82 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES 
With the coming of the white man, buffalo killing became an organ- 
ized business. A man was paid 25 cents for skinning an animal, and 
could handle 25 to 40 hides a day. In 1877-78 more than 100,000 
animals are said to have been slaughtered for hide or for meat. 
Buffalo hides, which at first brought several dollars each, finally 
became so cheap as to be hardly worth taking. Many bulls were 
killed only for their tongues, which were a great delicacy. The 
ruthless slaughter finally resulted in the extinction of the herds, 
which formerly were so vast that they stopped immigrant trains. 
Then the gathering of the bleached bones that covered the prairies 
became an industry. From $6 to $12 a ton was paid for them, and 
more than 500,000 tons were handled by the two railroads. Great 
piles of bones stacked awaiting shipment became a frequent sight. 
West of the Pecos Canyon is a rocky plateau of Georgetown lime- 
stone which in places to the west is capped by Buda and Eagle Ford 
limestones. The relations of these three formations are well shown 
in the railroad cut a mile east of Shumla siding. The Del Rio clay is 
generally absent in this vicinity and for 40 miles west; the last expo- 
sure (in which it is only 3 to 6 feet thick) is near the highway south 
of the Pecos bridge. The Buda limestone, 15 to 20 feet thick, a 
white massive rock breaking into irregular fragments, is exposed at 
many places. Near Dorso siding the overlying Eagle Ford limestones 
appear again, and there are several cuts in which they are well dis- 
played. Their slabby bedding and pale-reddish tint are very char- 
acteristic. West of Dorso they occupy a shallow basin in which a 
thickness of about 200 feet remains, the higher beds making prominent 
buttes and ridges. In approaching Langtry a downgrade brings the 
railroad onto Buda limestone, which walls several small canyons, 
and finally the massive underlying Georgetown limestone is revealed 
in several small but steep-walled canyons crossed by the railroad. 
This formation makes 50-foot bluffs on the banks of the Rio Grande 
at Langtry and extending up and down the valley for some distance. 
The Eagle Ford beds are well exposed in the higher lands adjoining 
the railroad in this vicinity, and they also constitute high hills in 
Mexico. At many places in this general area the Buda limestone is 
exposed in railroad and stream cuts, lying directly on the smeoth 
surface of the massive upper member of the Georgetown limestone. 
Its chalky-white appearance is characteristic. 
Langtry is a small trading and shipping station built on a rocky 
shelf of Georgetown limestone on the north bank of the Rio Grande. 
Langtry. In the slopes above and along the railroad are excellent 
Widvation 1300 tee ei of Buda limestone capped by Eagle Ford 
Population 165.* short distance west are large spri from 
ST ree iahidlk: the: water is pumped for ined . 
Langtry is famous in Texas history as the headquarters of 
__ the famous “Judge” Roy Bean during the days when no legitimate 
