Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-06-26

How They are Pursued and
Killed In the Far West.
COrrespondent petroit Free Pre...

| sun ucI 10 Outy SOOu IOT l6aluor. q
buffalo hunting outfit usually consist
OF one or two hunters, two SINNERS Il
each hunter, two or three teams ant
wagons, cook and stock Of ammu
milton and provisions. One man, usu
ally practical hunter, owns the outfi
and pays the other men monthly sal
airy. Arrived upon the range a dug.
out is constructed by cutting an open,
ing in side hill aud roofing it with
hides, or with boughs and dirt. This
is the home of the party. A sheet,
iron stove or fireplace of stones and
mud warns the burrow and a hide
serves for door. The hunters scour
the country on their horses for signs
of the proximity of herd. When
they discover such signs they do
not gallop on, find the herd, dash
among them and kill right and left.
That is the way buffalo hunting is
done in the picture in the school
Biographies, and it is the way the In
dams who are after meat often hunt.
The white man is too smart. He
wants to kill as many animals as pos
sible without stampeding the herd.
First he caches" his horse, conceal
ing him in "coolie" or gully, (the
right word is the coulter" but West.
ern usage has corrupted it to ceolie).
If the bufaloes should get wind of the
horse they would take the alarm and
make of. The hunter then cautiously
gets around the leeward of the herd,
Getting there wind" as he says.
Then he approaches very slowly,
crawling over the ground and lodging
behind hummocks to escape their no
tice. Ii they see him he lies perfectly
still in the grass, which his brown
canvas clothing resembles closely in
color. Seeing nothing move, the wary
animals soon think they were mistaken
in suspecting the presence of an enc
my and 60 on grazing.
The hunter crawls up little closer
and so works forward until he gets a
good position, in a depression in the
ground or behind a little rise, for
shooting. Then he watches the herd
for a few minutes, to learn which
animal is the leader. Every herd,
large or small, has a captain, who
directs its movements and to whom
II turn in moments # danger. The
hunter must first xiii the Leader or he
will probably not get more than Que or
two skins out of the herd. When
the buffalo boss is laid low the other
animals gather around him in confu-
sion and amazement undecided what
TO do. Another and another fall un.
der the hunters steady aim. The
herd is terror stricken. Some of the
holder animals break away from the
group and look around to see from
whence the danger comes, but the
hunter lies low and ceases firing until
they return to their dying comrades.
Then he fires away rapidly, perhaps
getting in a dozen effective shots
before the huddle Of animals break up
and the beasts begin to run to and fro
in fury of rage and fear. Before
they 6nd a new leader and stampede
from the fatal spot he will probably
down" twenty or thirty of them. He
rides back to camp to bring up the
wagons and the SINNERS, takes note
Of the direction the hero has pursued,
and the next day are on their track
again. 1t is not uncommon for a sin
gle hunter to kill 500 buffalo in a few
weeks. One can see what devastation
a few hunting parties will make in a
single month among the few remaining
herds.
The Indians method Of killing buff
falo is much more exciting and spec
tacular, but much less destructive. A
civil engineer engaged in the railroad
construction work, at whose camp /
stopped few nights ago, gave me an
account of an Indian hunt he wit.
messed from the door of his own log
cabin one day last winter. 1t was the
great annual hunt of the Crows. The
Indians had had the scouts out for
weeks in the region north Of the Vel.
lowstone, massing the small scattered
herds into one large body by method
similar to that used in rounding W
cattle. Having got together herd Of
perhaps 5000, they began to push them
forward slowly towards the Yellow
stone valley, not stampeding the ami
mails, but forming a semi-circle OIL
horsemen around nearly twenty miles
of country and showing themselves
here and there to keep the animals
from straying off and move them for
ward in the desired direction. COuri.
ers were sent to the Crow village
and soon the whole tribe was in
motion for a small piece of bottom
land on the river, halt surrounded
by an ampitheater Of hills. Be
yond the hill tops the squaws, chill
dren and old men were stationed
with some of the ponies and witt
red blankets. The most skillfu
| hunters posted themselves, mounted
by the river side. About noon tb,
great herd, urged on by the scouts
came laundering down the hills int,
the bottom. Then the people on thu
hills closed up their line behind then
and the hunters dashed into the her,
and began the slaughter. Wheneve
the animals would stampede towar
the hills they would be driven hacl
by the squaws waving the red blanketl
The hunters rode to and fro, with Won
r derful skill evadiDg the charges Q
wounded bulls and carrying on tn
slaughter with little more trouble tina
: they would have had 10 a drove {
D cattle. When their ponies were el
z hausted they rode up the hills and &
fresh ones from the squaws. Aft
Q two or three hours Of this kind
i work, the chief gave a signal, the lii
b on the hills opened a gap and the sui
/. vivors Of tho herd were allowed
escape. About 500 animals we're killt
in all. The tepees we're set up an
the village toasted for month, Will
- 4 L.