Allan Brooks (Canadian 1869 – 1946), Pronghorn

Lot description

Below is an excerpt from "Allan Brooks: Artist Naturalist" by Hamilton M. Laing describing Brooks' experience hunting Pronghorns in Alberta. (Pages 92 and 93) "Brooks started late this year (1909) on his autumn big game hunt. But then he was headed for the plains and a pronghorn antelope hunt at Brooks, Alberta, and the season did not open till October 1st. Of all his big game hunts, I suspect he got the least excitement of the chase on this adventure. Perhaps he got his biggest thrill on September 30th when, after arranging for Charles Blazier to guide him, he went out alone and spent the day making observations and a page of notes on these marvellous creatures that, after mountain caribou, must have seemed mere hoofed jack rabbits of the prairie. On the morning of October 1st they rode off to try their luck with the fleetest footed animal of the Great Plains, the creature said to have the eagle's vision in his lustrous eyes and the speed of the wind in his slender shanks. But the picture elements do not compose well. Brooks astride a pony, the bearded huntsman of the coastal jungles, the little mountains of the Okanagan, and the alplands of the Selkirks, led by a prairie guide! At 9 a.m. Blazier spotted a buck antelope travelling fast, so turned aside, keeping under cover of the ridge to try to head him off. Soon he dismounted, peeped over the ridge, then signalled his comrade to come on. The buck had stopped 200 yards off and Allan, disregarding instruction to wait for a closer range, fired at once and dropped the animal with a single shot. On their return trip they sighted another lone buck with a good head and duplicated the stalk. Two shots, two antelope; the hunt was over, except for the skinning!" Allan Cyril Brooks, naturalist, artist, soldier (b at Etawah, India 15 Feb 1869; d at Comox, BC 3 Jan 1946). Born into a prominent naturalist family, he received his early education in England. His family moved to Milton, Ontario, in 1881, and then to Chilliwack, BC, in 1887. Allan Brooks spent most of his remaining life in the Okanagan Valley and on Vancouver Island. Drawings and paintings of birds, some of which survive from his fifth year, form his greatest legacy; he was illustrator of A. P. Taverner's books on Canadian birds and of several American ornithological and popular works. An ardent hunter and collector, he carefully prepared bird skins as taught by Thomas McIwraith and mounted his own big-game heads, selling many specimens to museums. His scientific publications number about 130 and concentrate on faunistics and taxonomy. Allan Brooks travelled widely, especially in North America, and was known for his boundless enthusiasm. In World War I he quickly rose to the rank of major and received the Distinguished Service Order. His paintings brought him a gold medal from the Canadian National Museum and his research an Empire membership in the British Ornithologists' Union. (from The Canadian Encyclopedia)