Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-11-22

a lions name. Their horns are very short
and thick, and can scarcely be seen
through it's hair. They always change
their hair in May, and at his season
they really resemble lions. To make it
drop more quickly, for they change 1t
as adders do their skin, they roll among
the brushwood which they find in the
ravines. Their tail is very short, and
terminates in a great tuft. When they
run, they carry 1t in the air, like a
scorpion. When quite young they are
tawny, n resemble our calves; but as
age increases they change color and
form. Another thing that struck us was
that all the old buffaloes had the left
ear cloven, while 1t was entire In the
young; we could never discover the rea-
son for this.
Their wool Is SO fine that handsome
clothes YOU certainly be made of 1t,
but 1T cannot be dyed, for 1t is tawny-
red. We were much surprised at some
times meeting innumerable herds of cows
without bulls"
De Soto Saw None
De Soto does not speak of seeing n
buffalo in the country through which he
passed. although 1t is known they were
there later. The Spaniard quoted above
was a close observer. Could he have
seen the buffalo at all seasons, the large
IltIOS u CCWS WltilOut uullS WOulu nave
been understood. The mating season
was in August n September, after
which the bulls and COWS ran in separate
herds.
Buffalo were not seen by Europeans
near Washington, ID. c., until in 1912
an Englishman. Samuel Argoll, ran
across them n noted the use made of
them by the Indians. He writes. March
ing into the Countrie. I Dun great
ctAra 80 oat<ln nr hir n- K{~ ~ xvh a.
the Indians that were my guides killed
a couple, which we found to be very
good and wholesome meate, and are very
easie to be killed, in regard they are
heavy, slow, and not SO wild as other
wild beasts of the wilderness"
II buffalo were in the neighborhood
of Washington in the seventeenth cen
fury, they must have been killed off or
migrated not long afterward, as in the
next century I have found no mention
Of them unless 1T be those Col. William
Byrd said he found in Halifax county,
Virginia. He praised the meat, finding
1t an agreeable change from a constant
diet OF venison. For, states he. I'VE lived
upon Venison and Bear until our stom-
achs loathed them almost as much as
the Hebrews of old did their quails."
AT time. 1T Is affirmed. buffalo
were more numerous in Virginia than
49, AkAJ OAAA&A tAGAA obhk al III P1Ob4
bility. although they roamed over the
Carolinas, n possibly were In Alabama,
but 1t Is not easy to imagine them there.
Their presence in Texas and northern
Mexico has been noted. They also in
habited New Mexico, and part-not all
of Utah, and throughout Idaho.
Some in Oregon
Some are known to have been in east
ern Oregon Their trail led through
Tannpgqap tho h1ne ORC &C fio1dc ~ RQn.l
lucky, and into Ohio, Indiana and I'LL
nois. Hornaday claims there were none
in Michigan. Their favorite range, how
ever, was between the Great Slave lake,
and the Missouri river.
1t is possible buffalo were in western New
York, and in the eastern part of the
United States. The south shore of Lake
Erie is supposed to have been the limit
of their northern range.
From this eastern pasture. they, like
the Indians, were steadily driven west
ward, II they survived, to join the others
which were already there. Father Hen
nepin speaks OF seeing them in his jour-
neyings.
The Indians, unable to account for the
apparently undiminished numbers of the
buffalo In any natural manner. dismissed
the whole subject with the assertion
that they came out Of the ground, some
JnlIR like iOCuSLS OF RraSbuOpptIb, dllu
for this reason, they could not be de-
stroyed. Yet III a little over o III years
served to destroy the southern herd.
II true, as asserted, that there were
probably more buffalo han of any
other quadruped On EARTH" 1t was ex-
ceedingly fortunate, as 1t is doubtful II
any other q%uadruped served such a va
riety of purposes. 1t furnished food and
part of the clothing OF the Indians;
provided the covering Of their tepees:
served in lieu of blankets; made the
parfleches In which various articles were
stored, and the shields to ward off the
arrows of the enemy. In addition to
this, they blazed the way mankind OF
sundry hue was to follow.
1t has been many years since uncon-
fined buffalo trod the soil Of Montana,
yet evidences OF their existence here in
former days remain. Grooved deep into
the ground are ruts worn by their feet
as they went single file to water. Pos
sibly, their bleached and rotting skulls
are still found, and depressions in the
earth mark the site of their wallows.
Different Varieties
There were different varieties Of buff
falo in the old days, and Hornaday states
there would have been more, had they