The Saint Paul globe., 1900-12-11
BUFFALO AMONG CATTLE.
Relic of Old Days Appears in North
Dakota Herd.

BISMARCK, N. D., Dec. 10.-An ina-
mense buffalo bull has put in an appear
ance among the cattle owned by the
Sioux Indians and ranged near the
south of this city. The animal came
unheralded, whence nobody knows. For
years it has been supposed that every
bison was extinct in this state, and the
last time any were seen in the state
was back in the middle sos, when Gov
Roosevelt, hunting along the Little Mis-
souri, river, killed one at crossing
of the river. The animal that has made
it's appearance near Standing Rock is
unusually wild and fierce, and disposed
to attack herdsmen who attempt to get
near it. Strict orders nave been issued
by the agent against killing the animal
in the hope that it viii remain and that
others may be discovered.
The presence of this lone monarch of
the praireS recalls the time when the
bison ranged the vast prairieS in the
western part of the state by thousands,
if not millions when every water hole
was a gathering place for them and the
hills and valleys were worn deep with
trails along which the animals went
from feeding ground to watering places.
Even yet all thraugh the western part
of the state there are deep trails that
were made by the bison and that nave
not been wiped out in half century
The suddenness of the extinction of the
bison is among the most remarkable tea-
lures of the development of the Wet
From thousands ana nuluISNS VI l4lOO-
sands, they dwindled away almost at
once.
In the early days of steamboating along
the Missouri river passengers were ire
uuently treated to an unusual sight IN
the fording of the river by bands of
thousands of these animals. On one oc-
casion boat plying up the stream was
forced to stop and tie up for forty-elght
hours while the immense moving mass
Of bison plunged into the stream, swan
through its muddy waters, and emerged
on the other side. The water was chutn-
ed to foam and the river literally black
with the animals. They made periodical
trips of this kind from one side OF the
Missouri to the other, always moving IN
immense bodies. "A buffalo stampede was
not uncommon, and woe to the unfor-
tunateS who might be caugnt III tne
path. -,
early days of Iuzmarck, hundreds OF
hunters armed themselves and sought
the feeding grounds Of these animals.
Thousands upon thousands Of them were
killed for the hides the carcasses pelng
left to rot on the prairies. No precau-
tions were taken at that time agalnSc
their extinction, and the result was that
in a few years there was not a blson
remaining. The Indians also engaged IN
frequent hunts, riding into the dense
herds upon their ponies anu SlauSnIerlIlS
them by thousands
Buffaio coats and robes that were
worth few dollars twenty years ago
in the West now command fancy prices:
any price. and coats are eagerly sought
after f1S - The government still has few
rough coats in store that are issued to
the soldiers in the far West Buffalo
heads that were sold for little or moth
ing fifteen and twenty years ago now
bring as high as $500 when mounted, and
are difficult to obtain at that price
country is rough and broken, and is
seldom visited 1t is thought, from the
appearance Of the solitary bison, that
there may be small bands Of them rang
ing the inclosed feeding grounds, and
every effort will be made to locate and
protect them.