Chapter XIV: Appendix: A

The frontispiece I owe to the courtesy of Mr. Theodore Pitman, a fellow Harvard student of Archie's, whom we met on Buckskin Mountain; being both a hunter and a lover of the picturesque, he was as much impressed as we were by the scene when a cougar stood in a pine, with the Grand Canyon as a background. The photograph at the end of the book is by Doctor Alexander Lambert, and the tail-piece is from a photograph by him.

I had been told by old hunters that black bears would sometimes attack moose calves, and in one instance, in the Rockies, my informant described to me how a big grizzly, but a few weeks out of its den in spring, attacked and slew full-grown moose. I was not surprised at the latter statement, having myself come across cattle-killing grizzlies; but I wondered at a black bear, which is not much of a beast of prey, venturing to meddle with the young of so formidable a fighter as a moose. However, it is true. Recently my nephew Hall Roosevelt, who was working at Dawson City, went on a moose hunt in the valley of the Yukon. One night a moose cow passed by the camp, having first swum a stream in front of the camp. She was followed at some little distance by a calf. The latter halted near the camp. Suddenly a black bear, with a tremendous crashing of branches, came with a rush through the bushes, and seized the calf; although it was driven off, it had with its teeth so injured the spine of the calf that they were obliged to shoot the latter.

On a hunt in the Northern Rockies, Archie met a man who had two dogs, an ordinary track-hound and a Russian wolfhound. One day they came across a white goat, and before the slow creature could reach the precipice the dogs overtook and bayed it. The track-hound merely jumped to and fro, baying; but the wolfhound rushed straight in and caught the goat by the neck on one side; whereupon the track-hound seized the other side of the neck. Immediately, with two wicked backward thrusts of its horns, first to one side, then to the other, the goat killed both its assailants; the stiletto-like horns were driven to the hilt with a single jab.

The attack by the moose upon us, mentioned in the final chapter, was so unusual that I give the deposition of the two guides who were with me, and also the report of the senior of the two, the game warden, in reference to the occurrence. They are as follows:

CANADA

PROVINCE OF QUEBEC,
DISTRICT OF QUEBEC,

I, Theodore Roosevelt, residing at Oyster-Bay in the United States
of America, do solemnly declare as follows:

That I have just returned from a trip in the Tourilli Club limits
as a Guest of Dr. Alexander Lambert, I had the ordinary game
license No. _25_ issued to me on the 6th day of September instant.
On September the nineteenth, on Lake Croche, having with me as
guides, Arthur Lirette and Odilon Genest, I killed an old bull
moose as authorized by the license, which only permitted to me to
kill one moose. That afternoon, shortly after three o'clock, we
were returning in our canoe to the West end of the Lake, where a
portage trail led to our camp; a small stream runs besides the
portage trail; when half a mile from our proposed landing place, we
saw an old bull moose on the shore. We paddled up to within a
hundred yards of it. We supposed that when it saw us, it would take
to the woods. It however walked along the edge of the water
parallel to our canoe, looking at us. We passed it, and gave it our
wind, thinking this would surely cause it to run. But it merely
raised its hair on its withers and shook its horns and followed
after the canoe. We shouted, but it paid no heed to us; we then
reversed our canoe and paddled in the opposite direction; but
following us and threatening us, the bull moose turned and walked
the same way we did, we renewed our former course, and thereupon so
did the moose, where the water was shallow, we did not venture near
it, but where the water was deep, we went within fifty yards; and
it then thrashed the branches of a young tree with its antlers, and
pawed the earth and advanced a little way into the water towards
us, walking parallel to our canoe, it reached the portage trail, it
turned and walked up this trail and sniffed at our morning's
tracks, and we supposed it had fled; but on nearing the landing
place, we saw it standing in the trail, and it rushed down towards
us and we had to back quickly into deep water; we paddled on round
the shore, hoping it would get tired and go; we shouted and tried
to frighten it, but it merely shook its head and stamped on the
ground and bounded in a circle; then it swaggered along grunting,
it kept its mouth open, and lolled out its tongue and when it
turned towards us, it ran its tongue over its muzzle, thus it
accompanied us to and for an hour, cutting us off whenever we tried
to land; then it turned, and went up the little stream, shaking its
head, and galloping or bounding not trotting, for fifty yards, it
disappeared around a bend of a stream, we waited a few minutes, and
landed, and started along the portage trail for camp, after about
ten minutes, the trail approached the little stream; then the moose
suddenly appeared rushing towards us at a slashing trot, its hair
ruffled and tossing his head.

Arthur Lirette, who is one of the game wardens of the Tourilli
Club, called out to me to shoot, or the moose would do us mischief,
in a last effort to frighten it, I fired over its head, but it paid
no heed to this and rushed over the stream at us; Arthur again
called: "Tirez, monsieur, tirez, vite, vite, vite," and I fired
into the moose's chest, when he was less than twenty feet away,
coming full tilt at us, grunting, shaking his head, his ears back
and his hair brindled; the shot stopped him; I fired into him
again; both shots were fatal; he recrossed the little stream and
fell to a third shot; but when we approached, he rose, grunting and
started towards us. I killed him. If I had not stopped him, he
would have certainly killed one or more of our party; and at twenty
feet I had to shoot as straight as I knew how, or he would have
reached us. I had done everything possible in my power to scare him
away for an hour and a quarter, and I solemnly declare that I
killed him only when it was imperatively necessary, in order to
prevent the loss of one or more of our own lives, and I make this
solemn declaration conscientiously, believing it to be true, and
knowing that it is of the same force and effect as if made under
oath, and by virtue of the Canada EVIDENCE ACT, 1893.

(_Signed_) THEODORE ROOSEVELT,

Declared before me, this 24th day of September 1915.
(_Signed_) E. A. PANET, _N. P. & J. P._

TRUE COPY,

S. DUFAULT

_Deputy-Minister, Department Colonization,
Mines and Fisheries, Quebec._

CANADA,

PROVINCE DE QUEBEC,
DISTRICT DE QUEBEC.

Je, Arthur Lirette, du village de St-Raymond, gardien du Club de
Pêche et de Chasse Tourilli, et Je, Odilon, Genest, du même lieu,
en ma qualité de guide, déclare sollennellement que les faits
relatés ci-hauts par la déclaration de M. Théodore Roosevelt,
laquelle nous a été lue et traduite en francais par le Notaire E.
A. Panet, de St-Raymond, que cette déclaration contient la vérité
dans toute son étendue, et que si le dit Th. Roosevelt n'avait pas
tué l'orignal mentionné par lui, que nos vies étaient en danger.

Et je fais cette déclaration solennelle consciencieusement la
croyant vraie, et sachant qu'elle a la même force et l'effet, comme
si elle avait été faite sous serment, en vertu de "The CANADA
EVIDENCE ACT", 1893.

Déclaré devant moi, à St-Raymond, ce 24 ème jour de septembre,
1915.

_Signe_) "ARTHUR LIRETTE"
" "ODILON GENEST,"
" "E. A. PANET, _N. P. & J. Paix_.

VRAIE COPIE,

S. DUFAULT

_Sous-Ministre, Département de la Colonisation,
des Mines et des Pêcheries, Québec._

COPY

ST. RAYMOND, 7 OCTOBRE 1915

Cher Messieur

Rapport

Le 19 Septembre 1915 Mons. Col. Teodore Rosevelt partant pour faire
la chasse a l'orignal dans le club Tourilli accompagne d'Arthur
Lirette et Odilion Genest comme guides vers 9 heures du matin au
lac Croche du Bras du Nord le Col Rosevelt tua un original dans
l'apres midi voulant sen revenir du camp du lac a l'ile avec la
tete et le panage dans le canot vers les 3 heures 1/2 nous
apercumes un autre original sur le bord du lac nous avons arreter
notre canot nous l'avons regarder et l'orignal nous regardait bien
ferocement nous etions a pen pres un arpent de distance l'on se mit
a ramer pour aller au portage du lac a l'ile et l'animal se mis a
suive sur la meme directions de nous nous avons retourner sur nos
pas une couple d'arpent et l'orignal fit la meme chose et l'on
pouvait voir qu'il etait bien enrager alors l'on se mit a crier et
frapper sur le canot avec les avirons afin de pouvoir l'effayer au
contraire il se mit a corné les arbres du bord du lac avec le poil
bien droit sur le dos et il grattait avec ses pattes dans la terre
ensuite il a pris le portage nous avons rester pour 10 minute
ensuit nous avon ramer pour se rendre au portage le pensant disparu
mais l'on ne pu se rendre que l'animal revenait de nouveau sur nous
avons reculer de nouveau sur le lac et l'orignal est rendu dans
l'eau jusquau genoux ensuite se mit de galopper et sauter et a
traverser la petite Riviere et se mit a piocher et Beugler et se
battre avec les arbres il a rester 5 minutes a peu pres et nous
avons essayer a rapprocher encore sur terre mais imposible car
l'animal est revenus de nouveau sur le bord du lac faire la meme
chose ensuite il pris la petite Riviere en trottant a peu pres 200
pieds et il disparu nous avons laisser faire pour quelques instant
ensuite nous avons approcher sur terre au petit portage cela
faisait que n'on avait eté gardé par cet animal pour une heure a
une heure 1/2 ensuite j'ai dis a Monsier et Odilion que l'on
faisait mieux de se suivre et mener autant de bruit possible afin
de l'effrayer mais l'orseque n'on eut fait deux arpents dans le
portage j'ai apercus l'animal qui semblait nous attendre dans le
petit ruisseau et la voyant qu'il y avait bien du danger pour nous
tous nous etions a une distance le 30 verges de lui j'ai avertit
Monsier de tirer et Mons. a pris sa carabine et a tirer en l'air
afin de lui faire bien peur et de pouvoir le chasser mais au
contraire en entendant le coup du fusil il foncé sur nous j'ai dit
a Monsieur Col. tirer bien vite et il a tiré de nouveau l'animal
qui etait a 18 pieds de nous a peu pres et il la blessé a mort il a
fait deux sault en s'eloignant de nous mais il s'est retourner
encore sur nous et j'ai dis au Colonel de tiré afin de le mettre à
terre cela faisait une heure et demi que cet animal nous gardait.

ARTHUR LIRETTE,

_Gardien_.