THE EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON. 537 



speed, heading straight for the sheltering ravines around the High 

 Divide. 



We had a most exciting and likewise dangerous chase after the herd 

 through a vast prairie-dog town, honey-combed with holes just right for 

 a running horse to thrust a leg in up to the knee and snap it off like a 

 pipe-stem, and across fearfully wide gullies that either had to be leaped 

 or fallen into. McNaney killed a fine old bull and a beautiful two-year 

 old, or "spike" bull, out of this herd, while I managed to kill a cow and 

 another large old bull, making four for that day, all told. This herd of 

 fourteen head was the largest that we saw during the entire hunt. 



Two days later, when we were on the spot with the wagon to skin our 

 game and haul in the hides, four more buffaloes were discovered within 

 2 miles of us, and while I worked on one of the large ball skins to save 

 it from spoiling, the cowboys went after the buffalo, and by a really bril- 

 liant exploit killed them all. The first one to fall was an old cow, which 

 was killed at the beginning of the chase, the next was an old bull, who 

 was brought down about 5 miles from the scene of the first attack, then 

 2 miles farther on a yearling calf was killed. The fourth buffalo, an 

 immense old bull, was chased fully 12 miles before he was finally brought 

 down. 



The largest bull fell about 8 miles from our temporary camp, in the 

 opposite direction from that in which our permanent camp lay, and at 

 about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. There not being time enough in which 

 to skin him completely and reach our rendezvous'before dark, Messrs. 

 McJNaney and Boyd dressed the carcass to preserve the meat, partly 

 skinned the legs, and came to camp. 



As early as possible the next morning we drove to the carcass with the 

 wagon, to prepare both skin and skeleton and haul them in. When we 

 reached it we found that during the night a gang of Indians had robbed 

 us of our hard-earned spoil. They had stolen the skin and all the 

 eatable meat, broken up the leg-bones to get at the marrow, and even 

 cut out the tongue. And to injury the skulking thieves had added in- 

 sult. Through laziness they had left the head unskinned, but on one 

 side of it they had smeared the hair with red war-paint, the other side 

 they had daubed with yellow, and around the base of one horn they had 

 tied a strip of red flannel as a signal of defiance. Of course they had 

 left for parts unknown, and we never saw any signs of them afterward. 

 The gang visited the LU-bar ranch a few days later, so we learned sub- 

 sequently. It was then composed of eleven braves (!), who claimed to 

 be Assinniboines, and were therefore believed to be Piegans, the most 

 notorious horse and cattle thieves in the Northwest. 



On October 22d Mr. Russell ran down in a fair chase a fine bull buf- 

 falo, and killed him in the rough country bordering the High Divide on 

 the south. This was the ninth specimen. On the 26th we made an- 

 other trip with the wagon to the Buffalo Buttes, as, for the sake of con- 

 venience, we had named the group of buttes near which eight head had 



