Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== A Memoir of the Late William Hodge, Sen. Bigelow Bros., Buffalo, N.Y. - 1885 (37-43) MY GRANDFATHER'S WOLF TRAP -------- Before giving some papers relating to the war, it will be in place here to insert one having reference to some of those occupations and experiences of the pioneers which continued even in the war-time, as a necessary part of their ordinary life. My mother's father, DANIEL ABBOTT, came to Buffalo Village, from Exeter, Otsego County, N. Y., in the spring of 1810, and resided here about two years. In June, 1812, the month in which the "Last War" began, he took up a farm in the town of Hamburg in this county, on the lake shore, which was for many years afterwards known as "ABBOTT'S," and there took up his residence. For many years after the Holland Land Purchase began to be settled, the forests in this region continued so to abound with game, as to offer great inducements to those who for sport or profit were inclined to kill or capture wild animals. These were the beaver, otter, mink, red and cross-gray fox, bear, wolf, deer, and some of minor impor- tance. Some were taken for their skins alone, others for their flesh; —the bear and deer for both. But wolves were especially quite plentiful, and were greatly to be dreaded on account of their many depredations on the sheep-folds (as in the case of Mr. ABBOTT'S ewes — below referred to), and the destruction caused by them among pigs and calves. Even the settlers themselves were not secure from their attacks. Thus, Mr. JOHNSON CLOUGH of the town of Hamburg in this county, was once chased by wolves, and compelled to take to the lake by wading into it, to save his life. Sheep were yarded and penned every night for safety, and even then would often be attacked and killed. The depredations were of such frequent occurrence, and were so widespread in the sparse settle- ments, that very soon the towns, the counties and the state respect- ively offered bounties for the scalps of wolves captured within their boundaries. The farm which Mr. ABBOTT had made his home, was then in its primi- tive state, covered with a heavy forest, without a house or any cleared land. He was a carpenter by trade, but divided his time, as occasion required, between farming, hunting, catching pigeons in a large twine net made by himself, trapping wolves and foxes, and some- times hunting the latter with hounds, and, in the way of his trade, also putting up house and barn frames. In those times the settlers were poor, and they could pay but a small amount, if anything, as purchase money, when they first took possession of their farms, although the cost-price was but a few dollars per acre. Money was of course very scarce; barter and exchange being the principal mode of supplying family necessaries. A man having a hundred dollars in money was considered as being in extremely good circumstances, and so the price paid by the furriers for fox-pelts, and the bounties offered for wolf-scalps, were quite desirable, and eagerly sought after. Mr. ABBOTT, of course, had this prevailing desire, and being very fond of hunting and trapping, he had in this an additional incentive to pur- sue these occupations. So, shortly after his arrival in Hamburg, he procured a large steel wolf-trap. In all probability, however, the direct and immediate reason for this purchase was, the loss of ten fine ewes out of a flock of twelve. He had bought this flock from a farmer living a few miles distant, and after driving them home, had shut them up for the night in a strong pen adjoining the side of his log house. Upon visiting the pen the following morning he was dismayed to discover that a wolf had paid him a visit during the night, and that of his twelve ewes only two had been left alive. And yet so silently had his wolfship conducted the affair, that no noise had disturbed the inmates of the house. So Mr. ABBOTT purchased a trap from one JONATHAN AMES, of the town of Evans, in this county, of whom I will presently say something more. This trap was a very formidable, ugly looking object. It had long spike-teeth inserted in each jaw, which interlocked with each other when it was sprung, and had a closing-spring so stiff and strong, that the power of a hand-spike was required to set it. Mr. ABBOTT kept this trap set most of the time, for foxes, when their fur was prime and good, and for wolves when there was any pros- pect of catching them. The people of to-day can hardly imagine the delight experienced by a family just settling on a new farm in the wilderness, at the capture of a wolf. The main object with them was, of course, first, to produce from the farm enough for family subsis- tence, and second, to get the farm paid for; and so, the bounty being thirty dollars for the scalp of each wolf killed in the state, such an event was a matter of no small benefit to the fortunate slayer of even one of the depredators. Even the capture of a fox was hailed with great joy, for every such creature taken had its direct value. Mr. ABBOTT in the course of years succeeded in capturing many foxes, both of the cross-gray and the red varieties; and for the pelts of the former sort he received from two to two and a half dollars apiece, for those of the latter one dollar, from the hatters and furriers in the village. How great must have been the anxiety of the trapper for suc- cess, especially in catching the wolves, the great enemies of his flocks, when, knowing that they were in the vicinity of his domain, his fear of them was intensified by actual raids repeatedly made upon his own and his neighbors' premises. Let us follow, as we may, his modus operandi, in proceeding against these enemies. I will picture a real experience, —that of Mr. ABBOTT. He took the carcass of one of the victims of their onsets for a bait, which, having been "snaked," that is dragged, out into the woods to a proper distance, was staked down and made fast by the side of a log. The trap was then set, placed near the carcass, and slightly covered with dry leaves. Then it was left to be "raided" upon by the "varmints." Early the next morning, the trapper went out to examine the trap. Nothing had touched the bait, and the trap was all right. The morning following, he went again to the trap (it was, say, a quarter of a mile distant from the house) the snow being then quite deep; and when he came to the place where the trap was, he found it still set, having evidently met with no change or disturbance. These journeys he re- peated for several days in succession, until, one morning when he arrived near the trap, he found it sprung, —but, to his great dis- appointment and chagrin, the thing had been done by the ever active, intermeddling blue jay, which had been attracted to the carcass, and, hopping about, had been caught in the big trap. He had however paid dearly for his folly, since the wolves had been there, too, and had eaten him off from the iron jaws that held him and finished their meal by a dessert from the carcass of the sheep. But the trapper pocketed his disappointment, re-set the trap, and with reviving hope, antici- pated better success in the future. The next morning, as usual, he visited the trap. Not yet had it been disturbed; wolves, like Indians, however, require but one hearty meal within a day or two, so there was still hope. He went again, next morning, stepping in the same path or track in which he had already walked so many times on the same errand; and nearing the log, yet while still at a short distance, he dis- covered, by some marks in the snow, that wolves had been there, and going a few steps nearer, he saw that—the trap was gone! His anxiety was at its height; something had been caught, and with quick steps he hastily followed the trail of the trap, by its marks with those of the attached chain, clearly visible in the snow. And it was plain to see how the animal caught had bounded and leaped this way, that way, snapping and biting the trap which had got a sure hold of one of its legs. And so, after scanning the ground ahead, and following the tracks some forty rods, the trapper discovered at a short distance from him, a wolf, lying crouched down in the snow, as if ashamed to be seen. It is a fact, that a wolf when cauglit in a trap, becomes com- pletely subdued and docile; so much so that after a cord is tied around its neck, it can be released from the trap and led away without resistance or difficulty. But the trapper in this case leveled the old musket which he had constantly carried with him, and fired at the wolf, which made one powerful spring, to the length of the chain, and fell in death-struggles. The chain, it was found, had become fastened in a bush, and had probably held the wolf there for some hours. Then, the trapper was rewarded for all his pains. Thirty dollars were his, as bounty-money, part from the town, part from the county, and part from the state. This paid him well for the time he had spent in those three or four weeks, perseveringly keeping up his operations against the wolves. Mr. Abbott set the trap again, put it in position, and, as before, day after day, for a while he had nothing but disappointment. No wolves came to disturb bait or trap. Meantime, however, two foxes were secured, which were some recompense for his trouble; and one other animal was also taken which is a great nuisance to all hunters and trappers as well as to a good many other people here and there, —namely, a pole-cat, or skunk. Mr. ABBOTT'S patience and labor did not, however, ultimately fail of their reward; for, after eight days' time the wolves came again, and within the succeeding two weeks he secured the scalps of two more of the wily chaps. In fact, a fourth wolf was caught, but the trapper received no bounty for this, as the law required him to produce the scalp, while he was able to present only the foot, and a small part of the leg of the wolf, —for the trap had broken the bones of his leg, and his wolfship had gnawed off the sinews and escaped. There were, unfortunately, thirty dollars lost, —at least, not gained, which was practically the same. Yet Mr. ABBOTT was enabled by means of those bounties, and the money procured for the pelts of the foxes caught in this trap, to make a large payment on his farm. This wolf-trap was quite an important heir-loom in the ABBOTT family. It was kept in use most of the time, for some twenty or twenty-five years, after its purchase. Then it was suddenly missed. But some years later, after the death of my grandfather, a son of his, in a journey as a buyer of furs in Ohio, by a mere chance came across at Sandusky City this identical old wolf-trap, and he of course re- covered it on proving ownership. It has since passed from that son's possession into a grandson's, whose residence is in the neighborhood where it had been so efficient in catching and holding valuable game in early days. Surely this instrument having been a pioneer and so long a resi- dent of our formerly Niagara, now Erie County, and so usefully efficient towards paying for a good farm and clearing the country of pests, is entitled to some notice in making up the local history of this region. And its origin and something concerning its maker deserve to be recorded. Mr. JONATHAN AMES, the maker, was quite a character, and himself one of the pioneers of Western New York. He was a blacksmith, and his fame as a steel-trap maker was quite extensive. All the traps he could make found ready sale among the dealers in furs in Buffalo Village and elsewhere, and they were in fact known to the trappers from Genesee to Mackinac. The old fur and hat store on the southeast corner of Main and Swan streets, carried on by STOCKING & BULL, STOCKING & DART, and subse- quently (removed to the other side of the street) by WILLIAM KETCHUM & Co., used to have "Ames' Steel-Traps" for sale; and I think Stillman & Co. also sold them, and supplied the country far and near with these useful articles. Mr. AMES would make up a back-load of traps of different sizes, suitable for catching beavers, otters, foxes, minks, and muskrats or water-rats (house-rats were not known when first he made his steel- traps, here in Western New York), string them together, and loading them across his shoulders start off on foot for Buffalo. There he disposed of them to customers, laid in a supply of iron and steel, and a good quantity of that to him indispensable article, namely, tea; and, when ready, shouldered his bundle and started for his home. This was two or three miles west of Eighteen-mile creek, near Sturgeon Point, and something over twenty miles from Buffalo Village. The road by which he traveled, and all who at that time went up the lake shore, is described in another of these papers. In one of these return journeys he had laid in a larger stock than usual, and the road was extremely bad. He had managed to carry his load, by resting occasionally, until, within a few miles of his home, having become very tired, he sat down to rest. As he rose to go on, he discovered some travelers coming with a team. It occurred to him that he might play a practical joke with them and get relieved from carry- ing his heavy load. He therefore feigned to avoid being seen by the party with the team. They discovered him, of course, and noticing his peculiar actions, thought best to take him and his burden of iron and steel into custody, suspecting him to be a thief. They therefore arrested him, relieving him of his property by putting it safely into the wagon, and required him as a prisoner to take a seat with them there. This he did, having, as if overpowered by numbers, submitted to the arrest. On arrival at his home, the joke came out. Whether the case was argued by his wife and family, and he acquitted, or whether the capturing party took Mr. AMES over to the tavern near by, and there discussed the case over a bottle of whiskey, as was customary in those times, the records fail to show, and tradition, so far as I have been able to learn, is silent about it. But at any rate, Mr. AMES was not required to give bail for an appearance at court, and he was the gainer by an easy trip for the latter part of that one of his toilsome journeys. ===========================================================================