Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-04-11
Cause E0r the Extinction Of the Horses
OF the POsf.Tcrtiary.

From Nature.
A traveller in the park region of northel L
Colorado, and the central portion of Wyoming
10 years ago. could not fail to notice the i'm
mense numbers OF skulls and other bones of
bisons in districts at that time no longer fire.
quented by these animals. Scattered specimens
were to be seen in all directions, some of them
bearing marks of bullet and knife which left no
doubt as to the agent of destruction. Others
were to be found in numbers in localities which
suggested that they had been surprised by death
while seeking shelter from the weather rather
than the human destroyer. In such cases tuhlbled
and mixed by the scavengers, they were thickly
strewed over small areas. and the contour of
the surface often was such as to bring them
closer together with the movement of water or
soil. When asked the cause of the wholesale
slaughter the reply of the natives was almost
Invariably, THE hunters killed a great MANY
but the most died in the deep snow and cold
weather some 25 years ago" The great losses
experienced by the cattle men of the Medicine
Bow and Elk Mountain region. only couple of
winters ago. are too recent to have been forgot
ten. The next spring and summer the I'm fortu-
nate owner found the carcases Of his cattle in
positions similar to those occupied by the bands
of bsons In small parties they had huddled
In sheltered basins or hooks, and some upheld
by the snow through the winter. were still on
their feet. Since then these 'bOne-yards'' have
date. Last summer the kindness of Prof.
Agassiz enabled me to make some discoveries
in the Mauvaises Terres of the eastern slope of
the Rocky mountains which wildly brought to
mind the pockets full OF recent skeletons. Sec
lions in the pOst-tertiary beds here and there
disclosed groups or herds or fossil horses
(Equus) In circumstances so similar as to leave
no alternative to the conclusion that the same
causes had filled the bone basins In the
olden and In the most recent time.
fri IF no CT OH
OF the surface would have been similar, and
the Od-time coyotes in their feasting had evil
IDENTIFY brought about an equal amount of con-
fusion in the remains. About the time of the
deposition OF these fossils the horses became ex-
tinct. Why, Is still an open question. Such
evidence as was gathered there has led to the
belief that, in that region at least, occasional
''cold waves" of days-perhaps weeks-in dura-
tiOn, which deep SHOWS caused, or were the
principal causes of the determination of the
horses. Other causes that may be suggested
are these: Lack of water and an extended
glacial period. A consideration of the charac-
ter of the deposits, the drainage of the
mountains at the time, the absence in these
beds OF proof Of glacial period affecting
them since, and the continued existence In the
same locality OF other creatures, somewhat less
sensitive to the cold, would seem to be sufici-
ent ObjectlOnstO their acceptance. The tradi-
ton of the Indians that there is winter of ter
rible destruction to the animals once or twice
in the lifetime of a man-say once In about 40
vears-appears to be confirmed by the testi-
mony of the whites few degrees or a few
days added to the measure of the "wave," or
"blizzard," and few inches added to the depth
OF the snow would suffice to sweep the herds
from the pastures. Weather Of this character
Is possibility every winter in the Bad Lands,
though we hardly expect It, Apparently the
rocks contain evidence of such weather in post
tertiary times And it may not have differed 80
very much from that we are having to-day.