28 Introductory 



to waste in the hands of the ingenious In- 

 dian. 



Gone are the old days and ways. The 

 bison has entirely disappeared from the 

 plains, and the Indian is confined to his 

 reservations. The vast herds that swarmed 

 the plains whose numbers were like the 

 stars are now almost entirely extinct. 

 Cattle have taken their places in the Bad 

 Lands which were their last grazing- 

 grounds, an extensive agriculture has cov- 

 ered the great plains with wheat and corn, 

 and this is probably for the best. 



The bison was the red man's beef; when 

 he disappeared and the white man came, 

 there was no longer the urgent need for his 

 existence. Cattle were better suited to the 

 needs of the whites, and both herds could 

 not graze upon the same pasture-lands. 



But to all those who love nature in her 

 wild, primitive state, who love the barbarity 

 and the grandeur of untamed life, there 



