268 BULLETIN NO VII. 



places the animals were impounded and destroyed at leisure. 

 The pound was an enclosed area about 125 feet in diameter, 

 formed by posts planted at regular intervals, guarded by the 

 women and children of the tribe. Series of posts diverged 

 from the opening and served to direct the herd toward the 

 latter. Several hundred buffaloes were frequently enclosed 

 when the slaughter began. Deprived of even the usual degree 

 of intelligence by fear, the enraged animals assisted in their own 

 destruction, though in some cases an unusually adventurous 

 bull forced an opening and led the whole herd safely through 

 the cordon of yelling savages. 



Another method, rather rarely resorted to, was to take 

 advantage of their stupid tendency to follow the leader 

 and lure the whole herd to destruction. An Indian dis- 

 guised himself with a partially stuffed skin and, attaching 

 himself to the herd just as the alarm was given on the other side, 

 led the way to a precipice. There he secreted himself in a 

 crevice, while the buffalo following were precipitated to the 

 bottom. This method naturally was attended with no little 

 danger to the one leading in it. Since the introduction of 

 horses sometimes a cordon of horsemen was substituted for the 

 pen with nearly equally fatal results. The more modern 

 method is for a number of well mounted horsemen to strike 

 well into the centre of the compact herd and thus stampede 

 them, after which an indiscriminate slaughter is carried on as 

 long as the scattering animals can be pursued. The modern 

 hunter follows the same plan essentially but improved firearms 

 and better horses make it a much more destructive matter. 

 As long as the buffalo still roamed over the plains of Kansas 

 and the Red river, buffalo-hunting was a business as well as a 

 pastime for many. The pot-hunter however preferred the 

 still hunt as more safe and productive. Buffalo-hunting has 

 always been most wasteful. The excitement is so great that 

 neither reason nor fatigue reminds even the thoughtful that 

 his sport is sheer improvidence until the last individual is 

 out of reach. The Indian rarely used a tithe of the slain ani- 

 mals and modern hunters have not been less extravagant. One 

 .man often destroyed thousands during a single season. Mr.. 

 Allen in his monograph gives very full statistics of the rate of 

 destruction of the buffalo. He says "at the time of the com- 

 pletion of the Atchison, Topekaand Santa Fe railroad to Dodge 

 City, which occurred Sept. 23, 1872, the principal trade of the 

 town consisted in the outfitting of hunters and exchange: fon- 



