BUFFALO. 291 



in the Dominion of Canada, such as a partly 

 domesticated herd at Stony Mountains ; there 127 

 animals have recently been sold to Mr. Jones, Kansas 

 city, and perhaps a few near Peace Eiver. In the 

 United States about 300 are said to exist in the Yellow- 

 stone Park in the province of Wyoming. There are 

 also still a few remaining in the Indian Territory ; a 

 few Wood-buffalo are occasionally seen near the Great 

 Slave Lake ; and some are still found in the moun- 

 tainous parts of Mexico. In 1889 there were said to 

 be barely 500 Bison in the United States, and 1,000 in 

 Canada. The Buffalo formerly existed in countless 

 herds in North America, although, like the Ked Indian, it 

 has been driven east of the Mississippi, or exterminated 

 some eighty years ago. The yearly migrations or 

 wanderings of these mighty beasts tended to inter- 

 mingle the breed, and continue the race. Many were, 

 however, drowned in crossing rivers. Their diminution 

 was chiefly caused by the hide-slaughterers, who recklessly 

 killed this noble animal, not merely for the sake of its 

 robe, but also for the leather, leaving the carcase to rot 

 on the plains. The majority were killed in the summer. 

 All the many years of hunting by Indians and white 

 men did not make such havoc as the railways and hide- 

 slaughterers. From 1871 to 1874 it is estimated that 

 between 4,000,000 and 4,500,000 animals were killed. 

 In 1881 to 1882, 250,000 hides were taken in Montana, 

 and sent chiefly from Miles City. In 1884, a large trade 

 was done by collecting and selling the heaps of Buffalo 

 bones found on the prairies, and which they piled at the 

 railway stations. These piles were often 20 feet high, 

 and 50 to 60 feet long. These bones were sold for 

 grinding for manure, and other purposes. In the 

 regular Fall hunts, a great many hunters banded 



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