﻿546 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  they 
  find 
  good 
  grass 
  ia 
  the 
  summer 
  ; 
  and 
  also 
  many 
  marshes 
  overgrowa 
  

   with 
  bulrushes 
  and 
  carices, 
  which 
  supply 
  them 
  with 
  winter 
  food. 
  Salt 
  

   springs 
  and 
  lakes 
  also 
  abound 
  on 
  the 
  confines 
  of 
  the 
  limestone, 
  and 
  there 
  

   are 
  several 
  well-known 
  salt-licks, 
  where 
  bison 
  are 
  sure 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  at 
  all 
  

   seasons 
  of 
  the 
  year. 
  They 
  do 
  not 
  frequent 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  districts 
  formed 
  

   of 
  primitive 
  rocks, 
  and 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  their 
  range 
  to 
  the 
  eastward 
  within 
  

   the 
  Hudson 
  Bay 
  Company's 
  territories 
  may 
  be 
  correctly 
  marked 
  on 
  the 
  

   map 
  by 
  a 
  line 
  commencing 
  in 
  longitude 
  97° 
  on 
  the 
  Eed 
  River 
  which 
  flows 
  

   into 
  the 
  south-end 
  of 
  Lake 
  Winipeg, 
  crossing 
  the 
  Saskatchewan 
  to 
  the 
  

   westward 
  of 
  the 
  Basquian 
  hill, 
  and 
  running 
  thence 
  by 
  the 
  Athapescow 
  

   to 
  the 
  east 
  end 
  of 
  Great 
  Slave 
  Lake. 
  Their 
  migrations 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  

   were 
  formerly 
  limited 
  by 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountain 
  range, 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  still 
  

   unknown 
  in 
  New 
  Caledonia 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  

   of 
  the 
  Columbia 
  Elver 
  ; 
  but 
  of 
  late 
  years 
  they 
  have 
  found 
  out 
  a 
  passage 
  

   across 
  the 
  mountains 
  near 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  Saskatchewan, 
  and 
  their 
  

   numbers 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  annually 
  increasing."* 
  The 
  

   range 
  of 
  the 
  buifalo 
  in 
  British 
  America 
  was 
  hence 
  co-extensive 
  with 
  the 
  

   prairies, 
  meeting 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  musk-ox 
  on 
  the 
  north, 
  and 
  the 
  prairies 
  

   and 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  on 
  the 
  south. 
  It 
  was 
  not, 
  however, 
  

   exclusively 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  plains, 
  and 
  apparently 
  less 
  so 
  at 
  the 
  north- 
  

   ward 
  than 
  toward 
  the 
  south. 
  Besides 
  positively 
  forsaking 
  the 
  more 
  

   exposed 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  northern 
  plains 
  and 
  seeking 
  refuge 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  

   during 
  the 
  severer 
  periods 
  of 
  cold 
  in 
  winter, 
  they 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  frequent, 
  

   at 
  all 
  seasons, 
  the 
  timber 
  adjoining 
  the 
  prairie 
  districts. 
  In 
  a 
  later 
  work 
  

   Dr. 
  Eichardson 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  rauge 
  ot 
  this 
  animal 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  

   bison, 
  though 
  inhabiting 
  the 
  prairies 
  in 
  vast 
  bands, 
  frequents 
  also 
  the 
  

   wooded 
  country, 
  and 
  once, 
  I 
  believe, 
  almost 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  it 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  

   coasts 
  of 
  the 
  Atlantic: 
  but 
  it 
  had 
  not 
  until 
  lately 
  crossed 
  the 
  Eocky 
  

   Mountain 
  range, 
  nor 
  is 
  it 
  now 
  known 
  on 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Slope, 
  except 
  in 
  a 
  

   very 
  few 
  places. 
  Its 
  most 
  northern 
  limit 
  is 
  the 
  Horn 
  Mountain 
  [in 
  lati- 
  

   tude 
  62].''f 
  To 
  the 
  northward 
  of 
  the 
  Saskatchewan, 
  the 
  prairie 
  country 
  

   is 
  confined 
  to 
  liuiited 
  areas, 
  and 
  there 
  butialoes 
  range 
  extensively 
  through 
  

   the 
  open 
  woods.| 
  The 
  habitat 
  of 
  the 
  bison 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  

   at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  century, 
  hence 
  embraced 
  a 
  triangular 
  

   area, 
  extending 
  through 
  about 
  seventeen 
  degrees 
  of 
  longitude 
  (from 
  96^^ 
  

   to 
  113°J 
  on 
  the 
  northern 
  bouudary 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  decreasing 
  in 
  

   breadth 
  northward 
  to 
  a 
  narrow 
  point 
  at 
  Great 
  Slave 
  Lake. 
  At 
  present, 
  

   however, 
  they 
  are 
  confined 
  within 
  much 
  narrower 
  limits 
  than 
  formerly, 
  

   and 
  are 
  quite 
  absent 
  over 
  large 
  areas 
  that 
  once 
  were 
  among 
  their 
  favorite 
  

   resorts.§ 
  

  

  * 
  Fauna 
  Boreali-Americana, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  pp. 
  279, 
  '280. 
  

  

  t 
  Arctic 
  Searchiug'"Expeclition 
  : 
  A 
  Jourual 
  of 
  a 
  Boat- 
  Voyage 
  througli 
  Rupert's 
  Land 
  

   and 
  the 
  Arctic 
  Sea, 
  American 
  ed., 
  p. 
  99, 
  1852. 
  

  

  t 
  Hind 
  believes 
  that, 
  the 
  so-called 
  " 
  prairie" 
  hnlialo, 
  as 
  distinguished 
  by 
  the 
  hunters 
  

   from 
  the 
  " 
  wood" 
  buffalo, 
  formerly 
  "ranged 
  through 
  open 
  woods, 
  almost 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  

   he 
  now 
  does 
  through 
  the 
  prairies." 
  — 
  Asaiitniioine 
  and 
  Saskatchewan 
  Expedition, 
  Vol. 
  II. 
  

   p. 
  106. 
  

  

  ^^ 
  According 
  to 
  the 
  observations 
  of 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  H. 
  Dall, 
  and 
  others, 
  s, 
  near 
  ally 
  of 
  the 
  buf- 
  

   falo 
  (the 
  Bison 
  antlquus 
  Leidy 
  = 
  5. 
  crassicarnis 
  Richardsou) 
  formerly 
  existed 
  consider- 
  

   ably 
  to 
  the 
  northwestward 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  living 
  species, 
  extending 
  

   throughout 
  probably 
  nearly 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  Alaska. 
  The 
  evidences 
  of 
  this 
  consist 
  in 
  thai 
  

   occurrence 
  of 
  their 
  fossil 
  remains 
  at 
  different 
  localities 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Yukon 
  and 
  

   elsewhere. 
  lu 
  answer 
  to 
  inquiries 
  of 
  miue, 
  Mr. 
  Dall 
  wrote 
  me, 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  Sau 
  

   Francisco, 
  Cal., 
  January 
  23, 
  1871, 
  as 
  follows, 
  respecting 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  these 
  re- 
  

   mains 
  : 
  " 
  Your 
  letter 
  ia 
  at 
  hand, 
  and 
  in 
  reply 
  I 
  can 
  only 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  bison 
  

   are 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  Upper 
  Yukon, 
  from 
  the 
  Ramparts 
  eastward 
  and 
  northward, 
  and 
  also 
  

   at 
  Kotzwbue 
  Sound. 
  They 
  are 
  found, 
  like 
  all 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  tortiary 
  mammals 
  in 
  that 
  

   JH'gion, 
  ou 
  or 
  very 
  near 
  the 
  surface, 
  and 
  are 
  especially 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  Kotlo 
  River, 
  

   which 
  falls 
  into 
  the 
  Yukon 
  above 
  Fort 
  Yukon 
  [latitude 
  66*^, 
  longitude 
  141^^,— 
  just 
  west 
  

  

  