News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-03-21
LAST OF THE BUFFALO.
A MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL NOW
ALMOST EXTINCT.
The Indian and the White Man
Joined Hands in the Slaughter of
the Buffalo.

Dr. William F. Carver is probably
responsible for the death of more bison
than any other one man. For number
of wears he hunted them on the plains,
and in shooting them he developed that
wonderful skill in handling firearms
which has made him the best all-round
shot in the world To Kansas City
Times representative he told the follow
ing story of the bison, and how they
were formerly hunted by the Indians,
then by the whites:
"Before the invasion of civilization
the Indian relied almost entirely upon
the bison for his subsistence. The red
man, although daring in his attempts to
kill game, was yet the complete slave OF
the medicine man. How did he rule
them? I will tell you. When the In
dams supply of buffalo meat began to
give out, or the season came to lay in
the winter rations, the medicine man
was notified, and he ordered buffalo
dance. If the tribe was a large one
the festivities would often last for
weeks, and all sorts of can-cans would
be indulged in. At the close of the
feast the medicine man would gather
all kinds of herbs, roots, leaves and
grasses and retire to his tent. Exactly
what his process of preparing the medi-
cine was no white man has ever found
out; but the faith in him was so strong
that even the most powerful chief would
not be followed by dozen braves If
the medicine was wrong. From time
to time the medicine man would come
to the door of the tent and announce to
the waiting chiefs what the mixture
indicated.
"Upon the final announcement that
the medicine was right, the whole camp
would be broken up and the tribe would
start in full force upon the hunt. A
few sharp-sighted old scouts would be
in the van and keep the tribe posted as
to the location and number of bison by
riding in circles of different sizes and
points of intersection. When suitable
herd was found, the warriors would
stop, mount their favorite hunting
horses and prepare for the slaughter.
The bow was made of hickory wood.
about four feet long, covered with a
paste made of the boiled sinews of
bison, and stiff enough to serve as
jumping pole. Notwithstanding this
strength, the Indian would bend the
bow almost double before sending the
arrow to the winds. It was strung with
the cord which runs from the top of
bison's hump to his tail, this cord being
first wrapped with small strings of
sinews. The arrow was from thirty to
thirty-six inches in length, almost the
size of lead pencil, tipped with several
feathers and having the familiar flint
head tied on the front end. From the
head grooves are cut in the arrow, so as
to let the blood flow freely. The great
warriors sometimes had arrows made of
bone, and in later days the white men
taught the Indians to use steel arrow
heads.
''Having killed as many bison as posi-
BILE the hunters seek some cool place for
rest and the squaws take charge of the
game. They skin the animals, cut the
flesh into strips and hang them in the
! sun to dry. When the meat became
crisp enough to breaa it was placed in q
rawhide pouch, covered all over with tai
! low and put away for winter use. In
| that condition the meat is very good tc
eat, but when boiled for short time il
absorbs the water and returns to its for
mer size and tastes almost like fresh
meat The sauaWS also tan the hides OF
dress them up to be traded. The fun
dealers would get them for a few pieces
of common iewelry worth possibly 50
cents.
Gas the Indians hunted them, the
race of bison would probably have lasted
! forever, but about 1866 the white men
turned their attention to the shaggy
monsters of the plains. Large Eastern
firms organized hunting parties and
| paid the shooters 50. so for each bison
where he lay dead on the plains. j then
went to Southern Nebraska and became
a professional hunter. The bison con-
sisted of two large divisions, the one liv-
ing in the south and the other in the
north. Their only common feeding
ground was along the Republican River
| and its branches in Nebraska. The In
dams were we'll aware of that fact and
| hostile tribes have had many fight for
that territory. 1t was not until 1873
that the Government put an end to this
by sending the Pawnces south and the
| Sioux to their northern reservations.
Prior to that time we had to do all of
our hunting at the risk of being scalped
at any time.
"Our favOrIte gun was an army model
of Ethe Springfield rifle, 45-calihre and
loaded with ninety grains of powder.
The whites patterned after the Indians
and hunted on horseback. Having
wagons to haul our game, we did not
care to circle thom as the Indians did.
| When q herd was located we would
mount our best horses and as quietly as
possible approach the herd from the lee
ward side. As soon as they saw us the
fun would begin. Although of n low
build. the bison will make very inter
esting race with horse for ten miles.
We would press up on the right flank
of the herd and ride so close to the AMI
mails that our guns would touch the side
when fired. The mos deadly shot was
to fire quartering through the lung
so that the animal would bleed to death
In this way we would follow the herd as
long as our horses could stand it. Or
one of these runs [ killed lib bison
none of which were more than 100 yard:
apart. In riding back an awful sigh
was presented to the eye. The trail wa:
marked by dead and dying animals. Al
occasional big bull would have q broker
back so that he could only get up on hi:
fore legs, and nothing could look mor'
furious than his shaking head with Goa
black eyes glaring in Il death stare from
for the animals dead on the plains anC
wagons followed us up, quartered th'
animals and shipped the saddle and tai
low to Eastern markets.
"About 1871 the hide hunting began
Prior to this time little or no attention
was paid to the skins, but when the de
mand for them created high price TIN
meat was allowed to rot upon the plains
and this magnificent race was eXtln
g11ished simply that eXtravagant taste
might be satisfied. With the improve
ments in firearms an entirely dltferen
mode of hunting was adopted. Th'
Springfield army gun was superseded
by Sharp so caliber and loaded witt
lilo grains of powder. The hunter uset
his horse only in finding herd. Thi
done. we would go to the leeward side s.
that the scent of the powder and repor
would not reach the animals, and find
suitable shelter about 1000 yards distan
from them. / have killed them at dis
tance of mile. Hunting in this wa,
we had to be very particular and watcl
the herd closely. Like a herd of cattle
the bison are always on the go and ar
ant to walk out of rifle range in shoI
time. In moving, however, they alway
have n leader, and the trick was tG-1s HI
any one that started to lead the otter
off. BY thus killing the leaders W
coull often shoot for an hour from bt
hind one clunp of grass. When the
had moved out of range the skinner
would come up, cut the hide in the ord
nary way for sllinning, tie the animal