﻿508 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  space 
  of 
  land 
  around 
  these 
  springs 
  desolated 
  as 
  if 
  by 
  a 
  ravaging 
  enemy, 
  

   and 
  hills 
  reduced 
  to 
  plains 
  ; 
  for 
  the 
  land 
  near 
  these 
  springs 
  is 
  chiefly 
  

   hilly."* 
  

  

  Cuming, 
  in 
  describing 
  the 
  salt 
  licks 
  along 
  the 
  Licking 
  and 
  Ohio 
  Rivers, 
  

   thus 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  former 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  at 
  these 
  localities: 
  

   '" 
  Tbese 
  licks 
  were 
  much 
  frequented 
  by 
  buffaloes 
  and 
  deer, 
  the 
  former 
  of 
  

   which 
  have 
  been 
  destroyed 
  or 
  terrified 
  from 
  the 
  country. 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  

   fourteen 
  or 
  fifteen 
  years 
  since 
  no 
  other 
  except 
  buffalo 
  or 
  bear 
  meat 
  was 
  

   used 
  by 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  this 
  country." 
  He 
  was 
  informed 
  by 
  Captain 
  

   Waller 
  that 
  " 
  buffalo, 
  bears, 
  and 
  deer 
  were 
  so 
  plenty 
  in 
  the 
  country, 
  even 
  

   long 
  after 
  it 
  began 
  to 
  be 
  generally 
  settled, 
  and 
  ceased 
  to 
  be 
  frequented 
  

   as 
  a 
  hunting-ground 
  by 
  the 
  Indians, 
  that 
  little 
  or 
  no 
  bread 
  was 
  used, 
  

   but 
  that 
  even 
  the 
  children 
  were 
  fed 
  on 
  game, 
  the 
  facility 
  of 
  gaining 
  

   which 
  prevented 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  agriculture, 
  until 
  the 
  poor 
  innocent 
  

   buffaloes 
  were 
  completely 
  extirpated 
  and 
  other 
  wild 
  animals 
  much 
  

   thinned 
  ; 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  principal 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  Kentucky 
  had 
  

   been 
  within 
  the 
  last 
  fifteen 
  years. 
  He 
  said 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  had 
  been 
  so 
  

   numerous, 
  going 
  in 
  herds 
  of 
  several 
  hundreds 
  together, 
  that, 
  about 
  the 
  

   salt 
  licks 
  and 
  springs 
  they 
  frequented, 
  they 
  pressed 
  down 
  and 
  destroyed 
  

   the 
  soil 
  to 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  feet, 
  as 
  was 
  conspicuous 
  yet 
  in 
  the 
  

   neighborhood 
  of 
  the 
  Blue 
  Lick, 
  where 
  all 
  the 
  old 
  trees 
  have 
  their 
  roots 
  

   bare 
  of 
  soil 
  to 
  that 
  depth."t 
  

  

  Other 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  Kentucky, 
  at 
  the 
  

   time 
  this 
  region 
  was 
  first 
  visited 
  by 
  the 
  white 
  settlers, 
  might 
  be 
  given, 
  

   but 
  those 
  above 
  cited 
  seem 
  sufficient 
  for 
  the 
  present 
  occasion. 
  

  

  The 
  buffalo 
  seems 
  also 
  to 
  have 
  existed 
  in 
  considerable 
  numbers 
  in 
  

   portions 
  of 
  Tennessee, 
  particularly 
  about 
  the 
  salt 
  springs 
  on 
  the 
  Cum- 
  

   berland 
  River, 
  as 
  shown 
  by 
  Putnam's 
  " 
  History 
  of 
  Middle 
  Tennessee."| 
  

   This 
  author 
  gives 
  extracts 
  from 
  the 
  journal 
  of 
  John 
  Donelson, 
  respect- 
  

   ing 
  a 
  voyage 
  made 
  by 
  him 
  from 
  Fort 
  Patrick 
  Henry, 
  on 
  the 
  Holston 
  

   River, 
  to 
  the 
  French 
  Salt 
  Springs 
  on 
  the 
  Cumberland 
  River, 
  in 
  Decem- 
  

   ber, 
  1780. 
  Donelson 
  says 
  that 
  he 
  " 
  procured 
  some 
  buffalo 
  meat 
  on 
  the 
  

   Cumberland, 
  near 
  its 
  mouth," 
  and 
  two 
  days 
  further 
  up 
  this 
  river, 
  he 
  

   says, 
  " 
  We 
  killed 
  some 
  more 
  buffalo." 
  The 
  next 
  day, 
  he 
  writes 
  : 
  " 
  We 
  

   are 
  now 
  without 
  bread, 
  and 
  are 
  compelled 
  to 
  hunt 
  the 
  buffalo 
  to 
  pre- 
  

   serve 
  life." 
  § 
  Subsequently, 
  in 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  salt 
  or 
  sulphur 
  springs 
  

   on 
  the 
  Cumberland, 
  apparently 
  near 
  the 
  present 
  site 
  of 
  Nashville, 
  we 
  

   find 
  the 
  following 
  passages 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  open 
  space 
  around 
  and 
  near 
  the 
  sul- 
  

   phur 
  or 
  salt 
  springs, 
  instead 
  of 
  being 
  an 
  'old 
  field,' 
  as 
  had 
  been 
  sup- 
  

   posed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Mausker, 
  at 
  his 
  visit 
  here 
  in 
  1769, 
  was 
  thus 
  freed 
  from 
  

   trees 
  and 
  underbrush 
  by 
  the 
  innumerable 
  herds 
  of 
  buffalo 
  and 
  deer 
  and 
  

   elk 
  that 
  came 
  to 
  these 
  waters. 
  .... 
  Trails, 
  or 
  buffalo 
  paths, 
  were 
  

  

  deeply 
  worn 
  in 
  the 
  earth 
  from 
  this 
  to 
  other 
  springs 
  All 
  the 
  rich 
  

  

  lands 
  were 
  covered 
  with 
  cane-brakes; 
  through 
  these 
  there 
  were 
  paths 
  

   made 
  by 
  the 
  buffalo 
  and 
  other 
  wild 
  animals." 
  || 
  

  

  Ramsey 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  1769 
  and 
  1770 
  an 
  exploring 
  party 
  of 
  ten 
  persons 
  

   passed 
  up 
  the 
  Cumberland, 
  and 
  that 
  "where 
  Nashville 
  now 
  stands 
  they 
  

   discovered 
  the 
  French 
  Lick, 
  and 
  found 
  around 
  it 
  immense 
  numbers 
  of 
  buf- 
  

   falo 
  and 
  other 
  wild 
  game. 
  The 
  country 
  was 
  crowded 
  with 
  them. 
  Their 
  

   bellowings 
  sounded 
  from 
  the 
  hills 
  and 
  forest."^ 
  According 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  

  

  *Ibid., 
  pp. 
  32,33. 
  

  

  t 
  Cuming 
  (Johu), 
  Sketches 
  of 
  a 
  Tour 
  to 
  the 
  Western 
  Couutry, 
  etc., 
  1810, 
  pp. 
  155, 
  156. 
  

  

  t 
  Counties 
  Davidson, 
  Sumner, 
  Robertson, 
  and 
  Montgomery. 
  

  

  <i 
  Pntuam'a 
  Middle 
  Tennessee, 
  pp. 
  74, 
  75. 
  

  

  II 
  Ibid., 
  p. 
  81. 
  

  

  IFTlie 
  Annals 
  of 
  Tennessee, 
  to 
  the 
  End 
  of 
  the 
  Eighteenth 
  Century, 
  etc., 
  p. 
  105. 
  

  

  