The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-08-05

4 Colorado Han Tolls Some Remarkl-
bic Buffalo Obituaries.
carcasses Stretched Side by Side
Over Hundreds OF Miles OF
Spreading Prairie and
Bottom Land.

last week, and related 70 Denver Nesrs
reporser interesting "reminiscences
OF life on the plains when Denver was q
struggling hamlet and the mountains had
scarcely begun 20 pour their RljtterjuQ
treasures into the money vnults of the
nation
S--. w
cpeaN'as o .ue ouna'o, "e a'u
ihir'S u even twenty years ago their
number was so great that II passed all
computation. In my trips to and from
the Missouri. river rs a freiQhter I have
seen herds 80 large that a single herd
would h.va nroy;ds, go, o., a,a-, n,an
rL,,s a.. a. r.,..s So.
wwou.na" TX cn'lu IN ~ on''eo Saves
II no exaRgerat,on' l nave been q
when the train was stopped for more than
an hour. the road being completely
blocked nm nv N 0reat herd Of h,,tYalo
moy;no a,a I,vmhor;no o.IIo, ,ow.rI tho
.SN....h :. -, -, -.
nor'no soa.,. NO ma" couiu 'en winch
way the puHaio wouid move AT any par
ticular season, nor could he tell when they
would start or how far they would travel
before coming to a halt. Thousands of
buffalo moving over the plain appeared
IN. ,ho waves 81 Tho 90, and ,h., s,.ad,,
.-. -
nio''on eo"''"ueu "noroSeh as Tar as tne
eye could reach. Inc quaurupeu with
his great shaggy head and powerful neck
was built for hardship and endurance and
there il no pampered domestic animal
which can compare with the monarch of
the plains in these respects.
II is sometimes stated that the buffalo
| roamed only between the Rocky mount.
aims and the Mississippi river. This is a
| mistake, as / picked up many a set of
buffalo horns when a boy. on my fathers
| farm In Illinois. A yearlino Heifer was
| about as nice a tid-bit AS hungry man
| could wish 10 meet with. They were es.
p~ecialiy fine after the grass had been well
started-say i'm July or Auolst-and MANY
a time I have ridden twelve or tafteen
miles alongside of a herd Of buffalo i'm
! order 10 select a frst-class specimen
before firing. 1 am Glad that 1 never
killed N buffalo unless there was some
good reason for II. The PIatte
river. where Denver now stands
was N ~fayorite watering place for
| the great animals and as lase ~ 1880
there was n ~well-deflned trail leading
down from the plateau through n guiIv
east of the court house and to the river
hank. The early settlers sbot MANY n
buffalo ON Canitol hin. and thirty years
ago thism month / killed as fine n heifer as
ever saw on tha sno, where Tie nan;,oi
SON one trim across the Mains. near tho
South platte i me, a b,,faIo cow ,rh;oh
was fleeing before n mack 81 covotes and
nj the same time fendi her calf from
their attacks. The fight was nm uneven
one, for i'm the end the cow would have
been forced TO s,,ccumb from fat;cne. She
made n desperate battle and enIisted INV
svmnathies 10 such an extent Aha, i ;o;nad
| nv forces with her and to0etbcr NO
scattered the cowardly assailants. She
appeared not to fear me In the least and /
SPARED her life. L shall never forget the
appearance and confidence that calf
showed I'm its mother. The I;,tIe animal
stood crosswise i'm front of her fore feet
and under the projection OF her neck.
while she struck al he coyotes with her
horns and heels.
.The wanton destruction of the buffalo
is a subject that no early frontiersman
cases to dwell upon.n continued The can
tain. 81 have seen carcasses str,nned 81
their hides but lying SO close together that
a person could walk a hundred miles i'm n
line without steppinp off Of them. In an.
other part of the count | have seen fully
as many more bodies from which the Skin
had not heen renewed. hut tha hind Iogs
had been cut Off and carried away 10 he
shipped East as meat.n
Al this point a listener, who also passed
days long mast. volunteered additional In.
formation con-cerniny Inc now nrac,icaii m,
cxtinct animal. ~ camned in lie v.Iia.
OF the lowst i'm 1881" said he.
.The slaughter of the buffalo that wear
was dreadful. and Oreat niles ~ h;dos
w,cre stacked nm IN Zach s;,ia ~ H. liz,
awai,iny shinnen, NV steamer 40 no;nts an
the Missouri river AI,bouub eyerw aIyor,
was made 10 secure boats cno,ob ~ carrv
away the meyrbandisc n Was imnossihi.
To- remove such nm immensc tonnaoa !,
was estimated that o00nO h;dos ware Iaf,
10 decay in tho smot where they bai h..n
nIaced' The ranidi,v win witch sh. mt
faIo disapneared in some regions was as.
tonishing. In Is5o the co,nmandan, ~
one OF The forts on the Arkansas river
issned nm order nroh;hi,ipg tie LiiI;na ~