Fort Randall to Bismarck during the years immediately fol- 

 lowing 1876, say that during the next four or five years, buf- 

 falo were never seen in that section of the country. 



In the summer of 1880, the Sioux having surrendered and 

 having returned to their own country, the buffalo began to 

 drift back again. During the summer of 1880 and during the 

 winter following, buffalo hunting was an all-absorbing occu- 

 pation for white men and Indians alike, and there occurred 

 a massacre of game such as is probably unparallel in history. 



The Indians hunted the buffalo on horse back, using light 

 rifles. They hunted in bands and would spend days on the 

 trail, maneuvering a bunch of buffalo into a position where 

 they could ride in on them before stampeding the herd. The 

 discipline of these hunting parties was strict, and it was 

 almost a fatal offense for any member of the party to violate 

 any of the rules of the game. Often they would fast for days, 

 while working silently to an advantageous position. When 

 the right moment came, they would ride their horses furiously 

 to close range, where they could find the vital spot with their 

 light rifles. An Indian would give anything he possessed for 

 a good pony, trained for buffalo hunting. 



The white hunters were less crafty and more brutal in 

 their methods. They used large 50 calibre buffalo guns, so 

 heavy that a support was necessary in taking aim, and which 

 would kill a buffalo a half mile distant. Shooting at their 

 prey from this distance, the buffalo would not know what 

 caused one of their members to fall to the ground in the death 

 struggle, and would gather around curiously while the hunters 

 dropped them one by one. 



The only parts of the buffalo which were considered of any 

 use were the hide and the tongue. These having been re- 

 moved, the rest of the carcass was left for the coyotes or to 

 rot in the sun. The hides were sold to the traders, particu- 

 larly at the forts, and the tongues were used for food. A 

 Chamberlain paper, published in 1881, records the arrival of 

 a hunter from up the river with a bum boat filled with dried 

 buffalo tongues, for which he found a ready sale. Buffalo 

 hides in any quantity could be bought for $1.50 each. 



So far as known, the last wild buffalo killed east of the 



