﻿ALLEx] 
  BUFFALO 
  DESTINED 
  TO 
  SPEEDY 
  EXTERMINATION. 
  555 
  

  

  that 
  there 
  were 
  at 
  least 
  two 
  tbousaud 
  hunters 
  encamped 
  along 
  the 
  plains 
  

   hunting 
  the 
  buifalo. 
  One 
  party 
  of 
  sixteen 
  stated 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  killed 
  

   twenty-eight 
  hundred 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  summer, 
  the 
  hides 
  only 
  being 
  

   utilized." 
  The 
  same 
  account 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  the 
  slaughter 
  of 
  

   the 
  buffalo 
  for 
  their 
  hides 
  was 
  so 
  great 
  that 
  the 
  market 
  for 
  them 
  

   became 
  glutted 
  to 
  such 
  a 
  degree 
  that 
  whereas 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  before 
  they 
  

   were 
  w^orth 
  three 
  dollars 
  apiece 
  at 
  the 
  railroad 
  stations, 
  skins 
  of 
  bulls 
  

   would 
  now 
  bring 
  only 
  a 
  dollar, 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  cows 
  and 
  calves 
  sixty 
  and 
  

   forty 
  cents 
  respectively.* 
  While 
  on 
  the 
  plains 
  iu 
  1871, 
  1 
  had 
  an 
  oppor- 
  

   tunity 
  of 
  witnessing 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  evidences 
  of 
  the 
  wholesale 
  slaughter 
  of 
  

   buffaloes 
  for 
  their 
  hides, 
  as 
  practised 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  along 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  

   Kansas 
  Pacific 
  Eailway 
  in 
  Northwestern 
  Kansas, 
  where 
  sometimes 
  

   several 
  scores 
  and 
  even 
  hundreds 
  of 
  decaying 
  carcasses, 
  from 
  which 
  

   nothing 
  but 
  the 
  hides 
  had 
  been 
  taken, 
  could 
  be 
  seen 
  from 
  a 
  single 
  point 
  

   of 
  view. 
  During 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1871 
  meat 
  and 
  hides 
  representing 
  over 
  

   twenty 
  thousand 
  individuals 
  were 
  shipped 
  over 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Pacific 
  Eail- 
  

   way. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  W. 
  N. 
  Byers, 
  editor 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Rocky 
  Mountain 
  News," 
  in 
  referring 
  

   to 
  this 
  wholesale 
  slaughter 
  (in 
  the 
  letter 
  previously 
  quoted), 
  character- 
  

   izes 
  it 
  as 
  "simply 
  inhuman 
  and 
  outrageous." 
  He 
  adds: 
  "The 
  slaugh- 
  

   ter-ground 
  is 
  mainly 
  Kansas, 
  reaching 
  only 
  into 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  Colorado. 
  

   Practised 
  hunters 
  follow 
  the 
  herds 
  day 
  aiter 
  day, 
  and 
  shoot 
  themdown 
  

   by 
  scores. 
  Sixty, 
  seventy, 
  eighty 
  or 
  more 
  a 
  day 
  is 
  no 
  unusual 
  number. 
  

   A 
  good 
  shooter 
  will 
  keep 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  'skinners' 
  at 
  work. 
  I 
  heard 
  a 
  

   young 
  man 
  say 
  within 
  a 
  week 
  past 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  winter 
  of 
  1873-74 
  he 
  

   killed 
  over 
  three 
  thousand 
  buffaloes, 
  — 
  in 
  one 
  day 
  eighty-five, 
  in 
  ainother 
  

   sixty-four," 
  etc. 
  

  

  Another 
  writer 
  thus 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  subject 
  : 
  "The 
  butchery 
  still 
  

   [summer 
  of 
  1875] 
  goes 
  on. 
  Comparatively 
  lew 
  buffalo 
  are 
  now 
  killed, 
  

   lor 
  there 
  are 
  comparatively 
  few 
  to 
  kill. 
  I 
  was, 
  in 
  October 
  of 
  1874, 
  on 
  a 
  

   short 
  trip 
  to 
  t*he 
  buffalo 
  region 
  south 
  of 
  Sidney 
  Barracks. 
  A 
  few 
  buf- 
  

   falo 
  were 
  encountered, 
  but 
  there 
  seemed 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  hunters 
  than 
  buffa- 
  

   loes. 
  The 
  country 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  South 
  Platte 
  is 
  without 
  water 
  for 
  many 
  

   miles, 
  and 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  must 
  satisfy 
  their 
  thirst 
  at 
  the 
  river. 
  The 
  south 
  

   bank 
  was 
  lined 
  with 
  hunters. 
  Every 
  approach 
  of 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  to 
  water 
  

   was 
  met 
  by 
  rifle 
  bullets, 
  and 
  one 
  or 
  more 
  bit 
  the 
  dust. 
  Care 
  was 
  taken 
  

   not 
  to 
  permit 
  the 
  others 
  to 
  drink, 
  for 
  then 
  they 
  would 
  not 
  return. 
  Tor- 
  

   tured 
  with 
  thirst, 
  the 
  poor 
  brutes 
  approach 
  again 
  and 
  again, 
  always 
  to 
  

   be 
  met 
  by 
  bullets, 
  always 
  to 
  lose 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  number. 
  But 
  ff)r 
  the 
  fa- 
  

   voring 
  protection 
  of 
  night 
  the 
  race 
  would 
  before 
  now 
  have 
  been 
  exter- 
  

   minated. 
  In 
  places 
  favorable 
  to 
  such 
  action, 
  as 
  the 
  south 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  

   Platte, 
  a 
  herd 
  of 
  buffalo 
  has, 
  by 
  shooting 
  at 
  it 
  by 
  day 
  and 
  by 
  lighting 
  

   fires 
  and 
  firing 
  guns 
  at 
  night, 
  been 
  kept 
  from 
  water 
  for 
  four 
  days, 
  or 
  

   until 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  entirely 
  destroyed. 
  In 
  many 
  places 
  the 
  valley 
  was 
  

   offensive 
  from 
  the 
  stench 
  of 
  putretyiug 
  carcasses. 
  At 
  the 
  present 
  time- 
  

   the 
  southern 
  buffalo 
  can 
  hardly 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  range. 
  The 
  term 
  ex- 
  

   presses 
  a 
  voluntary 
  act, 
  while 
  the 
  unfortunate 
  animals 
  have 
  no 
  volition 
  

   left. 
  They 
  are 
  driven 
  from 
  one 
  water-hole 
  to 
  meet 
  death 
  at 
  another. 
  

   No 
  sooner 
  do 
  they 
  stop 
  to 
  feed 
  than 
  the 
  sharp 
  crack 
  of 
  a 
  rifle 
  warns 
  

   them 
  to 
  change 
  position. 
  Every 
  drink 
  of 
  water, 
  every 
  mouthful 
  of 
  

   grass, 
  is 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  life, 
  and 
  the 
  miserable 
  animals, 
  continually 
  

   harassed, 
  are 
  driven 
  into 
  localities 
  far 
  from 
  their 
  natural 
  haunts, 
  — 
  any- 
  

   where 
  to 
  avoid 
  the 
  unceasing 
  pursuit. 
  A 
  few, 
  probably 
  some 
  thou- 
  

   sands, 
  still 
  linger 
  about 
  their 
  beloved 
  pastures 
  in 
  the 
  Eepublican 
  coun- 
  

   uy. 
  A 
  few 
  still 
  hide 
  in 
  the 
  deep 
  caiions 
  of 
  the 
  Cimarron 
  country, 
  but 
  

  

  * 
  Baird's 
  Annual 
  Eecorcl 
  of 
  Science 
  and 
  Industry 
  for 
  1874, 
  p. 
  304. 
  

  

  