Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-09
BUFFAL 0 SLAUGHTER
Method Adopted by Some of the
Indian Tribes.
ENTIRE HERDS WERE KILLED
Dying Struggles of the Animals
Revolving Scene.
MUCH OF THE FLESH WASTED
Occasionally an old Bull Would Lead
Way to Freedom-Decoying
and Driving
MUCH OF THE FLESH WAsTEl

One OF the principal methods adopted by
some Of the Indian tribes for slaughtering
great numbers of buffaloes at one time, was
known the surround" Among the tribes
which practiced this method were the Man
dams. Minatarees, Cheyennes. Arapahoes,
Sioux. Pawnees and Omahas. The usual
plan Of attack was as follows: In seeing
herd Of buffalo at distance Of perhaps a
mile, considerable body of hunters.
mounted on their buffalo horses" and
armed either with bows and arrows or long
iances. would divide themselves into two
bodies and taking opposite directions, and
seek to surround the unsuspectlng animals
which were marked for slaughter. BY the
time the great ring had been formed, and
often before. the buffaloes would get scent
Of their enemies, and would dash away at
top speed
But the Indians nearest the part of the
circle the affrighted animals were headed
for would close in, galloping, brandishing
their weapons. and shouting ms frightfu
a manner that the buffaoes would turn and
gallop in some other direction, only to be
turned again by another body Of the saw
ages a moment later Again and again,
they were turned in this manner, the gal
looping Indians meanwhile closing In on
them In an ever-narrowing circle. At last,
completely hemmed in, the poor brutes,
mad and panic-stricken, plunged about in
confused mass, hooking and climbing over
one another in their frenzy. And all the
while the Indians were riding around them,
shooting them down with arrows or spear
ing such as came within their reach. Often
the huge bulls, Infatuated with the pain of
their wounds, would charge upon the horse
men. and at times the hunt partook of the
character OF a bloody battle. But the In
dams were nimble beyond all description,
and. even the savage animals were upon
them. would slip from the backs of their
horses to the ground or even to the back
of a galloping buffalo, and thus escape what
appeared to be certain death
Dodge Nimbly to One Side.
If chased while on foot. as they often
were. they would snatch the part of a buff
falo robe which they wore about their
waists. fling 1t skilfully over the horns and
eyes of their furious pursuer, dodge ntmbly
to one side. and then. as their enemy
passed, drive an arrow or spear to it's vitals.
OF such a herd, not a single animal was al
lowed to escape, and, sometimes in the
space of fifteen MIMI ties, the entire band or
several hundred would be destroyed. And
the pity OF 1t was that SO great slaughter
was quite unnecessary, for probably much
more than half the flesh of these animals
was allowed to spoil
Some Of the tribes of the northwest, such
as the Blackfeet, Gros Ventres and ASSN
niboines, as well as the Plains Crees of the
south Saskatchewan country, had an equal
ly effective method of killing great numbers
of buffaloes. Their plan was to construct
a pen In partially wooded section of the
country much frequented by buffaloes, and
actually drive the animals Into It; feat
which It seems hardly possible for savages
to have accomplished.
Pen Was Circular.
In some cases the pen was circular, with
a diameter of perhaps 12o feet, One such
pen in use by the Plains Crees is described
by Prof H Y. Hind as being made of the
trunks of trees, laced together with green
withes, and braced on the outside by props.
The floor of this pen was considerably be-
low the level Of the surrounding plain. so
that although the buffaloes could easily
Jump down into the enclosure. IL was i'm
possible for them to jump out again. There
was a single entrance, across which was laid
the strong trunk of a tree, over which the
animals had to jump when they entered the
enclosure. This may have been placed
there to prevent the breaking in of the
ground about the opening under the weight
of so many heavy beasts, and the conse-
auent formation of a grade up which they
might have retreated. Leading from the
entrance were two diverging lines of dead
men'-rows of bushes set about fifty feet
apart and extending out into the prairie
for a distance of four miles. and at their
extremities taking in stretch Of country
two miles across. These, or course, were
arranged with view to guiding the buff
faloes into the pound
When the animals appeared in the vicinity
the hunters would urge them toward the
narrowing road marked out by the dead
men," Confederates. hidden all about in
hollows and small depressions, eagerly
watched the movements OF the fleeing herd,
and II 1t started to take any direction away
from the corral they would show them
Gov their rOhPa and
turn the buffaloes once more in the direc-
ton of the lines marked out. Once inside
these lines the affrighted animals were