The Anaconda Standard

FUN FOR THE HUNTER

Western Montana Is and Always Was a Sports' Paradise.

ONCE THE HOME OF RED MEN

In Early Days Game Was Slaughtered Wantonly, but Recent Years Have Witnessed an Agreeable Change.

Missoula, Oct. 26.—Ever since the days when the aborigines held sway in this region and the valleys and mountains of Western Montana were unknown to the white man, the country which surrounds Missoula has been recognized as a hunting ground par excellence. In the early days, before the black-robed priests and the eager gold hunters had penetrated this region, the Blackfeet, Nez Perces and Salish tribes contended in bitter warfare for the possession of this favorite district, with its wealth of game and its beautiful streams of water. Backwards and forwards across the Missoula valley, up and down the Bitter Root, the tide of war has surged and ebbed as the red men met in desperate conflict for the right to call this region their own. At the mouth of Hell Gate canyon many a brave has fallen in his last sleep, and the walls of this sombre opening in the mountains have echoed the wailing chant of the death song no less often than they have resounded to the whoop of victory. So fierce and so long contested was this warfare that the advent of Father De Smet and his followers found the Salish tribe decimated and in danger of extermination from the unrelenting assaults of the powerful Blackfeet and Nez Perces in the three-cornered war which had lasted for generations.

When the trapper discovered this region he found it a veritable El Dorado for those of his perilous calling, and every possible method was resorted to by these skin hunters to pursue their occupation in these valleys and along these streams. Some of them married the Indian women and became members of the several tribes. Others offered their assistance in war to the chiefs in return for the privilege of hunting in this favored region. Anything was done which would win the coveted license to hunt. Here were otter and beaver and mink; deer and bear and elk; and there the noble buffalo ranged in vast herds. It was, indeed, a paradise for the hunter and trapper.

Gradually civilization's resistless tide drove these pioneers before it and the white man no longer was compelled to seek the permission of his red predecessor. The country was his by right of seizure, and here he could do as he pleased. Thousands and thousands of animals were butchered for their skins, and the utter extermination of the game in this region seemed certain. A few sportsmen protested earnestly against this useless slaughter. Among these was Granville Stuart, now United States minister to Uruguay, who in his book, "Montana as It Is," published in 1865, writes as follows:

"If the legislature does not enact some laws in regard to game and fish, there will not be in a few years so much as a minnow or deer left alive in all the territory. The trout will bite at almost any kind of bait at any time of year, yet some 'barbarians' have used seines and dragged out these beautiful citizens of the brook by the wagon load. Oh, fie! for shame! Every stream in the valley that is large enough for trout to turn in, contains, to use an expression that I have not heard since I was a boy, 'lots and gobs of 'em.'"

Fortunately the law interfered with this threatened extermination and there is still game enough in the mountains and valleys to insure good sport. The upper Bitter Root, the Blackfoot, the Swan, the Clearwater, the Clearwater in Idaho, all abound in game and fur; furnish excellent sport for the hunter.

During the season now closing, this region has been an unusually favorite resort for sportsmen all over the state and local guides have taken numerous eastern parties through the mountains, the Idaho Clearwater having been the most popular with the easterners. This region was very thoroughly advertised two years ago by the exploits of the Carlin party and the attention of eastern hunters thus attracted to it. W. H. Wright and M. B. Spencer have conducted several parties through this region and have met with general success. Among those who have made the trip with these guides have been Messrs. Spooner and Wilson and their party, a Pittsburg party and, recently, O. D. Wheeler, the Northern Pacific descriptive writer.

The success of local sportsmen this year has been unusual. Fish have jumped at flies with unaccustomed readiness and the list of successful fishermen is a long one. Among those who are clearly entitled to mention in the A class of fishermen are: J. M. Hartley, Frank West, G. N. Hartley, Rev. J. J. McAllister, Lou Hunt, Dr. Hanson and Judge Ross. Since the shooting season opened, new laurels have been won by some of the boys and the record for ducks and chickens has been a good one.

The season's championship in this direction clearly rests with Addison M. Sterling and Harry W. Thompson, who have been remarkably successful. They have done some good shooting in all lines, have in no instance been guilty of wholesale slaughter, even when circumstances would have made such possible. These gentlemen, accompanied by Mrs. Thompson, recently spent three weeks in the upper Blackfoot country, where they did some good shooting. They have a photograph taken at their camp near Ovando, which shows the members of the party returning from a morning's shooting. The picture is calculated to make a sportsman homesick. Suspended from the saddle bags are splendid bags of mallard ducks and a few chickens hang from the cantles. It is a great picture.

Much credit is due the game warden of Missoula county, Joseph Booth. Himself a veteran hunter, he is interested in the protection and preservation of the game in this region and has been tireless in his efforts to prevent violation of the law. Under his administration there is every prospect that the mountains and valleys of Western Montana will continue to be a famous hunting ground as they have for many decades.