BUFFALO. 141 



Persons who, by trading illegally with the Indians, have 

 accumulated many robes, are too careful to be caught in 

 so gross an error as shipping their goods as freight on 

 railroads. 



They evade publicity by hiring freight cars and load- 

 ing them themselves. The railroad is not solicitous, 

 except as to the number of pounds carried. 



The exact amount of the robe trade is known to but 

 one or two firms in the United States, and they are 

 extremely careful that outsiders shall not have the 

 details. 



The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Eailroad carries 

 a freight of about 19,000 robes each year. The Union 

 Pacific about 10,000. Probably an average of about 

 5,000 are put upon the market clandestinely. An ave- 

 rage of about 55,000 comes down the Missouri from the 

 Northern Indians. The robe ' crop ' is therefore in the 

 neighbourhood of 90,000 yearly. 



I have already spoken of the immense waste of hides 

 incident to the first great rush of green hunters into the 

 masses of buffalo. My own estimates are confirmed by 

 well-informed persons ' in the trade,' who were in the 

 heart of the buffalo region at that time. The mass of 

 these hunters were such poor shots that they wounded 

 two or three buffalo for every one bagged, and most of 

 which subsequently died or were killed by wolves. The 

 skinners and curers knew so little of the proper mode of 

 curing hides, that at least half were ]ost of those actually 

 taken. In the summer and fall of 1872 one hide sent to 

 market represented at least three dead buffalo. This 

 condition of affairs rapidly improved ; but such was the 

 furor for slaughter and the ignorance of all concerned, 

 that every hide sent to market in 1872 represented no 

 less than five dead buffalo. 



Early in 1873 the organisation of hunting parties had 

 been properly effected. 



The ' hunter ' had learnt his work, and dead buffalo 



