476 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 84 



Indians. After crossing Craig, Potts, and Peters ^fountains, the 

 party traveled northwest across Monroe and Greenbrier Counties to 

 the main branch of Gauley River and thence westward to the Great 

 Falls of the Kanawha River in Fayette County. Reference (Beveriey, 

 1705, p. 64) is made to the "infinite quantity" of bison and other game 

 encountered by this party while crossing flat plains and savannas. 

 There is traditional evidence according to Allen (1876, p. 86) "that 

 buffaloes formerly passed eastward from the headwaters of the Great 

 Kanawha River in West Virginia to the headwaters of the James 

 River in Virginia." 



In 1740, John Peter Salley was commissioned by the governor of 

 Virginia to travel as far westward as the Mississippi River. Accom- 

 panied by two white assistants, Salley (Darlington, 1893, pp. 251-254) 

 on March 16, 1742, set off from his home near Natural Bridge in Rock- 

 bridge County, Va., and traveled westward to the Greenbrier River, 

 where five bison were killed. The hides were used to cover the frame 

 of a boat, and the party continued on their journey. 



The next mention of bison is found in the journal of Christopher 

 Gist, who under instructions from the Ohio Company made an 

 examination of lands in West Virginia bordering the Ohio River 

 between the landing on the Monongahela River and the mouth of the 

 Great Kanawha River. Gist (Darlington, 1893, p. 73) killed two 

 bison on February 12, 1752, in Wirt County. On the return trip 

 Gist (Darlington, 1893, p. 76) killed four bison on February 27, 1752, 

 on the Lawwellaconin [=Pond Creekl in Wood County, W. Va. 



In 1765 an English expedition commanded by Col. George Croghan 

 was sent out to explore the Ohio River Valley and to conciliate the 

 Indians. Leaving Fort Pitt on May 15, 1765, this party descended 

 the Ohio River in two batteaux. Between the mouth of the Little 

 Kanawha River and Buffalo Bottoms on the Big Bend of the Ohio 

 River, Croghan writes in his journal (1831, p. 260) under the date 

 of May 21, 1765, that buffalo, bears, deer, and all sorts of wild game 

 were so plentiful that his party shot all they needed from the boats. 

 Although no mention is made of the incident in the journal, Hale 

 (1886, p. 62) states that Croghan encountered a vast migrating herd 

 of buffalo crossing the Ohio River at Letart, Mason County, W. Va. 

 In 1769, buffalo destroyed the crops of settlers on South Branch 

 [=Hackers Creek] in Harrison County (Withers, 1831, p. 93). 



During the years 1767 to 1769, settlers along the Buckhannon 

 River killed bison in Barbour County (Withers, 1831, pp. 91-93). 

 On October 5, 1770, George Washington found these animals in great 

 abundance 14 miles above the mouth of the Great Kanawha River 

 (Sparks, 1839, p. 112). The settlers killed seven bison on Elk Creek 

 in Harrison County on January 1, 1772 (McWhorter, 1915, p. 381). 

 Reference is made in the journal of the Rev. David Jones (1865, pp. 



