People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1897-07-29
Stories Of An EARLY Day.

ne way to hunt buffalo was oil
foot. BY getting to the wirdward
you could walk up to within a few
rods Of them ard not alarm them
Whereas if the wind blew from you
to them, if a half mile away, the,
would be off, scenting person. N
difference how far away, it seemed Il
brighten them fal more than seem!
yJu--iOwever neJr - them yeu were
The first few years after comm!
here, occasionally a buffalo or severa
would CINE into the neighborhOod
One day 10 "a d nCighbor of mine BY
the name Of Jolly, was after one OF
the section of land west Of my place
de bad been shooting it with bird
shot. lie had gotten it mad, and Ou
going out there about quarter Of d
mile west of my house, | found il
standing 10 the edge of a pond Of
water in the slough that runs through
the land. jolly had gone home
Bruce Magee and a man by the name
OF James Burns, were sitting there
on their horses watching the buffalo
Neither Of them had gun. | had
the same thirty revOlVers mentioned
in the prairie chicken shooting Incl.
dent. The pond was eighteen or
twenty feet wide. Giving my horse
to Magee to hold, l walked up to the
opposite side Of the pond from where
%he buffalo stood and aimed to shoot
III through the heart, but the bail
STRUCK tue shoulder blade, doing little
c6r no damage, except to enrage and
start it after me. Making a run
around the end of the pond with tail
up and head down, it made a dive at
me. There was little time and less
use to shoot at its head. The only
thing could and did do, was to make
a run for Burns horse and Jump be.
hind it. Burns said the buffalo did
not miss my pistol pocket a foot. A
miss is as good as a mile. Anyway,
was more scared THAI hurt. When
shot, my horse got away from Magee.
When | looked around, my horse with
Magee after it, was On a dead run for
my house A buffalo when making a
dive at You, goes straight ahead. If
you jump TO one side they never turn
to follow you. This one was tive
year-Old and as quick as a Texas steer.
After missing me it ran around to
the other end Of the pond and then
back to nearly the place from where
it started. Making a move toward
the buffalo, Burns said: You are
not fool enough to try that again"
II will give it one more shot any
way" | said. Walking up opposite to
where it was, and as luck would have
1t, at the crack of the revolver the
buffalo dropped dead in its tracks. BY
chance shot the bullet went clear
Through it, passing through the heart.
\ThiS furnished a nice, little lot of
nheat for myself and neighbors; be-
Sides, the hide was worth a dollar.
[ believe ninety-nine per cent of
the buffalo killed was Tor their hides
alone. It's shame and disgrace on
our civilization, this wholesale de-
StruCtiOn of these at one time, the
most numerous Of all our large wild
animals. And all FOR the Uitiful sum
OF two or three dollars for each hide.
1t seems to me that the general gov
eminent could and should have en-
plOyed some means by which to pre-
vent t,e destruction Of these animals.
have seen hundreds Of carcasSes of
these animals, from which nothing
but the hides had been taken, lying
on the open prairie and being devoured
by coyotes and wolves. The hides
were hauled to the nearest railroad
station and sold for one or two dollars.
Sometimes an extra large size would
sell for three dollars. Thousands of
these hides were sold in Wichita.
The old cattle trail from Texas
through the Indian Territory and
through Caldwell to Wichita, was
about four miles west of my place.
The cattle being driven over This