Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1901-02-06
BUFFALO AMONG CATTLE.
Strange Appearance Of Solitary
Bull in the Herds of Vest
ern StOckmen.

An immense buffalo bull lately put in
Al appearance among the cattle owned
by the Sioux Indians and ranged near
the Standing Rock reservation, 60
miles south of this city, says Bis
marck (N. d. special to the St. Louis
Republic. The animal came unherald-
ed, 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 eighties, when Gov.
Roosevelt, hunting along the Little
Missouri river, killed one at crossing
made its appearance near Standing
Rock is unusually wild and fierce, and
disposed to attack herdsmen who at
tempt to get near it, Strict orders have
| been issued by the agent against kill
ing the animal. in the hope that it
will remain and that others may be
discovered.
The presence of this lone monarch
of the prairies recalls the time when
the bison ranged the vast prairies in
the western part of the state by thou
sands, if not millions, when every wa
tering hole was 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 through
the western part of the state there are
deep trails that were made by the
| bison and that have not been wiped
out in a half century. The suddenness
of the extinction of the bison is among
the most remarkable features of the
| development of the west. From thou
sands and hundreds of thousands, they
dwindled away almost at once.
In the early days of steamboating
along the Missouri river, passengers
were frequently treated to an unusual
sight in the fording of the river by
| bands of thousands of these animals
On one occasion a boat plying up the
stream was forced to stop for As hours
while the immense moving mass of
4 bison plunged into the stream. swan
through its muddy waters and emerged
on the other side. The water was
churned to foam and the river literal
~ black with the animals. They made
periodical trips of this kind from one
side of the Missouri to the other, al
ways moving in immense bodies. A
buffalo stampede was not uncommon.
and woe to the unfortunates who
might be caught in the path.
Then came the buffalo hunters. In
the early days of Bismarck. 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 being left to rot on the prai-
ries. No precautions We're taken at
that time against their extinction, and
the result was that in a few years there
was not bison remaining. The In
dians also engaged in frequent hunts.
riding into the dense herds upon their
ponies and Strengthening them by the
thousands.
Buffalo coats and robes that were
worth a few dollars 20 years ago in
the west now command fancy prices.
Good robes are impossible to obtain
at any price, and coats are eagerly
sought after. The government still has
few rough coats in store that are is
sued to the soldiers in the far west.
Buffalo heads that were sold for little
or nothing Is and 20 years ago, now
bring as high as $500 when mounted
and are difficult to obtain at that price.
In the hills near Standing Rock the
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 Enclosed feeding grounds, and
every effort will be made TO locate and
protect them.