The Turnbo Manuscripts
by Silas Claiborne Turnbo
1844-1925
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REMINISCENCES OF A PIONEER OF BIG CREEK, TANEY COUNTY,
MO.
By S. C. Turnbo
Isaac Tabor was an infant child when his father, Arch Tabor, located
on Big Creek. Isaac was born in Jackson County, Illinois, January 1, 1835.
Uncle "Ike" has lived on Big Creek nearly 70 years and is a law
abiding citizen and industrious and like his father, he loved the sport
of hunting. Mr. Tabor is feeble now with old age and cannot use his rifle
and labor on the farm as in former years. The valley of Big Creek was his
principal hunting ground and he had a varied experience among the game.
At the request of the writer he narrated a few of his best stories in regard
to hunting when plenty of game existed in Taney County.
"On one occasion while I was out hunting on Big Creek not far from
home," said he, "I discovered a large rattlesnake dead which had
been killed by a lot of deer. Grass and weeds were trampled down by the
deers’ feet and the serpent was nearly cut to pieces by the deers’
hoofs. There was no question in my mind but that the snake had been trodden
to death by deer for the deers’ tracks were thick where they had run
and jumped on the reptile.
"I had heard hunters talk of seeing white deer in the woods, but
I never seen one until one day I and John Herrean went over to the head
of Shoal Creek to hunt a few days. We camped at a spring where Nelson Southworth
settled later on. Some 200 yards from the spring I saw a white deer and
shot it. After carrying it to the spring we removed its hide and entrails
and out the latter open to attract wild bees and found a hard substance
in the stomach which proved to be a stone-like formation nearly two inches
in length, one inch broad and ½ inch thick. One end of it slightly
tapering and very fine cells or pimples were all over it. It was a peculiar
formation to be found on the inside of an animal. Thinking it of no value
we tossed it aside. Sometime afterward I gave a description of it to Peter
Marsh and he told me that it was a mad stone and offered me $5.00 for it
if I could find it again. My energies were so stimulated by the price offered
me for the stone that I visited this same spring on several occasions and
searched carefully for it but never recovered it. The deer was a doe and
quite a small one.
"Deer was so numerous and gentle," said Mr. Tabor, "that
they would venture close to the house. While I lived on the right prong
of the creek I saw two deer feeding near the cabin. Taking my rifle down
I put it in shooting order. By this time the deer were side by side and
close together broadside toward the house. I blazed away at them both. They
ran and I thought I had missed them but one of them got only 30 yards and
fell. The other ran 50 yards and tumbled over, and I rejoiced at my lucky
shot."
"One day while I was hunting stock on the head of the creek I met
a fine lot of deer in one bunch. They were passing over an open ridge. I
was afoot and had no gun with me. When I discovered the deer I stopped and
stood as still as a statue and watched them as they passed me. Some of them
passed in 30 paces of me. I was so interested in taking items of their actions
as they went along that I never took time to count them accurately, but
there was not less than 50 If not more."
"On one occasion while I was in the hills with gun and plenty of
powder and balls I stood behind a post oak tree and killed four fat bucks
as fast as I could load and shoot. I was in the head of a gulch and noticing
a buck I shot it down. I thought it was alone but by the time I reloaded,
another one walked up to the dead one. When I fired at it, it sprang away
a few yards and fell. I thought that there were certainly no more deer nearby
but when I finished reloading, two more advanced and I shot one of them.
It jumped twice and fell. The other one darted away but seemingly it changed
its mind after running a short distance and came back to one of the dead
ones and began smelling over it. I hurriedly reloaded and shot it and away
it went and I thought I had missed, but it fell in 100 yards of where the
others lay. This was the greatest deer killing I ever got into. It seemed
that the gulch had turned to bucks and I waited for others to show up, but
not seeing anymore I went to work and had a busy time dressing and carrying
the hides and venison home."
In referring to wounded bucks attacking hunters, Mr. Tabor said he never
met but one trouble of this kind. "I was hunting on Lick Creek, a tributary
branch of Big Creek, and had shot down two deer and while taking off the
hide of the last one a fine buck with a big head of horns made his appearance
and walked up in 30 yards of me and stopped and surveyed the scene of removing
the dead deerhide with great curiosity. I had shot away all my bullets and
my gun was empty. I kept at work until I found the bullet with which I had
killed the deer and after cleaning off the blood I chewed it until I had
a new bullet and loading my rifle with it I shot the buck. It wheeled round
and ran down a hollow some 40 yards and jumped off of a ledge of rock and
lay down. Thinking it was almost dead I walked up to the edge of the cliff
to watch it die, but I was too fast, for the moment the wounded animal saw
me it rose quickly and sprang up on the ledge where I was standing and I
fooled no time away in getting away from there at my best speed. The angry
deer pursued but being severely wounded he was unable to run fast. However,
he could run a little faster than I could. I had one dog with me but he
failed to check its speed until the enraged beast was in the act of goring
me with its horns and I darted behind a sapling and aimed to catch the buck
by both horns with my hands, but in my hurry I grabbed only one. No doubt
the deer would have killed or wounded me on the spot but it was now the
dog exerted its strength and activity and caught the buck by the throat
and the animal struggled hard to free itself, but the dog held it until
I recovered from my scare and struck it in the forehead with a stone and
killed it."
"Well," said Mr. Tabor, "I will tell you a little bear
story which may sound strange to you, but it is true. My brother, John Tabor,
and myself had gone out into the woods with our dogs and rifles. We had
not gone far before the dogs went off on a hot trail and soon treed; we
ran on as fast as we could go and found a bear up a cedar tree. One of us
shot it, but instead of falling down it climbed down; when it got in reach
of the dogs they took hold of it, but the bear pulled loose and went back
up the tree. We shot it the second time and down it climbed again. Then
the dogs tackled it again and it went back up the tree and we shot it the
third time and once more it descended in reach of the dogs—then went
back up the tree. The fourth ball was fired into its body; it descended
the fourth time and the dogs scared it back, it being so weak that it was
just able to climb. At the fifth shot the bullet entered its head, and it
fell out, too near dead to return up the tree."
"Talking of panthers," said Mr. Tabor, "I have had experience
with them. I saw several in my boyhood days. I remember going with father
one day upon the head of the creek where we found a lot of leaves, grass
and trash all heaped together. On kicking it apart a dead deer was brought
to view that had been killed by a panther and covered up. We had several
dogs with us and they routed four young panthers, as large as full grown
coons, out of the grass. Three of them hustled up a tree. The dogs caught
one and it gave a few loud squalls before the dogs killed it. We expected
to see the old one dart up, though she failed to show herself. Then we shot
the other three out of the trees. We carried them all home with us to show
them to my mother and my brothers and sisters.
"When I was large enough to carry a rifle father took me into the hills with him one day to teach me my first lesson in hunting. We had walked some distance and had gone down into a hollow and were going up it when we reached a small cataract. Upon the ledge where the water was pouring over was a small thicket. We separated below the cliff and father went around on one side and I on the other. As we were passing around the bushes and green briars hid us from each other. When I reached the top of the ledge and a few yards beyond, I was horrified at meeting a panther, which was in five feet of me. I was so paralyzed with fear that apparently my blood grew cold and quit circulating. I stood and shook like I had ague and without a place to lay down, for it took me by surprise. I never thought of my gun, but stood and shook with it on my shoulder. The panther instead of springing on me as I expected it would glared at me a few seconds and darted off. After it turned to run I yelled, "Oh, Daddy, here’s a panther." "Well, shoot it," answered father. This brought me to my senses and seeing it bounding away diminished my terror, and about the time the animal was rushing out of sight I shot at it. But of course, I never touched it. The panther had been lying in this thicket, and the noise made by father in passing around had frightened it. It met me unexpectedly and gave me a bad scare, but I believe it was as badly frightened as I was," said the old pioneer.
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