Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-03-17
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ground; which, Notwithstanding
their seemingly ineonyenient form,
they accomplish with the greatest
ease, But their greatest pleasure
consists in rolling in the mud, or in
"wallowing" as it is termed, from
which exercise they arise looking
more like an animated mass of drip
ping mud than their former selves.
The object of these peculiar ablu-
tons is doubtless to cool their heated
bodies and to free themselves from
troublesome insects; the coating of
adhesive mud they thus obtain Sc
curing them immunity, for many
hours after, from the attacks Of
herds of mosquitoes and flies with
which they are so much harassed.
| Despite the apparently unwieldly
form and awkard, numbering gait of.
the bison, his speed far exceeds the
speed he appears to make, while his
endurance is so great that the swift
ness and bottom of a well-trained
horse will be severely tested in an
attempt to oEertake him. When
pursued, orwhen urged on by thirst,
rough ground and a tumble now
and then seems hardly to retard him;
Plunging down the steep sides of
abrupt ravines and up the opposite
slopes, as though irregularities of
the surface were no obstacles to his
progress. The buffaloes also exhib-
it astonishing expertness at climb
ing; often, when in quest of water,
making precipitous descents, where
it would be impossible to follow
with horse, and even where a man
would Chamber down with difficulty.
Ordinarily, however, the bison
shows commeudable' sagacity in his
choice of routes, usually choosing the
easiest grades and the most direct
courses; so that ''buffalo trail"
way be depended upon as affording
the most direct road through the
region it traYerses.
That the buffalo is capable of com
plete domestication has been most
thoroughly demonstrated; but as yet
there have been no persistent, sys-
tematic attempts to perpetuate eth
er pure or mixed race, nor to test
its value as draught-animal, or for
other purposes. That the buffalo is
susceptible of domestication, and
that it will breed freely with our do
mestic cattle, was well known in
Kentucky and West Virginia nearly
a century ago. As early as 1850
buffalo calves had frequently been
taken by the settlers, and brought
up among the domestic cattle; be-
ing kept, however, mainly as an OBJ
ject of curiosity. According to
Gallatin, a mixed breed was quite
common ninety years ago in some
of the northwestern counties of
Virginia; but they gradually be-
came merged into the common do
nestle herd, through lack of fresh
supply of wild blood. Other writ
ers also refer to its susceptibility of
domestication, and of the probable
lty of its forming, through crossing
with the domestic cattle, a superior
breed of working oxen. More re-
Gently most thorough test of the
domesticability of the buffalo was
made in Kentucky, by Mr.. Robert
Wickliffe, who bred them for a peri
cd of over thirty years, obtaining
his wild stock from the Upper Mis-
souri, country. The experiment was
entirely successful, but the herd at
last became merged with the COM
mon stock through neglect. The
mixed breed proved larger than
either the wild or tame stock, but
were inferior in milking qualities,
though they gave promise of form
ing a stronger breed of working
oxen.
AS yet no attempt appears to have
been made to perpetuate an unmix-
ed domestic race of the buffalo.
Such project, however, is not on
ily feasible, but would doubtless be
attended with profitable results.
Experience shows that even the first
generation are no more dangerous
to handle than ordinary cattle; be-
ing far more tractable, in fact,
than the half wild stock of the Tex
as plains. If they should chance to
prove incapable Of rivaling our do
nestle race-the result of centuries
of careful breeding-it might still
be profitable, as well as attractive
addition to our domestieated animals.
Its capabilities as a mixed race
should certainly be thoroughly test
ed, and no time is more favorable
than the present. Many of our
frontier settlers in Kansas, Colorado
and Texas, live on the. very borders
of its range, thus enabling them to
supply themselves with the young
animals necessary for the enterprise
with little cost or trouble, and the
experiment could be tried under the
most favorable circumstances pos
sible, avoiding all the risks attending
change of habitat and acclimatlon.
If the buffalo is doomed to be soon
added to the list of animals known
only in history or from their fossil
remains, he will not disappear with
out having played an important
part in the history of the region he
inhabitated, or without having con-
tributed something to the advance
of civilization. After having formed
for thousands of years the main sub
sistence of hundreds of thousands of
the native inhabitants of this conti-
nent, his products have added great
ly to the comfort of more civilized
humanity, and rendered possible the
exploration and development of our
vast plains at much less sacrifice
of comfort and pecuniary means than
could otherwise have been the case.
Besides furnishing the pioneer set
tier with q sure means of subsistence
until other resources became availa-
able, he has furnished fresh food to
numerous private and government
exploring parties, where It could not
have been otherwise accessible.
Hardly less important to the explor
er has been its dried excrement-
the 6ois des VdcheS of the Voydgeasr
which has proved an uufailing and