﻿ALLEN.] 
  FORMER 
  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION. 
  485 
  

  

  bones 
  in 
  the 
  superficial 
  deposits 
  and 
  caves 
  of 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  and 
  

   there 
  is 
  the 
  traditional 
  evidence 
  afforded 
  by 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  such 
  names 
  

   as 
  " 
  Buffalo 
  Creek" 
  and 
  " 
  Buffalo 
  Valley," 
  in 
  Union 
  County, 
  near 
  Lewis- 
  

   burg. 
  

  

  Through 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  Professor 
  C. 
  H. 
  Hamlin, 
  I 
  am 
  able 
  to 
  show 
  

   that 
  such 
  names 
  owe 
  their 
  origin 
  to 
  the 
  former 
  presence 
  of 
  buffa- 
  

   loes 
  at 
  this 
  locality. 
  Professor 
  Hamlin, 
  on 
  writing 
  to 
  Professor 
  J. 
  R. 
  

   Loomis, 
  of 
  the 
  University 
  at 
  Lewisburg, 
  received 
  from 
  him 
  the 
  fol- 
  

   lowing 
  in 
  reply 
  to 
  his 
  inquiries. 
  In 
  a 
  letter 
  dated 
  Lewisburg, 
  Pa., 
  

   March 
  14, 
  1876, 
  Professor 
  Loomis 
  writes 
  as 
  follows: 
  "I 
  have 
  made 
  

   such 
  inquiries 
  as 
  I 
  could. 
  One 
  man 
  whose 
  grandfather 
  he 
  well 
  remem- 
  

   bers, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  much 
  of 
  his 
  conversation, 
  and 
  who 
  lived 
  here 
  one 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  years 
  ago, 
  never 
  heard 
  of 
  the 
  bison 
  being 
  native 
  of 
  this 
  valley. 
  I 
  

   went 
  to 
  see 
  the 
  oldest 
  native-born 
  citizen 
  of 
  our 
  town, 
  who 
  is 
  now 
  

   eighty-six 
  years 
  old. 
  He 
  says 
  there 
  were 
  no 
  buffaloes 
  in 
  his 
  early 
  days, 
  

   but 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  current 
  notion 
  in 
  his 
  boyhood 
  days 
  that 
  there 
  had 
  formerly 
  

  

  been 
  Since 
  writing 
  the 
  above 
  I 
  have 
  received 
  the 
  enclosed 
  

  

  note 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Wolfe, 
  the 
  first 
  gentleman 
  referred 
  to 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  page. 
  

   The 
  information, 
  .... 
  coming 
  so 
  directly, 
  .... 
  is 
  proba- 
  

   bly 
  the 
  best 
  that 
  can 
  now 
  be 
  gathered 
  up." 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  note 
  from 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  Wolfe 
  to 
  Professor 
  Loomis, 
  Mr. 
  Wolfe 
  states 
  

   as 
  follows 
  : 
  " 
  Since 
  seeing 
  you 
  this 
  morning 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  a 
  conversation 
  

   with 
  Dr. 
  Beck, 
  and 
  he 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  buffaloes, 
  at 
  an 
  early 
  day, 
  were 
  

   very 
  abundant 
  in 
  this 
  valley, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  valley 
  received 
  its 
  name 
  

   from 
  that 
  circumstance. 
  The 
  Doctor 
  received 
  his 
  information 
  from 
  

   Colonel 
  John 
  Kelly, 
  who 
  was 
  a 
  prominent 
  and 
  early 
  settler 
  in 
  the 
  

   valley. 
  Kelly 
  told 
  the 
  Doctor 
  that 
  he^shot 
  the 
  last 
  one 
  that 
  was 
  seen 
  

   in 
  the 
  valley. 
  Kelly 
  received 
  his 
  information 
  of 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  

   buffaloes 
  from 
  an 
  old 
  Indian 
  named 
  Logan, 
  friendly 
  to 
  the 
  whites, 
  and 
  

   who 
  remained 
  among 
  the 
  whites 
  after 
  the 
  Indians 
  were 
  driven 
  away." 
  

  

  Under 
  date 
  of 
  March 
  30, 
  1876, 
  Professor 
  Loomis 
  wrote 
  again 
  to 
  Pro- 
  

   fessor 
  Hamlin 
  respecting 
  the 
  same 
  matter, 
  from 
  which 
  I 
  quote 
  the 
  fol- 
  

   lowing: 
  " 
  I 
  sought 
  an 
  interview 
  with 
  Dr. 
  Beck 
  The 
  Colonel 
  

  

  Kelly 
  referred 
  to 
  was 
  a 
  soldier 
  and 
  officer 
  in 
  the 
  Revolutionary 
  War, 
  

   and 
  was 
  a 
  leading 
  man 
  in 
  some 
  fight 
  in 
  N"ew 
  Jersey 
  during 
  the 
  war. 
  A 
  

   small 
  monument 
  is 
  in 
  our 
  cemetery 
  to 
  his 
  memory, 
  from 
  which 
  I 
  take 
  

   the 
  following 
  inscription 
  : 
  'Col. 
  John 
  Kelly 
  died 
  Feb. 
  18th, 
  1832, 
  aged 
  

   88 
  years 
  & 
  7 
  days.' 
  He 
  owned 
  a 
  farm 
  about 
  five 
  miles 
  from 
  Lewisburg, 
  

   in 
  Kelly 
  township, 
  which 
  was 
  named 
  from 
  him. 
  About 
  1790 
  or 
  1800 
  

   {such 
  is 
  the 
  indefiniteness) 
  Colonel 
  Kelly 
  was 
  out 
  with 
  his 
  gun 
  on 
  the 
  

   McClister 
  farm 
  (which 
  joined 
  that 
  of 
  Colonel 
  Kelly), 
  and 
  just 
  at 
  evening 
  

   saw 
  and 
  shot 
  a 
  buffalo. 
  His 
  dog 
  was 
  young, 
  and 
  at 
  so 
  late 
  an 
  hour 
  he 
  

   did 
  not 
  allow 
  it 
  to 
  pursue. 
  The 
  next 
  morning 
  he 
  went 
  to 
  hunt 
  his 
  

   game, 
  but 
  did 
  not 
  find 
  it. 
  Nearly 
  a 
  week 
  later 
  word 
  was 
  brought 
  him 
  

   that 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  found, 
  dead, 
  some 
  mile 
  or 
  two 
  away. 
  He 
  found 
  the 
  

   information 
  correct, 
  but 
  the 
  animal 
  had 
  been 
  considerably 
  torn 
  and 
  

   eaten 
  by 
  the 
  wolves. 
  He 
  regarded 
  the 
  animal 
  as 
  a 
  stray 
  one, 
  and 
  had 
  

   never 
  heard 
  of 
  any 
  "in 
  the 
  valley 
  at 
  a 
  later 
  day. 
  Dr. 
  Beck 
  had 
  the 
  ac- 
  

   count 
  from 
  Colonel 
  Kelly 
  about 
  three 
  months 
  before 
  his 
  death 
  

  

  The 
  Colonel 
  also 
  told 
  him 
  that 
  the 
  valley 
  was 
  wooded 
  originally 
  with 
  

   large 
  but 
  scattered 
  trees, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  grass 
  grew 
  abundantly 
  and 
  fur- 
  

   nished 
  good 
  pasturage 
  for 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  animal 
  had 
  been 
  

   from 
  this 
  circumstance 
  very 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  valley. 
  The 
  Colonel 
  re- 
  

   peated 
  the 
  statement 
  of 
  a 
  friendly 
  Indian, 
  Logan 
  (probably 
  not 
  the 
  

   native 
  chief 
  of 
  that 
  name), 
  who 
  said 
  that 
  the 
  buffalo 
  had 
  been 
  very 
  

   abundant. 
  He, 
  Dr. 
  Beck, 
  had 
  the 
  same 
  statement 
  from 
  Michael 
  Grove, 
  

  

  