138 THE AMERICAN BISONS. 
“Roemer, in 1849, says that the buffalo was then found only in the hilly 
parts of the State, far from the coast, and that herds of a thousand together 
were still seen between the Brazos and Austin.* It would seem, however, 
that at this time there were very few buffaloes south of the Red River, as 
during the years 1849, 1850, and 1851 a series of military reconnaissances 
were made in Texas, forming a network of lines covering a large part of the 
State, during the running of which no buffaloes seem to have been met with. 
Lieutenant Michler surveyed a line from Fort Washita southward along 
the 97th meridian,t from 34° 30’ to about 31°, and thence southwestward to 
San Antonio. Another line was run from Fort Washita southwestward, in a 
nearly direct line to the Pecos River, striking it in longitude 103°, and lati- 
tude 31° 20’. A line was continued from this point eastward again to the 
100th meridian, and thence southeastward to Corpus Christi Bay, in longi- 
tude 96°, and latitude 28° 40’. Another line was carried down the Pecos to 
longitude 101° 40', and thence to the head-waters of the Nueces, and down 
this river also to Corpus Christi Bay. The narratives of these explorations 
make no mention of buffaloes, as they doubtless would if buffaloes had been 
met with.t In 1850 Marcy met with a few stragglers south of the Cana- 
dian, near the divide between the Canadian and the Washita Forks of the 
Red River, and saw their tracks and other indications of their presence there. 
He reports that the Kiowas and Comanches went north in summer to hunt 
the buffalo on the plains of the Arkansas, only a few buffaloes crossing at 
this time to the south of the Canadian. 
In 1852, according to the “Topographical Sketches of the Military Posts” 
in Texas, buffaloes had entirely disappeared from the region about Fort 
Worth§ (on the west fork of the Trinity, just west of the 97th meridian) ; 
they are not mentioned among the animals found at this date about Fort 
Belknap || (on the Brazos, longitude about 98° 30’), neither were they then 
found about Fort Terret4] (on the 100th meridian). Very few are ‘said to 
have been found as far south as Fort Phantom Hill, since 1837.** At Camp 
Johnston,ft on the Concho River (near the present Fort Concho), one only 
is reported as having been seen, and the region is said to have been then 
* Roemer (Ferdinand), Texas, p. 462. 
+ The central portion of the wooded belt known as the “ Cross Timbers ” lies along this meridian. 
t Congress. Rep., 31st Coner., 1st Session, Sen. Doc. No. 64, and accompanying maps. 
§ Med. Statistics U. S. Army, 1839 - 1854, p. 873. 
|| Ibid., p. 372. #** Tbid., p. 376. 
{ Ibid, p. 395. tt Ibid., p. 380. 
