﻿498 
  KEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  is 
  very 
  gentle 
  ; 
  we 
  also 
  find 
  there 
  tall 
  forests, 
  and 
  thickets 
  in 
  the 
  low- 
  

   bottoms. 
  In 
  the 
  meadows 
  we 
  observe 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  groves 
  of 
  very 
  tall 
  

   and 
  straight 
  oaks, 
  to 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  fourscore 
  or 
  an 
  hundred 
  at 
  most. 
  

   There 
  are 
  others 
  of 
  about 
  forty 
  or 
  fifty, 
  which 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been; 
  

   planted 
  by 
  men's 
  hands 
  in 
  these 
  meadows, 
  for 
  a 
  retreat 
  to 
  the 
  buffaloes, 
  ^ 
  

   deer, 
  and 
  other 
  animals, 
  and 
  a 
  screen 
  against 
  storms, 
  and 
  the 
  sting 
  of 
  i 
  

   the 
  flies. 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  Those 
  rising 
  meadows 
  and 
  tall 
  forests 
  abound 
  with 
  ' 
  

   buffaloes, 
  elk, 
  and 
  deer, 
  with 
  turkeys, 
  partridges, 
  and 
  all 
  kinds 
  of 
  game; 
  j 
  

   cousequeutly 
  wolves, 
  catamounts, 
  and 
  other 
  carnivorous 
  animals 
  are^ 
  

   found 
  there."* 
  

  

  On 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  accompanying 
  maps 
  this 
  region 
  is 
  marked 
  as 
  "Terres 
  

   Hautes/' 
  while 
  the 
  low 
  country, 
  or 
  "drowned 
  lands," 
  of 
  the 
  present; 
  

   Lower 
  Louisiana 
  is 
  marked 
  "Terres 
  Plates." 
  Hence, 
  when 
  in 
  his 
  

   description 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  he 
  speaks 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  leaving 
  "Lower 
  

   Louisiana" 
  to 
  hunt 
  this 
  animal, 
  he 
  simply 
  means 
  that 
  they 
  leave 
  the 
  

   low 
  flat 
  country 
  immediately 
  bordering 
  the 
  coast 
  and 
  the 
  river, 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  the 
  low 
  country 
  south 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  Baton 
  Eouge, 
  to 
  hunt 
  in 
  the 
  

   higher 
  lands 
  of 
  the 
  i^resent 
  State 
  of 
  Mississippi, 
  where, 
  if 
  we 
  take 
  Da 
  : 
  

   Pratz 
  as 
  trustworthy 
  authority, 
  the 
  buffalo 
  must, 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  (about 
  

   1720 
  and 
  later), 
  have 
  been 
  abundant. 
  Yet 
  when 
  this 
  very 
  region 
  

   was 
  crossed 
  by 
  De 
  Soto, 
  two 
  hundred 
  years 
  earlier, 
  the 
  buffalo 
  was 
  

   evidently 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  there. 
  It 
  hence 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  spread 
  in 
  

   the 
  mean 
  time 
  from 
  the 
  region 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  northward. 
  West 
  of 
  the 
  

   Mississippi, 
  also, 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  in 
  Du 
  Pratz's 
  time, 
  extended 
  southward 
  

   over 
  regions 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  met 
  with 
  by 
  De 
  Soto 
  or 
  by 
  La 
  Salle, 
  which 
  

   affords 
  further 
  evidence 
  that 
  the 
  buffalo 
  extended 
  its 
  range 
  considera- 
  

   bly 
  to 
  the 
  southward 
  and 
  eastward 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Missis- 
  

   sippi 
  between 
  1540 
  and 
  1720, 
  or 
  even 
  between 
  1685 
  and 
  the 
  latter 
  date, 
  

   as 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  also 
  the 
  case 
  in 
  South 
  Carolina 
  and 
  Georgia. 
  

  

  It 
  hence 
  appears 
  that 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  the 
  buffalo 
  occupied 
  probably 
  most 
  

   of 
  the 
  region 
  between 
  the 
  Tennessee 
  and 
  Mississippi 
  Elvers. 
  On 
  Du 
  

   Pratz's 
  map, 
  however, 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  Tennessee 
  is 
  very 
  incorrectly 
  

   laid 
  down, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  also 
  on 
  the 
  earlier 
  map 
  of 
  De 
  I'Isle 
  and 
  on 
  maps 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  much 
  later 
  even 
  than 
  Du 
  Pratz's, 
  its 
  southern 
  bend 
  on 
  Du 
  Pratz's 
  

   map 
  not 
  reaching 
  the 
  36th 
  parallel, 
  while 
  it 
  actually 
  crosses 
  the 
  33d. 
  

   He 
  seems 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  himself 
  passed 
  above 
  the 
  Chickasaw 
  Bluffs, 
  and 
  

   his 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  beyond 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  was 
  

   evidently 
  very 
  vague. 
  

  

  The 
  presence 
  of 
  " 
  Boeufs" 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  drained 
  by 
  the 
  Mobile 
  Eiver 
  

   is 
  also 
  mentioned 
  by 
  un 
  Officier 
  de 
  Marine, 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  published 
  with 
  

   Chevalier 
  de 
  Tonti's 
  "Eelation"t 
  (the 
  authorship 
  of 
  which 
  work, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  Tonti 
  disowns). 
  

  

  The 
  presence 
  of 
  a 
  creek 
  in 
  Southwestern 
  Mississippi 
  still 
  bearing 
  the 
  

   name 
  of 
  "Buffalo 
  Creek" 
  may 
  be 
  considered 
  as 
  further 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  

   former 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  this 
  region. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  regretted 
  that 
  Adair, 
  who 
  spent 
  many 
  years 
  (1735 
  to 
  1767) 
  ' 
  

   as 
  a 
  trader 
  and 
  government 
  official 
  among 
  the 
  tribes 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Ten- 
  

   nessee 
  Eiver, 
  has 
  left 
  so 
  little 
  on 
  record 
  respecting 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  

   buffalo 
  at 
  that 
  period. 
  In 
  his 
  "General 
  Observations 
  on 
  the 
  ISTorth 
  

   A-merican 
  Indians" 
  he 
  refers 
  to 
  their 
  use 
  of 
  buffalo 
  flesh 
  as 
  food, 
  and 
  its 
  

   ekins, 
  horns, 
  wool, 
  and 
  sinews 
  in 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  clothing 
  and 
  uten- 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  History 
  of 
  Louisiana, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  pp. 
  262-267. 
  The 
  last 
  quotation 
  reads 
  in 
  the 
  

   original 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  " 
  Ces 
  Cdteaus 
  en 
  Prairies 
  & 
  ces 
  futayes 
  sont 
  abondantes 
  en 
  Bceufs, 
  

   Cerfs 
  & 
  Chevreuils, 
  en 
  Dindes, 
  en 
  Perdrix 
  & 
  en 
  toute 
  sorte 
  de 
  gibier," 
  etc. 
  — 
  Histoire 
  

   de 
  la 
  Louisiane, 
  Tom. 
  I, 
  p. 
  287. 
  

  

  t 
  Relation 
  de 
  la 
  Louisianne, 
  1720, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  11. 
  

  

  