OCTOBER Roundup

Pigskin and pheasant share spotlight in colorful NEBRASKAland autumn

OCTOBER IN NEBRASKAland is a time of exciting beauty. Nature is at her colorful best, turning the land into a vivid panorama that cannot be equaled. But, Indian Summer is only part of NEBRASKAland's October scene. Man, too, has left his mark on Autumn. The thrill of the opening day's hunt, the thunder of cheering football fans, or the simple pleasure of a leisurely stroll through one of Nebraska's many museums or art galleries are all part of this sparkling month. Here is just a preview of some of the enchanting things that are yours to see and do.

Thousands of sportsmen will be in the field on October 23 for a go at some of the better pheasant hunting in the nation. This year, NEBRASKAland's crop of crafty ringnecks promises to test the skill of even the most seasoned gunners. Nebraska's mixed-bag hunting offers a variety of hunting thrills which are unequaled anywhere. Cottontails and squirrels are fair game throughout the month, while archers have the full 31 days to try their luck on deer. A double treat is in store on October 30 when the state's turkey and quail populations become targets for a growing army of sportsmen.

For those who like their pleasures from the sidelines, NEBRASKAland's gridirons are busy, too. High schools, colleges, and universities erupt with pigskin fever as the head-knocking sport swings into full stride. The state's top football attraction, the University of Nebraska, will kick off its October schedule against a traditional rival. On October 2, the mighty Huskers will take on Iowa State to climax the annual Band Day celebration. Thousands of strutting music makers from high schools across the state will pack the Colosseum in Lincoln in a top treat for the eyes and ears. Wisconsin will invade Lincoln on October 9 for a crack at the top ranked Cornhuskers. Two weeks later, Big Red will take on Colorado as their homecoming foe to round out the month's football activities.

NEBRASKAland HOSTESS OF THE MONTH Miss Marcia Gregerson NEBRASKAland's hunting thrills boom into full swing this month. Our October hostess, Miss Marcia Gregerson, invites you to set your sights on some of the nation's best shooting. The daughter of John E. Gregerson of Herman, Marcia is a 1964 graduate of Tekamah High School, and a home economics major at the University of Nebraska. A member of Kappa Delta Sorority, Miss Gregerson is the 1965-66 Dairy Royal Princess.

Other milder, but equally exciting attractions await the spectator. Ak-SarBen's World Championship Rodeo and Livestock Show in Omaha will bring the glory of the Old West to the present through October 2. South Sioux City will be the setting for horse-racing action throughout the month. Prize thoroughbreds from across the nation will vie for top honors in the sport of kings.

Festivals and pageants add their gaiety to the calendar too. Brownville's Fall Festival will start the ball rolling on October 10 with its tribute to the colorful season. Though no date has been set for the festivities, Doniphan will combine nature's beauty with royalty in its annual Fall Festival and the crowning of an attractive lass as Miss Doniphan.

Lilting refrains will echo across NEBRASKAland this month. Grand Island's Harvest of Harmony October 9 and Hastings' Melody Roundup October 16 will offer top vocal and instrumental entertainment. Famed conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, will appear in Lincoln on October 18. The maestro will display his wizardry to hundreds of the musically inclined. His appearance is scheduled for Pershing Municipal Auditorium. On the 19th, the Lincoln Symphony will embark on its 40th year. Always a hit with music lovers, this year's concerts promise plenty of top-notch entertainment.

There are always places to go in NEBRASKAland. Now that Autumn is here and summer's breakneck pace has slowed, why not bundle up the family and head for a week-end of sight-seeing in NEBRASKAland?

Two of the most beautiful art galleries in the nation are waiting for your visit. Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha and Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery in Lincoln offer relaxing and educational excursions into the world of fine art. From modern art to the artifacts of old is but one short step in NEBRASKAland. Excellent museums span time's chasms to bring you face to face with the past. The State Historical Society Museum and Morrill Hall, both in Lincoln, are just two of these bridges into the misty and intriguing past.

Nebraska's waterways are a beautiful part of her fall atmosphere. Fine fishing and uncrowded boating are just two of the reasons to visit these meccas of pleasure. Or, if you prefer quieter pastimes, why not just laze beside one of the crystal clear lakes which dot NEBRASKAland? No matter what your pleasure, it is here.

THE END WHAT TO DO September 24-October 2—Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben World Championship Rodeo and Livestock Show September 24-October 30—South Sioux City Horse Racing, Atokad Park, 5/s mife track. Monday racing optional. October 2—Ord Bar-B-Q 2—Lincoln Football, Nebraska vs Iowa State, High School Band Day 9—Lincoln Football, Nebraska vs Wisconsin 9—Grand Island Harvest of Harmony 10—Brownville Fall Festival 12—Columbus Columbus Day 12—Lincoln Wrestling, Pershing Municipal Auditorium 15—Hastings Melody Roundup 16—Pro Football—Omaha Joliet vs Omaha Mustangs 1 8—Lincoln Arthur Fiedler in Concert 19—Lincoln Lincoln Symphony's First Concert 23—Entire State Opening of Pheasant Season 23—Lincoln Football, Nebraska vs Colorado, Homecoming 23—Pro Football—Omaha Oes Moines vs Omaha Mustangs 26—Lincoln Wrestling, Pershing Municipal Auditorium 30—Entire State Opening of Quail Season 30—Designated Areas Opening of Turkey Season No Date Set—Doniphan Annual Fall Festival, Crowning of Miss Doniphan No Date Set--E!mwood Street Carnival OCTOBER, 1965 5

6 NEBRASKAland

SPEAK UP

OLD-TIMER—"Your Outdoor NEBRASKAland is wonderful. I get a great kick out of it, for it brings back memories.

"In 1873, my father moved to Hastings and had one of the first hotels there. Mother ran the hotel while Dad located homesteaders in Kansas and Nebraska. I was born in Hastings in 1883. My folks and older brothers have told me many wild stories about Indians, grasshoppers, and storms. Many times when Dad was coming home from locating homesteaders, the Indians stopped him and wanted to take off the brass from his harness.

"Dad bought three farms from the railroad. Hot winds and grasshoppers closed him out and he went back to Chicago. I had my schooling there, but I got sick of the city and headed West. In the past 60 years I have ridden all over Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana and have met some great people. I once saw Buffalo Bill put on a party, and he sure could put on a show.

"My wife used to teach school in Nebraska, in a sod house in Custer County."—Grant Bobzien, Iowa Falls, Iowa.

TALL TIMBER—"Your Guide Rock tree is not the largest cottonwood in the state. I worked with Frank Pipal when he was Omaha City Forester and made a record of large trees.

"The largest cottonwood is in Fontenelle Forest. It has a diameter of 12 feet at the base, and is 28 feet, seven inches in circumference, and over 100 feet high. The largest elm was cut down in Elmwood Park in Omaha 15 years ago. Also, Omaha has the largest maple trees.

"Fontenelle Forest has the world's largest poison ivy vines, 24 inches in circumference.

"A Baptist minister built the first church in Nebraska in 1836, 15 miles south of Omaha and planted two cottonwoods in front of it. The church chimney and trees still stand.

"Arlington, Nebraska has willow trees four feet in diameter."—Lawrence Dokulil, Omaha.

The staff of the Extension Forester at the University of Nebraska is investigating the Fontenelle cottonwood, and if the tree checks out, it will be recognized as the largest. Of course that is until somebody comes along with a larger one.—Editor.

BARNEY'S MARCH—"In your story about Colonel Barney Oldfield, you did not mention that he is one of the few who has a musical composition about him, done while he is still alive. Called 'The Colonel Barney Oldfield March', it was premiered in Carnegie Hall, has been recorded, used on the Mutual Broadcasting System, and published by the Edward B. Marks Music Corporation in New York.

"More than 500 military, university, and high school bands have the 50-part score. One of them is the University of Nebraska Band, which played it earlier this year for the Governor's Inaugural Ball.

"Howard Cable, the musical director for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and I wrote it as a tribute to this international character from Nebraska who couldn't stay put. One thing about him, when you have him for a friend, you are not lacking for conversation. Who else could discuss the snooker championship of the Upper Nile in Aswan, Egypt, or can get a fan club organized for somebody riding a New York subway from Times Square to Brooklyn?

"It is a good story."—Lt. Col. Mark S. Azzolina, USAF (ret.) Kenosha, Wisconsin.

MISSES HOME STATE—"As long-time subscribers to Outdoor Nebraska, we are doubly enjoying it as NEBRASKAland in our new motel business here in Oklahoma. We like this part of the great midwest, but do miss the good, black soil of the Nebraska we knew.

"We keep old and new copies of NEBRASKAland in the motel units and are pleased to note how interested our local patrons and tourists are in Nebraska. We think that an advertising program through the Game Commission is most feasible."—Mildred Doff, Henryetta, Oklahoma.

HISTORY BUFF—"I have found each issue of your magazine interesting. I was especially interested in the story of how Jim Whitewater, the Otoe, avenged the murder of a party of his Indian brothers.

"Mathew Waverling, my father, came from Pennsylvania. He published the Barneston Star and had a furniture store in that new town. He died in 1898 when I was 12.

"We had a dirt cellar under our store. It seems we were located over an Indian graveyard, and as a lad I dug up artifacts which had been buried there. When our dirt main-street was graded, it was quite an occasion for the small boys and we would follow the grader and pick up various Indian articles.

"As you may know, Barneston was named after a white man named Barnes. He married a full-blooded Otoe Indian woman.

"Occasionally a group of Otoes who lived on the reservation at Barneston would return for a visit to their home grounds. We found them friendly and well behaved, although their lands had been taken away from them." —Ralph E. Waverling, Kansas City, Missouri.

GENEROUS MAN—"I wonder if you are aware that Dr. W. W. Brothers of Pocatello, Idaho, and personal physician to General Eisenhower, was born at 'Buffalo Bill' Cody's ranch at North Platte.

"When Dr. Brothers was one year old, Mr. Cody presented him with a six-shooter. Dr. Brothers' father was a foreman on the ranch.

"I was born and raised in North Platte long enough ago to remember Buffalo Bill in his buckskins and the coach in which he rode. Also, there was a stuffed buffalo that stood in the yard at the Cody home on West Fourth Street."—D. R. Paulsen, Fillmore, California.

The great showman was generous to a fault, especially with children. He often gave away revolvers and buffalo coats, even when buffalo became scarce.—Editor.

OCTOBER, 1965 7

TRAPLINE TO A RANCH

by Fred Nelson

AFTER A QUICK breakfast, Ed Rodewald made the morning swing around his spread. The winter grass was good, the beeves fat, and the saddle stock full of sass. Satisfied that all was well, the rancher drove down to the river and looked up at the frowning hills. 'Thank you, Thank you, both" he said, as he turned back to the ranch house and the busy day ahead.

Ed's prospering ranch, 20 miles north of Ringgold in Thomas County, Nebraska, is a progeny of the Dismal River and the rugged Sand Hills for it was built on their wild bounty. For more than 20 years, Ed trapped the river and the hills for the fur that bought and built his spread. Nature's generosity never faltered through the lean years of the 1920's and '30's when a dollar was hard to come by.

A rancher born and bred, Ed became a professional trapper through economic necessity. He wanted to ranch so bad he could taste it but money was mighty tight. A wife and growing family didn't augur well for a quick stake in an era when top hands were lucky to draw $25 a month for dawn-to-dark work.

"Land and cattle were dirt cheap but we didn't have the dirt," Ed recalled. "It took just about everything I could make to keep grub in the house and take care of my family, so I had to do something quick if I wanted to acquire a ranch and stock. Hard times shelved a lot of ranchers forever, but trapping pulled us through and made it possible for us to stay in the hills where I wanted to be."

Dismal sacrificed its wild bounty to Rodewald. With its fur treasure he made his dream come true

As a boy, Ed had trapped muskrats but he never planned on being a professional trapper until the post World War I slump hit the cattle country. When everything else was at rock bottom, fur prices remained high. There was a ready market for pelts of all kinds. Ed leased the trapping rights on 15 miles of the Dismal and started stringing steel.

During the seasons he hit the muskrats, mink, and coyotes hard, learning the tricks and short-cuts of the ancient craft as he went along. His wife, Silva, was the hard-working and encouraging partner that bolstered Ed when the going was toughest.

Muskrats were the money makers of the Dismal and Ed's nightly take was around 40 animals. Their pelts 9   brought $2 each in the St. Louis fur markets. In one season he took 2,200 of the abundant little rodents and sold them at prime prices. As beaver increased along the river and began to cause damage, the state issued special permits for their taking. It was a lot of red tape but Ed knew the value of these big fur bearers and secured permission to trap them. They were spectacular catches and a big-blanket beaver meant $40 to $50 in the poke.

TRAPLINE TO A RANCH continued

"Mink and muskrats paid the bills, but my favorite catches were coyotes. I had about four miles of trap line in the hills and caught 35 to 40 'dogs' every season," Ed explained.

"Everytime I pelted out two coyotes it meant another beef for the ranch. A coyote was worth $16 in those days and you could buy all the beeves you wanted for $32 a head."

The former trapper's enormous respect for the coyote remains undiminished to this day. Smart customers and real challenges to catch, the critters gave him many a trapping headache. One particular male foiled Ed for almost a season until the Nebraskan discovered the yodel dog couldn't count beyond two. Ed still gets a kick out of describing how he finally outwitted the cunning animal.

"This old fellow lived in the hills and delighted in springing my traps and stealing the bait. I tried half a dozen different sets and he fooled me every time. One morning I changed the game. I buried two traps around a chicken bait and set another No. 4 about two yards behind the others. The coyote dug up the two traps, stole the bait, and was backing out when he stepped into that third one. I almost hated to kill him but his pelt was worth $16."

Another coyote succumbed to Silva's wiles after Ed had just about given up on him. The Rodewalds had a spot called the bone yard; This was a hot spot for the prairie wolves, but one gray-muzzled old fellow dodged every trap until Silva took over. She made a triangular set with three traps and dispensed with most of Ed's guile in concealing them. The next morning, the coyote was there, three of his four feet secured in Silva's long springs. Silva promptly vetoed her husband's suggestion that she take over the coyote trapping chores and quit while she was ahead.

Occasionally Ed would dig out skunks since their pelts were worth a couple of dollars apiece and the 10 NEBRASKAland digging was easy. Shortly after the Rodewalds were married, Silva accompanied Ed on such a dig. He uncovered the denned-up perfume kitty, and without thinking, scooped him up and flung him out of the hole. The woods pussy made a perfect wrap around Silva's neck with all jets firing.

"You might call that the strongest test of our marriage," chuckles Ed.

Trapping was an around-the-clock operation with the Rodewalds. Ed hit the line long before dawn and seldom got back until dark. He ran the traps with a saddle horse and often the take would be so heavy that he would load up the bronc and lead him in rather than ride. Ed brought muskrats and coyotes in whole, but he skinned out the beaver where (continued on page 49)

OCTOBER, 1965

JET-AGE DOGS

Their warning growls are as much the sound of security as the whine of supersonic planes

THE MAN instinctively raised his arm as the dog shot toward him, bracing himself as the animal struck. Teeth locked around the burlap-padded arm in a death-like grip until a young airman ran to the struggling pair and pulled off the canine attacker.

Once freed, the brown-clad figure turned to face the next dog. Staff Sergeant Jared Gildart of the Lincoln Air Force Base nodded his approval and appraised the approach of the attacking canine to the padded human target. If the scene were to be repeated that night, it could be for real.

It was Tuesday afternoon and the airmen were giving their dogs obedience training before going on guard post. They were proving that there is more to the Air Force than flying. A thousand details are necessary to preserve the secrecy and the security of the Strategic Air Command's installations around the world. Not the least of these is night sentry duty with dogs.

Sergeant Gildart is proud of his 22-man unit, the Sentry Dog Section of the 818th Combat Defense Squadron at LAFB. He's an old hand with the dogs, having worked with the animals in Korea, Morocco, and Lincoln for more than eight years. He has seen the four-footed guardians prove their worth more than once. Gildart recalls that compounds in Korea that were patrolled with sentry dogs were bothered the least.

Sentry dogs are used at the majority of SAC bases around the globe. Most are essentially attack-trained, and their function is to alert the handler to the presence of trouble makers. If necessary, the sentry will unleash his companion to locate and immobilize a trespasser. Qualifications for such sentry sections are rigid. Men selected must have a genuine fondness for dogs, the physical endurance to handle them, and the patience and resourcefulness to train them.

Sergeant Gildart counts patience as among the most important qualifications.

"The trick is to put yourself in the dog's place," he commented. "Most people think that it is hard to train a dog to jump through a person's arms. I can train one to do it in about 20 minutes just by imagining how somebody would go about training me to do the same thing. The dog has to win, no matter what."

All phases of the training program are geared to this principle. From the first (continued on page 53)

OCTOBER, 1965 13

HITTING THE LINE FOR PHEASANTS

Lady Bird and I have a gimmick going for off-beat rooster hunt by Jerry Cacek

LADY BIRD'S enthusiastic yelps told me she was on a hot one so I trotted along, hoping for a shot when the pheasants flushed. The little beagle was having a tough go in the tangled weeds and brome but she stuck to the line, keeping the birds on the move. I was working up a good pant when two late-season roosters exploded from the weeds and climbed into the sky.

My shooting was shaky but my second blast scratched one down. He landed running but Lady Bird was right on the job. She danced on her hind legs to see the bird and then lit out after him. The small dog took a beating from his flailing wings but she held him until I caught up.

Hunting NEBRASKAland pheasants with a beagle is like that—hard, strenuous, and unpredictable, but a heck of a lot of fun. It takes a while to learn to interpret the hound's reactions to pheasants but once you get on to them, the sport is worth all the effort. Beagles are basically rabbit chasers and certainly prefer bunny bouncing to bird dogging but with a little training and a lot of encouragement, however, they can make first rate bird hunters.

I have hunted a lot of pheasants with Lady Bird and she has taught me a few tricks, too. I can tell when she is on a bird by her voice and the way she runs a line. Her little whines of anticipation tip me off when a bird is about to flush.

When my hound hits the line hard and picks up speed it's my cue to try and keep up with her. I know it won't be long before a rooster takes off. My shots are usually 10 to 15 yards longer than they would be over a Lab or a pointer, but that increases the challenge.

Lady Bird comes honestly by her flair for bird hunting. Her parents and grandparents were noted for their NEBRASKAland pheasant-getting abilities and she is no exception. My dog is an enthusiastic rabbit hunter, but she doesn't give me any argument when I whistle her off a bunny to try for ringnecks. Beagle men claim this will ruin a dog, but it doesn't bother Lady Bird. She still does a fine job on rabbits.

After my beagle showed promise as a bird dog, both of us had some special education coming. Lady Bird had to be throttled down a bit so I could keep up with her when she started routing birds. It's a beagle's nature to pursue game as fast as she can, so I had to break Lady Bird's habit of an all-out chase if I was to get any shooting. Whistling, cajoling, and sometimes threatening did the trick. Even so, I still have to do plenty of hot-footing to keep close when she is on the trail.

When the cover is heavy, the wise old roosters seem to slow down and do more dodging than in the light stuff. These "checks" are very similar to those of a rabbit and they slow my dog enough so I can keep close. In light going the birds beeline more and all of us move faster. The birds flush wilder but we have worked out an answer to that, too.

If I don't get a shot, I try to mark down the birds. After a 10 to 15-minute wait, Lady Bird and I head for their landing spot. The scent is hot and my dog usually picks up the trail after a cast or two. I've found that the pheasants are more reluctant to flush the second time and that I can get closer when they do. Sometimes it takes us three go rounds to catch up with a particularly crafty rooster.

Snow presents some special sticklers, but Lady Bird and I have pretty well whipped them. We know that roosters run a relatively straight line in snow so the beagle yelps them right along and I do my best to keep up. If I can, I pull an intercept by cornering in, trying to get the bird between me and the dog. I check the tracks carefully. If they are small and not widely spaced, I dismiss them as hen tracks and look for the bigger imprints of the roosters. After an hour or so of snow mushing, I'm not about to squander any energy on illegal biddies.

Since ranges are normally longer than average, I prefer a shotgun with authority to reach out and upend the birds. My favorite is a lightweight 12-gauge loaded with No. 6 shot. Later on in the season, I load up with No. 5's. A 3-inch, 20-gauge Magnum makes another good combination since gun weight is definitely a factor in this beagling-for-birds business. My success ratio fades a bit after puffing along behind the beagle but that is part of the fun. Thanks to my four-legged companion, I don't lose many cripples.

If you want to get the real lowdown on a rooster's bag of evasive tricks, hunt him with a beagle. Once on the move, the pheasant streaks through every little ditch or depression he can find. He sneaks through cover that seemingly couldn't hide a mouse and goes into a straightaway run when he has to. The bird takes advantage of every little clump and every natural obstacle as he tries his zigzag getaway. Sometimes he'll wait until the beagle is practically nipping at his tail feathers before he trades legs for wings.

Since pheasant hunting and beagles are both my cup of tea, I get a double go of fun out of hunting them with Lady Bird. Naturally, I think she is the greatest, but I'm sure other beagles and bassets do creditable jobs. If your hound takes to birds, let him have a go at them. I'll guarantee you some of the ruggedest, fastest-moving pheasant hunting you've ever experienced.

THE END OUTDOOR NEBRASKAland proudly presents the stories of its readers themselves. Here Is the opportunity so many have requested —a chance to tell their own outdoor tales. Hunting trips, the "big fish that got away", unforgettable characters, outdoor impressionsall have a place here. If you have a story to tell, iot it down ami semi it to Editor, OUTDOOR NEBRASKAland, State Capitol, Lincoln 68509. Send photographs, too, if any ore available. OCTOBER, 1965 15

INCIDENT AT DEVIL'S GAP

Hemp justice of Print Olive burns an indelible page in the violent history of the old West by Warren Spencer

THE EERIE half-light of that December dawn in 1878 set the mood of the grim scene that would soon burn its indelible mark on the pages of NEBRASKAland history. Two chilled homesteaders huddled together in the wagon, listening helplessly as angry cowboys decided their fate. Moments later they knew the decision as two ropes shot up and over a jutting limb, jolting to a stop only inches away from their upturned faces.

Ami Ketchum, the younger of the two captives, lunged out of the wagon in a last desperate bid for freedom. But the handcuffs which bound him to his friend, Luther Mitchell, held him back. Collapsing into a helpless bundle, Ketchum pleaded with the grim-faced mob. He continued his desperate argument, even   when they fitted the noose around his neck. One of the wranglers snugged the loose end of the rope to his saddle horn and on signal, eased his horse away. As the loop drew tighter, Ketchum, pulling Mitchell with him, was dragged across the bed of the wagon until he dangled in mid-air in the macabre dance of death.

INCIDENT AT DEVIL'S GAP continued

While Ketchum flailed about at the end of the rope, Print Olive drew his .45, took deliberate aim, and shot Mitchell to death as he hung partially suspended by the handcuffs. A noose was put around his neck and the old man was then drawn up beside his suddenly still friend.

One of the cowboys grabbed a can of coal oil, climbed up on the wagon, and saturated both bodies. As the others watched, he touched a match to the dangling corpses. Their grisly work done, the gang mounted and rode off, leaving their human torches blazing in the early morning breeze.

Bad blood often ran dark between homesteader and cattleman in the Old West, reddening the rich NE BRASKAland grazing country. Cattle barons like I. P. "Print" Olive worked hard to build the empires which they held. They resented the fences which homesteaders such as Luther Mitchell and Ami Ketchum strung across the open prairie.

Olive drove a herd of between five and six thousand head of cattle up from Texas in the 1870's and settled on Plum Creek, east of what is now Callaway. His herds grew and so did his power. Before long the Olive brand was spread across the South Loup Valley, making Print one of the most influential men in range country.

But there was a bad side to Print's character. When he left Texas it was not so much a matter of choice as of necessity. The law was hot on his heels for murder. Rather than stick around, he decided Nebraska was the place to raise beef. Print's brother, Bob, under indictment for two murders in Texas, headed up the trail soon after. When Bob arrived here he changed his name to Stevens to avoid the law. Once established, Print meant to keep his spread, and as added assurance, he hired wranglers as rough as any that slapped leather.

Cattle rustling was big business in NEBRASKAland, and the thieves didn't much care whose beef they took, including Olive's. Like any other cattleman, Print was ready to take the law in his own hands, if need be, to stop it. His men finally caught up with one of the rustlers, and after a little persuasion the thief told all. The rustler implicated Ami Ketchum in the operation, but apparently it was nothing concrete, because Olive took no action. Later, however, a cattleman's spy by the name of Mclndeffer pointed the finger at Ketchum and Mitchell. Olive decided to bring them in. He had Bob Olive, Barney Armstrong, Pete Beaton, and Mclndeffer deputized and sent them out to the Mitchell homestead to capture the culprits.

On the morning of November 27, 1887, the quartet reached a small ravine near the homestead and made plans for the arrest. They finally decided to send Bob Beaton, the least-known member of the party, up to the soddy. The men hoped to split Ketchum and Mitchell, making it easier to take them. Beaton would accomplish this by asking Ketchum to shoe his horse.

Mitchell had to return a borrowed bull that morning and his wife and Ketchum elected to go along to make a day of it. While they were packing, the "stranger" NEBRASKAland rode up and asked Ketchum, a former blacksmith, to shoe his horse. Ketchum informed him of their plans, but added that if Beaton would come back in the morning he would be glad to do the job. Assuring the ex-blacksmith that he would return, Beaton moved on.

Mrs. Mitchell was just climbing aboard the wagon and the two men were busy tying the bull to the rear axle, when the posse burst from behind a nearby hill and bore down on them. Brandishing their sixguns, the intruders shouted for the homesteaders to throw up their hands. Both men dove for the cover of the wagon and Mrs. Mitchell fell to its bed. Ketchum did throw up his hand, but he had a .45 in it. Blasts shattered the morning air from both sides. Most of the bullets went wild, but a slug smashed through Ketchum's left arm.

Grabbing his rifle from the wagon, Mitchell spun around to blast the nearest rider. Terrified, Bob Olive screamed to the old man not to shoot, but it was too late. The big .44/.40 spat lead, the slug lifted Bob out of the saddle with its impact. Badly wounded, he slumped low in the saddle. Two of the other riders rushed to his aid and braced him between them as the quartet galloped for the safety of the hills. Once they were out of range, the cowboys headed for a dugout not far away. There they cared for Bob as well as they could, but he was beyond help.

News of the incident spread like wild fire. Cattlemen and cowboys alike were up in arms over Bob Olive's death, each vowing revenge on the homesteaders. Mitchell and Ketchum knew from the moment Olive wavered in the saddle that Custer County was not a healthy place to live. Now Print would stop at nothing to avenge his brother's death. Packing what things they could in the wagon, the suspected cattle thieves headed for their former home in Merrick County. Ketchum's arm was swollen to twice its normal size by now, making the 100-mile trek slow and hard.

Once the fugitives reached Merrick County, they found a place for Mitchell's (continued on page 50)

OCTOBER, 1965 19

HOME SWEET HOME for Fuzzy Legs

Sturdy Sand Hills grouse ride the pendulum back to plenty by Bob Wood Assistant Project Leader

BY ONE DEFINITION, when a person is grousing, he is complaining. Not so in NEBRASKAland. Here, when someone is grousing, he's happy, for it means he is out in the Sand Hills matching wits with prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse. Both species flourish in the grass rich hills for nature has decreed that the plow be put aside in this vast area. The protective grass cover that means so much to NEBRASKAland beeves is also home sweet home for the fuzzy legs.

Although a few other states and some Canadian provinces have sharptail hunting, Nebraska is one of the rare states with a huntable population of prairie chickens. In recent years, the boomers have made up about 25 per cent of the total grouse taken here. Favorite spots for these sporty birds are the eastern and southern fringes of the Sand Hills where cultivated lands join the grassy slopes of this unique region. The sharptail prefers the interior and western portions of the hills where cropland is at a minimum.

A nine-year survey shows that both species are on the increase here and that prospects for the future are good since their habitat is expected to remain stable. Three major techniques were used during the long study. Technicians watched the birds during their unusual courtship rituals to determine the spring brood stock. Since the gamesters congregate on the dancing and booming grounds, the spring counts give a fairly accurate population picture. The spring check is followed by brood counts in the summer. During the hunting seasons, check stations are established to give the researchers information on age and hunter success ratios.

As a result of these studies, the Game Commission has been able to extend the seasons from three days to the present six weeks. The first season was held in 1950 and grouse hunting has been permitted every year since, with the exception of 1954. Nebraskans have enjoyed 14 seasons of excellent sport, but the birds are not nearly as numerous now as they were in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

The homesteader was in part responsible for the boom in sharptail and prairie chickens that occurred about three generations ago. As the sodbuster broke the land in the western sections of the state he provided almost optimum conditions for the prairie dwellers. Prior to this it is doubtful if any chickens were found in the hills. The sharptail was there, but he was not overly abundant. The early mixtures of cropland and grass provided ideal combinations of food and cover for the birds and they thrived.

This prosperity was short-lived, however. As more and more land felt the bite of the plow, the shrinking cover meant a decline for the once plentiful gamesters. The optimum ratio of food to cover was lost and the birds were forced to shift their range.

Intensive farming was only one jaw of the vise that squeezed the prairie grouse. When the agricultural pendulum swung the other way and tillable land declined, the birds suffered another setback. Declining food sources sent the chickens reeling and they virtually disappeared from their former range. The sharptails hit the skids, too, but not to the extent that the chickens did. For years, the birds existed in limited numbers, but 20 NEBRASKAland their future looked bleak. To preserve the dwindling brood stock, rigid "No Hunting" bans were imposed throughout the state.

A gradual build-up followed the drought years of the 1930's when both species were at their ebb point. The adequate rainfall of the late 1940's and early '50's improved the grass cover in the Sand Hills and allowed the birds to recover their lost ground. Better range management also aided their comeback. In 1950, the first hunting season of modern times was permitted.

Evidence shows that hunting has little influence on grouse populations. Such factors as habitat, moisture, food availability, nesting success, and other natural requirements are more important controls on the birds. All wildlife is predicated on the carrying capacity of the land and surplus birds will become victims of natural mortality whether they are hunted or not. Probably 40 per cent of the fall birds in Nebraska could be harvested by the gun without seriously affecting the brood stock. The present harvest by hunters is estimated at less than 10 per cent of the available birds.

This year's early season, opening September 18, corresponded to a pattern established by other states permitting grouse hunting. Since the 1965 season opened two weeks earlier than in the past, sportsmen were anxious to compare it with other years. Two differences became apparent. The birds were somewhat easier to hunt and were better eating. Hunters with dogs found the going a lot easier, since the grouse were still in scattered family groups instead of hard-to-approach flocks. This also contributed to the success of the walk-them-up-and-shoot hunters. They were often able to surprise an unsuspecting bird or two with a quick break over a choppy or a fast pass at the plum brush thickets.

Grouse taken in the early part of the season were well-developed birds, although most of them were from the summer hatch. As the season progressed, the family groups began to bunch up and hunting became increasingly difficult. Since most of the birds taken were young, they were tender and naturally better table fare.

Even though sportsmen had a few more advantages over the birds this year, it's a cinch that a good many of the boomers never saw a hunter. The rugged, almost inaccessible areas of the Sand Hills protect them well. Shooters who scouted their favorite spots before the season or made arrangements for a place to hunt did better than those who waited until the last minute.

Barring unforeseen calamities, technicians predict years-to-come sport with Nebraska's sharptails and prairie chickens. After all, Sandhillers that have survived so many adversities aren't going to let little things like hunters and dogs bother their future.

THE END OCTOBER, 1965 21

BEEVES IN THE RING

Through Nebraska's 9 cattle auctions pass millions in dollars. It's business as usual with the gibberish and silent bidders

IF YOU WANT to see money on the move, visit one of NEBRASKAland's 91 cattle auctions. Thousands of dollars and hundreds of critters change hands at these colorful day-long events where buyer and seller meet. Key man in this rapid-fire business is the auctioneer whose almost intelligible chant wheedles the top dollar out of the buyers. The sale barns, or pavilions as the operators prefer to call them, collect a small commission on each sale.

Typical of these NEBRASKAland cattle markets is the Columbus Sales Pavilion in Columbus. This elaborate complex does an annual business of $21 million. During its Thursday and Saturday cattle auctions, a sale is made every 45 seconds with some 2,300 critters going under the hammer each day. The pavilion operates 51 weeks a year to sell beeves from all over the West.

Mornings are devoted to single-animal sales. Truck and carload lots are the afternoon action. Thursday is fat-cattle day while Saturday sees stockers and feeders in the ring. The sales day begins early and ends late with no break for lunch. Better than 99 per cent of all cattle brought to the pavilion are sold.

Leather-lunged Bob Loshbaugh, an auctioneer with 18 years experience, ramrods the show. He is known as a "good" auctioneer, an accolade that means that both seller and buyer are more than happy with his efforts. When Bob isn't chanting his way through a carload of steers, he's out scouting more business for his outfit.

Bob holds forth in the auction box, a pulpit-like affair that overlooks the sales ring and faces the bleachers where the buyers sit. His helpers include a couple of men in the ring, a clerk, a weigher, and a relief auctioneer. Outside in the corrals, surrounding the main building, a young army keeps the critters moving.

The veteran auctioneer is never still. Even when his relief man is in the box Bob is watching the 22 NEBRASKAland action. As his partner chants, Loshbaugh scans the crowd for the almost imperceptible nod, wink, or raised finger that signals a bid. Most of the bidders are a silent lot and seldom voice their offers

The Columbus whirlwind interrupts his chant with a line of patter that equals the routines of any professional comic. When the buyers "sit on their hands", he doesn't hesitate to prod them.

"Hey, there, never was a black critter that don't do better than a whiteface and you know it. What you want- all the money in the world? I wish we had some buyers here instead of watchers. Come on now, part with that money. Uncle Sam will get it if you don't," he chides.

The buyers grin, shuffle their feet, and take new interest in the sale. If his exhortations fail to loosen the bids, Bob switches to an on-the-spot gag to snap the lethargy.

"Hey there, that cow ain't going to have no calf and you know it. Look at Joe over there, he's looked like that for four years and he ain't ever dropped a calf yet," he yelps.

Joe takes the quick stares with a grin, pats his ample paunch, and may even open the bid on the critter in front of him.

For the first-time hearer, the auctioneer's chant is gibberish but after a bit it makes sense. It begins with a quick repeat of the received bid and goes into a sing-song plea for higher ones. Each auctioneer has his own style, but all have the same objective. They sell cattle for as much as they can as fast as they can.

Quick eyes are as much an asset to the auctioneer as his voice, for bids are hard to detect. Bob's eyes dart around the bleachers looking for the slight signal that means an offer. Long experience and a wide knowledge of buyer preferences helps him spot a live one.

"I know who may be interested in a certain type of cattle so I watch him pretty closely, but I try not to miss any others. The boys in the ring help spot bids, but it's mostly my job to see the offers and get them into my chant," he explains.

The same eyes that catch bids also help Bob inspect the animals in the ring. If he thinks a critter isn't up to par, he stops the sale while his aides shunt the suspect into a special paddock where the veterinarian looks him over. If "Doc" says the critter is O.K., back he comes.

On weight sales, Loshbaugh usually starts 50 cents to a dollar a hundredweight under what he thinks the animal is worth. He goes for 25-cent jumps but if the bidders "break" him back, Bob tries for a dime or nickel increase. On a 1,000-pound critter, an added nickel per hundred pounds means 50 cents more. In a carload sale, the half dollars mean more cash.

At Columbus, the sales complex is designed to funnel the cattle into the ring with a minimum of confusion. When a shipment arrives, it is unloaded into a numbered pen. Mixed cattle are identified with an individual number. The seller gets a receipt with the pen number and a description of his cattle on it. One copy is sent to the auction box and another to the front office.

When the animal's number comes up he is hazed into a chute leading to the sales ring. After the sale is completed, the critter is herded into a weighing paddock where a highly accurate electronic scale stamps his weight and the exact minute of the transaction on the seller's carbon. The buyer also get a number designating his purchase from the lightning-fingered clerk who records all deals. The stamped receipt goes to the front office where cashiers make out the seller's check after deducting the pavilion's commission. All sales are flashed on a closed-circuit television screen. The whole business from bid to check takes 45 minutes.

Sales follow a cycle. In the spring ranchers with extra range are looking for young stock or about-to-calve cows. Summer finds the stockers seeking cattle for their excess grass. Fall sales bring out the feeders who aim to fatten their purchases for future slaughter. The fat-cattle sales are consistent with most of the buyers representing packing houses or large chain stores. Milk cows have a year-round turnover as dairymen buy and sell or get rid of their "canners".

Although the Columbus Sales Pavilion specializes in cattle, it sells anything that has four legs and walks. Hogs are big sellers and Friday is their day. Even goats go under the hammer. The bleaters are favorites with race-horse owners who buy them as companions for their high-strung steppers.

All sales pavilions operate under rigid federal and state controls to insure humane treatment of the animals. Shipments brought in the day before a sale are fed and watered. Spraying keeps down the insect pests and constant inspections are quick to detect any diseases. A veterinarian is on duty at all times and his decision on the salability of any livestock is final.

Dudes with delicate noses are apt to shy away from a sales pavilion, but as Bob Loshbaugh puts it, "Don't knock that smell, that's the aroma of money, son, the aroma of money."

Take the Columbus Sales Pavilion's $21-million annual take, multiply it by 91 other auction barns in Nebraska, and it comes out to almost $2 billion. That adds up to pretty rich perfume.

THE END OCTOBER, 1965 23

WATER of the WEST

Photography by Lou Ell Though Mighty Missouri wears a harness, it still harbors undercurrents of primitive power and exciting contrasts

FOR COUNTLESS centuries, the destinies of men have been linked to rivers. No other terrestrial feature has as much influence on human behavior and emotions as the surge of a mighty waterway. Long before trails laced the primitive wilderness, men were following the rivers to ever-widening horizons. Nebraskans know this fascination of flowing water well for they have one of the world's greatest rivers at their front door. The majestic Missouri River rolls for 400 enchanting miles along their eastern border.

In the next 14 pages, OUTDOOR NEBRASKAland displays a colorful sample of the pleasures and adventures found along this "Water of the West".

Man's efforts have made the Missouri a river of contrasts where the old and the new are blended in a delightful combination. Roaring cities, tranquil hamlets, huge dams, and great bridges share the scene with vistas of wild grandeur that are unchanged since the days of Lewis and Clark. Only minutes away from the turmoil of the busy world, remote bayous and back-waters sparkle with the promise of adventure. Tree-lined banks and rugged bluffs invite exploration and a quick return to the days of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

The Missouri is a paradox. A tireless servant when there is work to be done, it willingly accepts the nets of commercial fishermen or the burden of laden barges. It allows its ceaseless energies to be harnessed in a thousand different ways and asks little in return. When it is time to play, the river is a gay, lighthearted companion ready for anything. But work or play, the Missouri is still the embodiment of raw, primitive power.

25   26 NEBRASKAland OCTOBER, 1965 27      

IN THE OLD days, the Missouri River was a lusty rampager but a string of main-stem dams has curbed its sprees and tamed its once-rambunctious flow. Restrained by the massive barrier of Gavins Point Dam, the river curls back on itself to form Lewis and Clark Lake in northeastern Nebraska. This recreational gem is a year-round playground for thousands of visitors and vacationers.

This lake spreads its glittering welcome for 25 miles along the bluff-guarded valley between Nebraska and South Dakota. Its 33,000 water acres are generous with gifts of boating, swimming, and fishing. Remote coves and isolated bays beckon the venturesome to explore their mysteries and enjoy their picturesque surroundings. Plenty of public land makes hiking a rewarding experience.

Below the dam, the Missouri resumes its leisurely journey to the far-off Gulf. Its waters laze along, tarrying here and there to form backwaters and oxbows among verdant settings of forest and field. For even a river is reluctant to leave this vast and uncluttered land called the West.

33   34

NEVER A CONFORMIST, the Missouri River responds to the changing seasons with a variety of moods. In the spring and fall the river is hospitable, offering its broad expanses and secluded hideaways as guideposts and destinations for migratory and native waterfowl. A good host, the Missouri stints not on its bounty to the wild ones. Spring finds its lush shores and peaceful bayous rich with food and cover for the life that calls this "Water of the West" home. Come fall and the river is a great way station where weary migrants find surcease from their travels.

Summer sees the Missouri matching its moods to the tempos of the season. Its main channel hums with towboat and barge, stately paddlewheelers, and speedy pleasure craft, but busy as it is, the river has time to enjoy the leisure of the season. It visits a thousand bends and bayous, inviting all to share summer's warm and inviting pleasures.

When the land is quiescent under the icy mantle of winter, the Missouri is at its rebellious best. Summoning the power of its seething current and the warmer waters of its power-producing dams, the Missouri battles the encroaching cold for the right of an open channel. Sometimes the river wins, sometimes it loses, but win or lose, there is always admiration and respect for a waterway that is as big and bold as the land it serves.

THE END 35  

AIR WAVE TO EDUCATION

MANY YEARS have passed since Judge Colt's "equalizer" held six-gun court in NEBRASKAland. An equalizer of another sort is now sweeping across the state, and schools and homes are the targets. Educational television is firing its barrage of knowledge and instruction at a big piece of the population, and viewers are mighty glad to be on the receiving end.

This fall the Nebraska Educational Television Network has really been living up to its name. With activation of Channel 3 in Lexington in September and the planned completion of Channel 26 in Omaha this month, the first links in the system have been forged. These two stations, plus KUON-TV Channel 12, at the University of Nebraska, are beaming their educational wares to 75 per cent of the state's population. Channel 12 alone, with its new 874-foot tower at Mead, reaches 50 per cent of Nebraska's residents. KUON's new transmitter operates at 316,000 watts, the maximum allowed by the Federal Communications Commission.

From smallest school to great university students benefit from ETV magic

The 1963 Legislature appropriated $600,000 to start the ball rolling. This sum was matched with federal money under the Federal ETV Facilities Act. This educational equalizer makes large schools out of small. It NEBRASKAland puts the resources of great universities at the disposal of the tiny country school, and brings in an assortment of specialists and personalities who would normally be unavailable to students. A flick of the switch lets students hear a literary figure explaining his technique or be entranced to see a bee making honey. Even animated illustrations of the mysteries of outer space are flashed on classroom screens.

The ETV network puts its electronic fingers in many pies. Cultural and informative programs are telecast in the evening for nonstudent viewers. There are even programs for teachers, explaining the latest developments in their fields. Many of the programs are a blend of culture, education, and entertainment.

One example of this overlap is Channel 12's production, "Rails West". The theme of this documentary film is woven around the railroads, tracing their contributions to the growth of the West. Dr. Robert Manley of the University of Nebraska History Department handles the fascinating narration. Historical pictures and musical backgrounds add interest and realism to the program. The series earned national recognition by winning top honors as the best instructional telecast in social sciences. The six-program series received the coveted Ohio State Award and is now being shown across the country. Other Channel 12 productions, "ParIons Francais", "The Life and Times of Marshall Tito", and "Carmina Burana" have also received the award.

Classroom teachers are not replaced by all this quality ETV programming. Their capabilities are extended and their methods augmented. Co-ordination is carefully maintained with the television teacher. Special conferences between representatives of the more than 80-member school systems and those concerned with setting up the programs are held to prepare the way for efficient classroom utilization of the television lectures. Manuals are provided to help individual teachers set the stage for their television counterparts, and to wrap up the lessons after the programs.

Selected teachers are given telecasts as their sole responsibility. Mrs. Dorcas Cavett, who teaches third and fourth-grade arithmetic, is familiar to ETV-viewing youngsters. Like all regular instructors, she is a specialist in her field and an ace communicator. About 20 hours of preparation go into each one of her half-hour lectures. A delicate balance is maintained to give the children as much information as possible, yet not more than they can absorb.

The programs are set up by the University of Nebraska, the Metropolitan Omaha Educational Broadcasting Association, and the Nebraska Council for ETV. The production end is handled by Channel 12, and by a studio on the University of Omaha campus.

Jack McBride, general manager and secretary of the Nebraska ETV Commission, foresees even further growth.

"It can't help but grow if the network does its job properly and realizes its full potential. The concept of pooling resources in the interests of quality and economy is one we're going to see much more of in the future," he maintains.

In keeping with this concept, programming agencies may increase in number. Mr. McBride points out that the Nebraska Association of Colleges and Universities has a committee studying the possibility of an organization of the state's 21 institutions of higher learning. Members of the proposed association would co-operate to determine their ETV programming needs.

The ETV Commission is charged with owning and operating six of the stations to provide educational TV service to all the state's schools. Station KUON will retain its license in the name of the University, and is the prime mover in achieving the commission's purpose. Channel 12 is no newcomer to the field. It first went on the air in 1954, making it the eighth oldest ETV station in the country. Soon after it began broadcasting, KUON set up a schedule of correspondence study classes in the Lincoln school system.

The concept took root and grew until more than 30 school systems took advantage of the programming through the aid of signal-boosting devices and the cooperation of a few commercial stations. Evening programs were and still are telecast to bring cultural and adult educational programs into the home.

The next two stations scheduled for completion are Channels 9 in North Platte and 13 in Alliance. It is hoped that bids for building these outlets can be taken next spring. By the spring of 1967, Channels 21 at Albion and 7 at Bassett are scheduled to join the network.

There are some blank spots in the state which no amount of juggling of station locations can cover. Plans call for eliminating these with low-cost baby television transmitters, or "translators" to strengthen the signals. This will boost the network so its voice can be heard in every corner of the state. No speculative hope, this is a mandate which ETV must accomplish as quickly as it can.

Television can never replace the teacher-to-pupil concept of American education. This is not its purpose. But the rapidly growing network will put ETV at the fingertips of students and home viewers across the state. All NEBRASKAlanders will have an equal opportunity to enjoy and benefit from the cultural and instructional programs offered.

THE END OCTOBER, 1965 39

CHANGE-OF-PACE COOKERY

HUNTERS, IT'S time to call a halt to the dull sameness in which your birds and game have been prepared. Strike a blow for better game cookery, and if necessary, do it yourself.

Change of pace, that greatly admired talent among baseball pitchers, is equally appreciated in cooks. Even pheasant, quail, and wild duck lose their appeal when cooked in the same way, time after time.

The recipes listed here are the result of considerable research—research that has not been without the hardships and dangers of upset stomach, heartburn, and acid indigestion. However, each of the cooking methods listed has been tested and found highly satisfactory. Admittedly, they are not for the timid cook, but rather are offered for the man or woman who desires to add another string to his or her culinary bow.

All measurements given are in level amounts. Do not alter the recipes until you've tried them. And just because an ingredient is not familiar, don't omit it. After all, it is the new, the unusual dish that is the aim of the imaginative chef.

It should be noted that recipes calling for pheasant or grouse can be used for chicken. A domestic duck or goose may be substituted for the wild birds, and a leg of lamb can be called upon to take the place of the antelope haunch. Thus, when the game locker is depleted, some memory of the hunt can be recalled through a few deft maneuvers at the stove.

Be certain to go over each piece of game carefully. Cut away all shot-damaged flesh and remove all pinfeathers (nothing tastes worse) and any stray pellets. Then go to recipes with gusto. Get out the company china, the best table linen, light the candles, and forget your diet.

THE END Here's a host of culinary tricks to turn any game bag into a trencherman s delight ROAST GOOSE WITH SOUR CREAM AND MUSHROOM 1 goose,5 to 8lbs Garlic salt Paprika 3/4 c. celery, chopped 11/2 tsp. salt 3/4 c. carrots, chopped 3/4 c. onion, chopped 4 tbls. flour 1/2 tsp. rosemary 1 c. thick sour cream 1 8 oz. can butter mushrooms

Wash goose inside and out. Cut off neck and wing tips. Dry goose with paper towels and season with garlic salt and paprika. Stuff with favorite stuffing, if desired. Truss goose. Spread on a mixture of 1/3-pound butter, cup flour, 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Be certain to cover breast and legs well. The mixture should be the consistency of a powdered sugar-cake frosting. Place bird on rack in shallow pan. Roast uncovered in 325 oven for 1 hour, or until browned and fat has cooked off.

Simmer giblets, neck and wing tips in water to cover with chopped celery, carrots, and 1 tablespoon salt. Cook until tender.

Spoon 3 tablespoons fat from goose and cook onion in fat until soft and yellow. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour. then blend in liquid from giblets. Add, if necessary, some water to make 1 cup stock. Season well with rosemary, thyme, and remaining salt. Stir remaining 2 tablespoons flour into sour cream to keep it from curdling during roasting. Blend into gravy. Place goose in roasting pan. Pour gravy and drained mushrooms over it. Cover roaster. Continue roasting at 325 for 2 hours. Serves 8 to 12.

  CHANGE-OF-PACE COOKERY continued BREASTS OF GROUSE WITH HAM SAUCE 2 grouse breasts Vi c. diced ham 1 tsp. celery salt 1 c. light cream Salt, pepper Vi c. chicken broth Va c. butter 2 tbls. sherry 6 green onions, 1 tbls. chopped chopped parsley

Rub grouse breasts with celery salt, salt, and pepper. Fry in butter until done, about 35 minutes. Add green onions, ham, cream, and broth. Cook slowly for 15 minutes. If too thin, add a little flour mixed with water. Add wine and parsley. Serve each breast on toast and top with sauce.

BREASTS OF GROUSE IN MUSHROOM SAUCE 3 grouse breasts 1 8 oz. can (sharptails) mushrooms Salt, pepper 1 c. cream Flour 1 Vi c. pre-cooked Vi c. butter and rice olive oil mixed Asparagus, cooked Vi c. Madeira 1 tbls. pimento wine

Split breasts in half, lengthwise, remove bone, then cut each half in two. Slice breast meat about 1//2-inch thick, season with salt, pepper, and roll in flour. Fry until brown, taking care not to burn oil while cooking. Place breasts in baking dish. Simmer wine and mushrooms for 5 minutes in oil remaining in pan. Heat cream before adding. Bring mixture to a boil, pour over sliced breasts, and bake 15 minutes at 350°.

A variation of this is to add cream when the meat is done. Simmer 5 minutes, then add wine and mushrooms. Serve with rice which was flavored with broth while cooking. Mold rice onto plates with a small cup. Lean a piece of breast on the mound of rice. Add 3 asparagus stalks, points up, and top with sauce.

Or, instead of rice, place a piece of toast on each plate, add a slice of ham, then a piece of breast and 2 large mushrooms. Top with very hot sauce and garnish with strips of pimentos.

VENISON STEAK ALA MERRILL JOHNSON

Save some suet from your beef steak (kidney suet is the best). Chop suet finely, and melt in two cups of boiling water. When suet is melted, add 1 tablespoon B.V. beef extract. Set aside and keep warm.

Prepare charcoal fire, and when coals have burned down to cooking temperature, place venison steaks on grill over heat. Do not salt steaks. When meat is about half done, turn and brush cooked side with the sauce. Turn steaks often, so each side will have been basted twice during the cooking.

Merrill Johnson of Tilden submitted this recipe and credits the sauce with keeping the venison moist and imparting a delightful flavor.

BAKED QUAIL

Rub cleaned quail inside and out with a mixture of salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil. Then roll them in flour and brown in butter in a frying pan. Remove birds from pan and place in a baking dish that has a cover. Fry chopped green pepper and onion in the frying pan for 3 minutes. Mix 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and a dash of wine. Add to green pepper and onion and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour this sauce over the birds. Sauce is enough for 6 quail. Cover and bake for 1 hour at 350°.

ROAST WILD TURKEY

Clean the bird, rub body cavity with salt and lemon juice. If you are stuffing it, pile the dressing lightly inside. Truss the bird by closing the cavity with the skewers and lacing with clean white string back and forth as you would a boot. Fold the wing tips under the bird. Tie the ends of the legs with a string and bring this down and around the tailpiece, crossing the string at the back and bringing it around the wings. Tie it securely in back. (Remove all string and skewers before serving.)

Preheat oven to 350°. Place bird, breast up, in roasting pan. Brush with melted butter and a little lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown in oven, then cover with roaster cover or aluminum foil. Reduce heat to 300° and roast 25 minutes for each pound. Remember, however, if you have filled the bird with stuffing, it will take a 42 NEBRASKAland few minutes longer. Baste frequently with V4-cup butter melted in a cup of boiling water. When this is used up, baste with the juice in the roaster. See turkey dressing recipe.

DRESSING FOR WILD TURKEY 1 Ig. loaf day-old Giblets chopped bread Vi c. butter 1 can chicken 1 tsp. baking powder or broth 6 slices bacon, Vz tsp. soda diced 3 stalks celery, 2 med. onions, chopped chopped Vz c. chopped 2 green peppers, parsley, thyme chopped or sage

Soften crumbed bread in chicken broth. Fry bacon until almost brown. Add onions, celery, peppers, giblets, and butter. Fry until all vegetables are tender. Add to bread. Add baking powder or soda, parsley, and seasonings. If dressing is not moist enough, add a little water. Place in a greased pan and set inside another pan containing water. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake IV2 hours at 350°. Keep adding water to outer pan.

ROAST LEG OF ANTELOPE 1 leg of young 1 Vi c. red wine Salt, pepper 1 c. tomato juice Garlic salt 2 bay leaves 1 tbls. oregano Juice of one lemon 1 onion, chopped 4 oz. can mushroom caps Vi c olive oil 1 qt. water

When the shank and pelvic bone are removed, the leg of antelope should weigh about 5 or 6 pounds. Soak the meat overnight in water. Dry. Roll in mixture of salt, pepper, garlic salt, oregano, and onion. Place in olive oil, brown well in a roasting pan in a 350°. oven. This will take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add water, wine, tomato juice, and bay leaves. Cover and bake 2 hours at 350°. Remove from roasting pan. Pour lemon juice over roast. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes before cutting into thin slices.

Serve with the pan gravy which has been thickened with flour. Add mushrooms to gravy. Garnish with sweet potatoes or small white potatos which have been browned. Broccoli or asparagus may be added for color.

WILD DUCK WITH PINEAPPLE AND LEMON 1 wild duck 2 tbls. honey 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 tbls. duck fat 1 lg. green pepper,shredded 1 tbls. lemon juice 2 tbls. soy sauce 2 tbls. sherry 1/2 tsp. ginger 1/3 pt. pineapple juice 1 c. pineapple chunks 1 oz. corn flour

Score the duck skin from neck to vent and remove with a sharp knife, leaving flesh intact. Cut into pieces. Combine soy sauce, honey, sherry, garlic, and ginger. Pour this marinade over bird and set aside for one hour, turning the pieces ocasionally. Lift out duck pieces and brown on all sides in hot fat. Add the pineapple juice to the marinade and pour over duck. Cover pan and simmer 50 minutes. Add the green pepper, pineapple chunks, lemon juice, and corn flour mixed to a paste with a little cold water. Simmer for another 10 minutes and serve with boiled rice.

Use the skin with the carcass for soup.

ROAST DUCK WITH GREEN SAUCE V2 pt. spinach juice 1 glass white wine Vi lb. green gooseberries 1 oz. butter 1 widgeon or pintail 1 lemon 1 tbls. sugar Salt and pepper Fat

Sprinkle inside of duck with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, then truss and roast in hot oven for 20 to 25 minutes to pound, basting frequently. If you prefer, the duck can be stuffed with a pork sausage meat. Boil up the spinach juice, wine, gooseberries, sugar, and butter together, and simmer until it becomes a puree. Put through sieve and serve very hot with duck.

To obtain spinach juice, boil up V2 pound of spinach in V2 cup of water.

VENISON STEW WITH POTATO DUMPLINGS 3 lbs. venison shoulder 4 tbls. butter 4 tbls. flour 1 V2 tsp. salt 2 c. stock of bouillon 4 c. hot water 1 small onion, sliced 6 peppercorns 2 whole cloves 1 bay leaf Juice Vi lemon Vi c. red wine

Rinse meat and wipe dry. Cut in serving-size pieces. Heat butter in dutch oven. Stir flour smoothly in and cook until browned. Add salt, stock, hot water. Stir and mix well. Add onion, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaf, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and let boil 5 minutes. Add meat. Cover pot, boil gently IV2 hours. Add wine and mix with gravy in pot, continue cooking 15 minutes. Serve with potato dumplings. Serves 6.

OCTOBER, 1965 43

THE JUSTICE WEARS SKIRTS

O'Neill's fishing judge recesses her court to decide the case of battling bluegill vs. fly by Bill Vogt

MY COMPANION'S FLY barely touched the water when the surface of the small pond erupted in a small explosion. Playing the fish like a master, the Justice of the Peace of O'Neill guided the scrapper around a cloud of moss and brought him in. She unhooked the hand-sized bluegill and dropped him into the mesh bag and was back in business again.

That's right. The Justice is a lady, the fly rod-wielding Irene Booth. At least twice a week she puts aside legal matters, grabs her custom-tailored fly rod and takes out after panfish. She's a well-known visitor to the many farm ponds north of O'Neill. I had been eager for a chance to see Judge Booth in action, and snapped up the invitation to accompany her to a pond she had never fished. Word of her ability with a fly rod has spread in Holt County and has opened many gates to her. The panfish population of many a farm pond has felt the sting of her lures.

After a short drive from O'Neill, we had arrived at a little hidden jewel of a pond. You have to know it is there or you'll miss it. Mrs. Booth jumped out of the car with the enthusiasm of a born fisherman, or in this case, fisherwoman.

The pond was typical of the region. The water was clear, but rich in vegetation. It nestled below a high bank on one side, then stretched into flat marshy ground on the other. Open stretches between the patches of moss called for casting accuracy.

"This is going to be a real blast," Mrs. Booth chuckled, as she hopped over the barbed-wire fence before I could assist her. Looking down into the water, we could see large numbers of bluebil circling the dark islands of moss. I began stringing up my 71/2-foot glass rod as Mrs. Booth hefted her bamboo wand, ready for action.

  THE JUSTICE WEARS SKIRTS continued

"I can't stand those glass jobs," she laughed. "They break my arm. A bamboo rod I used for years broke, and I had this copy made to order." My fishing partner tied on a small hackle fly and made a cast, pulling in her first slab-sider before I wetted a line. I laid out a self-made bee hackle between two patches of moss, then turned to watch Mrs. Booth's line rise to clear the high bank behind her and fall gently on the water. Watching this gal in action proved that she knew plenty about handling a rod. A sharp tug drew my attention to the business at hand. I was too late, so I continued to work the little bee in. Four or five small bluegill followed the fly, but there were no takers.

"Goldfish-bowl size," Mrs. Booth called from her position about 25 feet down the bank. She held up a tiny three-incher, then disdainfully dropped him back.

The two of us tallied eight hefty keepers during the next hour. The wind receded, and the pond lay like a mirror. I had just made a cast when I saw a dark form slipping through the water. A miniature whirlpool swirled below the fly, but the fish didn't take.

"A bass," Mrs. Booth exclaimed, as my line went slack.

"No, just a big-mouthed bluegill," I joked. The owner of the pond had told us we could keep the bluegill to thin their numbers, but he wanted us to return any bass we caught. The bass were agreeable, all except the hungry loner that bugged my line.

I made another cast and the bass hit. He promptly gulped my fly as soon as it landed. The fighter tore through the water, gaining line until the six-foot leader no longer showed above the surface. He wrapped the heavy fly line around some moss and broke off. I consoled myself by thinking I would have had to release him anyway.

Judge Booth was having problems of her own. Her rod was bent in an arc, the result of a small fish and a lot of moss.

"We might do better if we scrounged up some bait," I speculated, only half in jest.

I was quick to learn I had touched a delicate subject as far as Mrs. Booth was concerned.

"Bait!" She stopped fishing and reflected a few moments, digesting my remark. "Sure, you can catch twice as many on bait. But I've always limited myself to artificials. It's fun, and much more sport."

Though she let the matter go at that, I made a mental note not to mention the word if ever hauled into her court. We sat down to rest the water and ourselves. I decided it was time to indulge my curiosity.

"How did you come to be a Justice of the Peace?" I asked.

"Probably because I can find more time to fish," she smiled. "I've been a Holt County J. P. about three years now. I'm also police magistrate at O'Neill. Most of my work involves weighing-scale cases. As I say, the job does give me more time to get out after panfish, especially since two of my four children got married and left home."

"Why do you stick to panfish exclusively?" I queried, anxious to know more (continued on page 52)

46 NEBRASKAland

FALLING LEAVES

You may turn over a new leaf, if you come up with the right answers MATCH THEM UP Wild plum Hackberry Honey locust Red mulberry Cottonwood Sycamore American elm Silver maple Bur oak Box elder

TREES AND SHRUBS which make up Nebraska's windbreaks and parks, line city streets, and shade its river systems give second thoughts to the fabled term, "treeless plain". To prove the point, ask anybody faced with the chore of raking a lawn. This is the time of falling leaves, and in keeping with the season's leaf consciousness, here's a poser. Pictured are 10 leaves, each from a different species. Can you match the leaf with its proper tree? Some are easy to identify, others are a little more difficult, but all are common in NEBRASKAland. These hints can help.

A cottonwood leaf is an easy one. Bright yellow in the fall it is thick and coarsely toothed, and tends to look like a triangle with rounded corners on the base. The lopsided hackberry leaf is a little tougher, but here is a clue. Hackberry leaves turn pale yellow in autumn and lack the heart-shaped design of the cottonwood.

Another leaf with a lopsided base is that of the American elm. It is.thicker than that of the hackberry, and has smaller teeth on larger ones, or "double serrations".

Coarse serrations mark the mulberry leaf which varies considerably in shape. If you look, you'll find many of them with several deep lobes. A broader-leaved sycamore characteristically has three to five lobes of varying depth. Its serrations are very coarse and is broader than it is long. The oblong leaf of the Bur oak has unserrated margins with five to seven deep lobes.

All of the above leaves are classed as "simple" in structure. "Compound" leaves are more complicated, with a number of leaflets arranged on a single stem or "petiole". One of the NEBRASKAland trees bearing foliage of this type is the honey locust. This usually thorny species averages 16 to 18 oblong leaflets per leaf. The box elder also has compound leaves, normally with three to five leaflets. Its top leaflet often sports three lobes.

A relative of the box elder, the silver maple, has a simple leaf which is normally five-lobed with sharp points on each division. It is a popular tree for shade and planting.

Rounding out the sampling of NEBRASKAland leaves is the" wild plum. Hunters shouldn't have any trouble with this one. An important source of wildlife cover, the plum bears a sharply serrated leaf. Serrations are often double, and the leaf itself tends toward an oval shape.

There they are, 10 leaves from 10 NEBRASKAland trees. If you are stumped, the answers are on page 53.

THE END OCTOBER, 1965 47

WHERE-TO-GO

Rimrock Recreation Ranch

THERE IS A NEW recipe for recreation in NEBRASKAland that is born of heritage, wide-open spaces, excitement, and solace. Serving up a chuck-wagon-size dish of this western-style entertainment are Ross and Juanita Raum, operators of an 800-acre spread called Rimrock Recreation Ranch near Crawford.

The Raums plug the relaxation, rest, and adventure aspects of their wooded resort. One look and you'll agree their claims are as true as the land that spawns them. A feeling of peaceful tranquillity sweeps over the visitor at this scenic retreat. Rimrock Ranch is a fine example of the "Ranch and Farm Vacation" idea that 22 enterprising NEBRASKAland hosts have created from a combination of western hospitality and "go get them" desire. It is a chance for the working businessman or the vacation-bound family to get away from it all and enjoy a secluded and picturesque area without the rigors of "roughing" it.

Your Rood to Successful Hunting Uplond game- Waterfowl- Big game Norfolk Madison Columbus Shelby Osceola Stromsburg York Geneva Hebron For unlimited hunting action, variety of targets, and the friendliest people pack your gear and head for the US Highway 81. Located across this north-south highway are some of the best hunting grounds in all of Nebraska. The welcome mat is out. Plenty of good motels, hotels, and restaurants are all ready to serve you. Take the road to successful hunting. Take US 81. Write to the chamber of commerce in each town for the latest hunting information. GOING HUNTING? GO YORK, NEBRASKAland Find out about the hunting area before you make your final plans. Write for your FREE copy of the YORK HUNTER, designed to give you the who, where, when and whys to stop in York. Write TODAY to: YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOX 483 — YORK, NEBRASKA

Guests at Rimrock get a quick taste of the hospitality extended by the ranchers turned hosts. The huge welcome sign at the entrance points toward five Lodgepole pine cabins with modern facilities.

After a cordial "Howdy, folks" in front of the resort's lodge, visitors get a tour of the comfortable screened-in cabins. Once a cabin is selected, the next move is a fun-filled journey around the ranch.

One of five spring-fed trout ponds will probably catch dad's eye while mom may go prospecting for petrified wood. Kids can climb onto waiting saddle horses for rides through the Pine Ridge or the whole family can vote for a hike to a nearby point for a view of breathtaking immensity.

Looking north across the bluffs, the hazy image of the faraway Black Hills comes into focus, while an about-face will bring famed Red Cloud Butte into range. It was near these bluffs that Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux roamed during the days of Indian rule.

It was no pushover to finance and finish the comfortable spread. After a big decision in 1963 to expand their operation, the Raums spent months planning a resort on the valley floor.

The Raum dream came true after financial backing from the Farmers Home Administration of Nebraska and day after day of hard work. Guest demand has put plans for 15 additional units in the works.

The enchantment of the Pine Ridge country is everywhere in this area. A curious hiker can stride into valleys where the exciting history of the West is forever etched on the land. This country has known them all—Indian, trapper, emigrant, and rawhide.

The Raums are well aware of the rich heritage around them. They are third-generation descendants of William J. A. Raum, who came to the Pine Ridge on October 1, 1881.

Also on the menu at Rimrock is bow-and-arrow deer hunting during the long season, bass fishing, buckboard rides, chuck-wagon feeds, and ordinary loafing around the lodge, where a warm fire in the magnificent fireplace throws flickers of light onto extensive pistol and rifle collections. The novel fireplace is a masterpiece of workmanship. It is trimmed in petrified wood found north of the ranch.

A host of top tourist attractions in NEBRASKAland is just minutes away from Rimrock. The weird domain of Toadstool Park is 15 miles north of the ranch. Fort Robinson State Park is located 10 miles to the south, and Chadron State Park is 40 miles east.

Rimrock Ranch, surrounded by the picturesque Pine Ridge, is a center of western enchantment. The Raum's spread is a living example of the attraction offered in Nebraska where vacations come true.

THE END 48 NEBRASKAland

TRAPLINE

(continued from page 11)

he caught them because the carcasses were so heavy.

Silva and he worked night after night skinning and stretching the day's catch. There is a thin, tight layer of flesh that clings to a beaver pelt and this has to be fleshed off before the hide can be marketed. Silva spent hours doing this tedious fleshing. It was painstaking work, for one slip of her knife could ruin the valuable hide.

The Dismal was full of rats and mink. In those days the ranchers did not graze to the river's edge and this fringe was ideal forage ground for all fur bearers. The cover was tunnelled with game trails and Ed reaped a profitable harvest by setting traps at the entrances of these passageways. He usually staked his traps so the muskrats would dive for deep water and drown, but sometimes he would lose a few when the rats twisted out of the steel jaws.

A deep-water set for beaver almost ended Ed's career. He used the doublestake set for the big flat tails with one stake driven into the bank and another placed down current in the deeper water. A wire between the two stakes let the ring slide down the wire and over the splice. When the beaver stepped into the trap he usually headed for deep water, sliding the ring on the trap chain toward the lower stake. Unable to return and hampered by the weight of the trap the beaver usually drowned.

On a below-zero day, Ed donned breast waders to make such a set. He was in deep water when his feet slipped and he went under. His waders filled up with icy water and the current started shoving him into even deeper water. Frantically, the trapper fought the river and managed to roll into the shallows. He sloshed up the bank, dumped out his waders, and headed for home. Ed was blue with cold when he reached the house.

Another time his horse bucked and Ed came down sideways on the frozen ground. A searing flash of pain ripped through his left side and he lost consciousness. When the injured man came to, his horse was gone and his whole left side felt like it was on fire. He knew some ribs were broken, but he hauled himself to his feet and started the long trek home. Fortunately, a neighbor caught the runaway, and surmising that something was wrong, back-tracked the bronc. He found Ed in mighty bad shape but hanging on, plodding toward home. A few days later Rodewald, swathed in more tape than a mummy, was back tending his traps.

A February Chinook brought Ed his greatest week as a trapper. January 1927 had been bitter cold and most of the Nebraskan's traps went unsnapped along the iced-in river. On the first day of the new month a warm wind blew OCTOBER, 1965 49   across the valley and hungry fur bearers started to move. It seemed that every one of Ed's 200 traps took a valuable pelt as the weather continued to moderate. Working day and night, Rodewald set and reset his traps, taking advantage of the unexpected bonanza. When the week was done the almost exhausted trapper had more than $1,000 worth of fur drying on the stretchers.

WHEN PLANNING YOUR HUNTING TRIP, Contact P.O. BOX 207 BROKEN BOW, NEBR. 68822 FOR Guide service, hunting dogs, trap shooting facilities, cleaning and freezing of game. Accommodations can also be arranged. GIFT PACKAGES AVAILABLE Pheasant, Wild Turkey, Quail and Chucker. Mixed Packages also available Write for prices Sportsman's Paradise On Johnson Lake Boat Tow-In Modern Cabins Sportsman's Steak House Boat Ramp and Docks Bait and Fishing Tackle Mercury Motors—Lone Star Boats Sales and Service ELWOOD, NEBRASKA PHEASANT HUNTING! Come to NORFOLK this year and stay at HOTEL MADISON Hunters' Headquarters in Northeast Nebraska Dining room - Cocktail lounge M. L "Mike" Papineau, Manager HAHLE'S FISHING CENTER CAFE AND ICE BOAT AND MOTOR RENTAL BOAT GAS—SKI BOATS TACKLE AND BAITS GUIDE SERVICE RED WILLOW RESERVOIR Rt. #1 McCook, Nebraska Ph. 345-3560

As the seasons added up, Ed was becoming more rancher than trapper. Profits from the trap line were poured into land and cattle. The ranch was getting bigger and bigger but Rodewald needed a winter pasture to make his operation complete. For years he had his eye on 3,000 acres of valley land but the owner refused to sell. Finally in 1936, the owner, famed novelist Peter B. Kyne, changed his mind and sold the valley lands for $3 an acre. It was fur money that backed Ed's check when the deal was sealed.

Pretty well set now, the Nebraskan continued to string steel but the growing responsibilities on his spread, declining fur prices, and a scarcity of animals pointed to the end of the trapping trail. Ed had one more favor to ask of the river before he hung up his steel for good. It was granted.

Ever-mindful of Silva's hard work when trapping kept the wolf from the family door, Ed began to keep the best of the beavers that he caught. Gradually, he built up a pile of prime plews and then called in an expert to grade them. Twelve of the very best were selected and sent to a furrier. They came back a gorgeous coat, a garment so rich in material and workmanship that it would cost a ransom to replace. It is one of Silva's most cherished possessions.

Today as Ed rides along the Dismal River and sees the fresh cuttings of a beaver or the swirl of a swimming muskrat there is a world of memories behind the wistful smile that plays across his weather-beaten face.

THE END

DEVIL'S GAP

(continued from page 19)

family and had Ketchum's arm fixed up. News of the fight as well as of the $700 reward Print was offering for their return had reached the residents there. They were told that if they returned to Custer County they would never see a judge or a courtroom. With this sobering news facing them they decided to give themselves up then and there. Sheriffs E. P. Crew of Howard County and William Letcher of Merrick County took them into custody and transported them to Buffalo County where they were held in the Kearney jail. Olive demanded that they be returned to Custer County if anyone was going to claim the reward.

No one was willing to take the responsibility for handing Ketchum and 50 NEBRASKAland Mitchell over to the revenge-hungry cowboys. Finally Barney Gillan, sheriff of Keith County, who had the warrant for their arrest, was chosen to take them back. Gillan and his two prisoners boarded a westbound emigrant train on December 10, 1878, and headed for their date with destiny. Thomas Darnell, legal counsel for the two, learned of their departure. Fearing foul play, he telegraphed Plum Creek, now the city of Lexington, to have an attorney, Captain C. W. McNamar keep an eye on things until he could get there.

The train rumbled into Plum Creek about three in the afternoon. Print Olive and his crew were on hand to meet the homesteaders. So was McNamar. Olive's men took charge of the prisoners despite the attorney's protests that they couldn't take the law into their own hands.

McNamar was still determined to see justice done and followed at a safe distance. When Print's boys noticed that they were being tailed, they split into two groups, but McNamar kept after the one with the captives. Finally he lost the trail in the darkness and had to turn back.

Both parties rode on through the night and toward dawn, met on the South Loup about five miles from the Olive Ranch. Olive paid Gillan the reward and the sheriff turned his prisoners over to the cattleman. The transfer completed, the posse moved on. Its destination was "Devil's Gap", wild canyon country about halfway between the Loup and Wood River Valley. There Print's cowboys touched a match to a controversy that swept the nation.

"MAN BURNERS!" the headline screamed from newspapers across the nation. The Kearney paper asserted that only one man in Nebraska would deal out justice, Judge William Gaslin. Gaslin was known as "The Hanging Judge" and for good reason. The hard-bitten justice probably sent more men to the gallows than any other in the history of the West. At the time Gaslin was holding court in Sidney, but he promptly adjourned and hurried to Plum Creek.

Because of the rough reputations of Print's boys, the question of their capture was a grave one. Finally, however, they were rounded up and the trial began in early April at Hastings. Olive and 11 others were indicted for Mitchell's murder. Print and Fred Fisher, his foreman, were ultimately put on trial for the crime.

There were about a hundred witnesses and Phil Dufrand, one of the defendants, along with Bion Brown, turned states evidence. When both men testified to Olive's and Fisher's part in the murder they pretty well sewed up the case for the prosecution. On the evening of April 16, the case was given to the jury. Before morning they returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree.

Judge Gaslin sentenced the two to OCTOBER, 1965   life in the state pen, but proceedings for their release were started as soon as they were sentenced. The following year the supreme court stated that the prisoners were entitled to a trial in the county in which the crime was committed. The prisoners were taken to Custer County to stand trial a second time, but the case was thrown out of court because there was no complaint on the county docket.

Of the number of defendants in the first trial, only Olive and Fisher did time, serving one year, seven months, and 20 days.

After the "Devil's Gap" lynching, Olive's wealth took a turn for the worse. He sold his ranch in Nebraska and four years later he and his son, William, were trying to make a go of it in Colorado. Young Olive had a disagreement with a stranger over a game of billiards and was gunned down. As fate would have it, Print came up second best in a shoot down the next day.

Though NEBRASKAland has known many a bloody feud, no one instance has had such long-lasting impact as the Mitchell-Ketchum necktie party. Folks still talk about the incident in Custer County, as if it happened only yesterday.

THE END PHEASANT HUNTING In Newman Grove Hunting Privileges—Lodging and Homecooked Meals. Make Your Reservation Now. JACK REIGLE Newman Grove, Nebraska Phone 477-2367 RANCH REARED BOBWHITE QUAIL CHUKARS RINGNECK PHEASANTS GERMAN SHORTHAIR POINTERS Bourn's Game Farm LEXINGTON, NEBRASKA From $155.00 investment - Meet the 28 year old Dorner who Skyrocketed the Sales to Over $1,000,000.00 over a 3 year period with no previous advertising. Send yojr name on a POST CARD to DORNER PRODUCTS DEPT NEBR. 25 FREMONT ST BATTLE CREEK, MICH, or Chamber of Commerce for FREE PROOF LITERATURE Money talks"1 I enclose $2.50 for CAN and expect QUICK moiling. 28-year old C.R. Dorner born Hildreth, Nebr. Bonnie Dorner, wife, born West Point, Nebr.

FISHING JUDGE

(continued from page 46)

about my companion and her zeal for fishing.

"Because they're fun to catch," she replied.

Who can dispute reasoning like that? Besides, it was time to have another go at the pond. The sun lacked just a few notches of setting when we returned to our battle stations. Mrs. Booth shifted to a small cove. Her fly dropped beside a half-submerged log and a nice bluegill hit. I moved closer to watch the fun. Mrs. Booth turned the fish as he cut to one side, bidding for a tangle of roots. Foiled by the rod, the bluegill ducked into a bank of moss. The casting enthusiast edged him out along with a sizeable hunk of moss and added him to her collection, then turned to appraise the sky.

"They'll really start hitting now. Guess I'll try a little popper," she commented.

She opened a worn leather fly book containing a large array of panfish-sized flies. Most of them were hackled, wingless creations, plus a variety of tiny poppers. It was evident some of the lures had seen many seasons. She chose a yellow popper and tied it on.

The popper swished back and forth, as the judge false-casted to gain more and more line, then dropped between two clumps of moss. Mrs. Booth twitched the lure to make the popper gurgle and bubble. It vanished in a swirl of water. The fish went through 52 NEBRASKAland his repertoire of tricks, cutting from side to side. But the fishing justice had a few tricks of her own, and the bluegill soon joined his brethren in the now-bulging mesh bag. As Mrs. Booth moved toward another promising spot, I suddenly realized how well she kept herself mobile, no loose tackle to pick up, and no stringer of fish to retrieve each time. The mesh bag dangling at her waist served admirably for a creel, while all her artificials were contained in a pocket-sized parcel.

As the sky began to lose its color, the bluegill went on a feeding rampage just as she had predicted. We lost track of the count, but during the half hour before dark, we caught more keepers than we took in the hours after our late-afternoon arrival. Miraculously, the mosquitos kept their peace.

Too soon it was time to go. Mrs. Booth said she had to get back in time for a music recital. I retrieved my scattered gear and turned just in time to see a blue-jean-clad figure nimbly hop the fence, heading for her car. Mrs. Booth was still ahead of me. Tomorrow, O'Neill's fishing justice of the peace would be sitting behind her book-laden desk, making out decisions, and perhaps recessing her court to plan her next panfish foray.

THE END

JET-AGE DOGS

(continued from page 13)

preparatory agitation to the attack stage, the neophyte sentry dog finds some sort of reward. This may be only the satisfaction of seeing a man flee, but there is always something to let him know he's done a good job.

Answers: FALLING LEAVES 1. Bur oak 2. Honey Locusi 3. Sycamore 4L Red mulberry 5. Cottonwood 6. Silver maple 7« American elm 8. Wild plum 9. Hackberry 10. Box elder VETERANS! SUBSCRIBE TO THE ONLY PUBLICATION EDITED SOLELY TO SECURE EVERY POSSIBLE BENEFIT FOR ALL VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES, INCLUDING 1. A Federal Bonus for service in the Armed Forces during World War II, the Korean Period, and the Cold War at the rate of $3 per day for regular duty and $6 per day for time in combat zones, P.O.W. Camps, or other highly hazardous duty. 2. Higher Disability Compensation and more realistic Dependency Allowances for ALL Disabled Veterans and their families. 3. A greatly improved Life Insurance Program; and many more objectives. FOR A YEAR'S SUBCRIPTION SEND $5 IN CASH, CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO VETERANS' VOICE LANG BUILDING — 356 S. E. SECOND STREET FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA DEPT. 123 Wil-O-Wood Spinner A terrifm bait for WALLEYES CRAPPIES IORTHERNS At your sporting goods dealer or order direct, cents, postpaid. :-0W00D MFG., Seward, Nebr. NEBRASKAland's SAVINGS HEADQUARTERS Mr. Green Thumb's home at Union Loan and Savings is your home when it ccmes to saving in NEBRASKAland. Your savings earn a big current rate of 4% compounded quarterly and they're insured up to $10,000 by an agency cf the U. S. government. Union Loan and Savings has three savings centers waiting to serve you. For added convenience, save by mail. WESTERN NEBRASKA EASTERN NEBRASKA UNION LOAN AND SAVINGS UNION LOAN AND SAVINGS 1610 First Avenue, Scottsbluff 209 So. 13th—56th & O, Lincoln

"Agitation", which might more appropriately be called "infuriation", consists of working the dogs into a rage. The agitator runs in front of the dog, waving a hat or sleeve. Each animal "wins" when the agitator runs on to the next. Agitation must strike a balance, for if there is too much of it, the animal tends to withdraw toward his master for protection. The handler is OCTOBER, 1965 53   never put on the receiving end of an attack from his own dog during training.

Between guard shifts, each man puts his ward through a variety of paces over an obstacle course containing a mock-up of a window, a wall, and a tunnel. The handler keeps control of his dog during the session. After the obedience work out, the sentry and his canine aide are taken by truck to a guard post for six hours of "scouting".

Two weeks of training are given each new dog. Handlers undergo a six-week course. A man just taking over a trained dog needs six months to get acquainted with his "pet". A close relationship is established between airman and animal. It's so close, in fact, that many re-enlist just to stay with their charge. The men are encouraged to break their leave time into two periods so they will not be away from their dogs too long. In the handler's absence, the kennel master is available to muzzle the animal should he need veterinary attention. Aside from the handler, he is the only one to enter the pen to tend the dog.

The kennel consists of two rows of concrete-floored pens. Visitors make a rapid check of the reassuring wire mesh as the snarling animals vent their resentment of trespassers.

Sentry dogs lead two lives, each governed by the type of collar worn. A smooth choke chain is used in obedience training, or during transportation to a guard post. Gildart feels "choke chain" may be a misnomer, as its function is to very briefly restrict the dog's breath as he lunges, not to throttle him. When he sports a smooth leather collar, he's on the job and scouting a sentry post.

On post, the animal walks ahead of the guard, tugging at the six-foot leash looped securely around the man's wrist. A quick release snap attaches leash to collar. The animal is not turned loose at an intruder until the sentry is sure of the target.

Each handler learns to "read" his dog and can tell if his charge is scenting a rabbit or a man. If it is a man, and if the sentry determines he's an intruder, the "weapon" is activated.

The sentry dog is considered a weapon. Sergeant Gildart says a gun is safer than a furious German shepherd.

"If you put a firearm in its holster, it's not going to go off unless somebody plays with it. A dog is different. You don't play with a sentry dog, because this weapon is always cocked and loaded. And it doesn't miss. Even when the animal is on a leash, you want to keep 10 to 15 feet away from him. A 60-pound dog pulls with a force of about 200 pounds, and his jaws shut with about 800 pounds of pressure.

"Some people are willing to take their chances with a gun blasting at them in the dark, but a dog has a psychological effect. I believe you could put up a sign that said sentry dogs in the area, and people would stay away, even if no dogs were in sight. You can't outrun or hide from one. He'll smell you out. Even the sound of the animal approaching, straining to be released from the leash, is enough to bring a man out."

Once turned on a man, a dog will keep chewing until the handler pulls him off. At the command, "Sit and 54 NEBRASKAland watch him", the dog will sit ready to pounce at any threatening motion on the part of the intruder. The animal is worked up by this time, and any sudden motion can set him off.

The arm is the first target a dog-normally picks, for a man's instinct is to raise his arm to protect his face. Most dogs will stick to the arm, but a few will shift to other parts of the body. Gildart says that when that happens, a man crawls down into his suit somehow.

Heavily-padded rolls of burlap are used on the training suit. Even with this heavy outfit, the sergeant bears marks of the hazards of being a target. He recalls the time he turned to run away from a dog during training, but the animal got him in the foot. The teeth penetrated the leather and stuck fast. It seemed a long time before the handler pulled the animal away. The sergeant blames himself, saying he violated good safety practices.

"If men don't get bitten, you don't have a good section," the airman maintains. "I've been bitten before and expect to be again. When I do, I won't cry on anybody's shoulder. A puncture bite isn't so bad, but a rip wound is pretty rough. Sometimes a dog manages to get off a muzzle bite, pinching the end of the muzzle between his jaws. The fangs protrude, and can slash a pretty good rip.

Though the animals take a dim view of strangers, their handlers become quite close to them. If a dog gets sick, his handler is called in to stay near the compound's isolation pen, day and night. There is a base veterinarian for any major medical attention that is needed.

Feeding is carefully supervised. During the summer, a slimming diet is followed. It consists of two pounds of food a day, about half beef, half meal. In winter, the fare is upped to about four pounds a day.

Sentry dogs are well worth the close attention lavished on them. Taxpayers are reassured to know that each dog and his handler replaces at least five men on night guard duty. While a man can protect only about 25 feet in total darkness, one canine duo easily covers 200 yards. These dogs have been known to alert guards to a man approaching from as far as 800 yards away.

Most of these sentries possess the characteristic side-slitted nostrils of the German shepherd. This allows the dogs to scout a wide area by pointing their muzzles up, as opposed to a ground-sniffing hound. Shepherd dominence is required because of the breed's high adaptability to a wide range of climates and their loyalty to one master.

Sentry dogs are not all purebreds, however. One of the animals in Sergeant Gildart's section is part Labrador. Dark colors are preferred, since the dogs work primarily at night. The animals are purchased from private individuals through Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Anyone desiring to sell a dog can write the Base Sentry Dog Procurement Officer there for the necessary forms. Requirements specify that the animal must be at least 23 inches tall, between 12 and 36 months old, and in good health.

Many first-time watchers of the Air Force sentry dogs are surprised that there is a significant difference between these animals and civilian police dogs. Sergeant Gildart points out that police dogs are trained to respond to a complex series of commands, because they are used in heavily populated areas. The sentry dogs, however, respond to five basic commands: "sit", "down", "stay", "heel", and "come". These simple orders plus a few others are all that are required to guard the rather isolated perimeters where the animals are used.

The sentry dog does not differentiate. If one is turned loose on a group of 50 men, he will try to attack all 50, rather than any designated man. Though the rush of a dog at a burlap-suited trainer appears to be undisciplined savagery, much care and patience go into the making of a good sentry. His warning growl is as much the sound of security, as the roar of a jet overhead. THE END

OCTOBER, 1965 55

OUTDOOR ELSEWHERE

Up On The Car Tops. All good bears are supposed to go over the mountain, but there's one that prefers to climb automobiles. A party of bowhunters had parked their cars in a row and were awakened from their slumbers by the big fellow as he walked across the tops of the autos. The bruin was getting along fine, until he came to a convertible. The canvas top was no match for his claws and weight. Needless to say, the car's interior was rearranged considerably before the bear could be chased away.—West Virginia.

Not Furgotten. A doctor has topped all the stories about "the one that got away." He hooked a mink while fishing and lost it. The doctor had only one comment, "My wife was furious." —New York.

Checking Chuckle. When a road hunter stopped at a check station and angrily demanded where the birds were stocked, the conservation officer asked his name and then ran a finger down a paper he was holding. "Oh, yes sir," he gravely replied, "Here's your name. Your two grouse are right up at the top of that hill under those aspen trees."—Utah.

Liquid Assets. You might say this man ran a fish-and-game preserve at his home during the spring flood. He had four wild ducks swimming in his front yard, and when he pumped out the basement, it was full of minnows.—Ohio.

Hole In One. A doctor bagged a goose with a golf ball when his tee shot hit a low-flying bird and knocked it dead. Fortunately the season was open and the good doctor had a valid hunting license in his pocket.—Washington.

Proof Positive. A policeman arrested a man for taking fish from a net in the river. The man assured the officer that the net was his net, but the officer was not convinced. The discussion was halted, however, when the officer pointed out his own name on the net. Obviously, the poacher had not selected his target too carefully.—Connecticut.

Thermometer Useful. Trout take wet flies best when water temperatures are 50-55 degrees and take dry flies when the range is from 55-65 degrees.—Wyoming

Not Ambidextrous. There are left-handed dogs as well as left-handed people, according to scientists. The hunting dog invariably raises the same foreleg each time he freezes on point.—New York.

56 NEBRASKAland

NEBRASKAland TRADING POST

Classified Ads: 15 cents a word, minimum order $3 Jan. '66 Closing Date, Nov. 1 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES EXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE. Amazing new liquid plastic coating used on all types of surfaces interior or exterior. Eliminates waxing when applied on Asphalt Tile, Vinyl, Linoleum, Vinyl Asbestos, Hard Wood, and Furniture. Completely eliminates painting when applied to Wood, Metal, or Concrete surfaces. This finish is also recommended for boats and automobiles. No competition. As these are exclusive formulas in demand by all businesses, industry and homes. No franchise fee. Minimum investment—$300. Maximum investment—$7,000. Investment is secured by inventory. Factory trained personnel will help set up your business. For complete details and descriptive literature write: Chem-Plastics & Paint Corporation, 1828 Locust, St. Louis 3, Missouri. JOBBER WANTED: For western Nebraska and other territories. Fast growing line of flies iies spinners. Handcrafted in Nebraska. For information write SKITTER PRODUCTS, 205 South 15th, Norfolk, Nebraska. DOGS AKC BLACK LABRADORS. Spring and summer pups, $50 up. Two fine dogs at stud. Few started dogs. Best hunting and field trial bloodlines. Kewanee Retrievers, Valentine, Nebraska, Telephone 402-376-25^. CHESAPEAKE pups, champion-sired champion stud service. Clyde Rigby, 1511 30th Street S. E., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. REGISTERED drahthaars, vizslas pups, started dogs, excellent hungers Free folder. Frank Engstrom, Grey Eagle, Minnesota. IRISH WATER SPANIEL pups 8 weeks old I have raised this strain for 40 years Good ones. George D. Wixer, Route #2, Tekamah, Nebraska. AKC BLACK LABRADOR female 1 year old. Trained to retrieve and has some hunting experience, $150. Tom Haiston, 1305 West 18th, Scottsbluff, Nebraska. AKC BLACK LABRADOR puppies. Whelped July 23, '65. Field champion bloodlines^ Reasonably priced. Roy Stapp, Jr. Nebraska. Cozad, SPRINGER puppies, both colors Registered-Largest quality breeder m the Midwest. Dave's Storybook Kennels, RR #3, uecaxui, Illinois. Telephone 963-2247. REGISTERED AKC Wolfswiese. Outstanding German Shorthaired pups and frameVHwh dogs, bred for gun and competition. Radbacn Kennels, Route #2, Boise, Idaho. ATTENTION HUNTERS. Condition your dog for the hunting season. Also ^training and boarding by the month Donald Baldwin, Battle Creek, Nebraska. Telephone 675-3115. VIZSLA pups, started dogs, bred females, AKC—FDSB, perfect for home and fieia. Guaranteed. Imp. Ajax Olca at Stud, Jorgens Kennels, Clara City, Minnesota. ENGLISH Pointers 10 months old. Registered. Just right to hunt this fall. Untrained unspoiled Males $35, females $25. Also Labrador. Roland Everett, Atkinson, Nebraska. CHESAPEAKeT World's finest duck and pheasant dog companion. Pups available from stock bred for a purpose. Three Rivers Duck Club, Wilmington, Illinois. FISH BAIT FISHERMEN: Catch all the white bass you want and your limits of sauger, walleye and northern. Use a white or yellow SKITTER JIG. Send $1.00 and receive two i^-oz. jigs postpaid. SKITTER PRODUCTS, 205 South 15th Street, Norfolk, Nebraska. ARKANSAS GIANT mealworms. The three-way bait. Use worms, pupa, or beetles! 400—$1; 1,000—$2; 3,000—$5. Postpaid. Jon-Bait, P.O. Box 600, Marked Tree, Arkansas, 72365. CATCH THE LIMIT. Imported fishing flies. Authentic design, effective results. Assorted, 20 for $1.69. 50 for $3.99. Excellent gifts. HAROLD'S, Dept. N-5, 2674 Marty Way, Sacramento, California 95818. FISHERMEN. Try my hand-tied Nymphs. Deadly for Trout and all Panfish. Six postpaid, $1. Ken Knox, R.D. 6, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. HUNTING COLERIDGE, Nebraska Welcomes the pheasant hunters to attend their smorgasbord dinner at the Legion Hall on the first Sunday during the pheasant season, a "Special Hunters Line". Facilities with Laundromat for campers and trailer houses in the park. ATTENTION HUNTERS. Parkway Cabins one-half mile south of Chadron State Park. Entrance on Highway 385. Also some guide service. James and Connie Konopasek. E-Z HAWK CALL. Guaranteed to bring them in. $1 postpaid. Instructions. Anthony Paducah, Kentucky. TRU-TONE Turkey calls. $2.25 each retail. Dealers invited. Write to The Wonder House, 611 West 17th, Grand Island, Nebraska. HUNTERS' STOP. Duck and Goose, Pheasant and Quail. The very best hunting on 2,000 acres of milo and idle grass land with guide service. Modern home and cabin on the Little Blue river for fishing and vacationing. For reservations and information write to John Dondlinger, Hebron, Nebraska. Telephone 768-2292. MISCELLANEOUS BE PREPARED—Repair now. Inexpensive, reliable service. Cameras, meters, binoculars. Send insured. Free estimate. Modern Technical Repairs, 550-C Westbury Avenue, Carle Place, L. I., New York. 11514. STONEGROUND CORNMEAL. Most complete line Health Foods. Many processed daily. Come see us or write. Brownville Mills, Brownville, Nebraska. NEW, USED AND ANTIQUE GUNS, send for list including Browning O & U's, Weatherby, Winchester, Ithaca, Colt, Ruger and others in stock for sale or trade. Send large self-addressed 10£ stamped envelope or stop in, Bedlan's Sporting Goods, just off U.S. 136, Fairbury, Nebraska. COLLAPSIBLE Farm-Pond Fish-Traps: Animal Traps, postpaid. Free information, pictures. Shawnee, 3934-AX Buena Vista, Dallas 4, Texas. TAXIDERMY THE BEST in taxidermy. Mounting all kinds of specimens with life-like expressions and positions. Otto Borcherdt, Route #8, Lincoln, Nebraska. Telephone 488-8093. CUSTOM TAXIDERMY. Trophies mounted true to nature. Reasonable prices. John Reigert, Jr., 865 South 39th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. Telephone 489-3042. SCUBA EQUIPMENT BOB-K'S AQUA SUPPLY, Nebraska's largest scuba dealer. U.S. Divers, Sportsways, Voit, Swimmaster, Scubrapro. Air Station, Regulator Repair. Telephone 553-0777. 5051 Leavenworth Street, Omaha, Nebraska. SKIN AND SCUBA Diving Certification Course Starts early December. For registration and information, contact YMCA, 1111 West 4th Street, Grand Island, Nebraska. OUTDOOR NEBRASKAland of the Air SUNDAY KGFW, Keorney (1340 kc) 7:05 a.m. KTTT, Columbus (1510 kc) 7:30 a.m. KRGI, Grand Island (1430 kc) 7:40 a.m. WOW, Omaha (590 kc) 7:40 a.m. KVSH, Valentine (940 kc) 8:00 a.m. KXXX, Colby, Kan. (790 kc) 8:00 a.m. WJAG, Norfolk (780 kc) 8:15 a.m. KLMS, Lincoln (1480 kc) 9:05 a.m. KBRL, McCook (1300 kc) 9:45 a.m. KODY, North Plattfc (1240 kc)10:45 a.m. KIMB, Kimball (1260 kc) 11:15 a.m. KMA, Shenandoah, Iowa (960 kc) 12:15 p.m. KOGA, Ogallala (930 kc) 12:30 p.m. KFOR, Lincoln (1240 kc) 12:45 p.m. KCNI, Broken, Bow (1280 kc) 1:15 p.m. KMMJ, Grand Island (750 kc) 1:40 p.m. KUVR, Holdrege (1380 kc) 2:45 p.m. KHUB, Fremont (1340 kc) 4:40 p.m. KNCY, Nebraska City (1600 kc) 5:00 p.m. KRVN, Lexington (1010 kc) 5:40 p.m. KTNC, Falls City (1230 kc) 5:45 p.m. KFAB (Mon.-Frl.) Nightly MONDAY KGMT, Fairbury (1310 kc) 1:00 p.m. KSID, Sidney (1340 kc) 6:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY KJSK, Columbus (900 kc) 1:30 p.m. KCOW, Alliance (1400 kc) 4:30 p.m. SATURDAY KCOW, Alliance (1400 kc) 9:30 p.m. KCSR, Chadron (610 kc) 6:00 a.m. KOLT, Scottsbluff (1320 kc) 11:45 a.m. KAWL, York, (1370 kc) 12:45 p.m. KHAS, Hastings (1230 kc) 1:00 p.m. KRFS, Superior (1600 kc) 1:00 p.m. KWRV, McCook (1360 kc) 1:45 p.m. KBRX, O'Neill (1350 kc) 4:30 p.m. KMNS, Sioux City, Iowa (620 kc) 6:10 p.m. DIVISION CHIEFS Willard R. Barbee, assistant director Glen R. Foster, fisheries Dick H. Schaffer, information and tourism Richard J. Spady, land management Jack D. Strain, state parks Lloyd P. Vance, game CONSERVATION OFFICERS Chief: Carl E. Gettmann, Lincoln Ainsworth—Max Showalter, 387-1960 Albion—Wayne Craig, 395-2071 Alliance—Richard Furley, 762-2024 Alliance—Leonard Spoering, 762-1547 Alma—William F. Bonsali, 928-2313 Arapahoe—Don Schaepler, 962-7818 Bassett—William O. Anderson, 2941 Benkelman—H. Lee Bowers, 423-2893 Bridgeport—Joe Ulrich, 100 Broken Bow—Gene Jeffries, 872-5953 Columbus—Lyman Wilkinson, 564-4375 Crawford—Cecil Avey, 228 Crete—Roy E. Owen, 826-2772 Croft on—John Schuckman, 388-4421 David City—Lester H. Johnson, 367-4037 Fairbury—Larry Bauman, 1293 Falls City—Raymond Frandsen, 2817 Fremont—Andy Nielsen, 721-2482 Gering—Jim McCole, 436-2686 Grand Island—Fred Salak, 384-0582 Hastings—Bruce Wiebe, 2-8317 Hay Springs—Larry D. Elston, 638-4051 Kearney—Ed Greving, 237-5753 Kimball—Marvin Bussinger, 235-3905 Lexington—Robert D. Patrick, 324-2138 Lincoln—Leroy Orvis, 488-1663 Lincoln—Norbert Kampsnider, 466-0971 Lincoln—Dale Bruha, 477-4258 Nebraska City—Mick Gray, 873-5890 Norfolk—Robert Downing, 371-1435 North Platte—Samuel Grasmick, 532-9546 North Platte—Roger A. Guenther, 532-2220 Ogallala—Jack Morgan, 284-3425 Omaha—Dwight Alibery, 558-2910 Ord—Gerald Woodgate, 728-5060 Oshkosh—Donald D. Hunt, 772-3697 Ponca—Richard D. Turpin, 2521 Stanton—Robert C. Oman, 439-2412 Tekamah—Richard Elston, 278R2 Thedford—John Henderson, 645-5351 Valentine—Elvin Zimmerman, 376-3674 Valley—Daryl Earnest, 359-2332 York—Gail Woodside, 362-4120

GRAY SQUIRREL

by Karl Menzel Senior Biologist notes on Nebraska fauna...

QUICK AS A wink and more watchful than the headmaster of a girls' boarding school, the gray squirrel is an elusive and sporty challenge to hunters. This nimble little aerialist is related to the fox and flying squirrels. His scientific name, Sciurus carolinensis, is almost as long as his jaunty tail. Sciurus means squirrel, and carolinensis means Carolina, the location from which the gray squirrel was first collected and described.

Unlike his closest relative, the fox squirrel, the distribution of the gray in Nebraska is limited. He is found almost entirely in heavily wooded areas along the Missouri River in southeastern Nebraska. Earlier records indicate extension of his range to Cedar County, but presently few grays are found north of Nebraska City. In areas of heavy timber and thick understory, the two squirrels are found in approximately equal numbers.

The gray squirrel gets his name from his coloration, which,, is generally silver-gray on the back and tail, with white underparts and a white edging of the tail. In contrast, the more common fox squirrel is predominantly reddish-yellow These two squirrels are further distinguished by five upper cheek teeth in the gray and only four for his larger relative. The final proof of identification is in the cooking, as gray squirrel bones are always white and those of fox squirrels are pinkish-orange. Adult grays weigh in at about one pound.

Gray squirrels commence breeding in early January. At this time there is considerable activity, and an increase in antagonism between males. Males are capable of breeding throughout the year, while females are normally active during two periods of 10 to 14-day duration. Gestation takes about 45 days, so the "spring" litter is generally born in mid to late February.

Adult females normally produce two litters a year, with the second litter born in July or August. Females usually bear their first litter at the age of one year. Those born in the spring will produce the following spring. A second litter the same year is rare. Females 58 NEBRASKAland two years old or older, normally produce two litters each year.

This pound of flashing energy rates cheers from all. He is doing his bit to put trees in our Nebraska future

Average litter size is about three, with variations from one to six. The young are hairless, toothless, and blind and weigh about one-half ounce at birth. Teeth commence erupting during the third week, and the eyes open when the squirrels are about five weeks old. At about six weeks the young start eating solid foods and by nine weeks nuts and acorns are part of their diets. Weaning starts in the seventh week and is complete when the young are 10 to 12 weeks old.

The male occupies the nest during mating and gestation, but is driven out prior to littering. Care of the young falls entirely to the female. She jealously guards the young from all intruders, including their father.

Two types of nests are used. External nests, built of leaves and a few twigs, are placed in a fork or crotch of the tree. They are about 16 inches across and 12 inches from base to top. One or two new nests are built each year. The hard-working gray squirrel can build a leaf nest in 12 hours and usually completes it within two days. Height of these dwellings varies from 10 to 60 feet above the ground, with an average of about 30 feet.

Both dens and leaf nests are used for rearing young, escape and loafing, or resting. Tree cavities are favored for bearing and rearing young because of better protection from the elements and from predators. Survival of young is considerably better in dens than in leaf nests. Fleas are a common problem in these shelters and may drive squirrels to the more airy leaf homes for relief.

Gray squirrels occur primarily in areas of relatively unbroken hardwood forests. Preferred cover consists of old trees such as oak, hickory, walnut, maple, elm, ash and basswood. Mature elms and cottonwoods are good den trees, and the presence of one or more in an area makes it doubly attractive to squirrels.

Although gray squirrels may retire for a few days during a particularly bad spell of cold weather, they do not hibernate. In order to survive they must lay on a supply of fat during the fall and have good food through the winter. The collecting and storing of nuts and acorns for winter food is well known. Hickory nuts are preferred, and it has been stated that there are few hickory trees growing naturally which were not planted by squirrels.

These nimble little tree dwellers are very active during the time of food storing, and may bury nuts at the rate of about one a minute. When nuts are still on the tree they are cut and taken to the ground. When picked from the ground they are moved a short distance before burying in a hole two to three inches deep. Generally only one nut is placed in each hole. The dirt is tamped back in place and leaves or grass are replaced so that there is little clue to the cache.

Defense of the stores ceases about as soon as the squirrel leaves the burial site. From then on food is essentially community property, with first come, first served on the nut chow line. Since caches are located by smell, damp ground is preferred for the sites. Probably the bulk of the nuts are consumed during the winter, but some are overlooked to provide the trees of the future.

In addition to nuts, which are the primary food in fall and winter, gray squirrels have more on their menus. These include tree seeds such as maple, elm, ash, basswood, and box elder. Corn is eaten but grays do not seek it as avidly as do fox squirrels. Buds of the maple, elm, and willow are popular food sources. Wild plums and grapes along with insects and bird eggs add to their diet.

Grays are earlier risers than the fox squirrels, being active at first light. Most of their work or play is just before and during sunrise, and again in the late afternoon. They may feed by bright moonlight, especially in summer and fall. The bulk of the daylight hours are spent sleeping and sunning.

Predators, other than man, include hawks, weasels, and snakes, with an occasional gray furnishing a meal for a fox or coyote. The adults are wary and have a quick means of escape from natural enemies so predation is of no real importance. Parasites and disease are probably of little importance. Warbles, or botfly larvae, are rare in Nebraska's gray squirrels.

One of the commonest myths covering both the fox and gray squirrels is that young squirrels are castrated by the old bucks in order to reduce competition. However, examinations of thousands of male squirrels in various states reveals no reliable evidence of castration.

Because of their limited range in the state, comparatively few Nebraska sportsmen have had the opportunity to hunt gray squirrels. Those who have had experience with the grays know that they are considerably harder to bag than fox squirrels. The smaller squirrels are warier, harder to see because of their coloration, inhabit areas of denser cover, spend less time on the ground, and are less active during good daylight hours. In an area with equal numbers of both species, fewer of them will be seen, and a smaller proportion will be bagged.

Although the gray is smaller than the fox squirrel and provides less meat for the table, his greater wariness adds a trophy factor to the hunt. Nebraskans who have an opportunity to hunt the gray rate him as a worthy Prize.

THE END OCTOBER, 1965 59

WELCOME HUNTERS

Make Yourself At Home... Stay in a Motel

Go ahead, make yourself at home. Motels offer you so much more in the way of fine accommodations.

After the day's shooting is over, look for your nearest motel. It will give you the best in service. Your bath is hot and ready, your bed is all made and clean. Many motels offer you food service, or a fine restaurant is only steps away.

Your motel manager is ready to give you valuable tips about where the shooting is best, where you can obtain your hunting supplies, or make arrangements for guide service.

Make yourself at home . . . stay in a motel. Make the motel your hunting headquarters. Where you are always welcome.

The motels listed in this page will do their utmost to make your hunting trip a memorable one. Give them a try. Please write or call your reservation in advance.

For a directory of Nebraska motels and their rates write to: THE NEBRASKA MOTEL ASSOCIATION P. O. Box 97 Lexington, Nebraska

D. & E. Motel Box 118 Ansley McCoy Motel Box 185 Arapahoe Palmer House Motel Auburn Ken's Motel U.S. Hwy. 34 Aurora Ballard Motel 1208 North 6th St. Beatrice B-Line Motel 555 South 19th St. Blair Blair House Motel Route #2 Blair Lazy U Motel Broadwater Court Perfect Motel Callaway Star Route Broken Bow Crawford Motel Box 435 Central City The Westerner Motel Box 1205 Chadron U. S. Hwy. 30 & 81 Columbus Gembol's Motel Star Motel New Frontier Motel Fie Motel Conoco Motel Holiday Inn Erin Rancho Motel Redondo Motel Plains Motel Midway Motel Hammer Motel Platte Valley Motel Crete Grand Island Grand Island Grand Island Hastings Hwy. 33 19600 West Dodge Elkhorn W. Hwy. 30 Gibbon Box 332 2503 So. Locust St 2114 West 2nd St 907 East South St West Hwy. 6 & 34 Holdrege Hwy. 81 & 91 Humphrey U.S. 30 West Kearney U.S. 30 West Kearney St. John's Motor Court U.S. 30 West, Rte. #2 Kearney Lee's Motel U.S. 30 East Lexington L. R. Ranch Motel Box 504 Congress Inn 1901 West O Street Loup Motel The Buck-A-Roo Motel Hwy. 81 & 275 Hotel Pawnee Circle C Motel 920 North Jeffers St. North Platte Holiday Inn, Jet. U.S. 83 & Interstate 80 North Platte Rambler Court 1420 Rodeo Road North Platte Kates Ogallala Motel 703 East 1st St. Ogallala Commodor Hotel & Motel Inn, 2410 Dodge Street Omaha Lexington Lincoln Loup City Norfolk North Platte Fort Sidney Motel Box 139 Sidney Sidney Motor Lodge 2031 Illinois Sidney Conoco Motel Hwy. 281 & 92 St. Paul Gorton's Motel U.S. Hwy. 136 Tec urn sen Valentine Motel & Travel Trailer Park Valentine Motel Raine Valentine Sandman Motel 5345 Lincoln Street West Point