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.
[Illustration: Pike's Peak as seen from Briarhurst, near Manitou.]
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.
[Illustration: Waterfall in Thompson's Cañon, Estes Park.]
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.
[Illustration: Green Lake, near Georgetown--One of the highest
pieces of water in the world that can be visited.]
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.
[Illustration: Burlington Route]
[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE MAP
OF
COLORADO
SHOWING
TOURISTS' RESORTS.]
[Illustration: Burlington Route]
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_.