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Friday Sept. 8The boy is going to Knob for

grub today & think I will try to getsome venison. We cooked the last wehad for breakfast. The miners areleaving the creek. One party(Henigbaum) goes out today. He has agood claim but failed to strike the paychannel & went broke.

We have got our sluice boxesup & yesterday shoveled into them &cleaned up about 25 cents. It all cameout of the gravel. We did not cleanany bed rock & have not got into theold channel so we think it anencouraging prospect. One colorwould go about 5 cents. Shall workthe claim for 3 weeks yet even if itturns out only 2 bits a day. So if anyone writes before the 20 they mayth

address us at Knob. It is getting coolweather. It has frozen once or twice& is pretty near it every morning. Wegot a table, a chair & a bed-stead froma deserted camp. Heingbaum leavesus his salmon spear & sold us 15sticks of dynamite with caps & fusefor 6 bits so we are prepared either forboulders or salmon. There was abear-pen that Penny built about a milefrom here & we have baited it up &hope to get a bear soon. If Joe comesout we will quit work & hunt withhim. He could come to Red Bluff. Then 55 miles by stage (twice aweek) to Knob. Have Seymour sendme a pair of high rubber boots & apair of stout shoes if Joe comes.

All well. L. KnappKnob, Shasta Co., Cal.

PS. Fonce left on Monday

Pilot Creek, Cal.Nov. 18 (?), 1899th

(Was a day behind in the datesthrough this letter)Mr. Legrand KnappOuleout, N.Y.Dear Brother,

Ellis went out to Maple Creekday before yesterday. I meant towrite so I could send the letter out byhim but I am going out in a day ortwo myself.

Today makes just a year sincewe left home for California. Expectto spend the winter alone in thiscabin. If I keep as busy as I have forthe 3 days since Ellis went out I shallnot have time to get very lonesome. Want to get up a lot of dried meat &tallow for winter now that the bucksare fat & in good shape. So the daythat Ellis left I went hunting on aridge about 2 miles from here. Thebig bucks are mostly up on the top ofthe ridges now & they are the onlykind of deer we want to kill now. Isaw one half way up the ridge but toofar off to shoot. A little further on Icame over the top of a knoll & thereabout 20 rods off picking up acornsunder some oaks was the biggest deerI have seen in 6 months. I shot himthrough just in front of the shoulder &he came down. 7 or 8 does & fawns

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had been feeding with him & ranwhen I shot but I did not want them. When I went over to where the oldfellow lay his upper horn was stickingup like my arm. I gutted him & wenton. Had 2 or 3 chances to shoot spikebucks (yearlings) before I got to thetop of the ridge. Pretty soon after Igot to the top I saw a buck & 2 doesfeeding behind the top of a fallen tree. I got up to about 16 rods. Got a rest& waited. In a minute or two thebuck came where I could see himthrough the limbs & I shot for hisshoulder. I saw one of the little limbsjump & the snow fly off it so I knewthe bullet had struck it & glanced. But I went over & looked at histracks. Found a little blood &followed him 1/4 mile & gave himup. Started back for the top of theridge & another buck jumped up not 5rods from me. I shot as quick as Icould & broke his neck on the secondjump. Just then I saw another runningfor some brush about 40 rods off. Ihad just time to swing the gun on thebrush as he reached them & pulledjust as his tail went out of sight. After gutting the one with the brokenneck I went over to see if I could findwhere the other had gone. I had nonotion that I had hit him but when Igot into the brush there was a greatbloody wallow in the snow where hehad fallen & rolled. It was just at theedge of a gully almost straight downfor 20 rods & he had kicked & rolled

to the bottom where I found him witha broken back. He could not get up &I finished him by a shot through theneck.

Two of my 3 bucks were 4pointers the other a 3 pointer. Allwere big & fat. I expect to get a least40 pounds of tallow out of the three. I am afraid it was a dear hunt & aswell as a deer hunt for me. I carriedhome over 200 pounds of meat & fat& made a rupture on myself by doingit. I did not know I was ruptured tillthe next day, yesterday, when I wentback after more meat. I did not bringhome a very big load then. Killed thebuck I wounded the day before. Hewas a forked horn. The bullet hadjust cut the butt of his ear a little. Saw a bear track near there so I hunghim up & set the bear trap by him.

This morning I took the mule &started for a load of meat but it hadrained all night & Pilot Creek was toohigh for the mule to cross so I cameback home patched up the old smokehouse & put in the day working at themeat & trying out tallow. TomorrowI think I shall start for Maple Creekwith the mule to help bring in thestuff that Ellis will have ready by thetime I get there.

I am feeling first rate except forthat miserable rupture. I don’t thinkmuch of that. Ellis wrote me that hethought your eyes were a trifle betterthan they were last fall. But I don’tknow where you are or what you are

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going. You were at Ed’s the last Iheard.

I wish you could be with meawhile. I expect to be alone in 2 or 3weeks.

Leverge KnappMaple CreekHumboldt Co.,Cala.

Nov. 20th

I did not start out yesterday as Iintended but took the mule & wentafter one of the deer I left hanging upon the ridge. The Creek was too highto wade with trousers on so I tookmine off, tucked my shirt up in mybelt & got through that way. Today Ihave been on the trot all day. Thismorning was snowy & nasty so I didnot like to start out so I staid at home& worked at the meat & tallow. Havegot a flour-sack full of cakes of tallow(Our kettle got broke & a little lardpail is all I have to try it out in) & Ihave kept the old smoke-houselooking like a volcano all day. Justabout sunset I went out for about halfan hour with the gun. I saw severaldeer but no bucks & had got backwithin 40 rods of the cabin when Isaw what I thought was a doe about40 rods down a steep slope from me. I wanted to fire the gun off anywayfor a cartridge has stuck in thechamber & I thought the doewouldn’t be in much danger so Irested across my knee & fired. I

looked through the smoke to see herrun away & instead of that saw herlying down & pawing the ground forall she was wroth. She had stood justfacing me & the bullet struck exactlyin the center of the back & came outexactly where everything else does,punching out about 2 feet of the backbone. The old gun is doing goodwork. I have got the last 6 deer Ihave shot at. I paced down to wherethe deer lay & found it over 200. Ifound, too, that instead of being adoe, it was a buck with spike hornsabout 6 inches long. It was after darkwhen I got him home. I have skinnedhim, cut him up & salted the meat. Taken off his horns & got his brainsout to fry for breakfast. I have akettle of tallow to finish & strain & Imust visit the smoke-house oncemore. Buy then it will be bed time.Snow Camp. FridayI left Pilot Creek day before yesterday& got here (at Mr. Fonce’s) last night. Today we have got up 4 sacks of flour& tomorrow Mr. F. & I start for PilotCreek with it. He is going with hismule & will take part of the flour &bring back a load of venison. I killed& hung up 2 fat bucks on my wayout. A 3 pointer & a 4 pointer. Had abig Eagle in a trap. Found Ellis letterof Oct. 30 here when I came in. Cyth

is going to slog here at Snow Camptill he gets a letter with money so hecan get up the rest of the winter’sgrub. I am all right up to day. LK

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Unless the weather is very bad I shallstart for Maple Creek in the morning. Ellis will begin to think I am notcoming at all. Besides that I haveonly one cut of tobacco left & it takes2 days to get out where I can getmore.

Good night, L.K.P.S. It was a year ago tonight that weleft Susquehanna to come out here.

Pilot Creek, Cal.Dec. 15, 1899Miss Blanche Wattles

My dear Blanche:It was very nice of you to write

to me. I had often thought of writingto you & wished I had asked you if Imight before I left home. I waspleased with all the home news -especially so to learn that Murray’shair is going to curl like his father’s. the fat little rascal! How I would liketo see him. I am glad Carrie is better. It is too bad she should have poorhealth for she needs & deserves thevery best. When my sister Cora wasalive I did not know which was thebest woman in North America butnow I have no doubt it is Carrie. Iwas glad not to hear that Ellis hadsmashed himself again. I was afraidit would be his skull or his back thenext time for that is about all theground he has not gone over. Notthat I mean to make fun of hisinjuries. A shoulder or a wrist lamed

for months or a life time is no joke.I left Mr. Fonce’s at Snow

Camp yesterday. Cyrus was comingwith me but he has a cold & is notvery well so when we got about amile & it was raining hard & wecould see the snow up among themountains he said he would go back& take the coyote down to Blue Lakethe next day instead. It was a goodthing that he went back for it provedto be the nastiest trip I have made &that is saying a great deal. Mr.Marshall gave me a nice collie dog soI had both him & the mule to lead butno gun to carry. It was a steady pourof rain & sleet with a wind thatsometimes blew the mule out of thetrail & often in half-frozen ‘slosh’over the tops of my shoes all day. Iwas glad to get to the head ofRedwood in time to get a fire startedbefore dark. That would have beenno easy matter if I had not learned to‘pack pitch’ as the mountain men say. That is carry a supply of fat pinekindling-wood with me. I did nothave such a bad night. Not nearly sobad as when I lay in the water at thelog canal the week before I brought asack of hay for the mule & tied him inthe most sheltered place I could findbut the poor brute had a hard night ofit & this morning the windword sideof him was just one sheet of ice. Itturned colder in the night & when Iwoke up was snowing so you couldhardly see 50 yards. I did not wait for

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breakfast or to start a fire but packedup & got out of that as quick as Icould. I knew that 2 or 3 hours likethat would block the trail for a mule& I did not expect I could get himthrough anyway. I made up my mindto take the mule as far as he could go(he is old & poor & weak) then givehim a quick death with the axe. Takewhat I could carry of the pack & pushfor the cabin. But, luckily, in aboutan hour the snow slacked some,though it kept snowing all day & wegot through with out very muchtrouble. It was cold & the wind blewhard on the ridge. When we got onlower ground it was warmer & by thetime we reached Owl Creek the icethawed off the mules head so hecould see where he was going. Themule & I waded Pilot Creek & thedog swam after us. The water was sohigh it wet the bottom of my‘jumper’. Thought sure the mulewould go down stream & once Ithough I was going myself but I hadcut a stout pole to brace up with. Wemade the cabin between 3 & 4 p.m. About a foot of snow here & snowinghard. Had trouble starting a fire. Thechimney & fire place were full ofsnow & after it melted the windwould blow down the chimney & putout the fire. Then I took the mule out& showed hm the bunch grass. Heinsisted on having another sack ofhay but I had none for him. Then Icut & packed in about 6 back loads of

wood. Have to carry It half as far asfrom Peter’s to Elli’s. by that time itwas dark so I got supper. It was diner& breakfast too. We picked & driedsome elder berries & I have a big ironpot. Got it of Mr. Fonce to try outtallow in, so made elder berrydumplings. They are very good. JackPenny showed us how to make them. We soak the dried berries & then stirthem into the dough. I made 8 as bigas croquet balls but could eat only 5of them. The last batch I made 9 &ate 8 of them & they were not so light& nice as these. Either so my appetitemust be failing. After the mule gottired of eating bunch grass he came tothe cabin & wanted to come. Keptopening the door with his nose so Ihad to fasten it shut. He is out underthe shed now gnawing at the grind-stone & ringing his bell. I have fedhim bread & c till he is spoiled. Hewas an Indian mule & not used tosuch treatment. Tomorrow I musttake him down over the John Henryridge & have him to shift for himselfthe rest of the winter. Unless we havean open winter . I doubt if he livesthrough it. He is too poor to beginwith. I have a nice big fire now & mywet clothes & blankest are dryingbefore it. Have a very good lamp too. It is a tin cup filled with skunk oil &tallow. I got nearly 3 pints of oil outof 2 skunks. They were so big & fatthey wouldn’t even try an ordinarytrap but had to go to making

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experiments with the bear trap.I promised Cyrus I would come

out to Snow Camp again in about aweek. He wants me to bring out somehides for him so he can take themhome. So this letter is likely to getmailed by Christmas at least. I shallhave to go out once or twice after thatto get things I need. I dread the trips. I have soaked & been half-frozen onthat trail several hundred hoursalready this fall & winter & it will beworse yet when I have to get throughdeep snow & carry a pack.

With all the exposure & I havesoaked through for days at a time, Ihaven’t had a cold at all. Neuralgiabothers me a little sometimes after aprolonged snow water bath but theboy got me an ounce of Acitanilid(Note: Acetanilide: a whitecrystalline compound C8 H9 NOused especially to check pain orfever as found in Webster’sDictionary) the last time he was atBlue Lake & that soon settles mykind of neuralgia. I am afraid oftooth ache, however, I have somedecayed ones & if they should beginon me in here, 3 or 4 days travel froma dentist, I should probably “saythings”.

It must be 11 p.m. & I am tiredso now for bed. Have not sleptbetween sheets for over a year. Ihope you & Carrie are both well &will stay so.

Good Night

Leverge

Address Maple Creek, Cal.Sunday Dec. 17 , 1899th

It is about 9 p.m. I have got myhousework done up at last & I may aswell add a bit to this letter so as to getmy 2 cents worth out of Uncle Sam. Yesterday morning I did not feel firstrate. I had got up in the night & eaten2 more of the dumplings. I reckonthat with going without food the daybefore had thrown my internalimprovements out of gear. I decidednot to bother with the mule & tookmy last dose of Colonel. Then Ibaked a loaf of bread in the Dutchoven. Run up what lead I had &loaded cartridge. All my clothes werewet & all my bedding damp & I spentthe rest of the day drying them &packing in wood. When the Colonel& I got through with each other I feltall right. It snowed most of the day &at night was 16 or 18 inches deep. Cleared off at sunset. A gloriousnight. Full moon. Everything piledwith snow & toward zero. I thoughtthe mule was a goner sure. Woke upin the night with one hip achingfearfully clear to my toes & nearlyparalyzed. Thought I was hit with theworst kind of rheumatism &wondered if I would ever be able toget out of the bunk. Then I woke upsome more & found a piece of plugtobacco in my hip pocket. I had lainon it till it was fairly imbedded in my

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hip. When my bones are dug up theywill find the print of the “Battle Ax”tag & may say I swallowed it.

Today has been clear & it has thaweda good deal where the sun struck. Went to look up the mule. Thought Icould use his remains to boil“varmits”. Found him verycontentedly filling himself withbunch-grass. I was so glad to findhim alive that I pawed the snow offenough grass to last him a week. Washed dishes this a.m. 6 tinplates, 7tin basins & pans, 10 spoons, 7 forks& 1 table knife, 3 tin cups, 4 tin pailsthat I had used trying out fat & sometin cans that I wanted to store thingsin. Much of this stuff was left here byherders & hunters who camped herein warm weather. It took 3 hours & 4pailfuls of hot water to clean the lot.

Once when I went to the doorto throw out dirty water I saw an old

doe feeding on the bushes about 125yards above the cabin. I lay down onthe floor, rested the rifle across astool & broke her back. She is thefirst doe I have killed in 2 months &looked pretty thin after the fat bucks Ihave been killing. But I have over1/4 of her in the big pot now. Thisp.m. I packed more wood & did jobsabout the cabin. There are 40 thingsI want to do. Baked another loaf thisevening. Have nice bread. One loaflasts about 4 meals. I take some painswith my cookery & live well for thematerials I have to do with. Haveover a barrel of flour. Coffee enoughto last all winter. Some sugar, 10#dried prunes, 1# pepper, 2# soda saltenough to last 40 years (Found 3 or400# in the cabin) near 40# tallow &60 or 70 # smoked venison. I tookout about 30# smoked meat for theboy to take home with him. Well mypot of meat is done & it is bed time soonce more, Good night, L.K.

Snow Camp, Dec. 21-99I left ‘home’ by moonlight yesterdaymorning. Thought I could make it toSnow Camp along the ridge but thesnow was too deep & after wadingthrough it for 10 miles I turned offinto Mud River Valley & staid allnight at Alghrer’s ranch. Today Icame on & reached Mr. France’s justafter dark. Found Cyrus here. Hiscold & cough are better. He killed adeer yesterday & says he will kill

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another tomorrow. He says if he doesnot get a letter with money bySaturday he will go back to PilotCreek with me Sunday & stay a weekor two. Think I saw at least 20 bigbucks on my way out. More than halfof them I could have killed if I had arifle & wanted them. Came past onethat I killed a week or two ago. Thevarmits had him nearly all eaten. Ihad strychmine with me & gave whatwas left a dose so I hop to find a fewcoons & cats lying near it when I goback.

Killed a big 3 point buck nearthe cabin a day or two before I left. Iwanted him for bait. My dog staid 2days with me & then came back to hisold home. If Cyrus goes back withme I think we will take him with us.Saturday Dec.23rd - 99

I am going down to MapleCreek this p.m. & will mail this. Butit will not leave the P.O. till nextTuesday.

I have been troubled with thetooth ache for 3 or 4 days. If Cyrus orI get any money by todays mail Ithink I will go to Blue lake & have itdrawn before I go back to Pilot Creek. We have just 30 cents each now. Ifwe get no money we will both startfor my cabin tomorrow & stay a weekor two. Have had a week of fine clearweather & it is warm here but thereare about 2 feet of snow in themountains. Mean to make snowshoes as soon as we get back on Pilot.

I found a letter from sisterJennie waiting for me when I got toMr. Francis’. It will be too late forChristmas when this reaches you so Iwish you all a Happy New Year.

L.K.

Pilot Creek, Jan. 3 , 1900rd

Mr. Ellis KnappOuleout, N.Y.

Dear Brother,Cyrus & I left Francis for this

place the day before Christmas. Wecame over the hill by Coyote Joe’s. Joe has sold out, ranch, sheep & all toTom Bear. It is said he cleaned upbetween 12 & $15,000 clear to of it. He & Alghren had gone to Frisco forthe Holidays. Joe is going to take inthe Fair at Paris next summer.

Old Mose is camping inAlghren’s old house trapping. Westopped with him that night. The nextday, Christmas, we came in by the logcoral. Cyrus kept count of the deerwe saw & there were 87 of them. Heshot the last one we saw a big 3pointer with very long & broad horns. We brought my dog in again & Idon’t think he will leave me again. He will be too fat to run away if hisappetite holds. I fill him so he can’tcurl up but has to sleep at full length. Have been pretty busy since we camein. Have patched the cabin up in

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good shape, run the chimney up levelwith the peak & got up some wood. An oak about 3 or 3 ½ ft through wasblown down this summer about 100yards up the hill from the cabin & itwill make about all the wood I wantthis winter.

A bear had been at a buckcarcass about 100 rods from the cabinwhile I was away. We set the trap buthe has not come back. We havekilled 3 deer each since we came in.

I got a pair of spikes 10 incheslong on New Year’s day. About amile up the mountain I killed thebiggest buck with the heaviest hors Iever got. We had fine weather fromDec. 15 to the 29 & the snow isth

about all gone. Day after tomorrowwe mean to go out with the mule &take out what hides & horns we haveon hand. Cyrus will start East at once& I if I find the wherewith at the P.O.will get what things I need & startback. If the snow holds off I cancome clean in with the mule, if it doesnot I will being bring the stuff as farup Mad River as I can & leave itthere, turn the mule loose & bring inwhat I can on my back. Have had tobe on the trail so much that I have nothad a chance to trap much. I think 5skunks, 5 coons, 3 bob cats, a fox & acivit cat are all I have got. Today Idown to the Hyom Piom (?) crossing,where I left the mule over two weeksago. Hunted him up & brought himhome. Saw about 30 deer on the trip

but only one back. He was over 200yards away but I saw he was a big one& began to shoot. He was trottingalong a side-hill in the brush & Imissed him twice. Then he stoppedto look at me & I knocked one of thepoints off his horns. That seemed toconfuse him & he gave me the fourthshot which dropped him. Was sorry Idamaged his horns. They were veryfine 4 pointers. Cyrus killed a threepointer today. He will have about 20pairs of horns to bring home. Therewere 2 dutch ovens in the cabin & Ihave the nicest kind of bread. Do notfry much meat. Boil 10 or 12 poundsat a time & shred up a lot of it in thepunch each meal. That with the bread& coffee is my regular fare & I getaway with a lot of it. I don’t knowhow much I weigh. Mr. France saysit is over 200. I know my muscle &wind are in good shape. I sleep agood deal more than I did last winter. 8 hours or more a night. One thingworries me, I have 3 potatoes & 3apples & I can’t decide whether to eatthem now or save them & run the risktheir freezing before I get back inhere again.

Cyrus has made me a pair oflong snow shoes but there is no snowto try them on. Now I think I couldsoon learn to use them but I fear theyare not solid enough to stand myweight a great while. Got a suit of oilskins from Mr. France for $3 hope toget rubber boots & hat this trip. Need

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them for I am in all the rain thatcomes. Have been wet through &most awful cold too for 4 days & 3nights at a time without catching anycold. Was troubled with toothachefor some days but it has not botheredme any for over a week now. Myrupture usually troubles me onlyabout one day in a week & then whenI first start out in the morning. Yesterday morning I stood to go upOwl Creek to look at some traps & ithurt me so I gave it up. When I got toPilot Creek & come back & before Igot to the cabin it was all right & Ihave not felt it since.

All through the summer I ratherdreaded being here alone this winterbut I do not dread it in the least now. Have been here alone for a week ortwo once or twice & have enjoyedmyself thoroughly. I hate to leave &when I am out at Snow Camp orMaple Creek am in a hurry to getback home. Think I will go to Korbelwith Cyrus this time. Want to be ableto get identified there & I guess Cyruscan fix it with Albert.

Will add to this before itsmailed. It is 10 oclock & bedtimenow. I have breakfast before daylightwhen I am alone, but it is too muchtrouble when I have Cyrus toresurrect.

Jan. 4 th

hink we will start in the morning. Wehave ground up both axes & got in a

lot of wood today. Cyrus has beencleaning & drying the hides & hornshe is going to take home with him. The pair of horns I got yesterday willbe the longest & broadest he has got. He leaves me his little 32 six shooter& it really shoots first rate. I fired thesix shots at 12 paces off hand & putthem all in a place the size of myhand- 5 of them in the size of thepalm of my hand. The first thing Iever shot at with it I killed - a diggersquirrel about 30 feet away. Gotenough good gun oil out of him tolast a year.

Veach said that old A. B.Gordon followed Denton clean upinto Oregon with a warrant for gettingaway with his horses.

I feel a great deal moreconfident of coming out of this allright than I did even 3 or 4 monthsago. Do not feel any desire for thedrug while I am awake but Ifrequently dream of getting or tryingto get it & that scares me. If it werenot for such dreams I might havethought of coming home with Cyrus.

Have not had time to go downto Boyd’s & do not know whether heis in the valley or not. Shall go downto find out where I get back in hereagain. George Perhorn had onebrother killed by a stage going downa bank near Hydesville last summer &this fall another brother, who workedin a mill at Weaver had a leg cut offbut lived.

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It is over 13 months since Ihave been in any more of a town thanMaple Creek & I suppose Korbel willlook like Chicago to me when I gothere.

I have 5 bars of soap & intendto tan a few buckskins this winter if Iget the knack of it.

My library for this winterconsists of Hosteller’s Almanac &The Fuzzy Wuzzy book. The latter Iknow by heart already. If I get hardup for something to do I may try tocommit the almanac to memory.

Russ’ ranch house, Mad River Jan. 5th

It was raining this morning but wedecided to start out. It was 10 o’clockbefore we got started & it has rainedmost all day. Had some traps set bythe trail & found a skunk in one ofthem down by Pilot Creek. Where thetrail crosses Owl Creek, near wherewe found the death panther. I had seta trap on a log across the creekthinking I would get a coon. When Icame in sight of it I saw somethinghanging from the log & yelled toCyrus that we had a fox & to climb upon the log & get him. He pulled himup & then he began to yell too. It wasa coyote that had blundered into anopen trap on the log. The weather didnot seem half so cold or wet after wegot him. He could not have been inthe trap more than 36 hours but hewas dead - hanging by 2 toes over the

creek.There was a good deal of snow

on the ridge & the mule had astruggle for a mile or two. When wegot to the log coral we swung downacross Deer Creek. About half a mileacross Deer Creek we saw a dead deerlying near the trail. Cyrus went downto look at it & as he was poking at it Isaw a panther sneaking off down thehill 50 yards below him. I called toCyrus to set on the dog. Dropped themule, came out of my wet coat &started. As I went past Cyrus hehanded me the gun. I had not got 50yards before the dog began to bark &the next second I saw the big yellowbrute in the forks of an oak about 60yards away. The brush was so thick Icould just see he was starting to jump& I shot as quick as I could swing thegun. Saw his paws, tail & white bellyall in a whirl as he went out of the &knew he was hit hard. I pushed onthrough the brush & found him justbreathing his last in a little run about30 yards below the tree. The bullethad broken his back just back of theshoulders & come out between hishind legs. He was coming down aslanting fork straight towards mewhen I shot. It was a female panther,very fat & sleek. I think it was a 3yar old. Have not measured the skinbut it is just about 8 feet. We left thepaws & head on the skin & will skinthem out when we get to MapleCreek. It was 5 o’clock when we got

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ready to start & dark when we gothere. Lytle was not at home but aboy, Erickson, who is staying withhim, took us in, gave us a square meal& a big fire to sit by. Tomorrow wehope to make Maple Creek. Cyrusthinks a coyote & a panther make apretty good day for his last in themountains.Jan. 6 .th

Reached Maple Creek this evening. The panther skin measure 8 ft 3 in.

L. KnappMonday Jan. 8th

At Fallor’s Ellis all packed & starts inthe morning. I go to Korbel with him& come back the same day. Next dayexpect to start back for camp. If nomore snow comes will have notrouble in taking the mule in. Hadletter from father & one from Henrywith PO money order for $25.

Pilot Creek, Cal.Sunday Feb. 4 , 1900th

Dear Brother,I have to go out to Kneeland

again within a few days so I am goingto write 2 or 3 letter & have themready. I suppose Cyrus is home longbefore this & very likely some of youhave seen him so I will begin myaccount of myself from the time heleft. I got back here on Jan. 12 . Hadth

only 10 small traps. Aikman let metake a good double-spring No. 3. Istaid all night at Lytle’s & let the boy,

Erickson who is staying there thiswinter take the trap. He thought hecould catch another panther by thedeer where we got ours. It was rainyfor a week after I got in here & I putthe traps out this side of Pilot Creekfor small varmit. The dog treed abob-cat while I was setting the trapsbut it jumped & got away before Icould get to it. Something broke achain & packed off a good doublespring trap the first night & that wasthe only thing I could get into themexcept eagles & the dog. I caught 3eagles (have caught 2 more since). The dog lay in a small trap over night& is lame yet. It began to clear offabout the 17 & on the 19 I thoughtth th

the ground dry enough to put outcoyote traps so I set the 9 that I had in3 nests up in Pilot Rock country. There was good sign there then & Ithought sure I would get one in a dayor two but I did not see any more signfor 12 days though I was up therealmost every day & travelled 150miles looking after those traps. About the 25 I found big bear signth

on Cooper ridge & took the bear trap. Which I had kept set about a milebelow the cabin, up there & set it. Thebear has not come back yet. It wasnice clear weather all the rest of Jan& on the 31 I decided to go over tost

Lytle’s to take a couple of letters &see if I had any mail there. When Igot to my last next of traps, they werejust at the edge of the big brush

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prairie about ½ mile beyond PilotRidge I found a big dog coyote. Hewas caught only by 2 toes & wouldnot have staid in the trap a secondnight. There was ½ inch of fat allover him & I think he weighed 40#with his insides out. Anyway myknapsack with him & my coat , grub& c in it must have weighed over 40#.Lytle said it weight 50# & Stringfield,the J.P. at Kneeland said the coyotewould go between 40 & 50. I left therifle at Lytles & got a square mealthere. Staid all night at Alghren’s. Itwas just 11:45 when I socked thecoyote & at 1:15 the next day I hadhim at Kneeland 35 miles. SoAlghren said from Pilot Rock I wasjust 10 hours on the road. I think thatis pretty fair travelling with a 40pound pack & a mountain 2000 feethigh to climb. Stringfield the J.P. &P.M. at Kneeland is a fine man. Atleast I think so. He gave me a gooddinner & offered me a drink ofwhiskey & a cigar. (I took only oneof them.) & best of all said if I hadanother coyote to pack to him to skinit down to the neck & throw the bodyaway. If I brought a fresh hide withthe head on it would be all right. Imade it back to McBride’s that night. He keeps a kind of hotel whereJohninghorn was. My bill there was 6bits so I shall be $6.25 ahead on thatcoyote. Did not ask Stringfield todiscount it for me as shall not needthe money for some time yet. The

next day, Feb. 2 , was rainy & I tooknd

it easy. Stopped 3 or 4 hours atAlghren’s & staid at Lytle’s thatnight. Ericson got his panther allright the first night he set the trap. Itwas a small one, under 7 feet. Thelittle trap held it 2 days. Lytle gaveme the key to the Harlem house. It isabout a mile toward Mad river fromthe top of the ridge where we wentafter grouse last spring. He said therewas a stove & cooking outfit that airmattress you slept on with plenty ofblankets & some potato & lots offresh coyote sign there & I might usethem as much as I liked. If it had notsnowed last night I should be theretoday putting out traps. Well, I leftLytles at 9 yesterday morning. It wasraining when I left & snowing when Igot toward the top of the ridge. Thecorrect trail from Lytle’s comes ontoour trail just where I caught thecoyote & I was more than tickleswhen I got there to find anothercoyote waiting for me. It was a smallslut coyote & I think had got into thetraps the next night after the other onedid. It had done a lot of work diggingup the ground & chewing up thebrush but it was caught above thewrist in a double spring trap & had tostay till the leg come off. I took herinsides out put her into a sack & hungher up in a tree. She will keep a weekor more if necessary. If I had notsnowed (abut 5 inches here & Isuppose a foot or more on the ridges)

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I should have tried to get anotherbefore I took her out but as it is shallprobably start again in 2 or 3 days. Itis an 80 mile walk & I am a little stiffyet. More from the wet than thewalking. It cleared off in the night &the snow is coming off the trees fastnow. I am out of fresh meat & startedout to get a deer after breakfast butthe sun was so bright on the snow thata man couldn’t see to shoot decentlyso I come back to the cabin & went towriting instead. When the snow getsoff the bushes it wil not be so bright& I will try it again. I use about 25#of meat a week & do not fry a pounda week. Stew it down. 12# at a timein the big pot that France let me take. Have about 3 months grub on hand. 3full sacks flour. Near 25# sugar. 12or 14 # coffee & 12 or 15# dried fruit. Lytle says there are wild hogs nearthe Harlem place. He killed one therewith his six shooter a few weeks ago& saw lots of signs there last week. IfI can find them I will have lard &bacon for Frank has the name of agood hog dog. He seems to feel ourtrip to Kneeland much more than I do. Went under the house as soon as wegot here & will come out only longenough to eat today. The poor brutehurt his lame paw jumping across BigCreek.

Am waiting for the dough toget just right to make bread. Makepancakes as thin dodgers for breakfast& a good thick loaf in the 12 inch

dutch oven lasts me near 3 days. Make elderberry dumplings or a bigapple short cake. Stew up a two quartcan of sauce & boil a pound or so ofrice once a week. Have some beansbut have cooked but one pot of themyet. You see I have plenty to eat & Ienjoy it most heartily. The onlythings I really miss are pork &potatoes. Think I shall pack in agallon or two of syrup the next time Igo out of McBride will sell it to me.

Ought to get a coyote on Henryridge when I get around to set thetraps then. I saw signs there whentook the mule over & I do not thinkBoyd is in the valley to trap them thiswinter.

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Have not been in the leastlonesome but have kept busy &enjoyed myself. Sleep 10 hours ormore almost every night. 2 or 3 hoursmore then I did a month ago. Haveabout a cord of good oak wood splitfine. Piled up in the cabin & about 40back logs under the shed. It has beenso warm & I have been at the cabin solittle in the daytime that I have notused up wood very fast.

Hattie wrote that Henry wouldcome out here next summer or fall ifCyrus got so he could attend to thebuying at the store by that time & hewas sure he would. If he comes out& I rather think he will, I shallprobably come back with him. It isgetting toward 16 months that I havebeen all right & I begin to feel prettyconfident of myself - but I rather stayin the mountains 5 years too long thancome out 5 minutes too soon.Evening. It was noon when I quitwriting. Since then I have got dinner& eaten it. Made & baked a loaf ofbread, roasted & ground a pan ofcoffee, fleshed & stretched the skunkskin, & put the fat to trying out. Beenhunting wounded one doe & killedone. Brought the meat home & put apot full to cooking & salted down therest. Cut some wood, greased abuckskin & eaten supper. Besides thethings I have forgotten about. Thedoe I killed was going away from me. The bullet struck just in the root ofthe tail & lodged in the neck. It kept

inside the backbone for half thelength of it & close beside it the restof the way. It is full of deer betweenhere & the creek. I jumped a bandalmost every 100 yards but the brushwas so thick it was hard to get a fairshot.

Have not decided what to dotomorrow but think I shall take thetraps (I brought them all I last nightexcept the bear trap) & a pack of grubover to the Harlem house & then thenext day start for Kneeland with thecoyote. And when I come back cometo the Harlem house instead of here. Ithink the snow will be gone there bythat time so I can try for anothercoyote.

I had two big rolls of papersfrom Henry at Lytles but no letters. One of the papers was the Dairymanthat told of the Rocky Mountain rugyou gave to E.R.

How does father get along withSteve? If Blanche is with you remindher that it is her turn to write to menow. I feel pretty fine about my twocoyotes & shall hustle for another.Address Maple Creek

Laverge Knapp

Tuesday Feb. 6th

Yesterday I took the 10 small traps &a pack of grub & went over to theHarlem House. The coyotes areworking on a deer that I hung up onthe ridge last Nov & then were fresh

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tracks along the trail by the house. Plenty of deer there. & were feeding60 yards from the door when I camein sight of the house. It is a fineplace. House of sawed lumber,painted, 5 rooms 9 feet highwanescoted & papered. An upstairs& basement, 2 good stoves withnickel plating on them. 2 bedsteads,2 rocking chairs & a gib sofa allcabinet made. An air mattress, 2quilts & 3 blankets all new & a sackof potatoes, a can of cooking powder& a pail of lard & with the stuff in mypack soon had a good dinner. Then Istarted a jar of some dough & cutsome wood. Then went ½ mile downthe trail, shot a doe & set 3 or 4 traps. This morning I found a pancakegriddle & had a stack of pancakes forbreakfast. Then I washed dishes,swept out locked up the house &came back to the Torrey house. Nothing in traps-bait too fresh. Startfor Kneeland tomorrow morning. Itwill be an easy trip as I have only thehide & head of the coyote to carry.

Kneeland Feb. 8Here at 1:30 all right expect to makeit back to Harlem house tomorrow.

Tuesday March 27th

I did not go anywhereyesterday. The weather was toonasty. This morning was clear &frosty & the ground was covered withsnow but of course that soon went

when the sun got up. After breakfastI washed the dishes, swept out & putin order the three rooms I used -kitchen, sitting room & bed room. Then I started to go down to SamLytle’s. Had got 2 miles down thetrail when I met him & Fred Hinkleycoming up. Hinkley has charge of thenext ranch up the river 10 or 12 milesabove here. He had been down tovisit Lytle & Lytle was going backwith him. They were on horseback ofcourse. It is a rare thing to meet aman on foot in this part of the world& had a pack horse with a load of saltfor the cattle. I turned back & comealong with them. About a mile fromthe house we came to a saltingground. Here they stopped & Samgave a peculiar yell or call that couldbe heard near 2 miles & keptrepeating it about once a minute. When he had called 2 or 3 times wecould just hear a faint bellowing inthe distance. In 2 or 3 minutes morewe could see cattle a mile awaycoming toward us on the run & prettysoon a whole drove of them were allaround us. Then he put out about halfa bushel of salt & we came on to thehouse. After dinner they went on upthe river & I went up toward the topfo the ride to see if I could get a deer. I did start a band of three but they rantoo fast till they were about 25 rodsaway when one of them slowed downto a walk. I shot & knocked himover. Thought I had him sure but

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when I got up to the place there wasplenty of blood but no deer. The dogwent on his track & I followed as faras I could by the blood but had togive it up. I reckon the dog foundhim & staid to eat him up for he hasnot come back yet. I went on lookingfor another but the trees up there wereloaded with snow & the hot sun wasjust sending it down in streams thatwould drench you & chunks thatwould knock you down. So I quit &come home. Hinckley said he wasover on little Pilot Creek a few daysago & saw my mule close by where Ileft him. He said too that Boyd isstopping over there now. Think I willgo over tomorrow make Boyd a call& get the mule. It will probably taketwo days to make the trp for I willhave to come back by the Torreyhouse to get my pack, saddle & c. Lytle is coming back tomorrow &will give this letter a stoct toward theP.O.

L.K.

Laverge Knapp

“Harlem House”Feb. 17 , 1900th

Dear Father,I have changed my abode since

I wrote last. This place is toward 5miles from the Torrey house where Iwas - about a mile over the top of theridge into Mad River Valley. Most ofmy plunder is at the Torrey house yet. Have brought over only what I couldcarry on my back at 3 or 4 trips. Donot have to bring much except grub asthe house is very well furnished & Ihave the use of every thing. It isoccupied occasionally by Reuss’ men

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when they have anything o do in thispart of the range. 10 years ago it aMr. Harlem lived here with his family& had a good sized sheep ranch. Ahard winter killed most of his sheep& he broke down & had to leave. Now the ranch is a part of Reuss’cattle range & the house standsempty. Lytle, Reuss’ foreman, wholives 7 or 10 miles down the river,gave me the key to it & said I mightover in & use the things it contained. I decided to do so, for a few weeks atleast, partly because it is a good,comfortable house, partly because itis about 5 miles nearer the world &partly because it is handier to where Iwant to set traps for coyotes. Lytle isup here every week or two to lookafter the cattle & give them salt (hefeeds out 3 or 4 tons of salt a year). He was up day before yesterday &said there were 2 letters for me at hishouse but he come off & forgot tobring them. I intend to go down afterthem tomorrow p.m. & shall probablystay all night. He gets the mail atleast once a week & mine comes withit so I am in pretty closecommunication with the outsideworld. He has a pair of clippers & Imean to get my hair cut. It is time forI have an 8 months growth & it hangsover my coat collar. My whiskerscover the second button in my coat &I look like one of the Boers as you seetheir pictures in the newspapers. Henry sends me a big roll of papers

nearly every week. Had a letter fromEllis Persons about a week ago. Theonly letter I have had since he left. Have caught 2 coyotes & HumboldtCo. Owes me $16. It is not all clearprofit though. Have to pay the J.P. $1on each one & have about $1expenses each trip I make to takethem out. The last one I took outlowered my pile of cash on hand by$4 for besides the J.P. fee & hotel billI bought $1 worth of sugar & paid $1for 2 traps. If I am lucky enough tohave another to take out I mean totreat myself to a gallon of syrup & agallon of kerosene oil if I can carrythem 25 miles without getting themmixed. There is a good lamp & alantern here & I have about a quart ofoil. I celebrated my 40 birthday byth

cooking 3 big potatoes. I broughtthem in here on Christmas day in mypocket & saved them on purpose. Ihave plenty to eat & it is good foodtoo. Today I had dumplings withdried elderberries in them. They arefine. The only things I really miss arepotatoes & pork. There are somepotatoes here & Lytle told me to usethem but as he gives me furnishedlodgings here & keeps me over nightevery time I go out I think that isenough for him to do.

There are more coyotes about& I shall be disappointed if I do notget another in this locality. Ought tohave caught one by this time but mybait is too fresh - does not stink

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enough. I had one or two duis headssaved & they would be just aboutright now but the dog got at them &hid them where I can’t find them. When I come back from Kneeland thelast time one of the sheep men wasout looking form e with a jug ofcoyote scent to give me but wemissed each other & I did not get it. They say he makes the scent bycorking up rotten salmon & limburgercheese together for a few months &that, if it will draw a coyote as far asit will drive a man, it must be veryeffective. I don’t think there is asheep man on the river but has at least$100 worth of sheep killed by coyotesevery year so they are pleased to havethem caught.

This has been the mildest &most open winter ever known here. Except for a week or two inDecember there has been no snow toamount to anything & not very muchrainy weather. Has been like Indiansummer most of the time. A cord ofwood would last almost a month. Thesun is getting so high now that snow,even if it comes, can last only a fewdays. The open weather has been agood thing for me. It let me get mysupplies in all right, gave me a chanceto travel about freely & get a coupleof coyotes. Can’t rap them in thesnow or it the mud. Even an hoursrain will uncover the traps & thenthey have to be set over again.

I have 12 small traps & the

bear trap. They are all set forcoyotes. It takes between 4 & 5 hourssteady walking to visit them all. I amgetting quite a reputation as a walkeralong the river. You see, the menhere do not walk much. They saddlea horse if they have over a mile to go.

I am feeling better & am inbetter spirits than I have before inyears. I think I have gained faster inthe last two months than at any timebefore. I have no plans for the future& do not think much about either it orthe past. I just occupy myself withtoday & vegetate. For the present Ithink that is the best for me.

Write occasionally. How doyou get on with Weidman? Expectedyou two would quarrel.

Laverge KnappMaple CreekHumboldt Co.Cal.

Lytles, Feb. 18th

A letter from Hattie dated Jan. 28 &th

one from Blanche & Legrand datedJan. 21 . Very glad to get them. st

Rainy today, snowing on the ridges. Walked at least 15 miles this a.m. Can travel easier now I have had myhair cut. L.K.

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The next letter is missing the firstpage so the date is not apparent butpresume it goes in this time framefrom the contents............against the post 5 or 6 times but Ikept it between us. We had to gethim out of the corral before theycould come back into it or I leave thepost.

While I was dodging about thepost a man came up the trail. He wason his way from Eureka to Weaver &had a blanket, 6 potatoes, 90 cents &a cud of gum. He staid all night - saidthat once in Maritoba he went withoutfood 5 days & walked 85 miles in thetime to get away from the MountedPolice who were trying to catch him. I went to Skull Camp the next day. Took him with me as far as Smiley’sCamp & started him up South Fork onthe Hyram Piorm Trail with a loaf ofbread, a hunk of boiled venison & asmall piece of plug. Found the mulethis time. He is in pretty good fix thisspring. Took him up to the Torreyhouse & staid all night. Next day,yesterday, I packed the rest of myplunder from Torrey’s over here. Amgoing down the river in 3 or 4 days. Have only half a plug of Battle-Axeleft. Am thinking of what I ought todo this summer. The dairymen areadvertising fro milkers at $30 permonth-which is a mighty temptationto me. Think I could get a jobherding sheep. Wool is 25 cts & thesheepmen are feeling fine. Shall look

about some when I go out.Have about a month’s grub on

hand. All I have bought since you leftis a dollars worth of sugar & a gallonfo syrup. Sent to Eureka by McBridefor them. The syrup cost 6 bits so itmust have been a prime article.

Lytle & Becker go to BearCreek on the 20 for 300 head ofth

cattle to put on this range. I am infirst rate shape except for a littleneuralgia for 2 or 3 days past. Hopeyou are all doing well. Write.

Laverge Knapp

Harlem PlaceWednesday. Feb. 21 , 1900st

My dear Blanche:I wrote to Ellis about having

moved to this place so I suppose youknow what & where it is. I still feel alittle out of place among suchluxurious surroundings & especiallyfind it hard to accustom myself tocooking at a stove but I like the place& expect to stay here a few weeks.

Sunday I went down to Lytle’s-he is my nearest neighbor & lives lessthan 10 miles down the river & foundyour letter of Jan. 21 . Also one fromst

Hattie. Of course I was very glad toget them. I hadn’t heard from Del.Co. in almost 6 weeks. Had my hairall clipped off. It was about 8 incheslong the same length as my heard. Imeant to come home Monday but itnever stopped raining till this

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morning so I was there 2 days & threenights. It just poured rain all the time& I sat in the house & read. Theyhave a stock of novels - most of themby Bertha M. Clay or May AgnesFlemming or The Dutchess. I hadrather take castor oil than read any ofthem stories but I found a few thatwere not entirely idiotic. Thismorning it was not raining so Istarted. Had gone only 2 or 3 mileswhen it began to pour again & haskept at it all day. I had 15# sugar tobring home so I put my oilskin coaton over the knapsack & kept thesugar & the upper half of myselfreasonably dry. My oilskin overallsare over at the Torrey house yet so Igot some of the rain-enough to fill upmy rubber boots. Did not comestraight home but went up on theridge & made the circuit of my traps. It was 8 o’clock when I left Lytle’s &after 2 p.m. when I go home though Iwalked fast all the time. I do not feela 15 or 20 mile walk half as much as Iwould hoeing a row of potatoes. I amwrong about Lytle being my nearestneighbor. There is a claim rightstraight across the river. It is about 6miles away & I can see the housefrom here but nothing but a wildgoose or an eagle could get across theriver at this time of year. A mannamed Renford owns it & I think heis living there this winter. Winter ispretty well over here though therewas a little snow Sunday & maybe

fore for 2 months yet. Some kinds oftrees & bushes are beginning to leaveout & there are flowers every wherein the prairies. It has been a greatwinter for stock-grass growingeverywhere all winter. They tell methat 9 or 10 years ago there were 8feet of snow here. This winter I donot think the ground has been coveredfor 2 weeks altogether.

I have as nice a kitten as youever saw. It is a little more than halfgrown & is black & white. When Igot it 5 or 6 weeks ago, it was veryslender & graceful but now it isplump & round - for it has a liberaldiet. When I go to bed it roots itsway under the blankets til it can workits claws on my kneepants & then itcurls up & purrs like a great mill. When I get asleep it gets up, catches amouse & drives it back & forth acrossme till I wake up. Then it eats themouse & crawls under the blanketsagain. My dog is lots of company &sticks close to me all the time. He hasfound that I am useful to catch ticksfro him. When a tick bites him hewill get in front of me, sit down &kick at the place where the tick is andlook at me till I come & pick the tickoff. If it is on his throat he will holdup his chin as high as he can till I findit. The other member of my family,the mule, I have not seen for over amonth. I must go & look him upbefore long. There is a band of wildhogs in this vicinity but I have not

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seen any fresh signs of them since Icome over here. I think they arefarther up the river & am going tolook for them when it stops raining. Ido yearn for salt pork & bacon.

The coyotes seem to have fledfrom this neighborhood as soon as Icame. There was plenty of freshsigns then But I have seen very littlesince.

However, I intend to look sharpafter the traps & expect to get onesometime.

I made a big batch of bakingpowder biscuits as soon as I got homethis p.m. I do not have bakingpowder among my own supplies &have not used it 3 times in 6 monthsbut there is a 5# can in the house & Ido not want it all to spoil. Thebiscuits were first rate tonight. I havea pot of beans on the stove.

It has cleared off & is going tofreeze tonight. Have not had a frostfor two weeks.

Friday. Feb. 23 , 1900rd

Yesterday morning I did part of mywashing. There is good washboardhere & a big dishpan that makes avery fair tub & boiler. About 11 a.m.when the ground had dried off some Istarted out to look for hogs. Wentabout 3 miles up the river & sawnothing but old signs. Then I went upon the ridge & made the round of thetraps. The rain had washed thecovering off nearly all of them.

Home a little after 5. Pretty stiff for Ihad walked between 15 & 20 miles &was wet the day before. Saw close to100 deer on the trip. Made bread &stewed the last of my dried apples lastnight. This morning I had a long billof fare. Bread, biscuits & pancakes,bean soup, stewed & fried venison,apple-sauce & coffee. Am getting tobe something of a housekeeper. Sweep, wash dishes U& make up thebed every day. This morning Ifinished washing & then started out toget some meat. Had not got over 60yards from the door when I saw a doe. Rested the gun on the fence & killedher. Have just got her dressed &hung up under the back piazza & nowit is dinner time. Think I shall putsome bread & apple sauce in thedripping pan & bake it into somethinggood. Cannot write a long letter thistime for I have but one more sheet ofpaper here. More at the Torrey house. Tomorrow I must visit the traps again. Hope to catch another coyote if thisfine weather lasts.P.S. The bread & apple-sauce weregreat. Cover the bottom of the panwith thin slices of bread & brownthem. Then put on a good layer ofapple-sauce, cover with more bread,put in a little water & brown wholebusiness. It made me two goodmeals.

Saturday Evening.This is more like a diary than a

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letter. This morning I got off at 7:30& made the circuit of the traps. Asusual nothing in them. On my wayhome about 2 miles from here I found2 of Russ’ cattle that had been eatingpoison-weed. One of them was dead& at first I thought the other was. Happened to look back as I was goingon & saw her kick a little. I had beentold that a poisoned animal must bebled & kept moving or there was nochance of its living - so I soiled intothe poor brute. Bled both ends of itstail & both ears. The tail would notbleed much but I kept at the ears till Igot an artery spurting in each one. Then I got a whip & switched its earsto keep the blood from stopping. After ½ hour, when it had lost about agallon of blood, I got it up. At first itcould walk only a few yards - thenwould stagger & fall down. Once itrolled down a steep bank with mehanging to its tail to regular=te thespeed. All at once, it seemed to getbetter & I drove it about a miletoward the house when it made abreak & ran away from me. Iconcluded that it did to need anyfurther treatment & come on home. About sunset tonight I went to seehow it was getting on. Found it verybloody & rather unsteady on its legsbut feeding away as though nothinghad happened. Russ has a goodheifer in return for the use of hishouse so I feel even with him. Thisevening I have part of the doe I killed

yesterday in the big pot. Bothshoulders & a lot of ribs, a good 20pounds I reckon. I can’t make sogood bread with a stove as in a Dutchoven so I go more on pancakes.

This is a fine country on thisside of the mountain. Nearly half of itis smooth green prairie. The rest ispart open oak groves & part oakbrush. Lots of breaks & rocks as bigas a 10 story brick block but it ispretty smooth for this part of theworld. There is a hanging basket witha catcus growing in it here. Lytlesaid it was here when he came on therange 5 years ago. He waters it everytime he comes up here & it is growingfinely. There is some thing of alibrary here too. A Report of theDep’t of Agriculture & for the year1876 & a small school Geography. Have got nearly through the Report. Am saving the Geography to readwhen the long rains come.

Sunday.More diary. My pat of meat

was done for breakfast. Shall I tellyou how I cooked most of the meat Ihave eaten since Cyrus went home? Iboil it till it slips off the bones &leave all the water that will ‘jelly’ onit. Then I put fat & flour in the fryingpan & brown the flour. Then put in alot of the meat & jelly with a littlewater & make gravy. The venison Icook that way is ‘immersed’ both inquantity & quality. With brad or hot

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cakes it makes the main part of mydiet & is good enough for anybody. The coffee is an important item. Iaverage pretty close to 12 cups a day& that is more than I ought to drink Isuppose but with the active out doorlife I am leading I can’t see that ithurts me.

This a.m. I went up to WildoutCreek about 1 ½ miles up river to seeif I could find any more poisonedcattle. Found none so I went up tothe dead one I found yesterday. Thought I would skin it & pack thehide to the house so Lytle could saveit if he wished to. But it began to rain& found that some ‘varmit’ had eatena great hole in it so I did not skin it.Wish I had a spare trap to catch thebrute that is working on it. If it doesnot rain too hard I think I shall goover to the Torrey house tomorrow,stay over night & the next day bringback a cargo of flour & some morewriting paper. This sheet is the last ofa pad that Cyrus got at Knob inShasta Co. last Sept. I can visit thetraps on the way. If I do not catchanything or see more signs beforelong I shall move the traps. Think ofputting them on the Henry ridge -Ellis knows where that is. If I do Ishall put up at the Torrey house whilethey are there so as to be nearer tothem. It has been raining all the p.m. The leaves on a rose bush by the gateare as big as two bit pieces. At MapleCreek I have seen roses in bloom in

January. The wild flowers in thiscountry have no small but there arelots of them. First a piece of prairiewill be white with one kind. 2 or 3weeks later it will be yellow withanother kind. Then it will be blue &soon. I have seen a flower biggerthan a kernal of buckwheat. Thinkenough to make a whole hill lookpink at 5 miles away & a larger whiteflower growing along the littlestreams that come down the side of a mountain so you could see the whitelines at 20 miles.

I am “keeping Sunday” todayby not sweeping or washing dishes.

Monday 26th

After doing the housework thismorning I took up the rest of trapsnearest the house & set them by thedead steer. Then I started to look atthe other traps & go over to theTorrey house. As I expected to bringback a load of stuff I did not take therifle. When I got on the ridgeopposite the Henry cabin I saw a hugeblack hog about 100 yards away. If ithad been a small one I should havetried to get it with the dog & little six-shooter but it was a shopper. I camback to the house, got the gun, wentback & spent the rest of the p.m.trying to find him again. Found lotsof signs made today but couldn’t seea swine. Think I shall look for themagain tomorrow. It is hard luck not toget one but I am glad have the band

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located at last. Have been looking forthem all winter. The one I sawlooked to be in good shape. Think heis good for 100# of bacon & the signshowed there must be several more. Have not had a pound of bacon orpork in 6 weeks. If I get the chance Ishall kill 2 or 3 & put up a stock of it. Wish I had put the dog after him &followed with the butcher knife &popgun.

Tuesday. 27th

I got started for pork in goodseason. Went up the ridge & aroundit & down it & walked & looked fornear 4 hours. Then I got tired of it. Gave up the chase & started to comehome. Have a nest of traps rightwhere I saw the hog yesterday &when I got there I found that a deerhad sprung one of them. I was on myknees setting it when I noticed thedog was watching something &looked to see what it was. And thereabout 70 yards away were 6 or 7 finehogs. The gun was within reach & Idid to stop to get up. One of themwas an enormous brute & all of themwere fat. The smallest one seemed alittle plumper than the rest so I shothim. The dog stopped them beforethey got 60 yards. I might have shotthem all. Did intend to shoot anotherbut stopped to bleed the one I had &decided he was enough for thepresent. Hunt him up, dressed &skinned him. Brought half of him

home & am going after the rest in themorning. It is close to 4 miles fromhere. The half I brought homeweighed, without head, skin or feet,just 40# & is as fat as most pigs ofthat size sold in Oneonta. They arenot very wild & it is easy to kill allyou want if you can only find them. Shall make most of this one intobacon & shall try to get anotherbefore they get to feeding on clover. People here say they are not fit to eatthen. Now they are in fine shape. The dog was missing when I gotthrough dressing the pig & has notshowed up yet. Am afraid he is in atrap. Set two by the half pig I left. Ifhe keeps away from the bear-trap itdon’t make much difference. Made apan of fine biscuits when I got home& am going to eat a few of thembefore I go to bed.

Wednesday 28 .th

This morning I went over thetraps & brought home the rest of mypig. Have him all salted in a boxexcept about 2 gallons of lard in thepot & his ribs & back bone. Think Ishall bake the ribs tomorrow. I neverbaked any meat but there is a drippingpan nearly a yard square here & I hateto have it lying idle. Am muchpleased with my pig. He will keepme in lard & bacon for 3 months atleast. Am going down the river as faras McBrides within a week or so. Did not intend to go till I got another

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coyote but my tobacco is getting low& the coyote is not forth coming. Fine weather now. It is like the latterpart of May in Del. Co. The days arewarm enough so I do not wear a coatunless it rains. The nights are cooler -usually almost to freezing. Aboutsunset the fog comes up the valleyfrom the coast like a white wall. Itusually fills the valley about half fullwhen it first comes up & graduallyrises & spread till only the tops of themountains are above it by morning. When camping on the top of amountain I have often seen atdaybreak the fog looking just like anocean of milk with only the highestridges & peaks above it. At sunrise itbreaks up & disappears. Wish I hadsomething besides that AgriculturalDept Report to read. Have read it allonce & the more exciting points 2 or3 times. The woman who once livedin this house was of a literary teen &posted a lot of poems cut fromBallow’s magazine on the windowcasings & c. But with feminineperversity, she posted them all upsidedown & I have to stand on my headon a pile of chairs to read them. Fortonight I think I will fall back onHostellers Almanac. I have the latest edition & it has been over a monthsince I read it through.

March 1 .st

Am doing housework today. Have got the lard squeezed out, just a

10# pail full. Have browned a couple pounds of coffee. Put the pigs ribs &back bone & a whole hind quarters ofan old doe in the big dripping pan &have them in the oven now. Can’tguess what the result will be. I wishyou were here to tell me what to do &help eat it when it gets done. It willmake me hustle to get away with it allfor I have a big pot of boiled venisonon hand already. About every 10minutes I pull the pan out of the oventurn the meat over baste it & sprinkleon some salt & pepper. Don’t knowwether I ought to sprinkle on flour ornot. Have washed all the dishes & amgoing to wash a lot of towels & floursacks.

Later: Well my meat got done in timefor dinner & was as good as any that Iever ate. I got away with all the ribson one side & part of the venison.Have about decided to go out toHenry ridge tomorrow put out sometraps & hunt up the mule.

Laverge wrote his letter on this

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March 6 . 1900th

I have had company since Iwrote the last. Towards night onMarch 1 Sam Lytle & Hans Ericsonst

came up here to gather & mark calveson this end of the range. Theybrought a pack horse with potatoes,onions, apples, syrup & bacon so welived high. The next day they wentout to gather stock & I took their packhorse over to Torrey’s house &brought back a load of my plunder. Itbegan to rain that night & has beenraining or snowing ever since. Lytle& Hans found the weather to rough &went back home Saturday p.m I gavethem a ham off my pig & they left mesome potatoes, onions & apples. Mysuccess with the spare-ribs led me toother experiments with the oven. First I made a glorious big apple piein the dripping pan. It was a think ofbeauty & a joy as long as it lasted -which was almost two days. Yesterday I baked a pan of pork &beans. Used a little too much pork &made it so rich that I can’t eat overthree platefuls at a meal - otherwise itis excellent. This morning I havebeen hardening my lard. You see anacorn-fatted pig makes lard about asstiff as cold castor oil so I melted itup & put in some venison tallow. The cake of tallow I used was aswhite as milk & as hard as a brick butwhen I got part of it in the kettle Ifound it had been made in two parts& there was a streak of blue mold

between them. I am afraid it will taintthe whole mixture so it will not be fitto cook with. Well, if it does I have agoodly lot of fat pork almost ready toput in the smoke-house & there aremore pigs in the woods.

There is an old clock in thehouse. Lytle got at it with an old pairof bullet-molds & set it running. Ikeep it going but it gains 5 min a dayon my watch & I can’t tell which hisright till it chimes off enough to seewhen the sun rises or sets. Yesterdaythere was about 3 inches of snow herebut the rain took it off in the night. Suppose there is snow a little higherup the ridges yet but the grounds isbare as for as I can see through therain & mist. There is no chance totrap a coyote this weather. There wasone along the ridge a few days ago. Isaw tracks & Lytle & Hans heard himbark. I think the coyote went downamong the sheep ranges about thetime I moved here 5 or 6 have beencaught down that way since I camehere while I have seen almost nofresh sign at all. Ford of Big Bendrand, has caught 3 since I came here. His house, the first on the trail below Alghrens burned about 2 weeks ago. He lost all his household plunder - anew $50 cooking range among therest.

I am using candles for lightnow. Have plenty of tallow. Mr.France let me take a mold that runsone candle at a time & I got a ball of

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wicking when I was at Korbel. Makevery good candles but the mouldwon’t let go the candle till I pour hotwater over it.

March 7 .th

This makes 5 days that it hasrained right along. For the first timethis winter I find it hard to fill up mytime. Have had breakfast, washeddishes, got in a lot of wood & built afire in the sitting room. There is a bigfat sofa here & I shall try to go tosleep on it when I get hard up forsomething to do. My breakfast is thesame very morning, fan cooked, friedpork, venison & coffee. Have allsorts of things for the other meal. Amundertaking a soup today.

Thursday, March 8 .th

It has partly cleared off & I amglad to see the sun once more. Havejust got my pig in the smoke house. Have tobacco enough to last 4 days. As soon as the bacon is smokedenough I intend to start down theriver so this letter will get mailed atlast. Shall go down as far as MapleCreek if I don’t find tobacco on theway. May be able to get some atMcBrides. Hate to start out without acoyote but it looks as though I wouldhave to. If the weather is right I shallshift the traps & try to catch onebefore I go. The smoke house is asbig as a hay barn & three rows ofstakes high & not very tight so I think

it will take about 4 days to smoke themost properly.

Lytle says I may live here aslong as I please. Would like to haveyou people make me a visit here. Amall fitted to receive company. Thereare 4 bedsteads, a crib, a cradle, 3tables & a bird cage here. Fruit too;apples, peaches, plums, cherries,gooseberries & currents. Hans said25 bushels of good apples rotted herelast fall. Had I know of them I shouldhave been over here & made a barrelof cider with the coffee-mill.

Friday March 9th

I made the round if the trapsyesterday. They had all beenswamped with mud except one whichwas gone. Something, a deer, I thin,had broken the chain & carried it off. That makes 3 I have lost besides onethat was broken. Today I am stayingabout the house & keeping the smokehouse going. It leaks so much smokethat it needs a good deal of attention. Am not feeling as frisky as usualsince the long rain. Think I rested toomuch & need a dose of colonel. Iforgot to bring the medicine box overrom the Torrey house & am too lazyto go after it today. My dog has runaway agin. Last night I whipped himfor chasing a deer & I haven’t seenhim since but think he will be backbefore long.

It is clear & pleasant today &warm enough so I keep the doors

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open & no fire. The prairies hereabout are as green as fields of younggrain. The new grass is about 2inches high & very thick. There are alot of items about the weather writtenabout the house on the doors &window casings - like these: “SnowedJune 1 , ‘94.” “Rained Thanksgivingst

day ‘96". “Jan. 27 ‘97 blowed liketh

H.... &c,

Saturday 10th

Have about made up my mindto start early tomorrow morning & godown the river in search of mail &tobacco. May get as far as MapleCreek & Snow Camp before I comeback. The bacon is not smokedenough yet & I think I shall take itdown & put it back in the box. Itwould be all right in the smoke houseif it didn’t rain. I might be dressingmore pork now for a big black wildboar was in the coral not 60 yardsfrom the house a few minutes ago. Ihad the gun cocked & a sigh drawnon his neck but changed my mind &did not shoot.

Monday at McBrides.Going down to Maple Creek & thinkI will get up to Frances’ tonight. Please write again to your friend.

LavergeAddress Maple Creek as usual.

Harlem Place, Cal.Wednesday, March 21 , 1900st

Dear Brother,I can write only a short letter

this time but it will be enough to letyou know that I am all right. Went toMaple Creek last week. Staid a day atFrancie’s & a day at Aikman’s. Theyare well. Staid over night atMcBride’s on my way back. I hadsent to town by him for a shirt & acan of syrup & had to wait till he gotback. Will Ford gave me somecoyote bait & I brought that along. Itwas made by chopping up a jack rabit& a salmon together. Then 2 dozeneggs were stirred in & the lot coveredup &kept in a warm place for about amonth. You can guess what it mustbe like. He heaved up when heopened the can to show it to me. Itwas Friday when I got back here. Lytle & Hans were here brandingcalves. They had killed a pig up thetrail a mile or so & that night wescalded it in a way that was new tome. Wrapped it in old sacks &poured not water over it. In a fewminutes it was ready to scrape. Theywent home Saturday. I was ratherlame & sore after my trip. Hadwalked all day Friday with nothing toeat except a drink of syrup whichcame near coming up again. So I didnot feel for any big job till yesterday. Yesterday morning I took the traps &can of bait & went along the ridgetoward the head of Redwood. Set the

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traps in 4 nests. The farthest nestbeyond the log coral - about 9 milesfrom here. This is the way I used thebait. Drive down a stake a little overa foot. Pull it out & poke some of thebait down into the bottom of the hole. Then fill it up with small stones & setthe traps about 3 feet away to catchhis hind feet when he is digging forthe bait. This morning I went overthe line. The first 3 nests had 3 jackrabits but the last one had a dogcoyote longer & taller than old Bly. Ihad no gun & tried to kill him withmy walking stick but couldn’t makeany impression on him with it. So Ishot him with Cy’s pistol. Hung himup in a tree & expect to take him toKneeland Friday. It is a fair day’swork to go over the line of traps &back home but it ought to be doneevery day to take out the rabits. Havejust taken my bacon out of the smokehouse. There are about 40# of it left. It is fine bacon. Mean to shootanother pig before long. It is notquite dark yet but I think I can sleeptill daylight & am going to bed. Willmail this when I go to Kneeland.

Laverge Knapp

Harlem Place, Mad River, Cal.Sunday, March 25 , 1900th

Dear Sister,I meant to have written to you

before this. Hattie wrote me aboutyour rheumatism being so bad & ithas troubled me much to think of you

being so nearly helpless & sufferingso much. I hope it will improve soonif it has not already done so. Isuppose they have told you that Ihave changed my quarters & youknow something about where I am. Itis a fine place here. The house isbetter than a good many in Del. Co. Iwent to Kneeland Friday & got homeat 1 oclock today. Have walked 20miles or over everyday since lastMonday.

I caught another coyote lastWednesday & had to go to Kneelandwith him. Am thinking of going tothe head of Redwood 12 or 14 milesfrom here to camp for a week or two& see if I can get a coyote or twothere. My traps are now set abouthalf way between here & there. Thenearest one is about 4 miles from here& the farthest one is about 9 miles. Itmakes too much walking for theyought to be visited every day. Rabits& birds keep getting into them. Thecattle tread on them & if a fellowdon’t look right after them they willbe all be sprung when the coyotecomes along. Then they have to bekept covered up with fine, loose dirtor something of the kind. Just a littlerain will wash the covering off & thecoyote knows too much to step into atrap that he can see.

The sheep men down MadRiver are talking about offering aprivate bounty. If they do I shall tryhard to get some of it. Three men

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besides myself have been trappingthem on Mad river this winter. I havecaught as many as any of them.

I think I could get work at goodwages on some of the dairy farmsdown near the bay & I am sorelytempted to try it for I would like toearn some money but on the otherhand I doubt about the wisdom ofgoing down there.

While the coyotes last I canmake expenses off of them but theymust be getting pretty well thinnedout now. Fifteen have been caughtbetween here & Maple Creek thiswinter. I got five of them.

They told me down the riverthat Sam Lytle brought up two lettersfor me. I might have got them thismorning if I did not have to comehome along the ridge to look after thetraps. The regular trail up the rivercomes by his place. He will be uphere within a day or two to look afterthe stock & will fetch the mail if hedon’t forget it.

I have been living a veryregular and orderly life for the pastfew days. I get up about 5 o’clock,cook & eat 10 pancakes, start out &walk 10 miles to look at the traps,turn around & walk 10 more backhome again. Then I make & eat 10more pancakes - sometime 12. Afterthat I rest a little, write a little, cut alittle wood & at dark go to bed andsleep 10 hours The next day I do thesame things over again.

Last Friday night I staid atFord’s down on the Big Bend ranch& slept between sheets for the firsttime in over 16 months. It has beennearly 2 years since I shaved & I havea beard like Moses. People take meto be about as old as he was when hecrossed the Red Sea. I believe thatwas about 70. Out here everymanunder 65 is assessed $5 road & polltax. I have been in the hills all thetime & escaped it. But day beforeyesterday while I was down the river,I ran into the Assessor. I expected hewould jump onto me & put me downon his list but he said never a wordabout it. I asked a man why it wasthat the assessor thought I was abovethe age limit!!! But as he said thatnot one man in 100 could make thetrip I had made that morning (I hadwalked 20 miles before 11 a.m.) Hemust have thought that I was a prettylively old patriarch. That was someconsolation to me. Saving the $5 wasa lot more.

Monday morning.The weather out here is a queer

mixture. Saturday was like themiddle of June in Del. Co. Greenleaves, flowers & apple blossoms. Yesterday was fog & mist. Last nightit was raining & this morning it wassnowing hard.

About a month ago I shot a fatpig. They run wild up here. He woulddress between 90 & 100 pounds. I

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made him all into bacon. There is asmoke house & piles of cattle salthere so it was no trouble. Acorn-fatted pork make nice bacon & Iappreciate it after living on fresh meatso long.

I have a dog who goes with meeverywhere by dog & a kitten whosleeps on the bed by me at night. So Ihave company all the time. Have notseen my old mule since Jan. 15 . th

When I turned him out in the lowerpart of Pilot Creek Valley. If theticks have not eaten him up he is allright for there has been plenty ofgrass & very little snow this winter. Iwant to go to hunt him up today if theweather had not been so nasty. Shallneed him to move my camp to thehead of Redwood if I decide to goback there. I have become a prettyfair “packed” can put on a good‘diamond hitch’ alone & in the darkin a minute & a quarter. When wefirst began to use a pack-mule we hadto stop & fix the pack about everyhalf mile. Now I seldom have totouch it after it is once on till it istime to take it off at night.

It has gone to snowing again soI guess I shall have a day or two torest & loaf. Can’t trap any till theground dries off. But I have somework to do about the house. Just nowI have a big dripping pan of coffee inthe oven. Buy green coffee & brownit myself. Then I am going to makebread today. Have some dough

started now. I learned to make nicebread in a Dutch oven but I can’t doso well with a stove oven. Have alittle job of carpenter work to do too. A sill under the front porch broke &let me through the other night & Iwant to put in a new one. There areplenty of tools here to do it with. Yes, there is another job. I have onlyone candle left & must run up somemore. When a man tries to live instyle & have all kinds of luxuries itjust keeps him at work all the time. Still, I am glad to have a good roofover me just now for the wet snow iscoming down at a great rate out ofdoors. I just notice where some onehad written on the door casing“Snowed June 1 , 1898". So I guessst

it is liable to snow any time of year uphere. Have just got my pan of coffeedone brown & put away. We alwayshad a good coffee when Cyrus boughtI himself but this is some we sent for& is a bad lot. The kernels weredeformed & only half grown to beginwith. Then the worms ate it & themice made a nest in it and when I getit drunk it will be pretty well used up.

If I had known the weather wasgoing to be so bad today I would nothave got up at 5 o’clcock. It is not 10yet & is going to be a long day. Ihave a notion to put away the sourdough, get into my oil skin suit &rubber boots & go down to SamLytle’s after my mail. It is 8 or 9miles & I could get there just in time

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to take dinner with him. Then I couldleave this letter there to be sent downto the P.O. I haven’t fired the gun offfor over 2 weeks & am out of freshmeat. I might go out & try to get adeer. They are getting shy at this timeof the year & a man has to take longshots as a rule. I would like 3 deer. One for myself & the dog & one tobait the bear trap. Ought to get a bearthis spring. Last spring we got two &some toes off another. Guess I willwait tell after dinner & see what theweather is like.

I hope to hear that you arebetter soon.

From your brother,Leverge KnappMaple CreekHumboldt Co., Cal.

“Harlem Place”April 10 (?), 1900th

Dear Brother,There is nothing special in the

line of news for me to write. I amstill at the Harlem house. Have firstrate health & am trying to get anothercoyote. The weather for the last 2 or3 weeks has not been very favorablefor trapping them. It rains about 5days every week & on the ridge it issnow as often as rain. Once, whenthere was 2 or 3 inches of snow acoyote came & dug at the bait at theplace where I caught two but the

snow was so hard he did not springthe traps. There is at least one on theridge for I have seen the sign 3 or 4times lately. Think likely it is afemale with pups some where aboutfor it don’t seem to cover so muchcountry as they usually do. If thereshould cond snow enough I mighthave a chance to track her to her denbut there is not much chance of that. Hate to change my trapping groundtill I get her.

About 2 weeks ago I saw a manwho had been over to Skull Camp aday or two before. He saw my mulethere & he said too that Boyd hadbeen there since Feb & had just killeda coyote. I went over to get the mulebut couldn’t find it. Boyd was away& from the tracks I made up my mindthat Boyd had gone out with hiscoyote & taken the mule with him topack back with. I had neither coat orblanket with me & camped atVeaches cabin with two old deerhides for a bed. On my way home thenext day April 1 . I killed a rattlest

snake. Was surprised to see one atthis time of the year. He was coiledup like a dinner plate & so stiff thathe couldn’t uncurl even when Ismacked him with a rock.

I thought I was going to get abig bear about 2 weeks ago. Something had been at work on adead steer & dragged it about as Ithough no animal except a bear & abig one, could possibly do. So I set

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the trap & took extra pains to clog itsolid to an oak pole about 20 feetlong. Put in the best part of a doe,setting the trap & fencing around it tokeep from catching cattle. The firstnight the brute come & eat from theside away from the trap & I coveredrocks & piled a ton or two on thatside. The next morning I had himbut, instead of a bear it was a wildboar about 8 feet long & I reckon,about 18 years old. He was the mostsavage looking brute I ever saw. Hishide was about an inch thick & whenI cut off stups of his flesh for the dogsit was so tough they had to stop &rest twice while chewing up a pieceas big as your hand. The old fellowhad run wild all his life - no mark atall on him.

Have 2 dogs now. Frank, theshaggy black collie that Marshallgave me & Rover, a smooth back &white that deserted his owner as hewent by down the river & seemsbound to stay by me in spite of all Ican do. I don’t want him but hate toshoot him. He means well but I haveno use for him & hope his owner willcome this way soon.

Have killed very few deerlately. I liked my bacon so well that Idid not care much about vension for amonth or so. Day before yesterday Ikilled an old buck & brought in hishind quarters & am using that now. Do not fry much. Stew it down &make it up into punch. It is very good

& saves flour. Make pancakes mostly- very little bread. Have not got theknack fo making good bread in astove oven.

Times are better here than theywere a year or two ago. Cattle keepup. Lytle said the calves dropped lastsummer were worth $15 a piece now. Russ bought Bill Murphys place lastfall. Paid $11,000 I think - $4000more than the mortgage it was. Murphy died soon after & his wifegoes back to N.Y. soon. Wool is 25cts & that means good money for thesheep men. The lumber business isbrisk, but I am so far from it I do nothear much about it. The dairy menare looking for men who can milk & Ihave thought a lot of going over ElkRiver way & looking for a job amongthem. Think I could get better than$25 a month. It is a mightytemptation & I may take it into myhead to start over that way any day. Ithink I would be safe enough but donot want to take any risk at all. So Iam at a standstill & don’t know whatI ought to do. Probably I can get amonth’s work here on Mad River inhaying & that with my coyotes wouldkeep me in grub a long time but Iwould like to be earning a little stake.

There were several copies ofthe Oneonta Star in my last batch ofmail. Mrs. Christian took the paper &she has moved away from mapleCreek so the P.M. sent the papers upto me.

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I got an armful of novels fromLytle a while ago most of them weresuch miserable trash that it gave me apain to read them but if I stay here &the weather keeps nasty I shall go foranother load soon. He has a stack ofthem. Lord, but I wish I had a few ofmy medical books here.

Have caught 5 coyote thiswinter & have walked 150 miles apiece to get them & take them out to aJ.P. The sheep men down the riverare talking of offering a privatebounty on coyotes. If they do I thinkI shall move camp to the head ofRedwood & try hard to get on or twoin that section. Within a few days Ihave had letters from father, Hattie &Jennie. I hope father will get alongall right with Steve. Write.

Laverge KnappMaple Creek, Humboldt Co., Cal.Have had to let my belt out to 40inches & then it is tight enough tohold up my trousers.

Last Chance, Cala.July 29 , 1900th

Dear Brother,I have been a sheep herder for a

month now & like it very well. Itmakes long days but there is not muchhard work about it except ‘goingaround the tracks’ every evening &that depends on where the sheep havebeen during the day. You may do it

in a hour or it may take 4 hours ofmighty hard tramping. Climbing up& sliding down & boring through thebrush. I have killed 2 bears since Icame up here. The last one gnaweddown a fir tree 6 inches through &had a head hard enough so that 3bullets from your gun lodged in it . Got about two gallons of lard cutfrom him. We cut a bee tree & gotabut a dozen pounds of honey but thebees stole most of it back while wewere straining it. Have had venisonall the time & Ford has packed a lotof it home. He has gone to Eurekanow. I expect a Mr. Hunt up tonightto help look after the sheep till Fordcomes back. My mule, Billy B.D., isin a camp now. He has got fat &sleek. Shall get rid of him if I can forhe is not worth 6 bits & I do notexpect to need a pack animal anymore. He went over backwards withthe pack twice on the trail up here. Once I thought he was dead, sure.

Am likely to be beat out of mypay for the work I did at Scullen’s. Itseems the claim belongs to Warrenwho had Scullen hired to stay on it,put in a crop & make improvements. I supposed at the time that Scullenwas hiring me for himself. NowWarren has kicked up & will payneither Scullen nor me. He owesScullen between $45 & 50 & me$7.50.

Scullen has sued for the wholebusiness. I do not know whether he

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can collect it or now.It is very hot today. The sheep

went into the timber before 8 o’clock& will not come out till near 5. Thereis a big spring of ice cold water 1/4mile from camp. I go there in thehottest part of the day. Scrub myselfall over with a rag & then pour 3 or 4bucketfuls on my head & let it runover me. It does a man more goodthan beer. Sheep herding is dirtywork. All the trails are inched deepwith dust. “Dead Man’s Prairie” is ashort distance below our camp. Theman who is buried there was shot byhis companions while hunting. Theman who did it said it was accidental& married the widow a month or twolater. This happened about 8 yearsago. Three or four years ago Mr.Billings, who lives at Big Bend &was herding sheep here, was treed bya brown bear about 3/4 mile from thiscamp. He did not have a gun & sethis dog on the bear who got madabout it, ran him up a tree & kept himthere 3 hours. He yelled for all hewas worth & at last, his partner heard,came with a gun & drove the bear offbut failed to kill it. We ought to getanother bear soon for there were freshtracks in the trail day beforeyesterday. Had no bait when I got thelast one & did not set the trap orwould have got this one.

Ford has showed me how to seta bear trap. He gets every one thatcomes to the bait. We have 3 bear

traps set & 2 more to set when wehave enough spare energy & bait. The scrub oak is rough on clothes. Have worn out 2 pair of overalls thismonth. Still wear the shoes I got lastNov. By the use of much wire &string I hope to keep the fragmentstogether till ford gets back fromEureka with a new pair.

Think I shall be all right tocome back home by the time I getenough earned to pay for the trip. Shall not start for N.Y. with less than$110. Do you knowhow much Cyrushad to pay for his ticket back? Andwhat did you have to pay?

A year ago today we meltedsnow to make coffee on the fartherside of the Yolo Bolos.

July 30th

Hunt came last night with 2packs of salt. All my troubles areover now for he is an old herder &knows all abut sheep & all about thecountry here. He herded sheep onthis range 20 years ago. Of course heis in charge & I have only to do whathe tells me - which is about 1/4 ofwhat I did when alone. “The less youbother the sheep the more they willeat & that’s what they are here for”,he says, so we come back to camp at7 a.m. We rose at 3:30 this morning,got breakfast-brad, butter, coffee &boiled eggs - & at 4:30 went out tothe sleeping ground. There had beena big bear & a flock of bob-catswithin 60 yards of the sheep in the

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night but they had not disturbed them. We followed the sheep along about ½mile till we got them where wewanted them & then came back tocamp at 7. Hunt made bread & I putthe last of our venison in the pot. Then I went to look at a bear-trap upS. Fork way. On my way back 2 does& a big spotted fawn trotted along aridge about 80 yards from me. I shotthe doe that had no fawn. The otherdoe ran about 100 yards & stopped towait for her fawn. The little idiot ranstraight towards me & when within20 yards, stopped & looked at me fornear a minute with its mouth open. Then it trotted half around me, lookedat the other side of me for a while &went off to it’s mother. The doe Ikilled was barren & fat & I broughther to camp. Have just been to thespring & had another cold bath. Thisp.m. am going to sit another bear trap. Expect to get a bear within a week. The one about the sheep last nightwas a much bigger bear than the onewhose tracks we saw 3 days ago. Theherders at the head of Redwood havecaught 2 & the herders up on S. Forksay they see fresh tracks every day. You remember old Fehlen who hadBill Penny arrested? He took a ridewith a ventirloquist & heard a voicefrom above telling him that the day ofreckoning was at hand & he hadbetter repent & reform before it came. He went to town & joined theSalvation Army & was preaching or

trying to the last I heard about it.Saturday Aug. 4th

Everything is lovely yet. Huntis going to stay up here the rest of theseason & I am glad of it. He is alittle, lean round-shoulderedrheumatic, dyspeptic man of 50 or sobut he is the best man about a camp Iwas every with. A fine cook & veryneat & orderly & willing to his share& more of camp work. Have not gotanother bear yet though we see freshtracks nearly every morning. Acoyote has been about the sleepingground too. On Wednesday I tookFord’s mule & Hunt’s saddle & wentover to Pilot Rock & got a nest oftraps I left there last spring & have setthem about 200 yards below the sheepcamp. The bucks are fat now. Nightbefore last Hunt killed a big 3 pointer.There is an old wollaper lives in thewoods below our camp. I have seenhim 3 times & had 4 shots at himwithout touching him. You have seenmost of our range a hundred times. The hill at the head of Pilot Creekmakes the bulk of it. Found the skullof the lost elk in this part of thecountry 20 years ago Hunt jumpedhim just below this camp but did notget a shot. A few days after anotherman “the d- fool” Hunt says, shot himwith a little round ball & could notfind him. He was never seen again&we found his skull about 1/4 milefrom where he was shot. The horns,much decayed, were nearly as big as

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my arm. Ford may be back tonight orit may be a week before he comes. Iwould not care which if I did not wantmy shoes.

Expect to keep the sheep uphere about 2 months yet. They aredoing well & come in at night so fullthey walk sideways to get through thebrush & so lazy the won’t waggletheir tails when they make pills.

Thursday Aug. 9th

Ford is not back yet. If he does notcome tonight Hunt is going downtomorrow for salt. We have none forthe sheep. I will send this letter byhim. He has killed 2 more 3 pointers. We have not been out of venison yet. It is cool frost 3 nights this week. Hunt wears 3 flannel shirts, a sweater,a jumper & an overcoat & has built awind break 8 feet high & 60 ft. longof cedar bark about camp & anotherabout his bed. We have been working3 or 4 hours each day for near a weekcutting & peeling logs to build acabin. Have nearly enough now. Iam well & in good spirits only I oughtto have struck for $25 a monthinstead of 20.

Please writeLaverge Knapp

Maple Creek, Humboldt Co.,Cala.

Last Chance, Humboldt Co., Cala.Monday Aug. 27 , 1900th

Dear Brother,It is 6:30 a.m. & I am sitting on

the very tip end of S. Fork Mt.,looking down into the mouth ofGrouse Creek with the sheep feedingbelow me.

Hunt is getting out shakes tofinish the shed at the end of our cabin. We are living in the cabin now. It is agood one. 16 by 14 inside with agood shake roof, battened inside &out with shakes. Has a good fire-place, bunks, shelves & c.

Ford & I went down to theranch a week ago yesterday & I wenton down to Maple Creek & registeredas a voter. Johnnie Mitchel is P.M.now. Also deputy county clerk & ishustling for the Republicannomination for Supervisor. Ford hasnot come back yet. Hunt & I havebeen busy building the cabin for 3weeks or so. Our Eureka crowd leftlast Friday. They were 3 in number. Had 1 ½ gallons of whiskey. Staidabout 12 days & did not get a singledeer. Hunt killed 3 or 4 for them todry & take home. He says our sheepare going the best of any in thecountry “cause we aint kept a hellingthem around all the time”

There are plenty of bears on S.Fork Mt. Ford went down the ridgeto Porter’s sheep camp & came backthe same day & 3 bears crossed thetrail while he was there. He saw their

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tracks when he came back. He hadfun on the trip for his mule buckedhim & the saddle & bridle off & thenran away. He came home a foot withhis watch smashed & one hand allswelled up. He says he could take his4 traps on the mountain & catch 15bears in a month. The last one wecaught had a fine skin & I want to getit of ford but shall not if he wants afancy price.

Today makes 2 months that Ihave been with the sheep. Willprobably drive them home by the endof another month. Think I shall comehome as soon as I finish working forFord. Do not know when that will be.

I wrote to Father to send me$50 by the 2 of Oct. Think he hadnd

better send it so as to have it reachEureka by the middle of Oct & then ifFord does not want me I would nothave to wait for it. If I have to staytill after the middle of Oct. I think Ishall stay till after election.Aug. 30 . We finished the cabinth

Monday just in time for it began torain that night. The first rain since wecome up here. Ford came back thatnight. The next day was fog & mist. I cut about 100 yards of sheep trailthrough burnt brush & then went to abear trap on my way round the sheep. Found a black yearling in it. Took hisinsides out & left him in the trap. Ford brought him to the cabinyesterday morning & jerked the meat. I would like the skin. It is the best I

ever saw, jet black, long thick & fine. But I don’t think Ford would sell itfor less than $6 or $8. We had beenout of venison meat for 3 days & lastnight Ford & Hunt went out just atnight & killed 2 doe each. Thismorning Ford went after his deer,killed 2 more & came back with the 4packed on the riding saddle. He goeshome tomorrow & I will send this byhim.

L. KnappA coyote killed a sheep & bit a lamblast night & today I found where abear had eaten another lamb. Thelittle bear we got Monday had wool inits stomach.

The next letter has a ‘hole’ in it.

Harlem HouseSat. Oct. 27 , 1900th

My dear Blanche,If I answer your letter at all I

must do it soon for my stay in thiscountry is about at an end. I had notheard from you since last spring sothe letter you speak of mus have beenlost.

We left Last Chance with thesheep Sep. 26 & were e days on theth

drive. Hunt went ahead with thesheep. Ford worked along side & Ion a nice white horse, carrying a sackof grub, a lame sheep, 2 coffee pots &

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a lantern & leading 3 pack animalsbrought up the rear. It would havedone your good to have seen theprocession. I worked for Fordthrough shearing & “dipping” & then he wanted me to stay till he got backfrom Eureka where he had to drive200 mutton sheep. So it was not tillthis week Tuesday that I got ready tocome up here. I had got the old muleall packed & was putting the saddleon a horse that Ford loaned me for thetrip when Mr. Ford took it into herhead to produce another little Ford &I had to wait till the nest day. Mr.Ford is 28 his wife I ..... younger &they have 6 .... kids. The next day I ...up to Sam Lytle’s, staid all night &the day after Thursday came on uphere. It is about 8 miles & I countedover 40 deer on the way. It was afternoon when I got here. I unpacked,turned out the animals, got dinner &then went up the hill to get somemeat. Did not see a buck so as it wasnear night I shot a doe. Took her skin& hind quarters & started for home. Had not gone 50 steps when I saw apair of horns & a nose over the top ofa ridge about 100 yards below me. Took a shot at the nose & missed-shottoo high. Saw over 50 deer that daybut he was the only buck amongthem. Yesterday I took the horse &rode up nearly to the mouth of PilotCreek looking for pigs but foundnone. This morning I had breakfast in.... as usual:

a/ pancakes, fried bacon, coffeeb/pancakes , venison steak, coffeec/pancakes, bean soup, coffeed/pancakes, syrup, coffeeThen I loaded some cartridges &started up the hill. There were severaldoes in sight of the house & when Igot up about 400 yards 3 does stoodlooking at me about 60 yards off. Iwatched them till they trotted away. Before I got 50 yards farther I heardsomething rustle, turned & saw abuck’s head & horns against the sky. He was lying on the top of a ridgeabout 80 yards from me. I shot at hishead & he rolled on his side as stiff asa mackeral while another buck got up& ran. I went up to the one I shot; didnot see any blood & he began tostruggle so I jumped in & stuck myknife through his throat. When hestopped kicking ... him once & foundthe ... had just clipped off one of hishorns close to the hair. The horn layabout 40 feet beyond him. He wasonly a forked horn though a large fatbuck. I packed him home & hisbrains made a fifth course in mydinner. While his fat is on now on thestove in one pot & half his ribs inanother. He is the first big buck Ihave killed since last May. I think Iweight 20 # less than when I left herelast spring but am getting it back fast. Have had to let my belt out to the lasthole already. Have not made breadyet but make 12 pancakes each meal. The dog usually gets one of them. He

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is Ford’s old hound & has had manythings happen to him. A pantherscratched one eye out & a barn blewover on him & made him .... his headall on one .... I hope he will trysomething for me before I leave here.

I want to get 2 o4 3 goodbuckskins to bring home & a load ofmeat to take to Ford. Expect to behere about a week. Then go down toMaple Creek for election & to visitFarnce, Perhorn & Aikman. Sail fromEureka about 2 weeks from today &reach Oneonta about Nov. 19 or 20 .th th

If I do not get an opportunity tomail this I will bring it to you. I hopeyou are all well & I shall be muchpleased to see you again. I am asever, Yours truly

Laverge Knapp

Tuesday Oct. 31st

It is raining hard & I have nothing todo except write. When the weathergets decent I think I shall pack up &go back to Ford’s. Have 2 fat buckswhich is enough for the old mule topack & if I kill more I will have topack the horse too & go afoot for Idon’t want to waste any meat.Sunday, a.m.It was a mixture of snow & rain. Inthe p.m. I went up the hill. Found alot of fresh pig signs & was... it upwhen 2 bucks... up about 100 yards... I took a shot at the heaviest &knocked him dead - not 100 yards

from where I killed the doe lastThursday. He was a big deer & fatthought his horns were but small 3pointers.Yesterday morning was pleasant so Igot up the old white horse & rodeover the hill toward the Torrey house. Had just started down the ridge wherewe used to come up after grouse whenthe old hound stated to run somethingin the woods below. I rode on till Iheard him “bark treed” & then left thehorse & went down to see what hehad. It was a wildcat high up in a fir.I shot as soon as I got I sight &knocked her out. Away she wentdown the hill & the dog after her. Ifollowed... found them 200 yardsbelow... at bay on the ground......knocked the cat over the moved in &down the hill they went, biting &scratching, first one on top & then theother. Followed & found the dog justchewing the last of her life out in theeddy of Owl Creek. He was wellscratched about the head & neck. Myfirst shot had crippled a shoulder &the second taken out an eye & thebridge of the nose. Come home byway of Sulphur Spring & Pilot Rock. Saw nothing more to shoot except 50or 60 deer which I did not want.

Think I shall do a little washingas soon as my clean shirt is dryenough to put on. Made a loaf ofbread last night. That is how my shirtgot damp. Hunt taught me how totreat bread when the crust is baked

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too hard. As soon as it comes fromthe oven wrap it up in a moist towel. Button the towel up.... shirt & cover itup in the............. I set a steel trap on the .....a bignot. While we were ... in the cabin atLast Chance Hunt shot a rat in the topbunk. I had laid my diary up there &the bullet mutilated my account withFord so I shall have to guess at someof the items. When we settle up. It isonly 11 a.m but I think I will getdinner now just to pass the time away. Have plenty of good grub, bacon,venison steak, roast ribs, bean soup,hot cakes, bread, syrup, sugar, tea &coffee. There are potatoes & onionsin the house which sam told me to usebut I have not done so yet. The beansoup is fine. Make enough to last 4or 5 days & heat it up each meal. Itgets better every time.