﻿502 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  ^ 
  

  

  The 
  buffalo 
  seems 
  also 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  abundant 
  over 
  large 
  portions 
  of 
  

   Indiana. 
  Charlevoix, 
  writing 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio 
  Eiver 
  in 
  1720, 
  says 
  : 
  "All 
  the 
  

   Country 
  that 
  is 
  watered 
  by 
  the 
  Ouabache 
  [Ohio], 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  Ohio 
  [Wa- 
  

   bash] 
  wliich 
  runs 
  into 
  it, 
  is 
  very 
  fruitful 
  : 
  It 
  consists 
  of 
  vast 
  Meadows, 
  

   well- 
  watered, 
  where 
  the 
  wild 
  Buffaloes 
  feed 
  by 
  Thousands."* 
  Vau- 
  

   dreuil, 
  writing 
  at 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  says, 
  in 
  his 
  '' 
  Memoir 
  on 
  the 
  In- 
  

   dians 
  between 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  and 
  the 
  Mississippi" 
  : 
  "Whoever 
  would 
  wish 
  

   to 
  reach 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  easily 
  would 
  need 
  only 
  to 
  take 
  tliis 
  Beautiful 
  

   river 
  [Ohio] 
  or 
  the 
  Sandosquet 
  [Sandusky] 
  ; 
  he 
  could 
  travel 
  without 
  

   any 
  danger 
  of 
  fasting, 
  for 
  all 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  there 
  have 
  repeatedly 
  as- 
  

   sured 
  me 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  vast 
  quantity 
  of 
  Buffalo 
  and 
  of 
  all 
  other 
  ani- 
  

   mals 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  along 
  that 
  Beautiful 
  Eiver; 
  they 
  were 
  often 
  obliged 
  

   to 
  discharge 
  their 
  guns 
  to 
  clear 
  a 
  passage."! 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  further 
  evidence 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  

   in 
  Ohio, 
  along 
  the 
  southern 
  shore 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  particularly 
  toward 
  its 
  

   western 
  end. 
  La 
  Hontan, 
  in 
  his 
  description 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  as 
  he 
  saw 
  it 
  

   about 
  1687, 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  cannot 
  express 
  what 
  quantities 
  of 
  Deer 
  and 
  Tur- 
  

   keys 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  these 
  Woods, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  vast 
  Meads 
  that 
  lye 
  

   upon 
  the 
  South 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Lake. 
  At 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  Lake, 
  we 
  find 
  

   beeves 
  upon 
  the 
  Banks 
  of 
  two 
  pleasant 
  Elvers 
  that 
  disembogue 
  into 
  it,. 
  

   without 
  Cataracts 
  or 
  rapid 
  Currents."^ 
  Vaudreuil, 
  describing 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  

   in 
  1718, 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  need 
  of 
  fasting 
  on 
  either 
  side 
  of 
  this 
  lake, 
  

   deer 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  there 
  in 
  such 
  abundance 
  ; 
  buffaloes 
  are 
  found 
  on 
  

   the 
  south, 
  iDut 
  not 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  shore." 
  Again 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  "Thirty 
  leagues 
  

   up 
  the 
  [Maumee] 
  river 
  is 
  a 
  place 
  called 
  La 
  Glaise 
  [now 
  Defiance, 
  Ohio], 
  

   where 
  buffaloes 
  are 
  always 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  ; 
  they 
  eat 
  the 
  clay 
  and 
  wallow 
  in 
  

   it." 
  § 
  The 
  occurrence 
  of 
  a 
  stream 
  in 
  Western 
  New 
  York 
  called 
  Buffalo 
  

   Creek, 
  which 
  empties 
  into 
  the 
  eastern 
  end 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  is 
  commonly 
  

   viewed 
  as 
  traditional 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  at 
  this 
  point, 
  but 
  posi- 
  

   tive 
  testimony 
  to 
  this 
  effect 
  has 
  thus 
  far 
  escaped 
  me. 
  This 
  locality, 
  if 
  

   it 
  actually 
  came 
  so 
  far 
  eastward, 
  must 
  have 
  formed 
  the 
  eastern 
  limit 
  of 
  

   its 
  range 
  along 
  the 
  lakes. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  found 
  only 
  highly 
  questionable 
  allusions 
  to 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  

   buffaloes 
  along 
  the 
  southern 
  shore 
  of 
  Lake 
  Ontario. 
  Keating,|| 
  on 
  the 
  

   authority 
  of 
  Colhoun, 
  however, 
  has 
  cited 
  a 
  passage 
  from 
  Morton's 
  " 
  New 
  

   English 
  Canaan" 
  as 
  proof 
  of 
  their 
  former 
  existence 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  

   of 
  this 
  lake. 
  Morton's 
  statement 
  is 
  based 
  on 
  Indian 
  reports, 
  and 
  the 
  

   context 
  gives 
  sufficient 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  general 
  vagueness 
  of 
  his 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  speaking. 
  The 
  passage, 
  

   printed 
  in 
  1637, 
  is 
  as 
  follows: 
  "They 
  [the 
  Indians] 
  have 
  also 
  made 
  

   descriptions 
  of 
  great 
  beards 
  of 
  well 
  grown 
  e 
  beasts 
  that 
  live 
  about 
  the 
  

   parts 
  of 
  this 
  lake 
  [Erocoise], 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  Christian 
  world 
  (untill 
  this 
  dis- 
  

   covery) 
  hath 
  not 
  bin 
  made 
  acquainted 
  with. 
  These 
  Beasts 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  

   bignesse 
  of 
  a 
  Cowe, 
  their 
  flesh 
  being 
  very 
  good 
  foode, 
  their 
  hides 
  good 
  

   lether, 
  their 
  fleeces 
  very 
  usefull, 
  being 
  a 
  kinde 
  of 
  wolle, 
  as 
  fine 
  almost 
  

   as 
  tho 
  wolle 
  of 
  the 
  Beaver 
  and 
  the 
  Salvages 
  doe 
  make 
  garments 
  thereof. 
  

   It 
  is 
  tenne 
  yeares 
  since 
  first 
  the 
  relation 
  of 
  these 
  things 
  came 
  to 
  the 
  

   eares 
  of 
  the 
  English."^ 
  The 
  "beast" 
  to 
  which 
  allusion 
  is 
  here 
  made 
  is 
  

   unquestionably 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  but 
  the 
  locality 
  of 
  Lake 
  "Erocoise" 
  is 
  not 
  

   so 
  easily 
  settled. 
  Colhoun 
  regards 
  it, 
  and 
  probably 
  correctly, 
  as 
  iden- 
  

   tical 
  with 
  Lake 
  Ontario, 
  while 
  other 
  writers 
  (among 
  them 
  Marcy) 
  have 
  

  

  * 
  Letters, 
  Goadby's 
  Euglish 
  edition, 
  p. 
  303. 
  

  

  t 
  New 
  York 
  Coli. 
  of 
  MSS., 
  Paris 
  Doc, 
  VII, 
  p. 
  886. 
  

  

  t 
  La 
  Hontan, 
  New 
  Voyages 
  to 
  North 
  America, 
  English 
  ed., 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  217. 
  

  

  (iNew 
  York 
  Coll. 
  MSS., 
  Paris 
  Documents, 
  VII, 
  pp 
  88.5, 
  891. 
  

  

  II 
  Long's 
  Expedition 
  to 
  the 
  Source 
  of 
  St. 
  Peter's 
  River, 
  etc., 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  25. 
  

   H 
  Morton 
  (Thomas), 
  New 
  English 
  Canaan, 
  p. 
  98, 
  Amsterdam, 
  1637. 
  

  

  