Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-10-02

sagacity of those whom they elect on
an occasion of this sort. and they
obey them as the peasants OF Russia
do the ear
The first two days after We left the
reservation were uneventtul, but on
the morning of the third saw beac,
and later a few antelope, and being
anxious to try my luck, l sent word
by Little Robe an Indian with whom
happened to be riding to one of the
huntmasters for permission for him
and me to take a little hunt along a
stream. the course of which we were
.lhen following, This being granted,
We went out and succeeding in bagging
three antelope. On our way back to
join the main column, Little Robe re
marked that he was hungry, and,
cutting open one af the antelopeS, he
took out the liver and began eating it.
On the fourth day the masters of the
hunt sent out runners, who returned
the day following bringing buffalo
meat,
That night we spent in busy prep,
aration for the next days hunt Every
buck took fresh horse, and when
morning dawned we were in the sad
die and on the move. 1t was rolling
prairie country. and along about II
O'Clock we sighted an enormous herd
of buffalo feeding along the top of
plateau. We rode around the base of
this rising ground, sending every now
and then someone to the top to glance
over and see how near we were draw
ing to the herd. At last We Circled
around until we were quite close to
them. when one of the huntmasters
gave a short. quick order that brought
the column up abreast, in which fash
ion we rode to the top of the rise and
in full view of the animals.
AS we did so | could see one buffo-
10 after another throw up his head,
look about until he saw our party and
set off at a slow rolling gallop. This,
however, was only for an instant, for
as We drew up to the crest of the rise
the order that all were eager for and
expecting rang out simultaneously
from both huntmasters, and away the
whole column charged at full speed
on the buffalo, shooting them down on
every side. | rode on with the rest
for mile or so, doing my share of the
shooting, when, firing of the sport.
turned back.
"On my way back to camp met the
squaws skinning and cutting up the
animals that the males had killed and
which were lying about everywhere.
We remained among the buffalo for
two weeks before we thought of re-
turning. killing in all total of 1000
animals. One of the curious things
, that saw on this trip was an old
buffalo with deformed right front
hoOf that one of the Indians had Killed.
He had been shot and wounded in
this hoof when he was quite young
and one side of the Cloven hoof had
grown in a circle completely around
the other to the length of fully foot
and several inches.
when we were about ready to re-
turn the sQuaws began loading the
meat on the ponies, and | was sur
prised to see what an enormous load
these hardy little animals could carry.
1t seemed to me that they would load
the meat of one buffalo on one pony,
weight of fully 400 or 500 pounds. I
have seen these ponies loaded so
heavily that they had to stand braced
with their legs standing out like a tri-
pod in order to support the frightful
burden imposed by their unfeeling
masters. Then on top of this load
some Indian would climb to ride back
to the reservation.
when we got back to the agency
the squaws set about cutting the meat
up into long. thin strips and drying it
for future use. The Indians also held
big feast of fresh meat gorging
themselves for days on juicy steaks
and tongues. | undertook to follow
the Indian custom on such occasions
OF going from one tepee to another,
eating some meat in each, but had to
quit after visiting three places. The
endurance of the Indian ponies in
travelling long distances under heavy
loads was as surprising as the storage
capacity of their masters when it came
to a feast of buffalo meat.
That, so far as I have been able to
learn, was the last great buffalo hunt
ever held in the United States The
Pacific railroads and the rapid settle
ment of the west so reduced the herds
that after 1878 the number of buffalo
in the west was very small, indeed It
was the last buffalo hunt ever taken by
the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, for, al,
though they sent out scouts the year
following they returned with word
that the number Of animals they found
was not worth going after r Wash.
ingtOn Post