﻿504 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  trampled 
  under 
  their 
  feet, 
  or 
  crushed 
  to 
  death 
  in 
  his 
  own 
  ruins. 
  At 
  that 
  

   period 
  he 
  supposed 
  there 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  less 
  than 
  two 
  thousand 
  

   in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  the 
  spring. 
  They 
  sought 
  for 
  no 
  manner 
  of 
  food, 
  

   but 
  only 
  bathed 
  and 
  drank 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  times 
  a 
  day, 
  and 
  rolled 
  in 
  the 
  

   earth, 
  or 
  reposed, 
  with 
  their 
  flanks 
  distended, 
  in 
  the 
  adjacent 
  shades 
  ; 
  

   and 
  on 
  the 
  fifth 
  and 
  sixth 
  days 
  separated 
  into 
  distinct 
  droves, 
  bathed, 
  

   drank, 
  and 
  departed 
  in 
  single 
  files, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  exact 
  order 
  of 
  their 
  

   arrival. 
  They 
  all 
  rolled 
  successively 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  hole, 
  and 
  each 
  thus 
  

   carried 
  away 
  a 
  coat 
  of 
  mud 
  to 
  preserve 
  the 
  moisture 
  on 
  their 
  skin, 
  and 
  

   which, 
  when 
  hardened 
  and 
  baked 
  in 
  the 
  sun, 
  would 
  resist 
  stings 
  of 
  

   millions 
  of 
  insects, 
  that 
  otherwise 
  would 
  persecute 
  these 
  peaceful 
  trav- 
  

   ellers 
  to 
  madness 
  or 
  even 
  death. 
  

  

  " 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  and 
  second 
  years 
  this 
  old 
  man 
  with 
  some 
  companions, 
  

   killed 
  from 
  six 
  to 
  seven 
  hundred 
  of 
  these 
  noble 
  creatures, 
  merely 
  for 
  the 
  

   sake 
  of 
  their 
  skins, 
  which 
  to 
  them 
  were 
  worth 
  only 
  two 
  shillings 
  each 
  ; 
  

   and 
  after 
  this 
  ' 
  work 
  of 
  death' 
  they 
  were 
  obliged 
  to 
  leave 
  the 
  place 
  till 
  

   the 
  following 
  season, 
  or 
  till 
  the 
  wolves, 
  bears, 
  panthers, 
  eagles, 
  rooks, 
  

   ravens, 
  etc., 
  had 
  devoured 
  the 
  carcasses, 
  and 
  abandoned 
  the 
  place 
  for 
  

   other 
  prey. 
  In 
  the 
  two 
  following 
  years, 
  the 
  same 
  persons 
  killed 
  great 
  

   numbers 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  droves 
  that 
  arrived, 
  skinned 
  them, 
  and 
  left 
  

   their 
  bodies 
  exposed 
  to 
  the 
  sun 
  and 
  air 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  soon 
  had 
  reason 
  to 
  

   repent 
  of 
  this, 
  for 
  the 
  remaining 
  droves, 
  as 
  they 
  came 
  up 
  in 
  succession, 
  

   stopi^ed, 
  gazed 
  on 
  the 
  mangled 
  and 
  putrid 
  bodies, 
  sorrowfully 
  moaned 
  

   or 
  furiously 
  lowed 
  aloud, 
  and 
  returned 
  instantly 
  to 
  the 
  wilderness 
  in 
  an 
  

   unusual 
  run, 
  without 
  tasting 
  their 
  favorite 
  spring, 
  or 
  licking 
  the 
  impreg- 
  

   nated 
  earth, 
  which 
  was 
  also 
  once 
  their 
  most 
  agreeable 
  occupation 
  ; 
  nor 
  

   did 
  they, 
  nor 
  any 
  of 
  their 
  race, 
  ever 
  revisit 
  the 
  neighborhood. 
  

  

  "The 
  simple 
  history 
  of 
  this 
  spring," 
  he 
  adds, 
  "is 
  that 
  of 
  every 
  other 
  

   in 
  the 
  settled 
  parts 
  of 
  this 
  Western 
  world; 
  the 
  carnage 
  of 
  beasts 
  was 
  

   everywhere 
  the 
  same; 
  I 
  met 
  with 
  a 
  man 
  who 
  had 
  killed 
  two 
  thousand 
  

   buffaloes 
  with 
  his 
  own 
  hand; 
  and 
  others, 
  no 
  doubt, 
  have 
  done 
  the 
  same. 
  

   In 
  consequence 
  of 
  such 
  proceedings, 
  not 
  one 
  buffalo 
  is 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  [in 
  

   1806] 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  except 
  a 
  few, 
  domesticated 
  

   by 
  the 
  curious, 
  or 
  carried 
  through 
  the 
  country 
  on 
  a 
  public 
  show." 
  * 
  

  

  Warden 
  also 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  former 
  existence 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  in 
  the 
  western 
  

   part 
  of 
  Pennsylvania, 
  and 
  to 
  their 
  early 
  extinction 
  there 
  and 
  in 
  Ken- 
  

   tucky.t 
  Gallatin 
  says: 
  "The 
  name 
  of 
  Buffalo 
  Creek, 
  between 
  Pitts- 
  

   burg 
  and 
  Wheeling, 
  proves 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  spread 
  thus 
  far 
  eastwardly 
  

   when 
  that 
  country 
  was 
  first 
  visited 
  by 
  the 
  Anglo-Americans."! 
  Further 
  

   to 
  the 
  southward, 
  in 
  West 
  Virginia, 
  in 
  the 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Kanawha 
  and 
  

   its 
  tributaries, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  thence 
  westward, 
  the 
  former 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  

   buffalo 
  is 
  well 
  attested. 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  the 
  earliest 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  West 
  

   Virginia 
  is 
  that 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  journal 
  of 
  the 
  Eev. 
  Daniel 
  Jones, 
  who 
  

   in 
  1772 
  made 
  a 
  journey 
  to 
  the 
  Indian 
  tribes 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio 
  River. 
  

   Under 
  date 
  of 
  June 
  18, 
  1772, 
  he 
  writes 
  : 
  " 
  Went 
  out 
  to 
  view 
  the 
  land 
  

   on 
  east 
  side 
  [of 
  the 
  Little 
  Kanawha] 
  to 
  kill 
  provisions. 
  Mr. 
  Owens 
  

   killed 
  several 
  deer 
  and 
  a 
  stately 
  buffalo 
  bull. 
  The 
  country 
  is 
  here 
  level, 
  

   and 
  the 
  soil 
  not 
  despicable." 
  § 
  In 
  speaking 
  of 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  valley 
  

   of 
  the 
  Ohio 
  near 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  "Great 
  Guiandot," 
  he 
  says, 
  under 
  

   date 
  of 
  January, 
  1773 
  : 
  "In 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  even 
  in 
  this 
  season, 
  

  

  * 
  Ashe 
  (Thomas) 
  Travels 
  in 
  America, 
  performed 
  in 
  1806, 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  exploring 
  

   the 
  Rivers 
  Alleghany, 
  Monongahela, 
  Ohio, 
  and 
  Mississippi, 
  etc. 
  pp. 
  47-49. 
  Loudon, 
  

   1808. 
  

  

  t 
  Warden 
  (D. 
  B.), 
  Statistical, 
  Political 
  and 
  Historical 
  Account 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  

   Vol. 
  I, 
  )). 
  :2r)0. 
  

   • 
  t 
  Trans. 
  Am. 
  Ethuol. 
  Soc, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  1. 
  

  

  ^Journal 
  of 
  Two 
  Visits, 
  etc., 
  p. 
  17. 
  

  

  