Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-04-13
THE BUFFALO NEARLY GONE.
Plenty OF skeletons OF the Plains
MIR. Richardson's plan for Prevent
Ing the Extinction OF the Bison.

/ =
extending over two months in por-
| ton of Montana. where only five years
ago a herd of ten thousand was rang
ing Says The NeW York. TrtbuHe). yet
he was able TO secure ten complete
skeletons and several good skins. Some
idea of the labor of the search may be
obtained from the fact these ten skelc-
tons were obtained from about 100 car
| casses which were bleaching on the
plains. the relics of the mighty herds
which once roamed there. 1t was still
more difficult to get good buffalo skins.
I'VE stopped at the house of II young
man." said Mr.. Richardson, "who had
the skins of three builalos which he
! had shot the year before. He wanted
| 500 apiece for the skins. Being some
! thing Of naturalist. he had determin-
ed TO mount them himself, and in this
condition he expected to get good
/ price for them. But he had reno we'd
| the skins in a manner that would have
prevented anyone but an expert taXid-
ermist from mounting them. | saw
the fact at n glance. and told him that
the skins would be of no use TOR his
purpose He had probably realized
this himself, for just rs we were going
away he cam TO me and 81 Il: Il will
/ let YOU have a cho &c of the skins ut
your own price if you Will give me in
addition some points on mount ne the
others | got one fair skin for SO.
and the young man rode with me about
twenty IN les over the country while |
gave him the instruction he desired.
There is no question in Mr.. Richard
sons opinion that the buffalo is we'll
n oh extinct on the plains. There are
a few in Yellowstone park protected by
the government. but they are likely to
be killed at any time. In Texas a herd
Of about thirty is owned by a ranch
man; several other small punches may
be found. but the days when they ram
BLEED 1t large over the country have
been numbered Unless some means
of protecting them is adopted, within
ten years the American bison must be-
come an extinct species. In Central
park Director Conklin has several
specimens of buffalo. but the cow is
getting old and another one has not
been secured The buffalo Will not
breed in captivity I'm less. ! Ike other
domestic animals, il has abundant room
for feeding and exercise. In Central
park the animals are confined in mar
row stalls because the space at the dis
posa of the manager is so crampcd.
There is a practical solution of the
bcilalo question, Mr.. Richardson thinks
which. ii adopted at once, NAV pre-
vent the extinction Of the animal. The
builaoes are cas- lv domeSticaled and if
accustomed from birth % domestic sur
roundings they become quite as easy TO
control Is ordinary dOme~t e cattle
I'm the northwest where the winters
are long aud the thermometer
sinks below zero at the slightest prov
ocat on. 5ullalocs subsist without any
q soomfort. while the w nters there are
generally fatal to domestic cattle unless
housed aud looked after with the great
est care.
"In Manitoba" said Mr.. Richardson.
'fhcre is a herd Of about fit buil'aioes
owned bv :. l.. BedSon. Ernest f.
. Thompson. who is assisting me in the
museum. has written an interesting ac-
count of them i'm a recent pamphlet on
the Mammals Of Manitoba. A por-
ton of this herd are half-breedS. cross
ed with common cattle. another por-
I on are thrcc-quarters bred, and the
rest are pure bred. 1t may be ques-
ton whether the pure breed viii con-
tnue itself but il certainly could be
maintained if looked after. THIS herd
has been developed from five buffalo
/ NJ. Ip,l
Wnncreg in 1873. II requires no
care beyond what is necessary o keep
the q flrrent animals from wandering
or being stolen or shot. The bulfalOes
are rs hardy rs i'm their wild state Mr..
Thompson saw them late in January
last year. when they were able to dir
down IN the snow and find grass
enough to keep them fat During
blizzard they would lie down i'm
group and let the snow drift over
them. The snow and their woolly
coats kept them perfectly comfortable,
In January 1884. one of the cows calv-
ed in an open prairie. where the Their
mometer registered 80 degrees below
zero. and both cow and calf surviv ed
and did not appear to suffer.
1T seems 10 me that this is an inn
portant question for the farmers of the
northwest and the national govern
ment ought TO take measures for the
encouragement of the raising of buffalo
stock. An ordinary cowhide is worth
g, but it is useless as n robe. while
an average buffalo hide is worth so.
and rs robe is almost ind spensable
in the northern climate. The buffalo
sheds its wOolIy hair once n wear. The
wool is easily gathered and it works up
well into n coarse warn. One animal
will yield ten 10 twelve pounds of raw
wool. AT one time there were facto-
ries for the manufacture of bulfalo
wool. but thew have sappeared w tn
the buffalo. The wool of the hybrid
animal becomes darker and finer, and
the buffalo hump disappears in the
mixed breed. The animal itself be-
comes more docile. though retaining
its hardihood, and is better mixer
than the pure buffalo The cross
breeding affords wide opportunity
g.. -, l.