﻿528 
  EEPOKT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  the 
  westward 
  they 
  go 
  twenty 
  to 
  fifty 
  miles 
  further 
  to 
  the 
  southward, 
  

   but 
  only 
  occasionally. 
  Mr. 
  Stevens 
  adds 
  that 
  none 
  are 
  found 
  very 
  far 
  

   to 
  the 
  westward 
  of 
  Fort 
  Concho, 
  and 
  that 
  none 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  for 
  a 
  

   long 
  time 
  in 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  ^ew 
  Mexico, 
  and 
  that 
  probably 
  none 
  ever 
  will 
  

   be 
  found 
  there 
  again. 
  From 
  the 
  best 
  information 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  

   obtain, 
  their 
  present 
  western 
  limit 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  eastern 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  

   Staked 
  Plains. 
  [*] 
  

  

  Extermination 
  in 
  ArTcansas, 
  Missouri, 
  loiva, 
  and 
  Minnesota. 
  — 
  Passing 
  

   now 
  to 
  the 
  region 
  north 
  of 
  Texas, 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  extermination 
  

   of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  throughout 
  the 
  tier 
  of 
  States 
  adjoining 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  

   Eiver 
  — 
  namely, 
  Arkansas, 
  Missouri, 
  Iowa, 
  and 
  Minnesota 
  — 
  will 
  be 
  first 
  

   given, 
  and 
  afterward 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  extermination 
  over 
  the 
  region 
  

   between 
  the 
  Platte 
  Eiver 
  and 
  the 
  northern 
  boundary 
  of 
  Texas. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  Nuttall, 
  the 
  bison 
  was 
  still 
  to 
  be 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  Arkansas 
  

   as 
  late 
  as 
  1819, 
  a 
  few 
  then 
  existing 
  near 
  the 
  Arkansas 
  Eiver, 
  in 
  the 
  

   present 
  county 
  of 
  Conway, 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  the 
  centre 
  of 
  the 
  State.f 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  journey 
  from 
  Fort 
  Smith 
  southwestward 
  to 
  the 
  Eed 
  Eiver, 
  his 
  

   party 
  also 
  met 
  with 
  large 
  herds 
  on 
  Eiameche 
  Creek, 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  

   Indian 
  Territory, 
  near 
  the 
  southwestern 
  border 
  of 
  Arkansas.^ 
  Major 
  

   Long 
  found 
  their 
  skulls 
  and 
  other 
  remains 
  at 
  Massern 
  and 
  Vache 
  

   Grasse 
  Creeks, 
  in 
  Western 
  Arkansas, 
  in 
  1820, 
  showing 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  

   existed 
  at 
  that 
  point 
  at 
  a 
  not 
  very 
  remote 
  period.§ 
  

  

  Gregg, 
  writing 
  about 
  1844, 
  says 
  : 
  "Even 
  within 
  thirty 
  years 
  they 
  were 
  

   abundant 
  over 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  States 
  of 
  Missouri 
  and 
  Arkansas," 
  

   or 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1815. 
  || 
  In 
  1820 
  settlements 
  had 
  extended 
  up 
  the^ 
  Arkansas 
  

   nearly 
  to 
  the 
  western 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  and 
  probably 
  soon 
  after 
  this 
  

   date 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  were 
  wholly 
  extirpated 
  throughout 
  the 
  present 
  State 
  

   of 
  Arkansas- 
  

   Beck 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  Missouri, 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1823, 
  "immense 
  herds" 
  of 
  

   buffaloes 
  were 
  "frequently 
  seen 
  covering 
  the 
  extensive 
  plains 
  which 
  

   stretch 
  along 
  the 
  west 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  During 
  the 
  dry 
  seasons," 
  he 
  

   says, 
  "they 
  remain 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  rivers, 
  but 
  they 
  uniformly 
  

   migrate 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  at 
  the 
  approach 
  of 
  winter."^ 
  

  

  It 
  thus 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  buffalo 
  also 
  lingered 
  in 
  Western 
  Missouri 
  till 
  

   about 
  1820 
  to 
  1825. 
  They 
  probably 
  disappeared 
  from 
  Southern 
  Iowa 
  at 
  

   about 
  the 
  same 
  period, 
  but 
  they 
  existed 
  for 
  a 
  much 
  longer 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  

   northern 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  In 
  earlier 
  times 
  Charlevoix 
  found 
  " 
  magnifi- 
  

   cent 
  meadows" 
  in 
  Southeastern 
  Iowa, 
  on 
  the 
  Des 
  Moines 
  Eiver, 
  "quite 
  

   covered 
  with 
  buffalo, 
  and 
  other 
  wild 
  creatures."** 
  Major 
  Long, 
  in 
  a 
  trip 
  

   eastward 
  from 
  Council 
  Bluffs 
  in 
  1819, 
  found 
  " 
  their 
  skulls 
  and 
  other 
  

   remains 
  on 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  Nishnabatona, 
  and 
  in 
  one 
  instance 
  dis- 
  

   covered 
  the 
  tracks 
  of 
  a 
  bull; 
  but," 
  he 
  adds, 
  "all 
  the 
  herds 
  of 
  these 
  

   animals 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  deserted 
  the 
  country 
  east 
  of 
  Council 
  Bluffs."ft 
  

   According 
  to 
  Assistant 
  Surgeon 
  Charles 
  C. 
  Keeney, 
  the 
  buffalo 
  was 
  

   sometimes 
  met 
  with 
  on 
  the 
  open 
  prairies 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  west 
  of 
  Fort 
  Dodge, 
  

   on 
  the 
  Des 
  Moines 
  Eiver, 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1852. 
  J| 
  

  

  M. 
  Belon, 
  an 
  old 
  French 
  voyageur, 
  whom 
  I 
  met 
  in 
  1873 
  on 
  the 
  Yellow- 
  

  

  [ 
  * 
  Accordiug 
  to 
  a 
  correspondent 
  ("H. 
  M. 
  H.") 
  of 
  the 
  Mason 
  News-Item, 
  April 
  28, 
  

   1877, 
  buffaloes 
  are 
  plentiful 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Fort 
  McKavett. 
  — 
  

   J. 
  A. 
  A.] 
  

  

  t 
  Travels 
  into 
  the 
  Arkansas 
  Country, 
  p. 
  118. 
  

  

  I 
  Ibid., 
  pp. 
  149, 
  150. 
  

  

  ^ 
  Long's 
  Expedition 
  from 
  Pittsburg 
  to 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  264. 
  

  

  II 
  Gregg, 
  Commerce 
  of 
  the 
  Prairies, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  113. 
  

  

  Il 
  Beck(L. 
  J.), 
  Gazetteer 
  of 
  the 
  States 
  of 
  Illinois 
  and 
  Missouri, 
  jj. 
  167. 
  

  

  ** 
  Letters, 
  Goadby's 
  English 
  ed., 
  p. 
  295. 
  

  

  tt 
  Expedition 
  to 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  421. 
  

  

  U 
  Med. 
  Statistics 
  U. 
  S. 
  Army, 
  1839-1854, 
  p. 
  55. 
  

  

  