Pioneer life; or, Thirty years a hunter. Being scenes and adventures in the life of Philip Tome

Front matter

«V

'oV

V ..VVL'. t >

Chapter I. Parentage And Early Life, - - 9

CHAPTER U.

HUNTING THE ELK, - - 18

CHAPTER HI.

CAPTURING A LIVE ELK, - - -23

CHAPTER IV.

FACE OP THE COUNTRY, - - - - - 33

CHAPTER V.

FACE OF THE COUNTET— CONTINUED, - - 46

CHAPTER VI.

DANGER FROM RATTLESNAKES, - 55

CHAPTER VII.

WOLF AND DEER HUNTING-, 67

CHAPTER VHI.

ANOTHER ELK HUNT, - - - 74

CHAPTER IX.

ELK HUNTING ON THE SUSQUEHANNAH, 92

V1U COiXTEBls.

PAGE.

CHAPTER X.

ELK HUNTING ON THE SUSQUEHANN AH— CONTINUED, 109

CHAPTER XL

NATURE, HABITS, AND MANNER OF HUNTING THE

CHAPTER XII.

ELK AND BEAR HUNTING IN WINTER - - 124

CHAPTER XHL

HUNTING ON THE CLARION RIYEE, - - - 139

CHAPTER XIV.

HUNTING AND TRAPPING, - - - * - - 150

CHAPTER XV.

THE BEAR — ITS NATURE AND HABITS, - - 164

CHAPTER XVI.

HUNTING DEER AT DIFFERENT SEASONS, - 176

CHAPTER XVII. nature and habits of the panther, wolf and

CHAPTER XVIII. <

RATTLESNAKES AND THEIR HABITS, - - - 193

CHAPTER XIX.

DISTINGUISHED LUMBERMEN; &C, - - - 202

CHAPTER XX.

REMINISCENCES OF CORNPLANTEE, - - 208

CHAPTER XXL

INDIAN ELOQUENCE, - - - 220

CHAPTER L

BIRTH AND EARLY LITE.

I was born March 22d, 1782, in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, near where the city of Harrisburg now stands. My parents were both of German extraction. They moved up the Susquehannah River about ninety miles in 1786, traveling in a keel boa' there being no roads or other mode of conveyance. They landed at a place called Farris Creek in what was then Northumberland county, and remained* there about four months, when the Six Nations oi Indians began to trouble the inhabitants on the west branch of the Susquehannah. We then moved back into Cumberland county, five miles from, Harrisburg, on the west side of the Susquehannah. At that time the Indians distressed the inhabitants for about eighteen months. We remained there two or three years, when, the Indians having become peaceable, we returned up the river, and stopped at Warry Run, about two miles above the junction of the two branches of the Susquehannah.

10 pioneek lite; or,

In 1791, my father purchased some land about seventy miles up the west branch of the river in the wilderness. He hired men and paid them in advance to build a house. They did not fulfil their contract, but having raised and enclosed it, left it without chimney, door, window, or floor, while the bushes ten feet high were left standing in the middle of the house. On the first of November my father started lor his residence, and loaded a keel boat with provisions sufficient for one year, irons for a mill, and a supply of clothing. He was six days going fifty miles. He then arrived at the mouth of Pine Creek, six miles from his destination, but could proceed no farther with his boat, on account of low water. He then hired ten canoes, and started with such articles ae he most needed. He arrived at his house the 20th of November.

It was very cold; the men had been dragging the boats, and the women were nearly frozen. "When within two miles of the house two of the men who assisted in building it asked the privilege of going ahead to make a fire. When we arrived in sight vre saw a large fire, which revived our spirits greatly, for the snow was falling rapidly, the wind blew cold. and we were chilled through. A hole had been left for a chimney, and a fire built on that side of the house, and when we arrived the men were cutting out the brush. My father asked why things had been left in this state. They replied that they could not induce the other men to proceed any farther with the' job. Father then demanded why they had

THIRTY TEAKS A HUNTER. 11

not informed him a day or two earlier, and was inclined to be somewhat angry, when my mother interposed, and said if we could get through the first night it would do. We soon became warm, had our supper, went to sleep and passed the night very comfortably. The next morning all hands went to work and made a floor and chimney, and plastered the house, and accomplished it in two days. On the 25th my father commenced his mill. He had to hew and split out all the timbers to be used for building. He had also a race to dig and a dam to build, and he had it all finished by the first of March.

At that time game, such as bears, elk, deer and wild turkeys were very plenty in that section of the country. I had two brothers old enough to hunt, but they had no gun except an old musket which my father had used while training. In the morning we would frequently find the deer feeding within twenty rods of the house. Sometimes, wo would see a drove of elk, fifteen or twenty in number, crossing the river. At other times we saw bears traveling back and forward. But we had no hunters among the six men, and no gun but the old musket, and that was out of order. On the 5th of December two of our nearest neighbors, (who lived twelve miles distant) came to see us, bringing two guns and two dogs, but no ammunition. There was no powder or lead in that part of the country except what my father had, and he supplied them what they needed. They then hunted about two days for my father to procure him a supply of wild meat. Notwithstanding they were little ski^i :z h— :izir. sad lift -=W&er w*s ^sfiTersbk, tiser t2kd ftar deer, lad two burse to

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I will now lay before the reader the height of the mountains, the kind of game that is to be found on them, and other particulars of the country, from the mouth of Pine Creek to the first point Every family owned a canoe for the purpose of traveling up and down the river. In winter they had good ice to travel on, which lasted about three months. That was the season in which the greatest amount of busitM done by the settlers. The mountains were about a mile in height, and abundance of deer, bear?, foxes, wolves and panthers, but no elk were fou: them.

The most successful mode of killing deer from the first of June to the last of September was to fire-hunt them, which was done in the following manner: The deer would come to the river after dark to eat the moss which grew on the bottom, and collect together about the ripples, in groups from three to ten. The hunters would build a fire of yellow pitch pine in the middle of a canoe and station a man in the stern to steer, and one or two more in front to fire at the deer. When there were no deer in sight they could push and paddle the canoe along. When they came within sisrht of the deer the canoe was allowed to float down with the current, and the steersman laid it in a position the most advantageous for those who were in the bow with guns. The deer would generally raise their heads and stand looking at the fire until the canoe came within a few yards of them. The hunters could judge by their movements whether thev would make a break or stand still until thev

II

came near them, and tired or not according to tha movements of the deer. When the deer attempted to run out of the water where the bank was bluff and steep, they would see their own shadows, and thinking it was a dog or a wolf, would utter a cry and spring back into the water, sometimes coming near enough to the canoe to give the hunters two or three more shots at them. In this manner they would kill from one to four deer in one place. Having dressed and laid out the meat on the shore, they would proceed down the river in search of another group. If the night was favorable, from three to ten deer were killed in this manner. On their return they would fish for eels, salmon and other fish, and take in their venison as they came along. Their canoes were capable of carrying from 2,000 to 4,000 pounds with safety. With a five-tined spear they would take from twenty to sixty eels and a large quantity of salmon; and in the morning return home with iish and venison bufficient to supply an ordinary family two months.

A woman belonging to a family residing on the bank of the creek, about half a mile above the first fork, was washing at the creek, accompanied by four or five small children, when one of them looking up the stream exclaimed, "What a handsome big red dog is coming ! " The animal made a halt on the top of the bank within fifty feet of the children, and stood looking at them. Another boy cried " It isn't a dog; it is a panther ! " At that moment a cat came out of the house, and the panther made a gpring at her, when she ran up a tree, followed by

HiafT YEARS A HUNTER. 15

the panther. The cat leaped from the tree, and the panther seized her just as she struck the ground. The family hurried into the house and closed the doors, and thus escaped. After the panther had devoured the cat he stood looking at the house and moved along the path. In about half an hour a neighbor came along with a dog and gun. The panther continued to move slowly off, and the woman came out and acquainted the neighbor with the circumstances. He immediately started in pursuit, and the panther being driven up a tree by the dog, was brought to the ground by a well-aimed shot. It was a very large one, measuring four and a half feet from the tip of the nose to the tail. ^ Two miles from that place, up Big Pine Creek, lived a family consisting of a man and three females. The house stood on a flat lying between the river and the rocky bluff, which rose to the height of forty or fifty feet. In the month of January the man was absent teaching school, and no one was left at home but the women. On the morning of a blustering day in the early part of the month, as one of the women was going to the river for a pail of water she heard a scream proceeding from the side of the hill, which sounded like the voice of a woman in distress. She returned into the house and told the others that she thought there was woman on the hill in trouble. They all went to the door to ascertain the source of the cries, when they saw moving toward them an animal which they took at first for a dog. When it had approached within fifty yards, they discovered to their horror that it was a panther.

They retreated into the house and closed the doors. Three geese which belonged to the family were on the ice of the river ; the panther discovered them, and having captured one, he returned with it to his den among the rocks. After he had been gone some time, they went out together and procured wood and water enough to supply them until the next day. The following morning at about the same hour, the panther returned, uttering the same terrific cries, and carried away another of the geese. On the third morning he again made his appearance and took the remaining goose. He had now become wonted to the vicinity, and the terrified women were at a loss what they conld do. Their nearest neighbors were distant two miles in one direction, and three in the other, and any attempt to procure succor from that source would expose them to an attack from the animal which was prowling near. In order to prevent the panther from entering by the chimney, they covered it over witli boards taken from the floor, and kept up a fire all night. The next morning, when the too familiar cries of their besieger were heard, they turned out the dog. The panther closed in with him, drove him against the door, and after a short struggle killed and carried him off. The morning following, Eice Hamlin, who lived about three miles distant, and who had been engaged to call on them once a week, to supply them with fire-wood and render any necessary assistance, paid them his customary visit. When he knocked

THTBTT YEAE8 A HUNTER. 17

at the door they demanded who it was that desired admittance. Upon learning who was at the door they opened it at once, and informed him of the visits of their unwelcome neighbor. lie entered, and they cleared the house of the smoke, which had become almost suffocating. As he stepped to the door to see if the panther was near, Hamlin heard his scream. He immediately started in pursuit, accompanied by his dog. As they came up, the panther jumped upon a rock about twenty-five feet high. Hamlin did not discover him at first, but kept up a search, supposing him to be up a tree. The dog saw the panther, but being unable to follow, kept running around in an uneasy manner. Hamlin at length happened to look up the rocks and his eyes met those of the panther, just as the latter was about to make a spring upon him. Instantly bringing up his gun, he fired with an unerring aim, and the animal came tumbling heavily to the ground at Hamlin's feet. The ball had penetrated its forehead. It was a very large one, weighing about two hundred pounds.