﻿ALLEN.l 
  PRODUCTS 
  OF 
  THE 
  BUFFALO. 
  569 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  marrow-bones 
  of 
  two 
  buffaloes."* 
  Eoss 
  states 
  that 
  '-a 
  bull 
  iu 
  

   good 
  condition 
  will 
  yield 
  forty-five 
  pounds 
  of 
  clean 
  rendered 
  tallow," 
  

   and 
  that 
  cows 
  when 
  in 
  good 
  order 
  yield 
  on 
  an 
  average 
  about 
  thirty-five 
  

   pounds.! 
  

  

  Prior 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  railroad 
  communication 
  with 
  the 
  Plains, 
  however, 
  

   the 
  most 
  important 
  commercial 
  product 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  was 
  its 
  robes. 
  

   For 
  many 
  years, 
  as 
  evident 
  from 
  the 
  statistics 
  already 
  given, 
  not 
  less 
  

   tlian 
  one 
  hundred 
  thousand 
  robes 
  were 
  annually 
  purchased 
  of 
  the 
  

   Indians, 
  a 
  considerable 
  portion 
  of 
  which 
  found 
  their 
  way 
  to 
  European 
  

   markets. 
  In 
  recent 
  years 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  marked 
  decline 
  in 
  the 
  pro- 
  

   duction 
  of 
  robes, 
  owing 
  in 
  part 
  to 
  the 
  rapid 
  extirpation 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  

   but 
  more 
  especially 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  depopulation, 
  through 
  wars 
  and 
  con- 
  

   tagious 
  diseases, 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  tribes 
  of 
  the 
  Plains, 
  by 
  whom 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   robes 
  have 
  hitherto 
  been 
  prepared. 
  A 
  few 
  are 
  still 
  gathered 
  in 
  the 
  

   United 
  States 
  by 
  the 
  Indian 
  traders, 
  and 
  of 
  late 
  white 
  hunters 
  have 
  

   turned 
  their 
  attention 
  to 
  their 
  preservation. 
  Thus 
  in 
  the 
  above-given 
  

   returns 
  of 
  the 
  shipment 
  of 
  buffalo 
  products 
  over 
  the 
  Atchison, 
  Topeka, 
  

   and 
  Santa 
  Fe 
  Eailroad 
  occurs 
  the 
  item 
  of 
  eighteen 
  thousand 
  four 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  and 
  eighty-nine 
  robes 
  in 
  the 
  statement 
  for 
  the 
  year 
  1874. 
  

  

  To 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  the 
  Plains 
  the 
  buffalo 
  has 
  not 
  only 
  ever 
  been 
  an 
  

   unfailing 
  source 
  of 
  food, 
  — 
  whose 
  flesh, 
  Catlin 
  states,! 
  they 
  prefer 
  to 
  that 
  

   of 
  the 
  antelope, 
  deer, 
  or 
  elk, 
  — 
  but 
  has 
  also 
  furnished 
  them, 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  

   extent, 
  with 
  shelter 
  and 
  clothing 
  ; 
  the 
  heavier, 
  coarser 
  skins 
  of 
  the 
  bulls 
  

   being 
  used 
  as 
  lodge-coverings, 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  cows 
  for 
  beds 
  and 
  cloth- 
  

   ing. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  the 
  Jesuit 
  missionaries, 
  the 
  women 
  of 
  the 
  Illinois 
  In- 
  

   dians 
  used 
  to 
  employ 
  the 
  hair 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  making 
  bands, 
  belts, 
  and 
  

   sacks 
  ; 
  and 
  these 
  and 
  other 
  tribes 
  used 
  also 
  to 
  make 
  shields 
  of 
  the 
  hides, 
  

   and 
  spoons, 
  ladles, 
  etc., 
  from 
  the 
  horns 
  and 
  bones. 
  Gomara, 
  in 
  speak- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  the 
  Plains, 
  says, 
  " 
  and 
  of 
  their 
  hides 
  they 
  make 
  

   many 
  things, 
  as 
  houses, 
  shooes, 
  apparell, 
  and 
  ropes 
  : 
  of 
  their 
  bones 
  they 
  

   make 
  bodkins: 
  of 
  their 
  sinewes 
  and 
  haire, 
  thread: 
  of 
  their 
  dung, 
  fire: 
  

   and 
  of 
  their 
  calves-skinnes, 
  budgets, 
  wherein 
  they 
  drawe 
  and 
  keepe 
  

   water. 
  To 
  bee 
  short, 
  they 
  make 
  so 
  many 
  things 
  of 
  them 
  as 
  they 
  have 
  

   need 
  of, 
  or 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  suffice 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  this 
  life." 
  § 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  last 
  few 
  years 
  many 
  skins 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  have 
  been 
  taken 
  by 
  

   the 
  white 
  hunters 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  preparing 
  leather 
  from 
  them. 
  At 
  

   the 
  lowest 
  estimate 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  million 
  buffaloes 
  have 
  been 
  sacrificed 
  

   for 
  this 
  purpose 
  in 
  Kansas 
  alone 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  five 
  years. 
  I 
  say 
  sacri- 
  

   Jicecl 
  in 
  this 
  connection 
  advisedly, 
  because 
  the 
  amount 
  realized 
  by 
  the 
  

   hunters 
  from 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  these 
  hides 
  scarcely 
  brings 
  them 
  a 
  return 
  equal 
  

   to 
  the 
  wages 
  of 
  an 
  ordinary 
  laborer 
  in 
  other 
  pursuits. 
  The 
  " 
  buffalo-skin- 
  

   ners," 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  sometimes 
  derisively 
  termed, 
  practice 
  their 
  ignoble 
  call- 
  

   ing 
  mainly 
  cluring 
  the 
  warmer 
  months, 
  when 
  the 
  weather 
  will 
  not 
  permit 
  

   of 
  the 
  shipment 
  of 
  meat 
  to 
  the 
  Eastern 
  markets, 
  and 
  seem 
  to 
  follow 
  the 
  

   business 
  more 
  from 
  a 
  love 
  of 
  the 
  wild, 
  semi- 
  barbarous, 
  outdoor 
  life 
  of 
  

   the 
  plains-hunter 
  than 
  for 
  any 
  anticipated 
  profit. 
  

  

  Generally 
  in 
  hunting 
  buffaloes 
  for 
  their 
  hides 
  only 
  the 
  old 
  bulls 
  are 
  

   killed, 
  which 
  are 
  of 
  little 
  account 
  in 
  a 
  pecuniary 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  for 
  any 
  

   other 
  purpose, 
  but 
  some 
  hunters 
  are 
  so 
  reckless 
  of 
  even 
  their 
  own 
  inter- 
  

   est 
  as 
  to 
  take 
  any 
  animal 
  that 
  comes 
  in 
  their 
  way. 
  Aside 
  from 
  the 
  

   diminution 
  in 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  resulting 
  from 
  this 
  reckless 
  and 
  

  

  *Ibid., 
  pl07. 
  

  

  tRed 
  River 
  Settlement, 
  p. 
  262. 
  

  

  t 
  North 
  American 
  Indians, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  24. 
  

  

  ^ 
  Translation 
  in 
  Hakluyt's 
  Voya;5es, 
  Vol. 
  Ill, 
  p. 
  45G. 
  

  

  