BISON PRESERVE * 



The committee on the public lands, to whom was re- 

 ferred the bill (H. R. 6062) to set apart a preserve for 

 American bison, and for other purposes, beg leave to sub- 

 mit the following report, and recommend the accompany- 

 ing substitute for the bill. 



Charles Mair, of the Royal Canadian Society, in May, 

 1890, made the following statement : 



There is, perhaps, no fact in the natural history of America 

 which brings such reproach on civilized man as the reckless and 

 almost total destruction of the bison. . . At this time there 

 are in all probability not five hundred animals alive on the con- 

 tinent. 



When America w T as discovered, the American Indians, 

 measured by their flocks and herds, were as opulent as 

 any people on the globe. The bison w r as the common 

 property of all. He took care of himself both winter and 

 summer, and furnished a never-failing supply of food 

 and raiment for the aborigines. Through inconceivable 

 ages this animal had become adapted to the soil, climate, 

 and surroundings. The bison is the most typical Ameri- 

 can of all of the indigenous beasts on the continent. 



In 1832 the last of the bison was killed east of the Mis- 

 sissippi River. Before the development of the railroads 

 vast herds of these animals avoided the destructive ef- 

 fects of the white settlements by emigration to the Far 

 West, and down to as late as 1870 they still numbered 

 very many millions. The building of the Pacific railroad 



i April 10, 1900. Mr. Lacey, from the committee on the public lands, 

 submitted the report to accompany H. E. 10590. 



