American Big-Game Hunting 
Of the millions of buffalo which even in 
our own time ranged the plains in freedom, 
none now remain. From the prairies which 
they used to darken, the wild herds, down to 
the last straggling bull, have disappeared. 
In the Yellowstone National Park, protected 
from destruction by United States troops, are 
the only wild buffalo which exist within the 
borders of the United States. These are 
mountain buffalo, and, from their habit of liv- 
ing in the thick timber and on the rough 
mountain-sides, they are only now and then 
seen by visitors to the park. It is impossible 
to say just how many there are, but from the 
best information that I can get, based on the 
estimates of reliable and conservative men, I 
conclude that the number was not less than 
four hundred in the winter of 1891-92. Each 
winter or spring the government scout em- 
ployed in the park sees one or more herds of 
these buffalo, and as such herds are usually 
made up in part of young animals and have 
calves with them, it is fair to assume that 
they are steadily, if slowly, increasing. The 
report of a trip made in January, 1892, speaks 
of four herds seen in the Hayden Valley, which 
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