﻿512 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  well 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  formerly 
  embraced 
  within 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  

   buffalo. 
  So 
  well 
  established 
  is 
  this 
  fact 
  that 
  a 
  special 
  consideration 
  of 
  

   this 
  region 
  will 
  be 
  deferred 
  till 
  the 
  former 
  boundaries 
  of 
  its 
  range 
  to 
  

   the 
  westward 
  and 
  southward 
  have 
  been 
  traced. 
  

  

  Although 
  the 
  main 
  chain 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains 
  has 
  commonly 
  been 
  

   supposed 
  to 
  form 
  the 
  western 
  limit 
  of 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  there 
  is 
  

   abundant 
  proof 
  of 
  its 
  former 
  existence 
  over 
  a 
  vast 
  area 
  west 
  of 
  this 
  sup- 
  

   posed 
  boundary, 
  including 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  so-called 
  Great 
  Basin 
  of 
  

   Utah, 
  the 
  Green 
  Eiver 
  Plateau, 
  and 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  Columbia. 
  It 
  is 
  

   probably 
  not 
  yet 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  since 
  it 
  ranged 
  westward 
  to 
  the 
  Blue 
  

   Mountains 
  of 
  Oregon 
  and 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  Mountains 
  of 
  California. 
  

  

  Eespecting 
  its 
  former 
  occurrence 
  in 
  Eastern 
  Oregon, 
  Professor 
  O. 
  C. 
  

   Marsh, 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  New 
  Haven, 
  February 
  7, 
  1875, 
  writes 
  me 
  as 
  fol- 
  

   lows: 
  "The 
  most 
  western 
  point 
  at 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  myself 
  observed 
  

   remains 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  was 
  in 
  1873, 
  on 
  Willow 
  Creek, 
  Eastern 
  Oregon, 
  

   among 
  the 
  foot-hills 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Blue 
  Mountains. 
  This 
  is 
  

   about 
  latitude 
  i4P. 
  The 
  bones 
  were 
  perfectly 
  characteristic, 
  although 
  

   nearly 
  decomposed." 
  

  

  The 
  former 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  the 
  Great 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  Valley 
  is 
  

   established 
  by 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  its 
  remains 
  there 
  in 
  a 
  still 
  good 
  state 
  

   of 
  preservation, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  by 
  the 
  testimony 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  seen 
  

   them 
  there. 
  Along 
  the 
  railroad 
  leading 
  from 
  Ogden 
  City 
  to 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  

   City 
  I 
  examined, 
  in 
  September, 
  1871, 
  numbers 
  of 
  skulls 
  in 
  a 
  nearly 
  

   perfect 
  state 
  of 
  preservation, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  exposed 
  in 
  throwing 
  up 
  

   the 
  road-bed 
  across 
  the 
  marshes 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  City. 
  

   I 
  also 
  saw 
  a 
  few 
  on 
  the 
  terraces 
  north 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  Ogden 
  City, 
  but 
  

   generally 
  in 
  a 
  disintegrated 
  condition, 
  as 
  were 
  all 
  that 
  I 
  saw 
  which 
  had 
  

   not 
  been 
  buried 
  in 
  the 
  recent 
  deposits 
  about 
  the 
  Great 
  Salt 
  Lake. 
  I 
  

   was 
  also 
  informed 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  tradition 
  among 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  this 
  

   region 
  that 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  were 
  almost 
  entirely 
  exterminated 
  by 
  deep 
  

   snows 
  many 
  years 
  since. 
  Mr. 
  E. 
  D. 
  Mecham, 
  of 
  North 
  Ogden, 
  a 
  reliable 
  

   and 
  intelligent 
  hunter 
  and 
  trapper 
  of 
  nearly 
  forty 
  years' 
  experience 
  

   in 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountains, 
  and 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  a 
  partner 
  of 
  the 
  celebrated 
  

   Joseph 
  Bridger, 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  few 
  had 
  been 
  seen 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  

   Wahsatch 
  range 
  of 
  mountains 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  thirty 
  years, 
  but 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  

   seen 
  their 
  weathered 
  skulls 
  as 
  far 
  west 
  as 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  Mount- 
  

   ains.* 
  In 
  1836, 
  according 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Mecham, 
  there 
  were 
  many 
  buffaloes 
  

   in 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  Valley, 
  which 
  were 
  nearly 
  all 
  destroyed 
  by 
  deep 
  snow 
  

   about 
  1837, 
  when, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  reports 
  of 
  mountaineers 
  and 
  Indians, 
  

   the 
  snow 
  fell 
  to 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  ten 
  feet 
  on 
  a 
  level. 
  The 
  few 
  buffaloes 
  

   that 
  escaped 
  starvation 
  during 
  this 
  severe 
  winter 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  soon 
  

   after 
  disappeared. 
  Mr. 
  Henry 
  Gannet, 
  astronomer 
  of 
  Dr. 
  Haydeu's 
  

   Survey, 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  the 
  Mormon 
  Danite, 
  "Bill" 
  Hickman, 
  claims 
  

   to 
  have 
  killed 
  the 
  last 
  buffaloes 
  in 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  Valley 
  about 
  1838. 
  How 
  

   long 
  the 
  buffalo 
  inhabited 
  the 
  Basin 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  it 
  is 
  of 
  

   course 
  now 
  impossible 
  to 
  determine, 
  but 
  it 
  seems 
  probable 
  that 
  their 
  

   occupation 
  must 
  date 
  back 
  to 
  a 
  remote 
  period, 
  since 
  their 
  skulls 
  occur 
  

   wholly 
  buried 
  in 
  the 
  marshes 
  about 
  the 
  lake, 
  where 
  the 
  deposition 
  

   appears 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  quite 
  slow. 
  I 
  am 
  also 
  informed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  W. 
  

   Henshaw, 
  the 
  well-known 
  ornithologist 
  of 
  Lieutenant 
  Wheeler's 
  Sur- 
  

   vey, 
  that 
  their 
  skulls 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  Utah 
  Lake. 
  Mr. 
  Henshaw, 
  

   under 
  date 
  of 
  Washington, 
  D. 
  C, 
  Mar 
  ch 
  6, 
  1875, 
  writes 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  * 
  I 
  was 
  informed 
  by 
  several 
  persons 
  wliom 
  I 
  met 
  in 
  the 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  Valley, 
  that 
  they 
  

   had 
  seen 
  skulls 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  as 
  far 
  west 
  as 
  the 
  eastern 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  

   Mountains. 
  These 
  persons 
  were 
  unknown 
  to 
  each 
  other, 
  and 
  their 
  accounts 
  were 
  

   wholly 
  distinct 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  date 
  and 
  locality, 
  and 
  hence 
  seem 
  all 
  the 
  more 
  entitled 
  to 
  

   credence. 
  

  

  