The Last of the Buffalo 



was the habit of scratching against trees 

 and rocks. Sometimes a solitary erratic 

 bowlder, five or six feet high, may be seen 

 on the bare prairie, with the ground imme- 

 diately around it worn down two or three 

 feet below the level of the surrounding 

 earth. This is where the buffalo walked 

 about the stone, rubbing against it, and 

 where they trod loosening the soil, which 

 has been blown away by the wind, so 

 that in course of time a deep trench was 

 worn about the rock. Often single trees 

 along streams were worn quite smooth by 

 the shoulders and sides of the buffalo. 



When the first telegraph line was built 

 across the continent, the poles used were 

 light and small ; for transportation over 

 the plains was slow and expensive, and it 

 was not thought necessary to raise the 

 wires high above the ground. These 

 poles were much resorted to by the buf- 

 falo to scratch against, and before long a 

 great many of them were pushed over. 

 A story, now of considerable antiquity, is 

 told of an ingenious employee of the 

 telegraph company, who devised a plan 

 for preventing the buffalo from disturbing 

 the poles. This he expected to accom- 

 plish by driving into them spikes which 

 should prick the animals when they rubbed 



216 



