The Extermination of the American BisonHornaday, William T. (William Temple)
History
The Extermination of the American Bison
Hornaday, William T. (William Temple)
American bison; Wildlife conservation -- United States -- Sources
[Note 51: In summing up the total number of buffaloes and mixed-breeds
now alive in captivity, I have been obliged to strike an average on this
lot of calves "mixed and pure," and have counted twelve as being of pure
breed and five mixed, which I have reason to believe is very near the
truth.]
[Illustration: 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 head which represented the last remnant of the great
southern herd. Each of these expeditious involved a very considerable
outlay in money, an elaborate "outfit" of men, horses, vehicles, camp
equipage, and lastly, but most important of all, a herd of a dozen fresh
milch cows to nourish the captured calves and keep them from dying of
starvation and thirst. The region visited was fearfully barren, almost
without water, and to penetrate it was always attended by great
hardship. The buffaloes were difficult to find, but the ground was good
for running, being chiefly level plains, and the superior speed of the
running horses always enabled the hunters to overtake a herd whenever
one was sighted, and to "cut out" and lasso two, three, or four of its
calves. The degree of skill and daring displayed in these several
expeditions are worthy of the highest admiration, and completely surpass
anything I have ever seen or read of being accomplished in connection
with hunting, or the capture of live game. The latest feat of Mr. Jones
and his party comes the nearest to being incredible. During the month of
May, 1888, they not only captured seven calves, but also _eleven adult
cows_, of which some were lassoed in full career on the prairie, thrown,
tied, and hobbled! The majority, however, were actually "rounded up,"
herded, and held in control until a bunch of tame buffaloes was driven
down to meet them, so that it would thus be possible to drive all
together to a ranch. This brilliant feat can only be appreciated as it
deserves by those who have lately hunted buffalo, and learned by dear
experience the extent of their wariness, and the difficulties, to say
nothing of the dangers, inseparably connected with their pursuit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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