Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-06-01
LAST OF THE eUFFALoEs.
Once There Were Millions Now There
Are Only Hundreds.

Are Only Hundreds.
Since the beginning of the now
widespread movement to preserve the
buffalo, and particularly since the or
ganization Of the American Bison So
ciety, 1t Is interesting to consider the
discovery Of the animal. its life his
tory and methods Of determination.
Although authorities differ on this
subject, the buffalo was probably first
seen by white men in Anahuac, the
| Aztec capital Of Mexico, in 1921,
when Cortez and his men paid their
first visit to the menagerie Of King
Montezuma. Nine years later the an
imal was first seen in wild state in
Spanish sailor, who had very little to
say about 1t beyond remarkins that
he had eaten the flesh, which, in his
judgment was finer and sweeter than
the meat to be had In Spain.
The next explorer to penetrate the
buffalo country was Coronado, who
crossed Arizona and New Mexico and
the southern part of the Panhandle Of
Texas. In 1912 the expedition was
crossing the plains, which were de-
scribed "as full Of crooked backed OK
en- as the mountain Serena in Spain
Of sheepe." 1t Is from some of Coron-
ado's men that the first published de-
scription Of the buffalo are given.
How many buffaloes there were at
this time no one knows, and proba-
bly, no one ever will know. but there
must have been many, many millions.
The buffalo's range extended over
about one-third Of the entire continent
Of North America; from the inhospi-
table shores Of the Great Silver Lake
on the north, to the scorching plains
Of northern Mexico on the south, and
from a line following closely but new
er touching the Atlantic coast on the
east and across the Rocky Mountains
into New Mexico, Utah and Idaho in
the west. These boundaries, of course,
marked the limits Of its range; its
centre Of abundance was the great
plain regions Of the west, where, at
certain times, notably In the breeding
season. the animals gathered in count
less thousands, darkening the earth
as far as the eye could reach, when
at rest. and when In motion filling the
air with dust and with the thunder
notes Of their galloping hoofs. Even
as late as 1871-less than thirty-fve
years ago-this animal was present In
this country in numbers almost be-
yond belief.
A faint idea Of the vast hordes
which made the prairie tremble be-
meath their tread at that time may be
had from an account given us by Col.
R. I. Dodge in his "Plains Of the
Great West"
I'm May 1871" he says. 'T drove
in light wagon from old Fort cara
to Fort Larned, on the Arkansas, "a
miles. At least 25 miles of the dis
tance was through an immense herd,
composed Of countless smaller herds
Of buffalo then on their journey north.
The road ran along the broad level
bottom or valley of the river.
"The whole country appeared one
great mass Of buffalo. moving slowly
to the northward; and II was only
when actually among them that 1t
could be ascertained that the appar-
ent solid mass was an agglomeration
of innumerable small herds of from
so to 200 animals, separated from the
surrounding herds by greater or less
space, but still separated"
It is conservatively estimated that
Col. Dodge saw at least 100000 buff
faloes, and these but fraction OF
great herd of at least 100000, an
army greater in number than all the
men, women and children Of greater
New York put together. The Indians
Of some Of the tribes used to think
that the buffaloes issued from the
earth in a never falling stream, and
indeed 1t might readily seem difficult
to account for such numbers in any
other way. Is 1t any wonder that
many men believed that 1t was quite
impossible to exterminate the bison?
Yet In the short space Of a dozen
years from the date on which Col.
Dodge passed through that herd of
4, 900, 900, the buffalo had ceased to
exist as wild animals In this country.
The buffalo was gregarious In its
habits, and at certain season the herds
were larger and more compact than
at others. Especially was this true or
the breeding season, which came
chiefly In July and August: then vast
hordes gathered on the plains, which
were the scenes or the greatest activ-
ity for several weeks, during which
the roaring of the bulls was continu-
ous and could be heard for miles.
There was also much fighting among
the bulls. After the bre ading season
the herds became less densely massed.
The compact herds dissolved into
groups of from twenty to a hundred
or two, and the usual peaceful life
was resumed.
There is no doubt :hS.:. buffaloes
were migratory, but t:seiT migrations
were probably not nearly so extensive
as many people have supposed. In
their ordinary wanderiu gs, buffaloes
frequently travelled far away from
water, but as they became thirsty the
herd would start in search of some
spring or water course. The princi-
pal trails usually extended north and
south, and connected the rivers which,
In the main, run east and west. Such
trails also led to the great salt licks,
such as the Big Bone Lick in Ken
lucky, which was frequented by buff
faloes in great numbers ur to the be-
ginning of the last century when, of
course, the animal disappeared for
ever from the country east Of the Mis-
sissippi.
Considering the great weight Of the
animal, the gallop of the buffalo is a
very easy, elastic movement. In the
wild state the buffalo was very sure
footed animal and a good climber. 1t
not only ascended steep mountains,