Suddenly some of the animals nearest 

 turned and charged; others fell in be 

 hind, and down upon the train they 

 came like an avalanche. The engineer 

 stopped the engine, let off steam and 

 whistled to stop them, while the pas 

 sengers fired from the platforms and 

 windows with rifles and revolvers, but 

 it was like trying to stay a tidal wave. 

 On they came, the earth trembling, and 

 plunged head down into the train. 

 Some were wedged in between the 

 cars, others beneath; and so great was 

 the crush that they toppled three cars 

 over and actually scrambled over them, 

 one buffalo becoming bogged by hav 

 ing his legs caught in the window. 



The question of interest to-day is 

 how was it possible to destroy so many 

 animals in so short a time and what 

 methods were employed? Many were 

 destroyed by stampeding over preci 

 pices. In 1867 two thousand buffaloes 

 became entangled in the quicksands of 

 the Platte river. At another time a 

 herd was lost by breaking through the 

 ice of Lac Qui Parle in Minnesota. 

 The cold winters of the north killed 

 many. But man was their greatest foe. 

 He soon found that the buffaloes had 

 a value. The Indians slaughtered them 

 for their skins, bone and for food. The 

 white man, however, killed for sport, 

 for the hides and heads, and to pro 

 vide the gangs of railroad men with 

 meat. The animal at this time had a 

 value estimated at $5, which was suffi 

 cient to attract an army of destroyers. 

 One firm in New York between 1876 

 and 1884 paid for hides alone nearly 

 $1,000,000. The government never in 

 terfered. The real extermination of 

 the buffalo, in the opinion of Prof. 

 Holder, was caused by the demands of 

 trade, aided and abetted by sportsmen, 

 Indians, and others; but the blame 

 really lies with the government that in 

 all these years permitted a few igno 

 rant congressmen to block legislation 

 in favor of the protection of the bison, 

 so that all the efforts of humanitarians 

 were defeated and the bills when passed 

 pigeon holed. 



The still hunter was the most insid 



ious enemy of the buffalo, a single man, 

 by sneaking upon a herd, having been 

 known to kill one thousand in a single 

 season. Capt. Jack Bridges, of Kan 

 sas, killed 1,142 buffaloes in six weeks. 

 In the different states there were regu 

 lar killing outfits that cost, in rifles, 

 horses, carts, etc., from $2,000 to $5,000. 

 Such methods developed some famous 

 characters. Buffalo Bill (Col. W. F. 

 Cody) was one. He contracted with 

 the Kansas Pacific railroad to furnish 

 them with all the buffalo the men could 

 eat as the road was built; and, accord 

 ing to Mr. Cody's statement, they ate 

 4,280 buffaloes in eighteen months, for 

 which he received $500 per month, "the 

 price he paid for his title." 



There were living at the last govern 

 ment census, made in 1891, 256 pure- 

 blcoded buffaloes in captivity, the last 

 of the race. 



A buffalo robe is now a scarce arti 

 cle and a well-preserved specimen 

 brings a high price. Massive heads of 

 old bull buffaloes are preserved in many 

 museums and are valued at from $150 

 to $250. 



Mark Twain once said that the most 

 wonderful scene he had ever looked 

 upon was an enormous herd of buffa 

 loes in Colorado. 



Mr. John D. Dunham, formerly 

 United States land commissioner in 

 Wyoming, and later connected with 

 the Yellowstone Park commission, re 

 cently stated that there were between 

 1 20 and 140 buffaloes left in the United 

 States last autumn, and the mortality 

 among the surviving beasts was greater 

 last winter than ever before during 

 their captivity. Despite the severe 

 penalty for killing the big animals in 

 the National Park, a dozen or more 

 buffaloes have been slain there every 

 year. Last year a form of influenza 

 destroyed some of them, and there are 

 probably no more than fifty of the vet 

 erans of the plains left. Baker, in his 

 "Wild Beasts and Their Ways," says: 

 "The bison is a grand-looking crea 

 ture, and in my opinion it is the most 

 striking of all wild animals." 



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