The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-10-28
NOTHING BUT SLAUGHTER
rur FyTERNINA TON or TIE VAST
HERDS or BUFFALO,.
uov tho Railroad Divided the Herdf-De-
struction Of tho Last Great Hero oil
Seventy. five Thousand Bufaloes.

the Rockies on the west, ana sIsL.hh
ing from the Platte, In Nebraska, hOrul
usrd 10 the british line, was the greatest
stamping ground for buffaloes IN the
whole Northwest The country was mo- ~.
or less hostile in those days, anu tIie
Indians VINO had been the best guar ulals
~ The bison until white pot-hunters
came among them. soon gained lhe -
ilized idea Of slaughter, ana from ne, ne
time the doom Of the iepI t.tIit, = as-
American game animal was posi'i'1'
But the greatest blow dealt the Dls inI
herds Of the Northwest was the Goin Ipis,
ton Of the Northern Paclnc ti,aaUI,NH,airs.
from bismarck 10 the ROCKY Noun a'I. ~
The road practically divided the ne. ne II
flor the bison will never, unless loICSu5
cross the iron Of a railroad ldch}}i' o,a r.sd
those TO the south were sooI S,,aped by
10 I'm the general slaughter "aseu 30
Indians rot. hide and tongue huhteia,
foreign sportsmen and others ~" s,gbt
out TO xiii anything they sa" OH Siissi5es2
This was during the winter OF 100 ooy.
The buffaloes 10 the north were IN MAJ
scattered bands but there was oii' Shfch
herd Of not less than '5,0V htdu' g., The
had found a temporary ,irsseisbeli, Mis-
triangle formed by the MusseiSheH' ,tnn-
souri, and Yellowstone rivers III -,ipn
tana, and as yet they had not It,ttn
''smelled out" by either req OF Ho,1,,d
hunters But they were as surrey un{irnad
90 though already killed. for the rhlLoa a
iron chi them off from their soulIiggi,,, >,
range. and the Indians OF the, AN air''p IN
Northwest. as well as those OF our he
country barred their retreat mo ~
o. NnTth and 50 they were hemineu ~
between The two with no poSsiDiH''
escape in either direction. -, .bo re-
,ro illustrate in a few Worus w IL
markable destruction oi una sav that this
viii only be necessary 10 say ti" u.iTod
last great herd was compieIely lbs
ont of existence in less IMAM iou our I.'y there
and before te close Oh va d. lott as
, 1,,nra INT q few singles and pairs ,,h.re
ftti,.se in that vast country "u,,ti
iu3 a yeor or two before lhey -
have been counted almost ~ ,in,, 6g-
ITeds of thousands. The YeI,oy2-
- from TWO points on the ciin'Jiya
ur a. the end of the season. ein.iI,s
,tiios CITY show bJ,Wp bulao Hii,e
dl,u from the former, and I5',[p laft"r
- nlk antelope and deer iOih Wv
pl pa, financed. at the time menuo,neu' t" If
,,5tar with a small detachi,tn'
s"Idiers was passing from lnc - We
piver country TO the leio"SIon.v, lands
l',n'd across almost daily numerous D'nTd
"a NJ - .rs- Ventre, Piegan, BlacKletI, 81
ootber Indians, all hurryng TO me Siita,usSei-
ter Of the noble animals Oh .ne q Grow
sbeu our scout or gulde Wa vac 90 dav
19nJJiar named Two Moons, ana one Ioyi
lluldli' .Ira"dinfr our way through pau
lands ualutcd buttes, ana DIOhth y, III
a small herd of about 60 pisoIl, an ,oora
ing into view around DlulL' ia Iyith
~ -, two hundred yards distant anu W.
bnads down and paint~brush ldHS 81 80
thev came plungiHg on diftclly ~"
In he widest sort OF Gmiu7ioH;; ~ a,iH7.ra-
iiirn stampede was prODGbIy III lHt " a.
tinn and the soldiers, not Whuxb IL
raare lost no time I'm placing a SdIt anu
reasonable distance between -, S'leliI, ,tc ~,
and the threatened danger. i1ty nv
lv shied off to the right, ana ielL u ny
riutv at this Impending CRISIS 10 NJ -
close 10 the heels OF my netlhE CUNT LUZ
as the speed Of my horse would perm
Two Moons, the guide, eHher III Il aP'i'
OF bTavadO or possibly undtr PIe.sIsu, ,J ~
- The exciting moment, sat perfectly ilEih
nm his pony and neither animal nor ll4'I
stirred n muscle until the plunginE nero
was almost upon them. IhGn, IKE d
flash, the Indian whipped MS W IhouyiS1l,I
forward and the spinS OF the bulItlS
could Dee heard. as they ratified about the
heads and shoulders Of the leading blSoh.
The rise was now apparent. lue SubB
of the lead caused the leaders 10 sepa-
rate for, without hating or pausins IN
their mad rush, the herd divided AS II
cut with a knife, and went sweeping by
like the wind. moiety on each she oI
the scout.
The most remarkable thing about the
whole performance WAS the quiet ana
tractable manner I'm which the guide
pony conducted himself while this fuss
and uprOar was going on about MN. lie
never grew excited nor rcbcllcd, but re-
main ed as steady as a rock In his place
until his master gave him leave To- move
In few minutes the last of the iieo-
soon disappeared beyond nciEhboring
knoll with the speed OF an express train.
While watching them and debating
whether "A chase would be worth the
trouble from behind the bluf where the
huffdlccs had first appeared, now came
second band Of bison about sixty, In
alb, with a dozen wcll-mOunted Cheyenne
bucks IN hot pursuit As before, the
animals came direct toward MS, but our
shcuungs and hallooings turned them
aside, and they SHE'D off 10 the left. enter
ing the Jaws Of a rough. broken rayiur,
which was precisely what their red pur-
SucrS wanted. The Tayinc was a sort Of
riit IN the bad lands. which practically
Led nowhere, but which. we afterwards
discovered. narrowed and closed in until
eHled IN a steep, impossible pocket,
Of entry.
The Indians shouted TO us ne thcv
rushed by, and, rather interested I'm the
uultoine gas ! suspected the nature Of the
faVine). | left the Sergeant with the de-
laChment, and taking the guide with me.
II,9,uoWed swiftly on the heels of the flying
Game and hunters soon disappeared in
the winnings and intertwinings OF the
gorge, and as il was an exceedingly rocky
ana difficult trail. We took our time and
practically made haste slowly" Here
again came into play the wonderful in
StinCt and genuine horse sense Of the
cayuse tplans pony, Ny mount was Of
the same breed as the one ridden 10y the
with what ease the hardy little brutes
made their way through the most in
accessible places. Either on the plains or
among bad lands they are equally at
home, and whether iE the broad glare
of day or I'm the depths of night they
have never been known to lose a trail
after once having found II. An American
bred horse Will plunge ahead fearlessly.
and not infrequenuy snap leg in some
half-conCealed prairie dog hole; but the
cayuse inStinctivey dodges such pitfalls
and keeps his rider lodging them. too,
unless the latter Is content to lose the
saddle or perhaps put mp with a broken
neck.
we left our ponies to take their own
course. and every once I'm a while could
see the Cheyennes far ahead darting I'm
and out of the canOn's Wndinss, with
the retreatng bisOns still in the lead
How the red men ahead Of us ever got
over the ground so quickly was an un-
solved mystery. When we had approach
ed TO within half a mile of them We saw
the hunters pause consult few minutes.
gesticulate wildly. and then they went on
again very slowly. Reaching the point
where the consultation had been held
nothing was in sight and ali was as still
as the grave.
But here the course began narrowing.
and besides the many huge powders and
rough cuts on every hand the walls were
steep and ragged and covered with scrub
cottOnwOods and stunted growths. which
completely concealed everything ahead
OF us.
Narrower and narrower became the
gorge. and at last We paused to listen
There was scarcely a sound in the air
but this intense stiffness became suddenly
broken by series of rapid shots and
wild yells accompanied by a laundering
rumbltng noise. which was almost deafen-
ing. The tumult rapidly grew louder and
then. just in front OF u.s. from out the
DEPTHS OF the canon. came the buffalo