OXEN, SHEEP, AND GOAT FAMILY 



43 



Although it covered a vast region, it continued 

 of one species, whereas, it would probably have 

 split up into several distinct species had it not 

 been continually mixed as the result of migra- 

 tions." 



Reference has already been made to the attacks 

 of Gray Wolves on Buffalo calves. Weak and 

 old Buffaloes also fell victims to these beasts of 

 prey. Still the total number destroyed by them 

 cannot have been very great. Far more terrible 

 enemies were the prairie fires, quicksands, and 

 treacherous ice on the rivers which, combined, 

 were responsible for the death of enormous 

 numbers of Bufifaloes. In 1867, more than 2000 

 out of a herd of some 4000 were engulfed in a 

 quicksand on the Platte river. Prairie fires 

 destroyed whole herds. Alexander Henry, in 

 his " Journal," under date of November 25, 1804, 

 records : " At sunset we arrived at the Indian 

 camp, having made an extraordinary day's ride, 

 and seen an incredible number of dead and dying, 

 blind, lame, singed, and roasted Buffalo."' 

 Treacherous ice on the rivers took greater toll 

 of Buffalo life than any other natural enemy of 

 the animal. Under date of May 2, 1807, Henry 

 records : "The number of Buffalo lying along the 

 beach and on the banks passes all imagination. 

 They form one continuous line and emit a hor- 

 rible stench. I am informed that every spring 

 it is about the same." John McDonnell, in his 

 " Journal," states : " Observing a good many 

 carcasses of Buffalo in the river and along the 

 banks, I was taken up the whole day in counting 

 them, and, to my surprise, found I had num- 

 bered when we put up at night, 7360 drowned 

 and mired along the river and in it." The yearly 

 flood on the Missouri river " bore countless 

 Buffalo hulks to be packed away in the Missis- 

 sippi rtiud, that in some far geological day will 

 be the rock, all stored with unnumbered bones." 

 Rotten ice on all the northern rivers, totalling in 

 length about 20,000 miles, must also have caused 

 the death of enormous numbers of Buffaloes. 



A further natural enemy of the Buffalo was, in 

 the opinion of Mr. Seton, the blizzard. " The 

 great herds that went north in 1 870-1 never 

 returned. There is no evidence that anv large 

 numbers of them were killed by hunters, red or 

 white, and there is, therefore, but one reasonable 

 explanation of their disappearance. They were 

 exterminated by the blizzards of 1872. Further, 

 I believe that, all times, the Dakota blizzard has 

 taken heavier toll of the Buffalo than even the 

 Dakota Indian did." 



It is interesting to note that besides all these 

 enemies the Buffalo had one little companion 

 and friend — the cowbird or Buffalo bird. 

 "Sometimes the cowbirds walk sedately behind 

 their grazing monster; sometimes they flit over, 

 snapping at flies ; often they sit along the ridge- 

 pole of his spine." In the winter of 1900-01 

 in the herd at Silver Heights, near Winnipeg, a 

 cowbird " remained with the Buffalo, especially 

 with the biggest bull of the herd. Its food was 

 of the Buffalo's food ; by day, it flitted near or 

 warmed its toes in the wool of the animal's 

 back, by night it snuggled on a sort of hollow it 

 had made in the wool just behind his horns." 



The Buffalo unmolested attains to a ripe old 

 age. Colonel Jones relates that he has frequently 

 seen wild Buffaloes so old that their horns had 

 decayed and dropped off. 



In domestication the Buffalo breeds freely, and 

 it has been crossed with the domestic cow. 



The economic value of the Buffalo has been 

 great. Its flesh has sustained thousands of red 

 men and white ; its hide, tongue, and horns have 

 been regular articles of commerce. Mounted 

 heads have fetched $400 or more. 



No one who has not seen a wide plain covered 

 by Buffalo can gain any idea of their countless 

 numbers, only a very few years ago. Here are 

 the impressions of one eye-witness. Col. R. I. 

 Dodge, who in 1871 saw one of the immense 

 herds while traveling in Arkansas. For twenty- 

 five miles he passed through a continuous herd 

 of Buffalo. " The whole country appeared one 

 great mass of Buffalo, moving slowly to the 

 northward ; and it was only when actually among 

 them that it could be ascertained that the appar- 

 ently solid mass was an agglomeration of innu- 

 merable small herds of from fifty to two hundred 

 animals, separated from the surrounding herds 

 by greater or less space, but still separated. The 

 herds in the valley sullenly got out of my way, 

 and turning, stared stupidly at me, sometimes 

 at only a few yards' distance. When I had 

 reached a point where the hills were no longer 

 more than a mile from the road, the Buffalo on 

 the hills seeing an unusual object in their rear, 

 turned, stared an instant, then started at full 

 speed directly toward me, stampeding and bring- 

 ing with them the numberless herds through 

 which they passed, and pouring down on me all 

 the herds, no longer separated, but one immense 

 compact mass of plunging animals mad with 

 fright, and as irresistible as an avalanche. Rein- 

 ing in my horse I waited until the front of the 



