There have been other speculations, and it is very interesting to read about these various theories, and try to guess which one of them can be the true explanation; for that there must have been something remarkable about the origin of this tribe no one can deny. They were not as warlike as some of the tribes with whom they came in contact, such as the fierce Sioux; but at the same time it appears that they held their own in the numerous wars which followed an invasion by one tribe upon the hunting grounds of another. Unfortunately the Mandans were utterly wiped out in later years by the great scourge of smallpox, which possibly may have been one of the unwelcome gifts brought to them by the palefaces. NOTE 5 (PAGE 64) In crossing the great plains that lie between the valley of the Mississippi and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, it is in these days difficult to realize the tremendous changes that have taken place there during the last fifty or sixty years. Especially is this true with regard to animal life. Where to-day herds of long-horned cattle graze, or vast fields of nodding grain tell of the prosperous farmer, in those times uncounted numbers of great shaggy bison roamed. According to many of the accounts that have come down to us from authentic sources, the sight of such a herd rolling past, as far as the eye could see, and for hour after hour, must have been a most impressive spectacle. Where have they all gone? Up to then the needs of the Indians and the depredations of wild animals had made no impression on the incredible number of the herds; although the red men often drove hundreds of the big animals over some precipice, and took nothing but the tongues, to be dried as a delicacy. The first serious inroad among the buffaloes occurred when the railroad was being pushed across the plains, and men like Cody, afterwards known as Buffalo Bill, were employed to slaughter the beasts in order to provide sufficient food for the thousands of workers. Then it began to be the thing for parties to set out and kill for the sake of the slaughter. The robes were also brought into use for sleighing and other purposes. But the advent of the repeating rifle signed the real death warrant for the bison of the plains. Then they rapidly dwindled to almost nothing. In place of the millions that once galloped north and south in the seasons there are to-day but one or two small herds, in the National Yellowstone Park or in private preserves. Like the once numerous wild pigeons called the passenger pigeons which existed in untold numbers, the buffaloes have had their day. NOTE 6 (PAGE 194)