INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



In the days of the buffalo, wolfing was a rec- 

 ognized industry. Small parties — two or more 

 men — with team, saddle-horses, and camp outfit, 

 used to go out into the buffalo range, establish a 

 camp, and spend the winter there, killing buffalo 

 and poisoning the carcasses with strychnine. The 

 wolves that fed on these carcasses died about 

 them, and their pelts were taken to camp, to be 

 stretched and dried. 



The work was hard and not without its dan- 

 gers. Storms were frequent, and often very se- 

 vere, and the Indians were bitterly opposed to 

 the operations of these wolf hunters, who killed 

 great numbers of buffalo for wolf baits, as well as 

 elk, antelope, deer, and other smaller animals. 

 On the other hand, in winter the Indians did not 

 usually travel about very much. 



The following pages describe the adventures of 

 Mr. Peck and two companions — all recently dis- 

 charged soldiers — during the winter of l86i- 

 1862. 



Robert Morris Peck was born in Washington, 

 Mason County, Kentucky, October 30, 1839. At 

 the age of seventeen — November, 1856 — he en- 



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