The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-12-06
HERDS OF BUFFALO,
eUTCEERED AND WIPED OUT OF EN
ISTENCE IN A FEW MONTHS.

came Gcneral-Story Of the Chase and
Battle In the Gorge.
Before the Northern Pacific railroad had
crossed the continent west of the Missouri
river the section Of the country bounded
by that river on the east and the Rockies
on tho west and stretching from the
Platte, in Nebraska, northward to the
British line, was the greatest stamping
ground for buffnlocs i'm the whole north
west. Tho country was moro or less hos
tile in those days, and the Indians, who
had been the bost guardians of the bison
until white pot hunters came among them,
soon gained the civilized idea of slaughter,
and from that time the doom of the repre-
sentative American game animal was pos1.
lively assured but the greatest blow dealt
the bison herds Of the northwest was the
completion of the Northern Pacific track
west from Bismarck to the Rocky noun
tains The road practically divided the
herds (for the bison will never, unless
forced, cross the iron of a railroad track,
and those to the south were soon swai
lowed up In the general slaughter waged
by Indians, pot, hide and tongue hunters,
foreign sportsmen and others who were
out to kill anything they saw on sight.
This was during the winter of 1888
The butfaloes to the north were in many
scattered bands, but there was one great
herd of not less than "a, 600 head, which
had found a temporary refuge in the tri
angle formed by the Musselshell, Missouri
and Yellowstone rivers in Montana and
as yet they had not been "smelled out"
by either red or white hunters, but they
were as surely doomed as though already
killed, for the railroad iron cut them off
from their southern range, and the In
dians of the Canadian northwest as well
as those of our own country barred theiI
retreat into the far north, and so they were
hemmed in between tho two, with no pos
sibility of escape in either direction.
To illustrate in few words the remark
able destruction of that section alone it
will only bo necessary to say that this last
great herd was completely wiped out Of
existence in less than four months, and
before the close of the year there were but
a few singles and pairs left as fugitives in
that vast country, where, but a year or
two before they could have been counted
almost by the hundreds of thousands. The
shipping figures from two points on the
Yellowstone at the end of the season, Glen
dive and Miles City, show 500, 600 buffalo
hides sent from the former and lSj, 25O
skins of elk, antelope and deer from the
latter place.
1t CHANGED, at the time mentioned, that
the writer, with small detachment of
soldiers, was passing from the Missouri
river country to the Yellowstone, and we
came across, almost daily, numerous bands
of Gros Ncntre Piegan Blackfeet and
other Indians, all hurry ing to the slaugh-
ter of the noble animals OH tho Mussel-
shell. Our scout, or guide, was Crow
Indian named Two Moons and one day
while threading our way through Bad
Lands, painted buttes and broken coulies
a small herd of about 600 bison came rush
ing into view around a bluff not more
than 200 yards distant and with heads
down and paintbrush tails erect they
came plunging on directly toward us in
the widest sort of confusion. A genuine
stampede was probably in full operation,
and the soldiers, not waiting for orders
lost no time in placing a safe and reasona-
BILE distance between themselves and the
threatened danger. They quickly SHE'D
off to the right, and felt it my duty at
this impending crisis to keep as close to
the heels of my fleeing comrades as the
speed of my horse would permit.
In few minutes the last of the fleeing
bison were well to the rear and they soon
disappeared beyond a neighbOring knoll
with the speed of an express train. While
watching them and debating whether q
chase would be worth the trouble, from be-
hind the bluff where the buffaloes had
first appeared now came a second band Of
bison, about go in all, with dozen we'll
mounted Cheyenne bucks in hot pursuit
As before the animals came direct toward
us, but our shOutings and hallooings
turned them aside, and they SHE'D off to
the left, entering the jaws Of a rough
broken rayine, which was precisely what
their red pursuers wanted The ravine
was sort of rift in the Bad Lands which
practically led nowhere, but which we aft
erward discovered narrowed and closed in
until it ended in a steep impossible pock-
ct, with no outlet except by the original
way Of entry.
The Indians shouted to us as they rushed
by, and, rather interested in the outcome,
as l suspected the nature Of the rayine 1
left the sergeant with the detachment,
! and, taking the guide with me- followed
| swiftly ON the heels of the flying Chey-
ennes.
Game and hunters soon disappeared in
the twinings and intertwinings of the
gorge and as it was an exceedingly rocky
and difficult trail we took our time and
practically made haste slowly" How
the red men ahead of us ever got over the
ground so quickly was an unsolyed mys-
| terry. Narrower and narrower became the
gorge and at last we paused to listen.
| There was scarcely sound in the air, but
! this intense stiffness became suddenly
broken by series of rapid shots and wilC
! yells, accompanied by laundering, rum
| bling noise which was almost deafening.
The tumult rapidly grew louder and then,
| just in front of us, from out the depths Of
| the canyon came the buffalo herd like the
wind, directly toward us. Some were
| bleeding, many were wounded, and Others
were limping badly. 1t never seemed pos
sible that living brutes could travel over
such rough ground with such speed, but
the difficulties of the trail never seemed to
concern them in the least, for as a matter
of fact the rear ones crowded the forward
ones with such persistence and so rapidly
that they had 10 move quickly or else be
| trampled under foot