The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1941-04-17
Tons Of
Bring
Good Money
Buffalo Skeletons Piled
Many Feet Deep; Driven
Over Cliffs by Indians.
MONTANA WOMAN
TELLS OF PROJECT

When the aboriginal Indians OF
eastern Montana drove herds OF
buffaloes over precipices as means
CT obtaining meat and hides for the
braves, their squaWs and papoo5es.
little did they think that several
hundred years later their pale
face successors would be deriving
a neat sum of money from the early
day work of the Indian. It's far
cry from that Sdistant day to the
present. In that day The Indians
had little, if any, use for the bones
of the Slaughtered buffaloes. Today
there is a good market for the
bones of those vanished animals
and they are providing a profitable
business for the white men and In
dians of today.
Mrs. Ben Larson of Browning
was in Libby the first of the week
on a fur buying trip. While here
she visited with W. J. Darlington,
deputy game warden. In former
years Mr.. Larson did the buying Of
the furs, and when asked by Mr..
Darlington why Mr.. Larson was not
on the job, Mrs. Larson replied
that he was too busy digging buff
falo bones to give the time to the
fur buying trip. And that is how
this story came to the attention OF
this newspaper
Mrs. Larson said her husband is
excavating huge piles OF bones on
Badger and Cutbank creeks in east
ern Montana. A bull dozer is used
to clear off the overburden, and it
| is generally necessary to dig down
from six to eight feet to reach the
bones. 1t is therefore estimated
that the top layer OF bones has laid
there from 200 to 800 years. Lower
strata of bones are also being
reached which would indicate that
hundreds OF years have passed since
the Indians drove the first herd q
| the shaggy animals over the prects
pice to meet death in = mad scran,
BILE Of piled up animals at the foot
i OF the rocks.
The bones bring $40 ton, stated
Mrs. Larson, +. 0. b. Browning.
They are recovering about Il tons
a day. Indians are paid to help
gather the bones. Mrs. Larson also
said the bones of the average buff
falo will weigh about 40 lbs. Do a
little figuring. Twenty-one tons OF
bones day therefore means that
the remains of 1850 buffaloes are
being excavated daily. When it is
realized that these bones lie there
several feet deep and in numerous
strata, some light realization is haC
of the countless numbers of buff
faloes that met death over those
precipices.
The Indians extract the teeth
from the buffalo skulls and dis.
pose of them to curio dealers anc
to tourists. Mrs. Larson had mum.
Der of them with her. They were ir
remarkable state of preservation
Regardless OF the fact that they hac
laid covered up for hundreds O.
years, large numbers of the teeth
show practically no sign Of decay
, The covering preserves the teetf
and bones and they are in much
better state Of preservation thar
are bones that have laid open tt
, the sun and air.
MIS-. dASOI WdS SuCCcoSlQl IL
buying quite a large number o
skins from trappers in this district
, Elmer Phillips brought in Is beave
skins from his fish hatchery in tn,
Yak district and received $500 TO
them. All beaver skins, to be legal
ly caught, must be taken under
permit
Mr.. Darlington had requestet
Mrs. Larson to bring him two buf
falo skulls. This she did at thi
time. Mr.. Darlington in turn pre-
scented them to A. A. Wood, for hi
e collection of early Montana memon
9 toes. 1t is said the skulls are per
E feet specimens.