CHAPTER VI.

Hunting and Fishing in Colorado.

One region after another in this country has been proclaimed to be, and was in its day, "A Hunter's Paradise." One after the other these places have come under the dominion of the plow until now the situation of that poor man who wants to do above all others that thing he does not have to do at all, is deplorable. In the matter of fishing the question is not so exigent. In that of hunting the question that is oftenest unanswered when asked is "where shall I go to find something to kill; something, too, that I may fancy will kill _me_ if I don't kill _it_."

Now, if Colorado is a hunting country at all, it is one most of whose preserves can be nearly approached in a Pullman car. The climate, even in midwinter, is mild. There is always a town, a mine, a ranch, somewhere within tramping distance; somewhere to go, something to eat, a fire, good women, hospitable men. There is no Nimrod so hearty that these are not to him valuable considerations; if not in the morning, at least at night.

It may seem almost too much to say that nearly every prominent scenery place in the state is contiguous to good hunting. "Over the range" is always, in certain respects at least, another world. There are numbers of men here who habitually prospect in summer and hunt in winter. There is not one of these who does not know where large game is to be found. The trouble is not so much with the place as it is with the unaccustomed man. Find your appropriate and mountain-accustomed man as guide and you will get the game--if you can hit a gray or a light brown spot four hundred yards or such a matter away. It will hardly pay to come to these mountains in order to learn, for the first time, how to shoot at a mark, or how to go hungry because it was not touched.

"Youth's daring spirit, manhood's fire, Firm hand and eagle eye, Must he acquire who would aspire To see the gray boar die."

The forests still cover a large portion of Colorado. Many of these lying away from other interests so far, are almost as silent as they were in the beginning. They are the natural covert for elk, deer, antelope, the mountain sheep and a variety of smaller game. Any prospector will tell one that there is nothing more common than the fresh bear track near the stream, looking like the footprint of a barefoot negro baby. All mountain men encounter droves of elk and deer. Farmers will tell you where they think they are, because they have often seen them there.

For many sportsmen, the northwestern and parts of the northern portions of the state are the best large-game hunting grounds; Routt, Grand and Garfield counties, and the region of which Estes Park is the center. Parts of this northern region are more easily reached by the Burlington's line from Denver northwest to Lyons than by any other. The region of the foothills, the land between plain and mountain, and including both, is the natural home of the elk. It is in the more outlying regions, of course, that the big shy game now live. Once, in the days of Indian occupation, all Colorado was a hunting field, perhaps the best known. Natural fastnesses, plenty of food and a mild climate made it so. The encroachments of civilization have naturally restricted the field, but with the result that there is now more game in the places they still occupy than there was in former times. This unoccupied region is still in the aggregate, and notwithstanding all the railroad lines, as large as the entire state of New York. One would be illy occupied in prescribing given localities to an accomplished hunter under these circumstances. Every resident hunter knows, if he would always tell, of half a dozen good hunting fields.

In brief, it may be said that there is still game all over Colorado except on the plains, and there the jackrabbit lives in large numbers. In localities where there is fine fishing every summer, such as the Gunnison River, near Montrose or Delta, there is also fine deer hunting in the season, and that is a region largely interested in farming and grazing. Or an inquirer will be rewarded with valuable pointers about the region of the mildest climate in the state; the nooks and valleys on either side of the San Luis Park. A little inquiry developed, perhaps, after the employment of a companion or guide, who is undoubtedly necessary to a stranger, will elicit facts about the hunting grounds and their possibilities that a man might wander over the state for a year and not discover for himself. The best hunting here and elsewhere, is obtained only by him who departs deliberately out of civilization for a period, lives in a cabin, does nothing but hunt while he is thus engaged, and stays long enough to learn the country and the haunts of the beasts for whose life he thirsts. It is not now so easy as it was, even in Africa. The time is coming when it will be a lost art.

People who hunt in Colorado unite in the opinion that the choicest hunting grounds of the Utes were those wilder places that still remain unoccupied. Among such places the country back of De Beque, a town on the line of the Colorado Midland, is prominently mentioned. North of this place lie the Book Cliffs, and through these wind narrow gorges that at places widen out into little parks. There are in these never-failing springs. The region is of large extent, full of trees, and the natural covert of wild animals. A late writer states that he has seen in this region in one morning and counted three hundred and fifty deer. There is also on the mesas an abundance of quail, grouse and sage hens.

In fishing, the case is slightly different. The watercourses of Colorado comprise eight principal rivers, which flow from their sources in the mountains in all directions, increasing in volume from almost countless tributaries. In all these streams the mountain trout is a native. For many years trout fishing has been the principal pastime of the people. The trout is a fish that is particular in his habits to a degree almost absurd, and when he has a place he usually stays there, with an occasional change from pools to riffles, until he grows too large, or until he becomes disgusted with the society of intruders in the persons of large fishes, many of whom have a taste for him when he is young. Like other fishes, they are deaf but they can see quickly, and are known to be gifted with an acuteness above the average. And yet they are great fools, shortsighted and capricious, biting a certain kind of bait one day and refusing it the next, always hunted first by the angler, always a little hard to get, yet caught by the thousands.

But it is only a question of time when the native trout will have disappeared from Colorado waters. Since the propagation of the California rainbow trout in these streams, and the eastern brook trout, he has in many localities already disappeared. The exchange is not a detriment. The rainbow trout grows to a great size here, specimens weighing twelve pounds being often caught. It is rapid in growth, game, and very fecund.

Great care is taken in the preservation of the fishing waters. A notable example of this is the South Platte, one of the ideal trout streams of the state. The railroad company plants here each season about two hundred thousand young trout. Platte Cañon, a few hours' ride from Denver is a favorite ground. The Gunnison River, east of Grand Junction, is another famous fishing stream. There are a great many smaller brooks and streams. Every mountain stream that has not had its waters spoiled by tailings and the refuse of smelters has fish in it. As a rule, the further away from the haunts of many anglers one goes, the more fish there are to be caught. The hunting grounds are fishing grounds as well. The broad statement may be made that no other region of the world has so many streams where game fish naturally live, and that with continual stocking and great care by the railways and the state, the supply has not perceptibly diminished. Many streams are spoiled; many others still remain. They are well known. The accustomed angler knows his fishing place when he sees it, and besides the places where everybody goes he can easily find a domain where he and the fishes can have it out together. There is a United States fish hatchery located at Leadville, and the game laws of the state are well enforced. There is not the essence of truth behind any statement that the days of sport in Colorado are at an end.

The statutes of the state protecting game permit the killing of game birds from August 15 to November 1; waterfowl from September 1 to May 1. Deer and elk may be killed from August 1 to November 1. The killing of buffalo and mountain sheep is prohibited. It is lawful to take fish with hook and line from June 1 to December 1. Netting, poison and explosives are prohibited.

How to Go to Colorado.

There is perhaps an impression in the public mind that is an inheritance from the old time--that the long road across the plains is a dreary monotony--that the "Great American Desert," as the region between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains was called until recent years, is an uninteresting waste, tiresome to traverse. But a surprise is in store for anyone having this picture in his mind, for the fact is that in the Nebraska of to-day is found a continuation of that exquisite panorama of farm-land scenery that is passed while traveling through Illinois and Iowa, or Northern Missouri. The journey is one full of interest from the beginning until the climax is reached, when on arriving within seventy-five miles of Denver the first glimpse is seen of the great rocky range of snow-capped mountains, which seem to stand as a barrier to further progress toward the west. Again, to one unaccustomed to extensive travel, the distance from the Great Lakes to Denver, for instance, seems very great, but when one stops to consider that it was only a few months ago that a special train over the Burlington Route covered the 1,025 miles from Chicago in 1,047 minutes, without unusual effort, and in the regular course of business, the long journey seems shortened and glorious Colorado appears to be as it is, easily accessible.

There are several railroads reaching from eastern territory to Colorado, but none which have the many advantages of the Burlington Route. This road owns its own tracks from Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis to Denver, and it has a world-wide reputation for the excellence of its equipment, the high standard of its dining-car service, and the regularity with which its trains make schedule time. For the individual bent on either pleasure or business, it is the most desirable from every point of view, and it appeals in particular to those entrusted with the selection of an official route for delegates attending a convention, for the reason that the Burlington's system of lines reaches all the principal cities between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains, thus enabling the entire delegation to concentrate and travel together under a contract made with a single railroad. A glance at the map will demonstrate this.

Take the Burlington Route to Denver; it is the best line.

The World's Record. 1,025 miles in 1,047 minutes.

On the morning of February 15, 1897, a telegram was received at Chicago from H. J. Mayham, asking for a special train from Chicago to Denver. No details could be arranged until Mr. Mayham's arrival at 9.15 a. m. Not until then was it known that Mr. Mayham was hurrying to the bedside of his dying son. Instructions were hurriedly given to get an engine ready, and at ten o'clock a private car, attached to an engine which had just brought in a suburban train and was most available, left the Union Passenger Station with instructions merely to "make a good run."

To Burlington, Iowa, the distance is 206 miles, and the trip to this point was made in 228 minutes, including seven stops. After leaving Burlington for the run across Iowa nothing of moment occurred until after leaving Creston. Then it was discovered that the engine truck was running hot, but nevertheless the 36 miles to Villisca was made in 34 minutes, and then it was found necessary to telegraph ahead to Red Oak, 15 miles away, and order another engine to take the train to the Missouri River. These last 15 miles were made in 15 minutes. Lincoln, the capital of Nebraska, was reached at 8.11 p. m., Hastings, 638 miles from Chicago, at 10.03 p. m. The run from Hastings to Oxford, Neb., 78 miles, was made in 75 minutes, and from Oxford to McCook, 54 miles, in 51 minutes. The remainder of the trip through eastern Colorado and up the gradual but very long grade into Denver was accomplished without incident, and the train arrived, after the usual delays at crossings, at 3.53 a. m., mountain time. From the Union Passenger Station, Chicago, to the Union Depot, Denver, a distance of 1,025 miles, the time was eighteen hours and fifty-three minutes--breaking the world's record for long-distance running.

Two features in connection with this achievement make it unique. First, no preparation of any kind was made for the run. Forty minutes after the order was given for the train it started, and was handled all the way through in the ordinary manner and with no idea of making a record. An emergency had arisen, and the aim of the operating department was simply to give a patron of the road, who paid for it, the best service possible under the circumstances. Second, it so happened that all of the division superintendents and chief dispatchers on the C., B. & Q. were in Chicago attending a meeting, and the details of the trip were, therefore, entirely in the hands of their subordinates. Both of these facts emphasize the perfect state of discipline which exists, and which made it possible to accomplish such a run without a hitch or impediment of any kind.

Burlington Route Through Train Service

From Chicago.

_To Minneapolis and St. Paul_--Two trains daily. Connection is made at St. Paul in Union Depot for Duluth and for all points in the northwest, including Puget Sound.

_To Omaha, Denver and California_--Three trains daily. Connection is made at Denver in Union Depot with the Denver & Rio Grande R. R. for all points in Colorado, Salt Lake City, Ogden and California. Personally conducted excursions to California, in through special cars, every week.

_To Montana, Yellowstone Park and the Pacific Coast_, via Omaha, Lincoln and the Black Hills--One train daily. Passes by the Custer Battlefield. Connection is made at Billings, Mont., with the Northern Pacific Ry. for Yellowstone Park, Helena, Butte and the Pacific Coast.

_To Kansas City, St. Joseph, Leavenworth and Atchison_--Two trains daily. Connection is made at Kansas City in Union Depot for all points in the southwest.

_To Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, Galveston and San Antonio_, via Hannibal and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Ry.--Two trains daily. Connection is made for all points in Texas.

From St. Louis.

_To Minneapolis and St. Paul_--Three trains daily; one via east side Mississippi River and two via west side Mississippi River. Connection is made at St. Paul in Union Depot for all points in the northwest.

_To Kansas City, St. Joseph, Leavenworth and Atchison_--Two trains daily. Connection is made at Kansas City in Union Depot for all points in the southwest.

_To Lincoln, Denver and California_--One train daily, via St. Joseph and Lincoln. Connection is made at Denver in Union Depot with the Denver & Rio Grande R. R. for all points in Colorado, Salt Lake City, Ogden and California.

_To Montana, Yellowstone Park and the Pacific Coast_, via St. Joseph, Lincoln and the Black Hills--One train daily. Passes by the Custer Battlefield. Connection is made at Billings, Mont., with the Northern Pacific Ry. for Yellowstone Park, Helena, Butte and the Pacific Coast.

Note--All through trains on the Burlington Lines are equipped with Vestibuled Pullman Palace Sleeping Cars, Reclining Chair Cars (seats free) and Burlington Route Dining Cars (meals served on the European plan). Some trains are equipped also with Pullman Compartment Sleeping Cars and Composite Cars, fitted with smoking room, sideboard and compartments for card players.

POOLE BROS. CHICAGO.

Transcriber's Notes

--Silently corrected a few typos.

--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

--In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.