Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-05-10

roads did an enormous business carry
| ing trainloads of buffalo hides anc
| bones, which for a period formed the
principal commercial product Of the
plains. Many settlers, beset by croI
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. It is in every respect a peculiar
animal, unlike any other. A charac-
teristic Of the buffalo is that 1t 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
Kansas towns, as early as 1857 and
for some years following we're 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 we're 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
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
propagates a new species that
continues its kind.
The sale of buffalo hides reached
vast proportions in the seventies. In
st. Louis one firm bought 250,000 skins
n 1871. There were many trading posts
dealing in these and smaller peltrieS.
In Cheyenne in 1872 there was a shed
1t the Union Pacific tracks that meas
lred ITS by so feet and 30 feet high
hat was literally so packed with buff
,alo hides that the walls bulged. Fort
Benton, Mont, sent 10000 buffalo
hides to market in 1876.
Two Great Herds
Toward the end of the sixties the
buffalo had divided into two great
lerds-the southern herd and the
northern. The great southern herd was
he first to go, being practically eX-
,inct at the close of 1872. After that
late only few struggling herds re-
NAMED. The northern herd became ex-
-inct in the early eighties. The greatest
slaughter of the animals took place in
1879, 1873 and 1874, when the number
slain ran into the millions.
Hundreds of the most famous hunt
erS of this country and Europe visited
,he plains in the early seventies to take
4 farewell hunt before the bison dis
The Grand Duke Alexis,
son of Emperor Alexander of
Russia, with numerous retinue, came
With party from st. Petersburg and
vent on a tour through Buffalo
Land" in the winter of 1871-72 After
1 grand chase on the western plains
n Wyoming under the guidance of
Buffalo Bill and Generals Sheridan
and Custer, they realized that the buff
,alo as wild species was doomed.
The most conspicuous person en-
jagged in killing bison was Col. William
?. Cody, whose Sobriquet, Buffalo
Bill" has been a household word for
more than half a century. In 1867
when the Kansas Pacific was being
quilt across the plains to Denver, Cody,
hen young man, was employed at
800 a month to keep the army Of
Vorkmen supplied with meat He was
engaged in this work for 18 months
Turing which time he killed on an
average Of eight buffalo day. After
800 few buffalo were seen from the
stage lines near enough to permit the
shooting them, although
thousands could often be seen in plain
light out Of range The buffalo soon
became shy and kept away from the
travelled road. The last buffalo killed
east of the Mississippi river was shot
n 1882.
Made Huge Profits
The trading posts, and especially
hose along the Platte river, made
enormous profits bartering for buffalo
hides. There were more than a dozen
If these within a distance Of 200 miles
between Fort Kearney and Julesburg,
md about half as many between Jules