The Lordly Buffalo. 249 



needless and brutal, and while it is to be greatly re- 

 gretted that the species is likely to become extinct, and 

 while, moreover, from a purely selfish standpoint many, 

 including myself, would rather see it continue to exist 

 as the chief feature in the unchanged life of the Western 

 wilderness ; yet, on the other hand, it must be remem- 

 bered that its continued existence in any numbers was 

 absolutely incompatible with any thing but a very sparse 

 settlement of the country ; and that its destruction was the 

 condition precedent upon the advance of white civiliza- 

 tion in the West, and was a positive boon to the more 

 thrifty and industrious frontiersmen. Where the buffalo 

 were plenty, they ate up all the grass that could have 

 supported cattle. The country over which the huge 

 herds grazed during the last year or two of their ex- 

 istence was cropped bare, and the grass did not grow 

 to its normal height and become able to support cattle 

 for, in some cases two, in others three, seasons. Every 

 buffalo needed as much food as an ox or cow ; and if 

 the former abounded, the latter perforce would have to 

 be scarce. Above all, the extermination of the buffalo 

 was the only way of solving the Indian question. As 

 long as this large animal of the chase existed, the Indians 

 simply could not be kept on reservations, and always had 

 an ample supply of meat on hand to support them in the 

 event of a war ; and its disappearance was the only method 

 of forcing them to at least partially abandon their savage 

 mode of life. From the standpoint of humanity at large, 

 the extermination of the buffalo has been a blessing. 

 The many have been benefited by it ; and I suppose 



