New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-06-18
IAN OVERLAND JOURNEY
vIII.-LAST OF THE BUFFALO.
RisINGER's CREEK, Station No. IL,

H fully ard admirably upon IT. and that the travellers
enthusiastic recital falls coldly on the ear VI the
II distant, critical unsynpsthirng reader. Yet I
sseiss AN writing this once more on Buffalo. prom
i,iNs the, to drop the subject, as VIC pass Out Il
the ,apse of the Bufsic t-fe'e night All day
yesterday. th.y aArkened toe earth around ".
o,en se.rn.s 20 be drawn up BIKE an sr"y IN bat
lie array Or tho ridccr and adcwn their slopes
mile or 50 po,,h Of us--ofteu on the north ~ wdI
They s,e rather by Of the little soreens q sag-
| rgng timber ~ III, creek bottoms-aouot!ess froA
| ,h.ir sore cxpr-esc of Isdians lurking ther~n -
discharge srrowy n t. hem they weat de~, to
drna If they A-d IN the grass of the nars~
vancss and rsyines, they are careful TO Rave psrs
! Il the herd on the "A dyes Sae'ch cverock then
md viii them the s~raqndug country fcs miles
| md when an alarm IS sA'en, they al rush farioAs-
h of in the direct sc vi ich tls leaders presume
thai II safety.
IS,si,yAat gives ne rucA excellent oppo-tunt
ties for resArding their to the tess Advantage
| They are messing uorthv,rd, and are stdi msnI
south II our track. Whenever aarrsed, they ses
off on their awkward bet -, ctise ssntrr TO tho
great herds .tia SOUTH or - Ne UNITS w'ta "nim
they are cem-@ratvely far.ihsF, and WHEREIN ting
have hth .t:o fcald safety. OF n 'urse, th's sens
those north cf ss across our way, often sH1 . low
rods in froy. of MS, even whsr tt-) had tnned
mile away Then herd will corsn 'ence rauoins
across hundred rods ahead os ~, snd. tho whole
blindly following their leader, We VIII % close
upon them before the last will have clearsd tho
track. Of coutsr; they sometirice sap aud hack.
or. seeing u.s. sheer od and :ottar ahead. -
split into two lines but the general iussase, whca
alarmed. is to foll.w blndy arl'at full 'poed.
seeming not to inquire or consider from what qmf-
ter danger is to be spprchended
What strikes the stranger with m ut IN asem.ut
Is their immense numbers know . mis~on na
great many, but am confident we sew u at num-
Der yesterday. Certainly, all we saw could n~
have stood on ten .quare miles of gro~nd OtseH
the country for miles Oh either hand seeme& quise
black with them Toe soil is rich, and yeh grated :
with their favorite grsss. Yet 1t is all t~xsepss
yeyy little on the creek bottoms, near 70 tisnber1
eaten down hike an overtaxed eppastaro' 10 .
dry August Consider that We have trsvtfsoa
more than one hundred miles in width sinco we
first struck them and that for most of this distance
the Buffalo have been constantly in sight, aud thss
they continue for some twenty-five miles fareses
on--.h being the breadth Of their present range
which has length of perhaps Thousand mi'ess
and yeu have some approach to an idea OF their
ccuntless millions doubt whether the dsmes.
,icst.d horned cattle Of the United States equal tho
numbers lille they must fall considerably short il
weight. of these wild ones. Margaret Fuller long
ago observed that the Illinois praries secured ~
rep. the idea of being to civilized life aud 10
dustry-tbat they, with their borders of trees AID
belts Of timber, reminded the traveller rather Of the
marks snd spacious fields Of an old country iks
England--that You we're constantly on tho iavol
unary ook out for the chateaux or at least the hum
bier furm houses, which should diversity suoh
seems True as this is or ass in Illinois, the no
semblnnce is far more striking here, where the
grass ia all go closely pastured and the cattle arc
seen in such vast herds on every ridge Tho tim
Der. too aids tho resemblance, seeming 10 have
been reduced to the last degree consistent with tho
wants of q grazing country and TO have besa len
only on the steep creek. banks where grass would
not grow 1t is hard 10 realize that this Is tho con-
ter of region Of wilderness and solitude, % far
As the labors Of civilized man are concerned-thss
tbs fIst wagon passed through it some two mouths
ago. But the utter absence Of houses or buildings
OF any kind. and our unbrdged, unworked road.
winding on it, way for hundreds Of miles without
track, ether than Of Buffalo, intersecting or Lead
ipp away from it on either hand, brings us back 70
the reality.
Il shall pass lightly over the hunting exploits Of
our party. good many shots have been decd
of course not by me; were 10 the habit q
ussipa way on wild Natures children. would ~
soon thnk Of shooting my neghbors oxen ~ thssa
qrsst, clausy harmless creatures. III they wero
scarce, might comprehend the idea Of hunting
them for sport here, they arc 40 abundant thsS
YOU might as well hunt your neighbors gsesn.
And. Wills there have been several shots hired 81
our party at point blank distances, have reasoa
for my hope that no Buffalo has exPeneacoa
any personal inconvenience therefrom. For thD
immunity, the foulness Of the rifle has bad TO A.
,wer n part; the greenness Of the sPOftsnAn -
perhaps equally answerable for IT. But then we
have had no horse or mule out o. our regular
teams, and the candid will admit that coash-sod-
four is not precisely the fttest turnout for . hunt
ipg party.
! write in the station tent (hsying beea drivea
from our wagon by the operation OF gr sasing ~
wheels which VAS found 10 interfere With no
,teadiness Of my bastIly-improyised tsblr), VIII
the BuaaIo yDble On h, ridges south and every
Nav but north Of U.s. They were very close down
" Ia at day light and TIL the increasing lghare-
veaed distinctly position, since WITCH they hsEe
kept respectful distance. But party Of oar dfs
yers, who went back seven miles on mules laas even