154 TEN DAYS IN MONTANA. 



trail from' Cabin Creek and at three o'clock P.M. reached 

 Pennell station, about 225 miles west of Bismarck, and went 

 into camp. 



We were then in the immediate vicinity of several small 

 herds of buffaloes and we broke up into small parties and went 

 in various directions in search of them. Major Bell went 

 west, Mr. Bellows, Judge Souther and Messrs. Fogarty, Van 

 Vleck and Hill went north, parties of soldiers in various 

 directions, and I went south. After walking about two miles 

 I reached the top of a high ridge that commanded a fine view 

 of a vast stretch of country to the south and west. At a dis- 

 tance of two miles from where I stood I saw two herds, one 

 of about thirty and the other of seventy-five to eighty ; but 

 the sun was then setting and I knew that before I could reach 

 them it would be too dark to see to shoot accurately, so I 

 reluctantly returned to camp where I arrived soon after dark. 



My friends had reached camp before me, and reported 

 having had grand sport. They had found a herd of eleven, 

 out of which they had killed five ; Mr. Bellows, the Judge, 

 Fogarty, Van and Hill each selecting an animal, following 

 him up and pumping lead into him until he was brought to 

 the earth. The Major saw two small herds, but as he was 

 with us more as leader than as hunter, and preferred to leave 

 the greater portion of the sport to us, he made no attempt to 

 get a shot at them. 



Lance, the Major's orderly, and the half-breed scout did 

 not return until after ten o'clock. We all supposed they had 

 lost their course and camped alone, but just as we were retir- 

 ing they rode in and reported having struck the main herd 

 about twelve miles to the north of us. They reached it just 

 at sunset and said that as far as they could see, to the right, 

 left, and in front, the prairie was black with buffaloes. They 

 estimated the herd to contain at least two hundred thousand ! 



