mp, I saw a big smoke coming out of the chimney. I first thought
the cabin was on fire, but I soon saw that that was not the case, and
knew some one had started a fire. When I got there I saw some one had
been there with a team. When I rapped on the door Charley called out,
"Come in, I am running this camp now." Well, I tell you I was pleased
to hear that voice call out, "Come in." It was some time before we
thought it best for Charley to go out very much, but he could keep
camp and I had company. We stayed in camp until the middle of May,
thinking that we would have a big catch of bear in the spring, but
were disappointed for we only caught three; but we caught quite a lot
of coon. We did not trap any for muskrat.

My next trip to Michigan was to Kalkaska County, and I had two
partners, Moshier and Funk by name, and both were residents of the
state. Our camp was on the Manistee River near the Crawford and
Kalkaska County line. This trip was some ten or twelve years later
than the one previously mentioned, probably 1878. We killed some
thirty odd deer, and Mr. Moshier having some friends living down
close to the Indiana line, he shipped our venison down to his friend
and he sold it for us. I do not know where he sold it but the checks
came from a man by the name of Suttell, N. Y. We caught 11 bear
during the fall and spring. We caught a good number of mink, coon and
fox, also a few marten.

I should have said that on my trip on Thunder Bay River we caught
several beaver, but on the Manistee we saw no fresh beaver signs but
plenty of old beaver dams. We would make an occasional trip on to the
Boardman and Rapid Rivers for mink. On Rapid River two or three miles
above Rickers Mill was a colony or family of three or four beaver,
but we did not try to catch them.

My third trip to Michigan was to the Upper Peninsula, in Schoolcraft
County. A pard of mine by the name of Ross and myself had a boat made
at Manistique, and started the first of September. We poled and rowed
the boat up the Manistique River for a distance of about a hundred
miles, according to our estimate. The boat was heavily loaded with
our outfit, and we were nearly a month making the trip up the river
to where we built our camp on a small lake about one-half mile from
the main river. We found mink, marten, beaver and coon quite
plentiful, but from what I read bear and wolves are more plentiful
there now than they were about 1879. At that time there was no