﻿ALLEx.] 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  IN 
  BRITISH 
  AMERICA. 
  547 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  abstracts 
  and 
  quotations 
  embrace 
  the 
  more 
  important 
  

   references 
  to 
  the 
  range 
  and 
  extermination 
  of 
  the 
  bufi'alo 
  in 
  British 
  

   North 
  America, 
  and 
  are 
  arranged 
  nearly 
  in 
  a 
  chronological 
  order. 
  In 
  

   1790 
  Maclienzie 
  found 
  buffaloes 
  in 
  considerable 
  nuaibers 
  on 
  Peace 
  

   Kiver, 
  along 
  which 
  they 
  extended 
  westward 
  to 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  

   Mountains.* 
  At 
  this 
  time 
  they 
  abounded 
  also 
  on 
  the 
  plains 
  between 
  

   the 
  Assiuniboine, 
  Eed,' 
  and 
  Missouri 
  Elvers, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  on 
  both 
  branches 
  

   of 
  the 
  Saskatchewan 
  and 
  their 
  tributaries, 
  t 
  

  

  Ross 
  Coxe, 
  in 
  June, 
  1S12, 
  also 
  found 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  small 
  numbers 
  on 
  

   the 
  head-waters 
  of 
  the 
  Assiuniboine 
  River 
  and 
  its 
  tributaries,^ 
  but 
  from 
  

   all 
  this 
  region 
  they 
  have 
  now 
  nearly 
  or 
  quite 
  disappeared. 
  Hind 
  re- 
  

   ports 
  finding 
  bones 
  and 
  horns 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  on 
  the 
  Assiuniboine 
  River, 
  

   between 
  Fort 
  Garry 
  and 
  Prairie 
  Portage, 
  in 
  1857, 
  but 
  makes 
  no 
  men- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  the 
  animals 
  themselves 
  there 
  at 
  that 
  date, 
  but 
  

   says 
  they 
  were 
  still 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  sage 
  plains 
  further 
  north. 
  The 
  Red 
  

   River 
  hunters 
  at 
  this 
  time, 
  he 
  says, 
  went 
  part 
  to 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  

   Saskatchewan, 
  and 
  i)art 
  to 
  the 
  Yellowstone 
  and 
  Coteau 
  de 
  Missouri 
  for 
  

   their 
  buffaloes.§ 
  Alexander 
  Ross, 
  writing 
  at 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  date, 
  also 
  

   says, 
  " 
  Formerly 
  all 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  [Red 
  River 
  Plains] 
  was 
  

   overrun 
  by 
  wild 
  buffalo, 
  even 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  1810 
  "j 
  but 
  adds, 
  " 
  Of 
  late 
  

   years 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  chase 
  has 
  been 
  far 
  distant 
  from 
  the 
  Pembina 
  Plains."|| 
  

  

  Simpson 
  reports 
  that- 
  buffaloes 
  were 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  plains 
  south 
  of 
  

   the 
  Saskatchewan 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  of 
  1836, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  country 
  about 
  

   Carlton 
  House 
  was 
  completely 
  intersected 
  with 
  their 
  deeply- 
  worn 
  trails, 
  

   and 
  strewed 
  with 
  their 
  skeletons 
  ; 
  from 
  this 
  region 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  tem- 
  

   porarily 
  driven 
  by 
  the 
  autumnal 
  fires. 
  He 
  also 
  met 
  with 
  a 
  few 
  buffaloes 
  

   on 
  the 
  Clear 
  Water 
  River, 
  a 
  little 
  above 
  its 
  junction 
  with 
  the 
  Athabasca. 
  

   In 
  January, 
  1840, 
  they 
  were 
  also 
  extremely 
  abundant 
  about 
  Carlton 
  

   House.^ 
  

  

  Respecting 
  the 
  range 
  and 
  the 
  migrations 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  within 
  the 
  

   British 
  Possessions 
  about 
  the 
  year 
  1858, 
  Hind 
  observes 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  " 
  Red 
  

   River 
  hunters 
  recognize 
  two 
  grand 
  divisions 
  of 
  buffalo, 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  

   Grand 
  Coteau 
  and 
  Red 
  River, 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Saskatchewan 
  The 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  Ifnited 
  States 
  and 
  British 
  boundary]. 
  The 
  remains 
  I 
  have 
  seen, 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  

   the 
  elephant 
  (^in 
  similar 
  situations), 
  are 
  black 
  and 
  fossilized. 
  The 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  musk 
  

   ox 
  and 
  mountain 
  goat, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  are 
  white, 
  and 
  look 
  very 
  recent. 
  The 
  latter 
  

   animal 
  is 
  still 
  rarely 
  found 
  living 
  on 
  the 
  mountains 
  near 
  the 
  Upper 
  Yukon. 
  The 
  

   bison 
  remains 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  have 
  been 
  principally 
  horn-cores 
  and 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  

   the 
  cranium 
  and 
  lower 
  jaws. 
  The 
  indications 
  are 
  that 
  the 
  Elephas 
  primigenius 
  and 
  

   the 
  fossil 
  bison 
  were 
  contemporaries, 
  but 
  that 
  the 
  musk 
  ox 
  was 
  a 
  later 
  comer. 
  How- 
  

   ever, 
  this 
  idea 
  rests 
  merely 
  on 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  bones, 
  as 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  all 
  (as 
  well 
  

   as 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  fossil 
  horses) 
  are 
  found 
  together 
  in 
  a 
  bed 
  of 
  blue 
  clay, 
  near 
  the 
  sur- 
  

   face, 
  at 
  Kotzebue 
  Sound, 
  and 
  (barring 
  the 
  horses) 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  Upper 
  Yukon 
  Valley, 
  in 
  

   similar 
  positions, 
  irregularly 
  scattered 
  on 
  the 
  ground. 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  cranium 
  of 
  an 
  ele- 
  

   phant 
  iu 
  the 
  grass 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Yukon, 
  skulls 
  of 
  musk 
  oxen 
  and 
  bisons 
  on 
  the 
  

   surface 
  in 
  little 
  valleys 
  in 
  the 
  Ramparts, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  alluvial 
  plain 
  near 
  Fort 
  Yukon." 
  

  

  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  above, 
  I 
  have 
  since 
  lieen 
  informed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Dall 
  that 
  he 
  obtained 
  a 
  

   complete 
  skull, 
  except 
  the 
  lower 
  jaw, 
  on 
  the 
  Sitzikunten 
  River, 
  just 
  below 
  the 
  Ram- 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  Yukon, 
  in 
  about 
  latitude 
  65° 
  and 
  longitude 
  151°, 
  and 
  other 
  fragments 
  

   about 
  fifty 
  miles 
  lower 
  down 
  the 
  Yukon. 
  The 
  skull 
  was 
  unfortunately 
  lost 
  dnring 
  the 
  

   subsequent 
  journey 
  down 
  the 
  river. 
  [The 
  above 
  should 
  have 
  been 
  inserted 
  in 
  connec- 
  

   tion 
  with 
  the 
  history 
  oi 
  Bison 
  antiquus, 
  but 
  was 
  accidentally 
  omitted.] 
  

  

  * 
  Mackenzie 
  (Sir 
  Alexander), 
  Travels 
  to 
  the 
  Polar 
  Sea 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Ocean 
  in 
  

   the 
  years 
  1789-91, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  pp. 
  147, 
  155, 
  156, 
  377. 
  

  

  t 
  Ibid., 
  pp. 
  Ixi, 
  Ixii, 
  Ixv, 
  Ixis. 
  

  

  X 
  All 
  ventures 
  on 
  the 
  Columbia 
  River, 
  p. 
  259. 
  

  

  ^ 
  Hind 
  (H. 
  Y.), 
  Canadian, 
  Red 
  River, 
  Assinuihoine, 
  and 
  Saskatchewan 
  Exploring 
  Ex- 
  

   peditions, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  272. 
  

  

  II 
  The 
  Red 
  River 
  Settlement: 
  Its 
  Rise, 
  Progress, 
  and 
  Present 
  State, 
  p. 
  15. 
  

  

  If 
  Simpson 
  (Thomas), 
  Narrative 
  of 
  the 
  Discovery 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  Coast 
  of 
  America, 
  Lon- 
  

   don, 
  1843, 
  pp. 
  40, 
  45, 
  46, 
  60, 
  402, 
  404. 
  

  

  