CHAPTER VIII 



THE LAST PISKUN 



THE piskun was a trap upon a large scale 

 by means of which nearly all the plains 

 Indians from Texas to the Dakotas ensnared 

 the buffalo. 



This was in the primitive days before 

 they got firearms and could slaughter the 

 herd as rapidly as the white man did. 



Not only was it necessary to kill a lot of 

 bison for food, but this useful animal served 

 the red man in so many other ways that a 

 great number had to be killed each year. 

 At the present time it is said that no part 

 of the cattle that are slaughtered in the 

 great slaughter-houses at Chicago are 

 wasted. So it was in the primitive days ; 

 nearly every part of the buffalo was used, 

 only the offal going to the scavengers. 



