Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-11-17
ONLY A FEW LEFT.
/ The American Buffalo Has 8 Be-
come Nearly Extinct
Colorado tho Homo OF tho Remaining
Members OF Countless Herds
iWanton Destruction Of
Ehc Animals.

There are about fifty buffalos still
ranging wild in Colorado, says the Dem
yer Republican And yet one man, for
whom frontier justice is waiting, re,
Gently killed five.
1t has been so generally and frequent
ly stated and published that the Arncri-
can buffalo aud bison have become coni-
pletely and thoroughly extinct that the
general public has como to accept it as
fact and believe that the only spcci-
mems arc those which have become do
mcsticaLcd and arc carefully housed
and cared for In the several geological
gardens ind parks.
That there are fcwof them remaining
on the plains is certainly true, but there
are enough, with proper protection, to
soon produce largo herds. IN this state,
where once there were thousands; of
these animals, their number has been
rapidly reduced by hunters, who have
slain them simply for tho momentary
pleasure they have experienced in kill
ing large game, until they now Number
less than fifty and are in four small
herds. These arc confined to the rough
or and moro sparscly populated dis
tricts, their habitations being O more
effective protection to them than all
the state game laws ever enacted by the
general assembly.
So small had grawn the number of
these distinctivcly American animals
that in 1889 the state legislature enact-
ed Il law providing q severe penalty for
the killing of q single specimen before
. the year. 1900, thus allowing n full ten
years for them to propagate, but in
spite of this enactment word; was re-
ccivcd but short time ago that some
one in'the KcnoSha range had shot five
buffaloes. State Game Warden Land
started at once to make n special and
PERSONAL investigation of the case.
While out he has also made an extern
sive visit through the state, and he has
just returned with an interesting nc
count. He is somewhat discouraged
with many things connected with the
enforcement, or, more properly, the
noncnforccment of all the game laws,
and predicts that unless something
decisive is done, and that very soon, the
buffalo will not be the only family
wiped from the face of the earth. He
reports n most terrible slaughter of nil
game during the last few months. He
was asked in reference to the killing of
buffaloGs.
fThcre arc now very few of them,"
no stated, land these, in our feeble
md crippled condition, we arc cndcav-
oring to protect. That five of, them
were killed recently is fact, but l
found that we could not convict the
guilty if we brought him to trial. lie
admitted having killed five of them and
| boosted of the fact to his friends, but
we could find no. one, after IL careful iu-
| vcstigation, who would testify against
him, and if he were arraigned he
would, Of course, say not guilty.
II judge that we nave now in the
statc something less; than fifty buffa-
| locs, md these arc in four punches.
Ono of these has recently been seen in
Middle park, and numbers but five.
Another, and possibly the largest, is
in the Kcnosha range, and numbers
possibly twenty. The third, of ten or
fifteen head, is ut IIahn's peak, in Routt
county. The fourth, and the smallest
except, that ut Middle park, is at
Dolores"