HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY. 
 
most superb views of any part of the country. 
Interspersed with small groves, irregular in 
their course and shape, owing to the jutting 
points or hills of the prairic dipping into the 
meadow; the streams flowing in various direc- 
tions over and through the low ground until 
they combine in some broad and deep channel ; 
the high waving grass mingled with the field 
and meadow flowers, all afford a picture more va- 
ried and therefore more beautiful than the high 
prairie grounds. It is worthy of remark that 
the character of the streams is different from 
what might be expected in the deep rich soil of 
the meadows. The waters generally flow nearly 
full with the banks, and the firm sandy and 
gravelly bottom always allows a safe fording 
place. Fine trout, perch, bass, cat-fish, eels, 
buffalo, muskallonge and other excellent fishare 
found in all the waters. I have seen the buffalo, 
muskallonge and   catfish of enormous   size 
brought by wagon loads to Mineral Point; they 
had been caught in the Pecatonica, and many 
weighed from twenty to thirty pounds and up- 
wards. The.white fish of the lake country is a 
delicacy which might well be desired by the 
gourrmands of the east; its flavor needs no 
sauce, and its richness and fatness render but- 
ter or lard useless in dressing. 
Game throughout the whole country is abund- 
ant. The deer are often seen sporting over the 
pra{ries, and in the groves and oak openings; 
they are frequently aroused out of the high 
gr ass, and as the rifle of the hunter has not yet 
sufficiently alarmed them in their secret lairs, 
they are in a measure less wild than in parts 
more densely settled; I have often seen them in 
my rambles, quietly gazing at the traveler, un- 
til he passed by. Elks are still found, I am in- 
formed, qn the- wooded shores of the Wisconsin. 
The prairie hen, grouse or moor fowl, is an ex- 
cellent bird; they are very numerous and are 
found in families or broods; they are about the 
size of the common barn-door fowl, and I believe 
are the same bird as the Long Island grouse. 
Their flesh is delicious, ju icy and fat; they fly 
 
heavily on the prairies and alight generally at 
a short distance, consequently they are easily 
bagged by the sportsman. Pheasants also are 
in great numbers, but the partridge or quail iQ 
not often met with, I saw three or four near 
some farms, and as this bird always follows and 
attends cultivation, the flocks will certainly in- 
crease with the opening of farms, and the rais- 
ing of grain. Wild turkeys, I am told, are also 
numerous in many parts of the Territory; I did 
not see any whilst there. 
Two species of wolf are found in the western 
part of the Territory; the gray wolf, which is 
common in the eastern States, and te prairie 
wolf; the latter is neither so large, nor so fero- 
cious as the gray wolf,but still very destructive on 
game and on the stock of the farmer. Yet in 
so open a country as this, these animals must be 
extirpated or driven into the distant forests as 
fast as the settlements increase. 1 met at dif- 
ferent times, in my little excursions, several of 
these prairie wolves; they   appeared  more 
alarmed than myself, and soon scampered off. 
Rabbits are also very numerous; indeed the 
abundance of fruit and of mast in this country 
affords ample subsistance to all kinds of game 
known in the eastern States. 
Two kinds of rattle-snakes. are found here; 
the brown and yellow rattle-snake, crotalus hop- 
ridis, is sometimes of great size. I came across 
one on the banks of the Pecatonica, lying-in my 
path; it measured between four and five feet in- 
length, and at least nine inches in circumfer- 
ence; fortunately it was dead, killed by a trav- 
eler an hour or so before. I saw it; I confess 
to an alarm at the time, as my feet were nearly 
upon it before I discovered it. I saw several 
others in various parts of the country, but they 
are not more numerous here than in the western 
parts of Pennsylvania. It is well known that 
these snakes always*recede from   cultivation, 
therefore there is no more danger to b6 appre- 
hended from them here than in any other new 
section of country. The small black rattle- 
snake of the lprairie is also at this time common; 
 
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