Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-10-29
THE BuFFALo's MUD BATH.
Tho Rine-shaped Wa'low NO Longer a
Familiar sight on the Prairie.
u..., ,ho Kansas City Stnr.l


Prom the Kansas City Sthrl
buffalo wallow, once one OF the most
familiar objects on the pralrles, Is cir
nnia+ Jepression. having q diameter of
e. CIV 70 thirteen feet-the average.
norbans about twelve feet In approach
20 a large herd during the summer the
erst Indication of the presence Of the
h,oe animals was an immense cloud OF
dnst rising high in the air, Tor tho BUT
faIo. as do many of the Wild beast, loves
10 reyel in the fine sand or DIRT, which
he furnishes by digging it mp with his
borns Like bull in his wallow,'
was once frequent saying on the plains,
and Il has very significant meaning
with those who had ever witnessed a
buffalo bull endeayoring to cool himself
off in wallow.
travel on the great plains, the travellers
believed these curious rings to have been
made bv the Indians in their dances, but
fine idea prevailed for short time. The
buffalo. whose hair is remarkable for Its
intense sbaeginess and thickness, must
necessarily suffer severely from heat, and
tben he will seek the lowest ground on
the prairie, where there has been little
stacnant water left, if he can lind 1t oil
course the ground being soft under the
short grass. it is On easy matter for hlm
70 make a mud puddle of the spot IN
q very short time. he accompanies this
by getting down on one knee, plung--
~ bis short horns. and ut last
his head. into the earth, and he soon
makes an excavation into which the
water slowly filters. This makes rela-
lively cool bath, where, throwing HIM
self on his side as flat rs he can, he rolls
forcibly around. and, with his horns and
bump. he rips up the ground by his
rotary motion, sinking deeper and
deeper. continually making the wallow
larger. which fills with water, IN which
at length he becomes completely I'M
mersed. the water and mud, mixed to
the consistency Of mortar, covering
him perfectly, changing his color
and general appearance. When he
rose the mud dripped in great streams
from every part Of his huge BODY,
horrible looking monster OF mud
and ugliness, too terrible to be accurately
described. 1t was generally the leader
of the herd who took upon himself the
business of making the wallow, or II he
| found another had commenced the exca-
walton. he would drive him away and
wallow until he was satisfied, standing
in a mass of mud and water in the hole
until he got ready to give the others
chance. 1t was always the next in COM
mand who stood ready, and when he
came out the next, who advanced IN his
turn, and so on according to rank until
all had performed their additions. Ere
duently hundred or more would pa
tiently wait their turn, each one making
the wallow little larger, and carrying
off share Of the mud. which, drying TO
a whitish color, gradually fell oil.
1t required about half an hour TO
make a decent wallow, and the depth
was about two feet The water naturally
drains into these holes, together with its
accompanying vegetable deposit, and
the result is a remarkably rich soil,
where the grass and weeds grow with a
luxuriance so marked that buffalo
wallow can be distinguished long be-
fore it is reached. The praiues are
covered with them all over the central
and western portion of Kansas, where
the pillow has not yet disturbed the
primitive sod. The first thing a
Kansas farmer does after a rain is to
examine the buffalo wallows If they are
filed with water the rain has been good
one. and the saying common in that re-
gion, both by the individual and the
newspapers, is, when speaking or writing
of soaking rain, 1.-The buffalo wallows
are full" When the weather was dry
the buffalo had to content himself with
the comminuted dust he could make in
the whole, and, as the weather Was gen
orally dry, the whereabouts OF a herd
could usually be located by the cloud of
| dust rising above il.