Trail and Camp-Fire 



throughout the northern cattle country in 

 Montana, Wyoming, and the western ends of 

 the Dakotas. In the old days wolves were 

 very plentiful throughout this region, closely 

 following the huge herds of buffaloes. The 

 white men who followed these herds as pro- 

 fessional buffalo-hunters were often accom- 

 panied by other men, known as wolfers, who 

 poisoned these wolves for the sake of their 

 furs. With the disappearance of the buffalo 

 the wolves diminished in numbers so that they 

 also seemed to disappear. During the last 

 ten years their numbers have steadily increased, 

 and now they seem to be as numerous as they 

 ever were in the region in question, and they 

 are infinitely more wary and more difficult to 

 kill. 



Along the Little Missouri their ravages have 

 been so serious during the past four years as 

 to cause heavy damage to the stock-men. Not 

 only colts and calves, but young trail stock, 

 and in midwinter even full-grown horses and 

 steers, are continually slain ; and in some sea- 

 sons the losses have been so heavy as to more 

 than eat up all the profits of the ranchman. 

 The county authorities have put a bounty on 



wolf scalps of three dollars each, and in my 



214 



