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  KEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SERVEY. 
  

  

  affluents, 
  but 
  it 
  was, 
  I 
  think, 
  unquestionably 
  the 
  James.* 
  The 
  region 
  

   visited 
  by 
  Captain 
  Batt 
  must 
  have 
  also 
  been 
  somewhere 
  on 
  the 
  head- 
  

   waters 
  of 
  the 
  James. 
  There 
  is 
  still 
  traditional 
  evidence 
  that 
  buffaloes 
  

   formerly 
  passed 
  eastward 
  from 
  the 
  head-waters 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Kanawha, 
  

   in 
  West 
  Virginia, 
  to 
  this 
  region. 
  Professor 
  Shaler, 
  being 
  aware 
  of 
  the 
  

   existence 
  of 
  such 
  names 
  as 
  " 
  Buffalo 
  Springs" 
  and 
  " 
  Buffalo 
  Ford," 
  in 
  

   the 
  region 
  of 
  Amherst, 
  Bath, 
  and 
  Pocahontas 
  Counties, 
  Virginia, 
  has 
  

   made 
  successful 
  effort 
  to 
  ascertain 
  whether 
  they 
  indicated 
  the 
  former 
  

   presence 
  there 
  of 
  buffaloes. 
  In 
  answer 
  to 
  his 
  inquiries 
  respecting 
  the 
  

   matter, 
  Mr. 
  0. 
  W. 
  Pritchett 
  has 
  kindly 
  sent 
  him 
  the 
  following 
  import- 
  

   ant 
  information. 
  Mr. 
  Pritchett 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  " 
  old 
  men" 
  of 
  that 
  country 
  

   affirm 
  " 
  that 
  the 
  Buffalo 
  Springs 
  were 
  so 
  named 
  from 
  a 
  Salt 
  Lick 
  near 
  

   by 
  of 
  that 
  name, 
  to 
  which 
  their 
  fathers 
  were 
  guided 
  by 
  the 
  buffalo 
  trails. 
  

   The 
  tradition 
  is 
  abundant 
  and 
  easily 
  verified, 
  that 
  buffalo 
  and, 
  elk 
  were 
  

   numerous 
  in 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  Virginia 
  within 
  a 
  x)eriod 
  comparatively 
  recent. 
  

   These 
  traditions 
  are 
  especially 
  abundant 
  in 
  Bath 
  and 
  Pocahontas 
  Coun- 
  

   ties, 
  lying 
  between 
  the 
  Blue 
  Eidge 
  and 
  the 
  Alleghanies. 
  On 
  the 
  Cow 
  

   Pasture 
  Eiver 
  (which 
  with 
  the 
  Jackson 
  forms 
  the 
  James) 
  in 
  Bath 
  County, 
  

   a 
  few 
  miles 
  below 
  the 
  Blowing 
  Cave 
  and 
  Wallawhatoola 
  Springs 
  (Indian 
  

   names 
  for 
  Crooked 
  River) 
  is 
  a 
  salt 
  lick, 
  near 
  which 
  they 
  still 
  show 
  the 
  

   deep-worn 
  trail 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  at 
  the 
  point 
  where 
  they 
  crossed 
  the 
  river, 
  

  

  Btill 
  called 
  Buffalo 
  Ford 
  There 
  are 
  men 
  still 
  living 
  there 
  

  

  ■whose 
  fathers 
  and 
  grandfathers 
  saw 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  and 
  even, 
  in 
  one 
  in- 
  

   stance^ 
  caught 
  and 
  domesticated 
  them."t 
  In 
  corroboration 
  of 
  the 
  above 
  

   important 
  statements, 
  Mr. 
  Pritchett 
  refers 
  to 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  descend- 
  

   ants 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  settlers 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  in 
  question 
  as 
  being 
  ready 
  to 
  

   vouch 
  for 
  his 
  statements. 
  The 
  localities 
  he 
  mentions 
  are 
  all 
  well 
  up 
  in 
  

   the 
  mountains, 
  beyond 
  the 
  Blue 
  Eidge, 
  Pocahontas 
  County 
  being 
  wholly 
  

   "west 
  of 
  the 
  divide, 
  on 
  the 
  Greenbrier 
  Eiver. 
  Bath 
  County 
  adjoins 
  it 
  on 
  

   the 
  east, 
  and 
  embraces 
  the 
  extreme 
  upper 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  James. 
  

   These 
  counties 
  are 
  the 
  ones 
  referred 
  to 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Pritchett 
  as 
  those 
  where 
  

   the 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  presence 
  of 
  tbe 
  buffalo 
  is 
  still 
  " 
  abundant." 
  

   Amherst 
  County 
  is 
  some 
  distance 
  lower 
  down 
  the 
  James, 
  and 
  if 
  the 
  

   name 
  " 
  Buffalo 
  Springs," 
  in 
  that 
  county, 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  considered 
  as 
  satisfac- 
  

   tory 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  existence 
  there 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  these 
  animals 
  

   must 
  have 
  at 
  times 
  wandered 
  to 
  some 
  distance 
  down 
  the 
  James, 
  as 
  far 
  

   at 
  least 
  as 
  the 
  Blue 
  Eidge. 
  Watson, 
  in 
  his 
  " 
  Annals 
  of 
  Philadelphia,"! 
  

   says 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  latest 
  mention 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  nearest 
  to 
  our 
  region 
  of 
  country 
  

   is 
  mentioned 
  in 
  1730, 
  when 
  a 
  gentleman 
  from 
  the 
  Shanadore, 
  Va., 
  saw 
  

   there 
  a 
  buffalo 
  killed 
  of 
  1,400 
  pounds, 
  and 
  several 
  others 
  came 
  in 
  a 
  drove 
  

   at 
  the 
  same 
  time." 
  This 
  was 
  probably 
  a 
  wandering 
  herd 
  from 
  the 
  region 
  

   of 
  the 
  Upper 
  James 
  Eiver. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  also 
  reasons 
  for 
  supposing 
  that 
  the 
  buffalo 
  at 
  times 
  crossed 
  

   through 
  the 
  low 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Alleghanies 
  in 
  Central 
  Pennsylvania 
  to 
  

   the 
  Atlantic 
  slope. 
  Professor 
  Baird 
  has 
  reported 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  its 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  " 
  Patowomeck" 
  mentiouecl 
  by 
  Argoll 
  (or 
  Argall) 
  is 
  evidently 
  the 
  Indian 
  chief 
  

   of 
  that 
  name, 
  and 
  not 
  the 
  river 
  "Patowomeck." 
  Purchas, 
  in 
  his 
  marginal 
  notes 
  to 
  

   Argoll's 
  letter, 
  says, 
  " 
  His 
  first 
  voyage 
  to 
  Pataivomec 
  and 
  PenirooTce 
  River," 
  not 
  Rivers 
  ; 
  

   and 
  again, 
  "The 
  second 
  voyage 
  to 
  Peiibroohe 
  River." 
  Argoll 
  himself 
  speaks 
  of 
  going 
  

   to 
  " 
  fetch 
  Corne 
  from 
  Fatawomeck," 
  for 
  which 
  purpose 
  he 
  " 
  entered 
  into 
  Pemhroole 
  

   River," 
  and 
  after 
  obtaining 
  his 
  cargo 
  of 
  corn 
  he 
  " 
  hasted 
  to 
  James 
  Towne," 
  and 
  later 
  

   arrived 
  at 
  Point 
  Comfort. 
  After 
  distributing 
  the 
  corn 
  he 
  returned 
  again 
  " 
  into 
  Pem- 
  

   Irook 
  River," 
  and 
  made 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  a 
  "great 
  store 
  of 
  Cattle 
  as 
  big 
  as 
  Kine'." 
  

   W^hilst 
  engaged 
  " 
  in 
  this 
  business" 
  he 
  conceived 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  going 
  to 
  the 
  " 
  great 
  King 
  

   Patowomeck" 
  ior 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  obtaining 
  possession 
  by 
  "strategem" 
  of 
  the 
  "Great 
  

   Powliatans 
  Daughter 
  Pokahuntis." 
  

  

  t 
  Letter 
  to 
  Professor 
  Shaler, 
  dated 
  Glasgow, 
  Mo., 
  July 
  31, 
  1875. 
  

  

  i 
  The 
  locality, 
  though 
  not 
  stated, 
  is 
  probably 
  Cumberland 
  County. 
  

  

  4 
  

  

  