﻿538 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  therewith 
  a 
  detailed 
  account, 
  furnished 
  him 
  by 
  the 
  Eev. 
  Mr. 
  Belcourt,* 
  

   cf 
  the 
  chase 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  on 
  the 
  Pembina 
  Plains. 
  It 
  contains 
  not 
  

   only 
  much 
  valuable 
  information 
  respecting 
  the 
  peculiar 
  modes 
  of 
  hunt- 
  

   ing 
  pursued 
  by 
  the 
  Eed 
  River 
  hunters, 
  but 
  also 
  important 
  statistics 
  re- 
  

   specting 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  their 
  destruction 
  at 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  writing 
  (1853). 
  

  

  Mr. 
  A. 
  W. 
  Tinkham, 
  in 
  the 
  *' 
  Itinerary" 
  of 
  his 
  route 
  from 
  St. 
  Paul 
  to 
  

   Fort 
  Union, 
  in 
  June 
  and 
  July, 
  1853, 
  speaks 
  of 
  using 
  the 
  bois 
  de 
  vaclie 
  

   for 
  fuel 
  on 
  Maple 
  River, 
  and 
  reports 
  killing 
  his 
  first 
  buffalo 
  on 
  the 
  

   Shayenne, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  Red 
  River. 
  At 
  this 
  time, 
  

   he 
  says, 
  large 
  herds 
  roamed 
  over 
  the 
  prairies 
  of 
  the 
  Shayenne 
  River, 
  

   and 
  extended 
  as 
  far 
  south 
  as 
  the 
  South 
  Fork 
  of 
  the 
  Shayenne. 
  He 
  also 
  

   met 
  with 
  recent 
  indications 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  on 
  the 
  White 
  Earth 
  River, 
  t 
  

  

  Governor 
  Stevens, 
  in 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  on 
  the 
  

   Shayenne 
  River, 
  near 
  Lake 
  Zisne, 
  the 
  same 
  year, 
  says: 
  "About 
  five 
  miles 
  

   from 
  camp, 
  we 
  ascended 
  to 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  a 
  high 
  hill, 
  and 
  for 
  a 
  great 
  dis- 
  

   tance 
  ahead 
  every 
  square 
  mile 
  seemed 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  herd 
  of 
  buffalo 
  upon 
  

   it. 
  Their 
  number 
  was 
  variously 
  estimated 
  by 
  the 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  

   party, 
  some 
  as 
  high 
  as 
  half 
  a 
  million. 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  think 
  it 
  is 
  any 
  exaggera- 
  

   tion 
  to 
  set 
  it 
  down 
  at 
  200,000. 
  I 
  had 
  heard 
  of 
  the 
  myriads 
  of 
  these 
  

   animals 
  inhabiting 
  these 
  plains, 
  but 
  I 
  could 
  not 
  realize 
  the 
  truth 
  of 
  

   these 
  accounts 
  till 
  to-day, 
  when 
  they 
  surpass 
  everything 
  I 
  could 
  have 
  

   imagined 
  from 
  the 
  accounts 
  which 
  I 
  had 
  received." 
  | 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  Assistant 
  Surgeon 
  Asa 
  Wall, 
  buffaloes 
  were 
  still 
  com- 
  

   mon 
  about 
  Fort 
  Abercrombie, 
  on 
  the 
  Red 
  River, 
  at 
  late 
  as 
  1858.§ 
  

  

  Mr. 
  W. 
  H. 
  Illingworth, 
  the 
  well-known 
  photographer 
  of 
  St. 
  Paul, 
  

   informs 
  me 
  that 
  in 
  1866, 
  when 
  he 
  made 
  a 
  journey 
  from 
  St. 
  Cloud 
  

   westward 
  to 
  the 
  Yellowstone, 
  he 
  met 
  with 
  immense 
  herds 
  for 
  two 
  days 
  

   in 
  passing 
  the 
  Coteau 
  des 
  Prairies, 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  James 
  River. 
  They 
  

   seem 
  to 
  have 
  wholly 
  disappeared 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  soon 
  after 
  this 
  

   date, 
  surviving 
  in 
  Southern 
  Dakota, 
  however, 
  between 
  the 
  James 
  and 
  

   Missouri 
  Rivers, 
  for 
  some 
  years 
  after 
  their 
  extermination 
  over 
  the 
  plains 
  

   of 
  the 
  Red 
  River. 
  As 
  already 
  stated, 
  they 
  were 
  exterminated 
  east 
  of 
  

   the 
  Red 
  River 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  about 
  tbe 
  year 
  1850, 
  and, 
  being 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  

   rapidly 
  pressed 
  westward 
  by 
  the 
  Red 
  River 
  hunters, 
  were 
  wholly 
  

   exterminated 
  during 
  the 
  few 
  years 
  next 
  following 
  throughout 
  the 
  whole 
  

   basin 
  of 
  the 
  Red 
  River, 
  and 
  even 
  throughout 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  northern 
  

   half 
  of 
  Dakota. 
  In 
  Southern 
  Dakota, 
  between 
  the 
  James 
  and 
  the 
  

   Missouri, 
  they 
  lingered 
  for 
  some 
  years 
  later, 
  but 
  wholly 
  disappeared 
  

   east 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  year 
  1870. 
  

  

  Region 
  hettveen 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri 
  and 
  Forty-ninth 
  Parallel. 
  — 
  The 
  

   former 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  over 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  drained 
  by 
  

   the 
  Upper 
  Missouri 
  is 
  well 
  substantiated 
  by 
  the 
  evidences 
  they 
  them- 
  

   selves 
  have 
  left, 
  and 
  which 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  well 
  defined 
  trails 
  and 
  

   osseous 
  remains. 
  When 
  Lewis 
  and 
  Clarke 
  ascended 
  the 
  Missouri 
  in 
  

   1804, 
  they 
  met 
  with 
  them 
  at 
  frequent 
  points 
  along 
  almost 
  its 
  whole 
  

   course, 
  from 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Big 
  Sioux 
  to 
  the 
  Forks,|| 
  and 
  subsequent 
  

   explorers 
  found 
  them 
  on 
  its 
  remotest 
  sources. 
  As 
  late 
  as 
  1856 
  this 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  account 
  given 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Sibley 
  as 
  that 
  furnished 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Belcourt 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  

   merely 
  a 
  translation 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Belcourt's 
  account 
  of 
  buffalo-hunting 
  by 
  the 
  Red. 
  River 
  

   half-breeds 
  originally 
  contained 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  addressed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Belcourt 
  to 
  Major 
  S. 
  

   Woods, 
  and 
  dated 
  " 
  St. 
  Paul, 
  November 
  25, 
  1845." 
  This 
  document 
  vras 
  published 
  by 
  

   Major 
  Woods 
  in 
  his 
  Report 
  of 
  his 
  Expedition 
  to 
  the 
  Pembina 
  Settlement 
  in 
  1849 
  (Con- 
  

   gressional 
  Documents 
  of 
  the 
  31st 
  Congress, 
  1st 
  Session, 
  House 
  Doc. 
  No. 
  51, 
  pp. 
  44-52). 
  

  

  t 
  Pacific 
  R. 
  R. 
  Exjil. 
  and 
  Sur., 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  Governor 
  Stevens's 
  Report, 
  pp. 
  252-258. 
  

  

  X 
  Pacific 
  R. 
  R. 
  Rep. 
  of 
  Expl. 
  and 
  Surveys, 
  Vol. 
  XI, 
  pt. 
  1, 
  p. 
  59. 
  

  

  ^ 
  Med. 
  Statistics 
  U. 
  S. 
  Army, 
  185.5-18G0, 
  p. 
  34. 
  

  

  II 
  Expedition, 
  etc.. 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  pp. 
  G7, 
  75, 
  77, 
  ct 
  seq. 
  

  

  