The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-05-03
BUFFALO AMONG CATTLE.

An immense buffalo bull has put in
an appearance among the cattle owned
by the Sioux Indians and ranged near
the Standing Rock reservation. The
animal came unheralded, whence no.
body knows. For years it has been
supposed that every bison was extinct
in this State, and the last time that
any were seen in the State was back
in the sos. when Governor Roosevelt,
hunting along the little Missouri river,
killed one at crossing of the river.
The animal that has made its appear
ance near Standing Rock is unusually
wild and fierce and disposed to attack
herdsmen who attempt to get near it.
Strict orders have been issued by the
agent against killing the animal, in the
hope that it will remain and that 9TH
ers 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 thous-
ands, if not millions, when every water
hole was gathering place for them
and the hills and valleys were worn
deep with trails along which the ami
mails went from feeding ground to wa
tering places. Even yet, all through
the westorn part Of the State there are
deep trails that were made by the bi-
son and that have not been wiped out
in half a century. The suddenness of
the extinction of the bison is among
the most remarkable features of the de-
velopment OF the West. From thous-
ands 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
bancs of thousands of these animals.
On one occasion boat plying up the
stream was forced to stop and tie up
for forty-eight hours while the i'm
mense moving mass Of bison plunged
into the stream, swarmed through its
muddy waters and emerged on the
other side. The water was churned 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 stam-
pede was not uncommon, and woe to
the unfortunate who might be caught
in the path.
Then came the buffalo hunters. In
the early days Of Bismark hundreds of
hunters armed themselves and sought
the feeding ground of the animals.
Thousands upon thousands of them
were killed for their hides, the car
casses being left to rot on the prairies.
No precautions wore 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 slaug Uttered them by thou
sands
Buffalo coats and robes that were
worth a few dollars twenty years ago
in the West now command fancy
prices. Good robes are impossible to
obtain at any price and coats are ca
gerly sought after. 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 nothing fifteen and
twenty years ago now bring as high
as $500 when mounted, and are diff
cult to obtain at that price.
In the hills near Standing Rock the
country is rough and broken and sell
dom visited. 1t is thought, from the
appearance of the solitary bison, that
there may be small herds of them
ranging the iEclosed feeding grounds,
and every effort will be made to locate
and protect them.