The Last of the Buffalo 



I rode back I did not find it easy to get 

 my horse near her ; but another shot was 

 not needed, and while I sat looking at her, 

 she fell over dead. The three buffalo first 

 killed had fallen within a hundred yards 

 of the trail where the wagons afterward 

 passed, and my cow was but little farther 

 away. The command soon came up, the 

 soldiers did the butchering, and before 

 long we were on the march again. 



Of the millions of buffalo which even 

 in our own time ranged the plains in free- 

 dom, none now remain. From the prai- 

 ries which they used to darken, the wild 

 herds, down to the last straggling bull, 

 have disappeared. In the Yellowstone 

 National Park, protected from destruction 

 by United States troops, are the only wild 

 buffalo which exist within the borders of 

 the United States. These are mountain 

 buffalo ; and, from their habit of living in 

 the thick timber and on the rough moun- 

 tain sides, they are only now and then 

 seen by visitors to the Park. It is impos- 

 sible to say just how many there are ; but 

 from the best information that I can get, 

 based on the estimates of reliable and con- 

 servative men, I conclude that the num- 

 ber was not less than four hundred in the 

 winter of 18911892. Each winter or 

 258 



