The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-16
GREAT AMERICAN BISON.
EFFORTS BEING MADE TO PRE- < SERVE
Vhe Once Numerous Beast from Total
 2 8BN Extinction In This Country.

8umper was prdcllcdlly reduced to l,VUU. &eil or fifteen years before that they Were counted by millions on the great 0rairtes of the west, and as late as .3x&71 A single herd on the Arkansas &Ttyer was estimated to contain 100000 $head. The height of the killing cru XadAs was reached in 1873; in 1875 the EEreat southern herd was practically de- E&troyed and in 1886 the last wild buffalo EWas killed in southern Kansas.
 Before the animals were entirely ex- Terminated an attempt was fortunately Er1AJde to preserve a few, and in widely &eparate parts of the United States 1heee creatures are carefully herded to- 6ky The census of the surviving ani- {111Ale in 1887 was accurate enough to
 14ke a basis for comparison, but few fNild buffalos may not have been in fcluded In this count. Hunters have re- 5ne&ted{y asserted the existence of a 6WS straRgling wild buffaloes in the
 6kthWeSt and in Southern Canada 3T&e 1e87, and two we'll known sports
 1hpt one or two wild buffaloes
 II few years ago in British Amer
 AA5early as 1915 an attempt was made
 EISexfugton. Ky, to domesticate the 5N3l6lo and breed it in captivity, with Nil uteripr hope of producing cross lfh the domestic cattle that would be gaffy enough to endure the blizzards of k& great Southwest plains. In i bitter storms the domestic cattle
 eEtGhed by thousands. while the buff j6es with shaggy heads down and
 1,,1 oo1x t,, ftn tat of
 & herd, would wait until the blizzard
 8d spent its force. when they would
 Through the ice and snow to get at
 $ Wild grasses below. The cross breeds
 yt8lh&d at Lexington possessed many
 f6e hardy qualities of the buffalo,
 ik <3Ie experiment did not continue for W 3ength of time, and the subject
 I'll to have been soon forgotten.
 H modern attempts to save the
 ~10 from total destruction have
 Conducted on both a large and
 M scale in various parts of the 60ltty. ard from the reports furnished
 fIIe different owners of the parks 3Sd reservations there now appear to 0FeF thousand head in existence.
 cent very careful estimate placed
 total number at 1,024.
 && condition of the animals on the
 ik9xSnt preserves confirms the belief
 Tthe buffalo may yet be bred in
 ifsfS sufficient to make it useful |i}{l Va1uable animal On nearly all the IffVhte and public preserves the anil TIT VI breed freely, and with few excep- f5xD they retain most of their wild E&ST& cteristics. Confinement and semi lks~ t, SH&HEe them in form and temper, and
 4s been pretty well demonstrated <HSt ifsis impossible to breed them suc- &6&fJxlIy except in large parks or pre-
 where the surroundings are as l&&flH like their natural habitat as Ffi3te An attempt to raise them in X1 Cortlandt park, New York, al- 1
 S3732h begun under conditions pecu- GI1 favorable, failed because of the | 6E of space and natural surroundings.
 III 6uYfa1oes were brought from the 1If1e Mountain Forest park and were kfiiSd to the city by the estate of Eli Corbin. They were full-blooded III bufEaloes and one summers ex-
 &z5ce was destructive of much of |
 &a3l6f 6fural robustness of the herd. All | H t&{& Animals showed signs of physical
 aitAtfon, and three of them died. | lfE 3eturn of the animals to their Blue | 6l2H<afn Forest park was not suffi-
 Slft tp eradicate the disease which | xtf3kd to have entered their systems 6x Geveral more died within a few 18IIths after their return home.
 lse Corbin herd in the Blue Mountain 0&e5t park is the first successful re. I6lt 4 breeding buffaloes in the East 6grs 1t was supposed that the moist | |lf 0f afl3e coast would not agree with |3ieif} This herd to- day numbers 9S 31SSd q. and 1t has steadily increased un- IlF Ebndition that favor it's multipli- lSti0n About six years before his fh Austin Corbin brought 1T full 6Uded buffaloes to his magnificent TIT Hampshire park, which covers 6U4Baf1ds of square acres of primeval &IA From this small beginning the I817 has steadily increased, and while df&re have been some additions to the I6xs dhy new importations, the majority re born and bred in the Blue Noun TIT Forest park. The high, dry, fouhtain climate of New Hampshire 1fj51ears to agree with the animals as f&lI as that of their former prairie 10lf1a The immense tract of land in H&pHrk enables them to roam about as &6s1Y as in their natural habitat, and TX AEiifnals born there are to all intents i1d p1rposes as wild as their ancestors < fSha1f century ago.
 Tie largest existing herd of buffaloes l .at Flathead lake, Montana, and is aIned by the heirs of Charles Allard. ,ljls herd was collected by Charles EllGrd shortly after the destruction of |ta great western herds, and was al- DIR6d to breed in confinement on the immense ranch owned by Allard. Some [ xfie wild buffaloes were crossed with 0ineetic cattle, and for time consid- Isaljie meat and robes was raised for |reSnarket. The herd has increased |orriy, but it has been divided several lines, and individual buffaloes have xSn sold to museums and circuses in arious parts of the world. Three ear-oids were sold for $400 and $500 ach, while full-grow COW buffaloes ere worth $1,000. This price has in ceased until it is difficult to secure Ind breeding animal for less than uble that amount. In 1875 buffalo ,.....,. ss. ffIo,l the bulls were worth about apiece; in 1884 they had advanced to !: $to- day a buffalo robe would bring I00 and it would be difficult to secure