﻿ALLEN.J 
  FORMER 
  RANGE 
  WEST 
  OF 
  THE 
  ROCKY 
  MOUNTAINS. 
  513 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  only 
  iuforujation 
  I 
  have 
  regarding 
  its 
  [the 
  buifalo'sj 
  presence 
  in 
  

   Utah 
  was 
  derived 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Madseu, 
  a 
  Danish 
  fisherman, 
  living 
  on 
  the 
  

   borders 
  of 
  Utah 
  Lake; 
  and, 
  I 
  may 
  add, 
  I 
  am 
  perfectly 
  convinced 
  of 
  

   the 
  trustworthiness 
  of 
  his 
  statement. 
  In 
  using 
  the 
  seine 
  in 
  the 
  waters 
  

   of 
  the 
  lake, 
  he 
  has 
  on 
  several 
  occasions 
  brought 
  up 
  from 
  the 
  bottom 
  the 
  

   skulls 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  good 
  state 
  of 
  preservation. 
  Their 
  presence 
  

   in 
  the 
  lake 
  may 
  perhaps 
  be 
  accounted 
  for 
  on 
  the 
  supposition 
  that, 
  in 
  

   crossing 
  ou 
  the 
  ice, 
  a 
  herd 
  may 
  at 
  some 
  time 
  have 
  broken 
  through, 
  and 
  

   thus 
  perished. 
  From 
  him 
  I 
  also 
  learned 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  talked 
  with 
  Indians 
  

   of 
  middle 
  age 
  whose 
  fathers 
  had 
  told 
  them 
  that 
  in 
  their 
  time 
  the 
  buffa- 
  

   loes 
  were 
  numerous, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  hunted 
  them 
  near 
  the 
  lake. 
  If 
  

   this 
  can 
  be 
  accepted 
  as 
  truth, 
  it 
  would 
  place 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  these 
  ani- 
  

   mals 
  in 
  Utah 
  back 
  to 
  a 
  not 
  very 
  distant 
  date. 
  I 
  learn 
  from 
  my 
  friend 
  

   W. 
  W. 
  Howell 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  season 
  he 
  obtained 
  the 
  cranium 
  of 
  

   a 
  buffalo 
  which 
  was 
  unearthed 
  by 
  some 
  laborers 
  while 
  digging 
  a 
  mill- 
  

   race 
  at 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  ten 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  surface. 
  This 
  was 
  in 
  a 
  broad 
  

   canon 
  near 
  Gunnison. 
  While, 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  its 
  being 
  in 
  a 
  caiion, 
  no 
  

   very 
  exact 
  estimate 
  can 
  be 
  made 
  of 
  tlie 
  time 
  of 
  its 
  deposit, 
  there 
  seemed 
  

   every 
  evidence 
  that 
  the 
  soil 
  above 
  it 
  had 
  remained 
  undisturbed 
  for 
  a 
  

   long 
  time. 
  The 
  lower 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  cranium 
  is 
  gone, 
  leaving 
  the 
  part 
  

   above 
  the 
  orbits 
  and 
  the 
  horn-cores 
  intact, 
  and 
  in 
  an 
  excellent 
  state 
  of 
  

   preservation. 
  A 
  comparison 
  of 
  this 
  with 
  a 
  recent 
  specimen 
  of 
  the 
  B. 
  

   americanus 
  shows 
  that 
  in 
  certain 
  characters 
  it 
  exhibits 
  an 
  approach 
  to 
  

   the 
  Bison 
  latifrons^ 
  as 
  described 
  by 
  Leid3^ 
  In 
  size 
  it 
  varies 
  little 
  from 
  

   the 
  B. 
  americanus, 
  but 
  in 
  all 
  other 
  characteristics 
  is 
  much 
  nearer 
  the 
  

   B. 
  latifronsP* 
  

  

  The 
  buffalo 
  seems, 
  however, 
  to 
  have 
  lingered 
  later 
  on 
  the 
  head- 
  waters 
  

   of 
  the 
  Colorado 
  than 
  in 
  either 
  the 
  Great 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  Valley, 
  or 
  the 
  valley 
  

   of 
  Bear 
  Eiver, 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  head-waters 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  main 
  forks 
  of 
  the 
  

   Columbia. 
  Fremont 
  found 
  them 
  on 
  !St. 
  Vrain's 
  Fork 
  of 
  Green 
  River, 
  

   and 
  on 
  the 
  Vermilion 
  in 
  1844, 
  f 
  and 
  Stansbury, 
  in 
  1849, 
  found 
  them 
  on 
  

   the 
  northern 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  Yampah, 
  and 
  the 
  upper 
  tributaries 
  of 
  

   Green 
  Eiver; 
  but 
  the 
  scarcity 
  of 
  water 
  seemed 
  to 
  have 
  forced 
  the 
  greater 
  

   part 
  of 
  then;! 
  southward. 
  Eesi^ecting 
  their 
  occurrence 
  near 
  Bridger's 
  

   Fork 
  of 
  the 
  Muddy, 
  Stansbury 
  says: 
  "As 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  water 
  lasted, 
  the 
  

   whole 
  plain 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  covered 
  with 
  buffalo 
  and 
  antelope, 
  as 
  the 
  

   profusion 
  of 
  'sign' 
  abundantly 
  proved; 
  but 
  as 
  this 
  indispensable 
  article 
  

   was 
  absorbed 
  by 
  the 
  sandy 
  soil, 
  they 
  seemed, 
  from 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  their 
  

   trails, 
  to 
  have 
  struck 
  a 
  course 
  for 
  the 
  Vermilion." 
  | 
  

  

  They 
  have, 
  however, 
  long 
  since 
  disappeared 
  from 
  the 
  head-waters 
  of 
  

   Green 
  Eiver, 
  and, 
  indeed, 
  from 
  all 
  the 
  country 
  drained 
  by 
  the 
  tributa- 
  

   ries" 
  of 
  the 
  Colorado. 
  Although 
  their 
  bleached 
  skulls 
  are 
  still 
  found 
  

   throughout 
  the 
  valleys, 
  I 
  was 
  informed 
  by 
  old 
  hunters 
  whom 
  I 
  saw 
  

   there 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1871, 
  that 
  no 
  buffaloes 
  had 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  this 
  re- 
  

   gion 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  years. 
  

  

  The 
  best 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  range 
  in 
  recent 
  times, 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Eocky 
  

   Mountains, 
  and 
  of 
  their 
  extermination 
  over 
  this 
  vast 
  region, 
  is 
  that 
  

   given 
  by 
  Fremont, 
  based 
  on 
  his 
  own 
  extensive 
  travels 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  still 
  

   more 
  extended 
  experience 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Fitzpatrick. 
  Fremont 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  

   the 
  spring 
  of 
  1824 
  " 
  the 
  buffalo 
  were 
  spread 
  in 
  immense 
  numbers 
  over 
  

   the 
  Green 
  Eiver 
  and 
  Bear 
  Eiver 
  Valleys, 
  and 
  through 
  all 
  the 
  country 
  

   lying 
  between 
  the 
  Colorado, 
  or 
  Green 
  Eiver 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  California, 
  

  

  *Its 
  agreement 
  in 
  size 
  with 
  Bison 
  americanus 
  is 
  sufficient 
  to 
  indicate 
  its 
  identity 
  

   ■with 
  that 
  species. 
  

   t 
  First 
  and 
  Second 
  Expeditions, 
  etc., 
  p. 
  281. 
  

   i 
  Stansbury's 
  Expedition 
  to 
  the 
  Great 
  Salt 
  Lake, 
  p. 
  238. 
  

  

  33 
  G 
  S 
  

  

  