Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-02-14
e~@s$2*t THE FIELD OF SPORT Ss5 Ss55S$$;S $ so'F
Canada Now the Home Of
Worlds Largest Bison Herd

The largest herd of buffalo in the
world is now owned by Canada
They form picturesque group as
they roam over the new national re-
serve set apart for them near Vain
wright, city that has sprung up 125
miles east of Edmonton, Alberta.
Canadians recognized the need of
action IL the bison were to be pre-
served. and before Americans realiz-
ed it they had purchased the entire
herd of 900 from Michael Pablo. of
Montana who had protected them on
his ranch near Ravalli.
History of the Herd.
Tho history of this herd, now the
largest in the warld, dates back to
1873. when Pend o'Reille Indian
captured four little bison calves-two
bulls and two heifers-by cutting them
out of a stampeded herd on the Flat
head reservation in Montana
The Indian in question gave them
to the Mission of st. Ignatius, where
they were kept as pets and became as
domesticated as ordinary cattle. When
the heifers were four years old each
had calf. From that time on they
gradually increased in number, until,
in 1884, there were thirteen head, and,
finding the care of them to great a
tax, the Mission decided to sell them.
Ten head were bought for $3.50 apiece
by Pablo. who was shrewd enough to
see that specimens of what was even
then almost an extinct animal would
eventually become very valuable.
Pablos Made a Fortune.
The herd increased under his sup
ervision, and in a few years it became
possible to sell specimens at high
prices. Some idea of the average rate
of increase may be deduced from the
observed fact that half the cows give
births to calves every year, while twin
calves are not uncommon. AS a rule
the bison calf is a very hardy creature.
| In 1906 Hon, Frank Oliver, then
| Cana lan minister of the interior, OBJ
/ tanned for the Dominion government
an option on the 500 head and they
| were bought for 100000. The round
up" lasted two months, and was car
ried out by seventy-five cowboys, and
was accomplished with a loss of less
than 1 per cent. Today the herd num-
bers 2,077.
| Range of 1O7 900 Acres.
Although kept within the boundar-
| les of the reserve the bison can hard
| ly said to be in confinement. Their
| stamping ground covers an area OF
| 100000 acres--165 square miles. I
is twenty-five miles in an air line the
longest way across. A wire fence eight
| feet high and seventy-three miles long
| incloses it.
| When the fence was completed II
was found that twelve wild deer and
one elk had been forced in. Eighteen
| small lakes and a number of streams
are within the park. Prairie chickens
ducks and other game find a resting
place here undisturbed by the hunter
The park is truly a buffalo paradise
| The grounds bear every evidence that
in other days they have been favor
| ite haunt Of the lords of the plains
Everywhere are outlines of old buffalo
ltrails and wallows.
| United States Now at Work.
Aroused by the loss of these buffalo
the United States has established ma
tional bison range in the F'latland In
dian reservation In Montana, compris
ling $500 acres, near the towns o
Ravall and Dixon, and it was stocked
by the American Bison Society.