266 Hunting Trips on the Prairie 



ground, and to plow its way through snowdrifts 

 or quagmires. But one beast of prey existed suffi- 

 ciently powerful to conquer it when full grown and 

 in health; and this, the grisly bear, could only be 

 considered an occasional foe. The Indians were 

 its most dangerous enemies, but they were without 

 horses, and their weapons, bows and arrows, were 

 only available at close range; so that a slight de- 

 gree of speed enabled buffalo to get out of the way 

 of their human foes when discovered, and on the 

 open plains a moderate development of the senses 

 was sufficient to warn them of the approach of the 

 latter before they had come up to the very close 

 distance required for their primitive weapons to 

 take effect. Thus the strength, size, and gregarious 

 habits of the brute were sufficient for a protection 

 against most foes ; and a slight degree of speed and 

 moderate development of the senses served as ade- 

 quate guards against the grislies and bow-bearing 

 foot Indians. Concealment and the habit of seeking 

 lonely and remote places for a dwelling would have 

 been of no service. 



But the introduction of the horse, and shortly 

 afterward the incoming of white hunters carrying 

 long-range rifles, changed all this. The buffaloes' 

 gregarious habits simply rendered them certain to 

 be seen, and made it a matter of perfect ease to fol- 

 low them up; their keeping to the open plains 

 heightened their conspicuousness, while their senses 

 were too dull to discover their foes at such a dis- 

 tance as to nullify the effects of the long rifles; 



