Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-10-25
HUNTING BUFFALO.
ONE or THE LAST HUNTS OF THE
ALMOST EXTINCT ANIMAL


,..,, .,...,..
~.
in's''" 'a 'hs sp"" - "'' ''' wen
Chasing siyi.s Saiis
Wh., xs reached . min, ems, bslow
ba.,.., o,,h. rim ! .,o,,.I "a w.I,.s
,'An. ...,..,a. - i..,,
.""' my 'o"p",O" 'V' On
lore no go' 70 the Top De- 'oo' hAi'ed'
lhen took Oh his nat and peerei over
The ridge. examining 90 much OF the
prairie beyond NJ was now visible 20
him Ui. in.pection WA careful and
,ho,or,h .rd wh., n. h.s u.a. .r,.
,ls, ~. =. .,.., I,. -.
"a "s -.
'ooA s'p W '"o 'o'"hu aH' 'He'i
stopped again and the rider scanhed
every foot OF country before him. The
horse. trained as the real hunters horss
4. alw,y. ,r.in.i understood what WA
,s,ni,.s q, him .,a Nth p,,cl.s ..,,
,,sm,nsd ,ha n,.ir,. he,ond Nth =.
much In,s,.., =. did M. ,,d., when
,hs r.is ~ cb.,isy,. yiyh, l.y p,,.-.d
On. bo,.e,. .id. two n, ,b,.. .,.n. NOR.
w.re taken. and then n lifting Of ths
br,dl. hand caused another half.
Al length 1 saw nv companion slowly
bend forward over his horse. neck. turn
and r,de baek 90 ma N. had s..n th.
h,cL. d, two bns.loly lyt,y ON The eageof
, l,,le IA, hardly a quarter ~ a mil.
from wh.,. W. .,ooi Tn. other. of
IN. h.nd mus, n. ,,iIl nearer % NJ. Nv
riding along the lowest oar, ot the ,ag
which ,.nara,.d th. two butte. and
,hs, dow, . H,,la ,,vi,e A .aemsd
,,oh.hla ,h., a.. co,Is com. within a
lev ,.,a. N the bns.lo unol..rv.d
on, n,.n.,.,io,. aid mo-, tai. long Ths
,addla rinche. xer. loo.ened. blanket.
arranged. ,aAdle. put IN their proper
nlaces and tightly cinehed again. Car.
,1Jy.. yer. b,onvh, ,ouna 10 the from,
and ,ight os the b.lt wher. th.y would
10 convenient for r,loading. Our coats
tied behind the saddle were looked 20,
the string. which held them being
frightened and securely retie,i.
All thi. was no, lo.t on our horses.
which undertooi n. we'll "A We did
wha, was coming. We ,kir,ed the
bu,t.. rode through the low sag and
Jown into ,ha I,,,la ,.y,n. which .oon
g,.w ds.,.r 40 ,ha, our heal. ~.r. be-
low IN. range OF vision Of almo., any
ting ON the butte. Passing the mouth
~ ,h. little side r.yin.. however. there
cam. into full view a huge bull living
well up ON the hillside. Luckily his
hark VA. toward nj, and each bending
low over MI. horse. neck We rode on
and in a moment were hidden by the
side Of the ravine. Two or three min
ut.- more and We came 10 another sido
ravine. which was wide and commanded
view of the fat. We stopped before
teaching this, and peep showed that
We wer. within few yards Of two old
cows. . young heifer and yearling, all
Of them to the north of us. Beyond We
could see the backs of others. all lying
down.
We Jumped on our horses again. and
setting the spurs well In galloped up
the rayine and up on the fat. and as we
came into view the nearest buffalo, a. II
propelled by a huge spring, were on
their feet, and with q seconds pause 10
look dashed away 20 the north. Scat
tered over the fat were hfiy or seventy
five buffalo. all Of which, by the time
we had glanced over over the field. were
od. with heads hanging low 10 tho
ground and short. spiky tails stretched
out behind. w. were up even with tho
last of the cows, and our horses were
running easily and seemed 20 have
plenty of reserve power. Charley. who
was a little ahead Of me, called back
.Th.y will cros. the trail about q mile
north Of here. XIII a couple wpn ws
s.t ,o it, Inodded. and we went on.
The herd raced forward over the roll-
ing hills, and In what seemed q very
.hor, time we rushed down a long slope
ON 20 a wide fiat, In which was prairie
dog town % considerable extent We
were on the very heels of the herd and
In q cloud Of dust kicked up by their
rapid flight. To see the ground ahead
WAS impossible We could only trust 10
our horses and our good luck 10 ave US
from falling. Our animals were doing
better than we had supposed they could.
and were going well aud under . pull
1 felt that q touch of the spurs and .
little riding would bring US up even
with the leaders Of the buffalo. The
pace had already proved too much for
several bulls, which had turned OF TO
one side and been passed by.
As we few across the fat saw Tar on