CHAPTER XXIX.
WILD SPORTS.
Notwithstanding the thick growth of the forests of Oregon and Washington, the hunter may find sport, with game worthy of his rifle, if he is not afraid of the exertion and foot-service. There are numerous "openings" in the forest, and plenty of wild country in the foot-hills, where game may be found, if the habitat of each animal is known.
The most formidable of the Bear family is the grizzly, which inhabits less the thick forests of the north than the manzanita thickets and the scrub-oak coverts of Southern and Eastern Oregon, yet is occasionally found as far north as the Olympian Range in Washington Territory. The color of this bear is a silvery gray, its bulk immense, sometimes weighing two thousand pounds, and its habits herbivorous chiefly, though it will, on sufficient provocation, kill and eat other animals, and even man. It subsists in Southern Oregon upon the berries of the manzanita, of which it is very fond, and will feed upon any berries or fruits within its reach; occasionally, as a relish, digging up a wasps'-nest for the sake of the honey, not being able, like the black bear, to climb in search of bees'-nests.
In seasons when drought has destroyed its customary food in the mountains of California, it has been known to descend into the valleys and dig up gophers for food. If it scents fresh venison or beef, it will steal it if possible, and has been known to take the hunter's provisions out from under his head while sleeping. In such a case it is better to pretend to be sound asleep during the stealing, even if very wide-awake, as most likely to be the case, for any movement will be certain to bring down the bear's paw with force upon the hunter's head—"a consummation most devoutly to be" avoided.
This trick of the grizzly—striking a man on the head, or "boxing his ears"—is a dangerous one. It is not at all rare to find men in the mountains and valleys where the grizzly ranges, who have had their skulls broken by the blow of its immense paw. They are much io be dreaded in a personal encounter, and by no means easy to kill, unless hit in the vulnerable spot behind the ear. Those who fancy lion-hunting in the jungles of Africa might find equally good sport in hunting grizzlies in California, Oregon, and in some parts of the Rocky Mountains.
During the summer months they retire to the mountains; but, as the berries ripen, come down to the foot-hills and river-banks, to feed upon their favorite fruits. If a cavern is not at hand when winter comes on in the cold regions they make a bed for themselves in some thicket; or sometimes dig a hole below the surface, in which they pass the winter sucking their paws.—It would seem that where the winters are as mild as in the Coast Mountains of California, they do not hibernate, as they are met with all through the winter season, and kill, and are killed, more than ever at that time, on account of the scarcity of berries.
There are several curious facts in the natural history of this bear; one of the most singular of which is, that the period of gestation is entirely unknown, even to the most observant and experienced mountain men. No one has ever killed a female carrying young, at any time of the year, though they are often discovered with their cubs evidently but a few weeks old. Where they hide themselves during this period, or how long it lasts, no hunter has ever been able to observe; though there are men who have spent half their lives in the mountains, and killed in desperate encounter many a grizzly, and at all times of the year, even when hibernating.
The grizzly seems to be "a man of many minds," with regard to attack. Usually, unless in charge of cubs, it quietly avoids a meeting with the hunter; and at times, even seems timid and easily alarmed. But because one grizzly has given you room, you must not depend upon the next one doing the same. It is quite as likely that he will challenge 3^ou as you pass; and unless well prepared to take, up the glove, you had better "take up" the first tree you come to. It is not a pleasant sight to see one of these monsters on his hind-quarters, with his fore-paws ready for action; and when it comes to running, he can run as fast as you can.
The brown, or cinnamon bear, is also a savage creature, with many of the traits of the grizzly, but inferior in size. They inhabit the same regions with the latter, and also are found in the thick forests of Northern Oregon and Washington.
The black bear is common to every part of these countries, living in the mountains in summer, and visiting the low hills and small valleys, or the banks of rivers, in autumn. When the acorn crop is good in the foot-hills, bears haunt the groves which furnish their favorite food. If they can find a stray porker engaged in foraging, they embrace him a little too tightly for his health—in short, "squeeze the breath out of him"—after which affectionate observance they cat him. But unless exasperated they never attack the human family, and are not regarded as dangerous under ordinary circumstances.
An animal which is ferocious, and not unfrequently met with in the mountains, is the cougar—an animal of the cat species, with a skin something like a leopard's, and a long, ringed tail, but a head with, a lion-like breadth. It is variously called the California lion and American panther. We saw one large specimen, which was lying dead by the roadside on the Calapooya Mountain, which measured seven feet from tip to tip. This animal seldom attacks a man, but is very destructive to calves and colts in the vicinity of the mountains, especially in the newly settled parts.
There are three species of the wolf in Oregon and Washington, of which the black is the largest and most ferocious. It stands two and a half or three feet high, and is five to six feet from tip to tip. Such was its destructiveness in the earliest settlement of the country that special means were resorted to for its extermination, until now it is rarely ever met with. It attacks young cattle and colts, as well as the cougar.
The white, or gray wolf, is another enemy to the stock-raiser, though it is satisfied with smaller game than the black wolf, contenting itself with full-grown sheep; and being more powerful than a dog, is a great destroyer of flocks in some localities, and so sagacious that it is very difficult to poison. The coyote, or barking wolf, is also a depredator, taking young pigs and lambs. One of these little animals has the voice of several, and can imitate the barking of a whole pack. It is almost too contemptible to be considered game, and is given over to strychnine.
There are two or three species of lynx, or wild cat; also troublesome to settlers near the forest, carrying off young pigs, and such small farm stock. When not stealing from the farmer they subsist themselves upon young fawns, hares, squirrels, and game birds. These are numerous in the woods of the Lower Columbia. We have seen several good specimens depending from the limbs of trees, where they had been hung after shooting.
Of foxes, there are the red, silver gray, black, and gray varieties. It is thought that the black fox is a distinct species; as is also the gray, which is smaller. But the silver gray is said by the Indians to be the male of the red species; the female only being of a reddish color. This species, in all its varieties, is very common on the eastern side of the Cascades, near the Columbia; and the smaller gray is most abundant in the. Klamath Lake region, in the southern part of Oregon. Their skins, though not as handsome as the silver gray, are still very fine. The gray is the "medicine fox" of the Indians, a meeting with which brings misfortune.
Elk are found both in the Cascade and Coast mountains; but are most abundant in the latter. In summer they keep pretty high up, generally; but when snow falls in the mountains, descend to the plains and river-bottoms. They travel in well-beaten trails, and in large droves, which makes them easy game. When quite wild they show considerable curiosity, stopping to look at the hunter, thus offering a fair shot. When wounded and in close quarters they are formidable antagonists, from their great size, heavy head, and large antlers. The immense size of their antlers would appear to be an obstacle to their escape, when running in the forest; but by throwing back their heads they drop them over their shoulders, so well out of the way as to enable them to pass through the thick woods without difficulty. There are still immense herds of them in the mountains near the mouth of the Columbia, and may be hunted in summer by parties sufficiently hardy for overcoming the obstacles of the forest. But autumn and winter are better seasons for hunting elk, as they then come down to more open ground. Elk-steaks are no rarity in Astoria; and occasionally they are to be met with in the Portland markets. It is estimated that not less than one thousand elks were killed last year in Coos County alone, for the skins only.
Three species of deer are found in Oregon and Washington: the white-tailed, black-tailed, and mule deer. The two first-named species inhabit the country west of the Cascades, the black-tailed being most common. They also inhabit east of the mountains, but have been greatly decimated by the Indians, who kill them wantonly in snowy winters when they can not run. In the mountains along the Lower Columbia and Lower Wallamet they are still very plentiful. Game-laws exist in Oregon for protecting them during a certain season; and still lawless persons are found who kill them without regard to their condition. The mule deer is found only east of the Cascades, and is not common. It seems to be a hybrid between the antelope and black-tailed deer.
The antelope is an inhabitant of Eastern Oregon, and is hunted by the Indians by a "surround"—for though curious enough to stop to look at the hunter, it is very fleet, and soon distances pursuit. Hence the Indian method of driving them into a corral, by coming down upon a herd from all sides and gradually forcing them into an inclosure made for the purpose—a very unsportsman-like way of taking such delicate game.
Eastern Oregon also furnishes the mountain sheep. In the region of John Day and Des Chutes rivers, they were formerly very numerous. Their flesh is good, though likely to be flavored with whatever they feed most upon. It appears from the testimony of early voyagers to this coast, that the Indians formerly made a kind of cloth from the wool of the mountain sheep, but the process of its manufacture is unknown in Oregon at this period. The fact of the sheep being native to the grassy plains of Eastern Oregon and Washington, furnishes a hint by which wool-growers might profit.
The prairie hare—a large, blue-gray species—is found in Eastern Oregon and Washington; and also on the mountains of Southern Oregon, where it is very common. The flesh is good eating.
Of fur-bearing animals which are hunted for their skins, there is the hair seal in the Columbia River—a very pretty creature, of a bluish-gray color, spotted with white. These seals swim up the river as far as the Cascades, and in high-water make their way up to the Dalles. They are smaller in size than the red seal of the Pacific, and very docile in their dispositions. Instances have occurred of their being domesticated, when they have shown the same attachment to their masters that the dog does, following them also by scent, even into the thick woods, where they have torn themselves fearfully in their efforts to overtake those who had deserted them. The Indians roast and cat them.
The mink, whose fur is so fashionable and valuable, is common to the waters of Oregon and Washington, but most numerous in the lakes and Sound of the latter. It is said that when they inhabit the Sound, they subsist upon shell-fish.
The beaver, which was nearly exterminated in the days of the Hudson's Bay Company's occupancy, is again quite abundant in the streams of all the wooded portion of the country. One of the sights peculiar to the Lower Columbia is the "hunting-boat"—a sort of scow with a house on it—which goes peering into all the creeks and sloughs leading out of the river, after game of this sort. The skins are taken to Portland, or to some trading-post along the river, and sold or exchanged for goods.
The "California otter" also inhabits the mountain streams in considerable numbers, especially those that come down from the Cascades. The sea-otter is found along the coast, but is becoming rarer; having, it is supposed, left the American for the Asiatic coast.
The pine marten, or American sable, is in considerable numbers along the streams of the Cascade Mountains, and is found clinging to pine-trees on the eastern slopes, in Washington and Oregon. Their skins are quite valuable, though not collected except by the Indians, who prize them for ornament.
Of game birds there are great numbers, as might be conjectured from the nature of the country. The habits and habitats of this kind of game are too well known to sportsmen to need remark. We will give the names only of the most common: Mountain quail; valley quail; dusky grouse, ruffled grouse; sharp-tailed grouse, or prairie chicken (found only east of the Cascades); sage-cock (east of the Cascades); curlew (east of the Cascades); kildeer plover; golden plover; Virginia rail; English snipe; red-breasted snipe; summer duck; Canada goose; white-fronted goose; black brant;' mallard duck; canvas-back duck; blue-winged teal; brown crane; green-winged teal; and probably several birds omitted or forgotten.
In autumn, the region of the Lower Columbia is swarming with wild water-fowl. A common recreation among the Portlanders is to charter a small steamer, or in place of it a hunting-boat, to convey a party of gentlemen to the haunts of geese and ducks, among the streams and sloughs about the mouth of the Lower Wallamet, and up into Scappoose Bay. A week's sport, with good living on board their hunting craft, is thought "worth the shot," as unbending both body and mind from the year's routine of business.
When it is remembered that there is the best of sport for the angler in the creeks and rivers of the country, where choice may be made between a seventy-pound salmon at the mouth of the Columbia, and a dainty, speckled trout in almost any tributary, it must be allowed that there is amusement for all varieties of idle people, not to say healthful pastime for invalids, in Oregon and Washington.
There is also here—what can not readily be found in the Atlantic States—a class of men who have made hunting and trapping the business of half their lives; and who, while they lend their knowledge of the craft to the inexperienced hunter, entertain him with volumes of humorous and exciting personal adventure with every sort of game, from a beaver to a Black-foot Indian. The "River of the West," which chronicles much of this kind of wild life, furnishes an index merely to what the traveler may learn for himself, if he has a few months' leisure to make himself familiar with these men and the scenes of their exploits. The curious traveler may find in Oregon men who were with Sublette, Wyeth, and Bonneville, in the mountains; men who met there Stanley, the painter, Douglas, the botanist, Farnham, the would-be founder of a communist colony; who hunted beavers and Indians with Kit Carson; who laugh at Fremont as an explorer; who served Wilkes on his surveying expedition; who saw Oregon in danger of becoming an independent Government, but whose noble patriotism saved it to the Republic of the United States.