The Coconino sun., 1924-02-01

in what is called "House Rock valley"
between Lees Ferry on the Colorado
and the upper end of the Grand Can
yon of the Colorado river. This herd
was raised in Texas by Buffalo Jones,
driven from there and located on their
present range some IL years ago.
This House Rock valley is some sew
enty-five miles from the nearest town
or settlement, and cattle ranches,
sheep ranches or other human hab-
itations are very few for many miles
around. House Rock valley, as it is
called, is a plateau-like strip about
forty miles IN length and about .fiif-
teen miles in width at the southern
end and runs to point at the north.
ern end at Lees Ferry and lies par
allel with the Colorado river between
the upper rim of Grand Canyon and
the bottom gorge, or box canyon,
through which the river now flows.
This place is so effectively enclosed;
by natural barriers that no fencing
or other aFtificial restraint has BEEN
necessary to keep the herd confined
to the above described area since first
they were located there twelve years
ago.
"This herd of buffalo are receiving
no care or attention from their pres
ent owner, nor are they yielding him
any revenue, and as he is getting
along in years and is by no means
able-bodied, ] have been looking
about for a way to secure the herd
and keep it where it is as a public
asset or attraction, lest it fall into
other hands and be removed or other
wise dissipated. j have sounded our
congressman on the matter of fed
eral appropriation for their purchase
and am Informed that congress is ex-
tremely illiberal at present. The state
of Arizona is in somewhat the same
mood. I am now trying to get insI
touch with one of oI1r copper mag
nates-a nom resident-who has mil-.l
lion or so invested in polo grounds |
and race horses, but who never has
indulged in the more strenuous of
out door sports. I do not know as yet
what may be the result Of my efforts
in the last direction, but am not at
all hopeful of success. And so | am
writing your society to see what aid |
YOU can give me or what suggestions
YOU may be able to offer that might |
hefu to bring about the desired end. 4
II think that a federal reserve or |
park covering the buffalo range
could be had for the asking, if the |
herd was publicly owned.
MIR. Seymour's letter in reply to the
above follows, In part:
81 have somewhere here IN the Of
flee all Buffalo Jones papers about |
the establishment of that herd, and
Buffalo Jones was good deal OF a 1
friend of mine.
"We have a meeting of the Ameri- |
can Bison society on the 22nd inst.
and / will read your letter with a /
great deal of pleasure. IF you can,
will YOU get to me before that date
a map of that region (drawn by hand /
will be sufficiently so we can locatei
it. and the name of the owner of the
herd, and if you have any price on It |
let me know what it is, even though
it may only be approximate.
ssAs you say, the federal govern
ment hasn't any money to put into
thing of this kind and it must be done
by private subscription, and the fact
that Canada sold off 1000 of their
surplus bulls brought great many
letters to use and a good many news
paper articles that the buffalo were
saved, etc.
sThe fact of it is that when / be-
came president of the Bison society, |
we set out to establish 10 nucleus
herds under government control, and
nine have been established. /, perl
would be ticlled to death if |
we could fix up the Buffalo Jones
herd, and appreciate very much your
writing to US, and we will gladly CO.
operate with you in anything we can
do and give you every credit for your
cart as it comes from you and you
are the original inspiration, and it isl
inspiring because many of
the western states have not, until per-
haps lately, responded to our efforts
to preserve the buffalo. Just now We
are doing all we can to preserve the
antelope"