Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1899-12-16
BONE COLLECTOR.

most everyone, when his eye was caught by
picture in window which represented a
small herd of bnffaloes lie stood in front
of it some time, and as he rejoined the crowd
Kansas business man remarked:
"No wonder he looked at it. That was
old John Bone. | don't know his right
name, but that's what he was called because
he made a fortune out of bones-buifalo
bones, after those animals had been wiped
off the face of the earth. He's forgotten me,
but | was banking in those days. and so saw
him often and knew his business pat. |
reckon he lives somewhere hereabouts, but
you can bet he isn't picking up bones now;
he's making his own as comfortable as pos
sible. Twenty years ago there were alive
and roaming on the plains 100000 or G,0OO,'
600 buffaloes, and there was an army of
whites and Indians trying to wipe them out.
The white hunters if collected would make
On army of 5000 or 1000 men, and as for
Indians, they had dozen armies in the field
killing butfaloes for three dollars apiece.
"This John Bone was hustler on a ranch
in northern Kansas, and was hired by the
owner to kill bufsaloes; and | expect next to
Buffalo Bill he has killed more buffaloes
than anyone. 1t was hard work, and he
finally decided to go into business for him
self, but he didn't go in for hides; he went
after bones. He happened to see notice in
an eastern paper that old bones were wanted,
and he opened up correspondence and found
that he could make $l8 or $40 ton for them;
so he started in. He first rented place for
camp with plenty of acreage, and then with
his three brothers started out with carts
collecting bones. At that time the country
was dotted with buffalo skeletons from one
end to the other The hunters only took the
hides, sometimes the tongues and left the
entire animal; so it was not difficult mat
ter to get all the bones he wanted. He piled
them up in heaps Then the carts came
along and loaded up and dragged them to the
camp. In this way he heaped up pile that
was such curiosity that it was called the
Bone mountain and John Bones monu
ment'
'Ele was, so far as l know, the pioneer
bone picker, though there might have been
others in what was known as the north
herd, and 80 you may be sure he did not tell
anyone what he was doing. The hunters
thought he was crazy and called him John
Bones. John was smart enough to help out
the idea and he said nothing and just piled
up his bones. He told one man he was going
to pile up as many as he could get and make
big house of heads, and then charge adj
mission. The first lot he piled up in big
square, and the last time | saw it, it was 80
feet high and 20 feet thick and made up of
thousands of bones. A stranger sight you
never saw, and certainly monument to the
destruction of the bison.
"But while he was piling up this house, as
| he called it, John had his brothers and some
one inside at work, and these men ground up
the bones and packed them to the nearest
| railroad, and got SIS ton for them {. o. b.,
and sometimes more.
"What John made I don't know, but q
fortune without doubt. The railroads could
tell the story, and | know that in one year
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe shipped
100000 pounds; that was in 1872 In 70
they shipped about 100000 pounds and in
"A nearly 100000 pounds. In the north the
great places for shipment were Billings,
Mont, and Jamestown, Dakota. Here you
could see up to ten or IL years ago
piles of bones as large as the state house, |
was going to say. Finally, when hides began
to get scarce, the bone hunters were as thick
as hops and with big bullock teams they
went all over the country wherever buffalo
| lldN Dttu hllON II anu tOOh cNCly i'OHC' L liz y
hauled them to the Missouri river and
shipped them by steamer down to central
places, from which tens of thousands of tons
were shipped all over the world.
"In those days my business took me out
on the plains. We often advanced money
to the responsible hunters for their outfit
and l was often in the camps. Generally
there were three men together They had 8
wagon, tent, horses, rifles, ammunition anC
canned provisions. Each man was armed
with rifle, three skinning knives and 6
long steel or sharpener, and they were poi
hunters from way back; many of then
would kin so to so huffaloes a day. Their
method was to steal up to a herd, lie in con
cealment and shoot the leader. The buffalo
was a stupid beast and would stand looking
at the smoke and gather around the frs
victim. Finally another one would star
off and the hunter would shoot it and tn
scene would be reenacted, and so on until
single man by firing about once minut
has been known in very short time TO wip
out herd.
Nearly all these skins were handled il
New York by two firms. One firm Dough
in nine years 24G,l75 robes and hides, 70
which they paid 1925, $780, and probably sol
for at least S200OG00. The other firm pai
out for robes and hides in four years abou
S3l0,000 The two firms in eight years pai
out 81 ,233, 0C0 for hides and robes; so yo
can figure out as to the number of animal
slaughtered,
John Bone worked at first for men wit
capital; then when they got 1000 or l,50
head the brothers went in for themseve
| Il n, ,loip cai1ipr THAR mr.
were often caught in Billiards and frozen t
death, and their bones mingled with thos
of the animals they were in search of.
heard this man tell an experience which we
illustrated the number of bulIaloes at tt
time and the dangers of the sport. He W.
hunting for bones and had four Wagon
packed high with them when one night the
heard a rushing, roaring sound as of
mighty wind, while the very earth SCENE
to tremble. 'Bulialoes on a stampede!' eric
Bones, starting up; and in few momen
over the divide came a black mass of form
that covered the eaSth. They seemed to
pushing on with irresistible force and wei
coming down on the camp like an avalanch
Bone himself rushed toward them, firing h
gun to turn them, if possible, while the OF
ers endeavored to wheel the heavy carts t
gether But the mass of animals came {
like the wind and the men could only cray
beneath the carts. One was overturne
while against the other was piled sol
mass OF believing, groaning bisons tn
II were crushed to death by the passing thron
y. The men barely escaped with their live
only the stoutness of tho heavy-wheel
carts saving them as they crouched benea
them.
"This herd was estimated to be 80 mil
o wide and was five days passing given poi
on walk. Hundreds were shot as they WEI
by, the men never venturing far from the
] wagons, At this time it was not uucommt