BERS 



Prongbuck 219 



the party was actually struck by an Antelope. Some of the 

 camp utensils were, as I remember the accompanying clatter, 

 and a rifle that had been leaning against the wagon was knocked 

 over and the stock broken. The entire affair was over in a 

 very few seconds, of course. None of us recovered from our 

 astonishment until the Antelope were far away." 



The accompanying map (p. 213) shows a surprisingly num- 

 slight shrinkage in the range of the species — a shrinkage 

 which, unfortunately, does not correspond with the actual 

 reduction of its numbers. 



The ancient territory of the Pronghorns covered about 

 2,000,000 square miles; and a safe estimate, founded on the 

 reports of travellers, would be 10 Antelope to every square mile. 

 The present range covers about 1,000,000 square miles. But 

 who will say that there are 10,000,000 Antelope left .? If it be 

 shown that there are 100,000 wild Antelope alive to-day I shall 

 be agreeably surprised. At least half of them must be in 

 Mexico. 



These estimates are founded on many ancient and modern 

 accounts, viewed in the light of my own experience. 



During early days in New Mexico (about 1892) we could 

 usually reckon on seeing a band of a dozen or 20 Antelope on 

 the open plains every 10 miles or so during the fall. The 

 region that I knew, and rode in daily, was some 60 miles long 

 by 5 wide. In this were 5 well-known bands of Antelope, each 

 keeping its own home locality and each numbering about 20. 

 This would give 100 Antelope to 300 square miles. But all the 

 "old-timers" agreed that there were no Antelope in the country 

 now. "Just an odd one here and there, and nothing to com- 

 pare with the herds of the days gone by," they said. 



In those early times bands of 2,000 or 3,000 were seen 

 commonly on the plains of California.-^ 



Charles H. Stonebridge, of New York, tells me that in the 

 August of 1875, while crossing Wyoming, he saw daily from 



^' J. C. Hoxie, J. S. Drury, S. F. Dickenson, and many other Califomian pioneers in 

 conversation at Bakersfield, Cal., October 3, 1899. 



