﻿ALLEN.] 
  FOEMEE 
  EANGE 
  EAST 
  OF 
  THE 
  MISSISSIPPI. 
  505 
  

  

  pasturage 
  is 
  so 
  good 
  that 
  creatures 
  are 
  well 
  supplied 
  without 
  any 
  assist- 
  

   ance. 
  Here 
  are 
  great 
  abundance 
  of 
  buffalo, 
  which 
  are 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  cat- 
  

   tle, 
  as 
  some 
  suppose, 
  left 
  here 
  by 
  former 
  inhabitants." 
  In 
  describing 
  

   the 
  country 
  about 
  Wheeling 
  ("Weeling"), 
  he 
  says: 
  "The 
  wild 
  beasts 
  

   met 
  with 
  here 
  are 
  bears, 
  wolves, 
  panthers, 
  wild 
  cats, 
  foxes, 
  raccoons, 
  

   beavers, 
  otters, 
  and 
  some 
  few 
  squirrels 
  and 
  rabbits; 
  buffaloes, 
  deer, 
  

   and 
  elks, 
  called 
  by 
  the 
  Delawares 
  moos."* 
  

  

  Buffaloes 
  are 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  existed 
  on 
  the 
  Monongahela,t 
  and 
  

   throughout 
  the 
  region 
  between 
  this 
  river 
  and 
  the 
  Ohio, 
  over 
  the 
  area 
  

   drained 
  by 
  the 
  Little 
  Kanawha, 
  Buffalo, 
  Fishing, 
  "Wheeling, 
  and 
  other 
  

   small 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio, 
  where 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  much 
  interval 
  

   or 
  open 
  land,i: 
  and 
  thence 
  southward 
  to 
  the 
  Great 
  Kanawha. 
  As 
  

   already 
  noticed, 
  there 
  is 
  abundant 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  former 
  existence 
  on 
  

   the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  Kanawha, 
  extending 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  Green- 
  

   brier 
  Eiver, 
  in 
  Pocahontas 
  County, 
  and 
  thence 
  eastward, 
  at 
  times 
  at 
  

   least, 
  over 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  James. 
  

  

  Gallatin 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  his 
  time 
  (1784-1785) 
  "they 
  were 
  abundant 
  on 
  

   .the 
  southern 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio, 
  between 
  the 
  Great 
  and 
  Little 
  Kenawha. 
  

   I 
  have," 
  he 
  adds, 
  "during 
  eight 
  months 
  lived 
  principally 
  upon 
  their 
  

   flesh." 
  § 
  The 
  following 
  additional 
  testimony, 
  contained 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  writ- 
  

   ten 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Charles 
  McCormick, 
  dated 
  "Fort 
  Gibson, 
  Cherokee 
  Nation, 
  

   August 
  18, 
  1844," 
  is 
  furnished 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Elliott 
  Coues. 
  Dr. 
  McCormick 
  

   says 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  have 
  just 
  seen 
  Captain 
  [Nathan] 
  Boone, 
  and 
  he 
  promises 
  to 
  

   write 
  and 
  tell 
  you 
  all 
  about 
  it. 
  In 
  the 
  mean 
  time, 
  he 
  says, 
  he 
  killed 
  

   his 
  first 
  buffalo 
  somewhere 
  about 
  1793, 
  on 
  the 
  Kenawha 
  in 
  Virginia. 
  

   He 
  was 
  then 
  quite 
  a 
  small 
  boy. 
  He 
  has 
  also 
  killed 
  buffalo 
  on 
  New- 
  

   River, 
  and 
  near 
  tlie 
  Big 
  Sandy 
  in 
  Virginia, 
  in 
  '97 
  and 
  '98." 
  || 
  

  

  Ample 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  Northern 
  

   Ohio 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  given 
  ; 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  also 
  found 
  abun- 
  

   dantly 
  in 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  Colonel 
  John 
  May 
  met 
  with 
  it 
  on 
  

   the 
  Muskingum 
  in 
  1788,^ 
  and 
  Atwater 
  says, 
  "we 
  had 
  once 
  the 
  bison 
  

   and 
  the 
  elk 
  in 
  vast 
  numbers 
  all 
  over 
  Ohio." 
  ** 
  Hutchins 
  says 
  that 
  in 
  

   the 
  natural 
  meadows 
  or 
  savannahs, 
  "from 
  twenty 
  to 
  fifty 
  miles 
  in 
  cir- 
  

   cuit," 
  situated 
  northwestward 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio 
  Eiver, 
  from 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  

   Kanawha 
  far 
  down 
  the 
  Ohio, 
  the 
  herds 
  of 
  buffalo 
  and 
  deer 
  were 
  in- 
  

   numerable, 
  and 
  also 
  mentions 
  their 
  abundance 
  over 
  the 
  region 
  drained 
  

   by 
  the 
  Scioto.tt 
  In 
  answer 
  to 
  recent 
  inquiries 
  of 
  mine, 
  Mr. 
  George 
  

   Graham, 
  of 
  Cincinnati, 
  well 
  known 
  as 
  a 
  reliable 
  authority 
  on 
  matters 
  

   relating 
  to 
  the 
  early 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  West, 
  has 
  kindly 
  given 
  me 
  reference 
  

   to 
  notices 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  as 
  an 
  inhabitant 
  of 
  Ohio 
  in 
  Craig's 
  Olden 
  Time, 
  

   and 
  also 
  unpublished 
  traditional 
  facts 
  bearing 
  upon 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  its 
  

   extirpation 
  from 
  that 
  State. 
  

  

  The 
  "Journal 
  of 
  George 
  Croghan,"|| 
  published 
  in 
  Olden 
  Tme,§§ 
  states 
  

  

  * 
  Ibid., 
  pp. 
  30, 
  84. 
  

  

  + 
  Trans. 
  Amer. 
  Autiq. 
  Soc, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  pp. 
  139, 
  140, 
  footnote. 
  

  

  t 
  Hutchins 
  (Thomas), 
  Topog. 
  Descrip. 
  of 
  Virginia, 
  Pennsylvania, 
  and 
  North 
  Carolina, 
  

   comprehending 
  the 
  Eivers 
  Ohio, 
  Kanawha, 
  Scioto, 
  Cherokee, 
  Wabash, 
  Illinois, 
  Missis- 
  

   sippi, 
  etc. 
  (Loudon, 
  1778;, 
  p. 
  4. 
  

  

  ^ 
  Trans. 
  Am. 
  Ethnol. 
  Soc, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  1. 
  

  

  llAnier. 
  Naturalist, 
  Vol. 
  V, 
  p. 
  720. 
  

  

  il 
  Journal 
  and 
  Letters 
  of 
  Colonel 
  John 
  May 
  of 
  Boston, 
  etc., 
  Hist, 
  and 
  Phil. 
  Soc. 
  of 
  

   Ohio, 
  New 
  Series, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  pp. 
  81, 
  83. 
  

  

  ** 
  Atwater 
  (Caleb), 
  History 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  Ohio, 
  Natural 
  and 
  Civil, 
  1838, 
  p. 
  67. 
  

  

  ft 
  Topog. 
  Descrip. 
  of 
  Virginia, 
  Pennsylvania, 
  etc., 
  pp. 
  11-15. 
  

  

  ttNot 
  Colonel 
  Croghan 
  of 
  Kentucky. 
  

  

  V^^ 
  The 
  Olden 
  Time 
  ; 
  a 
  Monthly 
  Publication 
  devoted 
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  Preservation 
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  Documents 
  

   and 
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  Authentic 
  Information 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  Early 
  Explorations, 
  and 
  the 
  Settle- 
  

   ment 
  and 
  Improvement 
  of 
  the 
  Country 
  around 
  the 
  Head 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio. 
  Edited 
  by 
  

   Neville 
  B. 
  Craig, 
  Esq. 
  Two 
  volumes, 
  small 
  4to. 
  Pittsburg, 
  1846-1848. 
  

  

  