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124 



THE AMERICAN BlSOlSrS 







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the narrative^ ^^ having chased off the buffalo before the snow had become 

 deepj immense herds now came trooping over the mountains ; forming dark 

 masses on their sideS;, from which their (3eep-mouthed bellowing sounded 

 like the peals and mutterings from a gathering thunder-cloud. In effect^ 

 the cloud broke, and down came the torrent into the valley. It is utterly 

 impossible, according to Captain Bonneville, to convey an idea of the effect 

 produced by the sight of such countless throngs of animals of such bulk and 

 spirit^ all rushing forward as if swept on by a whirlwind." * In the autumn 

 of 1835 Parker met with great herds on the east fork of the Salmon River, 

 and on other tributaries of the Snake Eiver.f 



Dr. J. S. Newberry, writing in 1855, says: "The range of the buffalo does 

 not notv extend beyond the Rocky Mormtains, but there are many Indian 

 hunters who have killed them in great numbers to the west of the moun- 

 tains, on the head-waters of the Salmon River, one of the tributaries of the 

 Columbia. While I was at the Dalles, the party of Lieutenant Day, IT. S. A,, 

 came in from an expedition to the Upper Salmon River^ and I was assured 

 by the offii^cers that they had not only seen Indians who claimed to have 

 killed buffalo there, but that, in many places, great numbers of buffalo skulls 

 were still lying on the prairie." t 



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Dr. Suckley, writing imder date of December, 1853, also says: "Buffalo 

 were formerly in great numbers in this valley [the valley of the Bitter Root, 

 or St. Mary's River, one of the sources of Clarke's Fork of the Columbia], as 

 attested by the number of skulls seen and by the reports of the inhabitants. 

 For a number of years past, none had been seen west of the mountains; but, 

 singular to relate, a buffalo bull was killed at the mouth of the Pend d'Oreille 



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River, on the day I passed it. The Indians were in great joy at this, sup- 

 posing that the buflflxlo were coming back to them." § Just east of the 

 mountains separating the sources of the Jefferson and Salmon Rivers, buffa- 

 loes still existed in immense numbers. Lieutenant MuUan reports meeting, 

 on December 4, 1853, with several bands of the Nez Perces Indians return- 

 ing from their hunt east of the mountains, with many animals loaded with 



* Irving's Rocky Mountains, pp. 208, 211. 







f Parker (Samuel), Journal of an Exploring Tour beyond the Kocky Mountains, pp. 88, 107, 108. 

 X Newberry's Zoological Keport of Lieutenant Abbot's Keport of Explorations for a Railroad Route 

 from the Sacramento Valley to the Colorado River. Pacific R. R. Explor. and Surv., Vol. YI, Zoological 



Report, p. 72. 



§ Suckley (Dr. George), Canoe Voyage from Fort Owen to Fort Vancouver. Pacific R. R. Explor. and 

 Surv., Vol. I, Governor Stevens's Report, p. 297, 



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