﻿500 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  the 
  Mississippi 
  almost 
  uninterruptedly 
  southward 
  nearly 
  to 
  the 
  mouth 
  

   of 
  the 
  Ohio 
  Eiver. 
  Hennepin, 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1680, 
  met 
  with 
  them 
  in 
  con- 
  

   siderable 
  numbers 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  Francis 
  Eiver, 
  above 
  the 
  

   Falls 
  of 
  St. 
  Anthony, 
  where 
  they 
  were 
  also 
  seen 
  later 
  by 
  other 
  ex- 
  

   plorers. 
  In 
  1766 
  Jonathan 
  Carver 
  found 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  plains 
  around' 
  

   Lake 
  Pepin, 
  he 
  speaking 
  of 
  them 
  as 
  "the 
  largest 
  buffaloes 
  of 
  any 
  in 
  

   America."* 
  Pike, 
  in 
  ascending 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1804, 
  i 
  

   met 
  with 
  the 
  first 
  signs 
  of 
  this 
  animal 
  about 
  two 
  hundred 
  miles 
  above 
  |1 
  

   the 
  Falls 
  of 
  St. 
  Anthony 
  ;t 
  and 
  Schoolcraft 
  reports 
  their 
  existence 
  in 
  ' 
  

   the 
  same 
  vicinity 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1820. 
  On 
  the 
  map 
  accompanying 
  School- 
  

   craft's 
  narrative 
  of 
  his 
  expedition 
  to 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  

   Eiver, 
  he 
  has 
  marked 
  the 
  plains 
  above 
  the 
  Falls 
  of 
  St. 
  Anthony 
  as 
  

   the 
  "Buffalo 
  Plains"; 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  text 
  he 
  says: 
  "Here 
  also 
  (mouth 
  of 
  

   De 
  Corbeau 
  Eiver) 
  the 
  Buffalo 
  Plains 
  commence 
  and 
  continue 
  down 
  

   on 
  both 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  to 
  the 
  Falls 
  of 
  St. 
  Anthony."^ 
  The 
  buffa- 
  

   loes 
  may 
  never 
  have 
  existed 
  in 
  Isortheastern 
  Wisconsin, 
  though 
  they 
  

   probably 
  ranged 
  over 
  the 
  prairies 
  of 
  the 
  western 
  and 
  southern 
  portions 
  

   of 
  the 
  State. 
  They 
  were 
  not 
  met 
  with, 
  however, 
  even 
  there 
  by 
  the 
  first 
  

   European 
  explorers 
  of 
  that 
  region. 
  

  

  Father 
  Marquette 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  met 
  with 
  them 
  in 
  crossing 
  

   from 
  Green 
  Bay 
  to 
  the 
  Wisconsin 
  Eiver, 
  in 
  1673, 
  nor 
  did 
  he 
  see 
  them 
  in 
  

   his 
  subsequent 
  descent 
  of 
  that 
  river.§ 
  La 
  Hontan, 
  in 
  1687, 
  also 
  found 
  

   none 
  on 
  either 
  the 
  Fox 
  or 
  Wisconsin 
  Elvers, 
  first 
  meeting 
  with 
  them 
  on 
  j 
  

   the 
  Mississippi 
  not 
  far 
  above 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Wisconsin. 
  || 
  Marquette 
  i 
  

   first 
  found 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Eiver, 
  in 
  latitude 
  "41^ 
  28','- 
  in 
  July, 
  

   1673. 
  " 
  Having 
  descended 
  the 
  river," 
  he 
  says, 
  " 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  41° 
  28', 
  we 
  

   find 
  that 
  turkeys 
  have 
  taken 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  game, 
  and 
  the 
  Pisikious 
  that 
  

   of 
  other 
  beasts. 
  We 
  call 
  the 
  Pisikious 
  wild 
  buffaloes, 
  because 
  they 
  

   very 
  much 
  resemble 
  our 
  domestic 
  oxen.^ 
  Following 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  descrip- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  pisikious," 
  or 
  buffaloes, 
  and 
  the 
  uses 
  made 
  of 
  them 
  by 
  the 
  

   Indians, 
  and 
  he 
  adds, 
  " 
  they 
  graze 
  upon 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  rivers, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  

   seen 
  four 
  hundred 
  in 
  a 
  herd 
  together."** 
  Hennepin, 
  Marest, 
  Gravier, 
  

   Charlevoix, 
  and 
  other 
  Jesuit 
  missionaries 
  appear 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  met 
  with 
  

   it 
  on 
  the 
  St. 
  Joseph's 
  Eiver, 
  nor 
  anywhere 
  in 
  Southern 
  Michigan,tt 
  

   although 
  they 
  found 
  it 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  Kaskaskia 
  and 
  further 
  south- 
  

  

  " 
  Travels, 
  p. 
  56. 
  

  

  tEspeditioQ 
  to 
  the 
  Sources 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  etc., 
  Pfc. 
  I, 
  App., 
  p. 
  53. 
  

  

  t 
  Narrative 
  Journal 
  of 
  Travel 
  to 
  tae 
  Sources 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  etc, 
  p. 
  275. 
  

  

  § 
  In 
  an 
  English 
  translation 
  of 
  Marquette's 
  narrative 
  of 
  his 
  discoveries 
  (French's 
  Hist. 
  

   Coll. 
  of 
  Louisiana, 
  Part 
  II, 
  p. 
  284), 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  following 
  passage. 
  In 
  speaking 
  of 
  the- 
  

   Wisconsin 
  ("Mesconsin") 
  he 
  says; 
  "The 
  country 
  through 
  which 
  it 
  flows 
  is 
  beautiful' 
  

   the 
  groves 
  are 
  so 
  dispersed 
  in 
  the 
  prairies 
  that 
  it 
  makes 
  a 
  noble 
  prospect"; 
  and 
  he 
  

   adds 
  : 
  "We 
  saw 
  neither 
  game 
  nor 
  fish, 
  but 
  roebuck 
  and 
  iuffaloes 
  in 
  great 
  numbers." 
  

   Mr. 
  J. 
  G. 
  Shea 
  says: 
  "The 
  French 
  word 
  here 
  is 
  vaches, 
  which 
  has 
  generally 
  been 
  traius- 
  

   lated 
  bison 
  or 
  butfalo." 
  In 
  this 
  instance, 
  Mr. 
  Shea 
  says, 
  it 
  is 
  clearly 
  a 
  mistake, 
  as 
  Mar- 
  

   quette 
  and 
  his 
  party 
  had 
  not 
  yet 
  reached 
  the 
  buftalo 
  grounds, 
  and 
  the 
  missionary 
  after- 
  

   ward 
  describes 
  the 
  animal 
  when 
  he 
  meets 
  it. 
  — 
  Discoveries 
  and 
  Explorations 
  in 
  the 
  Mis- 
  

   sissippi 
  Valley, 
  p. 
  16. 
  

  

  II 
  La 
  Houtan, 
  Voyages, 
  Eng. 
  ed., 
  Vol. 
  i, 
  pp. 
  Ill, 
  112. 
  

  

  il 
  As 
  Henderson 
  has 
  remarked, 
  " 
  Father 
  Marquette 
  was 
  doubtless 
  the 
  first 
  white 
  man 
  

   who 
  penetrated 
  to 
  the 
  habitat 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Lakes, 
  although, 
  ac- 
  

   cording 
  to 
  Marquette, 
  their 
  skins 
  had 
  been 
  previously 
  exported 
  to 
  Europe." 
  — 
  Am, 
  

   Naturalist, 
  vol. 
  vi, 
  p. 
  82. 
  

  

  ** 
  French's 
  Historical 
  Collection 
  of 
  Louisiana, 
  Part 
  II, 
  p. 
  285. 
  

  

  tt 
  Schoolcraft 
  says, 
  but 
  I 
  know 
  not 
  on 
  what 
  authority 
  : 
  " 
  It 
  not 
  only 
  ranged 
  over 
  the 
  

   prairies 
  of 
  Illinois 
  and 
  Indiana, 
  but 
  spread 
  to 
  Southern 
  Michigan, 
  and 
  the 
  western 
  

   skirts 
  of 
  Ohio. 
  Tradition 
  says 
  it 
  was 
  sometimes 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie." 
  — 
  

   Eistory, 
  Condition, 
  and 
  Prospects 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Tribes, 
  Vol. 
  IV, 
  p. 
  92. 
  It 
  would, 
  however, 
  

   be 
  quite 
  strange 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  not 
  at 
  times 
  extended 
  its 
  range 
  over 
  the 
  prairie 
  portions 
  of 
  

   both 
  Michigan 
  and 
  Wisconsin. 
  

  

  