In Buftalo Days 
were protected by their mothers, and the fe- 
males and young stock were so vigorous and 
so gregarious that they had but little to 
fear from this danger. It is probable that, 
notwithstanding the destruction which they 
wrought, the wolves performed an important 
service for the buffalo race, keeping it vigor- 
ous and healthy by killing weak, disabled, 
and superannuated animals, which could no 
longer serve any useful purpose in the herd, 
and yet consumed the grass which would 
support a healthy breeding animal. It is cer- 
tainly true that sick buffalo, or those out of 
condition, were rarely seen. 
The grizzly bear fed to some extent on the 
carcasses of buffalo drowned in the rivers or 
caught in the quicksands, and occasionally 
they caught living buffalo and killed them. 
A Blackfoot Indian told me of an attempt of 
this kind which he witnessed. He was lying 
hidden by a buffalo trail in the Bad Lands, 
near a little creek, waiting for a small bunch 
to come down to water, so that he might kill 
one. The buffalo came on in single file as 
usual, the leading animal being a young 
heifer. When they had nearly reached the 
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