﻿ALLEN.] 
  THE 
  CHASE 
  OF 
  THE 
  BUFFALO. 
  575 
  

  

  level 
  prairie, 
  where 
  they 
  are 
  shot 
  down 
  before 
  they 
  are 
  aware 
  of 
  their 
  

   danger 
  by 
  their 
  disguised 
  enemies.* 
  

  

  Lewis 
  and 
  Clarke 
  describe 
  a 
  very 
  novel 
  method 
  of 
  destroying 
  the 
  buf- 
  

   faloes 
  formerly 
  practised 
  by 
  the 
  Minnetarees 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri. 
  

   This 
  mode 
  of 
  hunting 
  was 
  to 
  select 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  active 
  and 
  fleet 
  

   young 
  men, 
  who, 
  disguised 
  with 
  a 
  buftalo-skin 
  fastened 
  about 
  his 
  body, 
  

   with 
  the 
  horns 
  and 
  ears 
  so 
  secured 
  as 
  to 
  deceive 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  placed 
  him- 
  

   self 
  at 
  a 
  convenient 
  distance 
  between 
  the 
  herd 
  of 
  buffalo 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   river 
  jirecipices, 
  which 
  sometimes 
  extend 
  for 
  miles. 
  His 
  companions 
  

   in 
  the 
  meantime 
  get 
  in 
  the 
  rear 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  flanks 
  of 
  the 
  herd, 
  and, 
  

   showing 
  themselves 
  at 
  a 
  given 
  signal, 
  advance 
  upon 
  the 
  herd. 
  The 
  

   herd 
  thus 
  alarmed 
  runs 
  from 
  the 
  hunters 
  toward 
  the 
  disguised 
  Indian, 
  

   whom 
  they 
  follow 
  at 
  full 
  speed 
  toward 
  the 
  river. 
  The 
  Indian 
  who 
  

   thus 
  acts 
  as 
  a 
  decoy, 
  when 
  the 
  precipice 
  is 
  reached, 
  suddenly 
  secures 
  

   himself 
  in 
  some 
  crevice 
  of 
  the 
  cliff 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  previously 
  selected, 
  

   leaving 
  the 
  herd 
  on 
  the 
  brink. 
  It 
  is 
  then 
  impossible 
  for 
  the 
  foremost 
  of 
  

   the 
  herd 
  to 
  retreat 
  or 
  to 
  turn 
  aside, 
  being 
  pressed 
  on 
  by 
  those 
  behind, 
  

   who 
  see 
  no 
  danger 
  except 
  from 
  the 
  pursuing 
  Indians. 
  They 
  are 
  thus 
  

   tumbled 
  headlong 
  over 
  the 
  cliff, 
  strewing 
  the 
  shore 
  with 
  their 
  dead 
  

   bodies. 
  The 
  Indians 
  then 
  select 
  as 
  much 
  meat 
  as 
  they 
  wish, 
  the 
  rest 
  

   being 
  abandoned 
  to 
  the 
  wolves. 
  A 
  little 
  above 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  Judith 
  

   Elver, 
  on 
  the 
  Missouri, 
  Lewis 
  and 
  Clarke 
  passed 
  a 
  precipice, 
  about 
  one 
  

   hundred 
  and 
  twenty 
  feet 
  in 
  height, 
  r.t 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  which 
  lay 
  scattered 
  

   the 
  fragments 
  of 
  at 
  least 
  one 
  hundred 
  carcasses 
  of 
  buffaloes, 
  although 
  

   many 
  had 
  already 
  been 
  carried 
  awaj^ 
  by 
  the 
  water.t 
  

  

  Lewis 
  and 
  Clarke 
  also 
  describe 
  the 
  Indian 
  method 
  of 
  hunting 
  the 
  buf- 
  

   falo 
  on 
  the 
  ice, 
  as 
  witnessed 
  by 
  them 
  March 
  29, 
  1805, 
  at 
  their 
  wintering- 
  

   post 
  on 
  the 
  Missouri 
  Eiver, 
  about 
  thirty 
  miles 
  above 
  the 
  present 
  site 
  of 
  

   Port 
  Abraham 
  Lincoln, 
  Dakota 
  Territory. 
  Every 
  spring, 
  say 
  these 
  

   authors, 
  as 
  the 
  river 
  is 
  breaking 
  up, 
  the 
  plains 
  are 
  set 
  on 
  fire 
  by 
  the 
  

   Indians. 
  The 
  buffaloes 
  are 
  thus 
  tempted 
  to 
  cross 
  the 
  river 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  

   the 
  fresh 
  green 
  grass 
  that 
  springs 
  up 
  immediately 
  after 
  the 
  burning. 
  

   In 
  crossing 
  they 
  often 
  find 
  themselves 
  insulated 
  on 
  large 
  pieces 
  of 
  float- 
  

   ing 
  ice. 
  The 
  Indians 
  seize 
  these 
  opportunities 
  for 
  their 
  attack, 
  passing 
  

   nimbly 
  across 
  the 
  trembling 
  ice, 
  where 
  the 
  footsteps 
  of 
  the 
  huge 
  animals 
  

   are 
  unsteady 
  and 
  insecure. 
  The 
  buffalo 
  being 
  thus 
  unable 
  to 
  offer 
  re- 
  

   sistance, 
  the 
  hunter 
  gives 
  him 
  his 
  death-wound 
  and 
  paddles 
  his 
  ice-raft 
  

   to 
  the 
  shore 
  and 
  secures 
  his 
  prey.i: 
  

  

  The 
  Indians 
  of 
  the 
  Northern 
  Plains 
  were 
  long 
  in 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  hunting 
  

   the 
  buffalo 
  by 
  impounding 
  them, 
  or 
  by 
  driving 
  them 
  into 
  an 
  artificial 
  

   enclosure 
  constructed 
  for 
  the 
  purpose, 
  within 
  which 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  were 
  

   at 
  their 
  mercy. 
  Various 
  descriptions 
  of 
  this 
  method 
  have 
  been 
  given 
  

   by 
  different 
  travellers, 
  but 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  recent 
  is 
  that 
  by 
  Hind, 
  in 
  his 
  

   "Narrativeof 
  the 
  Assinniboine 
  and 
  Saskatchewan 
  Expedition,'" 
  § 
  where 
  

   he 
  describes 
  the 
  method 
  as 
  practised 
  in 
  1859 
  by 
  the 
  Plain 
  Cree 
  Indians 
  

   of 
  the 
  Qu'appelle 
  and 
  Saskatchewan 
  Plains. 
  The 
  pound 
  is 
  described 
  

   as 
  circular, 
  enclosing 
  an 
  area 
  of 
  about 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty 
  feet 
  in 
  

   diameter, 
  formed 
  of 
  the 
  trunks 
  of 
  trees 
  set 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  bound 
  

   together 
  by 
  withes, 
  and 
  braced 
  by 
  external 
  supports. 
  Converging 
  rows 
  

   of 
  bushes 
  extend 
  from 
  the 
  pound 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  several 
  miles 
  into 
  the 
  

   prairie, 
  where 
  their 
  extremities 
  are 
  about 
  one 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  to 
  two 
  miles 
  

   Bpart; 
  These 
  bushes 
  are 
  termed 
  "dead 
  men," 
  and 
  serve 
  to 
  guide 
  the 
  

  

  * 
  North 
  American 
  Indians, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  pp. 
  249-257. 
  

   t 
  Lewis 
  and 
  Clarke's 
  Expedition, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  235. 
  

   t 
  Lewis 
  and 
  Clarke's 
  Expedition, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  175. 
  

   § 
  Canadian 
  Exploring 
  Expeditions, 
  etc., 
  Vj)l. 
  I, 
  pp. 
  355-359. 
  

  

  