The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-26
HUNTING THE BUEFALo.

"Reminiscences of Early Days on the Plains of Kansas-A Hunters Peril iI
 the Midst of an Enormous Herd-Amaz.
 ing Number of Buffaloes Before Theil
 Slaughter Began.
 Thirty years ago, being about to en-
 gage in the ranching business. I sought a location on the plains of Kansas
 With many wagons loaded with lum.
 Der, household goods, provisions and
 camp supplies of every nature and a considerable retlnue, left the terminus
 of the only railway then in operation
 west of the Missouri river and plunged into the unsettled solitudes. The road
 taken was that travelled by many of the
 wagon trains supplying Uncle Sam s
 frontier posts, and while the earlier
 part of the way was through sparse settlements it was but day or two be- fore the occasional settlers cabin was a rare sight. These hardy pioneers had assumed the risk of Indian raids and
 the lifting of their horses by the indus
 trious chevaliers who precede settled industries upon the frontier, in order to reap the harvest reasonably sure from
 the sale of grain, hay and small truck
 to the wagon trains employed in the government service. Except for such infrequent settlements, the broad val ley of the great river up which the mil itary trail wound it's way was wholly unoccupied after leaving St. Mary's Mission, and, in the early days of May, presented all the characteristic beau- ties of the undisturbed prairie, fringed with belts of timber skirting the deeply sunken river and it's tributaries. Now and then a herd of antelope would ap- pear and delude the verdant members of the party into a fruitless chase.
 In the party was one who had spent many years on the frontier and upon the plains, mostly engaged in con structing buildings at the military posts This life had given Dick a valu- able, if not singular, experience, and he was we'll up in prairie craft and all the signs and indications of recent or remote presence of either Indians or game. He was especially expert with a rifle and an adept in buffalo hunting. This greatly enhanced his value in our eyes. During the latter part of the journey we had seen frequent signs of the recent presence of the buffalo, but were not favored with a sight of the great game until several days after reaching the location selected for our ranching operations. Possibly a week later the word was given, early one morning, that dark, moving masses were in sight at the northwest, and these the field grass enabled us to de- termine were the -wished-for buf- falo, even before Dick came forward with a confirmation of the supposition that such was the fact.
 Mounting our horses and equipped with rifles, Dick, myself and a third man were soon among the ravines and brakes which afford the cover so eager ly sought by the buffalo hunter unless he is prepared to course them over hill ravine and plain, a. somewhat hazard ous undertaking for the amateur as afterwards found to my discomfort Dick and I dismounted, and, leaving our horses in a ravine in charge of the third man and keeping we'll to the lee ward of the keen-scented game, we crawled up a small ravine that afforded the desired cover while heading on the open plain, and fairly in the midst of the quarry. While the buffalo were un- able to see us they were soon apprised of our presence by their keen scent, al though we had taken the precaqtion to select a ravine down which the wind blew from instead of toward the herd. But we were now so situated that Dick at least was prepared to give a good ac- count of himself, especially if we could get the buffalo to stand. The buffalo as well as the elk is disposed to stand and be shot down while he is curiously seek ing to know what is the matter, so long as the hunter manages to keep out of sight. If one of the leaders, especially am aged cow be shot at first and killed, the others will crowd around to see what is the matter with her, and the plain may be strewn with their carcass es in great numbers.
 In this, my first attempt to hunt the buffalo, we failed to get a stand, as about the time Dick brought down a fine cow and I had wounded a shaggy bull the animals lower down the ravine caught sight of us and the signal was given, and the whole herd was instant ly in headlong retreat to the very brok- en lands at the northwest. Sending the groom to the ranch for a wagon and as- in dressing Dicks COW, we were soon squirting our horses across country in an effort to get up with the herd and try our craftsmanship on in which endeavor we each bagged a beast; but my horse being as little accustomed to such sport as the rider protested so effectually that I soon found myself on the ground at his side I had, however, managed to re- tain my hold upon the bridle and to light upon my feet in the midst of the great throng into which my eager pur- suit of the selected animal had carried me- This vast throng, parting a, few rods from where stood horse and hunt ar rushed past on either side and so near that at first I wished I was in any other part of the world. No more in- spiriting sight even if trifie uncom- can be imagined than twenty, | thirty, or possibly one hundred thou- sand, great beasts laundering past one n their reckless flight causing the very earth to tremble and the air to vibrate | IS though with the impact from some | mighty cataract Thrice afterward | was 1t my fortune to stand thus in the | center of such a madly rushing multi | .ude of panic-stricken animals, and | once saw thousands go to their death | town the sheer preeipice over which he pushing and massive rear forced |