The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-12-25


out Of the American bison. There is
little use in resortlng to lnyectlve or
endeavoring to stigmatlze those who
are guilty of this crime. but 1t would
be well IL the acts could be held up in
n bright light, that those who commit
ted them might be excorlated in the
time to come, when few bones and
pictures will alone tell the story Of q
mighty race swept from the face of the
earth by the civilized people of the
nineteenth century.
In 1870 and later" said an army ON
GER to the writer. 1.-THE plains were alive
with bison. and in crossing at places I
had difficulty In avoiding them, 80 vast
were the herds. II any one had told
me that in twenty or thirty years they
would have become almost extinct,
should have regarded the statement as
that of an insane person"
That so many Of these animals could
nave been killed in mere wantonness
seems incredible when their vast num-
bers are realized. We first hear of the
bison. from Cortez and his followers in
1921. Montezuma had one in zoologI-
cal garden, the specimen, In all proba-
bilIty, having been caught in Coahuila.
In 1880 cabeza saw them in Texas; and
in 1912 Coronado found herd in what
is now Indian Territory; one of his OFF,
GERS describing them as horrible beasts
that demoralIzed the horses. In 1912
Sir Samuel Argoll observed herds Of
bison near the national capital. and. In
all probability. 9S7 years ago herds Of
bison grazed on the site Of the capitol
building at Washington. In 1878 Col.
w. Bird sew herds in North Carolina
and Virginia.
These and other facts have provided
data by which the early geographical
distribution of the bison has been de-
termined, and 1t is known that this
grand animal. that is to-day represent.
ed by a few individuals, formerly
ranged in millions from the Atlantic
seaboard to the Gulf of Mexico, from
Texas to the Great Slave Lake, and as
far west as Central Nevada AS to
their numbers, they were like the sands
of the seashore, and the accounts given
by those who hunted them twenty or
thirty years ago, to-day seem like vag-
aries Of a disordered Imagination. Mr..
Hornaday, who has hunted in South
and Central Africa, where game is re-
markably plentiful, states that the
bison Of this country previous to 1870
exceeded, in all probability. all the At
rIcan game Of every kind. An army
oficer in service on the plains In 1867
stated to. the writer that on one occa-
sion he was surrounded by buffaloes,
and that from the top of small hill he
could see nothing but black mass Of
their bodies. 1t was impossible to esti-
mate their numbers, and the party were
in great fear lest they should be caught
in a stampede, the rush being IrresistH-
bic. Colonel Dodge. in his memoirs.
states that on one occasion he rode
twenty-five miles in Arkansas, always
being in a herd Of buffaloes, or many
small herds, with but a small separat-
ing strip between them. The animals
paid but little attention to him, merely
moving SLOWLY out OF the way or ad-
vancing, bringing the whole herd OF
thousands down on him with the roar
OF an avalanche. This he met by stand
ing fast and firing when they came
within short range. the shot causing
them to divide. In one day Colonel
Dodge killed twenty-sIx bison from his
wagon; not In sport, but as a protec-
ton. Otherwise they would have run
him down and crushed man. horses and
wagon.
This herd observed by Col. Dodge was
later found to be fifty miles wide and
to occupy five days to pass given point
on Its way north. From a high rock
from which points ten miles distant
could be seen in every direction. the
Garth seemed to be covered with bison
To make an accurate estimate Of the
numbers seen would be impossible. but
Mr., Horuaday by conservative cal
culatIon, estimates that Col. Dodge
must have seen 100000. and that the
herd comprised half million buffaloes
\ train on the Kansas Pacific road In
that state in 1868, passed between the
towns of Ellsworth and sheridan-12C
mIles-through a continuous herd Of
bunalocs. They were packed so thai
the earth was black, and more than
once the train was stopped, the surging
mass becoming a menace to human
safety.
You cannot believe the facts MS theJ
existed in the days of lS7l-72," said ar
army office. ~ was at that time or
duty in the pay department, which
made 1t necessary for me to travel or
tho AtchIson, Topeka & Santa Fe rail-
road. One day the train entered lars'
herd, which scattered and seemed to e
Wild at the shrlcitlng OF the whistle ant
the ringing Of the bell. AS we went OF
the thicker they became until the very
earth appeared to be n rolling mass O
humps so far as we could see. SUD
denly some Of the animals nearest III
turned and charged; others fell In be
hind. and down on us they came llk'
an avalanche. The engineer stopped
the engine let on steam and whls'let
10 stop them, while We fred from tn