The Globe-republican., 1900-12-20
The American Bison.

Iney rOamed by m1il1OnS over the
western plains, northward in the
| spring and southwark IN the fall, !,
hers had been their natural grazing
grounds for centuries. No man has
! been more familiar with these inno-
cent mODarchs of the plains than C. j.
| (Buffalo) Jones, who has seen them
| vanish from the earth, almost like u
| mist before II summer sun. In the
New York Herald he gives the fol-
lowing account of his experiences
with them and the success of his eff
forts to establish a new breed, which
he calls 'scatalo,'' by crossing the
buffalo bulls with Galloway and
Poiled Angus COWS:
"About thirty years ago L moved
to the frontier. I was poor and it
! became necessary for me to join the
skin hunters. / was good shot and
soon became an expert. I hired my
self out to company of farmers to
shoot down buffalo at fifty cents each
L was a good hand at this bloody
trade and my bosses made money
following IN up, skinning the ami
mails that had shot and marketing
their hides at 81 each. / realized
that the work was cruel and wicked,
and many a time, as [ stood and
looked down into the dying eyes of
the great lnonarchs of the plains and
listened to their groans, L felt like
swearing off the whole business.
Next morning I would be awakened
by the crack, crack of the rifles all
over the plain, and, concluding that
the work of determination would not
be delayed over fifteen minutes in all
by my small efforts, I would again
join the chase.
*'Even while were killing thous-
ands of the noble animals each year,
[ made up my mind that L would
one day atone for my cussedness by
rescuing a few of the bison, herding
them and protecting them best [
might be able. This 1 have done.
Out on the Western plains the cow
men and the ranchers will tell you
how much of an effort has been nee
| essary in order that a few of the re-
m maining buffalo might survive up to
| the present.
s'The bison is an animal perfectly
| trained to take every advantage of
his environments. His instinct sur
passes that of the shrewdest ranch
man-because for ages he maintained
himself where the cattle of the ranch
men are now dying. There is no
waste grass left on the four-feet swath
which the animal cuts i'll feeding
The herd rise at dawn and commence
to Craze. When filed they start for
the trail, led usually by an old COW,
who gives the signal for starting by
sounding a grunt not unlike that of
hog, only much louder. The re-
mainder of the herd drop in behind
following exactly in her footprints
until they reach the path which leads
| them to their drinking place. This
path never exceeds twelve inches in
width. It is the same path along
which the ancestors of these buffalo
have travelled for countless ages.
e'When the pool, lake or stream is
reached, the buffalo step in, fill them
selves, and imm ediately return to the
banks instead of lingering III the
water and polutipg it, as domestic
cattle do. Thus. by keeping to one
track they have saved the grass over
which the cattle straggle to water,
and they have kept the water pure
and fresh. After resting an hour
| SO they wend their way over a we'll
defined trail for miles and miles,
without cutting a blade of the grass
i which is SO necessary for their sub
sistence. IF the man who causes
two blades of grass to grow where
only one has grown is a benefactor
of the race. how much more is the
buffalo benefactor, who preserves
thousands of blades that other
| dAlHudlo AOlh1SSS4y dSStAOJ.
eth e buffalo never yields to disease.
He is clean in his domestic habits and
in consequence always drinks pure
water. eats clean, fresh grass, does
not besmear himself with filth, and
consequently never suffers from any
of the skin diseases common to do
mestic or range cattle. His thick
underfur and the 'pantalets' which
cover his legs make him unaware of
the existence of flies in summer and
allow him to fatten where domestic
cattle grow thin and die on account
| of these pests When winter comes
he adds an additional robe of
fur to his robe of fat, and turning his
head to the storm eats quietly along
to the front in the face of the fercest
| blizzard that ever Blew.
| stThere are many small traits of
the buffa1o tha are lacking in cattle