New-York tribune., 1901-12-08
uRuFFALO" JONES'S PLAN.
,v1>c TO SAVE THE BUFFALO BY
CROSSING THEM WITH DoMES-
TIC CATTLE

-.,.-e KAN Nov. so ISpeciali.-''Buffalo'' Jones
o-ed Kansan. is by no means dead. He is now
i .ho Goodnight buffalo ranch. in Texas. laying
o. o. .o,,ndatioa for plan which he hopes Congress
6opt at its Forthcoming session for the preser-
,on Of the buffalo a few weeks ago report was
.-aIlv printed abroad that he had died Salina
=. +be old buffalo trapper is still alive. hale and
- ~ his seventy years setting lightly upon
.- of broad shoulders
ar,arles j. better known as Buffalo" Jones' has
o+ed 2 lifetime the buffalo, and now in his
- age he is trying 10 have them preserved for
s.-,e generations. He has persuaded Congress
- Charles Curtis OF Kansas. to introduce the
.sure which he is now writing at the coming
.ion and great energy Will be used to get the
IA rsssed- II provides for the setting aside OF
.a thousand acres Of land in New-Mexico for
,ufaIo preserve where Jones conduct his
,s-rnents in buffalo breeding on an elaborate
Ian For be it known that Mr.. Jones is producing
: herd Of buffalo cattle, one-half buffalo and one
.slf native steer which TO all outward appearances
assemblies a buffalo, but which has all the habits
=, cow The buffalo is known cannot exist
,n confined thickly settled community. while
This new buffalo of Mr. Jones will exist in
anv climate where a steer can live.
charles Goodnight. the Texas millionaire, has
.sksn an interest in Mr.. Jones's scheme of saving
the buffalo and has permitted him experiment
with some Of his buffalo Goodnight has a herd
~ seventy-ive buffalo and Jones has succeeded
,n raising half dozen yearling buffalo These
pasture and promising well of thriving and
multiplying Jones says he has doubt these
viii be the only species of buffalo in existence in
few years hence He hopes to spread their kind
10 every section OF the United States until their
number will equal the vast herds Of wild buffalo
1bat few years ago roamed the Western plains
Jones spent twenty-seven years OF his early life
on the plains catching and shooting buffalo. He
made a fortune in shooting them: now he is spend
irg it in preserving the few remaining ones. He
Of -ha rer y-ix-0rS Of he ga
sixties when the plains were indeed a wild habita-
ton
Buffalo" Jones is great friend OF that notable
Snowman Buffalo BILL and much Of the time they
were together the frontier. Jones is a COM
handing figure wherever he may be; whether in
the lobby Of a great hotel the streets Of a
typical frontier village. Tall. Of splendid physique.
with long hair and grizzled beard he attracts men
to him like magnet 1t has long been a habit Of
his 10 wear buffalo skin clothes In winter wide
sombrero on his head and boots whose uppers were
of the shaggy and untanned hide OF the buffalo.
OF recent years. however. he has cast aside this
wild dress for Of more comfort The winters
on the plains are not what they used to be, and
only billiards make such wardrobe really COM
Portable His garb is yet typical of the cattleman.
Jones is Of New-England birth, but by education
and training a of the West He came to
Kansas toward the end Of the Civil War and began
the wild. rowing life Of a, plainsman- He hunted
the buffalo for the Union Pacific road. and sold
saw that their final extinction only matter
Of a few years. so he decided to embark in the
business alone, selling TO Eastera parks and pre-
serves. He accumulated a fortune at this work,
likewise a reputation a buffalo slayer. Jones
established ranch at Garden City, Kan. then a
wild frontier community. There he kept num-
Der Of calves and began training them.
It was IN 1885, while serving part Of an eight
year term in the Kansas legislature, that he con-
ceived the idea OF breeding the buffalo and the
steer. At first il was slow and haltng, this cross
Of animals so nearly alike and yet SO Easuy. oP-
posite. Years were required TO accomplish single
result
Year after year he would capture young buffalo
Each buffalo turned over to the care and
nourishment of a milk Of Texas breed The
offspring and many young buffalo calf was tossed
high by a pair OF long horns only to fall pierced
By 1883 he had succeeded in gathering up seventy
young buffalo, and began 70 domesticate them He
buffaio. and from this ranch he cleared $4,000,
His buffalo are yet to be found N preserves IN
New-York. Vermont, NeW-Hampshire ana other
Nesnwfiie he never allowed the one idea to
had achieved some good results. ana others foi,
lowed year by year Then he was delegated oy me
s9ecies of wild animals. and for three years the
herd suffered the loss OF his attention All but one
two of the buffalo COWS died and Jones found ma
upon his return his ambition almost crushed; he
took the remainder Of the herd to Bearson, Nen.
and began anew the crossing Lately ChaTi@s isTars
esied and invited Jones to make his bunalo ranch
his future breeding headquarters- Jones is now W
at work attempting to follow out the dictates OF
his conscience in preserving the animal he assisted
SO literally in destroying. He says:
give 10 future generations a domesticated buffalo
a type of the old kind. but thoroughly tanned II
her bufTalo gone in ten years, which will surely
be the case unless plans are adopted for their
preservation"