92 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. XL 



says, "you behold roaming through the prairie herds of Buffalo of 

 Illinois."* 



Hennepin writes :t "There must be an innumerable quantity of 

 wild Oxen in that Country, since the Earth is cover'd with their Horns. 

 The Miamis hunt them towards the latter end of Autumn. 



"We continu'd our Course upon this River very near the whole 

 Month of December; but toward the latter end of the said Month, 1679, 

 we arriv'd at the Village of the Illinois, which lies near one hundred 

 and thirty Leagues from Fort Miamis, on the Lake of the Illinois. 

 We suffer 'd very much in this Passage, for the Savages having set the 

 Herbs of the Plain on Fire, the wild Oxen were fled away, and so we 

 cou'd kill but one, and some Turkey-Cocks. God's Providence 

 supported us all the while; and when we thought that the Extremities 

 we were reduced to, were past all hope of Remedy, we found a prodigious 

 big wild Ox lying fast in the Mud of the River. We kill'd him, and had 

 much ado to get him out of the Mud." (p. 113.) 



"These Oxen have fine Wool instead of Hair, and their Cows have 

 it longer than the Males; their horns are almost black, and much bigger, 

 tho' somewhat shorter than those of Europe. Their Head is of a pro- 

 digious bigness, as well as their Neck, which is very short, but about 

 six Spans broad : They have a kind of a Bump between the two Shoul- 

 ders: Their Legs are big and short, covered with long Wool; and they 

 have between the two Horns an ugly Bush of Hair, which falls upon 

 their Eyes and makes them look horrid. . . . There is also amongst 

 them abundance of Stags, Dears, and wild Goats. "J (pp. 114-115.) 



Audubon and Bachman say, "In the days of our boyhood and 

 youth Buffaloes roamed over the small and beautiful prairies of Indiana 

 and Illinois and herds of them stalked through the open woods of 

 Kentucky and Tennessee, but they have dwindled down to a few 

 stragglers, which resorted chiefly to the Barrens towards the years 

 1808 and 1809 and soon after entirely disappeared. Their range has 

 since that period gradually tended Westward." (/. c, p. 36.) Regard- 

 ing its former range the same authors say, "The Bison formerly existed 



* New York coll. of MSS., Paris Doc, VII, p. 890. (Copied from J. A. Allen's 

 History American Bison, 1877, p. 501.) 



t Hennepin, L. A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America, London, 1698. 



X Hennepin makes numerous references to "Wild Goats," as on page 98, writing 

 of his travels along the west shore of Lake Michigan, he says, "Our Savage killed 

 several Staggs and Wild Goats, and our Men a great many Turkey-Cocks very fat 

 and big." Dr. Hoy suggests the "wild Goats" referred to may have been Antelopes 

 {Antilocapra aniericana), as at a comparatively recent date "Antelopes were not 

 uncommon in southern Minnesota, only 40 miles west of the Mississippi River." 

 It should be borne in mind, however, that (/. c, p. 65) Hennepin claims to have met 

 with "Wild-Goats" as far east as New York. Hollister suggests (Bull. Wis. Nat. 

 Hist. Soc, 1910, p. 31) that Hennepin's "wild Goats" were White-tailed Deer, but 

 this explanation is hardly satisfactory, as Hennepin expressly states that with the 

 Buffalo were "Stags, Dears and wild Goats." 



