Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-09-13
EARLY DAYS ON The
PLAINS OF The west
Thousands Of Eufaloes in q
Single Herd Was No
Uncommon Sight.
BUNCH OF OVER 100000
Indians Held a Superstitio-s ee,iss
That the Elton Issued from the
Earth in a Never Ending
Coiumr.

Since tie 3eaisniag of the now W!Ie-
spread movement 10 preserve the buff
ialo, and particularly since The organs
iZation of the American Bison society.
ii is interesting To consider the DIS
covery OF The animal It's life history
and methods of It's determination. says
Ernest Harold l3ayne.p IN the oston
Herald.
Although authorities differ on this
subject. the buifa.o Was probably first
seen by white men in AaEatGae. the
/ Aztec capital OF Mexico. in l52l. Wnen
CorteZ and mis- men lsid their ;irst
| visit to the llenagerie of King Mo!te-
| yuma. Nine years LATER the animal vas
! first seen in y wild stats in southern
Texas by Il shir-wrecked Spanish sailor
who had very little To say about it
beyond remarking that ne mad eaten
the flesh. which in his Judgment was
finer and sweeter than the meat to la
had in Spain.
The next explorer To penetrate the
buffalo country was coronado, VINO
crossed Arizona and New Mexico and
the southern part OF the Panhandle OF
Texas. In l54a the expedition was
crossing the plains. which We're de-
$, as being AS full of crooked
backed oxen as the mountain Serena IN
Spain of sheep 1t is from some OF
C~oronado's men that the first published
descriptions of buffalo are given.
In Countless. Hoi1es.
How many butfaloes there were at
this time no one knows. and probably
no one ever will know. but there must
have been many. many millions. me
buffalo's range extended over about
one-third of the entire continent OF
North America. from he ahospitable
shores of the Great Silver lake on the
north to the scorching plains of north
western Mexico on The south. and from
n line following closely but never toucn-
ing the Atlantic coast on Fhe east, and
across the Rocky mountains into New
Mexico, Utah and Idaho in the west.
These boundaries. of coarse. marked
the limits of his range; it's center of
abundance WAS the great plains region
of the west, where at certain times.
notably in the breeding season, the ami
mails gathered in countless thousands.
darkening the earth AS far as the eye
could reach when at rest. and when in
motion filling the air With dust ana
with the thunder notes Of their gallop-
ing hoofs. Even as late as 1871 this
animal was present in this country in
%ulnbers almost beyond belief
a faint idea OF the vast hordes which
/, made the prairies tre,nble beneath their
tread at that time may be had from an
account given by Colonel X. L. Dodge in
2 his "Platns of the Great West"
, In May. 1871. he says, II drove in n
light Wagon from old Fort cara TO Fort
. Larned on he Arkansas, thirty-four
miles. At least twenty-five miles of this
n distance was through an immense herd
|, composed of countless smaller herds of
/ buffalo then on their journey north.
The road ran along the broad, level
q bottom, or valley of the river.
k The whole country appeared one
i great mass of buffalo. moving slowly
q to the ~northward: and 1t was only
d when actually among them that it could
q be ascertained that the apparently solid
: mass was an experimentation of innum-
It cradle small herds of from fifty to 20r
o animals, separated from the surround
d ing herds by greater or less space. but
still separated"
d More Than 10000
l. 1t is conservativeiy estimated that
is Colonel Dodge saw at least 500, 900 buf.
faloes. and these were but a Fraction
Ks Of a great herd of at least 1000. 900. al
Is army greater in number than all thu
er men, women and children of Create,
l. New York put together. h Indians
I'd of some of the tribes used to think tina
the b%uffaloes issued from the earth II
y an unfai!tng stream. and, indeed. l
OF might readily seem difficult to accoun
IS. for such numbers In any other way
a, Is 1t any wonder that many men be
Id lieved that 1t was quite impossible t
is exterminate the bison? Yet in the shor
"a space of a dozen years from the dat
v on which Colonel Dodge passed through
In the herd of 1900. 900 the buffalo ha'
Nv ceased to exist as a wild animal In TIM
country. .
70 This buffalo was gregarious in it
80 habits and at certain seasons the herd
We're larger and more compact than n
others. Especially was this true of tn
breeding season. which am chiefly i
IA July and August. Then vast horde
gathered on the plains. which were tn
M scenes of the greatest activity for sev
~. eral weeks. during which the roarfn
or of the bulls was continuous and coul
"a. be heard for miles. There was ais
XXI, a%as much fighting among the bulls. Ate
- the breeding season the herds becain
"a less densely massed. The compac
0 herds dissolved into groups of fror
To twenty to a hundred or two and tn
~ usual peaceful life was resumed.
~ How They Travelled.
Of There is no doubt that buffaloes wer
Use migratory, but their misrations wer
liz probably not nearly so extensive n
ne many people have supposed. In the
SITS ordinary wandering buffaloes frequent
IRE ~ Travelled for away from water. bt
les as they became thirsty the herd woul
I'm start to search for some spring or wa
re- ter course. The principal trails usua'
ch ly extended north and south and cor
ng nected the rivers which. in the mai
re- run east n west. Such trails ais
,r- led to the great salt lick such as tt
IT. Big Bone lick in Kentucky. which wa
f%requented by buffaloes in vast nun
ca. bers up to the beginning of the la:
to century. when, OF course. the amin;
in disappeared forever from the coCntf
pi- east of the Mississippi.
"a Considering the great weight of tf
n animal. the gallop of a buffalo is
as. very easy. elastic movement. In II
wild state the buffalo was n very SURE
oiv footed animal and a rood climber
not only assembled steep mountain
a. along narrow lodges. where ii wou'
sns have beer impossible for a horse
even a mule to have followed. but w;
able to leap downward in places whe,
II. there was a sheer descent of seve-
feet and alight in safety in the rocl
below.
The buffaloes now in Corbin Pa
~. New Hampshire. where I ave be,
em- studying them for the last two year
do not seem to have lost any of th
old time agility. as they seem to d.
light in journeying up steep ascep
as to some of the highest points OF Gro.
~. don mountain. and 1 have seen the
,ats !eaping nlmblv down from points TO
feet above the ground. where they ha'
landed safely.
ood The population of Bombay is with
eTs 0ss than 10000 at the million mark.