Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 34 THE CAPTURE OF THE NOTORIOUS POACHER HOWELL In 1886 the U.S. Cavalry was assigned the protection of the park, and they took the assignment very seriously, patrolling the park throughout the year. "e scouts and soldiers who patrolled the park interior in the winter suffered extreme hardship," historian Aubrey Haines wrote, and Schullery shows in detail the type of clothing, the skis, and the condi- tions they faced. e essence of the winter patrol adventure is clear in Schullery's chapter entitled "e Capture of the Notorious Poacher Howell." In 1893 Howell and a companion left Cooke City and set up camp at Astringent Creek, a tributary of Pelican Creek. e companion left but Howell remained, occasionally traveling back to Cooke City to replenish his supplies. His goal was to kill as many bison in the area that he could find and haul the trophies out for sale to taxidermists in Montana. Schullery notes that "as much as we may hate Howell's motivations, we must admire his abilities. He dragged his supplies on a homemade toboggan ten feet long, with ski-like runners that allowed it to slide over the snow better than a flat toboggan would have. His load weighed 180 pounds." George Anderson. Yellowstone's acting superintendent, was an aggressive defender of the park. Heroic as he was, he "did not have a free hand to deal with poachers. ere were no meaningful penalties for poaching... All that could be done was confiscation of their gear and expulsion of the guilty party." As for Howell, "capture was only the beginning; he had to be taken all the way to Fort Yellowstone for incarceration, a long trip on skis with a dangerous prisoner." In the following first-hand accounts, the participants refer to their skis as "snowshoes," as did most people at the time. Veteran Army Scout Felix Burgess was the man who made the capture under perilous circumstances. In Burgess's own words: I expect I was pretty lucky... I got out early and hit the trail not long after daybreak. After I had found the cache of heads and the tepee... I heard the shooting, six shots. e six shots killed five buffalo... When I saw him he was about 400 yds. away from the cover of timber. I knew sure I had to cross that open space. I had no rifle, but only an army revolver... You know a revolver isn't lawfully able to hold the drop on a man as far as a rifle... His hat was sort of flapped down over his eyes, and his head was toward me. He was leaning over, skinning on the head of one of the buffalo. His dog was curled up under the hind leg of the dead buffalo. e wind was so the dog didn't smell me, or that would have settled it. Howell was going to kill the dog, after I took him, because the dog didn't bark at me and warn him. I wouldn't let him kill it... D E PA R T M E N T L I T E R A R Y L O D E Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers, Peril and Heroism on the Winter Trail, is a book about early skiers in Yellowstone Park, whenever pos- sible letting the adventurers or those who patrolled the Park tell their own stories. With the aid of many sources, Paul Schullery illuminates a simpler, wilder Yel- lowstone. The following contains excerpts from the book. The Army collected what they could of Howell's "trophies" and mounted them. I T WAS A TIME OF GENERAL LAWLESSNESS IN THE PARK, WHEN CARELESS VISITORS DAMAGED MANY PARK FEATURES, AND POACHING WAS RAMPANT DURING THE LONG WINTERS. When elk and bison were chest-deep in the deep snow, hunters and trappers could walk right up to them and shoot. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of elk, bison, and other animals were slaughtered. PHOTOS COURTESY OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

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