The daily gazette., 1875-01-07
THE GREAT BONE. HARVEST.
slang ghtering the Monarchs of the
Plains-Ut1lizing Bison and Indi.
an BOnes-The Hide Hunters and
Meat JorkerW.

slaushtering the Monarchs of tn,
an Bones-The Hide Hunters % ans
Meat Jorkerw.
- FROM the Rocky Mountain News.l
Inc extent OF the collection, assort
ment and sale of the skeletons Of de
funct buhaloes on the plains is surpris
ing. During the season hundreds Of NOR
engage in the business, and all The sto,
tions on the Kansas Pacific and Atchisof
and Topeka and Santa Fe railroads havt
bone niddlemen, soIcalled, who maxi
good profits by buying and shipping ths
plokings Of the "pickers." The sksle
CONS are, OF course. plentifully scattered
over the plains. and parties Of half {
dozen or more, with wagons, go in search
OF them and bring them into the station
for shipment 1t L. said that since the
nrst o. Last month from ten to twenty
tons Of bu6alo bones have been shipped
over the named roads every dAy,
a The bones are worth, delivered 1t ths
railway statisn, an average of IS q ton
The bulk Of them 10 sold for fertiliains
purposes in the soil l-enfeebled district:
OF the Eastern and Middle States. Phila.
delphia being the principal point Of con.
signment. Certain portions Of the buffa.
10 skeleton, however, are adapted to no.
bier uses than the invigoration of worn.
out earth. and are sold at q handsome
price to the manufacturers Of buttons
combs and knife-handles. At almost ey.
cry railroad depot are great piles of these
queer remains of the bounding bison
awaiting shipment; and the variations
OF the value OF bones are of more inter.
est to the people than the Fluctuations
OF the grain markets. In asserting the
bones for market strange discoveries are
sometimes made. 1t is no uncommon
thing, for instance, to find Indian skulls,
legs and arms; and in some instances
the skulls and vertebra Of women and
children have been picked up. These
latter are usually tossed aside in rude
sort OF reverence for the helpless and
innocent; but no such respect is paid to
the bones OF the Indian. An Indian
skull is said to he worth a dollar and a
quarter. for combs, and the Indian thigh
makes knife handles that are beautiful
to behold.
MERcILKss BUTcHERY.
Hide hunters along the Kansas Pacific
are even more numerous than the bone
pickers, and their trade is much more
exciting and hazardous. They usually
follow in the wake Of buffalo hunting
expeditions and rowing bands Of Indian
Meat jerkers." The Indians who kill
buffalo take only a small portion Of the
animal. and the white men who slay
them for sport rarely touch them with a
knife, so that the hide hunter who goes
after is usually sure of his spoil, Bis the
hid remains in good order for removal
nearly a week after the killing, liz the
wolves keep away. When hides are not
to be had fast enough o.. with personal
safety In this way, the hide huAters pro-
ject little raids OF their own out into the
buffalo ranges. killing the animals sim.
ply for their hides, And leaving the meat
to decay. or selling it at a nominal rate
to accompanying parties Of dealers.
The hides are tanned and dressed by q
much more rapid, but less perfect and
the Indians, and only the hides of ami.
mails killed in cold weather make really
valuable robes. ig = 81 =
In q little more than three months
over $1,000 Of these hides were shipped
from the stations on the western division
Of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
Railroad, and it. is estimated that the
shipments for this year over this road
and the. KAnsis Pacific will aggregate
125, 600. As each hide represents q slain
buffalo, these figures convey q fair
though not a full idea Of the magnificent
butchery which has been going on among
these ,;'monarchs Of the plains" The
hides. Otter being dressed, are rolled up
in as small a compass as possible, and
shipped to the large Eastern cities, where
they are subject to process Of reclean-
ing and drying, and put into the market
for sale. The original purveyor of the
hides get about as much for them as
the New England Tor New York farmer
receives for the hides of his cattle; but
the profit to an Eastern dealer can be
seen at a glance, is considerable. At
time to convert the buffalo hide into
leather, but without much success; and
it probable has no very great value ex-
cept tor use as q robe.
BUFEALo MEAT.
But of still greater importance than
bone-picking or hide-hunting is the
trade in buffalo meat. 1t has employ
ed, during the year or two, an amount
Of labor and capital that would seem
incredible to person unacQuainted
with the facts. The meat market
opens in November, when the wealth
er becomes cool enough for it's trans
kOINtAOu, duA SonthuSS autll tuc ASt
Of April. During these five months
as much as 1900, 600 pounds are ship
ped from the station on the Kansas
Pacific tQ al parts of the country. In
the winter months a buffalo steak can
be obtained as easily and almost as
cheaply in the butchers stalls of the
leading northern cities as beef steak
or mutton chop, and in Colorado and
Kansas IL 10 as common antelope.
When buffaloes are killed for the
meat only the hams and shoulders are
brought In, and shipments are usually
made In that shape, the hide nearly
always being left on to the end
of the Journey The leading markets
for buffalo meat ''in the rough" are
st, Louis, Chicago and Indianapolis,
whence it Is reshipped, in cleaner and
more artistic condition, to cities of the
seaboard. At, Kansas City, too, large
quantities are cured and packed for
Eastern use, and some successful ex,
periments have been made in shipping
direct to New York and Philadelphia
In refrigerator ears. The price in the
towns along the middle and eastern
- a