Vill INTRODUCTION. 
daries given cannot, of course, be more than approximate, but are believed 
to be as nearly correct as the data extant will permit. 
.No indigenous animal has perhaps figured so prominently in the history 
of Kentucky as the buffalo. It not only formed for a time the chief sub-— 
sistence of some of the early pioneers of this State, but its fossil remains 
form large deposits at several localities about its numerous Salt Licks; 
while it is only in this State that any efforts for its domestication worthy 
of the name have as yet been made. Both of the extinct species were also 
first described from remains found in Kentucky ; and it is to the great valley 
of the Ohio that we must mainly still look for further materials to furnish us 
with a clew to their fuller histories and distinctive characters. 
In Part IT will be found not only references to narratives of stclotien 
and the records of the early settlement of the country, but also much matter 
hitherto unpublished. While due credit is given in each case for the infor- 
mation received from my many correspondents, — the name of the con- 
tributor being always given as the authority for the facts communicated, — 
it gives me pleasure to mention here a few of those to whom I am especially 
indebted for valuable contributions, Among these are Dr. F. V. Hayden, 
Geologist-in-charge of the United States Geographical and Geological Survey 
of the Territories ; Dr. Elliott Coues, U.S. A., Naturalist of the United States 
and British Boundary Commission; Prof. S. F. Baird, Assistant Secretary of 
the Smithsonian Institution ; Professor George M. Dawson of McGill College; 
Montreal; J. 8. Taylor, Esq., late U. S. Consul at Winnipeg, B. N. A.; Hon. 
Wm. N. Byers, Editor of the Rocky Mountain News; Mr. W. H. Dall, Assist- 
ant United States Coast Survey; Dr. W. S. Tremaine, U.S. A., of Fort Dodge, 
Kansas; Mr, J. Boll of Dallas, Texas; Dr. W. J. Hoffman, late Assistant 
Surgeon U. 8. A.; Prof. B. F. Mudge of Kansas; Professor O. C. Marsh of 
New Haven, Conn.; Dr. J. G. Cooper of California; Mr. C. E. Aiken of 
Colorado Springs, Col.; Prof. J. R. Loomis of Lewisburg, Pa.; Mr. C. W. 
Pritchett of Glasgow, Mo.; Mr. George Graham of Cincinnati, Ohio; E. T. 
Bowen, Esq., late General Superintendent of the Kansas Pacific Railway ; 
C. F. Morse, Esq., Superintendent of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé 
Railroad ; E. P. Vining, Esq., General Freight Agent of the Union Pacific 
Railroad ; and to various officers of the United States Army. 
I am also especially indebted for the use of material to the Museum of 
Comparative Zodlogy, Cambridge, without access to whose collections the 
preparation of this monograph would have been impossible. Also to the 
