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MISS LILLIAN T. SMITH,
The California Girl, and Champion Rifle Shot,
Was born at Coleville, Mono County, Cal., in the fall of 1871; is, consequently, only past her sixteenth year. Born in a county where game was plenty, and good marksmanship as highly thought of as excellence in any particular accomplishment in the older localities of our variously-constituted country, her childhood was passed amid an atmosphere well calculated to develop that precocious skill that has astonished the Pacific coast, and rendered her famous throughout the land. Horsemanship there being so nearly allied to the cradle- in fact, having been often carried in babyhood on the pommel of the saddle- it is little to be wondered at that she commenced horseback-riding as soon as she could sit one, and while on foot still "a toddler," mounted she was an infantile expert. At six years of age she had a bow-gun, and would kill birds easily, and at seven expressed herself as dissatisfied with "dolls," and wanted a "little rifle." When nine years old her father bought her a Ballard rifle, twenty-two calibre, weight seven pounds (which she uses yet), with which, after a little practice and instruction, she, on her first foray, mounted on her little pony, bagged two cotton-tails, three jack-rabbits, and two quails. From this out her enthusiasm was such, that after her studies were over, she spent her leisure time with horse, dog, and gun, on the surrounding ranges hunting, and generally bringing home a plentiful supply of game. On her father accompanying her to a lagoon near the San Joaquin River in Merced County, when ducks were plentiful, he was greatly astonished by her killing forty redheads and mallards, mostly on the wing. On another occasion, when on a camping excursion in Santa Cruz County, hearing her dog bark in a canon, and thinking he had "treed a squirrel, sure," she mounted her mustang, and on her return amazed the campers and surprised her mother by depositing at her feet a very large wildcat that she had shot on the limb of a high redwood tree, hitting it squarely in the heart. The admiring campers on their return proclaimed through publications her remarkable feats, and at a party given in her honor christened her the champion "California Huntress." Her fame spread throughout the "Golden State," and her father was induced to present her to the public of San Francisco, where, in July, 1881, she gave seven successful receptions at Woodward gardens- her marvelous accuracy and extreme youth creating the greatest sensation, winning for her a host of admirers and many compliments from those who, before seeing, had been incredulous. After a short practice of shooting glass-balls thrown from the hand, she made a score of 823 successive shots without a miss, and out of 500 breaking 495.
Miss Lillian, owing to the opportunities in that section, has made her reputation in practical shooting, such as a Turkey shoot, at Hollister, San Benito County, in the holidays of 1883, where at 150 yards she killed so many turkeys she was set back 200 yards, but her dexterity at that distance being equally destructive, the managers arranged with her "to drop out and give the boys a chance at the turkeys, too." Being invited to a mud-hut shoot, at 50-175 yards, according to the accessibility of the marshy ground, she, in one-half hour, bagged fifty, receiving a valuable prize. July 4, 1883, at Hollister, distance 30 feet, at a swinging-bell target, with a one-inch center, she scored 200 bells, with a Ballard rifle, in fifteen minutes; and on July 23rd, at Dunn's Ranch, near San Filipe, she killed six dozen doves in two hours with a rifle. October 25, 1883, at a meeting of the Colusa Gun Club, she was induced to try her skill at live pgs thrown from three plunge traps, with a 10-pound shot-gun, 10 gauge, 2 drams powder, 1/2 ounce shot, and scored ten out of twelve, resulting in the club having the manufacturers at Meridan, Conn., present her, as a testimonial, a 12-gauge Parker shot-gun. This remarkable little lady has shot successfully in tournaments with various gun clubs on the coast, matches with such noted shots as Geo. I Kingsley, Crittendon Robinson, John Kerrigan, taking two valuable prizes, the special prize given by Philo Jacoby, President of the Schuetzen Rifle Club, San Francisco, March 15, 1885. She will appear daily with the Wild West.
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INDIAN NAMES OF STATE.
Massachusetts, from the Indian language, signifying the country about the great hills.
Connecticut was Mohegan, spelled originally Quon-eh-ta-cut, signifying "a long river."
Florida gets its name from Kasquad de Flores, or "Feast of the Flowers."
Alabama comes from an Indian word, signifying "the land of rest."
Mississippi derived its name from that of the great river, which is in the Natchez tongue, "The Father of Waters."
Arkansas is derived from the word Kansas, "smoky waters," with the French prefix of "ark," a bow.
Tennessee is an Indian name, meaning "The river with a big bend."
Kentucky, also, is an Indian name, "Kin-tuk-ae," signifying "at the head of the river."
Ohio is the Shawnee name for "The beautiful river."
Michigan's name was derived from the lake, the Indian name for fish-weir or trap, which the shape of the lake suggested.
Indiana's name came from that of the Indians.
Illinois' name is derived from the Indian word "Illini" (men) and the French affix "ois," making "Tribe of men."
Wisconsin's name is said to be the Indian name for a wild, rushing channel.
Missouri is also an Indian name for "muddy," having reference to the muddiness of the Missouri River.
Kansas is an Indian word for "smoky water."
Iowa signifies, in the Indian language, "The drowsy ones"; and Minnesota, "A cloudy water."
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