﻿636 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  made 
  when 
  their 
  migrations 
  were 
  mainly 
  from 
  the 
  north 
  southward 
  in 
  

   autumn 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  south 
  northward 
  in 
  spring.* 
  From 
  the 
  great 
  

   persecution 
  they 
  had 
  suffered 
  from 
  the 
  hunters, 
  who 
  swarmed 
  down 
  

   upon 
  them 
  from 
  all 
  sides, 
  their 
  movements 
  were 
  already 
  less 
  regular 
  

   than 
  formerly. 
  

  

  The 
  opening 
  of 
  the 
  Atchison, 
  Topeka, 
  and 
  Santa 
  Fe 
  Railroad 
  has 
  

   had 
  a 
  far 
  greater 
  influence 
  upon 
  the 
  buffalo 
  than 
  either 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  

   roads, 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  hunters 
  who 
  seized 
  upon 
  

   it 
  as 
  a 
  favorable 
  basis 
  for 
  the 
  prosecution 
  of 
  their 
  terrible 
  work 
  of 
  

   destruction. 
  The 
  story 
  of 
  this 
  destruction 
  and 
  the 
  fatal 
  results 
  attend- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  encroachment 
  of 
  the 
  settlements 
  upon 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  

   is 
  well 
  told 
  in 
  the 
  subjoined 
  letter 
  from 
  Dr. 
  W. 
  S. 
  Tremaine, 
  U. 
  S. 
  A., 
  

   kindly 
  written 
  in 
  answer 
  to 
  my 
  inquiries 
  respecting 
  this 
  subject, 
  and 
  

   dated 
  Fort 
  Dodge, 
  Kansas, 
  July 
  16, 
  1875 
  : 
  " 
  In 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  I 
  

   would 
  say 
  that 
  when 
  I 
  first 
  came 
  to 
  this 
  post, 
  in 
  1869, 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  

   ranged 
  in 
  almost 
  countless 
  herds 
  from 
  about 
  where 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  Great 
  

   Bend, 
  on 
  the 
  Atchison, 
  Topeka, 
  and 
  Santa 
  F6 
  Railroad, 
  now 
  is, 
  to 
  Fort 
  

   Lyon, 
  Colorado, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  Platte 
  River 
  to 
  the 
  Red 
  River 
  of 
  Texas. 
  

   Throughout 
  this 
  range 
  you 
  might 
  travel 
  for 
  days 
  and 
  scarcely 
  ever 
  be 
  

   out 
  of 
  sight 
  of 
  buffaloes. 
  This 
  condition 
  remained 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  summer 
  

   and 
  autumn 
  of 
  1873, 
  when 
  the 
  Atchison, 
  Topeka, 
  and 
  Santa 
  ¥€ 
  was 
  

   completed 
  to 
  this 
  point. 
  Buffalo-huntiug 
  for 
  their 
  hides 
  then 
  became 
  

   quite 
  an 
  industry 
  in 
  this 
  neighborhood, 
  and 
  hundreds 
  of 
  thousands 
  

   were 
  slaughtered 
  in 
  this 
  vicinity, 
  so 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  a 
  buffalo 
  

   is 
  a 
  rare 
  sight 
  within 
  two 
  hundred 
  miles 
  of 
  Fort 
  Dodge." 
  Dr. 
  Tremaine 
  

   gives 
  the 
  principal 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  Southern 
  Herd 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  as 
  being 
  

   now 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  line, 
  between 
  the 
  North 
  Fork 
  of 
  the 
  Canadian 
  

   and 
  the 
  Red 
  River 
  of 
  Texas, 
  and 
  from 
  about 
  the 
  100th 
  meridian 
  to 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  border 
  of 
  New 
  Mexico. 
  "A 
  few 
  small 
  herds," 
  he 
  says, 
  wander 
  

   northward 
  from 
  the 
  main 
  body 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  Platte 
  country, 
  passing 
  

   along 
  near 
  the 
  eastern 
  boundary 
  of 
  Colorado. 
  Some 
  are 
  also 
  found 
  

   further 
  to 
  the 
  southward 
  between 
  the 
  Red 
  and 
  Pecos 
  Rivers. 
  He 
  

   speaks 
  of 
  the 
  herds 
  as 
  having 
  become 
  very 
  much 
  restricted 
  in 
  range 
  

   and 
  as 
  very 
  much 
  "thinned 
  out." 
  He 
  says 
  : 
  ''As 
  regards 
  their 
  present 
  

   numbers, 
  I 
  was 
  told 
  by 
  an 
  ofScer 
  of 
  cavalry 
  who 
  had 
  scouted 
  last 
  sum- 
  

   mer 
  and 
  winter 
  through 
  the 
  region 
  I 
  have 
  indicated, 
  that 
  during 
  his 
  

   wanderings 
  through 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  which 
  is 
  now 
  considered 
  

   the 
  principal 
  habitat 
  of 
  the 
  Southern 
  Herd, 
  he 
  saw 
  fewer 
  buffaloes 
  than 
  

   he 
  had 
  seen 
  in 
  a 
  trip 
  from 
  Fort 
  Hays 
  to 
  Fort 
  Dodge 
  (eighty-six 
  miles) 
  

   in 
  1872." 
  

  

  Recent 
  reports 
  from 
  Kansas 
  and 
  Colorado 
  agree 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  enor- 
  

   mous 
  destruction 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  throughout 
  Kansas, 
  incidentallj' 
  referred 
  

   to 
  above 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Tremaine. 
  While 
  the 
  range 
  seems 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  as 
  

   yet 
  very 
  materially 
  circumscribed 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  years, 
  the 
  

   reduction 
  in 
  numbers 
  has 
  been 
  immense, 
  and 
  the 
  vast 
  herds 
  existing 
  

   there 
  five 
  years 
  since 
  are 
  now 
  represented 
  by 
  only 
  scattered 
  remnants, 
  

   so 
  fearfully 
  have 
  their 
  ranks 
  been 
  depleted. 
  

  

  The 
  incessant 
  persecution 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  along 
  the 
  lines 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  

   great 
  Kansas 
  railways 
  has" 
  had 
  the 
  effect 
  to 
  crowd 
  them 
  southward 
  and 
  

   southwestward 
  into 
  Western 
  Texas. 
  In 
  this 
  Indian-infested 
  region, 
  too 
  

   remote 
  from 
  railroads 
  to 
  render 
  it 
  feasible 
  for 
  the 
  hunter 
  to 
  follow 
  them 
  

   for 
  their 
  hides 
  and 
  meat, 
  the 
  herd 
  is 
  now 
  mainly 
  concentrated 
  where 
  it 
  

   is 
  temporarily 
  less 
  exposed 
  to 
  persecution 
  than 
  on 
  the 
  more 
  accessible 
  

   plains 
  of 
  Kansas. 
  The 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  herd 
  thus 
  not 
  only 
  changes 
  with 
  

  

  * 
  Sec 
  Bulletin 
  Essex 
  Institute, 
  Vol. 
  VI, 
  pp. 
  46, 
  47. 
  

  

  