﻿ALLEx.J 
  FORMER 
  RANGE 
  EAST 
  OF 
  THE 
  MISSISSIPPI. 
  501 
  

  

  ward.* 
  Marquette, 
  in 
  his 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  Illinois 
  River, 
  says; 
  "I 
  

   never 
  saw 
  a 
  more 
  beautiful 
  country 
  than 
  we 
  found 
  on 
  this 
  river. 
  The 
  

   prairies 
  are 
  covered 
  with 
  buffaloes, 
  stags, 
  goats, 
  and 
  the 
  rivers 
  and 
  

   lakes 
  with 
  swans, 
  ducks, 
  geese, 
  parrots, 
  and 
  beavers." 
  t 
  

  

  That 
  bufCaloes 
  were 
  formerly 
  abundant 
  over 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  

   Illinois 
  is 
  well 
  attested. 
  Father 
  Hennepin, 
  in 
  describing 
  the 
  jouruey 
  he 
  

   made 
  from 
  Fort 
  Miamis, 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Chicago 
  Ftiver, 
  to 
  theNil- 
  

   lage 
  of 
  the 
  Illinois, 
  on 
  the 
  Illinois 
  Eiver, 
  "one 
  hundred 
  and 
  thirty 
  

   leagues 
  from 
  Fort 
  Miamis," 
  in 
  December, 
  1679, 
  says 
  : 
  "There 
  must 
  be 
  

   an 
  innumerable 
  quantity 
  of 
  wild 
  Bulls 
  in 
  that 
  Country, 
  since 
  the 
  Earth 
  

   is 
  covered 
  with 
  their 
  Horns. 
  The 
  Miami's 
  hunt 
  them 
  towards 
  the 
  latter 
  

   end 
  ofAutumn.^' 
  Again 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  We 
  sufier'd 
  very 
  much 
  on 
  this 
  Pas- 
  

   sage 
  5 
  for 
  the 
  Savages 
  having 
  set 
  the 
  Herbs 
  of 
  the 
  Plain 
  on 
  fire, 
  the 
  wild 
  

   Bulls 
  were 
  fled 
  away, 
  and 
  so 
  we 
  could 
  kill 
  but 
  one 
  and 
  some 
  Turkey- 
  

   Cocks." 
  " 
  They 
  change 
  their 
  Country," 
  he 
  adds, 
  " 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  

   Seasons 
  of 
  the 
  Tear; 
  for 
  upon 
  the 
  approach 
  of 
  the 
  Winter, 
  they 
  leave 
  the 
  

   North, 
  and 
  go 
  to 
  the 
  Southern 
  Parts. 
  They 
  follow 
  one 
  another, 
  so 
  that 
  

   you 
  may 
  see 
  a 
  Drove 
  of 
  them 
  for 
  above 
  a 
  League 
  together, 
  and 
  stop 
  all 
  

  

  at 
  the 
  same 
  place 
  Their 
  Ways 
  are 
  as 
  beaten 
  as 
  our 
  great 
  

  

  Eoads, 
  and 
  no 
  Herb 
  grows 
  therein. 
  They 
  swim 
  over 
  the 
  Rivers 
  they 
  

   meet 
  in 
  their 
  Way, 
  to 
  go 
  and 
  graze 
  in 
  other 
  Meadows." 
  | 
  

  

  Father 
  Marest, 
  in 
  passing 
  from 
  the 
  southern 
  end 
  of 
  Lake 
  Michigan 
  

   to 
  the 
  Kankakee, 
  in 
  1712, 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  Joseph's 
  River, 
  says, 
  in 
  his 
  

   narrative 
  of 
  the 
  journey 
  : 
  "At 
  last 
  [after 
  having 
  passed 
  the 
  portage, 
  

   and 
  embarked 
  on 
  the 
  Kankakee] 
  we 
  perceived 
  our 
  own 
  agreeable 
  coun- 
  

   try, 
  the 
  wild 
  buffaloes, 
  and 
  herds 
  of 
  stags, 
  wandering 
  on 
  the 
  border 
  of 
  

   the 
  river," 
  etc. 
  § 
  Charlevoix, 
  in 
  1721, 
  in 
  crossing 
  over 
  from 
  the 
  St. 
  

   Joseph's 
  River 
  to 
  the 
  "' 
  Theakiki 
  " 
  (Kankakee) 
  soon 
  found 
  them 
  in 
  

   abundance. 
  About 
  fifty 
  leagues 
  from 
  the 
  source 
  of 
  the 
  Kankakee, 
  he 
  

   says 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  country 
  begins 
  to 
  be 
  fine 
  : 
  The 
  Meadows 
  here 
  extend 
  be- 
  

   yond 
  Sight, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  Buffalo 
  go 
  in 
  Herds 
  of 
  2 
  or 
  3 
  hundred." 
  || 
  In 
  

   describing 
  the 
  country 
  bordering 
  the 
  Illinois 
  River, 
  below 
  the 
  junction 
  of 
  

   the 
  Kankakee, 
  he 
  says: 
  " 
  In 
  this 
  Route 
  we 
  see 
  only 
  vast 
  Meadows, 
  

   with 
  little 
  Clusters 
  of 
  Trees 
  here 
  and 
  there, 
  which 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   j)lauted 
  by 
  the 
  Hand 
  ; 
  the 
  Grass 
  grows 
  so 
  high 
  in 
  them, 
  that 
  one 
  might 
  

   lose 
  one's 
  self 
  amongst 
  it 
  ; 
  but 
  everywhere 
  we 
  meet 
  with 
  Paths 
  that 
  are 
  

   as 
  beaten 
  as 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  in 
  the 
  most 
  populous 
  Countries 
  ; 
  yet 
  nothing 
  

   passes 
  through 
  them 
  but 
  Buffaloes, 
  and 
  from 
  Time 
  to 
  Time 
  some 
  Herds 
  

   of 
  Deer, 
  and 
  some 
  Roe-Bucks." 
  Later 
  he 
  writes 
  : 
  "The 
  6th 
  [of 
  October, 
  

   172IJ 
  we 
  saw 
  a 
  great 
  Number 
  of 
  Buffaloes 
  crossing 
  the 
  River 
  in 
  a 
  great 
  

   Hurry"; 
  and 
  adds 
  that 
  they 
  soon 
  provided 
  themselves 
  with 
  food 
  " 
  by 
  

   killing 
  a 
  Buffalo 
  or 
  Roe-Buck, 
  and 
  of 
  these 
  we 
  had 
  the 
  Choice."^ 
  

  

  Vaudreuil 
  alludes 
  to 
  their 
  abundance 
  on 
  Rock 
  River 
  in 
  1718. 
  From 
  

   the 
  bluffs 
  along 
  this 
  river, 
  he 
  says, 
  "you 
  behold 
  roaming 
  through 
  the 
  

   prairie 
  herds 
  of 
  buffalo 
  of 
  Illinois." 
  ** 
  Pittman, 
  writing 
  fifty 
  years 
  later, 
  

   describes 
  the 
  country 
  of 
  the 
  Illinois 
  Indians 
  as 
  abounding 
  with 
  "buffalo, 
  

   deer, 
  and 
  wild 
  fowl." 
  ft 
  

  

  * 
  J. 
  G. 
  Shea, 
  Discoveries 
  aud 
  Exjiloratious 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  pp. 
  lb, 
  "20. 
  

  

  tFrencli's 
  Hist. 
  Coll. 
  of 
  Louisiana, 
  Part 
  II, 
  p. 
  297. 
  

   ' 
  t 
  A 
  New 
  Discovery 
  of 
  a 
  vast 
  Couutry 
  iu 
  America, 
  etc., 
  pp. 
  90, 
  91, 
  92. 
  

  

  Kip's 
  Jesuit 
  Missions, 
  p. 
  224. 
  

  

  II 
  Letters, 
  Goadby's 
  English 
  edition, 
  pp. 
  280,281. 
  

  

  'f[ 
  Letters, 
  Goadby's 
  English 
  edition, 
  p. 
  290. 
  

  

  ■^^ 
  New 
  York 
  Coll. 
  of 
  MSS., 
  Paris 
  Doc. 
  YII, 
  p. 
  ^90. 
  

  

  it 
  Pittman 
  (Captain 
  Philip), 
  Present 
  State 
  of 
  the 
  European 
  Settlements 
  on 
  the 
  Mis- 
  

   sissippi, 
  p. 
  51, 
  1770. 
  The 
  region 
  referred 
  to 
  is 
  described 
  in 
  the 
  context 
  as 
  being 
  eu- 
  

   ciosed 
  by 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  on 
  the 
  west, 
  the 
  Illinois 
  on 
  the 
  north, 
  the 
  Ohio 
  on 
  the 
  south, 
  

   and 
  the 
  Wabash 
  (Ouabache) 
  aud 
  " 
  Miamis 
  " 
  on 
  the 
  east. 
  

  

  