14 MAN AND ANIMALS 
muskrats, mussels, fish, etc., and the larger game of the land was par- 
ticularly abundant and diversified, because of the numerous habitats 
represented. Unfortunately, a fragmentary record is all we have of the 
decline of the primeval communities and the development of the present 
ones. These records apply mainly to the large animals of Cook County. 
The time of the disappearance from Southern Michigan, Northern 
Indiana, and Lake County, Illinois, was probably much later and, with 
the exception of the bison, bear, and elk, the more numerous kinds of 
game nearly all still occur in the thinly settled portions of Illinois (5a). 
The earliest explorers of this region, Marquette, LaSalle, and others, 
speak repeatedly of the great abundance of large game (17, p. 34). 
LaSalle, in the autumn of 1679, sailed along the western shore of Lake 
Michigan until the end of the lake was reached. Landing, he found deer, 
bear, and wild turkeys in great abundance. Grapevines loaded with 
clusters of ripe grapes hung from the tall forest trees and provided a rich 
feast for the bears. Continuing toward the headwaters of the Kankakee 
River, one stray buffalo was found sticking in a marsh. It was the 
beginning of winter and the remainder of the herd had probably migrated 
South, but on entering the headwaters of the Illinois River, in the autumn 
of the following year, LaSalle says that he found the great prairies 
“alive with buffalo” (18). 
The Indians claimed that bison were very plentiful on the prairies 
until the Storm Spirit, becoming angry at the Indians, sent a great 
snowfall and very cold weather, which drove the buffaloes away and 
they never returned (19). The time of the great storm seems to have 
been between 1770 and 1780. There is good evidence, however, that 
they were found in considerable numbers in this part of the state as 
late as 1800 (20). Soon after this they entirely disappeared. As late 
as 1838 traces of them were still to be found in buffalo paths, well-beaten 
trails, leading generally from prairies in the interior of the state to margins 
of large rivers. These paths were very narrow, showing that the animals 
went in single file (20). 
In 1800 and for many years afterward, bears, deer, and elk, especially 
deer, were very plentiful. For some time deer continued to increase with 
the population because of the protection found in the neighborhood of 
man from the beasts of prey, and the gradual thinning-out of the animals 
which preyed upon them (21). Elk had almost entirely disappeared in 
1837, although a few were seen occasionally (22, 20, 20a, 23). John 
Reynolds, an early settler of Chicago, tells of being one of a hunting 
party that wounded an elk (20a). In 1837 bears were seldom seen (20, 
