The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-12
BUFFALO, RANCH IN IOWA
BURGESS e HANSON, OF LUANA,
HAVE SOME FINE AMI
MAILS
"oLD TONG KING OF THE HERD
This Mountain Buffalo Is the Only
One known to Be in Existence
and Is a Fine Speci-
men.

Sharp competition is one of the
marked features of nearly every line of
7 modern industry, but Messrs. Burgess
&c Hanson, Of Luana, To-, have sue
ceeded IN establishing a business in which
this element plays a very unImportsnt
part. They are operating buffalo ranch,
ana although 1t is not the only ranch
in the country, it is business not lie
~ to be oVerdone, since it is estimated
that there are less than 1000 buffalo
now IN existence, and the greater part
OF these are in parks and geological gar
dens. Their ranch, too, has this DIS
tinctlve feature, that it contains the
only living specimen of the .real noun
tain buffalo, all others, so far as Known,
belonging to the species OF prairie bur-
faIo.
This mountain buffalo, which has been
so designated by the secretary of the
Smithsonian institution, is called ''0ld
Tom" and is recent acquisition to the
herd, although. he has been in captivity
for fourteen years having been caught
while calf He Is an unusually fine
specimen, and is correspondingly valua-
bic. The hair on his head and Shout
ders measures Twenty-Five inches In
length. His body is rather small, and
this makes his immense front seem sven
larger by contrast. His weight is about
1900 pounds, while some of the prairie
buffalo weigh 1yS00.-
Buffalo BilPt is authority for TIE
statement that buffaloes ordinarily I've
about twenty years. The buffaloeS sIaed
their fur every sprIns, out never shed
the hair Of the head and shoulders. L. e
age Of an animal is judged by its general
shaggy appearance about the head, ana
more especially byx the horns. With cat
tie, the older they are the longer the
horns grow, but the opposite holds go d
in the case Of the buffalo. A sub
horn is invariably old. The reason Tor
this is found in the fact that the b'IfiaIo
rolls like a horse, and as he is escecia Is
annoyed by flies, the amount Of rolling
which he does wears away the outer sncd
Of the horn, and then the inner, soft
part breaks eff, until in the case CT a
very old buffalo the horns become almost
entirely worn away
Burgess Sc Hanson's ranch contains II
acres of wooded and pasture lana, en-
closed by strong wire fence seven .eet
in height. The buffaloes seems as gentle
as ordinary cattle unless annoyed but
strangers are never allowed inside the
enclosure, and the attendants are always
on their guard. While the bufafoes are
not treacheroUs, they are nervous and
easily startled and are very quick in
their movements and powerful when
arouesd sG37
they are a hardy animal, and thrive
We'll in continemt MT They cat less than
ordinary cattle, and are 81 en- thu 81 M
sort of feed and care. The lffalo are
sometimes placed in the safhe' pasture
With the horses and cattl They sh
no fear, and no disposition to ann ~ thu
other animals. The cattle and horses q
usually afraid Of the buffalo at first, hut
soon become accustom, d to tfei pres
cnce. s@@
The buffalo may be led if a long rore Is
used, twenty feet at the least, but there
is trouble if anyone at srnr's TO touch
them. They wi II voluntarily come to
within few feet. Of a person, but they
never permits "a hand to be laid u7on
them, even when being fed. Their range
contains shed as a sheit r from storms
but they have never been known to eu:e,
it, preferring to stay out tn ough Il the
winter storms and col This il probably
due to the wild instinct which makes
them fear being in any way c. rnered
Another instinct which they retain eve /
after years Of Captivi V, S the desire to
migrate with every espr 'ng. and fal. In
their wild state the buffalo go North in
the spring and South ~ TIE autumn IN
captivity, with the coming of. warm
weather they all gather at tha nnrth
side ofathe ficld and there pace back ana
forth, day after day. In the fail thy
go to the south side of the enclosure ana
again take Up their restless pacing k D
irg it Hp for days. The young buffalo.
born i'll captivity, do the same.
ARE VALUABLE ANIMALS.
Full-blooded COWS are scarce and br.ng
$500 or 500 each. Z The fuI-blooded ami
mails raised are intended for parks and
geological 0gardens, ut owing to the
small number of scCws the number of
these will never be great The buffalo
ranchmen are therefore cross-breeding
with Fooled Angus cattle. The result is
an animal which has the fur of the buff
faIo ana the color of the common cat
tie which is black The ads of thes-
animals are of no especial value but
the robe o5ta ned is even finer than that
from the ful,-hlooded buffalo and brings
about $50 The beef is also fine and
commands a good market The weight Of
the eros breed is about the same as
that or ordinary cattle. The beef is at
its prime when the animal is three or
four years old.
The head of agfull- blooded buffalo is
worth more than all the rest of the ami
mai. a fine head bringing several hundred
dollars. Many. of the heads which one
sees mounted are 'tmade up" by ingenious
taxidermists A mistake often made
in these, is in setting the horns, which
are placed like those OF cattle The
horns of a buffalo stan1 up, and never
grow forward and out
While there were at one time 200 buzz
falO in the Yellowstone park, it Is esti-
mated that there are now not more than
twelve left There are no fences to keep
them within the bounds of the park, and
those that stray outside the limits are
ruthlessly shot, despite the laws of tine
state. Only recently one of the heads
was sent to CHI cago taxidermist, from
the neighborhool of the park, to be
mounted. 1t would seem, owing to the
scarcity of the buffalo and the Importance
( of preserving those that remain, that
some steps be taken by the government
to prevent the slaughter of the few now
in the park.
The buffalo ranch in Iowa is a point of
interest to visitors for miles around, peo-
pie driving fifty miles in the summer to
gain a sight of the herd. Burgess &,
Hanson will soon add to their herd, hav-
ing recently stopped in ST. Paul on their
| way to the ranch of an Indian half
| breed in Montana, who probably owns
| the largest ranch in the country, and