134 GAMS. 



destroyed. In many places the valley was offensive from 

 the stench of putrefying carcasses. 



At the present time the Southern buffalo can hardly 

 be said to have a range ; the term expresses a voluntary 

 act, while the unfortunate animals have no volition left. 

 They are driven from one water hole to meet death at 

 another. No sooner do they stop to feed than the sharp 

 crack of a rifle warns them to change position. Every 

 drink of water, every mouthful of grass, is at the expense of 

 life ; and the miserable animals, continually harassed, are 

 driven into localities far from their natural haunts, any- 

 where to avoid the unceasing pursuit. 



A few, probably some thousands, still linger about 

 their beloved pastures of the Eepublican ; a few still 

 hide in the deep canons of the Cimarron country ; but 

 the mass of Southern buffalo now living are to be found 

 far away from the dreaded hunter, on a belt of country 

 extending south-west across the upper tributaries of the 

 Canadian, across the northern end of the Llano- Estacado> 

 or Staked Plain, to the Pecos Eiver. 



The difficulty of getting the hides to market from 

 these remote and Indian-infested regions is some 

 guarantee that the buffalo will not be extinct for a few 

 years. 



In the beginning of the hide business, the hunting 

 parties organised themselves on any haphazard basis. 

 Every man wanted to shoot ; no man wanted to do the 

 other work. Buffalo were slaughtered without sense or 

 discretion, and oftentimes left to rot with the hides on. 

 This did not pay, and these self-organised parties soon 

 broke up. When the merchants got the business into 

 their hands they organised parties for work. The most 

 approved party consisted of four men one shooter, two 

 skinners, and one man to cook, stretch hides, and take care 

 of camp. Where buffalo were very plentiful, the number 

 of skinners was increased. A light waggon, drawn by 

 two horses or mules, takes the outfit into the wilderness, 



