i68 THE OX FAMILY 



Two of these animals — the first and last named — 

 were, only a few years ago, wonderfully abundant upon 

 the great Western plains. The bison has, as we have 

 observed, become extinct, there being only a small 

 herd of the animals in the National Park, besides those 

 in captivity referred to in the chapter on that animal. 

 The musk-ox is a boreal animal, only known to a few 

 sportsmen, its range being confined to the extreme 

 northern parts of the continent, from the so-called 

 barren grounds of Canada to the Arctic Ocean. 



The big-horn and the mountain-goat live on the 

 high mountain-tops of the Western mountains, and a 

 few years ago these animals were regarded as identi- 

 cal by many hunters, although they do not look at all 

 alike. The information concerning the white goat was 

 so scant when I first visited the Rocky Mountains that 

 I doubted its existence, as did many others who visited 

 the same regions. At present, however, we know the 

 natural history of these two aninicds well ; and there 

 are many sportsmen who have killed both. We are 

 indebted to the adventurous sportsmen who climbed 

 the peaks of the Western mountains in pursuit of these 

 animals for much of our information concerning them. 



The bison being practically extinct, and the antelope 

 being so nearly exterminated in many places as to be 

 no longer an object of pursuit (its pursuit being pro- 

 hibited in nearly all of the States by law); the musk- 

 ox being an Arctic animal, and the two remaining 

 species being found now only on high mountain-peaks, 

 it is apparent that the animals of the ox family found 

 in North America are comparatively of little impor- 

 tance to sportsmen. 



