The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-12-17
Austin Corbin's Efforts to Domesti-
cate the Shaggy Quadruped
Of the West
A Rich Mans Fancy Expressed in
q Great Wild Ami
mai Preserve.
s,c.,s. Attending Efforts to Cross Bison
and Galloway C&ttlc-Managing
aBig Bull

NAL To commercial use. The st. Louis Re
public some ttmo ago described the great
game preserve of 5000 acres which Austin
Corbin has established in the Blue noun
tains of New Hampshire, and on which he
ALREADY has placed small herd of buffalo.
According to the New York Sun there are
Mt present roaming through the park about
$50 head OF animals comprising uuttalo elk.
moose, black-tai deer. white tan deer, red
deer caribou. antelope and wild bears
from the Black Forest III Germany, the
only animals of that species IN America.
Contracts have Lean made with faEoC9
trapmrs of Minnesota. Idaho, Dakota and
Canada for between 80 ans 900 moro ani-
mails of different specles. M. Cor
mountains. with a verdant val
ley between them. The borders are
meadow and farm land under cultivation,
but the larger part Of the tract 10 Wild and
iungle-like III the depths of the forest are
two large lakes, and sllvery streams WIND
through the VALLEY Tor mics. iAe streams
have been stocked with trout strong
wire fence. ten feet high. is to enclose the
park. About half of it is already up.
When completed there will be forty five
miles OF fence, which will have cost S15,O
The keepers cottages dozen In number,
are now building on the outskirts OF INC
park at a distance of about four miles
apart. They are III the picturesque style of
the Swiss chalet. and will soon be occu
pied by the keepers and their families
whose duty it will be to keep out mafauders
and poachegs. These keepers viii pafro!
the forests border regularly, Ihefe VIII
be head pamekeeDer who will ride around
the forest at regular intervals to see that
tho keepers perform their duties.
The animals are just as wild as II they
ronmed the plains of the west. lhey are
thrown entirely upon their own resources
and compelled to iind their own food. II
the winter be sewers, however, 1000 Will be
cartea into the forest.
MIR. Corbill's idea is that Of wealthy
man who has II fancy for Wild animals and
big game, and who can afford to CRAFTY his
fancy in this direction by breeding buffalo
in New England. If he Is successful, how
ever, his buffalo herd can easily be made
source Of revenue, as their hides are very
valuable.
OF an entirely different character is the
effort of a Kansas ranchman who has herd
of buffalo that he is not only breeding in
and in, but also crossing with different
breeds of cattle in the hope that the result
will be strain that will be easily kept up
and will produce the tine-halred robes
which u few years since were 60 common.
With the same object in view California
ranchman has Just started to breed buffalo
with Galloway cattle. San francisco
Examine. cores Cndtnt thus describes MS
visit to the ranch:
California Is to have new industry,
companion piece TO D.. sl1etchley's ostrich
farm, III the shape of a buffalo ranch.
There are now i'll the stables at Del Monte
three fnespscimens Of tue American bison,
bull, II COW and calf, the last the prog
euy of the former two.
A seven miles drive from Del Monte to
Pebble Eeach, where the buffalo ranch is to
he located, found Winston, the owner,
buslIy at work in arranging for their re-
ceptlon.
The ranch. which comprises about 100
ncres, is located just in the lee of Cypress
Point, overlooks Carme! Bay and slopes
easily down to Pebble Beach. Water is
brought from the Carmel river reservoir,
and cypress and pine trees afford ample
shelter.
II bought the COW of Rodbreast, one of
Sitting Bulls warriors, about three years
ugo,o e1pla ned Winston. "She was cap
tured during the last buffalo hunt Of the
Sioux; in the fall OF 1882, on the headwaters
of the Big Cheyenne, not far from Fort
Pierre, Oh the big bend of the Missouri, in
South Dakota. I am the first white man
that ever owned her. She is now i'll perfect
torn. You know buffalo doesn't mature
ntil years of age and jamie is just past 8.
The bull | captured myself on june TO-
1856, slxty-tiEe milen southwest of James
town, North Dakota. He is the last buffalo
ever captured alive in the Dakotas.
Ailicu LIS ulotut., t!lt tue Gail WIS tueu SO
small it didn't try 10 get away, but lay hid
III tae long grass. / pIchod INN up under
my arms and carried him away.
'Bonito is u fins fellow, but will improve
greatly yet, as he has four years in which to
reach maturity.
October !. 1889, and is named the Duke or
Portland. He is the first buffalo born west
of the Rocky mountains.
''These are the only buffalo on the coast.
and am assured by Ger. Miles, Gen. p. E.
Conpor and other military men that they
are the finest they have seen in captivity.
"Oh. yes" he continued, "they stand
captivity all right, and the climate agrees
with them admit ably. They eat anything
that cattle will. and l am sure will thrive
here.
'',rhey know me, and can do almost any.
thing with them, but they will not make uI
with q stranger. The bull knows that an
not afraid of him. and submits to my will
but he can tell IL an instant that stranger
views him with distrust. and when yot
glance at a tree or q convenient fence IL
case he should get loose, he knows just a
we'll as anyone that you a,e afraid of him
and Immediately lowers his head ant
charges.
Il am going to stop here on the rancl
and attend to the animals, which We shal
have out here in abou. six weeks. shal
have an enclosure up there where you &c
the line of posts, under the pines, of abou
eight acres within the large field. III
fence will be five boards high. shall pu
rings on the bulls horns. and a triangl
chain from the ring in his nose to the ring
on his horns will keep him from breakin
it down. l shall seed the enclosure in alfal
fa and go about raising buffalo just as
worid cattle.
ut will be a strange fact that here With
sound of the bells of Mount Carmel an
Just where old Father Junipero Sierra IL
Gated the peScadero, the buffalo should b
saved from becoming extinct by domesti
cation.
sIn addition to rearing the pure buffal
] shall cross them with Il herd of GALLOWAY
aud also with native cattle. The cross is
successful one and has been carried dow
to the si1teenth generation. The Gall
ways are peculiarly adapted to this purpos
their coat is jet black and long, and i'll a
pearance they resemble the buffalo mo
than any other breed of cattle, except thu
they are hornless.
'sThe hair of the Galloways is extreme
1ine and the cross produces superior bu
fAla robe. equal to sealskin. Some tn
have been obtained in Kansas have sold
high as $3.50 each.
I'VE shall kill the progeny for their hide
aud the beef will also prove valuable. Blu
sxlo beef is the best in the world. OF cours
wheu the animal runs wild it is strong al
sinewy, but when brought up in captivi
aud stall fed it has no equal.
no, shall have no trouble in handlil
Il them, for all il needs is to let them kno
that yon are master and not afraid. Viii
could handle them. he knows them We
enough, il ho wasn't afraid of them; b