﻿570 
  JSEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  almost 
  unremunerative 
  slaughter, 
  the 
  herds 
  are 
  harassed 
  and 
  kept 
  wan- 
  

   dering 
  from 
  place 
  to 
  place 
  the 
  whole 
  year, 
  which 
  of 
  course 
  greatly 
  inter- 
  

   feres 
  with 
  their 
  multiplication. 
  It 
  should 
  be 
  said, 
  however, 
  that 
  this 
  

   destruction 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  summer 
  for 
  its 
  hide 
  has 
  not 
  generally 
  met 
  

   with 
  the 
  approval 
  of 
  the 
  better 
  class 
  of 
  hunters, 
  among 
  whom 
  there 
  has 
  

   been 
  at 
  times 
  a 
  strong 
  feeling 
  against 
  it, 
  it 
  being 
  chiefly 
  carried 
  on 
  by 
  

   those 
  who 
  were 
  too 
  unthrifty 
  to 
  seek 
  employment 
  in 
  other 
  pursuits 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  buffalo-hunting 
  for 
  the 
  Eastern 
  market 
  was 
  not 
  in 
  

   season. 
  Sometimes 
  the 
  more 
  intelligent 
  and 
  influential 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  

   hunters 
  would 
  warn 
  the 
  transgressors 
  to 
  desist 
  from 
  their 
  unseasonable 
  

   slaughter 
  or 
  immediately 
  leave 
  the 
  country, 
  on 
  pain 
  of 
  summary 
  treat- 
  

   ment, 
  — 
  an 
  admonition 
  which 
  was 
  generally 
  so 
  effective 
  as 
  not 
  to 
  require 
  

   a 
  repetition. 
  

  

  The 
  hide 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  makes 
  but 
  an 
  inferior, 
  porous 
  kind 
  of 
  leather, 
  

   useful, 
  however, 
  for 
  certain 
  purposes, 
  such 
  as 
  covers 
  for 
  carriage-tops, 
  

   belt-leather, 
  etc. 
  The 
  average 
  net 
  price 
  realized 
  by 
  the 
  hunter 
  is 
  gen- 
  

   erally 
  less 
  than 
  a 
  dollar 
  per 
  hide, 
  usually 
  from 
  fifty 
  to 
  seventy-five 
  cents, 
  

   while 
  it 
  occasionally 
  happens 
  that 
  in 
  shipping 
  a 
  car-load 
  of 
  hides 
  to 
  the 
  

   Eastern 
  market 
  the 
  hunter 
  is 
  left 
  in 
  debt 
  to 
  the 
  broker, 
  whose 
  deduction 
  

   for 
  freight 
  and 
  charges 
  for 
  commission 
  exceed 
  the 
  price 
  allowed 
  for 
  the 
  

   skins. 
  

  

  The 
  coarse 
  wool 
  of 
  the 
  bufi'alo 
  early 
  attracted 
  attention 
  as 
  an 
  article 
  

   of 
  commercial 
  value. 
  The 
  early 
  Jesuit 
  explorers 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   were 
  accustomed 
  to 
  weave 
  it 
  into 
  ornamental 
  or 
  useful 
  fabrics, 
  and 
  

   usually 
  enumerated 
  it 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  products 
  of 
  the 
  buflalo 
  that 
  would 
  

   render 
  the 
  animal 
  valuable 
  under 
  domestication. 
  Charlevoix 
  says 
  that 
  

   the 
  wives 
  of 
  the 
  Illinois 
  Indians 
  were 
  accustomed 
  to 
  spin 
  the 
  buflalo- 
  

   wool 
  and 
  make 
  it 
  as 
  fine 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  English 
  sheep.* 
  Marquette 
  says, 
  

   referring 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  tribes, 
  "they 
  presented 
  us 
  with 
  belts, 
  garters, 
  and 
  

   other 
  articles 
  made 
  of 
  the 
  hair 
  of 
  bears 
  and 
  buflaloes"; 
  and 
  adds 
  that 
  

   "their 
  chiefs 
  are 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  soldiers 
  by 
  red 
  scarfs 
  made 
  of 
  

   the 
  hair 
  of 
  buffaloes, 
  curiously 
  wrought."! 
  Father 
  Marest 
  also 
  enume- 
  

   rates 
  among 
  the 
  employments 
  of 
  the 
  Illinois 
  Indians 
  the 
  making 
  of 
  

   "bands, 
  belts, 
  and 
  sacks" 
  from 
  the 
  hair 
  of 
  the 
  buffklo.f 
  Brackenridge, 
  

   in 
  a 
  work 
  published 
  in 
  1814, 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  wool 
  of 
  the 
  buffaloe 
  has 
  a 
  

   X>eculiar 
  fineness, 
  even 
  surpassing 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  merino. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  

   gloves 
  made 
  of 
  it, 
  little 
  inferior 
  to 
  silk. 
  But 
  for 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  sep- 
  

   arating 
  the 
  hair, 
  it 
  might 
  become 
  a 
  very 
  important 
  article 
  of 
  commerce. 
  

   Should 
  any 
  means 
  be 
  discovered 
  of 
  effecting 
  this, 
  or 
  should 
  it 
  be 
  found 
  

   that 
  at 
  certain 
  seasons 
  there 
  is 
  less 
  of 
  this 
  mixture, 
  the 
  buffalo 
  wool 
  

   must 
  become 
  of 
  prime 
  importance 
  in 
  manufactures." 
  This 
  author 
  adds 
  

   in 
  a 
  footnote 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  "It 
  is 
  curious 
  to 
  observe, 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  instruction 
  

   to 
  Iberville 
  by 
  the 
  King 
  of 
  France, 
  two 
  things 
  were 
  considered 
  of 
  the 
  

   first 
  importance, 
  the 
  ^jmr? 
  fishery 
  and 
  the 
  huffaloe 
  icool. 
  Charlevoix 
  

   observes, 
  that 
  -he 
  is 
  not 
  surprised 
  that 
  the 
  first 
  should 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  

   attended 
  to, 
  but 
  he 
  thinks 
  it 
  strange 
  that 
  the 
  second 
  should 
  be 
  neglected 
  

   even 
  to 
  his 
  time."§ 
  

  

  The 
  early 
  explorers 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  evidently 
  

   very 
  generally 
  looked 
  upon 
  the 
  buffalo 
  as 
  an 
  animal 
  that 
  would 
  jirove 
  

  

  * 
  Charlevoix 
  says, 
  in 
  describing 
  the 
  Illinois 
  Indians: 
  "Their 
  Wives 
  are 
  sufficiently 
  

   dexterous: 
  They 
  spin 
  the 
  Buffalo's 
  Wool, 
  and 
  make 
  it 
  as 
  fine 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  English 
  Sheep. 
  

   Sometimes 
  one 
  would 
  even 
  take 
  it 
  for 
  Silk. 
  They 
  make 
  Scuffs 
  of 
  it, 
  which 
  they 
  dye 
  

   black, 
  yellow, 
  and 
  a 
  dark-red. 
  They 
  make 
  Gowns 
  of 
  it, 
  which 
  they 
  sew 
  with 
  the 
  Thread 
  

   made 
  of 
  the 
  Sinews 
  of 
  Roe-Bucks." 
  — 
  Letters, 
  etc., 
  English 
  ed., 
  p. 
  293. 
  

  

  t 
  Hist. 
  Coll. 
  Louisiana, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  288. 
  

  

  t 
  Kip's 
  Early 
  Jesuit 
  Missions, 
  p. 
  199, 
  

  

  § 
  Views 
  of 
  Louisiana, 
  p. 
  57. 
  

  

  