THE EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON. 471 



appearance, which in a great measure displaced the revolver in running 

 buffalo. But about that time began the mad warfare for " robes " and 

 " hides," and the only fair and sportsmanlike method of hunting was 

 declared too slow for the greedy buffalo-skinners. 



Then came the cold-blooded butchery of the still-hunt. From that 

 time on the buffalo as a game animal steadily lost caste. It soon came 

 to be universally considered that there was no sport in hunting buffalo. 

 True enough of still-hunting, where the hunter sneaks up and shoots 

 them down one by one at such long range the report of his big rifle 

 does not even frighten them away. So far as sportsmanlike fairness is 

 concerned, that method was not one whit more elevated than killing 

 game by poison. 



But the chase on horseback was a different thing. Its successful 

 prosecution demanded a good horse, a bold rider, a firm seat, and per- 

 fect familiarity with weapons. The excitement of it was intense, the 

 dangers not to be despised, and, above all, the buffalo had a fair show 

 for his life, or partially so, at least. The mode of attack is easily de- 

 scribed. 



Whenever the hunters discovered a herd of buffalo, they usually got 

 to leeward of it and quietly rode forward in a body, or stretched out in 

 a regular skirmish line, behind the shelter of a knoll, perhaps, until 

 they had approached the herd as closely as could be done without 

 alarming it. Usually the unsuspecting animals, with a confidence due 

 more to their great numbers than anything else, would allow a party of 

 horsemen to approach within from 200 to 400 yards of their flankers, 

 and then they would start off on a slow trot. The hunters then put 

 spurs to their horses and dashed forward to overtake the herd as 

 quickly as possible. Once up with it, each hunter chooses the best ani- 

 mal within his reach, chases him until his flying steed carries him close 

 alongside, and then the arrow or the bullet is sent into his vitals. The 

 fatal spot is from 12 to 18 inches in circumference, and lies immediately 

 back of the fore leg, with its lowest point on a line with the elbow. 



This, the true chase of the buffalo, was not only exciting, but, dan- 

 gerous. It often happened that the hunter found himself surrounded 

 by the flying herd, and in a cloud of dust, so that neither man nor horse 

 could see the ground before them. Under such circumstances fatal 

 accidents to both men and horses were numerous. It was not an un- 

 common thing for half-breeds to shoot each other in the excitement of 

 the chase ; and, while now and then a wounded bull suddenly turned 

 upon his pursuer and overthrew him, the greatest number of casualties 

 were from falls. 



Of the dangers involved in running buffalo Colonel Dodge writes as 

 follows : * 



"The danger is not so much from the buffalo, which rarely makes an 

 effort to injure his pursuer, as from the fact that neither man nor horse 



* Plains of the Great West, p. 127. 



