American Big-Game Hunting 



Of the millions of buffalo which even in 

 our own time ranged the plains in freedom, 

 none now remain. From the prairies which 

 they used to darken, the wild herds, down to 

 the last straggling bull, have disappeared. 

 In the Yellowstone National Park, protected 

 from destruction by United States troops, are 

 the only wild buffalo which exist within the 

 borders of the United States. These are 

 mountain buffalo, and, from their habit of liv- 

 ing in the thick timber and on the rough 

 mountain-sides, they are only now and then 

 seen by visitors to the park. It is impossible 

 to say just how many there are, but from the 

 best information that I can get, based on the 

 estimates of reliable and conservative men, I 

 conclude that the number was not less than 

 four hundred in the winter of 1891-92. Each 

 winter or spring the government scout em- 

 ployed in the park sees one or more herds of 

 these buffalo, and as such herds are usually 

 made up in part of young animals and have 

 calves with them, it is fair to assume that 

 they are steadily, if slowly, increasing. The 

 report of a trip made in January, 1892, speaks 

 of four herds seen in the Hayden Valley, which 



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