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PREFATORY NOTE.
PREFATORY NOTE.
It is hoped that the following historical account of the discovery, partial utilization, and almost complete extermination of the great American bison may serve to cause the public to fully realize the folly of allowing all our most valuable and interesting American mammals to be wantonly destroyed in the same manner. The wild buffalo is practically gone forever, and in a few more years, when the whitened bones of the last bleaching skeleton shall have been picked up and shipped East for commerc
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I. Discovery of the species.
I. Discovery of the species.
The discovery of the American bison, as first made by Europeans, occurred in the menagerie of a heathen king. In the year 1521, when Cortez reached Anahuac, the American bison was seen for the first time by civilized Europeans, if we may be permitted to thus characterize the horde of blood thirsty plunder seekers who fought their way to the Aztec capital. With a degree of enterprise that marked him as an enlightened monarch, Montezuma maintained, for the instruction of his people, a well-appoint
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Head of Buffalo Bull From specimen in the National Museum Group.Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
Head of Buffalo Bull From specimen in the National Museum Group.Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
“From the observations made on this subject we may conclude that the buffalo inhabited the temperate zone of the New World, and that they inhabited it at all times. In the north they never advanced beyond the 48th or 58th degree of latitude, and in the south, although they may have reached as low as 25°, they scarcely passed beyond the 27th or 28th degree (north latitude), at least in the inhabited and known portions of the country.” NEW MEXICO.—In 1542 Coronado, while on his celebrated march, m
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Slaughter of Buffalo on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Reproduced from “The Plains of the Great West,” by permission of the author, Col. R. I. Dodge.
Slaughter of Buffalo on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Reproduced from “The Plains of the Great West,” by permission of the author, Col. R. I. Dodge.
The following, from the ever pleasing pen of Mr. Catlin, is of decided interest in this connection: “In one instance, near the mouth of White River, we met the most immense herd crossing the Missouri River [in Dakota], and from an imprudence got our boat into imminent danger amongst them, from which we were highly delighted to make our escape. It was in the midst of the ‘running season,’ and we had heard the ‘roaring’ (as it is called) of the herd when we were several miles from them. When we ca
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BISON AMERICANUS. (Male; four months old.)
BISON AMERICANUS. (Male; four months old.)
The calves begin to shed their coat of red hair about the beginning of August. The first signs of the change, however, appear about a month earlier than that, in the darkening of the mane under the throat, and also on the top of the neck. [26] By the 1st of August the red hair on the body begins to fall off in small patches, and the growth of fine, new, dark hair seems to actually crowd off the old. As is the case with the adult animals, the shortest hair is the first to be shed, but the change
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From photograph of group in National Museum.Engraved by R. H. Carson.Buffalo Cow, Calf (Four Months Old), and Yearling. Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
From photograph of group in National Museum.Engraved by R. H. Carson.Buffalo Cow, Calf (Four Months Old), and Yearling. Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
“In these desperate struggles for a moment, the little thing is conquered, and makes no further resistance. And I have often, in concurrence with a known custom of the country, held my hands over the eyes of the calf and breathed a few strong breaths into its nostrils, after which I have, with my hunting companions, rode several miles into our encampment with the little prisoner busily following the heels of my horse the whole way, as closely and as affectionately as its instinct would attach it
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BISON AMERICANUS. (Male yearling, taken Oct. 31, 1886. Montana.)
BISON AMERICANUS. (Male yearling, taken Oct. 31, 1886. Montana.)
6. The Spike Bull. —In hunters’ parlance, the male buffalo between the “yearling” age and four years is called a “spike” bull, in recognition of the fact that up to the latter period the horn is a spike, either perfectly straight, or with a curve near its base, and a straight point the rest of the way up. The curve of the horn is generally hidden in the hair, and the only part visible is the straight, terminal spike. Usually the spike points diverge from each other, but often they are parallel,
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BISON AMERICANUS. (“Spike” bull, two years old; taken October 14, 1886. Montana.)
BISON AMERICANUS. (“Spike” bull, two years old; taken October 14, 1886. Montana.)
7. The Adult Bull. —In attempting to describe the adult male in the National Museum group, it is difficult to decide which feature is most prominent, the massive, magnificent head, with its shaggy frontlet and luxuriant black beard, or the lofty hump, with its showy covering of straw-yellow hair, in thickly-growing locks 4 inches long. But the head is irresistible in its claims to precedence....
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Spike Bull.From the group in the National Museum. Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
Spike Bull.From the group in the National Museum. Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
It must be observed at this point that in many respects this animal is an exceptionally fine one. In actual size of frame, and in quantity and quality of pelage, it is far superior to the average, even of wild buffaloes when they were most numerous and at their best. [30] In one respect, however, that of actual bulk, it is believed that this specimen may have often been surpassed. When buffaloes were numerous, and not required to do any great amount of running in order to exist, they were, in th
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Bull Buffalo in National Museum Group.Drawn by Ernest E. Thompson.
Bull Buffalo in National Museum Group.Drawn by Ernest E. Thompson.
The nostril opening is large and wide. The color of the hairless portions of the nose and mouth is shiny Vandyke brown and black, with a strong tinge of bluish-purple, but this latter tint is not noticeable save upon close examination, and the eyelid is the same. The iris is of an irregular pear-shaped outline, 1-5/16 inches in its longest diameter, very dark, reddish brown in color, with a black edging all around it. Ordinarily no portion of the white eyeball is visible, but the broad black ban
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BISON AMERICANUS. (Male, eleven years old. Taken December 6, 1866. Montana.)
BISON AMERICANUS. (Male, eleven years old. Taken December 6, 1866. Montana.)
8. The Cow in the third year. —The young cow of course possesses the same youthful appearance already referred to as characterizing the “spike” bull. The hair on the shoulders has begun to take on the light straw-color, and has by this time attained a length which causes it to arrange itself in tufts, or locks. The body colors have grown darker, and reached their permanent tone. Of course the hair on the head has by no means attained its full length, and the head is not at all handsome. The horn
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BISON AMERICANUS. (Young cow, in third year. Taken October 14, 1886. Montana.)
BISON AMERICANUS. (Young cow, in third year. Taken October 14, 1886. Montana.)
9. The adult Cow. —The upper body color of the adult cow in the National Museum group (see Plate) is a rich, though not intense, Vandyke brown, shading imperceptibly down the sides into black, which spreads over the entire under parts and inside of the thighs. The hair on the lower joints of the leg is in turn lighter, being about the same shade as that on the loins. The fore-arm is concealed in a mass of almost black hair, which gradually shades lighter from the elbow upward and along the whole
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From a photograph. Engraved by Frederick Juengling. Bull Buffalo. (Rear View.)Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
From a photograph. Engraved by Frederick Juengling. Bull Buffalo. (Rear View.)Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
The udder of the cow bison is very small, as might be expected of an animal which must do a great deal of hard traveling, but the milk is said to be very rich. Some authorities declare that it requires the milk of two domestic cows to satisfy one buffalo calf, but this, I think, is an error. Our calf began in May to consume 6 quarts of domestic milk daily, which by June 10 had increased to 8, and up to July 10, 9 quarts was the utmost it could drink. By that time it began to eat grass, but the q
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BISON AMERICANUS. (Adult cow, eight years old. Taken November 18, 1886. Montana.)
BISON AMERICANUS. (Adult cow, eight years old. Taken November 18, 1886. Montana.)
10. The “Wood,” or “Mountain” Buffalo. —Having myself never seen a specimen of the so called “mountain buffalo” or “wood buffalo,” which some writers accord the rank of a distinct variety, I can only quote the descriptions of others. While most Rocky Mountain hunters consider the bison of the mountains quite distinct from that of the plains, it must be remarked that no two authorities quite agree in regard to the distinguishing characters of the variety they recognize. Colonel Dodge states that
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LENGTH OF THE HAIR OF BISON AMERICANUS.
LENGTH OF THE HAIR OF BISON AMERICANUS.
Albinism. —Cases of albinism in the buffalo were of extremely rare occurrence. I have met many old buffalo hunters, who had killed thousands and seen scores of thousands of buffaloes, yet never had seen a white one. From all accounts it appears that not over ten or eleven white buffaloes, or white buffalo skins, were ever seen by white men. Pied individuals were occasionally obtained, but even they were rare. Albino buffaloes were always so highly prized that not a single one, so far as I can le
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Development of the Horns of the American Bison. 1. The Calf. 2. The Yearling. 3. Spike Bull, 2 years old. 4. Spike Bull, 3 years old. 5. Bull, 4 years old. 6. Bull, 11 years old. 7. Old "stub-horn" Bull, 20 years old.
Development of the Horns of the American Bison. 1. The Calf. 2. The Yearling. 3. Spike Bull, 2 years old. 4. Spike Bull, 3 years old. 5. Bull, 4 years old. 6. Bull, 11 years old. 7. Old "stub-horn" Bull, 20 years old.
Mr. Catlin [36] affords some very interesting and valuable information in regard to the bison’s propensity for wollowing in mad, and also the origin of the “fairy circles,” which have caused so much speculation amongst travelers: “In the heat of summer, these huge animals, which no doubt suffer very much with the great profusion of their long and shaggy hair, or fur, often graze on the low grounds of the prairies, where there is a little stagnant water lying amongst the grass, and the ground und
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VI. The Food of the Bison.
VI. The Food of the Bison.
It is obviously impossible to enumerate all the grasses which served the bison as food on his native heath without presenting a complete list of all the plants of that order found in a given region; but it is at least desirable to know which of the grasses of the great pasture region were his favorite and most common food. It was the nutritious character and marvelous abundance of his food supply which enabled the bison to exist in such absolutely countless numbers as characterized his occupancy
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VII. Mental Capacity and Disposition.
VII. Mental Capacity and Disposition.
(1) Reasoning from cause to effect. —The buffalo of the past was an animal of a rather low order of intelligence, and his dullness of intellect was one of the important factors in his phenomenally swift extermination. He was provokingly slow in comprehending the existence and nature of the dangers that threatened his life, and, like the stupid brute that he was, would very often stand quietly and see two or three score, or even a hundred, of his relatives and companions shot down before his eyes
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Total number of buffalo skins handled in nine years, 246,175; total cost, $924,790.
Total number of buffalo skins handled in nine years, 246,175; total cost, $924,790.
I have also been favored with some very interesting facts and figures regarding the business done in buffalo skins by the firm of Mr. Joseph Ullman, exporter and importer of furs and robes, of 165-107 Mercer street, New York, and also 353 Jackson street, St. Paul, Minnesota. The following letter was written me by Mr. Joseph Ullman on November 12, 1887, for which I am greatly indebted: “Inasmuch as you particularly desire the figures for the years 1880-’86, I have gone through my buffalo robe and
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UTILIZATION OF THE BUFFALO BY WHITE MEN.
UTILIZATION OF THE BUFFALO BY WHITE MEN.
Robes. —Ordinarily the skin of a large ruminant is of little value in comparison with the bulk of toothsome flesh it covers. In fattening domestic cattle for the market, the value of the hide is so insignificant that it amounts to no more than a butcher’s perquisite in reckoning up the value of the animal. With the buffalo, however, so enormous was the waste of the really available product that probably nine-tenths of the total value derived from the slaughter of the animal came from his skin al
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Fig. 2. Buffalo Skinners at Work. From a photograph by L. A. Huffman.
Fig. 2. Buffalo Skinners at Work. From a photograph by L. A. Huffman.
The opening cuts having been made, the broad-pointed “skinning-knife” was duly sharpened, and with it the operator fell to work to detach the skin from the body in the shortest possible time. The tail was always skinned and left on the hide. As soon as the skin was taken off it was spread out on a clean, smooth, and level spot of ground, and stretched to its fullest extent, inside uppermost. On the northern range, very few skins were “pegged out,” i. e. , stretched thoroughly and held by means o
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Fig. 2. Scene on the Northern Buffalo Range. Photographed by L. A. Huffman.
Fig. 2. Scene on the Northern Buffalo Range. Photographed by L. A. Huffman.
A few hundred dressed robes still remain in the hands of some of the largest fur dealers in New York, Chicago, and Montreal, which can be purchased at prices much lower than one would expect, considering the circumstances. In 1888, good robes, Indian tanned, were offered in New York at prices ranging from $15 to $30, according to size and quality, but in Montreal no first-class robes were obtainable at less than $40. Hides. —Next in importance to robes was the class of skins known commercially a
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Half-breed (Buffalo-Domestic) Calf.—Herd of C. J. Jones, Garden City, Kansas.Drawn by Ernest E. Thompson.
Half-breed (Buffalo-Domestic) Calf.—Herd of C. J. Jones, Garden City, Kansas.Drawn by Ernest E. Thompson.
Regarding the general character of the half-breed buffalo, and his herd in general, Mr. Bedson writes me as follows, in a letter dated September 12, 1888: “The nucleus of my herd consisted of a young buffalo bull and four heifer calves, which I purchased in 1877, and the increase from these few has been most rapid, as will be shown by a tabular statement farther on. “Success with the breeding of the pure buffalo was followed by experiments in crossing with the domestic animal. This crossing has
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Half-breed (Buffalo-Domestic) Cow.—Herd of C. J. Jones, Garden City, Kansas.Drawn by Ernest E. Thompson.
Half-breed (Buffalo-Domestic) Cow.—Herd of C. J. Jones, Garden City, Kansas.Drawn by Ernest E. Thompson.
“All the points above could easily be found in the buffalo, excepting the fifth, and even that is more than filled as to the quality, but not in quantity. Where is the ‘old timer’ who has not had a cut from the hump or sirloin of a fat buffalo cow in the fall of the year, and where is the one who will not make affidavit that it was the best meat he ever ate? Yes, the fat was very rich, equal to the marrow from the bone of domestic cattle. * * * “The great question remained unsolved as to the qua
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Young Half-breed (Buffalo-Domestic) Bull.—Herd of C. J. Jones, Garden City, Kansas.Drawn by Ernest E. Thompson.
Young Half-breed (Buffalo-Domestic) Bull.—Herd of C. J. Jones, Garden City, Kansas.Drawn by Ernest E. Thompson.
Herd of Mr. C. J. Jones, Garden City, Kans. —Mr. Jones’s original herd of 57 buffaloes constitute a living testimonial to his individual enterprise, and to his courage, endurance, and skill in the chase. The majority of the individuals composing the herd he himself ran down, lassoed, and tied with his own hands. For the last five years Mr. Jones has made an annual trip, in June, to the uninhabited “panhandle” of Texas, to capture calves out of the small herd of from one hundred to two hundred he
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Statistics of full-blood buffaloes in captivity January 1, 1889.
Statistics of full-blood buffaloes in captivity January 1, 1889.
There are, without doubt, a few half-breeds in Manitoba of which I have no account. It is probable there are also a very few more captive buffaloes scattered singly here and there which will be heard of later, but the total will be a very small number, I am sure....
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I. Causes of the Extermination.
I. Causes of the Extermination.
The causes which led to the practical extinction (in a wild state, at least) of the most economically valuable wild animal that ever inhabited the American continent, are by no means obscure. It is well that we should know precisely what they were, and by the sad fate of the buffalo be warned in time against allowing similar causes to produce the same results with our elk, antelope, deer, moose, caribou, mountain sheep, mountain goat, walrus, and other animals. It will be doubly deplorable if th
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Still-hunting Buffaloes on the Northern Range.From a painting by J. H. Moser, in the National Museum.
Still-hunting Buffaloes on the Northern Range.From a painting by J. H. Moser, in the National Museum.
Having secured a position within from 100 to 250 yards of his game (often the distance was much greater), the hunter secures a comfortable rest for his huge rifle, all the time keeping his own person thoroughly hidden from view, estimates the distance, carefully adjusts his sights, and begins business. If the herd is moving, the animal in the lead is the first one shot, close behind the fore leg and about a foot above the brisket, which sends the ball through the lungs. If the herd is at rest, t
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The Chase on Horseback.From a painting in the National Museum by George Catlin.
The Chase on Horseback.From a painting in the National Museum by George Catlin.
I saw guns flash about me in several directions, but I heard them not. Amidst the trampling throng Mons. Chardon had wounded a stately bull, and at this moment was passing him with his piece leveled for another shot. They were both at full speed and I also, within the reach of the muzzle of my gun, when the bull instantly turned, receiving the horse upon his horns, and the ground received poor Chardon, who made a frog’s leap of some 20 feet or more over the bull’s back and almost under my horse’
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Number of carts assembled for the first trip.
Number of carts assembled for the first trip.
The expedition which was accompanied by Rev. Mr. Belcourt, a Catholic priest, whose account is set forth in the Hon. Mr. Sibley’s paper on the buffalo, [56] was a comparatively small one, which started from Pembina, and very generously took pains not to spoil the prospects of the great Red River division, which was expected to take the field at the same time. This, therefore, was a small party, like others which had already reached the range; but it contained 213 carts, 55 hunters and their fami
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Cree Indians Impounding Buffaloes.Reproduced from Prof. H. Y. Hind’s—“Red River, Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Expedition.”
Cree Indians Impounding Buffaloes.Reproduced from Prof. H. Y. Hind’s—“Red River, Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Expedition.”
“When the skilled hunters are about to bring in a herd of buffalo from the prairie,” says Professor Hind, “they direct the course of the gallop of the alarmed animals by confederates stationed in hollows or small depressions, who, when the buffalo appear inclined to take a direction leading from the space marked out by the ‘dead men,’ show themselves for a moment and wave their robes, immediately hiding again. This serves to turn the buffalo slightly in another direction, and when the animals, h
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The Surround.From a painting in the National Museum by George Catlin.
The Surround.From a painting in the National Museum by George Catlin.
5. Decoying and Driving. —Another method of slaughtering by wholesale is thus described by Lewis and Clarke, I, 235. The locality indicated was the Missouri River, in Montana, just above the mouth of Judith River: “On the north we passed a precipice about 120 feet high, under which lay scattered the fragments of at least one hundred carcasses of buffaloes, although the water which had washed away the lower part of the hill, must have carried off many of the dead. These buffaloes had been chased
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A. The Period of Desultory Destruction, from 1730 to 1830.
A. The Period of Desultory Destruction, from 1730 to 1830.
The disappearance of the buffalo from all the country east of the Mississippi was one of the inevitable results of the advance of civilization. To the early pioneers who went forth into the wilderness to wrestle with nature for the necessities of life, this valuable animal might well have seemed a gift direct from the hand of Providence. During the first few years of the early settler’s life in a new country, the few domestic animals he had brought with him were far too valuable to be killed for
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B. The Period of Systematic Slaughter, from 1830 to 1838.
B. The Period of Systematic Slaughter, from 1830 to 1838.
We come now to a history which I would gladly leave unwritten. Its record is a disgrace to the American people in general, and the Territorial, State, and General Government in particular. It will cause succeeding generations to regard us as being possessed of the leading characteristics of the savage and the beast of prey—cruelty and greed. We will be likened to the blood-thirsty tiger of the Indian jungle, who slaughters a dozen bullocks at once when he knows he can eat only one. In one respec
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IV. Congressional Legislation for the Protection of the Bison.
IV. Congressional Legislation for the Protection of the Bison.
The slaughter of the buffalo down to the very point of extermination has been so very generally condemned, and the general Government has been so unsparingly blamed for allowing such a massacre to take place on the public domain, it is important that the public should know all the facts in the case. To the credit of Congress it must be said that several very determined efforts were made between the years 1871 and 1876 looking toward the protection of the buffalo. The failure of all those well-me
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Number of American bison running wild and unprotected on January 1, 1889.
Number of American bison running wild and unprotected on January 1, 1889.
Add to the above the total number already recorded in captivity (256) and those under Government protection in the Yellowstone Park (200), and the whole number of individuals of Bison americanus now living is 1,091. From this time it is probable that many rumors of the sudden appearance of herds of buffaloes will become current. Already there have been three or four that almost deserve special mention. The first appeared in March, 1887, when various Western newspapers published a circumstantial
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VI. Effects of the Extermination.
VI. Effects of the Extermination.
The buffalo supplied the Indian with food, clothing, shelter, bedding, saddles, ropes, shields, and innumerable smaller articles of use and ornament In the United States a paternal government takes the place of the buffalo in supplying all these wants of the red man, and it costs several millions of dollars annually to accomplish the task. The following are the tribes which depended very largely—some almost wholly—upon the buffalo for the necessities, and many of the luxuries, of their savage li
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VII. Preservation of the Species from Absolute Extinction.
VII. Preservation of the Species from Absolute Extinction.
There is reason to fear that unless the United States Government takes the matter in hand and makes a special effort to prevent it, the pure-blood bison will be lost irretrievably through mixture with domestic breeds and through in-and-in breeding. The fate of the Yellowstone Park herd is, to say the least, highly uncertain. A distinguished Senator, who is deeply interested in legislation for the protection of the National Park reservation, has declared that the pressure from railway corporation
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I. The Exploration.
I. The Exploration.
During the first three months of the year 1886 it was ascertained by the writer, then chief taxidermist of the National Museum, that the extermination of the American bison had made most alarming progress. By extensive correspondence it was learned that the destruction of all the large herds, both North and South, was already an accomplished fact. While it was generally supposed that at least a few thousand individuals still inhabited the more remote and inaccessible regions of what once constit
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Sketch Map of the Hunt for Buffalo. Montana 1886.
Sketch Map of the Hunt for Buffalo. Montana 1886.
At this point the hunt began. As the wagon and extra horses proceeded up the Sand Creek trail in the care of W. Harvey Brown, the three cowboys and I paired off, and while two hunted through the country along the south side of the creek, the others took the north. The whole of the country bordering Sand Creek, quite up to its source, consists of rugged hills and ridges, which sometimes rise to considerable height, cut between by great yawning ravines and hollows, such as persecuted game loves to
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Trophies of the Hunt.Mounted by the author in the U. S. National Museum.Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
Trophies of the Hunt.Mounted by the author in the U. S. National Museum.Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan Magazine, by permission of the publishers.
I was delighted with our remarkably good fortune in securing such a prize, for, owing to the rapidity with which the large buffaloes are being found and killed off these days, I had not hoped to capture a really old individual. Nearly every adult bull we took carried old bullets in his body, and from this one we took four of various sizes that had been fired into him on various occasions. One was found sticking fast in one of the lumbar vertebræ. [79] After a chase of several miles Mr. McNaney f
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THE ACCESSORIES.
THE ACCESSORIES.
The pool of water is a typical alkaline water-hole, such as are found on the great northern range of bison, and are resorted to for water by wild animals in the fall when the small streams are dry. The pool is in a depression in the dry bed of a coulée or small creek. A little mound that rises beside the creek has been partially washed away by the water, leaving a crumbling bank, which shows the strata of the earth, a very thin layer of vegetable soil, beneath a stratum of grayish earth, and a l
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THE SIX BUFFALOES.
THE SIX BUFFALOES.
The group comprises six buffaloes. In front of the pool, as if just going to drink, is the huge buffalo bull, the giant of his race, the last one that was secured by the Smithsonian party in 1888, and the one that is believed to be the largest specimen of which there is authentic record. Near by is a cow eight years old, a creature that would be considered of great dimensions in any other company than that of the big bull. Near the cow is a suckling calf, four months old. Upon the top of the mou
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THE TAXIDERMIST’S OBJECT LESSONS.
THE TAXIDERMIST’S OBJECT LESSONS.
This group, with its accessories, is, in point of size, about the biggest thing ever attempted by a taxidermist. It was mounted by Mr. Hornaday, assisted by Messrs. J. Palmer and A. H. Forney. It represents a new departure in mounting specimens for museums. Generally such specimens have been mounted singly, upon a flat surface. The American mammals, collected by Mr. Hornaday, will be mounted in a manner that will make each piece or group an object lesson, telling something of the history and the
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