NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 325 



eastern edge of the plains in Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, and 

 Oklahoma westward to eastern Washington, Oregon, and the 

 valleys and coast of southern California and most of the penin- 

 sula of Lower California. "In Mexico it occupied the open 

 plains country of the tableland south almost to 20 of latitude, 

 nearly to the valley of Mexico " and the western part of Sonora. 

 Originally it was abundant and well distributed over this 

 territory and exceeded the bison in numbers where both 

 occurred together. It is estimated by Nelson that at the time 

 of the settlement of this continent by Europeans the prong- 

 horn population was "not less than thirty to forty millions, 

 possibly more." A recent census of those still existing in the 

 United States, Canada and Mexico (1922-24), indicates that 

 of these vast numbers about 30,000 then remained, but a later 

 figure (1939) makes this over 180,000. 



The pronghorn just reached the prairie country of south- 

 western Minnesota in its northeastward distribution, but 

 Herrick, writing of it in 1892, speaks of it as having "long since" 

 gone. That it may even have penetrated farther east is 

 possibly indicated by the recent discovery of a horn buried in 

 a few inches of earth at Moline, ill., although it may have been 

 brought there by Indians in earlier years (Fryxell, 1926). 

 Formerly abundant all over the Dakotas, it began to decline 

 in the late seventies, and with the encroachment of settlement 

 gradually disappeared. By 1924, Nelson wrote that but five 

 small herds aggregating 225 animals remained, and these in 

 the southwestern corner; in South Dakota about three times 

 that number were found in the western half of the State. 

 "Of the countless thousands of antelope which once roamed 

 the plains of Nebraska but 10 small bands remain, containing 

 a total of about 187 animals." "At one time Kansas was 

 inhabited by myriads of pronghorns, and for years after the 

 construction of the transcontinental railroads they were a 

 familiar sight to passengers on the trains. In 1923, however, 

 they had become almost exterminated throughout the State," 

 and the few remaining were to be found only in the extreme 

 southwest corner where they wandered at times into the 

 adjacent parts of Oklahoma. Otherwise the species once so 

 common in this State was gone, but in 1910 an attempt was 

 made to establish a herd in the Wichita National Game Pre- 

 serve in Comanche County. After several unsuccessful im- 



