THE WILD-ELK OF CALIFORNIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2714, 21 March 1906, Page 82

THE WILD- ELK OF CALIFORNIA.

■■ » ■ ■ (For the Witness.) By Abraham Simon, Bakersfield, Cal. Near this city the only surviving band of wild elk outside of Government reserves in the United States, some 300 of the antlered beasts in number, are roaming on the mesa along the coast range mountains. This remnant of the bands that once were so numerous on the Western Plains is now th« possession of the Government, and from time to time attempts have been made to capture and transfer them to the Sequoia National Park, some 80 miles from Bakersfield, near the Yosemite Valley. Bakersfield, Kern County, is the headquarters for the Government officials who are directing the work of capturing and transferring the wild animals, and the outfitting point for vaqueros is a busy little town these days. Ifr is a pretty western town of 8000 population in the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, surrounded on three sides by the Sierra Nevada, Coast Range,' and Tehachapi Mountains. The last chase proved a successful roundup, and after two days' work by the vaqueros, 32 beautiful large specimens were captured and successfully shipped. Stirring scenes were those connected with the capture of these elk. Men whose lifetime training has been among the cattle herds of the West, each, of whom is a part of the animal he rides, whose eye is clear, and whose wrist and hand possess

the cunning that come, only from a life practice : fifty of these picturesque vaqueros, the pick of the men on the great cattle ranches who attend the countless herds in New Mexico, Arizona, and other Pacific States, lead in the work of rounding-up the elk, and these animals, tLough so swift of limb, were not abLe to escape the noose thrown by the practised hands of their pursuers. A year ago an effort was made to take these California elk into captivity, and transfer them to the Government reserve, but the attempt was doomed to utter failure, inasmuch as the plan adopted was to drive the elk. On that occasion two bands of elk were headed northward by the vaqueros, but when they found that they were being driven they stampeded, attacked the horsemen, and scattered out over the vast territory, -which is practically a desert, adjacent to the Coast Range Mountains, and efforts to stop their flight resulted in the death of some 30 elk from exhaustion. The method so successfully operated in the last chase was to lasso and tie the elk individually. Two days' work of this kind resulted in the capture of ' 32. These were placed in temporary captivity in a strong stock corral, and transmission to the park was easy. The history of the band is unique. When the last of their kind hai disappeared from, mountain, plain, and valley throughout the West, and when it was presumed that so far as California was concerned there were no elk in existence, it was discovered that there were some running loose on the vast ranches of the cattle kings — Miller and Lux — in the neighbourhood of Button Willow, about 20 miles south-west of Bakersfield. Occasionally the vaqueros spied an antlered head amongst the long horns in some lonely canyon, and at times an elk would be driven in with a band of cattle into one of the great enclosed fields. And here on the cattle ranch the surviving remnant of all that was left of the elk kind in California increased from year to year, until now there are over 300 full-grown elk in that vicinity. They have lost most of their timidity for man, and it is not uncommon for them to break into enclosed fields and play havoc with the crops. For some years past Miller and Lux have been anxious to have the Government move the band to one of the U.S. reserves, and the plan adopted to move the elk was fcuggested by the Interior Department officials who came here from Washington. In a short time the elk will T)e safely enclosed, and become, in fact, the ward of Uncle Sam. The thrilling scenes enacted while the recent chase was in progress may perhaps never again be witnessed in the western hemisphere. The first reconnaisance by the vaqueros was made in the neighbourhood of Button Willow. A small tody of elk had moved away from its usual feeding grounds, and five big bucks only were discovered. Without much difficulty these were surrounded. The bucks made strenuous breaks for liberty, but fleet of limb as they were, they found themselves unable to escape the trained cattle men who pursued. Manuel Roderiquez, foreman of the Kern County Land Co., was first to effect a capture. Urging his horse in fast pursuit after a

flying elk, and with riata in hand, at » distance of 50ft the coil 'shot^unerringly, J and the noose 6ettled over the animal's* head, then other ropes were thrown "until:, his elkship was safely^held, just as a wild steer becomes the helpless victim of the vaqueros. Antone Felis, a young Mexican cowboy, accomplished the preliminary work on the next three; and La Salle Quinn put the riata over the fifth. The captured beasts fought savagely while being tied*. Roderiquez was bucked seriously on the left shoulder, and was sent hurriedly to Bakersfield for medical treatment. The _ subdued were taken to the corah? at Lo - Kern and placed in crates. The vaqueros secured a good night's Test, and broke camp early next morning for - the second day's chase. Each rider was oa ■ his favourite cow pony, and each .was pre- > pared to do his hardest riding. Jests were bandied back and forth in English and! - Spanish. With gaudy bandanas flapping from bronzed necks, with wide sombreros bobbing up and down, and with spurs glittering, the band made a splendid picture '_ wheii the sun appeared from behind .the hills. Out from tlie tall grasses along the canal • bank there first came four immense bucks, and within a few minutes afterwards, ait -' antlered band of 100 walked over the ' divide and made for the hills -to the south ' and west. The sight was an inspiring one, : as the herd took quick notice' that its ; liberty was involved in its race for safety toward high lands. Fifty horsemen were given an order by Superinten, Ident James Ogden to form two divergent) lines, and with this line-up they quickly took up the chase. When the riders closed in on the fleeing elk the bulls became infuriated, and desperately attacked the riders. When Leo Castro had lassoed two, a powerful elk, with a coil over its horns, caught the Mexican off his guard and dashed at his pony. Castro was unseated, and his pony died from the shock. Th© Mexican secured a fresh mount, pursued the elk with a coil dangling from its horns, and recaptured him after a hard run. Another expert, Jib Wagy, lassoed four, Antone Felis secured again four, Harry Gifford landed three, Will Stubbleford and Ed. Turner were successful twice. Warren M'Donald, with an unlooked-for exhibition of nerve, dashed in the midst of the band, snapping a kodak at the fleeing elk from his pony's back. A number of elks were thrown and roped, x and some of the danger- ■ ous ones were held by the head while ' vaqueros sawed off their horns. As a result of the raid, three elks and three ponies died from exhaustion. Tha • captured elks were shipped in cars from ' Lo Kern to Exeter, over the Southern , Pacific railroad, and from that point were , hauled overland to the Sequoia National Park, where the consignment of 10 large ; bucks, 12 cow elk, arid 10 calves- arrived" safely. For a week the scattered ones that' "■ had escaped absented themselves ' from ' their regular feeding ground, and when they returned, huddled together in a bunch, . and at night set up a most pathetic . cooing for the missing members of the* herd. Organised round-ups will occur from time to time, and when the entire band has been captured and transferred, Kern County will lose one of its most interesting natural features.