The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1875-01-07

Buttons. Combs, and Knife.
handles--A Queer Pursuit. on
the Plains 80 The Merctless
Slaughter for Hides and Meat.
From the Denver News
The extent of that singular pur-
suit, namely, the collection, assort-
ment, and sale of the skeletons Of
defunct buffaloes on the plains, is
surprising. "Bone-picking outfits"
is the plains vernacular, and an in
telligent gentleman who has spent
the summer and fall with one OF these
"out6ts' says that during the season
hundreds Of men have been engaged
in the business, and all of the stations
on the Kansas Pacific and Atchison.
Topeka and Sante Fe Railroads have
bone middlemen, so.callea, who make
good profits by bn,ing and shipping
the pickin2s Of the 'pickers.' The
skeletons are, Of course, plentiiullv
scattered over the plains, and parties
of half dozen, or more. with wagons,
go in search Of them aud bring them
into the stations for shipment. 1t is
said that since the first of last month
from ten to twenty tons OF buffalo
bones have been shipped over the
above named lines every day.
The bones are worth, delivered ut
the railway station. an average Of s.
per ton. The bulk of them are sold
for fertilizing purposes in the soil
enfeebled districts Of the Eastern and
Middle States, Philadelphia being
the principal point of consignment.
Certain portions Of the buffalo skele
ton, however. are adapted TO nobler
uses than the invigoration Of worn
out earth, and are sold at a handsome
price to the manufacturers Of buttons,
combs and knife handles. At almost
every railroad depot are great piles
of these queer remains Of the bound
ing bison awaiting shipment; and the
variations of the value of bones are
of more interest to the people than
the fluctuations OF the grain markets
In asserting for market, strange dis
coreries are sometimes made. 1t is
no uncommon thing. for instance, to
find Indian skulls, legs and arms.
and in some instances the skulls and
vertebr;e of women and children have
been picked up. These latter are
usually tossed aside in rude sort of
reverence for the helpless and inno-
cent; but no such respect is paid to
the bones of the Indian. An Indian
skull is said to be worth dollar and
quarter for combs, and the Indian
thigh makes knife handles that are
beautiful to behold.
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 the wake of
buffalo expeditions and rowing bands
Of Indian "meat- t-jerkers." The In
dams who kill buffalo take only
small portion of the animal, and the
white men who slav them for sport
rarely touch them with knife; SO
that the hide hunter who goes after
is usually sure of his spoil, as the
hide remains in good order for re-
moval nearly a week after the killing.
il the wolves keep away. When
hides are not to be had fast enough
or with personal safety in this way,
the hide-hunters project little. raids
of their own out into the buffalo
ranges, killing the animals simply for
their hides, and leaving the meat to
decay, or selling it at nominal rate
to accompanying parties Of dealers
The hides are tanned and dressed by
a much more rapid, but less perfect
and effective, process than that fol-
lowed by the Indians, and only the /
hides of animals killed in cold wealth
CT make really valuable robes. la a
little more ,han three months over
$4,000 Of these hides were shipped |
from the stations on the western
division Of the Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe Railroad; and it is estimat
ed that the shipments for this year
over that road and the Kansas Pacific
will aggregate 125,0oO As each |
hide represents slain buffalo these
figures convey fair though not a
full idea Of the magnificent butchery
which has been going on among these
''monarchs Of the plsins.' The hides,
after being dressed, are rolled up in
as small compass as possible, and
shipped to the large Eastern cities,
where they are subjected to pro-
cess of recleaning and driving, and
put into the market for sale. The
original purveyor of the hides gets
about as much for them as the New
England or New York farmer re-
ceives for the hides Of his cattle; but
the profit to the Eastern dealer, as
can be seen at a glance. is considera-
BILE. Attempts have been made from
time to time to convert the buffalo
hide into leather, but without much
success; and it probably has no very
great value except for use as robe.
But Of still greater importance than
bone-picking or hide-hunting is the
trade in buffalo meat. 1t has en-
ployed during the last year or two an
amount Of labor and capital that
would seem incredible to a person
unacquainted with the facts. The
meat market opens in November,
when the weather becomes cool
enough for its transportation, and
continues until the first of April.
During these FIVE months as much as
s,0O0,O 900 pounds are shipped from
the stations on the Kansas Pacific to
all parts Of the country. In the win
ter months, buffalo steak can be
obtained about as easily and almost
as cheaply in the butchers stalls Of
Ethe leading Northern cities as beef
steak or mutton-chop, and in Col
orado and Kansas it Is common as