Stemming the Wallowa flow...
Rivers of fur continue to flow here
.. otter and beaver, mink and weasel,
... though spotted cats are the lure,
..... coyotes and muskrat still pay the bills.
Nimi'ipuu always took a few...
.. for food and clothing and such like.
..... Contact time found a few metis,
..... refugees from fur brigades, living here.
Then trade... plews for guns,
.. and pots, axes, gee-gaws and booze
.... supplanted the balance and the rush
..... was on for soft gold to trade.
Homesteaders flooded in here
.. once the natives had been chased off.
... A desperate folk hungry for a dollar
..... turned every rock and beast to use.
Today, all seventeen trappers
.. travel our streams with roads along them,
... following the mystique and almost
..... paying for the gas they use
..
Now, the big money may lie
.. in the pockets of veterinarians
... that patch up stock dogs and pets,
..... the by-catch that survives.
Ahhh and the rare glimpse
.. of an otter or mink, a beaver or muskrat,
... raccoon or skunk marks the day
..... for those of us who yet play afield.
'Tis an old tradition this,
.. subduing beasts of field and bush
... with gin traps and snares
. ... for subsistence and sport.
r.anderson
plew: a beaver skin used as a standard unit of value in the fur trade
