﻿550 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  near 
  the 
  forks 
  of 
  the 
  Athabasca 
  Eiver, 
  aud 
  thence 
  northward 
  to 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  end 
  of 
  Athabasca 
  Lake. 
  At 
  Fort 
  Chipewyan 
  Captain 
  Butler, 
  

   on 
  inquiry 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  game 
  destroyed 
  by 
  a 
  good 
  hunter 
  in 
  a 
  

   season, 
  was 
  informed 
  that 
  an 
  Indian 
  named 
  Ohripo 
  had 
  killed, 
  among 
  

   other 
  game, 
  ten 
  wood 
  bufi'alo 
  during 
  the 
  previous 
  winter, 
  showing 
  the 
  

   buffalo 
  to 
  be 
  far 
  from 
  rare 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Fort 
  Chipewyan. 
  "The 
  

   wood 
  buffalo 
  and 
  the 
  moose," 
  he 
  further 
  adds, 
  '' 
  are 
  yet 
  numerous 
  on 
  

   the.northwest 
  and 
  southwest 
  shores" 
  of 
  Athabasca 
  Lake, 
  but 
  are 
  not 
  

   found 
  further 
  to 
  the 
  eastward. 
  They 
  are, 
  however, 
  scarce, 
  he 
  affirms, 
  

   in 
  comparison 
  with 
  the 
  numbeis 
  found 
  there 
  by 
  Hearne. 
  He 
  also 
  states 
  

   that 
  further 
  westward 
  their 
  northward 
  range 
  extends 
  to 
  within 
  a 
  day'^s 
  

   journey 
  of 
  Fort 
  Vermilion, 
  on 
  the 
  Peace 
  Eiver, 
  and 
  that 
  "there 
  are 
  

   scattered 
  herds, 
  even 
  now 
  [1873], 
  on 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Liard 
  Eiver, 
  as 
  far 
  

   as 
  sixty-one 
  degrees 
  of 
  north 
  latitude."* 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Huyshe, 
  writing 
  in 
  1871 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  about 
  Fort 
  Garry, 
  says: 
  

   "Buffalo 
  are 
  no 
  longer 
  found 
  nearer 
  than 
  three 
  hundred 
  miles 
  west 
  of 
  

   Fort 
  Garry, 
  and 
  are 
  gradually 
  being 
  driven 
  further 
  and 
  further 
  west 
  by 
  

   the 
  advancing 
  stream 
  of 
  civilization. 
  "f 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  valuable 
  communication 
  respecting 
  the 
  present 
  and 
  former 
  range 
  

   of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Possessions, 
  kindly 
  sent 
  me 
  by 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  W. 
  

   Taylor, 
  U. 
  S. 
  consul 
  at 
  Winnipeg, 
  Mr. 
  Taylor, 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  " 
  United 
  

   States 
  Consulate, 
  Winnipeg, 
  B. 
  N. 
  A., 
  April 
  20, 
  1873," 
  writes 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

   " 
  In 
  preparing 
  this 
  reply 
  to 
  your 
  note 
  requesting 
  information 
  respecting 
  

   the 
  comparative 
  numbers 
  and 
  i^resent 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  I 
  have 
  con- 
  

   sulted 
  Mr. 
  Andrew 
  McDermott, 
  an 
  old 
  and 
  intelligent 
  resident 
  of 
  Sel- 
  

   kirk 
  Settlement, 
  now 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  province 
  of 
  Manitoba. 
  This 
  gentle- 
  

   man, 
  when 
  a 
  very 
  young 
  man, 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  service 
  of 
  the 
  Hudson 
  Bay 
  

   Company, 
  — 
  from 
  1812 
  to 
  1821, 
  — 
  and 
  has 
  since 
  been 
  a 
  successful 
  trader. 
  

   His 
  position 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  is 
  attested 
  by 
  his 
  recent 
  appointment 
  as 
  the 
  

   Manitoba 
  director 
  of 
  the 
  Canada 
  Pacific 
  Eailway 
  Company. 
  

  

  " 
  My 
  informant, 
  in 
  1818, 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  herd, 
  only 
  two 
  

   miles 
  west 
  of 
  Fort 
  Garry, 
  where 
  I 
  am 
  writing. 
  His 
  party 
  stood 
  for 
  an 
  

   hour 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  the 
  black 
  moving 
  mass, 
  with 
  difficulty 
  preventing 
  

   themselves, 
  by 
  the 
  constant 
  discharge 
  of 
  fire-arms, 
  from 
  being 
  trampled 
  

   to 
  death. 
  Now, 
  in 
  1873, 
  the 
  nearest 
  point 
  where 
  the 
  animal 
  is 
  found 
  is 
  

   at 
  AVoody 
  Hills, 
  upon 
  the 
  International 
  frontier, 
  three 
  hundred 
  miles 
  

   south 
  westwardly, 
  whileyoumust 
  go 
  live 
  hundred 
  miles 
  west 
  to 
  meet 
  large 
  

   bands. 
  Formerly 
  a 
  variety 
  called 
  the 
  wood 
  buffalo 
  was 
  very 
  numerous 
  

   in 
  the 
  forests 
  surrounding 
  Lakes 
  Winnipeg 
  and 
  Manitoba, 
  the 
  last 
  sur- 
  

   vivor 
  having 
  been 
  killed 
  only 
  two 
  years 
  ago, 
  on 
  Sturgeon 
  Creek, 
  ten 
  

   miles 
  west 
  of 
  Fort 
  Garry. 
  The 
  wood 
  buffalo 
  is 
  smaller 
  than 
  its 
  congener 
  

   of 
  the 
  plains, 
  with 
  finer 
  and 
  darker 
  wool, 
  and 
  a 
  superior 
  quality 
  of 
  flesh. 
  

   It 
  more 
  resembles 
  the 
  'bison' 
  of 
  naturalists. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  Saskatchewan 
  plains 
  near 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountains, 
  have 
  always 
  

   been 
  a 
  great 
  resort 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  and 
  although 
  the 
  traditions 
  of 
  their 
  

   immense 
  multitudes 
  fifty 
  years 
  ago 
  have 
  hardly 
  been 
  sustained 
  of 
  late, 
  

   yet 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  the 
  extension 
  of 
  settlements 
  in 
  

   Dakota 
  and 
  Montana, 
  the 
  navigation 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  by 
  steamers, 
  and 
  

   the 
  construction 
  of 
  the 
  Northern 
  Pacific 
  Eailroad 
  are 
  concentrating 
  the 
  

   herds 
  which 
  had 
  previously 
  retreated 
  northward 
  from 
  the 
  great 
  over- 
  

   land 
  route 
  now 
  traversed 
  by 
  the 
  Union 
  Pacific 
  Eailroad 
  upon 
  the 
  tribu- 
  

   taries 
  of 
  the 
  Saskatchewan. 
  Quite 
  recently, 
  a 
  party 
  of 
  hunters 
  in 
  the 
  

   district 
  adjoining 
  the 
  country 
  of 
  the 
  Blackfoot 
  Indians, 
  in 
  longitude 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  Wild 
  North 
  Laud, 
  pp. 
  1-22, 
  130, 
  i:31, 
  l:!9, 
  142, 
  167, 
  211. 
  

   t 
  Huyshe 
  (G. 
  L.), 
  The 
  Red 
  River 
  Expeditiou, 
  p. 
  230, 
  1871. 
  

  

  