St. Paul daily globe., 1896-02-09
Ransom E Horton
SO and 1o1 EAST SIXTH ST., ST PAUL.

breech-loading rifles, killed the animals
by thousands. Capt. Jack Bridges
killed by contract 1,142 buffaloes Of this
nerd in six weeks. Buffalo Bill earned
his title by the numbers of buffalo he
Killed In short time, and Mr.. Horna-
day tells of one hunter who told him
that he had killed sixty-three buffaoes
In less than hour. In some places the
buffaloes were driven over precipices.
breaking their necks by the fall and
being skinned afterward
SKINNING BUFFALO.
With some of these hunter murderers
the ordinary process of skinning was
not last enough, and they invented a
way OF sklnning the buffalo by means
of horses. They would cut the skin at
the neck and down the belly and
around the legs at the knees A stout
iron bar, like a hitching post. was then
driven down through the skull about
eighteen inches into the earth. Then
rope was tied to the thick skin of the
neck. The other end Of the rope was
hitched to the whiff1e tree of a pair of
horses, or to the rear axle of a wagon.
I'he horses were whipped up, and the
skin was either torn in two or torn from
the buffalo, with about fifty pounds
of flesh sticking to it, This method.
however, was not a success, and was
soon given up. About $4,000 buffalos
have been killed for their tongues. no
account having been made of their
skins. For a long time every skin
sent to the market represented about
five buffaloes, the others having been
destroyed. Thousands of buffaloes were
killed by freight and moonlight, the
fires In such cases being made for the
purpose. During the year 1873 the At
Gibson, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad
alone carried quarter Of a million
buffalo robes. and more than a million
and a half pounds Of buffalo meat, and
during the three years following 1872
more than 100000 buffaloes were
slaughtered by the white men, and Of
these 100000 were wasted. The great
southern herd had been annihilated by
1875. AT this time the market had
been overstocked with robes, and the
hunters got from 65 cents to S115 for
them.
There was then left only the great
herd Of the northern part of the
United States. It's destruction began
In 1880, at which time about 100 900
buffaloes were shipped out of the coun-
try every year. The Indians of the
Northwestern territory marketed about
$4,000 buffaloes a year. AS soon as rail-
roads came into the country the hun
ters came in, and In 1882 there were
1900 hunters and SINNERS at work
They killed the buffaloes by the thou
sands for their robes, getting from
$3.50 to $3.50 piece for them, and
within about four years this other vast
nerd was wiped out. In 1876 it was es-
t1mated that there were half million
r buffaloeS within radius of $50 miles
of Miles City. In 1884 the last carload
Of buffalo robes ever shipped to the
East was sent over the railroad.
MONEY IN BUFFALOES.
The hunting of the buffaloes was i'm
mensely profitable. According to the
figures Of Mr. Hornaday, hundreds of
thousands Of dollars were made out Of
the slaughter long before 1910. From
1885 to 1910 there were five expeditions,
which killed buffaloes, worth more than
a million dollars, and the buffaloes
killed up to that time within twenty
years realized sum Of more than
S3,OO0,O00. There are records of single
fur firms who handled hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of hides.
Joseph Ullman, of New York and st.
Paul, in 1881, bought about SOC, 900 worth
Of buffalo robes, in 1882 an equal
amount, and about s12O,000 worth OF
buffalo hides. This firm within four
years paid more than $4,000 for buf
falo robes and hides and, In connection
with one other firm, they sold enough
skins to bring in about $1,000, 600. There
were number of other fur dealers
VINO made money out Of the business.
to say nothing of those who got rich
Off buffalo meat and buffalo bones. In
a trip Which l took over the Canadian
Pacific road a few years ago. I saw
mountains OF buffalo bones at many of