138 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 



the Canadian West is based, and we cannot afford to dis- 

 miss the claim Ughtly. I have aheady submitted this pro- 

 posal to the Parks Branch of the Department of the Interior 

 for consideration, in the firm belief that it affords a solution 

 to the question of the disposal of the surplus stock of buffalo 

 in the Buffalo Park. There are undoubtedly stockmen in 

 the West who would be willing to enclose sufficient range 

 unsuited to the production of wheat to permit the main- 

 tenance of small herds of buffalo by way of preliminary 

 experiment. And I am convinced that the results of such 

 experiments would demonstrate that the domestication of 

 the buffalo is practicable. Any one who has ridden over 

 the Buffalo Park and mingled with the herds there must 

 reahze that the buffalo are as manageable as the beef steers 

 of the range if not more so. They are docile, and untracta- 

 ble bulls can be readily dealt with (Plate XIII). 



Cross-Breeding with Domestic Cattle 



With a view to combining the excellent natural qualities 

 of the buffalo, that make it so suited to Western conditions, 

 with the beef-producing quahties of the best domestic 

 breeds of cattle, efforts have been made from time to time 

 to cross the buffalo with domestic cattle. The first records 

 we have of such domestication by cross-breeding are those 

 of Huguenot settlers in Virginia in 1701, and later in the 

 eighteenth century buffaloes were domesticated and bred in 

 captivity in that State. It is interesting to note that one 

 of the most important of these earlier attempts to utilize 

 the buffalo, which are recorded by Hornaday in his mono- 

 graph, was undertaken by Mr. S. L. Bedson, of Stony 

 Mountain, Manitoba. In 1877 Mr. Bedson purch^ased 

 1 buffalo bull, 4 heifers, and 5 calves. By 1888 his herd, 

 which was allowed to range the prairie at will, had increased 

 to 83 head, consisting of 23 full-blooded bulls, 35 cows, 3 



