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1 



THE AMEEICAE" BISONS. 



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*-T 



4 



Roemer, in 1849, says tliat the buffalo was then found only In the hilly 

 parts of the State, far from the coast, and that herds of a thousand together 

 were still seen between the Brazos and Austin. '^' It would seem, however, 

 that at this time there were very few buffaloes south of the Red River, as 

 during the years 1849, 1850, and 1851 a series of military reconnaissances 



were made in Texas, forming a network of lines covering a large part of the 



M 



State, during the running of which no buffaloes seem to have been met with. 

 Lieutenant Michler surveyed a line from Fort Washita southward along 

 the 97th meridian,! from 34° 30' to about 31°j and thence southwestward to 

 San Antonio. Another line was run from Fort Washita southwestward, in a 

 nearly direct line to the Pecos River, striking it in longitude 103°, and lati- 

 tude 31° 20'. A line was continued from this point eastward again to the 

 100th meridian, and thence southeastward to Corpus Christi Bay, in longi- 

 tude 96°5 and latitude 28° 40'. Another line was carried down the Pecos to 

 lono-itude lOV 40', and thence to the head-waters of the Nueces, and down 

 this river also to Corpus Christi Bay. The narratives of these explorations 

 make no mention of buffaloes, as they doubtless would if buffaloes had been 

 met with. I In 1850 Marcy met with a few stragglers south of the Cana- 

 ian, near the divide between the Canadian and the Washita Forks of the 

 Red River, and saw their tracks and other indications of their presence there. 

 He reports that the Kiowas and Comanches went north in summer to hunt 

 the buffalo on the plains of the Arkansas, only a few buffaloes crossing at 

 this time to the south of the Canadian. 



In 1852, according to the ^^Topographical Sketches of the Military Posts" 

 in Texas, buffaloes had entirely disappeared from the region about Fort 

 Worth § (on the west fork of the Trinity, just west of the 97th meridian); 

 they are not mentioned among the animals found at this date about Port 



J 



Belknap || (on the Brazos, longitude about 98" 30'), neither were they then 

 found about Foi't Terret^[ (on the 100th meridian). Very few are said to 

 have been found as far south as Fort Phantom Hill, since 1837** At Camp 

 Johnston,!! on the Concho River (near the present Fort Concho), one only 

 is reported as having been seen, and the region is said to have been then 



* Eoemer (Ferdinand), Texas, p. 462. 



t The central portion of the wooded belt known as the *' Cross Timbers " lies along this meridian. 



t Congress. Rep., 31st Congr., 1st Session, Sen. Doc. No. 64, and accompanying maps. 



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§ Med. Statistics U. S. Array, 1839 -1854, p. 373, 

 II Ibid., p. 372. 

 Tf Ibid., p. 395. 



** Ibid., p. 376. 

 ft Ibid., p. 380. 



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