Glacier County chief., 1940-09-13

DUH III LIMOS In 1884, the son OF
oped a fondness for animals. In 1866
he was in Doniphan county, Kansas
IN the nursery business, and as an
avocation he trained the animals ma
tive to the region. In 1871 he took his
family to western Kansas and began
his hunting career.
1T was the hide hunters, not the
soldiers, who conquered the Indians"
Jones declared. He was partly right.
The westward push of the railroads
made transportation available close to
the hunting grounds. Buffalo robes,
heretofore novelty back east, became
necessities for carriage robes, rugs and
overcoatS
Facilities for satisfying the pioneer
Americans greed for profit at the ex-
pense OF future conservation, with
transportation for easy commerce,
made the hide hunters business prof
liable. OF course, when the buffalo
was gone, the Indian was conquered.
It only remained for the troops to
fiPht the last sanguinary battles with
the die-hard bands.
Was Subject of Book
:, capt. Henry 1nman. in 1899, pub
lished book on Buffalo Jones 40
years of adventure. The book carries
tables of estimates of the number of
buffalo. year by year, from 1865 down
W 4ooS, WIltll oil AUTHORITIES COnceQeQ
the buffalo was doomed to extinction.
In 1865 it was estimated there were
10000 600 buffalo on the mid-plains
of the United States. The number
dropped below 100000 in 1875. Ten
years later there were only 10000, and
: by 1889 only $50 wild buffalo were left
and hunters took 100 OF them. The 20
or SO that were left were known to be
on the Texas Panhandle plains. A
few scattered animals were later found
here and there over the country, but
they succumbed to hunters. Only in
. the hills around Yellowstone park did
a small band Of score or Whereabouts
succeed in living, despite the efforts
OF poachers to destroy them, until aft
er the turn of the century.
In 1865 hunters and Indians killed
about 100000 more animals than
were produced. Commercial statistics
indicated 10000 of them fell to hide
hunters. The next year the number
killed was 100000. with hide hunters
taking 10000: again the increase was
absorbed and the total numbers re-
duced. The peak was in 1871 and 1872.
when the kill was 100000 and 4,OOO,-
600, respectively, with hide hunters
taking 100000 and 100000. In these
years again the figures are in addition
! 10 destruction of the natural increase
III the herds.
Wanton "Sportsmen" Helped
! BY 1870 the railroads were we'll across
Kansas, and the Union Pacific some
| years before had traversed Nebraska
I and Wyoming, providing transporta-
! ton close to the hunting grounds 1t
/ was the railroads which gave impetus
to the hide hunting industry Profess
sional hunters, homesteaderS seeking
a stake, and wanton SportSmen par
j ticipated in the slaughter.
/ Jones became one of the professional
! hunters at the height OF the kill. 1t
/ was no uncommon thing for two men
with a team to clear $50 to $50 a day
Larger outfits killed as many as $50
animals day. Buffalo hunters brand
ed their hides and left them in caches
on the prairie. and with them the law
Of the brand was as sacred as it ever
was on the cattle range Bull hides
were worth about $3.50 and COW hides
up to SIS. In cold weather when the
meat would keep, buffalo hams were
worth 3 cents pound for shipment 10
! eastern markets.
Jones made a small fortune in the
hide business. Then, when he saw the
buffalo on the road to extinction he
turned conservationist and began q
! heartbreaking fight to save the species
He recognized the fact that several
small herds were held in private own
ership. but their existence depended
upon private whims.
Buffalo Jones turned private buffalo