The Bison 119 



we should all fire together at one lone bull which 

 appeared, to have the satisfaction, as they said, of 

 killing him stone dead. The beast advanced till 

 he was within six or eight paces, when the yell 

 was given, and all hands let fly ; but instead of 

 falling he galloped off, and it was only after sev- 

 eral more discharges that he was brought to the 

 ground. The Indians enjoyed this sport highly 

 — it is true, the ammunition cost them nothing." 



There has been much misunderstanding as to 

 the former distribution of the buffalo over the 

 North American continent, and the extent of 

 territory through which it was found. Many 

 respected authorities have declared that it oc- 

 curred in Eastern Canada, and generally along 

 the Atlantic slope ; in portions of New England, 

 the Middle states, and south even into Florida. 

 It was said in general terms that the buffalo 

 occurred over the entire continent of North 

 America, from Florida to the 50th degree of 

 north latitude. 



These loose statements were corrected by Dr. 

 J. A. Allen, in his most important monograph on 

 the American bisons, and it is now well under- 

 stood that the range of the buffalo included only 

 about one-third of the continent; that, while it was 



