208 THE AMERICAN BISONS. 



dreds of animals. In their casual limits the Indiana simply follow the herds 

 on horseback, shooting from the saddle when in full pursuit, using either 



hows and arrows or the modern lirc-aruis with great dexterity. 



Descriptions of the systematic expeditions of the Red River half-breed 

 hunters have been given with greater or less fulness by McLean. Ross, 

 Hind,* and others. The distinctive features of these grand hunting expe- 

 ditions are their magnitude, the number of persons engaged in them, and 

 the almost military character of their organization. As previously stated. 

 these expeditions generally numbered from five hundred to upwards of 

 twelve hundred carts, accompanied by from two hundred and fifty to six 

 hundred hunters, nearly twice this number of women and children, hesides a 

 draught animal (either a horse or an ox) and a dog to each cart, and riding 

 animals in addition for the hunters. Setting out from Fort Garry, the expe- 

 ditions for many years hunted over the Pembina plains, extending their trips 

 southward ami westward over the prairies and plains of the lied River, the 

 Shayenne, and the Coteau de Missouri. The Red River half-breed hunters 

 have undoubtedly done more to exterminate the buffalo than any other 

 single cause, and have long since wholly extirpated them throughout not 

 only this vast region, but also over the extensive prairies of the Assinniboine, 

 the Qu'appelle, and the lower Saskatchewan. Their method of hunting was 

 for several hundred horsemen armed with lire-arms to make a grand simul- 

 taneous rush into the very midst of the immense herds. An attack that 

 Mr. Ross witnessed he thus describes: "Our array in the field must have 

 been a grand and imposing one to those who had never seen the like before. 

 No less than four hundred huntsmen, all mounted, and anxiously waiting for 

 thi> word 'Start!' took up their position in a line at one end of the cam]). 

 while Captain Wilkie, with his spy-glass at his eye. surveyed the buffalo, 

 examined the ground, and issued his orders. At eighl o'clock the whole 

 cavalcade broke ground and made for the buffalo; first at a slow trot, then 

 at a gallop, and lastly ai full speed. Their advance was over a dead level, 

 the plain having no hollow or shelter of any kind to conceal their approach. 

 .... When the horsemen started the cattle might have been a mile and a 

 half ahead; hut they had approached to within four or live hundred yards 

 before the hulls curved their tails or pawed the ground. In a moment more 



• McLean (John), Note* of Twentj I rice in the (Iudson'a Baj Territory! Vol II, 



Uexander), Thi Bed Biver Settlement, | I; Elind (H. Y.), Canad BapL 



Expedition, Vol II. pp. ii". 111. 



