The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-03-04

-E -"---s ~ AO0 A1OObgOOO UstOAg6VN
Bones, lbs. Bones, lbs. Total
1872 .--.....--- 1,135,300 2,270,6 600 3,4O5, 900
1873 ...-.-..-. 2,743,10 G 5,4S6, 200 S.229,3O0
1914 -----.-.. 6,914,95O 13,S29,900 20.744,S5O
Total .~~..-~1O, 1913, $50 21,5S6. 700 80, 38O.050
Despite the fact that these figures are
staggering, they represent but a part OF
the traffic, for in the same years, shipments
IN vast quantity were transported down
the Missouri river and by other modes OF
carriage.
It will never be known just how manv
buffalo were slaughtered to make way fOe
the white mans civilization, nor how much
proht was derived from the traffic in hides
and by-prOducts. The traffic represented
the greatest industry the west ever knew.
or, perhaps Will ever again witness.
The Robe Trade
The trading posts made enormous profits
Dartering for buffalo hides. There were
scores OF these throughout the northwest.
many of them located in Montana. Among
the more important Of these traders to on7
crate in Montana and across the line in
canada in the later days, were Joe kim
ana James Healey, who operated at Fort
benton. OCher posts were located in the
Judith Basin country and along the course
or the Missouri. For a Mound or two az
cheap grade of brown sugar or an eduiva-
rent OF cheap coffee, or perhaps n small
mask Of diluted trade whiskey, these trad
ers could bay a buffalo robe worth from
hVe TO ten dollars at the Missouri river
markets. The finest tanned cow hides
3@1AA AOA kN4LG LndL dLAOuUE
OF brown sugar or coffee. Some of these
were painted in aboriginal style. with the
many hieroglyphics of the redman. Eastern
tourists would pay from $50 to 800 for q
fine painted robe. These cost the traders
perhaps, 30 cents.
As early as 1868 the trade in buffalo.
robes with the Indians was enormous, hum
lredS OF thousands of the animals being
killed annually, and the hides became q
staple article of commerce. Every plains
man had one or more robes, and thousands
were made into overcoats. Every freighter
and mule or OK skinner had buffalo over
shoes, made with the hair inside.
1oAonei sam Gordon, a pioneer editor OF
Miles City, was in Montana before the
Dig determination commenced. He stated
tnat IN eastern Montana, the Yellowstone
valley in particular, was a place of wEOle-
sale slaughter, after the coming Of the
A number of parties operating in the in
teresa OF st. Louis fur concerns, h~eadquar-
tered at Miles City. They would equip
hunters with an outfit. These hunters
would build blinds on the prairies and in,
the valleys where the buffalo fed. From
TINS point of vantage. they would shoot ala
aay. Ihey were, OF course, good shots,
and it was not unusual for an experienced
hunter to bag 100 buffalo in a DAYS shoot
ing according to Col. Gordon.
The hunter would not even skin the AMI
mails, Indians following him performing
this service. The green hides would be
wrapped in bundles, and in a few days
wagons would come along and pick these
up anu Jdke IUem TO Miles City. Colonel
GORDON estimate is that one seasons ship
ment from Miles City was 5000 robes.
Tanning and Dressing
Inc secret OF tanning and dressing the
the white man, says Colonel Gordon. who
gives the following account of the com
mercial failure incident to the wholesale.
slaughter of the bison:
a concern in Michigan had exDerimput-
ed with buffalo hide tanning and had sue
ceeued IN producing a robe thaG was fairly
pIlable: Buffalo coats and robes were in
demand. An average Indian-tannpd robe
was worth in the states from $40 to SI5.
Agents were sent out to the frontier to-
employ good shots to kill buffalo. and. as
a starter they were. paid 81 a hide on the
prairie. The only limit to the kill in the
beginning of the slaughter was the re-
%sistance offered by the b~uffalo's thick hide
ana heavy skull. The heaviest caliber
rlnes then. to be had were quite often
round inadequate to the task of dealing
certain death, but inventive genius came
70 the rescue and perfected an extra heavy
Sharpas rife, against which natures armor
was powerless to protect, and the doom OF
the bison was signed and sealed.
by this time the business had become
ys1ematlzed and the labors of the chase
divided, so that the frst-class hunter carr
rled a haIf-doZen SINNERS in mis- outfit
ana established a permanent canlD some
Wnere IN the vicinity of the ranging buffalo
1.-The hunter was, nine times out Of ten.
an mpFOVldent, unreliable 'cuss' whose
only recommendation was his ability to
SnOOC. Such men never had q cent to e0uin
themselves with, but found no difficulty in
getting 'staked' to a team, wagon and har-
ness, gun and ammunition, camp outfit and
gIUIo Tor the party, an investment of from
9o0O 70 $1,000, in addition to which the
principal agreed to pay the hunter the
going price for the hides. piled where
killed, to be gathered by him in the spring.
ana, as an additional evidence of the lun-
acy. which afflicted otherwise intelligent
business men at this time they did nor
hesitate to make cash advances during the
WlnJer on this suppOsitiOus killing.
In the spring it was generaliv found
mat the killing had been largely over
stated; that the hides had been poorly
naauIed ana LETT to rot in pools Of snow
ana water and those that were recovered
ana brought IN, when. shipped to eastern
tannefSs were in such bad condition that
Iney rarely paid the freight from Miles
lily iva leaving the bulk Of the
bexperience. y
1.-THE winter of 1s8O-s1 was the record
breaker in buhado killing, owing, no doubt.
70 the very deep SHOWS of that winter
making il impossible for the herds to move.
L. was estimated that 100000 were killed
IN custer county, Montana, alone"
Passing Of the Bison
Today the bison lives; but, no longer is
ne monarch Of the wilderness. The wilder
ness has passed, and with its passing have
vanished the vast herds which, through
strength Of numbers and instructive sagac-
lLy, dened the hungry wolves and the ferO-
cious slyer-ttps. In numbers that can be
totalled in sthe hundreds. the remand az
this once proud horde, roam the limited.
strongly fenced private and national pas-
lures, the greatest Of the National reserves
being located in the southwestern mart Of
the Flathead Indian reservation, not far
from the town OF RavaIli.
Over on this Jocko reservation, the herd
on the National Bison reserve roams a
country Of romance, rich beyond measure
10 historic lore. For, his ~neighbOrs. the
Selfish tribesmen, who in his animal heart
ne most loves and respects, have awelt in
that vicinity since the harsh hand 0f the
white mans civilization ruthIessly and de-.