BUFFALO HUNTS. 229 



During the winter of 1842 and 43, as we were 

 told, buffaloes were abundant around Fort 

 Union, and during the night picked up strag- 

 gling handfuls of hay that happened to be 

 scattered about the place. An attempt was 

 made to secure some of them alive, by strewing 

 hay as a bait, from the interior of the old fort, 

 which is about two hundred yards off, to some 

 distance from the gateway, hoping the animals 

 would feed along into the enclosure. They ate 

 the hay to the very gate ; but as the hogs and 

 common cattle were regularly placed there, for 

 security, during the night, the buffaloes would 

 not enter, probably on account of the various 

 odours issuing from the interior. As the buffa- 

 loes generally found some hay scattered around, 

 they soon became accustomed to sleep in the 

 vicinity of the fort, but went off every morning, 

 and disappeared behind the hills, about a mile 

 off. 



One night they were fired at, from a four- 

 pounder loaded with musket-balls. Three were 

 killed, and several were wounded, but this dis- 

 aster did not prevent them from returning 

 frequently to the fort at night, and they were 

 occasionally shot, during the whole winter, quite 

 near the fort. 



As various accounts of buffalo hunts have 

 been already written, we will pass over our 

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