78 A GREAT BUFFALO STAMPEDE. 



distinguished the roaring tramp of buffalo, thundering on the 

 plain ; and as the moon for a moment burst from a cloud, 

 I saw the prairie was covered with a dark mass, which 

 undulated in the uncertain light like the waves of the sea. 

 I at once became sensible of the imminent danger we were 

 in, for when thousands and hundreds of thousands of these 

 animals are pouring in a resistless torrent over the plains, 

 trampling down all opposition to their advance, it is almost 

 impossible to change their course, particularly at night. Even 

 if we ourselves were not crushed by the mass of beasts, our 

 animals would most certainly be borne away and irrecoverably 

 lost. In the day time even our cavallada was in continual 

 danger, for immense herds of buffalo dashed repeatedly 

 through the waggons, scarcely giving us time to rescue the 

 animals before they were upon us. Between Pawnee Fork 

 and Cow Creek all our former experiences with buffalo were 

 thrown into the shade, for here they literally formed the 

 whole scenery, and nothing but dense masses of these animals, 

 was to be seen in every direction, covering valley and bluff, 

 and actually blocking up the trail." * (These events doubtless 

 describe the transit of one of the great migratory herds, of 

 which we have already spoken). 



We must now briefly describe the decline and dis- 

 appearance of the American buffalo (or bison) as a wild 

 denizen of the Wilderness. 



Up to 1871 at all events, buffalo still continued to 

 appear in masses during their migratory movements 

 at certain points of the Western Wilderness. Colonel 

 Dodge for instance states that in May of that year he 

 "drove from Old Fort Larned on the Arkansas, 34 miles. 

 At least 25 miles of the distance was through one immense 

 herd composed of countless smaller herds of buffalo on their 

 journey north" " The whole country appeared one mass of 



* Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, by Geo. F. Ruxton, 

 1849, pp. 300306. 



