travelled with the teams to be on hand in case of any 
emergency, while Mr. Dille and myself, after stocking 
up with a respectable load of provisions, followed in 
an automobile and passed them a few miles out on 
the road. 
The day was bright and beautiful, and as we came 
in sight of the long string of slowly moving teams 
against the background of the clear-cut timbered out- 
line of the distant Black Hills, we could not help but 
feel that this small group of captive animals were com- 
ing in to their own. 
We soon reached the Cave headquarters, about two 
miles distant from the enclosed range, where we waited, 
hoping to get some good photographs of the arrival; but 
alas, the journey was too long to be accomplished wholly 
in daylight. The teams lagged on the last half of the 
trip, and it was seven o’clock before they reached the 
point selected for liberating the animals. A number 
of interested persons who wanted to see the bison ac- 
tually released had come out from Hot Springs in 
automobiles. A raw, cold wind was blowing by this 
time, and as there was plenty of good fire wood at hand 
a rousing bonfire was built which somewhat dimmed our 
two lanterns. In order to lessen the labor of unloading, 
trenches had been dug just outside the entrance to the 
enclosed range into which each wagon backed as its turn 
came, bringing the rear end close to the ground so that 
the crates could be worked off inside the fence. 
The first animal took its release very calmy and 
only when noisily urged disappeared into the surround- 
ing darkness. The unloading by the uncertain lght 
of our lanterns and bonfire proved to be a more or less 
difficult task. Greatly to the surprise and disappoint- 
ment of some of our spectators, we had a good deal of 
trouble in getting some of the bison out of their crates. 
In several cases the operation was more like removing 
the crate from the animal than the animal from the 
crate. 
At last our task was over, and it was with some- 
thing of a feeling of relief that we realized that our 
trip had been brought to a successful conclusion, prac- 
47 
