Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-23
THE LAST OF THE BISON
A Tremendous Slaughter Of Buffaloes
Twelve Years Ago.
A Scouts Daring stand Against q
Stampeded Herd-Thc Cayuse
POny's Sense.

Louis Globe-Democrat from Billings, Mont,
as follows:
Before the Northern Pacific railroad had
crossed the continent west of the Missouri
river. the section of country bounded by
that river on the east and the Rockies on
the west and stretching from the Platte in
Nebraska, northward to the British line
was the greatest stamping ground for buff
| faloes in the whole northwest. The country
was more or less hostile in those days. and
the Indians. who had been the best guard
tans of the bison until white pot hunters
came among them, soon gained the civil
lied idea of slaughter. and from that time
the doom Of this representative American
game animal was positively 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 mountains. The
road practically divided the herds (for a
bison will never, unless forced, cross the
iron of . railroad track. and those to the
south were soon swallowed up in the gen.
eral slaughter waged by Indians, pot hide
| and tongue hunters, foreign sportsmen and
others who were out to kill anything tLey
saw on sight.
This was during the winter Of 1882 SO
The buffaloes to the north were in many
scattered bands, but there was one great
herd OF not less than 1900 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.
Surely Doomed.
But they were as surely doomed as
though already killed. for the railroad iron
| cut them Off from their southern range, and
| the Indians of the Canadian northwest, as
| well as those Of our own country, barred
their retreat into the far north; and so they
were hernmed In between the two With no
possibility Of escape in either direction.
To Illustrate. Inf few words, The remark
| able destruction of thai section alone II
viii only be necessary to say that this last
great herd was completely wiped out Of ex-
| tstence In less than four months, and be-
| fore the close of the year there were but a
| few singles and pairs left as fugi.iyes in
that vast country where but a gear or two
| before they could have been counted almost
| by hundreds of thousands. The shipping
| ilSures from two points on the Yellowstone
| at the end OF the season, Glenliye and
| Miles City, show SlaOoO buffalo hides sent
| from the former and 49, 30 skins OF elk
antelope and deer from the latter place.
1t CHANGED at the time mentioned, that
the writer, with small detachment of SOL
| diers, was passing from the Missouri river
country to the Yellowstone, and we came
across. almost daily, numerous bands OF
Gros-Nentre P!eSan. Blackfeet and other
Indians, all hUrrying to the slaughter of
the noble animals on the Musseishell
Our scout, or guide, was a Crow Indian
named Two Moons. and one day. while
threading our way through bad lands paint
Ell duties and broken coulees, a small herd
| of about Coo bison came rushing into view
| around a bluff not more than 200 wards
| distant and with heads down and paint
brush talis erect, they came plunginE on
directly toward us in the widest sort of
confusion. y genuine STAMPEDE was urob-
| ably in full operation, and the soldiers not
waiting for orders, lost no time in plac-
! Ing a safe and reasonable distance between
| themselves and the threatened danger. They
| quickly SHE'D off to the right, AMI felt IL
my duty, at this impending crisis" 10 kean
| as close to the heels OF my fleeing COM
| rades as the speed of my horse wo,i'd nor
| nit.
DnrinE Feat.
Two Moons. the guide, either in q spiri.
| OF bravado. or possibly under pressure of
the exciting moment, sat perfectly rigid on
| his pony, and neither animal nor rider
stirred muscle until the plunging herd
was almost upon them. Then like flash
the indian whipped his Winchester forward
and the spring of the bullets could be heard
as they ratified about the heads and Shout
ders Of the leading bison. The ruse was
now apparent The sting of the lead
caused the leaders to separate. for, without
Mating or pausing in their mad rush. the
herd divided as IL cut with a knife and
went sweeping by like the wind, moiety
on each side of the scout
1 ne HioSt TeInarkaDle thing about the
whole performance was the quiet and tract
able manner in which the guides pony con-
Quoted himself while all this fuss and up-
roar was going on about him. He neither
grew excited nor rebellei, but remained as
steady as a rock in his place until his mas
ter gave him leave to move.
In a few minutes the last OF the fleeing
bison were well to the rear. and they soon
disappeared beyond nelghboring knoll
with the speed of an express train
While watching them. and debating wheth-
er chase would be worth the trouble from
behind the bluff where the buTaloes had
first appeared now came n second band of
bison about sixty in alb, with dozen we'll
mounted Cheyenne bucks in hot pursuit
AS before, the animals came direct toward
us. but our shoutingS and hallooings turn
ed them aside. and they SHE'D off to the
left, entering the jaws of rough, broken
ravine, 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 afterwafi dis
covered narrowed and closed in until II
ended in steep. impossible pocket, with
no outlet except by the original way Of en-
try.
The Indians shouted to us as they rushed
by, and, rather interested in the outcome
(as l suspected the nature OF the ravine). l
left the sergeant with the detachment, and,
taking the guide with me. followed swiftly
on the heels of the flying Cheyennes.
The Wonderful Cnyuse.
Game and hunters soon disappea- red In the
twnings and intertwinings of the gorge
and, 1t was an exceedingly rocky AMI
difficult trail, We took our time and ;,racu-
cally made haste slowly" Here again
came into play the wonderful instinct and
genuine horse sense of the yusc plains
pony. My mount was Of the same breed as
the one ridden by the guide. and 1 was
really astonished 10 see with what ease the
hardy little brutes made their way through
the most inaccessible places. Either on the
plains or among bad lands they are equally
at home, and whether In the broad glare of
day in the depths Of night they have
never been known to lose a trail after once
having found 1t. An American bred horse
will plunge ahead fearlessly and not iu-
frequently snap leg in some half-concealed
prairie dog hole. but the cayuse pony in
stinctively lodges such pitfalls and keeps
his rider lodging them, too. unless the lat
ter is content to lose the saddle or, perhaps,
put up with broken neck.
We left our ponies to take their own
course, and every once in a while could see
the Cheyennes far ahead, darling in and out
Of the canyons winnings, with the retreat
ing bisons still In the lead. How the red
men ahead OF US ever got over the ground
so quickly was an unsolved mystery. When
we had approached to within half a mic
Of them We saw the hunters pause, consult
a few minutes. gesticulate wildly and then
thav went on again very slowly Raacbtp,