The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-08-25
Exciting Buffalo Hunt.

Charles b. Matthews, formerly Of
Buffalo. but now a resident Of Kansas,
in a letter TO the Western New Yorker,
gives an account of a Buffalo hunt, par
ticipated in by himself and wife, and
Mr.. Wheeler, formerlery of Lockport,
and wife, from which we make the fol-
lowing extract:
"An hour more and our eyes were
gladdened by seeing fifty or sixty Buff
faloes, which proved to be the outside
skirmish line. We drove in the pickets,
and in doing so we reached the summit
of an eminence, from which point we
believe we could distinctly see through
the clear air for the distance of fifteen
or twenty miles, and all the vast ex-
panse of smooth prairie from the river
back as far as the eye could reach, was
completely black with Buffaloes, aud
how much further the innumerable
throng extended beyond our vision we
could not tell But without the teles-
cope all efforts of ours to comprehend
their vastness would prove utterly
futile. At all events here is an abund-
ance Of game, and we are after them.
The ladies being anxious to participate
in the sport, Mrs. Matthews took the
reins, and Mr.. Wheeler and myself each
took our carbines in hand, and we then
drove slowly down the slope until with
in forty yards of the nearest squad,
when an old fellow started toward the
wagon. At first we thought him COM
ing to pay his compliments to the
ladies; but soon he started on full
run toward the river. | then fired on
l, l. Inh f1xr
retarded his movements. The ladies
then took the guns, and we drove a
little nearer, when a shot or two from
them made him shuttle off this mortal
coil This affair, which to us was full
of excitement and interest was scarcely
noticed by the Buflaloes near by but
by this time, ourselves and ponies be-
came so greatly excited that off we
dashed for the herd, and just before
we reached them they parted a little,
so that us we entered their ranks We got
good broadside shots at a distance of
from ten to fifteen rods, and on we
rushed like the wind. The ladies drove
while Mr.. Wheeler and myself fired
almost as fast as we could pull the trig-
ger. We were so near them that we
could see the color eff their eyes and
distinctly hear the balls as they struck
them. But, driving at such a rate, we
could take no accurate aim, and as only
a ball through the heart or lungs, or
one breaking the backbone, will stop
Buffalo, we had gone nearly a mile be-
fore we brought one down. Our ponies
now being quite out of breath, we stop
ped and examined him closely. He
was one of the largest in the herd, and
his head and neck were covered with
black hair from four to six inches in
length, and from the shoulders back
the body was without hair. This Buff
falo as well as all others at this season
of the year, was perfectly hideous in
appearance. | should think a good,
large Buffalo like this would weigh at
least l,500 pounds. The shape and
general appearance OF the Buffalo is so
well understood by all that need not
speak further on the subject. 1t now
being about noon, we went q short dis
lance, built fire and cooked some Of
our fresh-killed meat, which we relished
very much. AS soon as ourselves and
ponies were well fed we started off, and
in an hour we were again among the
Butfaloes. In the afternoon we had
several very animated races with them,
each time killing some. For some dis
lance our ponies could outrun them,
but for long run it would be safer to
bet on the Buffalo. / think we killed
none but males, as they take the out
side of the herd hence you do not see
the COWS and calves until you get pretty
well into the herd. During all the noise
and commotion occasioned by our chas-
ing and firing, there were thousands
and thousands of Buffaloes in sight Of
us that kept feeding as quietly as if ali
was well, but regarding our perform
ance as not worth noticing. Their
numbers were so great that we seemed
to be skirmishing a little among the
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