The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-04-07

Ocou ENTHUSIASTICALLY dSC0CIdlucO, UuI do Oh
unfortunate COW dashed furiously through
q snow drift at the moment he fred his
last cartridge, she became aware that she
had made similar sacrifice to that made
by Tam o Shanter''s mare.
By this time the sun was rapidly ap-
preaching the peaks of the Missouri Pla-
teau, warning Mr.. B. of the necessity of
returning without delay, if he expected to
reach the fort before dark. He had tina
tail of live COW, upon which to base
many tales of dead ones, and he required
no additional evidence of his skill as q
hunter, consequently he gave the sun a
cold shoulder, and in short time he fell
in with party of scouts, with whom he
reached the fort shortly after dark.
Maj. Rose, the post interpreter, and the
sutler, followed separate portions of the
herd until near dark, when they began to
think of securing lodgings for the night.
The Major started toward the fort, but in
the darkness lost the road, and found q
grove of timber, where he concluded to
pass the remainder of the night.
In his search for favorable location for
making camp, he discovered logging
road, which he determined to follow, and
mounting bis horse, he was soon on his
way to the fort, which he reached about
two O'Clock at night.
The interpreter reached the Fort about
3 o'clock, bringing with him calf which
he claimed to have taken from a cow he
killed, but as the calf was minus skin, a
suspicion arose that it might be and pro-
badly was the calf the doctor had skinned.
The sutler in his chase had been led to-
ward the James river, the speed of his
horse and of the buffalo being so exactly
graduated that no change in the relative
distance between them occurred from the
time the chase commenced at a run until
it finally closed at very slow walk.
By this time darkness became visible"
and the sutler, being unfortunate in his
race with the buffalo, determined upon a
race with some of the stacks in the hay
meadow. In this he was successful, but
when he attempted to overtake the sham
ties occupied by the hay guard teamsters,
&C., his horse proved unequal to the task,
and persistently refused to participate in
any farther trial of speed.
In this dilemma the Sutler concluded
to use his own legs instead of the legs of
his horse in this new trial of speed. But
bis exertiOns were vain. frequently the
shanSes were In sight, but when he got
where they were they were they were not
there, and stack or two of hay had taken
their place. Satisfied at length that al
though he could pass half dozen stacks
of hay without difficulty, be bad not the
muscular power to Overtake q shanty or
two and he burrowed into the lee side of
stack Of hay, and waited for the morn.
ing. Some few hours after sunrise he left
his shelter under the hay stack, and upon
examining the surrounding country, dis
covered the shanties about a hundred
yards distant; they, too, had remained
stationary during the night.
After partaking of some refreshments
the sutler turned his horse toward the
fort, which he reached about three O'Clock
Sunday afternoon. u 17a1. =
Upon comparing notes it was ascertain-
ed that large number of Buffalo had
been killed. None of the hunters (the
Doctor excepted) had killed less than i've
or six, and some were confident they had
killed at least twenty. This statement be-
coming current in the Fort, some of the
men on Monday, obtained permiss on to
visit the fats to obtain the robes from the
dead animals. Preparations we're made
for bringing in large load of robes, bat
the sanguine anticipations of these men
were doomed to disappointment. During
the interval between the killing of the
Buffalo and the time the party reached the
flats for the purpose Of skinning them, the
wolves had eaten the hide, meat, horns
and bones of every animal that had been
killed. Except the Doctors bull, not a
vastage of any animal was to be found.
Even the blood had been sucked from the
snow, and every trace of every kind of the
destruction of Buffalo on Saturday, had
been thoroughly obliterated by noon on
Monday.
Fortunately the Calls skin and cows tail
were brought in on Saturday, and have
been preserved as evidence of success in q
Buffalo hunt on the James River flats.
Respectfully yours,
G. HARMAIN.