THE BUFFALO OR BISON a7 
migratory movements of the buffalo are described by Alex- 
ander Henry in “The Manuscript Journals of Alexander 
Henry and of David Thompson, 1799-1814,” from which 
Seton has taken the extracts given in his ‘‘ Life Histories of 
Northern Mammals,” which are given below: 
18 September, 1800. The plain was covered.... They were mov- 
ing southward slowly, and the meadow seemed as if in motion. 
7 November. Great herd of cows going at full speed southward. 
1 January, 1801. Buffalo in great abundance .. . the plains were en- 
tirely covered; all were moving in a body from north to south. 
14 January. The ground was covered [with buffalo] at every point 
of the compass, as far as the eye could reach, and every animal 
was in motion. 
During January, 1803, Henry found the country from Park 
River, N. Dak., to the Riding Mountains crowded with buf- 
falo. These definite records of Henry’s not only give exact 
information regarding the migration of the buffalo, but they 
also serve to convey an idea of their immense numbers. 
Hind, who led the expedition which explored the Cana- 
dian prairies in 1859, found that the Saskatchewan herd 
wintered in central Saskatchewan in a region of which Sas- 
katoon now occupies approximately the central point. This 
observation on the wintering habit of this herd is of inter- 
est as indicating the suitability of that region as a wintering 
place for the buffalo. 
The Destruction of the Buffalo—But to gain an adequate 
idea of the immense nature of the herds of buffalo that in- 
habited the plains and prairies the reader must consult 
Hornaday’s account. The vast herds seemed to clothe the 
prairies in a coat of brown. They were as thick as the leaves 
in the forest. These countless herds greeted the advance 
guards of civilization and that process spelled their doom. 
The history of the buffalo was only an illustration on 
the largest possible scale of the history of every species of 
wild animal when man invades its natural haunts with an 
