﻿542 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  ^ 
  

  

  liundred 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  of 
  that 
  place.* 
  Dr. 
  Hayden 
  also 
  in 
  

   forms 
  me 
  that 
  a 
  few 
  were 
  found 
  until 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  since 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  

   Black 
  Hills, 
  on 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  Niobrara 
  and 
  Cheyenne 
  Elvers, 
  from 
  

   which 
  localities 
  they 
  have, 
  however, 
  been 
  since 
  exterminated. 
  

  

  As 
  already 
  stated, 
  they 
  were 
  abundant 
  about 
  Fort 
  Union 
  at 
  the 
  

   mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Yellowstone, 
  in 
  1853, 
  and 
  for 
  some 
  distance 
  below 
  this 
  

   point 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri, 
  where 
  they 
  remained 
  for 
  some 
  years 
  later. 
  

   Dr. 
  Hayden 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  abundant 
  there 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1859, 
  

   and 
  that 
  even 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1866 
  they 
  occupied 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  

   between 
  Fort 
  Union 
  and 
  Fort 
  Pierre. 
  In 
  1861 
  Dr. 
  Hayden 
  published 
  

   the 
  following 
  general 
  statement 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  

   at 
  that 
  time 
  on 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri. 
  " 
  They 
  occur," 
  he 
  says, 
  " 
  in 
  large 
  

   bands 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Yellowstone 
  Eiver, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Blackfoot 
  

   country, 
  but 
  their 
  numbers 
  are 
  annually 
  decreasing 
  at 
  a 
  rapid 
  rate. 
  

   Descending 
  the 
  Yellowstone 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1854, 
  from 
  the 
  Crow 
  

   couutry, 
  we 
  were 
  not 
  out 
  of 
  sight 
  of 
  large 
  herds 
  for 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  400 
  

  

  miles 
  In 
  1850 
  they 
  were 
  seen 
  as 
  low 
  down 
  on 
  the 
  Missouri 
  

  

  River 
  as 
  the 
  Vermilion, 
  and 
  in 
  1854 
  a 
  few 
  were 
  killed 
  near 
  Fort 
  Pierre. 
  

   But 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  (1861) 
  they 
  seldom 
  pass 
  below 
  the 
  47th 
  parallel 
  

   on 
  the 
  Missouri. 
  Every 
  year, 
  as 
  we 
  ascend 
  the 
  river, 
  we 
  can 
  observe 
  

   that 
  they 
  are 
  retiring 
  nearer 
  and 
  nearer 
  to 
  the 
  mountainous 
  portions."! 
  

   General 
  W. 
  F. 
  Raynolds, 
  in 
  passing 
  from 
  Fort 
  Pierre 
  westward 
  in 
  

   July, 
  1859, 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  whole 
  country, 
  for 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  forty 
  

   miles, 
  was 
  a 
  dry, 
  desolate 
  tract, 
  a 
  few 
  antelopes 
  forming 
  the 
  only 
  living 
  

   things 
  met 
  with 
  ; 
  " 
  but 
  buffaloes," 
  he 
  says, 
  " 
  have 
  evidently 
  been 
  here, 
  

   and 
  may 
  return 
  at 
  more 
  favorable 
  seasons 
  of 
  the 
  year. 
  Six 
  bulls 
  were 
  

   seen 
  to-day 
  in 
  the 
  distance, 
  as 
  we 
  drove 
  into 
  camp, 
  being 
  our 
  first 
  sight 
  

   of 
  the 
  famous 
  ' 
  lords 
  of 
  the 
  prairie.' 
  We 
  are 
  now 
  approaching 
  the 
  

   Black 
  Hills, 
  however, 
  and 
  will 
  soon 
  have 
  them 
  around 
  us 
  in 
  abun- 
  

   dance."J 
  This 
  locality 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  head-waters 
  of 
  the 
  Cheyenne. 
  Again, 
  

   in 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Yellowstone, 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  This 
  valley 
  has 
  

  

  long 
  been 
  the 
  home 
  of 
  countless 
  herds 
  of 
  buffalo 
  When 
  my 
  

  

  party 
  first 
  reached 
  the 
  bluff 
  overlooking 
  the 
  Yellowstone 
  the 
  sight 
  was 
  

   one 
  which 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  will 
  have 
  passed 
  away 
  forever. 
  I 
  estimated 
  

   that 
  about 
  fifteen 
  miles 
  in 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  wide 
  valley 
  was 
  in 
  view. 
  The 
  

   entire 
  tract 
  of 
  forty 
  or 
  fifty 
  square 
  miles 
  was 
  covered 
  with 
  buffalo 
  as 
  

   thickly 
  as 
  in 
  former 
  days 
  in 
  the 
  West 
  (when 
  cattle 
  were 
  driven 
  to 
  an 
  

   Eastern 
  market) 
  a 
  pasture-field 
  would 
  be 
  which 
  was 
  intended 
  only 
  to 
  

   furnish 
  subsistence 
  to 
  a 
  large 
  drove 
  for 
  a 
  single 
  night. 
  I 
  will 
  not 
  ven- 
  

   ture 
  an 
  estimate 
  of 
  their 
  probable 
  numbers." 
  § 
  

  

  In 
  1873 
  I 
  made 
  a 
  journey 
  from 
  Fort 
  Eice, 
  on 
  the 
  Missouri, 
  to 
  the 
  Yel- 
  

   lowstone 
  and 
  Musselshell 
  Elvers, 
  accompanying 
  the 
  "Yellowstone 
  

   Expedition" 
  of 
  that 
  year 
  (General 
  D. 
  S. 
  Stanley 
  commanding) 
  as 
  nat- 
  

   uralist 
  of 
  the 
  expedition. 
  From 
  my 
  report 
  on 
  the 
  collections 
  made 
  I 
  

   quote 
  the 
  following 
  : 
  " 
  Eecent 
  signs 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  were 
  first 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  

   the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Yellowstone, 
  near 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Eosebud, 
  — 
  tracks 
  

   of 
  single 
  old 
  bulls 
  that 
  had 
  passed 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  river 
  for 
  water 
  within 
  a 
  

   period 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  weeks. 
  Above 
  this 
  point 
  considerable 
  numbers 
  seemed 
  

   to 
  have 
  frequented 
  the 
  river 
  valley 
  during 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  season 
  

   (1873), 
  and 
  tracks 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  old 
  were 
  frequent 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  ten 
  

   miles 
  before 
  reaching 
  Pompey's 
  Pillar. 
  The 
  first 
  buffalo 
  seen 
  was 
  

   observed 
  about 
  twelve 
  miles 
  west 
  of 
  Pompey's 
  Pillar. 
  Eight 
  miles 
  

   further 
  west, 
  on 
  the 
  divide 
  between 
  the 
  Yellowstone 
  and 
  the 
  Mussel- 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  a 
  letter 
  dated 
  April 
  16, 
  1875. 
  

  

  t 
  Transact. 
  Amer. 
  Phil. 
  Soc, 
  Vol. 
  XII, 
  2d 
  Series, 
  p. 
  150. 
  

  

  t 
  Exploration 
  of 
  the 
  Yellowstone, 
  p. 
  27. 
  

  

  $ 
  Ibid., 
  p. 
  11. 
  

  

  