THE MISSOURI AND PLATTE RIVERS, ETC. 79 
& _ In 1850, buffalo were seen as low down on the Missouri as Vermil- 
ion river, and in , a few were mart near Fort Pierre, but at the 
present time none, un nless it be a str y bull, are seen below Fort Clark. 
Even at the base of the Black Hills it would be difficult for a party of 
___white men to support themselves by hunting. Probably at this time 
. game, such as buffalo, antelope, elk, big horn and beaver, are more 
__ abundant in the Yellowstone valley than in any other portion of aa 
__ upper Missouri. In descending the Yellowstone river in 1854 fo 
distance of 350 miles, I “ not think there was a moment in which I 
could not see game in great numbers. In the vicinity of Floyd’s bluff, 
and from thence to Running Water, the red deer (Cervus Virginianus) 
is quite abundant, and the Santees from the Mississippi, and the Yank- 
_____ tons, who spend the summer near Fort Pierre, resort here during the 
fall and winter to hunt them. A few elk are see n, but not abundant. 
_ Wild turkeys are very abundant in this region, but usually keep near 
the boundaries of civilization. A few have been seen at the mouth of 
White river and in the rt bees the vicinity of the frontier myriads 
possibly as high up the Missouri as Dorion’s hill. Here another closely 
allied species, “Tetrao phasianellus, takes the place of the Tetrao cupido, 
and is quite abundant from thence to the mountains. The quail { Or- 
tyx Virginiana] has not been seen above the mouth of Running Water. 
he most northern limit of the Sciurus magnicandatus, or fox 
killed one on the shore of the river, forty miles above the mouth of 
Running Water. They are quite abundant about Floyd’s bluff, and 
their skins are a considerable article of trade with the lower tribes of 
Indians. The black tailed deer (Cervus macrotis) is seldom seen be- 
low Fort Pierre. It is found chiefly in the ravines and in the most 
rugged portions in the vicinity of the Black Hills and the mountains. 
The a ppneble ene ae ‘the Shyenne and gies creek are noted 
food, The beaver is increasing very rapidly and many of the moun- 
tain streams literally with the 
are over, and the price of the fie has becuihie 480 reduced, t 
inducements to hunt them are not very great, and they are allowed to 
multiply gpa Their flesh is eaten to some extent by the 
Indians, and i tes drseng of other meat is considered quite a deli- 
cacy. ‘There a sSocathes to be no diminution in the wolves and foxes, and 
as they are of little economical value, I will not speak of them in detail. _ 
