,In shrouds that the field spider weaves.That era is passing—another one comes,The era of steam and the plow,With clangor of commerce and factory hums,Where only the wigwam is now.Like mist of the morning before the bright sun,The cloud from the land disappears;The Spirit of Murder his circle has runAnd fled from the march of the years;The click of machine drowns the click of the gun,And day hides the night time of tears.
The purpose of this work is to make the reader better acquainted with that wild land which he has known from childhood, as the home of the Indian and the buffalo. The Rocky Mountain chain, distorted and rugged, has been aptly called the colossal vertebræ of our continent's broad back, and from thence, as a line, the plains, weird and wonderful, stretch eastward through Colorado, and embrace the entire western half of Kansas.
Fortune, not long since, threw in my way an invitation, which I gladly accepted, to join a semi-scientific party, since somewhat known to fame through various articles in the newspaper press, in a sojourn of several months on the great plains. At a meeting held with due solemnity on the eve of starting, the Professor (to whom the reader will be introduced in the proper connection) was chosen leader of the expedition, while to my lot fell theoffice of editor of the future record, or rather Grand Scribe of what we were pleased to call our "Log Book." The latter now lies before me, in all its glory of shabby covers and dirty pages. Its soiled face is as honorable as that of the laborer who comes from his task in a well harvested field. Out of the sheaves gathered during our journey, I shall try and take such portions as may best supply the mental cravings of the countless thousands who hunger for the life and the lore of the far West.
I have given the mistakes as well as triumphs of our expedition, and the members of the party will readily recognize their familiar camp names. The disguise will probably be pleasant, as few like to see their failures on public parade, preferring rather to leave these in barracks, and let their successes only appear at review.
The plains have a face, a people, and a brute creation, peculiarly their own, and to these our party devoted earnest study. The expedition presented a rare opportunity of becoming acquainted with the game of the country; and, in writing the present volume, my aim has been to make it so far a text-book for amateur hunters that they may become at once conversant with the habits of the game, and the best manner of killing it. The time is not far distant, when the plains and the RockyMountains will be sought by thousands annually, as a favorite field for sport and recreation.
Another and still larger class, it is hoped, will find much of interest and value in the following pages. From every state in the Union, people are constantly passing westward. We found emigrant wagons on spots from which the Indians had just removed their wigwams. Multitudes more are now on the way, with the earnest purpose of founding homes and, if possible, of finding fortunes. In order to aid this class, as well as the sportsman, I have gathered in an appendix such additional information as may be useful to both.
The scientific details of our trip will probably be published in proper form and time, by the savans interested. In regard to these, my object has been simply to chronicle such matters as made an impression upon my own mind, being content with what cream might be gathered by an amateur's skimming, while the more bulky milk should be saved in capacious scientific buckets.
Professor Cope, the well known naturalist, of the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, received for examination and classification the most valuable fossils we obtained, and to him I am indebted for a large amount of most interesting and valuablescientific matter, which will be found embodied in chapters twenty-third and twenty-fourth.
The illustrations of men and brutes in this work are studies from life. Whenever it was possible, we had photographs taken.
The plains, it must be said, are a tract with which Romance has had much more to do than History. Red men, brave and chivalrous, and unnatural buffalo, with the habits of lions, exist only in imagination. In these pages, my earnest endeavor, when dealing with actualities, has been to "hold the mirror up to Nature," and to describe men, manners, and things as they are in real life upon the frontiers, and beyond, to-day.
W. E. W.
Topeka, Kansas,May, 1872.
CHAPTER I.PAGES.THE OBJECT OF OUR EXPEDITION—A GLIMPSE OF ALASKA THROUGH CAPTAINWALRUS' GLASS—WE ARE TEMPTED BY OUR RECENT PURCHASE—ALASKANGAME OF "OLD SLEDGE"—THE EARLY STRUGGLES OF KANSAS—THESMOKY HILL TRAIL—INDIAN HIGH ART—THE "BORDER-RUFFIAN,"PAST AND PRESENT—TOPEKA—HOW IT RECEIVED ITSNAME—WAUKARUSA AND ITS LEGEND,25-35CHAPTER II.A CHAPTER OF INTRODUCTIONS—PROFESSOR PALEOZOIC—TAMMANY SACHEM—DOCTORPYTHAGORAS—GENUINE MUGGS—COLON AND SEMI-COLON—SHAMUSDOBEEN—TENACIOUS GRIPE—BUGS AND PHILOSOPHY—HOWGRIPE BECAME A REPUBLICAN,36-54CHAPTER III.THE TOPEKA AUCTIONEER—MUGGS GETS A BARGAIN—CYNOCEPHALUS—INDIANSUMMER IN KANSAS—HUNTING PRAIRIE CHICKENS—OUR FIRSTDAY'S SPORT,55-63CHAPTER IV.CHICKEN-SHOOTING CONTINUED—A SCIENTIFIC PARTY TAKE THE BIRDS ONTHE WING—EVILS OF FAST FIRING—AN OLD-FASHIONED "SLOW SHOT"—THEHABITS OF THE PRAIRIE CHICKEN—ITS PROSPECTIVE EXTINCTION—MODEOF HUNTING IT—THE GOPHER SCALP LAW,64-74CHAPTER V.A TRIAL BY JUDGE LYNCH—HUNG FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT—QUAILSHOOTING—HABITS OF THE BIRDS, AND MODE OF KILLING THEM—ARING OF QUAILS—THE EFFECTS OF A SEVERE WINTER—THE SNOWGOOSE,75-83CHAPTER VI.OFF FOR BUFFALO LAND—THE NAVIGATION OF THE KAW—FORT RILEY—THECENTER-POST OF THE UNITED STATES—OUR PURCHASE OF HORSES—"LO"AS A SAVAGE AND AS A CITIZEN—GRIPE UNFOLDS THE INDIANQUESTION—A BALLAD BY SACHEM, PRESENTING ANOTHER VIEW,84-98CHAPTER VII.GRIPE'S VIEWS OF INDIAN CHARACTER—THE DELAWARES, THE ISHMAELITESOF THE PLAINS—THE TERRITORY OF THE "LONG HORNS"—TEXANSAND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS—MUSHROOM ROCK—A VALUABLE DISCOVERY—FOOTPRINTSIN THE ROCK—THE PRIMEVAL PAUL ANDVIRGINIA,99-111CHAPTER VIII.THE "GREAT AMERICAN DESERT"—ITS FOSSIL WEALTH—AN ILLUSION DISPELLED—FIRESACCORDING TO NOVELS AND ACCORDING TO FACT—SENSATIONALHEROES AND HEROINES—PRAIRIE DOGS AND THEIR HABITS—HAWKAND DOG, AND HAWK AND CAT,112-123CHAPTER IX.WE SEE BUFFALO—ARRIVAL AT HAYS—GENERAL SHERIDAN AT THE FORT—INDIANMURDERS—BLOOD-CHRISTENING OF THE PACIFIC RAILROAD—SURPRISEDBY A BUFFALO HERD—A BUFFALO BULL IN A QUANDARY—GENTLEZEPHYRS—HOW A CIRCUS WENT OFF—BOLOGNA TO LEAN ON—ACALL UPON SHERIDAN,124-141CHAPTER X.HAYS CITY BY LAMP-LIGHT—THE SANTA FE TRADE—BULL-WHACKERS—MEXICANS—SABBATHON THE PLAINS—THE DARK AGES—WILD BILLAND BUFFALO BILL—OFF FOR THE SALINE—DOBEEN'S GHOST-STORY—ANADVENTURE WITH INDIANS—MEXICAN CANNONADE—A RUNAWAY,142-160CHAPTER XI.WHITE WOLF, THE CHEYENNE CHIEF—HUNGRY INDIANS—RETURN TO HAYS—ACHEYENNE WAR PARTY—THE PIPE OF PEACE—THE COUNCILCHAMBER—WHITE WOLF'S SPEECH, AS RENDERED BY SACHEM—THEWHITE MAN'S WIGWAM,161-176CHAPTER XII.ARMS OF A WAR PARTY—A DONKEY PRESENT—EATING POWERS OF THENOMADS—SATANTA, HIS CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT—RUNNING OFFWITH A GOVERNMENT HERD—DAUB, OUR ARTIST—ANTELOPE CHASEBY A GREYHOUND,177-191CHAPTER XIII.CHARACTER OF THE PLAINS—BUFFALO BILL AND HIS HORSE BRIGHAM—THEGUIDE AND SCOUT OF ROMANCE—CAYOTE VERSUS JACKASS-RABBIT—ALAWYER-LIKE RESCUE—OUR CAMP ON SILVER CREEK—UNCLESAM'S BUFFALO HERDS—TURKEY-SHOOTING—OUR FIRST MEAL ON THEPLAINS—A GAME SUPPER,192-208CHAPTER XIV.A CAMP-FIRE SCENE—VAGABONDIZING—THE BLACK PACER OF THE PLAINS—SOMEADVICE FROM BUFFALO BILL ABOUT INDIAN FIGHTING—LO'SABHORRENCE OF LONG RANGE—HIS DREAD OF CANNON—AN IRISHGOBLIN,209-219CHAPTER XV.A FIRE SCENE—A GLIMPSE OF THE SOUTH—'COON HUNTING IN MISSISSIPPI—VOICESIN THE SOLITUDE—FRIENDS OR FOES—A STARTLINGSERENADE—PANIC IN CAMP—CAYOTES AND THEIR HABITS—WORRYINGA BUFFALO BULL—THE SECOND DAY—DAUB, OUR ARTIST—HEMAKES HIS MARK,220-235CHAPTER XVI.BISON MEAT—A STRANGE ARRIVAL—THE SYDNEY FAMILY—THE HOMEIN THE VALLEY—THE SOLOMON MASSACRE—THE MURDER OF THEFATHER AND THE CHILD—THE SETTLERS' FLIGHT—INCIDENTS—OURQUEEN OF THE PLAINS—THE PROFESSOR INTERESTED—IRISH MARY—DOBEENHAPPY—THE HEROINE OF ROMANCE—SACHEM'S BATH BYMOONLIGHT—THE BEAVER COLONY,236-249CHAPTER XVII.PREPARATIONS FOR THE CHASE—THE VALLEY OF THE SALINE—QUEER'COONS—A BISON'S GAME OF BLUFF—IN PURSUIT—ALONGSIDE THEGAME—FIRING FROM THE SADDLE—A CHARGE AND A PANIC—FALSEHISTORY AGAIN—GOING FOR AMMUNITION—THE PROFESSOR'S LETTER—DISROBINGTHE VICTIM,250-263CHAPTER XVIII.STILL HUNTING—DARK OBJECTS AGAINST THE HORIZON—THE RED MANAGAIN—RETREAT TO CAMP—PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENSE—SHAKINGHANDS WITH DEATH—MR. COLON'S BUGS—THE EMBASSADORS—A NEWALARM—MORE INDIANS—TERRIFIC BATTLE BETWEEN PAWNEES ANDCHEYENNES—THEIR MODE OF FIGHTING—GOOD HORSEMANSHIP—ASCIENTIFIC PARTY AS SEXTONS—DITTO AS SURGEONS—CAMPS OF THECOMBATANTS—STEALING AWAY—AN APPARITION,264-279CHAPTER XIX.STALKING THE BISON—BUFFALO AS OXEN—EXPENSIVE POWER—A BUFFALOAT A LUNATIC ASYLUM—THE GATEWAY TO THE HERDS—INFERNALGRAPE-SHOT—NATURE'S BOMB-SHELLS—CRAWLING BEDOUINS—"THARTHEY HUMP"—THE SLAUGHTER BEGUN—AN INEFFECTUALCHARGE—"KETCHING THE CRITTER"—RETURN TO CAMP—CALVES'HEAD ON THE STOMACH—AN UNPLEASANT EPISODE—WOLF BAITING,AND HOW IT IS DONE,280-291CHAPTER XX.THE CAYOTES' STRYCHNINE FEAST—CAPTURING A TIMBER WOLF—A FEWCORDS OF VICTIMS—WHAT THE LAW CONSIDERS "INDIAN TAN"—"FINISHING"THE NEW YORK MARKET—A NEW YORK FARMER'SOPINION OF OUR GRAY WOLF—WESTWARD AGAIN—EPISODES IN OURJOURNEY—THE WILD HUNTRESS OF THE PLAINS—WAS OUR GUIDE AMURDERER?—THE READER JOINS US IN A BUFFALO CHASE—THEDYING AGONIES,292-305CHAPTER XXI."CREASING" WILD HORSES—MUGGS DISAPPOINTED—A FEAT FOR FICTION—HORSEAND MONKEY—HOOF WISDOM FOR TURFMEN—PROSPECTIVECLIMATIC CHANGES ON THE PLAINS—THE QUESTION OFSPONTANEOUS GENERATION—WANTON SLAUGHTER OF BUFFALO—AMOUNTOF ROBES AND MEAT ANNUALLY WASTED—A STRANGEHABIT OF THE BISON—NUMEROUS BILLS—THE "SNEAK THIEF" OFTHE PLAINS,306-317CHAPTER XXII.A LIVE TOWN AND ITS GRAVE-YARD—HONEST ROMBEAUX IN TROUBLE—JUDGELYNCH HOLDS COURT—MARIE AND THE VINE-COVERED COTTAGE—THETERRIBLE FLOODS—DEATH IN CAMP AND IN THE DUGOUT—WASIT THE WATER WHICH DID IT?—DISCOVERY OF A HUGEFOSSIL—THE MOSASAURUS OF THE CRETACEOUS SEA—A GLIMPSEOF THE REPTILIAN AGE—REMINISCENCES OF ALLIGATOR-SHOOTING—THEYSUGGEST A THEORY,318-329CHAPTER XXIII.FROM SHERIDAN TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS—THE COLORADO PORTION OFTHE PLAINS—THE GIANT PINES—ATTEMPT TO PHOTOGRAPH A BUFFALO—THINGSGET MIXED—THE LEVIATHAN AT HOME—A CHATWITH PROFESSOR COPE—TWENTY-SIX-INCH OYSTERS—REPTILES ANDFISHES OF THE CRETACEOUS SEA,330-350CHAPTER XXIV.CONTINUED BY COPE—THE GIANTS OF THE SEAS—TAKING OUT FOSSILSIN A GALE—INTERESTING DISCOVERIES—THE GEOLOGY OF THEPLAINS,351-365CHAPTER XXV.A SAVAGE OUTBREAK—THE BATTLE OF THE FORTY SCOUTS—THE SURPRISE—PACK-MULESSTAMPEDED—DEATH ON THE ARICKEREE—THEMEDICINE MAN—A DISMAL NIGHT—MESSENGERS SENT TO WALLACE—MORNINGATTACK—WHOSE FUNERAL?—RELIEF AT LAST—THE OLDSCOUT'S DEVOTION TO THE BLUE,366-376CHAPTER XXVI.THE STAGE DRIVERS OF THE PLAINS—"OLD BOB"—JAMAICA AND GINGER—ANOLD ACQUAINTANCE—BEADS OF THE PAST—ROBBING THEDEAD—A LEAP FROM THE LOST HISTORY OF THE MOUND BUILDERS—INDIANTRADITIONS—SPECULATIONS—ADOBE HOUSES IN A RAIN—CHEAPLIVING—WATCH TOWERS,377-386CHAPTER XXVII.OUR PROGRAMME CONCLUDED—FROM SHERIDAN TO THE SOLOMON—FIERCEWINDS—A TERRIFIC STORM—SHAMUS' BLOODY APPARITION ANDINDIAN WITCH—A RECONNOISSANCE—AN INDIAN BURIAL GROVE—ACONTRACTOR'S DARING AND ITS PENALTY—MORE VAGABONDIZING—JOSEAT THE LONG BOW—THE "WILD HUNTRESS'" COUNTERPART—SHAMUSTREATS US TO "CHILE"—THE RESULT,387-395CHAPTER XXVIII.THE BLOCK-HOUSE ON THE SOLOMON—HOW THE OLD MAN DIED—WACONDADA—LEGEND OF WA-BOG-AHA AND HEWGAW—SABBATH MORNING—SACHEM'SPOETICAL EPITAPH—AN ALARM—BATTLE BETWEEN ANEMIGRANT AND THE INDIANS—WAS IT THE SYDNEYS?—TO THERESCUE—AN ELK HUNT—ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP—NOVEL MODEOF HUNTING TURKEYS—IN CAMP ON THE SOLOMON—A WARM WELCOME,396-415CHAPTER XXIX.OUR LAST NIGHT TOGETHER—THE REMARKABLE SHED-TAIL DOG—HERESCUES HIS MISTRESS, AND BREAKS UP A MEETING—A SKETCH OFTERRITORIAL TIMES BY GRIPE—MONTGOMERY'S EXPEDITION FOR THERESCUE OF JOHN BROWN'S COMPANIONS—SCALPED, AND CARVING HISOWN EPITAPH—AN IRISH JACOB—"SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST"—SACHEM'SPOETICAL LETTER—POPPING THE QUESTION ON THE RUN—THEPROFESSOR'S LETTER,416-428
PAGES.PRELIMINARY TO THE APPENDIX,431, 432CHAPTER FIRST.COME TO THE GREAT WEST—SHOULD THERE NOT BE COMPULSORY EMIGRATION—"GETA GOOD READY"—HOMESTEAD LAWS AND REGULATIONS—THESTATE OF KANSAS—THE COST OF A FARM—A FEW MOREPRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS,433-450CHAPTER SECOND.HUNTING THE BUFFALO—ANTELOPE HUNTING—ELK HUNTING—TURKEYHUNTING—GENERAL REMARKS—WHAT TO DO IF LOST ON THE PLAINS—THENEW FIELD FOR SPORTSMEN,451-463CHAPTER THIRD."BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES"—THE GREAT WEST—FALLOF THE RIVERS—THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS AND VALLEYS OFBUFFALO LAND—THE VALLEY OF THE PLATTE—THE SOLOMON ANDSMOKY HILL RIVERS—THE ARKANSAS RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES—STOCKRAISING IN THE GREAT WEST—THE CATTLE HIVE OF NORTHAMERICA—THE CLIMATE OF THE PLAINS—CLIMATIC CHANGES ON THEPLAINS—THE TREES AND FUTURE FORESTS OF THE PLAINS—THESUPPLY OF FUEL—DISTRICTS CONTIGUOUS TO THE PLAINS—THE VALLEYSOF THE WHITE EARTH AND NIOBRARA—NEW MEXICO: ITSSOIL, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, ETC.—THE DISAPPEARING BISON—THEFISH WITH LEGS—THE MOUNTAIN SUPPLY OF LUMBER FOR THEPLAINS,465-503
From Original Drawings by Henry Worrall, and Actual Photographs.The Engraving by the Bureau of Illustration, Buffalo, N. Y.
PAGEFrontispiece,Facing Title PageAlaskan Lovers—Sealing the Contract,27Alaskan Game of Old Sledge,27"Waukarusa,"33"Toasts his Moccasined Feet by the Fire,"33The Professor—a Remarkable Stone,39Tammany Sachem—Prospective and Retrospective,39Colon and Semi-colon,43David Pythagoras, M. D.,43One of the Muggses,47Shamus Dobeen—His Card,53Hon. T. Gripe (Beatified),53"Sperit, Gentlemen!"57Our First Bird-Shooting,67Judge Lynch—His Court,77Unnaturalized,91Naturalized,91"You've Riled That Brook"—An Old Fable Modernized,96Dog Town—The Happy Family,96Indian Rock—From a Photograph,105Mushroom Rock—From a Photograph,105Fire on the Plains, according to Novels,115Fire on the Plains, as it is,115"And Erin's Son Christens those Far-off Points of the Pacific Railroad with his Blood,"127Gentle Zephyrs—Going off without a Drawback,133"Looked like the End of a Tail,"137The Rare Old Plainsman of the Novels,137Wild Bill—From a Photograph,147Buffalo Bill—From a Photograph,147Our Horses Run Away with Us,157The Pipe of Peace—The Professor's Dilemma,167White Wolf at Home,172The Wild Denizens of the Plains,197Smashing a Cheyenne Black-Kettle,219Midnight Serenade on the Plains,227Going after Ammunition,259Battle between Cheyennes and Pawnees,271One of our Specimens—Photographed by J. Lee Knight, Topeka,301Wanton Destruction of Buffalo, Embracing:Daily, for Fun,315300 a Day for Pleasure,315For Excitement,315100,000 for Tongues,3152,000,000 for Robes, to get Whisky,315Dug Out,329Taking and Being Taken,335Developing—One of the First Families,348The Sea which once Covered the Plains,357Waconda Da—Great Spirit Salt Spring,399More of our Specimens (Photographed by J. Lee Knight), Embracing:Prairie Chickens,413Head of an Elk,413Wild Turkey,413Beaver,413
THE OBJECT OF OUR EXPEDITION—A GLIMPSE OF ALASKA THROUGH CAPTAIN WALRUS' GLASS—WE ARE TEMPTED BY OUR RECENT PURCHASE—ALASKAN GAME OF "OLD SLEDGE"—THE EARLY STRUGGLES OF KANSAS—THE SMOKY HILL TRAIL—INDIAN HIGH ART—THE "BORDER-RUFFIAN," PAST AND PRESENT—TOPEKA—HOW IT RECEIVED ITS NAME—WAUKARUSA AND ITS LEGEND.
THE OBJECT OF OUR EXPEDITION—A GLIMPSE OF ALASKA THROUGH CAPTAIN WALRUS' GLASS—WE ARE TEMPTED BY OUR RECENT PURCHASE—ALASKAN GAME OF "OLD SLEDGE"—THE EARLY STRUGGLES OF KANSAS—THE SMOKY HILL TRAIL—INDIAN HIGH ART—THE "BORDER-RUFFIAN," PAST AND PRESENT—TOPEKA—HOW IT RECEIVED ITS NAME—WAUKARUSA AND ITS LEGEND.
The great plains—the region of country in which our expedition sojourned for so many months—is wilder, and by far more interesting, than those solitudes over which the Egyptian Sphynx looks out. The latter are barren and desolate, while the former teem with their savage races and scarcely more savage beasts. The very soil which these tread is written all over with a history of the past, even its surface giving to science wonderful and countless fossils of those ages when the world was young and man not yet born.
At first, it was rather unsettled which way the steps of our party would turn; between unexplored territory and that newly acquired, there were several fields open which promised much of interest. Originally, our company numbered a dozen; but Alaska tempted a portion of our savans, and to the fishy and frigid maiden they yielded, drawn by a strange predilection for train-oil and seal meat toward the land offurs. For the remainder of our party, however, life under the Alaskan's tent-pole had no charms. Our decision may have been influenced somewhat by the seafaring man with whom our friends were to sail. The real name of this son of Neptune was Samuels, but our party called him, as it savored more of salt water, Captain Walrus, of the bark Harpoon. This worthy, according to his own statement, had been born on a whaler, weaned among the Esquimeaux, and, moreover, had frozen off eight toes "trying to winter it at our recent purchase." He evidently disliked to have scientific men aboard, intent on studying eclipses and seals. "A heathenish and strange people are the Alaskans," Walrus was wont to say. "What is not Indian is Russian, and a compound of the latter and aboriginal is a mixture most villainous. One portion of the partnership anatomy takes to brandy, while the other absorbs train-oil, and so a half-breed Alaskan heathen is always prepared for spontaneous combustion, and if rubbed the wrong way, flames up instantly. He is always hot for murder, and if you throw cold water on his designs, his oily nature sheds it."
And many a yarn did the captain spin concerning their strange customs. Sealing a marriage contract consisted in the warrior leaving a fat seal at the hole of the hut, where his intended crawled in to her home privileges of smoke and fish. Their favorite game was "old sledge," played with prisoners to shorten their captivity.