Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-07-25

/ plains to enter this new and novel
industry" and so countless were the
hides which were thrown upon the
market that the price dwindled from
/ 81 and IS each to as low as 81. 1t
was found that buffalo leather, while
unfit for making shoes or harness
I equipment, made excellent betting for
machinery, and the demand soon be-
came enormous.
At one time 10000 buffalo hides
were stacked in a corral at Dodge
City, Kan, awaiting shipment. The
hide hunters took only the skin, leav-
ing the carcass to rot, while thousands
OF men-be it said to their disgrace
slaughtered buffalo for the mere wan
ton pleasure Of killing.
Statistics gathered by Mai. Henry
Inman show that from 1858 to 1881,
a period of Is years, there was paid
out in Kansas alone, $2,500,000 for
buffalo bones, gathered on the prairies
to be utilized by the various carbon
works Of the country. It required
about 100 carcasses to make one ton
Of bones, the average price paid being
about SO a ton, and the sum men
toned represents the skeletons Of over
81 100000 buffalo And this is from
but one state. while ages of geologi-
cal history were required to bring
about the decline and disappearance
Of species that once flourished here.
the avarice, greed and wanton cruelty
of the sportsmen have exterminated
the buffalo In the space Of single
generation" states one authority.
One night early In the sixties, Gen.
Phil Sheridan and Major Inman were
occupying the office of Robert M.
Wright, a prominent business man Of
Dodge City. They had Just made a
trip from Camp Supply, and Wright
was called into the office to consult
with the officers as to the probable
number of buffalo between Dodge City
and Camp Supply. Taking a strip so
miles east and so miles west. they had
first made an estimate of 10000. 900.
General Sheridan said: THAT won't
do" They figured a while longer and
finally made it one billion. Finally
they reached the conclusion that
there must be 100000 900. but said they
were afraid to give out those figures
lest they be accused Of prevaricating.
But they stated that they believed 1t,
nevertheless. This immense herd
moved slowly toward the north when
spring opened, and steadily back to
the south when the days began to
grow short and winter set in.
Railroad Divided Herd
The completion Of the western rail-
road divided the buffalo into two i'm
menSe herds-the northern and the
southern. The southern herd in 1871
was estimated at 100000, and was
being diminished at the rate Of 5000 |
to 1000 a day Robert Wright and |
Charles Rath Of Dodge City shipped |
over 100000 buffalo hides the first |
winter the A. T. g. S. F. railroad |
reached Dodge, and they estimated
that other parties shipped as many
more. Besides these hides there were |
200 cars Of hind quarters and two cars
Of tongues alone shipped.
Wright further states that the buf- /
falo were so plentiful around Dodge /
City that he used to shoot them from /
the walls Of his corral and let the
hogs feed upon the carcasses, and,
that time and again, when putting up |
hay, 1t was necessary to have men
out day and night TO prevent the i'm !
mense buffalo herds from mixing /
around and stampeding the work
cattle.
From 1872 to 1874 it is estimated
that there were 1,780, 46l buffalo killed
and wasted, the meat being left to rot