Buffalo 259 



The early explorers who describe the Buffalo bands do ancient 



, . , , . . NUM- 



not give us anything more exact than superlative expressions, bers 

 such as "countless herds," "incredible numbers," "teeming 

 myriads," "the world one robe," etc. 



To gain a more precise idea as to the numbers of this 

 species, it is necessary to attempt an estimate, as follows: 



The total area inhabited by the Buffalo was about 3,000,000 

 square miles. Of this area open plains constituted about one- 

 half. According to figures supplied me by A. F. Potter, of the 

 Forest Service, the ranges of North and South Dakota, Montana, 

 Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma 

 (a total of about 750,000 square miles, or half of the plains) car- 

 ried at the time of the last census (1900) about 24,000,000 head 

 of cattle and horses and about 6,000,000 head of sheep. This 

 means that, when fully stocked, these plains might sustain a num- 

 ber of Buffalo at least equal to the number of cattle and horses. 

 But the Buffalo had to divide their heritage with numerous herds 

 of Mustang, Antelope, and Wapiti. On the other hand, a Buf- 

 falo could find a living where a range animal would starve. 

 Moreover, many of the richest bottom lands are now fenced in, 

 and we have taken no account of the 6,000,000 sheep. On the 

 whole, it seems that we are safe in placing the number of Buffalo 

 formerly living on the entire Plains area as about 40,000,000. 



The range of the species on the prairies was a third as 

 large as that on the Plains, but it was vastly more fertile; 

 indeed, the stockmen reckon one acre of prairie as equal in 

 fertility to four acres of the Plains. Doubtless, therefore, the 

 prairies sustained nearly as many head as the Plains; we may 

 safely set their population at 30,000,000. 



The forest region of the Buffalo area supported a relatively 

 sparse population. For its 1,000,000 square miles we cannot 

 allow more than 5,000,000 Buffalo. 



Summing up these totals, we arrive at the conclusion that 

 the primitive number of Buffalo was about 75,000,000. 



Let us consider the question from another standpoint: 

 There were 1,500,000 square miles of the Plains; it takes 



