﻿524 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  "Who 
  would 
  believe 
  that 
  a 
  thousand 
  horses, 
  oue 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  

   cows 
  of 
  Spanish 
  breed, 
  and 
  more 
  than 
  five 
  thousand 
  sheep, 
  and 
  fifteen 
  

   hundred 
  persons, 
  including 
  Indian 
  servants, 
  would 
  not 
  leave 
  the 
  slight- 
  

   est 
  trace 
  of 
  tbeir 
  passage 
  in 
  the 
  desert, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  necessary 
  to 
  

   raise, 
  from 
  point 
  to 
  point, 
  heaps 
  of 
  stones 
  and 
  buffalo-bones, 
  in 
  order 
  

   that 
  the 
  rear-guard 
  might 
  follow 
  us, 
  for 
  the 
  grass, 
  short 
  as 
  it 
  was, 
  rose 
  

   up 
  after 
  having 
  been 
  trodden 
  down, 
  as 
  straight 
  and 
  fresh 
  as 
  ever. 
  

  

  "Another 
  very 
  astonishing 
  thing 
  is 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  margin 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  

   the 
  salt 
  lakes, 
  toward 
  the 
  south, 
  was 
  found 
  a 
  spot 
  almost 
  half 
  a 
  mushet- 
  

   shot 
  long, 
  entirely 
  covered 
  with 
  buffalo-bones, 
  to 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  twelve 
  

   feet, 
  and 
  eighteen 
  feet 
  broad, 
  which 
  is 
  surprising 
  in 
  a 
  desert 
  country, 
  

   where 
  no 
  one 
  could 
  have 
  brought 
  these 
  bones 
  together. 
  It 
  is 
  pretended 
  

   that 
  when 
  the 
  lake 
  is 
  troubled 
  by 
  the 
  North 
  winds, 
  it 
  throws 
  upon 
  the 
  

   opposite 
  shore 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  all 
  animals 
  which 
  have 
  perished 
  in 
  coming 
  

   to 
  drink." 
  * 
  

  

  Any 
  one 
  who 
  has 
  seen 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  on 
  their 
  native 
  plains 
  can 
  but 
  

   recognize 
  the 
  faithfulness 
  of 
  these 
  details, 
  which 
  are 
  remarkable 
  for 
  

   their 
  minuteness 
  and 
  exact 
  truthfulness. 
  They 
  are 
  further 
  worthy 
  of 
  

   note 
  from 
  being 
  the 
  first 
  descriptions 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  ever 
  published. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  exploration 
  of 
  the 
  different 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Plains, 
  

   from 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  Lewis 
  and 
  Clarke, 
  Pike, 
  Long, 
  and 
  others, 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  

   later 
  expeditions 
  of 
  Fremont, 
  Stansbury, 
  Emory, 
  Marcy, 
  Stimpson, 
  

   Pope, 
  Sitgreaves, 
  and 
  others, 
  and 
  the 
  explorations 
  for 
  " 
  a 
  railroad 
  route 
  

   from 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  River 
  to 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Ocean 
  " 
  in 
  1853-'55, 
  buffaloes, 
  

   or 
  recent 
  traces 
  of 
  them, 
  were 
  found 
  everywhere 
  from 
  the 
  Missouri 
  and 
  

   Upper 
  Mississippi 
  Rivers 
  westward 
  to 
  the 
  remotest 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  from 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  Texas 
  north- 
  

   ward 
  to 
  49th 
  parallel. 
  In 
  the 
  further 
  account 
  of 
  this 
  vast 
  territory 
  it 
  

   is 
  hence 
  necessary 
  to 
  trace 
  only 
  their 
  extirpation 
  over 
  the 
  very 
  large 
  

   portion 
  from 
  which 
  they 
  disappeared. 
  

  

  Extirpation 
  in 
  Texas 
  and 
  I\eic 
  Mexico. 
  — 
  Long 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  

   later 
  explorations 
  above 
  mentioned, 
  the 
  buffalo 
  had 
  disappeared 
  from 
  

   the 
  eastern 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  plain 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Platte 
  River. 
  Even 
  as 
  

   early 
  as 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  century 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  

   had 
  begun 
  to 
  be 
  materially 
  restricted, 
  these 
  animals 
  having 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  

   been 
  apparently 
  wholly 
  exterminated 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Rio 
  Grande, 
  while 
  they 
  

   had 
  also 
  disappeared 
  from 
  the 
  adjoining 
  portions 
  of 
  Texas. 
  They 
  appear 
  

   also 
  to 
  have 
  wholly 
  disappeared 
  in 
  Texas 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Colorado 
  River 
  

   prior 
  to 
  the 
  year 
  1840. 
  Before 
  this 
  date 
  they 
  had 
  also 
  receded 
  far 
  from 
  

   the 
  coast, 
  and 
  no 
  longer 
  ranged 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Pecos 
  River, 
  either 
  in 
  Texas 
  

   or 
  New 
  Mexico 
  ; 
  they 
  occupying 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  only 
  a 
  narrow 
  oblique 
  belt 
  

   through 
  the 
  middle 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  varying 
  from 
  one 
  hundred 
  

   miles 
  in 
  breadth, 
  and 
  widening 
  rapidly 
  as 
  it 
  approached 
  the 
  northern 
  

   border 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  From 
  Texas 
  northward, 
  however, 
  they 
  still 
  occu- 
  

   pied 
  nearly 
  all 
  the 
  Great 
  Plains, 
  from 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains 
  almost 
  to 
  

   the 
  Mississippi 
  River. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  as 
  yet 
  met 
  with 
  but 
  few 
  data 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  extermination 
  of 
  

   the 
  buffalo, 
  either 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Rio 
  Grande 
  or 
  in 
  Texas, 
  prior 
  to 
  1840, 
  

   but 
  since 
  that 
  period 
  the 
  record 
  is 
  reasonably 
  full. 
  Beginning 
  with 
  the 
  

   year 
  1841, 
  we 
  find 
  that 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  Kendall, 
  in 
  travelling 
  north 
  from 
  

   Austin, 
  Texas, 
  first 
  met 
  with 
  buffaloes 
  seventy-five 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  Aus- 
  

   tin, 
  on 
  Little 
  River, 
  a 
  southern 
  tributary 
  of 
  the 
  Brazos, 
  where 
  he 
  found 
  

   them 
  in 
  immense 
  herds. 
  In 
  speaking 
  of 
  them 
  he 
  says: 
  ''There 
  are 
  

   perhaps 
  larger 
  herds 
  of 
  buffalo 
  at 
  present 
  in 
  Northern 
  Texas 
  than 
  any- 
  

  

  *Da%is'a 
  Spanish 
  Conquest 
  of 
  New 
  Mexico, 
  pp. 
  206, 
  207, 
  foot-note. 
  

  

  