Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-07-10
THE SLAUGHTER OF BIG GAME

THE SLAUGHTER OF BIG GAME.
The New York Sun recently pub
lished an interesting communication
from John Schuyler Crosby, regard
ing the slaughter of big game in this
country in the past, which has near
ly removed from their native haunts
the buffalo, antelope, elk and Rocky
mountain sheep or "Big-horn." Mr..
Crosby's article will be interesting
in this section, once the very heart
of the buffalo country
The editorial il last Sundays Sun
On Saving the Buffalo" is most
timely and valuable. l think it may
reach and induce many people to aid
the American Bison Society in it's
good work to save and increase the
Emall number of bison, now almost
wiped out by the indiscriminate
slaughter which has been going on
for the last forty years in the Wes-
tern States and Territories.
Owing to the limited amount of
firearms, powder and lead which
reached the Indians and a few pelt
hunters in Texas, Kapsas and east
ern Colorado and the Indian terri
tory, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana;
Idaho and Dakota Territory during
the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865,
the herds of buffaloes increased
greatly, and their number was esti-
mated in January, 1866, at over five
millions. In the late autumn these
great animals migrated in easy stag
es from the British possessions in
the north, feeding on the rich grass
es even as far south as Texas and
embracing in their grazing grounds
the country from the eastern water
shed of the Rocky Mountains on the
west to the Missouri and Republican
rivers on the east. The streams in
southeast at an average of twelve to-
eighteen miles apart, so that = the
buffalo was easily, in reach of water
in his travels north and south and
the trails of these immense Herds
were so deep and well defined that
It is only within the last few years
that they have become obliterated.
Hundreds Of thousands found nour-
ishing grasPes and shelter during the
winter months along the foothills
and valleys of the Arkansas, Red,
Canadian and Cimarron rivers and
their tributaries. In the spring af-
ter the SHOWS melted these immense
herds grazed northward again. Il
give an illustration of the number
Of buffalo seen on one day between
a. m. and p. M, during the In
dian campaign of 1868, and 1869 by
General Sheridan and his staff. The
general halted the command on the
top of divide near the Canadian
river. AS we all dismounted for a
short rest, General Sheridan called
out, "How many buffalo have we
seen today? Each penson hand to
FOrsythe his estimate" General
Custer and Buffalo Bill (the latter
was one Of our best and most re-
liable of earlier scouts) also made
an estimate. The number of buffalo
seen as estimated by our party of
ten officers, including General Sher-
idan and Scout Cody, Buffalo Oil,
was 243,000. These herds were con-
stantly on the move and several
times our pack trains had to be halt
ed to let them rush by. We had that
day and the day previous heavy Skin
misheFs with the Indians, which had
greatly disturbed the butfaloes and
kept them on the move about us.
Think of these hundreds of thous-
ands of buffaloes within view during
only one days march, and today I
do not believe there are in the Unit
ed States hundred buffaloes in their
natural state.
In 1883, when governor Of Mon-
tana, wrote to the governors of
Wyoming, Idaho, and Dakota, ask
ing them to meet me at Helena for
the purpose Of comforting as to the
best means for the preservation of
the large game of the northwest, at
that time fast disappearing; caused
BY the wanton slaughter by not on ly
pot hunters but so-ca1led "sports-
men" God forbid that SUCH a term
should be applied to these butchers,
who shot buffaloes, <elk, deer" ante
lope, big-horn sheep and mountain
SUdtS ny Iuo nuAAISVS dAu 1S1L luC
~carcassSs to rot or be eaten by wolves
and other animals.
i Soon after thess meeting of the
governors, stringent laws for the pro-
lection Of game were passed BY the
legislatures of the northwestern
states and territories, and in the
spring of 1883 I. called. the: 'atten-
tion of the secretary Of the interior
and the senate committee on terri
tories to the killing of large game
IN the Yellowstone Park, wnere in
one winter over 5000 elk had been
slaughtered for their hides and
horns. Afterwards, at my request, a
company of cavalry was stationed in
the park to protect the game and the
natural wonders.
Unless some immediate action is