14 MAN AND ANIMALS 



muskrats, mussels, fish, etc., and the larger game of the land was par- 

 ticularly abundant and diversified, because of the numerous habitats 

 represented. Unfortunately, a fragmentary record is all we have of the 

 decline of the primeval communities and the development of the present 

 ones. These records apply mainly to the large animals of Cook County. 

 The time of the disappearance from Southern Michigan, Northern 

 Indiana, and Lake County, Illinois, was probably much later and, with 

 the exception of the bison, bear, and elk, the more numerous kinds of 

 game nearly all still occur in the thinly settled portions of Illinois (50). 



The earliest explorers of this region, Marquette, LaSalle, and others, 

 speak repeatedly of the great abundance of large game (17, p. 34). 

 LaSalle, in the autumn of 1679, sailed along the western shore of Lake 

 Michigan until the end of the lake was reached. Landing, he found deer, 

 bear, and wild turkeys in great abundance. Grapevines loaded with 

 clusters of ripe grapes hung from the tall forest trees and provided a rich 

 feast for the bears. Continuing toward the headwaters of the Kankakee 

 River, one stray buffalo was found sticking in a marsh. It was the 

 beginning of winter and the remainder of the herd had probably migrated 

 South, but on entering the headwaters of the Illinois River, in the autumn 

 of the following year, LaSalle says that he found the great prairies 

 "alive with buffalo" (18). 



The Indians claimed that bison were very plentiful on the prairies 

 until the Storm Spirit, becoming angry at the Indians, sent a great 

 snowfall and very cold weather, which drove the buffaloes away and 

 they never returned (19). The time of the great storm seems to have 

 been between 1770 and 1780. There is good evidence, however, that 

 they were found in considerable numbers in this part of the state as 

 late as 1800 (20). Soon after this they entirely disappeared. As late 

 as 1838 traces of them were still to be found in buffalo paths, well-beaten 

 trails, leading generally from prairies in the interior of the state to margins 

 of large rivers. These paths were very narrow, showing that the animals 

 went in single file (20). 



In 1800 and for many years afterward, bears, deer, and elk, especially 

 deer, were very plentiful. For some time deer continued to increase with 

 the population because of the protection found in the neighborhood of 

 man from the beasts of prey, and the gradual thinning-out of the animals 

 which preyed upon them (21). Elk had almost entirely disappeared in 

 1837, although a few were seen occasionally (22, 20, 200, 23). John 

 Reynolds, an early settler of Chicago, tells of being one of a hunting 

 party that wounded an elk (200). In 1837 bears were seldom seen (20, 



