St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-04-29

from wanton slaughter. There were to
be seen daily
HERDS OF BUFFALO,
led by huge, shaggy bulls, which en-
| ployed themselves in blowing the earth
| with hoof and horn, forming the pits or
| wallowS so common in the pralrleS, ac-
companying their Self-imposed task
| own species, and of any other beast
| which would have the hardihood to dis
| pute their predominance as monarch OF
| the plain. Even the young males mani
| tested at times their combative pro-
| pensitieS. One of my voyageurS was
| pursued by a two-year-0ld bull without
| any provocation, and he only escaped
| by his fieetneSS of foot and by hiding in
deep pit in the prairie. My own ex--
istence came within hairs breadth OF
| an inglorious ending by the horDs OF a
buffalo bull. Being in the prime OF
early manhood, active, athletic, a prac-
ticed horseman and expert in the use
| of the
RIFLE, SHOTGUN AND PISTOL,
/ had full confidence in my ability to
cope successfully with biped or quad
ruped, on anything like equal terms.
| The conceit was soon taken out OF me,
as will appear from my narration of the
encounter furnished to Porter's Spirit
of the Times, and subsequently incor-
| pOrated in his American edition OF Col.
Peter Hawker's English work on 'Guns
| and Shooting" an extract from which
| is as followsss
There was very fine, fat COW In
| the center of the band, which l made
| several efforts to separate from the
| others, but without effect. She kept
herself close to an old bull, who from
4, 10 DIN
| patriarch of the tribe. Being resolved
| to get rid of this incumbrance, [ shot
| the old fellow behind the shoulder.
| The wound was mortal, and the bull left
| the herd, and went off at slow gallop,
| in different direction. AS soon as
| fired, Slackened the speed of my horse
! to enable me to reload, determined to
pursue
THE RETIRING MASS,
trusting to find the wounded animal on
my return. Unfortunately, | changed
my mind, and sped after the bull to
give him the coup de grace. l rode
carelessly along with but one barrel OF
my gun loaded, when upon nearing the
buffalo, he turned quick as lightning to
charge. At this critical instant l had
risen in my stirrups, and released my
hold on the bride rein. The moment
the buffalo turned, my horse, frightened
out of his propriety, gave a tremendous
bound SidewiSe. and alas! that L should
tell it, threw Hal clear out of the sad
die, and within ten feet of the enraged
| monster. Here was predicament. I'm
agine your humble servant face to face
with brute whose eyes gfared through
the long hair which garniShed his 'front.'
let like Goals of fre-the blood stream
ing from his nostrils. In this desperate
emergency, made up my mind that
my only chance for escape was to look
the enemy in the eye: as any attempt
to run would only invite attack. Holding
my gun ready cooked to fire if he at
tempted a rush, stood firmly, although
| must confess Twas much disturbed
and thought my last hour had cOmel
How long he remained there
PAVING AND BELLOwING,
| have now not the least idea, but l
certainly felt that he was long in decid-
ing what to do. At last he turned
slowly away, and l gave him parting
salute, which let out the little blood left
in his body. The only one of the party
within view now came up. l was so
near the buffalo, when dismounted,
that my companion asked me if had
struck the beast with the barrels of my
gum" Thus it will be seen that the
chase of the buffalo in those early days
was by no means without its perils.
But, alas! the time was approaching
| when the savage, armed with the bow
| and silent, but fatal arrow, the dis
| charge of which caused no general COM
motion among the herds, was forced to
| give way to the white man with his
weapons of destruction, the explosion
| of which struck terror to the poor
creatureS-when an army of ruthless and
BRUTAL POT-HUNTERS,
| bearing the deadly Winchester rifle, fol-
| lowed the great masses month after
month, Staying tens, nay hundreds of
| thousands of the prosecuted animals, for
the pittance of 50 paid them for each
hide, leaving the carcasses to pollute the
air. An intelligent French writer, who
devoted much time to the collection of
statistics on this point, not long since
| published a statement that during the
| decade following the year 1864, 100000
| of buffalo were destroyed. 1t seems in
| credible that so great waste of animal
life could have occurred within that
| brief period, but when it is recollected
that more than 100000 robes Oh an aver
age, all dressed by Indian women, were
taken annually from the country, and
that more than one-half Of the skins
were unfit to be converted into robes,
added to the vast number slaughtered
| by white men, the computation can
| hardly be deemed extravaganza. The
result of this
| WHOLESALE BUTCHERY
has been, virtually, the determination
of the buffalo. There is small band in
| the great Yellowstone park under gov
ernmental protection, and some scat
tered remnants in remote portions of
the continent, but in few short years
they will have become extinct. A like
fate has befallen the stately and beauti-
full elk, which tenanted the same
prairies with the buffalo, in bands of
many hundreds, upon which 1 have
often gazed with rapture. They too
have forever disappeared from their
native plains, only a few being found
here and there, amid the recesses of the
Rocky mountains. The changes that
have taken place in this new North
west, within the last quarter of CEN
fury, partake of the marvellous. The
woods and prairies-the borders of the
SEVEN THOUSAND LAKES
in this state, and the wide plains in
Dakota territory, are being rapidly
filled with sturdy tillers of the soil, and
thriving villages multiply year after
year. The two cities of st. Paul and
Minneapolis, lying side by side, contain
approximately 100000 souls, equal to
one-tenth of the entire population of
the thirteen colonies, when emancipated
from British control. In 1850, after the
organization of Minnesota as territory,
Hon. Thomas 81. Benton, then United
States senator from Missouri, and one of
the giant intellectS of that body, eX-
| pressed himself in conversation with
| several other senators, and in INV hear
ing, substantially in the following Ian
guage: There will be three principal
cities in the valley of the Mississippi,
New Orleans near the mouth of the
river, st. Louis near the mouth of the
Missouri, and the third at or near the
Falls of ST. Anthony" Of the accuracy
| of that prediction we are living wit