﻿ALLEN. 
  J 
  STATISTICS 
  EELATING 
  TO 
  DESTRUCTION 
  OF 
  BUFFALO. 
  563 
  

  

  killed 
  each 
  year 
  by 
  all 
  these 
  tribes 
  together 
  is 
  a 
  startling 
  sum 
  to 
  con- 
  

   teai 
  plate. 
  

  

  In 
  1854 
  the 
  Hon. 
  H. 
  H. 
  Sibley, 
  in 
  his 
  paper 
  on 
  the 
  buffalo 
  contained 
  

   in 
  Schoolcraft's 
  " 
  History, 
  Condition, 
  and 
  Prospects 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Tribes 
  

   of 
  the 
  United 
  States," 
  gives 
  a 
  later 
  estimate 
  of 
  their 
  annual 
  destruction 
  

   in 
  the 
  Missouri 
  region. 
  He 
  says: 
  "From 
  data 
  which, 
  although 
  not 
  

   mathematically 
  correct, 
  are 
  sufficiently 
  so 
  to 
  enable 
  us 
  to 
  arrive 
  at 
  con- 
  

   clusions 
  approximating 
  the 
  truth, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  estimated 
  that 
  for 
  each 
  

   buffalo-robe 
  transported 
  from 
  the 
  Indian 
  country, 
  at 
  least 
  five 
  animals* 
  

   are 
  destroyed. 
  If 
  it 
  be 
  borne 
  in 
  mind 
  that 
  very 
  few 
  robes 
  are 
  manufac- 
  

   tured 
  of 
  the 
  hides 
  of 
  buffalo 
  except 
  such 
  as, 
  in 
  hunters' 
  parlance, 
  are 
  

   killed 
  when 
  they 
  are 
  in 
  season, 
  that 
  is 
  during 
  the 
  months 
  of 
  November, 
  

   December, 
  and 
  January, 
  and 
  that 
  even 
  of 
  these 
  a 
  large 
  proportion 
  are 
  

   not 
  used 
  for 
  that 
  purpose, 
  and 
  also 
  that 
  the 
  skins 
  of 
  the 
  cows 
  are 
  prin- 
  

   cipally 
  converted 
  into 
  robes, 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  males 
  being 
  too 
  thick 
  and 
  

   heavy 
  to 
  be 
  easily 
  reduced 
  by 
  the 
  ordinary 
  process 
  of 
  scraping, 
  together 
  

   with 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  many 
  thousands 
  are 
  annually 
  destroyed 
  through 
  sheer 
  

   wantonness, 
  by 
  civilized 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  savage 
  men, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  that 
  the 
  

   foregoing 
  estimate 
  is 
  a 
  moderate 
  one. 
  From 
  the 
  Missouri 
  region 
  the 
  

   number 
  of 
  robes 
  received 
  varies 
  from 
  forty 
  thousand 
  to 
  one 
  hundred 
  

   thousand, 
  so 
  that 
  from 
  a 
  quarter 
  to 
  half 
  a 
  million 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  are 
  de- 
  

   stroyed 
  in 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  each 
  twelvemonth.'''t 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  preceding 
  remarks 
  it 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Sibley's 
  estimate 
  

   is 
  far 
  below 
  the 
  truth. 
  Since 
  as 
  many 
  robes 
  are 
  doubtless 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  

   Indians 
  themselves 
  as 
  they 
  sell, 
  this 
  number 
  must 
  include 
  not 
  more 
  

   than 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  robes 
  taken 
  during 
  only 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  months 
  of 
  the 
  

   year. 
  Hence 
  instead 
  of 
  one-fourth 
  to 
  half 
  a 
  million 
  representing 
  the 
  

   number 
  annually 
  killed 
  at 
  this 
  date 
  in 
  the 
  Missouri 
  region, 
  probably 
  a 
  

   million 
  to 
  a 
  million 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  much 
  nearer 
  estimate. 
  

  

  In 
  June, 
  1873, 
  1 
  met 
  at 
  Fort 
  Abraham 
  Lincoln, 
  Dakota 
  Territory, 
  Mr. 
  

   F. 
  F. 
  Gerard, 
  the 
  well-known 
  Cree 
  interpreter, 
  whose 
  twenty-five 
  years' 
  

   experience 
  in 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri 
  country, 
  nearly 
  every 
  part 
  of 
  which 
  

   he 
  had 
  visited, 
  together 
  with 
  his 
  having 
  been 
  formerly 
  an 
  agent 
  of 
  the 
  

   American 
  Fur 
  Company, 
  had 
  given 
  him 
  much 
  valuable 
  information 
  re- 
  

   specting 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  fur 
  trade 
  but 
  the 
  former 
  range 
  and 
  the 
  recent 
  

   great 
  decrease 
  in 
  numbers 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  mammals 
  of 
  that 
  region. 
  

   From 
  him 
  I 
  learned 
  that 
  in 
  1857 
  the 
  trade 
  in 
  buffalo-robes 
  at 
  the 
  prin- 
  

   cipal 
  posts 
  on 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri 
  was 
  ab£)ut 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  At 
  Fort 
  Ben- 
  

   ton, 
  the 
  number 
  received 
  amounted 
  to 
  3,G00 
  bales, 
  or 
  36,000 
  robes 
  ; 
  at 
  

   Fort 
  Uuion, 
  2,700 
  to 
  3,000 
  bales, 
  or 
  about 
  30,000 
  robes. 
  At 
  Forts 
  

   Clarke 
  and 
  Berthoud, 
  500 
  bales 
  at 
  each 
  post, 
  or 
  about 
  10,000 
  robes; 
  at 
  

   Fort 
  Pierre, 
  1,900 
  bales, 
  or 
  19,000 
  robes 
  ; 
  giving 
  a 
  total 
  for 
  one 
  year 
  of 
  

   about 
  75,000 
  robes, 
  which 
  he 
  informed 
  me 
  was 
  about 
  the 
  annual 
  average 
  

   at 
  that 
  period. 
  Allowing 
  that 
  the 
  Indians 
  retained 
  only 
  as 
  many 
  more 
  

   for 
  their 
  own 
  use, 
  and 
  estimating 
  as 
  before 
  that 
  one 
  robe 
  represents 
  the 
  

   destruction 
  of 
  three 
  buffaloes, 
  gives 
  four 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  thousand 
  as 
  

   the 
  number 
  killed 
  by 
  a 
  portion 
  only 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri 
  Indians 
  in 
  

   one-third 
  of 
  a 
  year, 
  or 
  over 
  a 
  million 
  and 
  a 
  third 
  annually. 
  T'o 
  this 
  

   number, 
  as 
  already 
  noticed, 
  must 
  be 
  added 
  the 
  number 
  killed 
  by 
  the 
  

   Indians 
  to 
  the 
  northward 
  and 
  southward 
  of 
  this 
  region, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  

   great 
  numbers 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  Eed 
  Eiver 
  half-breeds 
  and 
  by 
  white 
  

   men. 
  

  

  Respecting 
  the 
  number 
  killed 
  by 
  the 
  Red 
  Eiver 
  hunters, 
  I 
  have 
  met 
  

  

  ■" 
  Evidently 
  quite 
  too 
  low 
  an 
  estimate. 
  

  

  i 
  Schoolcraft's 
  History, 
  Condition, 
  and 
  Prospects 
  of 
  tbe 
  Indian 
  Tribes 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States, 
  Vol. 
  IV, 
  p. 
  94. 
  

  

  