ECONOMIC BIOLOGY 379 



growing in its mossy bed and the dead and dreary thing they hold in their 

 hands. Teach them to love and preserve the beaut\' that gladdens their eyes 

 and rests their souls in the fields and woods about them. 



■>>> << <• 



THE CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE * 



SETH GORDON 



WILDLIFE AND THE PIONEERS 



When the first white settlers reached our shores, the Indian was the only 

 human inhabitant, and wildlife abounded ever^^where. The "balance of 

 nature" still prevailed, because the Indians took only what they needed 

 for food, shelter and clothing. No waste characterized their use of game, 

 and traffic in the creatures of the wild was unknown. The original colonists, 

 coming from lands where the enjoyment of the chase was restricted to the 

 ruling classes, found here a hunter's paradise. Wildlife, like the forest, was 

 considered inexhaustible and free to all for the taking. Furthermore, game 

 was all important as a source of food, and clothing. It soon became an 

 article of commerce, and that was the beginning of the end for many 

 species. 



The fur traders Mere the real trail blazers. The settlers followed in 

 their wake. The earlv history of both the United States and Canada was 

 influenced more by our wildlife resources, and the battles which were 

 fought over them, than by desire to possess the land. The mistreatment 

 of two young pioneer French fur traders who penetrated the Great Lakes 

 region in 1658 is credited with having been largely responsible for Canada 

 becoming an English instead of a French possession. 



With the opening of the west, and the development of agriculture, the 

 extermination of the buffalo became inevitable. Its valuable coat alone 

 did not bring about its destruction. In some regions, the United States 

 Army aided in its extermination in order to more easily whip the roving 

 bands of Indians into submission by removing their main source of food. 

 The advancement of agriculture, and the wasting of our forests, did more 

 to destroy our wildlife than did the firearms of the pioneer settlers or the 

 sportsmen. This is especially true of our waterfowl, today a pitiful rem- 

 nant of the former millions which s\\armed the sky in migration. 



THE MARKET HUNTER 



Commercial exploitation of wildlife resources was by no means con- 

 fined to fur-bearing animals. The last of our former myriads of passenger 



• Reprinted from American Conservation in Picture and Story, compiled and edited 

 by Ovid Butler, copyright 1935 by The American Forestr)' Association. 



