The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-06

12,0O0 at $750, In 1882 he purchased
 40,000 hides at $3.50 and 10000 robes at
 $8,50. The prices hunters received were
 Cow hide $3; bull hide, $2.50; yearling, 1 $1.50, calves 50 cents. The expense or 1 transportation brought the hide up to
 $3.50 in New York. This dealer in four years paid out $310,000 to these men, who killed buffaloes by the tens of thou
 sands for s25O a head. Both of the aforementioned dealers in eight years paid out ST. 233,070 to the exterminators
 That the real extirminators of the buffalo was caused by the demands Of trade there can be no doubt, aided and abetted by sportsmen, Indians, and
 others; but tn blame really lies with the
 Government that in all these years per-
 mtted few ignorant Congressmen to
 block the legislature in favor of the pro-
 tection of the bison, so that all the eff
 forts of humanitarians were defeated
 and the bills passed pigeonholed.
 There were many methods of exter- mination that are graphically illustrated
 by paintings and models in the Smith, sonian Institution. The still hunter was
 the most insidious enemy of the buffalo,
 and single man by sneaking upon
 herd has been known to kill 1000 in
 single season. One Capt. Jack Bridges,
 of Kansas, has the honorable CD re- cord of having killed 1142 buffaloes in six weeks He took the contract to htat effect and bagged his game. Up to
 1870 there were undoubtedly sevral mill lions of buffaloes alive, but the lust for
 blood was on, and soon came the de- mand for robes and hides from the deal- CTS, and men who could not make a living at anything else went out to kill buffaloes. In the different States there were regular killing outfits that cost, in rifles, horses, carts, &c. from s2,000 to $5,0O0 Such methods developed some famous characters Buffalo Bill was one. He contracted with the Kansas Pacific Railroad to furnish them with all the buffalo the men could eat as the road was built, and, according to MT. Cody's statement they ate 4,2S0 buffa- loes in eighteen months, for which he received $500 per month, the price paid for his title.
 Many buffaloes were killed by run ming them down: this was the popular method among the Indians who shot them with rifle or bow and arrow, or chased them over precipices. The great herds north of the Missouri were most ly exterminated by the Indians of the Manitoba Red River settlement, who hunted them in regular army One division of such an army of extermina- tors consisted of eos carts, 700 half breeds, 200 Indians, 500 horses, 200 OK en, and 400 dogs. The movements against the buffaloes in Nebraska were by 5000 people, and as each man killed at least ten, 30000 buffaloes bit the dust. In this way Indians as above killed, 1t is estimated 652,000 buffaloes.
 The completion of the western rail- road divided the buffaloes into two herds, northern and southern Tn 1871 the southern herd was composed of an estimated 3,000,000, and from now on the animals dropped away so rapidly that it was estimated that 5000 or 4,000 | a day were killed. It became evident that they were doomed and appeals I were made to the Government by hun | 1reds. From 1872 to 1874 there were ! L.7S0,462 buffaloes killed and wasted: | } 15S,7 ,7S0 in all killed by white people and | the skins shipped east over the Atchi- | son, Topeka and Santa Fe road. During | he same time the Indians killed 150,000 |