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
The 25th day of November was the most severe day of the storm, the
mercury in our sheltered cañon sinking to -16 degrees. We had hoped to
kill at least five more buffaloes by the time Private West should arrive
with the wagons; but when at the end of a week the storm had spent
itself, the snow was so deep that hunting was totally impossible save in
the vicinity of camp, where there was nothing to kill. We expected the
wagons by the 3d of December, but they did not come that day nor within
the next three. By the 6th the snow had melted off sufficiently that a
buffalo hunt was once more possible, and Mr. McNaney and I decided to
make a final trip to the Buffalo Buttes. The state of the ground made it
impossible for us to go there and return the same day, so we took a
pack-horse and arranged to camp out.
When a little over half-way to our old rendezvous we came upon three
buffaloes in the bad grounds, one of which was an enormous old bull, the
next largest was an adult cow, and the third a two-year-old heifer. Mr.
McNaney promptly knocked down the old cow, while I devoted my attention
to the bull; but she presently got up and made off unnoticed at the
precise moment Mr. McNaney was absorbed in watching my efforts to bring
down the old bull. After a short chase my horse carried me alongside my
buffalo, and as he turned toward me I gave him a shot through the
shoulder, breaking the fore leg and bringing him promptly to the ground.
I then turned immediately to pursue the young cow, but by that time she
had got on the farther side of a deep gully which was filled with snow,
and by the time I got my horse safely across she had distanced me. I
then rode back to the old bull. When he saw me coming he got upon his
feet and ran a short distance, but was easily overtaken. He then stood
at bay, and halting within 30 yards of him I enjoyed the rare
opportunity of studying a live bull buffalo of the largest size on foot
on his native heath. I even made an outline sketch of him in my
note-book. Having studied his form and outlines as much as was really
necessary, I gave him a final shot through the lungs, which soon ended
his career.
This was a truly magnificent specimen in every respect. He was a
"stub-horn" bull, about eleven years old, much larger every way than any
of the others we collected. His height at the shoulder was 5 feet 8
inches perpendicular, or 2 inches more than the next largest of our
collection. His hair was in remarkably fine condition, being long, fine,
thick, and well colored. The hair in his frontlet is 16 inches in
length, and the thick coat of shaggy, straw-colored tufts which covered
his neck and shoulders measured 4 inches. His girth behind the fore leg
was 8 feet 4 inches, and his weight was estimated at 1,600 pounds.
[Illustration: TROPHIES OF THE HUNT. Mounted by the author in the U. S.
National Museum. Reproduced from the _Cosmopolitan Magazine_, by
permission of the publishers.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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