The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-30
LAST TRACES OF THE BUFFALO.
Just Few Patches OF Greener Grass Mark
the Spots Where the Herds Wallowed.

Any one travelling across those stretches
Of Kansas or Nebraska prairies which are
as yet unbroken by the plough and there
are big areas of such virgin prairie still to
be seen, said an old-time plainsman. will
| notice here and there big circular patches
where the grass is greener, thicker and
higher than anywhere else around. Those
curious circles Of superior grass are due
to cause that will never be known again.
They are the sole existing reminders of
the days when the buffalo ranged the plains,
innumerabe in its herds
Those rank and verdant patches of
grass mark spots where the once common
buffalo wallows were familiar and often
welcome landmarks on the prairie. Where
little stagnant water had collected, the
ground being soft under the short grass,
it was an easy matter for the buffalo to
make mud puddle in which to cool off, in
a short time.
TO accomplish this the built was al
ways bull of the herd that made the wal
low-would drop on one knee. plunge his
horns, and ut last his head, into the earth,
and make an excavation into which the
water slowly filtered Then throwing
himself on his side as flat ~ he could, he
rolled vigorously around, ripping up the
ground with his horns and hump, sinking
himself deeper and deeper. and gouging
his wallow out larger, until it was of d.
mansions to suit his purpose.
The excavation would gradually fill
with water until the buffalo was entirely
immersed, the water and mud. mixed to
the consistency Of mortar, covering him
from his head 10 the tip of his tail.
"A buffalo wallow was usually about
fura1 Nynf in fltDF,n afn \ g.
three feet deep, and bull would complete
| one in half an hour Sometimes there
would be fifty or hundred bulls waiting for
the boss bull to get through with his bath
so they could have chance at it. He us,I-
ally took his time wallowing in the mud
hole. When it suited him to come out, a
ghtful-looking monster, dripping thick
ooze from his huge body, the bull that had
won the right to be next in rank entered
the walow for his turn.
$50 it would go. all down the line, until
the young bulls who had no recognized
place in the herd would fight fercely
among themselves for the next turn at the
wallow. The COWS had no interest in the
matter They simply stood around and
took care of the calves and cropped the
grass
When the herd moved on from a wallow-
ing place the thick coating of mud on the
bulls would become dry, and in the crush
OF the march would be ground into dust
which the wind would carry up and over
the prairie In clouds In time of drought
the waIlows would become dry, but the
buffalo seemed to take as much pleasure
in rolling in them as when there was water
| in the hole.
But no new buffalo wallow has been
made on the plains in more than twenty
years, and there never will be another one
made, The old wallows that are still left
naturally fill with water during rains, and
thus by irrigation make the soil more fer
tile, causing the greener and ranker growths
on the prairie which those curious circular
patches Of grass show Within few
years the plough will have removed these.
and the last reminder of the mighty hosts
Of buffalo that once Numbered over those
plains will be gone"