Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1896-01-09
A Buffalo Farm.

loes in this country. RGvalli Is located
upon the edge of the old Flathead In
dian Reservation, and can be reached
bv the Northern Pacific, from Helena,
in half a days ride 1t is thriving |
and enterprising place in most pic
turesque part of the country, and IN
the summer time many tourists get OF |
there to inspect the herd OF butfaloss
owned by Mr. Chas. Allard and Mar
chiel Pablo. Scientists and represen-
tatives of museums frequently drop of
here and try to buy bufalOes to ship
east, and one day the leader ola travel
ing circus tried to bargain for the
whole herd. As there are nearly 200
in the herd, and the price for butialoes
is advancing rapidly every year tins
enterprisiug Snowman did not realize
the sum Of money he would have re-
ouired for thepuIchase. 4 good buiia-
10 hide is worth 500 today, and a
mounted head all the way from $500
to $500; but what whole buffalo
would cost it is difficult to say. The
owners of the herd are not selling to-
day; they are breeding foI the future.
Letters pour in upon them from all
parts of the country asking them their
price for from one to dozen butialoes.
But we are not selling any bnita-
10" saws Charles Allard, "for thereason
that we need them all at present.
They will not be put upon the market
for several years yet Museums, parks
and shows are constantly making ei-
forts to get them in quantities, and
though we might dispose of one or two
singly we have no pairs to sell. We
will have altogether about 200 by tins
fall"
Two years ago this herd consisted OF
80 animals, and was then located at
Omaha, and was known as the Jones
herd. Allard paid $4,000 for them,
and removed them to Montana, where
they are kept on a large range. Later
Marchiel Pablo, a well known cattle
merchant, went into partnership with
Allard, and the two have conducted
the buffalo farm between them ever
since. During the present summer
party of scientists and travellers visited
the herd, and they enjoyed something
rarely tasted in these days, a steak Of
buffalo. An accident had made 1t
possible for them TO try this tempting
morsel, and everyone pronounced 1t
more delicious than any steak ever put
mon the market, and buffalo meat III
time may become a rare product OF
our markets. When the animals are
bred in sufficient numbers they will
be killed gradually for their hides aud
/ heads, and the meat alone will bring
a good sum to the owners.
Bufaloes crossed with domestic cat
tie make fine meat for table use also
some 6ne specimens here crossed with
polled Angus stock are wonderful to
the strangers. They are all large and
magnificent animals, and the fur Is
finer and closer than that Of the pure
buffalo. The cross breeds yield very
valuable robes and in many ways re-
tain the looks and characteristics oi
their wild progenitors. Cross-bred
bufaloes may yet roam over the coun'
try in herds and infuse new blood into
our domesticated stock, giving then
the strength and vitality 30 mucf
needed in the West to Withstand th'
storms and blizzards. The domesh
Gated buffaloes and the cross-breed
defy the severest storms and they fac'
them every time. While horses anc
cows will be driven before the storm
for many miles the bufaloes slmplj
stand still with their breast towar'
the wind and wait until 1t has abated
Then they will hunt around where tn
snow is thnnest and search for food
Their thick, shaggy coats appear TO b
waterproof and cold-proof. As soo'
as a storm approaches the herd bunche
together and form a wedge, with tn
well protected head Of the Oldest buI
at the apex. 10 this way the weake'
cows and calves are sheltered by th
more hardy animals.
: The domesticated herd has lost muc
of the natural wildness Of the untame
; bufaloes, and they feed quietly With
the range not far from human sPecta
tors but their instincts are the sam'
e and it is an interesting study to wate
them as they Craze on the rich gras
t The report of a rife near by inyariabl
startles them and they rush across Il
a field in true buffalo style, giving yc
4 an idea Of what kind Of death awaite
!, one who happened to be in their wa