﻿564 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  with 
  no 
  satisfactory 
  statistics, 
  but 
  that 
  it 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  immense 
  is 
  

   evident 
  from 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  persons 
  engaged 
  in 
  their 
  hunting 
  ex- 
  

   peditions. 
  Mr. 
  Eoss, 
  in 
  his 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  Eed 
  Kiver 
  Settlement, 
  states 
  

   that 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  carts 
  assembled 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  trip 
  in 
  1820 
  was 
  five 
  

   hundred 
  and 
  forty. 
  Subsequently 
  the 
  number 
  regularly 
  increased 
  to 
  

   one 
  thousand 
  two 
  hundred 
  and 
  ten 
  in 
  1840. 
  In 
  his 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  

   hunt 
  of 
  this 
  year, 
  he 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  hunters 
  engaged 
  was 
  

   six 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty 
  for 
  two 
  months, 
  who 
  were 
  accompanied 
  by 
  six 
  

   hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  women, 
  and 
  three 
  hundred 
  and 
  sixty 
  boys 
  and 
  girls, 
  

   the 
  party 
  numbering 
  altogether 
  sixteen 
  hundred 
  and 
  thirty 
  souls. 
  The 
  

   party 
  was 
  armed 
  with 
  seven 
  hundred 
  and 
  forty 
  guns, 
  and 
  had 
  with 
  

   them 
  eleven 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty-eight 
  horses 
  and 
  five 
  hundred 
  and 
  eighty- 
  

   six 
  draught 
  oxen, 
  with 
  other 
  equipments 
  in 
  proportion. 
  During 
  the 
  

   first 
  day 
  of 
  the 
  hunt 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  thirteen 
  hundred 
  and 
  seventy-five 
  

   buffalo- 
  tongues 
  were 
  brought 
  into 
  camp, 
  and 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  two 
  races 
  

   not 
  less 
  than 
  twenty 
  -five 
  hundred 
  animals 
  were 
  killed. 
  Of 
  these 
  he 
  es- 
  

   timates 
  that 
  less 
  than 
  one-third 
  were 
  properly 
  utilized, 
  as 
  he 
  considers 
  

   that 
  seven 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  animals, 
  making 
  all 
  due 
  allowance 
  for 
  

   waste, 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  ample 
  for 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  pemmican 
  and 
  dried 
  

   meat 
  saved 
  from 
  them. 
  The 
  rest, 
  he 
  says, 
  was 
  wasted; 
  "and 
  this," 
  he 
  

   adds, 
  "is 
  only 
  a 
  fair 
  example 
  of 
  the 
  manner 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  i)lain 
  busi- 
  

   ness 
  is 
  carried 
  on 
  under 
  the 
  present 
  system. 
  Scarcely 
  one-third 
  in 
  

   number 
  of 
  the 
  animals 
  killed 
  are 
  turned 
  to 
  account."* 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Hayden, 
  in 
  1861, 
  says 
  that 
  as 
  near 
  as 
  he 
  could 
  determine, 
  about 
  

   one 
  hundred 
  thousand 
  robes 
  were 
  then 
  annually 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri 
  country.! 
  Dr. 
  Hayden 
  also 
  states 
  that 
  at 
  this 
  

   period 
  the 
  bulls 
  outnumbered 
  the 
  cows 
  ten 
  to 
  one 
  ; 
  which 
  personal 
  ex- 
  

   perience 
  led 
  me 
  to 
  think 
  was 
  a 
  fair 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  the 
  

   sexes 
  in 
  1871 
  on 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  Kansas. 
  

  

  Through 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  E. 
  T. 
  Bowen, 
  Esq., 
  General 
  Superintendent 
  

   of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Pacific 
  Railway, 
  I 
  have 
  obtained 
  a 
  statement 
  of 
  the 
  "es- 
  

   timated 
  shipments 
  of 
  buffalo 
  products 
  over 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Pacific 
  Railway 
  

   during 
  the 
  year 
  1871." 
  This 
  estimate, 
  carefully 
  j)repared 
  by 
  the 
  Auditor 
  

   of 
  the 
  Company, 
  is 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  Dry 
  hides, 
  three 
  hundred 
  and 
  forty-one 
  

   thousand 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty-one 
  (341,151) 
  i^ounds, 
  estimated 
  at 
  

   twenty-five 
  pounds 
  per 
  hide, 
  and 
  thus 
  representing 
  thirteen 
  thousand 
  ■ 
  

   six 
  hundred 
  and 
  forty-six 
  (13,646) 
  buffaloes 
  ; 
  eleven 
  hundred 
  and 
  sixty- 
  

   one 
  thousand 
  four 
  hundred 
  and 
  nineteen 
  (1,161,419) 
  pounds 
  of 
  meat, 
  

   estimated 
  at 
  two 
  hundred 
  pounds 
  per 
  saddle, 
  and 
  thus 
  representing 
  five 
  

   thousand 
  eight 
  hundred 
  and 
  seven 
  (5,807) 
  buffaloes. 
  No 
  return 
  is 
  here 
  

   made 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  salted 
  and 
  cured 
  meat 
  also 
  sent 
  to 
  Eastern 
  

   markets. 
  The 
  somewhat 
  less 
  than 
  six 
  thousand 
  " 
  saddles" 
  represented 
  

   by 
  the 
  above 
  statement 
  must, 
  it 
  appears 
  to 
  me, 
  be 
  far 
  below 
  the 
  actual 
  

   number, 
  as 
  one 
  hunter 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  himself 
  alone 
  killed 
  

   over 
  three 
  thousand 
  buffaloes 
  a 
  year 
  for 
  several 
  years, 
  and 
  I 
  met 
  other 
  

   persons 
  who 
  claimed 
  to 
  have 
  each 
  killed 
  an 
  equal 
  number. 
  These 
  sta- 
  

   tistics 
  would 
  alone 
  indicate 
  a 
  slaughter 
  of 
  at 
  least 
  twenty 
  thousand 
  

   buffaloes 
  along 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Pacific 
  Railway 
  during 
  the 
  year 
  

   1871, 
  to 
  which 
  must 
  be 
  added 
  other 
  thousands 
  killed 
  by 
  travellers 
  and 
  

   amateur 
  hunters, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  officers 
  and 
  soldiers 
  stationed 
  at 
  the 
  differ- 
  

   ent 
  military 
  posts 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  region. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  been 
  unable 
  to 
  obtain 
  statistics 
  of 
  the 
  shipment 
  of 
  buffalo 
  , 
  

   products 
  over 
  this 
  road 
  since 
  1871, 
  as 
  such 
  information, 
  writes 
  thelj 
  

  

  * 
  Ross 
  (Alexander), 
  The 
  Red 
  River 
  Settlement 
  : 
  its 
  Rise, 
  Progress, 
  and 
  Present 
  State, 
  

   pp. 
  242-265. 
  

   t 
  Trans. 
  Am. 
  Phil. 
  Soc, 
  New 
  Series, 
  Vol. 
  XII, 
  p. 
  151. 
  

  

  