﻿552 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  present 
  rate 
  of 
  extermination, 
  twelve 
  to 
  fourteen 
  years 
  will 
  see 
  the 
  de- 
  

   struction 
  of 
  what 
  now 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  northern 
  band 
  of 
  buffalo, 
  

   aud 
  the 
  termination 
  of 
  the 
  trade 
  in 
  robes 
  and 
  pemican, 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  re- 
  

   gards 
  the 
  country 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  Eiver."* 
  

   /"Several 
  western 
  newspapers 
  have 
  recently 
  given 
  accounts 
  of 
  "buffa- 
  

   loes 
  moving 
  eastward." 
  The 
  following, 
  in 
  substance 
  (here 
  copied 
  from 
  

   the 
  New 
  Yorlj; 
  Daily 
  Graphic^ 
  of 
  October, 
  1876), 
  has 
  been 
  often 
  repub- 
  

   lished 
  by 
  the 
  daily 
  press 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  Winnepeg 
  Free 
  Press 
  notices 
  the 
  arrival 
  

   of 
  immense 
  herds 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  within 
  eighty 
  miles 
  of 
  Eed 
  River, 
  after 
  

   ten 
  years 
  of 
  total 
  absence. 
  From 
  all 
  accounts 
  the 
  herds 
  are 
  migrating 
  

   eastward. 
  The 
  Sioux 
  Indians, 
  residing 
  at 
  Devil's 
  Lake, 
  in 
  Dakota, 
  have 
  

   already 
  been 
  on 
  a 
  great 
  hunt, 
  aud 
  have 
  returned 
  to 
  their 
  homes 
  with 
  an 
  

   abundance 
  of 
  buffalo-meat 
  and 
  numbers 
  of 
  robes. 
  Travellers 
  from 
  the 
  

   northwest, 
  who 
  lately 
  came 
  into 
  Winnepeg, 
  report 
  very 
  large 
  numbers 
  

   of 
  buffalo 
  very 
  much 
  further 
  east 
  than 
  heretofore, 
  and 
  the 
  Free 
  Press 
  

   urges 
  the 
  importance 
  of 
  legislation 
  to 
  prevent 
  their 
  wanton 
  extermina- 
  

   tion." 
  

  

  Present 
  Range 
  of 
  the 
  Northern 
  Herd. 
  — 
  From 
  the 
  foregoing 
  it 
  appears 
  

   that 
  what 
  may 
  be 
  termed 
  the 
  great 
  Northern 
  Herd, 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  ranges 
  

   from 
  the 
  principal 
  southern 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  Yellowstone 
  northward 
  

   over 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  Montana, 
  far 
  into 
  British 
  North 
  America, 
  extend- 
  

   ing 
  northward 
  to 
  the 
  wooded 
  region 
  of 
  the 
  Liard, 
  Athabasca, 
  and 
  Peace 
  

   Eivers. 
  To 
  the 
  westward, 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  buffaloes 
  still 
  

   range 
  to 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  though 
  doubtless 
  somewhat 
  

   irregularly, 
  aud 
  usually 
  only 
  in 
  small 
  numbers; 
  while 
  their 
  eastern 
  limit 
  

   does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  extend 
  beyond 
  the 
  longitude 
  of 
  Carlton 
  House, 
  or 
  to 
  

   the 
  eastward 
  of 
  the 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  sixth 
  meridian. 
  They 
  have 
  thus, 
  

   within 
  the 
  last 
  thirty 
  years, 
  become 
  exterminated 
  over 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  

   of 
  the 
  more 
  fertile 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   formerly 
  occupied 
  by 
  them, 
  including 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  vast 
  prairie 
  re- 
  

   gion 
  drained 
  by 
  the 
  Assinniboine 
  aud 
  Qu'appelle 
  Rivers, 
  and 
  are 
  now 
  

   confined 
  principally 
  to 
  the 
  arid 
  plains 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  forks 
  of 
  the 
  

   Saskatchewan, 
  where, 
  as 
  Professor 
  Dawson 
  believes, 
  they 
  cannot 
  sur- 
  

   vive 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  longer. 
  The 
  extent 
  of 
  their 
  range 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  

   North 
  Saskatchewan 
  seems 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  become 
  greatly 
  restricted 
  since 
  

   Richardson, 
  Hearne, 
  and 
  Franklin 
  visited 
  this 
  region 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  doubt- 
  

   less 
  occur 
  there 
  in 
  far 
  smaller 
  numbers 
  than 
  formerly. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  REMARKS 
  RESPECTING 
  THE 
  RAPID 
  DIMINUTION 
  OF 
  THE 
  

   BUFFALO, 
  AND 
  ITS 
  EVIDENT 
  DESTINY 
  OF 
  SPEEDY 
  TOTAL 
  EXTER- 
  

   MINATION. 
  

  

  It 
  thus 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  buffalo 
  has 
  become 
  so 
  reduced 
  in 
  numbers, 
  

   and 
  so 
  circumscribed 
  in 
  its 
  range, 
  that, 
  instead 
  of 
  roaming 
  over 
  nearly 
  

   half 
  of 
  the 
  continent, 
  as 
  formerly, 
  it 
  is 
  restricted 
  to 
  two 
  small 
  widely- 
  

   separated 
  areas, 
  the 
  southern 
  of 
  which 
  embraces 
  portions 
  of 
  Texas, 
  

   Colorado, 
  and 
  Kansas, 
  scarcely 
  exceeding 
  in 
  area 
  the 
  smaller 
  of 
  these 
  

   States, 
  while 
  the 
  norttiern 
  embraces 
  only 
  a 
  larger 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  Terri- 
  

   tory 
  of 
  Montana 
  and 
  an 
  adjoining 
  area 
  to 
  the 
  northward 
  of 
  nearly 
  equal 
  

   extent. 
  Even 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  century 
  the 
  buf- 
  

   falo 
  occupied 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  between 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  and 
  the 
  

   Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  and 
  extended 
  from 
  the 
  Rio 
  Grande 
  on 
  the 
  South 
  to 
  

   Great 
  Slave 
  Lake 
  on 
  the 
  north, 
  and 
  also 
  over 
  a 
  considerable 
  area 
  west 
  

   of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  or 
  through 
  thirty-five 
  degrees 
  of 
  latitude 
  and 
  

  

  *]ieport 
  on 
  tho 
  Geology 
  aud 
  Resources 
  of 
  tlio 
  Regiou 
  in 
  the 
  Viciuity 
  of 
  the 
  Forty* 
  

   niuth 
  Parallel, 
  etc., 
  187;"), 
  i^. 
  29G. 
  

  

  11 
  

  

  