The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-10-30
laE MITCHELL, CAPITAL
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 80, 1908.
UOlQUt TACTICS

i'ttlS iilS lICSS "llClI l'httJ
OsUon originated the name "Unique
Pierre anG subjoined to it an edi-
lorial that might have been appreci-
ated in the vicinity of Mitchell we
became rutfied. incensed, and very
nearly waXed wroth. but on rejecting
on the matter we believe he was
right so far as the name is concerned
and there is no disgrace in the adj
mission. Where in the whole world
is there a place that al give a buifa-
10 hunt for the entertainment Of the
noted sportsmen of the country, such
as will lie given by the noted Scotty
Phillip"some""time in November,
when prominent people from all parts
of the country will join him in round.
ing up the outlaw members of what
would have been members Of his herd
of buffalo. had he been able to corral
them.
Howard Spirit of Dakota: We are
glad that Bro. Besancon did no" quite
wax wroth. that he slept few nights
on his rutfcd pIumage-smoothing
the feathers down and then swal-
lowed his '~'incensc." And We are
more glad that he has the frarkness
to acknowledge the %aptness Of the
pscudunym. ~ lique Pierre.h Par
enthctically. we would remind him
that it would be only 4 courteous
recognition of the service to send the
d~iscovercr Of the appropriate name
an invitation TO the unique event.
We have hunted buffalo, in the past.
over those veryss-gumbo hills, and it
would carry us back to the days OF
our youth.
But "BcSsie's' frank honesty. in
the above admission, IS far more
creditable to his heart than to his
head. 1t encourages Us to hope that
having set him right once, he may
be convinced. by the incontrovertible
logic Of fact, that our criticism Of
the effort to hold the state capital
among the Indians and buffalo is
equally just.
Advertising a buffalo hunt from
the steps Of the state house certain
ly accentuates the uniqueness of the
present capital. We have. as stated
above, hunted the noble bison--and
we have been hunted by him. We
are somewhat familiar with his
nature, his habits. his choice of sur
roundings. We have also. in fifty
yeals OF wandering. mingled more or
less with men IN the ''congested CEN
tiers Of population.'' but it is a cur
lous fact that we have never yet
found the two-bulfalo and congested
centers-in familiar contiguity. Buff
falo don't like They won't
live among men. Not even next
door to them. Pierre has d horse on
Mitchell there-a bucking broncho
that Mitchell can't rice. Mitchell
neve" can give a buffalo hunt. She
hasn't the room. She has to content
herself with a corn palace instead.
Now corn palaces-With pumpkins,
'tatels and sugar teets on the side
suggest people, lots of them, a fam
lily on every quarter, with some on
eighties and even forties. They sug-
gest railroads to carry the stuff It.
market. Buffalo suggests Groom. .
An invitation to a buffalo hunt
brings to the minds eye IL picture OF
an uninhabited, inaccessible waste,
rather than one Of cornfields, 'tatel
fields, pun'kin patches and people.
"Ah. but" Bessie will say, this
is the last of it. That buffalo range
will be dotted with farmhouses in q
year IL two" Certainly, my boy
Just as certainly as those railroads
were built that were ''going to be
built right after the capital cleo
ton in 1890. When the writer came
west in 1856 Western Kansas, anc
Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Mon
tana and the Dakotas were almost {
solid buffalo range. If they had beer
driven out by the encroachment O.
farmer the up to a given meridian WI
might expect the tidal wave to swee,
on. But the Almighty made a grear
cattle range on the eastern slope 0
the Rockies. When the farme
reached its eastern border lie skipped
touching the -ir1ignous y~alleys-o
wyoming and MOntana-tO where til,
moisture laden winds of the Pacif,
met him to bless his fruitful fields
And the stockman, recognizing tn,
Creators handiwork. stepped in ant
took possession OF the great rang
country. He supplanted the buffal
and "ountain sheep with his flock
and herds, making it minister t.
the commonwealth in the way it wa
best adapted to.
Pierre is fortunate, commercially