The American bison, commonly called the buffalo, occupied an extended area of the United States in ancient times. About 1850, the range of the buffalo extended from the Red River valley, Manitoba, to central Texas; through western and central Minnesota and as far west as the arid plains of Colorado, and to near the headwaters of the Missouri River in the Northwest. As settlers pushed west of the Mississippi, the buffalo disappeared from eastern Nebraska, Missouri and western Arkansas. The animal does not appear to have ranged in eastern Arkansas or Louisiana, preferring the portion of the country known as the Great Plains, and the entire Missouri River valley. In the later sixties, when the Union Pacific Railroad was built westward, hundreds of hunters were enabled to ship East unnumbered thousands of robes and great quantities of meat. The herds were further restricted, and by 1885, the buffalo almost entirely disappeared. Of the numbers of these animals, none of the authorities seem to agree. Robert M. Wright of Dodge City, Kansas, one of the earliest pioneers, recently published a book entitled “Dodge City, the Cowboy Capital.” He gives the estimates prepared by men living at the time, as to the number of buffalo. I present his remarks at some length as indicative of the difference of opinion even among those familiar with the Great Plains, of their numerical extent. It is safe to assume, however, that there were between 25,000,000 and 50,000,000 buffalo in the West in the year 1850. “I wish here to assert a few facts concerning game, and animal life in general, in early days, in the vicinity of Fort Dodge and Dodge City.[54] There were wonderful herds of buffalo, antelope, deer, elk, and wild horses, big gray wolves and coyotes by the thousand, hundreds of the latter frequently being seen in bands and often from ten to fifty gray wolves in a bunch. There were also black and cinnamon bears, wildcats and mountain lions, though these latter were scarce and seldom seen so far from the mountains. General Sheridan and Major Inman were occupying my office at Fort Dodge one night, having just made a trip from Fort Supply, and called me in to consult as to how many buffaloes there were between Dodge and Supply. Taking a strip fifty miles east and fifty miles west, they had first estimated it ten billion. General Sheridan said, ‘That won’t do.’ They figured it again, and made it one billion. Finally they reached the conclusion that there must be one hundred million; but said, they were afraid to give out these figures; nevertheless they believed them. This vast herd moved slowly toward the north when spring opened, and moved steadily back again from the north when the grass began to grow short, and winter was setting in.