There were many frontiersmen who continued to ignore the Captain's warnings about poaching. This challenge was accepted, and on August 19, 1888 a scouting party apprehended a trapper near the southern border. He gave his name as Andrew S. Page but later admitted he had been arrested the previous year as John Andrews. His horse and outfit were confiscated, and he was expelled from the Park.[307] In September of the same year Thomas Garfield was caught in the act of trapping beaver in Willow Creek. He was given the same treatment. Garfield made ominous threats to get even, and a few days later a forest fire was started by someone near Norris. In spite of occasional arrests the practice of poaching persisted. Trapping habits were deep-seated and penalties, too mild.
In the years that followed the cases of Tom Newcomb, June Buzzel, Jay Whitman, James Courtney, A. G. Vance, E. Sheffeld, Pendleton, and Van Dych were tried with various degrees of success.[308]
The most notorious case was that of Ed Howell of Cooke, Montana. Early in March, 1894, a party was organized to visit the winter range of the buffalo. Members were Captain George L. Scott, Lieutenant William W. Forsyth, Scout Felix Burgess, A. E. Burns, Frank Jay Haynes, Sergeant Troike, and two other noncommissioned officers. They traveled on skis, and when they reached the Canyon, Emerson Hough and Billy Hofer joined them. About twelve miles up Pelican Creek they discovered the cache of a poacher. Six bison heads were suspended in a tree. Several shots were heard, but as it was snowing the direction was difficult to determine. However, Scout Burgess was able to approach the poacher without being seen or heard, even by the dog. He got the drop on Howell, which was a good thing in view of the character of the man.[309] He had driven a half-dozen other bison in the deep snow and killed them.
The culprit was taken to Mammoth where the presence of the writer Emerson Hough and a representative of _Forest and Stream_ gave national publicity to the case. Howell was quite a robust personality, and he responded to the limelight. "How does a poacher operate to avoid two troops of soldiers?" "It is the simplest thing in the world," said Howell, "just wait for a snowstorm, enter the desired area, make a wide detour to check tracks of pursuers, if any, and go to work." "Why did you do it?" "Well, bison heads are worth from $100 to $400 apiece."[310]