Prongbuck 221 



Major J. B. Pond once gave me an important item: "In 

 the winter of 1868-9 ^ travelled on the railroad newly opened 

 between Denver and Cheyenne. All the Antelope had left 

 the open plains, and were now sheltering among the foot- 

 hills. For 10 or 12 miles in Cache le Poudre valley and all the 

 way west of the train, about | to | mile away, was one long 

 band of Antelope, 20 to 40 rods wide, practically continuous 

 and huddled together for warmth. Their numbers changed 

 the colour of the country. That winter many wagon loads 

 were brought to Denver and sold, 3 or 4 carcasses for 2 bits 

 (25 cents), that being the smallest coin in use." 



If there is no error in these figures, it meant 2,000,000 

 Antelope. This great concourse came from the Plains north 

 and east. They would not have come from the west, because 

 it was rugged mountainous country; nor from the south, be- 

 cause of the storms; and it is extremely unlikely that they came 

 from a greater distance than 200 miles. Reckoned by area, 

 therefore, they represented about the fiftieth part of the Ante- 

 lope population of America. If even we halved the estimated 

 figures to avoid error, it would still give over 40,000,000 as the 

 aggregate of Antelope on the range. At this time they must 

 have outnumbered the Buffalo. 



From these various facts it will be seen that in many 

 regions the species probably exceeded 10 to the square mile. 

 Though there were vast areas which fell far below this, these 

 were offset by the greater density elsewhere. Therefore, in 

 estimating their pristine population at 10 to a square mile, I 

 have been reasonably conservative. 



I hope I have been equally so in putting the 1900 popula- 

 tion at 100,000. Since then their numbers have probably de- 

 creased further. In some regions, I am told, there is a slight 

 increase, but in others a sad diminution. A. A. Anderson esti- 

 mated that in 1905 there was not more than a quarter of the 

 Antelope in Wyoming that there were in 1900. 



It is fortunate that the nation has awakened to the fact 

 that game is worth preserving, and that a national effort is 

 needed to preserve it. All the States now have game laws for 



