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
It was our custom to ride over the country daily, each day making a
circuit through a new locality, and covering as much ground as it was
possible to ride over in a day. It was also our custom to take trips of
from two to four days in length, during which we carried our blankets
and rations upon our horses and camped wherever night overtook us,
provided water could be found.
Our first success consisted in the capture of a buffalo calf, which from
excessive running had become unable to keep up with its mother, and had
been left behind. The calf was caught alive without any difficulty, and
while two of the members of our party carried it to camp across a horse,
the other two made a vigorous effort to discover the band of adult
animals. The effort was unsuccessful, for, besides the calf, no other
buffaloes were seen.
Ten days after the above event two bull buffaloes were met with on the
Little Dry, 15 miles above the =LU=-bar ranch, one of which was
overtaken and killed, but the other got safely away. The shedding of the
winter coat was in full progress. On the head, neck, and shoulders the
old hair had been entirely replaced by the new, although the two coats
were so matted together that the old hair clung in tangled masses to the
other. The old hair was brown and weather-beaten, but the new, which was
from 3 to 6 inches long, had a peculiar bluish-gray appearance. On the
head the new hair was quite black, and contrasted oddly with the lighter
color. On the body and hind quarters there were large patches of skin
which were perfectly bare, between which lay large patches of old,
woolly, brown hair. This curious condition gave the animal a very
unkempt and "seedy" appearance, the effect of which was heightened by
the long, shaggy locks of old, weather beaten hair which clung to the
new coat of the neck and shoulders like tattered signals of distress,
ready to be blown away by the first gust of wind.
This specimen was a large one, measuring 5 feet 4 inches in height.
Inasmuch as the skin was not in condition to mount, we took only the
skeleton, entire, and the skin of the head and neck.
The capture of the calf and the death of this bull proved conclusively
that there were buffaloes in that region, and also that they were
breeding in comparative security. The extent of the country they had to
range over made it reasonably certain that their number would not be
diminished to any serious extent by the cowboys on the spring round-up,
although it was absolutely certain that in a few months the members of
that band would all be killed. The report of the existence of a herd of
thirty-five head was confirmed later by cowboys, who had actually seen
the animals, and killed two of them merely for sport, as usual. They
saved a few pounds of hump meat, and all the rest became food for the
wolves and foxes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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