﻿F^RT 
  II. 
  

  

  I— 
  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION, 
  PART 
  AND 
  PRESENT, 
  OF 
  

   BISON 
  AMERICAN 
  US. 
  

  

  The 
  fate 
  of 
  none 
  of 
  our 
  larger 
  mammals 
  is 
  more 
  interesting 
  than 
  is 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  bison, 
  since 
  total 
  extermination 
  is 
  eventually 
  surer 
  to 
  none 
  

   than 
  to 
  this 
  former 
  " 
  monarch 
  of 
  the 
  prairies." 
  Since 
  JEuropeans 
  first 
  

   came 
  to 
  this 
  continent 
  all 
  the 
  larger 
  ruminants 
  and 
  carnivores 
  have 
  

   become 
  greatly 
  reduced 
  in 
  number 
  throughout 
  its 
  vast 
  extent, 
  and 
  

   many 
  species 
  have 
  already 
  become 
  extinct 
  over 
  extensive 
  areas 
  where 
  

   they 
  were 
  formerly 
  the 
  most 
  characteristic 
  animals. 
  The 
  moose 
  and 
  the 
  

   caribou 
  have 
  a 
  far 
  less 
  extended 
  range, 
  particularly 
  to 
  the 
  southward, 
  

   now 
  than 
  formerly 
  ; 
  the 
  common 
  deer, 
  once 
  abundant 
  throughout 
  East- 
  

   ern 
  North 
  America, 
  is 
  now 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  least 
  settled 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   country, 
  having 
  totally 
  disappeared 
  over 
  three-fourths 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  it 
  

   formerly 
  occupied 
  ; 
  the 
  elk, 
  formerly 
  existing 
  over 
  nearly 
  the 
  whole 
  

   continent, 
  now 
  scarcely 
  survives 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  River, 
  though 
  

   less 
  than 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  ago 
  it 
  ranged 
  in 
  large 
  bands 
  over 
  the 
  fertile 
  

   prairies 
  of 
  Illinois, 
  Wisconsin, 
  Iowa, 
  and 
  Minnesota, 
  and 
  was 
  of 
  occa- 
  

   sional 
  occurrence 
  in 
  the 
  mountainous 
  parts 
  of 
  even 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  States; 
  

   the 
  bear, 
  the 
  wolf, 
  and 
  the 
  panther, 
  formerly 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  to 
  be, 
  if 
  

   not 
  dangerous, 
  at 
  least 
  a 
  source 
  of 
  great 
  annoyance 
  to 
  the 
  early 
  settlers, 
  

   are 
  now 
  found, 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Plains, 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  least 
  settled 
  and 
  

   more 
  broken 
  wooded 
  i)ortions 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  The 
  bison, 
  at 
  once 
  the 
  

   largest 
  and 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  animal 
  to 
  the 
  aboriginal 
  tribes 
  of 
  this 
  

   continent, 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  also 
  the 
  most 
  numerous 
  over 
  the 
  immense 
  region 
  it 
  

   frequented, 
  still 
  occurs 
  in 
  almost 
  numberless 
  bands, 
  but 
  it 
  has 
  become 
  

   so 
  circumscribed 
  in 
  its 
  habitat, 
  and 
  is 
  so 
  constantly 
  persecuted 
  by 
  pro- 
  

   fessional 
  hunters, 
  that 
  its 
  total 
  extermination 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  fast 
  approach- 
  

   ing. 
  

  

  The 
  precise 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  the 
  first 
  

   Europeans 
  visited 
  America 
  is 
  still 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  uncertainty, 
  yet 
  reliable 
  

   data 
  are 
  sufiflciently 
  abundant 
  to 
  establish 
  the 
  boundaries 
  of 
  its 
  habitat 
  

   at 
  that 
  time 
  with 
  tolerable 
  exactness. 
  These 
  data 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  

   incidental 
  memoranda 
  in 
  the 
  narratives 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  explorers 
  rather 
  than 
  

   in 
  formal 
  statements 
  bearing 
  directly 
  upon 
  the 
  subject, 
  and 
  though 
  often 
  

   unsatisfactorily 
  vague 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  dates 
  and 
  localities, 
  they 
  enable 
  us 
  

   to 
  trace 
  approximately 
  the 
  eastern 
  and 
  southern 
  boundary 
  of 
  its 
  habitat 
  

   at 
  a 
  date 
  as 
  early 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  century. 
  

   It 
  was, 
  beyond 
  doubt, 
  almost 
  exclusively 
  an 
  animal 
  of 
  the 
  prairies 
  and 
  

   the 
  woodless 
  plains, 
  ranging 
  only 
  to 
  a 
  limited 
  extent 
  into 
  the 
  forested 
  dis- 
  

   tricts 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  River, 
  and 
  never 
  occurring 
  as 
  a 
  regular 
  

   inhabitant 
  of 
  the 
  denser 
  woodlands. 
  The 
  opinion 
  most 
  prevalent 
  in 
  re- 
  

   spect 
  to 
  its 
  primitive 
  range, 
  as 
  expressed 
  by 
  authors 
  who 
  have 
  given 
  

   most 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  subject, 
  is, 
  that 
  it 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  inhabited 
  the 
  

   whole 
  of 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains 
  

   between 
  the 
  parallels 
  of 
  30^ 
  and 
  GO'^; 
  some, 
  however, 
  make 
  the 
  Alle- 
  

   ghanies 
  the 
  eastern 
  limit 
  of 
  its 
  eastward 
  extension. 
  To 
  the 
  westward 
  

   some 
  have 
  considered 
  its 
  habitat 
  as 
  embracing 
  a 
  considerable 
  part 
  of 
  

  

  473 
  

  

  