The above unvarnished liistorv of the :Montana Na- 

 tional Bison Range in the 60th Congress is alone sufficient 

 to show the American people, both of the present and of 

 a hundred future generations, the extent to which they are 

 nidebted to Senator Joseph JM. Dixon, his colleagues in the 

 Senate, and to Representatives Scott, Haugen and Lamb 

 for the celerity with which the bison measure was put 

 through Congress, and enacted into la^v. It was done 

 with the same briskness and precision with which the best- 

 managed business corporation takes up and acts upon an 

 important matter A\'hen the urgency for action is very 

 great. 



II. The Raising of the Bisox-Herd Fund. 



The final passage by Congress of the Bison-Range 

 Act rendered the next duty of the Bison Society both clear 

 and imperative. Xo conferences were necessarv in order 

 to determine tliat some one must immediately 'set about 

 the very serious business of raising, by special subscription, 

 a sum with which to purchase the nucleus herd of bison that 

 in a few months would actually be due from the Society to 

 the national government. 



There seemed to be but one sum open to consideration ; 

 and that was $10,000. Xot a moment was lost in calling 

 for that amount. In view of the extent of public interes't 

 in the future of the bison, it seemed desirable to give the 

 call a national character, and afford the citizens of every 

 state and territory a chance to subscribe, in sums ranging 

 from one dollar upward. It Mas regarded as far more 

 desirable to receive the fund in a large number of small 

 subscriptions than in a few large ones onlv. 



By means of a circular letter each meniber of the Board 

 of ^Managers was asked to procure subscriptions amount- 

 ing to at least $100. Tlie other members of the Bison 

 Society were asked to subscri})e, and to secure other sub- 

 scriptions, amounting to a total of at least $10 for each 

 member. ]Many promptly responded to this call, and 

 some remitted funds far in excess of the ten-dollar limit. 

 The list of subscriptions published herewith shows the ad- 

 mirable manner in which our members responded to the 

 hard and unromantic call for funds in the heat of mid- 

 summer. In tlie printed list of subscriptions an asterisk 



9 



