﻿534 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  date 
  containing 
  the 
  following: 
  "A 
  party 
  of 
  Indians 
  in 
  the 
  northwestern 
  

   edge 
  of 
  the 
  Middle 
  Park 
  came 
  upon 
  a 
  herd 
  of 
  buffalo 
  the 
  other 
  day, 
  and 
  

   killed 
  them 
  all-r-forty-two 
  in 
  number. 
  All 
  they 
  saved 
  was 
  the 
  skins, 
  

   leaving 
  the 
  meat 
  to 
  rot. 
  Such 
  waste 
  of 
  the 
  game 
  ought 
  to 
  be 
  stopped, 
  

   and 
  the 
  sooner 
  the 
  better." 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Hayden 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  a 
  band 
  of 
  eighteen 
  was 
  seen 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  

   his 
  parties 
  near 
  Pike's 
  Peak 
  in 
  1873, 
  and 
  that 
  in 
  1875 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  band 
  

   of 
  about 
  nineteen 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  side 
  of 
  Pike's 
  Peak, 
  and 
  another 
  band 
  of 
  

   about 
  sixty 
  near 
  Mount 
  Lincoln, 
  in 
  the 
  South 
  Park. 
  Mr. 
  0. 
  E. 
  Aiken, 
  

   probably 
  referring 
  to 
  these, 
  writes 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  knows 
  of 
  but 
  two 
  bands 
  

   existing 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  (February, 
  1876) 
  in 
  the 
  mountains 
  about 
  

   South 
  Park, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  " 
  grazes 
  on 
  the 
  mountains 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  

   Tarry 
  all 
  Creek, 
  and 
  is 
  frequently 
  found 
  above 
  timber-line; 
  the 
  other 
  

   ranges 
  in 
  the 
  rugged 
  mountains 
  south 
  of 
  Pike's 
  Peak, 
  and 
  numbers 
  

   some 
  thirty 
  or 
  forty 
  individuals." 
  

  

  In 
  1871 
  their 
  bleached 
  skulls 
  were 
  still 
  frequent 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  

   North 
  Platte, 
  in 
  Western 
  Wyoming, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  Laramie 
  Plains, 
  

   but 
  I 
  was 
  assured 
  that 
  only 
  stragglers 
  had 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  all 
  this 
  region 
  

   during 
  the 
  previous 
  ten 
  or 
  fifteen 
  years.* 
  Stansbury 
  reports 
  meeting 
  

   with 
  them 
  in 
  abundance 
  on 
  Pass 
  Creek 
  and 
  other 
  head-waters 
  of 
  the 
  

   North 
  Platte, 
  in 
  1849.t 
  

  

  In 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  extermination 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  along 
  the 
  western 
  edge 
  

   of 
  the 
  plains 
  in 
  Colorado, 
  and 
  the 
  present 
  western 
  boundary 
  of 
  the 
  

   Southern 
  Herd, 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  favored 
  with 
  a 
  valuable 
  communication 
  

   from 
  Mr. 
  William 
  N. 
  Byers, 
  editor 
  and 
  proprietor 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Rocky 
  Mount- 
  

   ain 
  News." 
  In 
  kindly 
  answer 
  to 
  my 
  inquiries 
  he 
  thus 
  refers 
  (writing 
  

   under 
  date 
  of 
  July 
  3, 
  1875) 
  to 
  the 
  gradual 
  extermination 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  

   along 
  the 
  eastern 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains. 
  He 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  Perhaps 
  

   the 
  best 
  idea 
  I 
  can 
  give 
  you 
  of 
  the 
  shrinkage 
  of 
  the 
  column 
  on 
  this 
  side 
  

   is 
  gathered 
  from 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  trading-posts 
  established 
  here, 
  

   mainly 
  for 
  barter 
  in 
  their 
  hides. 
  The 
  first 
  trading-post 
  in 
  this 
  [South 
  

   PlatteJ 
  valley 
  was 
  built 
  in 
  1832, 
  six 
  miles 
  below 
  Denver, 
  and 
  about 
  fif- 
  

   teen 
  miles, 
  direct, 
  from 
  the 
  mountain 
  foot. 
  A 
  trader 
  employed 
  here 
  

   from 
  1832 
  to 
  1836 
  told 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  thought 
  that 
  he 
  never 
  looked 
  but 
  over 
  

   t'he 
  walls 
  of 
  the 
  fort 
  without 
  seeing 
  buffalo, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  they 
  covered 
  

   the 
  plain. 
  At 
  that 
  time 
  their 
  moving 
  columns 
  surged 
  up 
  against 
  the 
  

   mountain 
  foot. 
  Five 
  or 
  six 
  years 
  later 
  the 
  next 
  fort 
  was 
  built 
  five 
  or 
  

   six 
  miles 
  down 
  the 
  river, 
  then 
  a 
  third 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  below 
  the 
  second, 
  

   and, 
  about 
  1840, 
  a 
  fourth, 
  nearly 
  twenty 
  miles 
  below 
  the 
  third, 
  or 
  forty 
  

   odd 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  mountains. 
  There 
  the 
  trade 
  was 
  concentrated 
  and 
  

   the 
  up-river 
  forts 
  were 
  successively 
  abandoned, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  decrease 
  of 
  

   the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  their 
  vicinity. 
  But 
  great 
  herds 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  occasionally 
  

   ranged 
  over 
  the 
  present 
  site 
  of 
  Denver 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1846. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  trading-posts 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Arkansas 
  possess 
  a 
  similar 
  

   history. 
  The 
  earliest, 
  built 
  about 
  1826, 
  was 
  some 
  twenty 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  

   mountains. 
  Others 
  succeeded, 
  one 
  after 
  another, 
  until 
  New 
  Fort 
  Bent, 
  — 
  

   afterward 
  Fort 
  Bent, 
  now 
  Fort 
  Lyon, 
  — 
  about 
  eighty 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  

   mountains, 
  closed 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  these 
  early 
  trading 
  outposts. 
  They 
  

   were 
  placed 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  most 
  convenient 
  to 
  the 
  camps 
  of 
  the 
  hunters, 
  

   to 
  enable 
  the 
  traders 
  to 
  supply 
  the 
  latter 
  with 
  goods 
  and 
  to 
  buy 
  their 
  

   skins. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  present 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  Colorado," 
  he 
  says, 
  " 
  is 
  bounded 
  

   substantially 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  by 
  a 
  lino 
  about 
  one 
  hundred 
  miles 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  Bulletin 
  Essex 
  Institute, 
  Vol. 
  VI, 
  p. 
  59. 
  

   t 
  Salt 
  Lake 
  Expedition, 
  pp. 
  243-247. 
  

  

  