Ohio Statewide Files
"The Hunters
of Ohio"
USGenWeb Archives
 
The information for this site was contributed by
Sara Grimes McBeth
saramcb@socket.net
 
Chapter 01 | Chapter 02 | Chapter 03 | Chapter 04 | Chapter 05 | Chapter 06 |
Chapter 07 | Chapter 08 | Chapter 09 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 |
Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 |
Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 |
Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | TOC | Author | Publisher |


View Text Version of Records


76THE OHIO HUNTER

CHAPTER VII.

PREPARE FOR ANOTHER HUNTING EXCURSION--
GAME SCARCE--TIlE NEAREST HUNTING GROUNDS
FORTY MILES AWAY--EQUIP MYSELF FOR A COON
HUNT GONE THIRTY I)AYS. CAPTURE SIXTY-TWO
COON--TAKE kNOTHER TRIP--KILL TWO LARGE
BEARS

In the year 1846, while still living in Hancock county, I found myself in very straitened circumstances. the country was new, and the products in no wise munerous or abundant. My family now numbered nine, and my cares and necessities were correspondingly increased. At this time I was greatly in debt, and had very limited means for the sustenance of mv family. It was winter, and the earth would not yield her fruits before another summer. My wife opposed to my hunting, and now her objections were somewhat justifiable, for the hunting grounds were forty miles from where we lived. In the thirteen years that I had lived in Hancock, both the Indian and the white man had seen their rich hunting grounds laid waste by the woodman's ax. And although the forests were by no means all converted into fruitful fields, they were broken and deserted by game.

The nearest place where there were any valua-

EQUIP FOR A HUNT77

ble hnnting grounds was in the edge of Putnam and Paulding Counties. I proposed to my wife that I should go 'md spend the winter in what was commonly designated "the big woods." She was at first greatly opposed to the plan, and in consequence I stayed at home until she was willing that i should go. Her fears were by no means unfounded. The exposures of the camp at such a season, the ferocity of the beasts, which it; is not easy to convince a faithful wife exists only in story the possibility of deep snows heavy rains, and only the canopy of heaven for protection, all these, and many other things, both possible and impossible, were among the objections with which she detained me, for several days. But at last, our necessities proving a stronger argument than anything which I could adduce, she at length gave an unwilling consent that I should go. She did all that woman's skill and assiduity could to make me cornfbrcable, and all, and much more was needful before nay thirty days' stay in the woods had expired.

With a knapsack well stored with such provisions as corn meal, ground coffee, ground pepper, and plenty of salt, a loaf of bread and some cakes, I started for the woods. My knapsack on my back, my gun upon my shoulder, a tin bucket on my arm, an ax in my hand, and clad in my hunter's dress of fur, with three dogs leaping and

78THE OHIO HUNTER

capering about me, I was, if not an object of interest, at least one of' curiosity. I started early in the mornlng, and reached my destination just in the edge of evening. I built my fire, ate a cold supper, and camped for the night. The woods in which I was encamped, were watered by a stream called Powell's Creek, and from that received the name of Powell Creek Swamp. It was an immense swamp, uninhabited for twenty by forty miles. There was a place in it called the North Bear Marsh, about two miles miles wide and six miles long. Here were found bear,;deer, wolves, wild cats, foxes, coon, and all kinds of game usuall found in the western forests. The price of coon skins then was high, and the demand greater than for any other kind of fur. I had my dogs well trained to that particular kind of hunting, and confined my attention exclusively to that.

The first thing I did after my arrival in the swamp, was to build me a camp, which consisted of logs so arranged as to afford a partial protection from the winds and storm on three sides, and covered with "puncheon" overhead. This I used as a place of deposit for my furs, and as a rendezvous for myself through the day. In front of it I built my camp fires, and cooked my food, or as the hunter terms it, "grub." Now it is not uncommon to hear "poor, oppressed down-trodden women," when surrounded with all the

A HUNTER'S KITCHEN79

conveniences and comforts of life, complain of the privation they must daily undergo, while they positively assert, and I suppose as positively believe, that men would starve to death if they had to undergo the same difficulties. They also think that men always supply themselves with every requisite for labor, and that the kitchien is the only barren waste where all the necessary conveniences have been forgotten. Well, to such unfortunate housekeepers I am going to give a little of my experience in the culinary arts. I was not favored with one of stuart's Improved cook-stoves, but in itx stead I had a fire made of sticks after no definite plan, and with no patent; but I had invented a coffee boiler, which, but for the the inconveniences of traveling in those days, and my remote distance from the place where such enterprises were attended to, I think I should have had patented. Now if you will promise not to steal the pattern, I will tell you how, it was made. Well, I had a smooth round stone about six inches in diameter (I do nor know whether one of any other shape or dimensions would have answered equally well or not, never having tried any other), which I used to throw in to the fire and heat very hot, and then transfer it to a carefullv prepared trough containing exactly water enough for three cups of coffee; it would soon boil very hard, and then I would add the coffee, unmixed with egg or any of the modern inprovcements. When boiled

80THE OHIO HUNTER

sufficiently, thc round stone was removed and laid safely by for future use, and we will leave the coffee in the trough close by the fire to keep warm, while we shall finish cooking the meat, which is a full sized coon carefully dressed, and thickly sprinkled with salt and pepper, and without further dissecting, is systematically arranged upon sticks, by the hottest side of the fire, and is roasting, and will be entirely done by the time we examine the bread which is in process of baking. Well, now my wife never could convince me of the utility of saleratus or soda, as it is sometimes called, and I never had the faculty of making yeast ferment in an exact period of time. So I preferred the more plain and simple method of mixing my flour with only water and salt, and then there was never any such complaint heard as, "Didn't have good luck with my bread," for it was invariably one and the same thing. Now my manner of making bread was not so novel after all, for I used a wooden bowl, the same as modern housekeepers do, only it might have been of ruder pattern, for it was made with a hunter's hand and a hunter's ax; but I have heard experienced housekeepers say bread always rises best in a wooden bowl, and I believe it, for mine was always just so light and no lighter, and my dripping-pan was a basswood pole; and if it would not contain my bread, my bread would nearly contain it; for I wrapped it carefully

A HUNTER'S KITCHEN81

around it, and then supported it upon some cross piece,, previously arranged for its support, at a very convenient distance from the fire.

I had often heard it said that bread baked in the open air was a great deal sweeter than bread baked in a close oven; that it absorbed more oxygen and threw out more carbon, and consequently contained more of the health-inspiring principle. Although these were meaningless terms to me, I had no diffcultly in believing the truth of the statement, for I never tasted sweeter bread in all my life, and if I have not a woman's skill in making bread , roasting meat, boiling coffee, and setting table all at once, I can at least do one at a time, and in process of time accomplish the whole.

My breakfast is now all ready but setting the table, and if' you will assist me in this process, I wiIl endeavor to do the eating alone. My table is not of the extension pattern; there is no need of that; for it is the oblong earth. There was no snowy damask linen to cover it, for it was at this time covered with nature's own tapestry of thc same delicate complexion. My dishes are not numerous, and therefore the work not complicated. One wooden dish dug from the inside of my bread-bowl contains the meat, another of the same manufacture, the bread, a tin cup for the coffee, and a pocket knife and fork manufactured
6

82THE OHIO HUNTER

of wood, and the arrangements are complete. But I have no doubt that this regimen will afford no attraction to the more highly wrought sensitive natures of the fair sex, who have slept in air-tight bedrooms, deeply buried in feather beds, and so I will forbear giving you an invitation to my rustic meal; but to a hungry hunter, whose appetite partakes somewhat of the nature of his prey, it has a peculiar relish, and gives unmistakable evidence of superior cooking.

Well, now with all these comforts and conveniences, I presume you will not think it was hard when I tell you I spent thirty days in the woods, hunting nights and sometimes sleeping days, without seeing the face of a human being but once. This was a traveler whom I observed following an Indian trail, that was the only path through the woods. He was ahead of me, so I started in a way that would bring me upon the trail ahead of him. When he saw me, he thought me a robber, and was very much frightened. I accosted him with the customary salutation of a hunter, and asked him where he was traveling. He replied, with trembling voice, "Not very far." 'I saw the poor man was badly frightened, and I endeavored to make myself look as humane and innocent as possible. I told him I was a hunter, and invited him to my camp to take some refreshments. He saw from my load of fur, that I really was what I pretended, and began to manifest a

AN EMBARRASSED GUEST83

little more courage, and explained his embarrassment by saying he at first took me for a robber. He had heard that the woods were infested with robbers, and he supposed that he had unluckily fallen into their hands. I replied, that there were no robbers there, only such as wished to rob the forest of its game; and should there be any others, I thought they would find it rather a dull place for their business. By this time we had reached the camp, and I built my fire, and commenced the process of cooking a dinner, with utensils before described. When the man saw me mix the coffee and cold water in the trough, as I sometimes did he cou!d not help asking me what I was going to do. I told him I was going to boil my coffee; but it exhausted his ingenuity to conceive how I could boil it in a wooden trough. Well, when he could guess no more ways, I explained the mystery, by dropping the stone right into the midst of it, causing it to boil vehemently, and after drinking three cups, he declared it to be equal to that prepared by the most skillful house- wifery. We had a very pleasant visit together, and after he was, gone, I felt more forcibly than ever the truth of the inspired proverb, "As iron sharpeneth iron, so is the face of a man to his friend."

During the thirty-days' hunt, I caught sixty-two coons, and sold their skins for one dollar and twenty-five cents apiece, which brought me seventy~

84THE OHIO HUNTER

seven dollars and fifty cents. I went borne with money enough to pay all my debts, and had some left, and I felt quite rich; for when a man can look the whole worth in the face, and say that he "Owes no man anything," he is independent, though he may have but a single dollar in his pocket. By my success, I had gained my wife's approval of the business, and during the winter, made severed more trips to the woods, with various successes, as will be seen hereafter.

My next expedition was in pursuit of bear. I had learned, while in the swamp before, that bears were very thick there, so this time I equipped myself especially for that particular kind of hunting. I procured four large dogs,, and took my brother John along with me. There was a nice tracking snow, and we soon found bear tracks so thick that we could not tell one from another. We circled around, until we came upon one that we could follow. We set our dogs, which were six in number, upon their track; but they being unacquainted with the sport, seemed little interested. They had not run him far, when they returned, all but one. After awhile this one came too, his ears badly boxed. He was very indignant at the treatment he had received, and was anxious to wreak, his vengeance on the head of his enemy. But I restrained his fury, and kept him by my side, until I came to the spot where they had been fighting. As soon as the dog saw

A BEAR CHASE85

the ground covered with blood, he would submit to no further restraint; but defying all authority, started immediately iii pursuit of his foe. So I sent the other dogs to his assistance, and we followed after them. In about two hours, we met them returning, badly whipped. I had one dog whose name was "Bill," which was my favorite coon dog; he was the most severely injured of all, and still the most anxious to return. We followed them to where they had last fought, and found the ground red with the blood of the dogs, but the bear was uninjured still. We did not pursue it further then, but built our fires and camped for the night.

Early the next morning, the chase was renewed.As soon as the bear started, the dogs pursued it with zeul unprecedented. I followed them as fast as I could, but the dogs and bear were soon out of my hearing. But I continued to follow the trail until I came up to the place where the dogs, by their perseverance arid skill, had their honorable opponent securely caged in the top of a tree. When I approached the spot, he looked down quite sarcastically upon myself and dogs, as though he had bid defiance to further pursuit, and wished us to understand the superiority of his position. I did not care to undertake to bring him down alone, so I left him to the enjoyment of his lofty supremacy until my brother came up. When he saw him, he wanted me to shoot, as I was the

86THE OHIO HUNTER

best marksman; for anything short of a dead shot, would greatly endanger the lives of our dogs, as they were already badly bruised and bleeding, and we knew that if we only wounded him, he would be much more ferocious than before. But killall seldom failed; and in this instance served his master with rather more than usual fidelity; and soon old Bruin came with accelerated velocity down to the ground, his brain being seriously dislocated. The dogs leaped upon their prey as though they would yet glut their vengeance on his senseless body. Then they left him, and looked first at the bear and then at me, as if they would have me understand the infinite satisfaction this trumph afforded them. We were now about seven miles from camp, and it cost something of an effort to carry our game to its place of deposit, but we never yielded to difficulties, and always found some means of accomplishing our purposes. So we tied some bark to his head, and together drew him back to the camp.

We were now obliged to let our dogs rest a few days, after which we started on another chase. The dogs were very soon on track of' another bear, which they soon treed. But when the bear saw me approaching, he did not stop long to enjoy the advantage of his situation, but descended about as rapidly is he went up. But as soon as he touched the ground, the dogs all met him, and a fierce contest ensued, in which the bear was like to prove

A PRIZE87

victorious. I could not see by brave dogs vanquished in such a contest, so I joined their allied forces, and soon laid him senseless at their feet by another successful discharge of old killall. We did not wait now to kill any more, but loaded our game on a hastily-constructed hand-sled, and started for home. We sold most of the meat at ten cents per pound, and the two skins for fourteen dollars; besides having plenty of pure oil for our hair and shoes.


Chapter 01 | Chapter 02 | Chapter 03 | Chapter 04 | Chapter 05 | Chapter 06 |
Chapter 07 | Chapter 08 | Chapter 09 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 |
Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 |
Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 |
Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | TOC | Author | Publisher |

 


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