﻿ALLEN.] 
  DESTRUCTION 
  AND 
  RECKLESS 
  WASTE 
  OF 
  BUFFALO. 
  559 
  

  

  The 
  buffaloes, 
  from 
  their 
  great 
  numbers 
  and 
  the 
  little 
  tact 
  required 
  iti 
  

   their 
  capture, 
  have 
  probably 
  been 
  tbe 
  victims 
  of 
  indiscriminate, 
  improvi- 
  

   dent, 
  and 
  wanton 
  slaughter 
  to 
  a 
  greater 
  extent 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  North 
  

   American 
  animal. 
  As 
  already 
  stated, 
  thousands 
  are 
  still 
  killed 
  annually 
  

   merely 
  for 
  so-called 
  "sport," 
  no 
  use 
  whatever 
  being 
  made 
  of 
  them 
  ; 
  

   thousands 
  of 
  others 
  of 
  which 
  only 
  the 
  tongue 
  or 
  other 
  slight 
  morsel 
  is 
  

   saved; 
  hundreds 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  others 
  for 
  their 
  hides, 
  which 
  yield 
  the 
  

   hunter 
  but 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  enough 
  to 
  pay 
  him 
  for 
  the 
  trouble 
  of 
  taking 
  

   and 
  selling 
  them; 
  while 
  many 
  more, 
  though 
  escaping 
  from 
  their 
  would- 
  

   be 
  captors, 
  die 
  of 
  their 
  wounds 
  and 
  yield 
  no 
  return 
  whatever 
  to 
  their 
  

   murderers.* 
  Of 
  the 
  hundreds 
  of 
  thousands 
  that 
  for 
  tbe 
  last 
  few 
  years 
  

   have 
  annually 
  been 
  killed, 
  probably 
  less 
  than 
  a 
  fourth 
  have 
  been 
  to 
  any 
  

   great 
  extent 
  utilized. 
  While 
  this 
  wanton 
  and 
  careless 
  waste 
  has 
  ever 
  

   characterized 
  the 
  contact 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  race 
  with 
  the 
  sluggish 
  and 
  inof- 
  

   fensive 
  bison 
  of 
  our 
  plains 
  and 
  prairies, 
  the 
  Indians 
  have 
  likewise 
  been 
  

   improvident 
  in 
  their 
  slaughter 
  of 
  this 
  animal, 
  often 
  killing 
  hundreds 
  or 
  

   thousands 
  more 
  during 
  their 
  grand 
  annual 
  hunts 
  than 
  they 
  could 
  pos 
  

   sibly 
  use, 
  or 
  from 
  which 
  they 
  saved 
  merely 
  the 
  tongues. 
  The 
  wolves 
  

   were 
  formerly 
  also 
  a 
  great 
  check 
  upon 
  the 
  increase 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  but 
  

   the 
  hunters 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  poison 
  have 
  reduced 
  their 
  number 
  much 
  more 
  

   rapidly 
  than 
  even 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  wolves 
  

   in 
  hastening 
  the 
  extirpation 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  is 
  now 
  but 
  slight. 
  The 
  In- 
  

   dians, 
  too, 
  have 
  vanished 
  before 
  the 
  western 
  advance 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  man 
  

   more 
  rapidly 
  even 
  than 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  the 
  buf- 
  

   falo 
  by 
  the 
  Indians 
  is 
  now 
  relatively 
  far 
  less 
  than 
  formerly. 
  Hence 
  the 
  

   opinion, 
  as 
  stated 
  in 
  the 
  preceding 
  pages, 
  has 
  been 
  ad\ 
  anced, 
  and 
  to 
  

   some 
  extent 
  publicly 
  advocated, 
  that 
  the 
  present 
  rate 
  of 
  the 
  decrease 
  

   of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  is 
  actually 
  less 
  than 
  formerly, 
  notwithstanding 
  the 
  vast 
  

   numbers 
  annually 
  killed 
  by 
  white 
  hunters, 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  greatly 
  

   reduced 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  wolves 
  and 
  the 
  Indians. 
  A 
  slight 
  glance 
  at 
  the 
  

   history 
  of 
  the 
  decline 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  however, 
  is 
  sufficient 
  to 
  at 
  once 
  in- 
  

   dicate 
  the 
  fallacy 
  of 
  such 
  an 
  opinion 
  ; 
  and 
  none 
  are 
  better 
  aware 
  of 
  this 
  

   than 
  the 
  most 
  active 
  participators 
  in 
  their 
  destruction,— 
  -the 
  professional 
  

   buffalo-hunters 
  themselves,— 
  many 
  of 
  whom 
  are 
  candid 
  enough 
  to 
  admit 
  

   that, 
  through 
  the 
  almost 
  utter 
  extermination 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  their 
  pres- 
  

   ent 
  occupation 
  will 
  soon 
  pass 
  away, 
  unless 
  the 
  general 
  or 
  local 
  govern 
  

   naents 
  enforce 
  the 
  most 
  peremptory 
  restrictions 
  upon 
  their 
  slaughter. 
  

  

  The 
  Indians, 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  continent 
  by 
  Europeans, 
  

   appear 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  seriously 
  affected 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  buffaloes, 
  their 
  

   natural 
  increase 
  equalling 
  the 
  number 
  destroyed 
  both 
  by 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   and 
  the 
  wolves. 
  When 
  the 
  Jesuit 
  missionaries 
  penetrated 
  the 
  range 
  

   of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  in 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  century, 
  

   they 
  found 
  this 
  animal 
  the 
  main 
  subsistence 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  tribe?, 
  

   as 
  it 
  doubtless 
  had 
  been 
  for 
  centuries, 
  its 
  flesh 
  serving 
  them 
  for 
  food, 
  its 
  

   skins 
  for 
  shields, 
  clothing, 
  and 
  tents, 
  and 
  its 
  hair, 
  wool, 
  horns, 
  hoofs, 
  

   and 
  bones 
  for 
  various 
  articles 
  of 
  ornament 
  and 
  use. 
  No 
  sooner, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  had 
  Europeans 
  made 
  settlements 
  within 
  its 
  range, 
  than 
  the 
  buffa- 
  

   loes 
  began 
  to 
  disappear, 
  and 
  were 
  either 
  wholly 
  destroyed 
  or 
  driven 
  

   Irom 
  their 
  favorite 
  haunts 
  in 
  the 
  short 
  space 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  few 
  years. 
  The 
  

   destruction 
  increased 
  with 
  the 
  increase 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  population 
  till 
  they 
  

  

  * 
  Professional 
  buffalo-hunters 
  of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  plains 
  repeatedly 
  assured 
  me 
  that 
  they 
  

   believe 
  that 
  an 
  average 
  of 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  iu 
  three 
  of 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  killed 
  by 
  them 
  

   were 
  secured 
  and 
  made 
  use 
  of. 
  From 
  extended 
  observations, 
  however, 
  I 
  felt 
  wmyiHced 
  

   that 
  this 
  was 
  quite 
  too 
  high 
  an 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  proportion 
  unrecovered 
  of 
  those 
  killed. 
  

   Yet 
  the 
  waste 
  is 
  actually 
  enormous, 
  even 
  iu 
  the 
  coutingencies 
  of 
  hunting 
  for 
  legitimate 
  

   purposes, 
  namely, 
  for 
  frontier 
  consumption 
  and 
  shipment 
  to 
  Eastern 
  markets. 
  

  

  