Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-05-09
20 Million Buffalo Once Provided Good Living for American
Indians; Slaughter Starts and Plains Were White With Bones


Of the buffalo Of the American
plains, which roamed the pgairies
In countless millions . century ago
and became practically extinct
within a few decades after the kill
ing Of the animals for their hides
became a commercial industry. II
b believed that no other great ami
NAL family was ever wiped out 20
rapidly.
The American bison was found by
the first colonLsts Of the Carolinas,
and other of the southern and middle
states. from which parts Of the con-
tinent they were soon frightened away
or eXterminated. In the latter part Of
the 18th century they we're seen in
wild state in Kentucky. Early in the
18th century most of these animals in
the region east of the Mississippi were
exterminated or had found their way
to the prairies west of the great river.
The earliest account Of buffalo given
by white men is that of Coronado, who
saw great herds of them on his march
northward from Mexico in 1885. be-
tween the Missouri river and the
Rocky mountains. One of the earliest
buffalo hunts on a big scale was that
described by NJ. Nicollet in the late
thirtieS, which took place near Fort
Pierre, in South Dakota. Horace Greely.
in his journey across the continent by
stage in 1859, encountered herds esti-
mated to number millions in western
Kansas.
20.0OO,0O0 Buffalo
The number of buffalo in the west
In the early fifties was estimated
roughly at from 100000 to 10000 600.
They ranged from Mexico north to the
Arctic circle as far as the Great Slave
lake, but their natural home was on
the plains between the Missouri river
and the Rocky mountains, and not
In ~ !. l. l.
Outside the limits of their real habi-
tat the few small herds that existed
were Stragglers. Daniel Boone once
found n herd in Kentucky that num-
bered 1000, but that was o large one
for that territory.
For years a goodly portion of the
meat consumed by early settlers in the
middle west and west was cut from
the carcass OF the shaggy animal which
so long existed as monarch of the
plains. Thousands Of people who
crossed the plains in wagon trains
drew their supply Of meat from the
same source. Buffalo trails were fol-
lowed westward because it was known
that they would lead to water. Buffalo
chips even furnished fuel to the
plainSmen. The hides furnished many
white men with garments and mecca
sins, as well as bedding.
Supplied Meat to Workers
The building of the first railroad
TO the Pacific was made possible at
so early a date because the buffalo
existed. From the mighty herds the
army of railroad builders drew their
daily supplies of fresh meat, and thou
sands Of the animals were slaughtered
for food annually while the work of
laying rails was pushed forward. For
a few years in the seventies, the rail-
roads did an enormous business carry
ing trainloads of buffalo hides and
bones, which for period formed the
plains. Many settlers. beset by crop
failures. gathered bones and sold them
to make a living.
The buffalo in color is brown, but
the shade varies as the seasons adj
vance. 1t is in every respect a peculiar
animal unlike any other. A charac-
teristic of the buffalo is that it never
trotS, but either walks or gallops, and
it usually travels against the wind. It's
sense of scent is so keen that it can
smell a foe two miles away to the
windward.
The best meat obtainable in the
early day frontier towns was buffalo.
The markets of such places as Atchi-
son. Topeka, Leavenworth and other
for some years following were often
supplied with buffalo meat. The hump
upon the shoulders was an especially
choice morSel, as was also the tongue
Rich, juicy steaks and roaStS of the
buffalo were uneXcelled by any other
meat. Thousands of tongues were dried
and shipped east to the Boston and
New York markets, where they were in
great demand and brought fancy
prices.
Enormously Powerful Animal
The American bison differs material
ly from the buffalo of the old world.
At first view his red, fiery eyes,
shaggy name and long beard, the long,
lustrous hair on his shoulders and fore
quarters and the comparative naked
ness of his hind quarters suggest a
strong likeness to the lion. The buffalo
carries his head low and is enormously
powerful in neck and shoulders.
The most prominent distinguishing
trait of the American bison from the
European buffalo is the fact that the
COW refuses to breed with the European
buffalo and such is the aversion be-
tween these creatures that they always
keep separate. even if bred in the same
pasture and raised together. The |
American bison. however breeds freely
with the domestic cattle and in this
manner propagateS a new species that |
continues its kind.
The sale of buffalo hides reached |
vast proportions in the seventies. In !