The Bison and Ox Family. 323 



where a single product of nature, whether animal or veget- 

 able, has filled so large a place in the life of a people. The 

 self-sustenanee of the tribes of the plains would have been 

 impossible without it, and when the Buffalo disappeared 

 these tribes fell back upon the government in hopeless de- 

 pendence for the very necessities of existence. 



"This remarkable animal (Bos-americanus) furnished 

 nearly everything that the Indians wanted, and in the life 

 of the trapper as well it was a principal resource. Almost 

 every part of its huge body was utilized, and a volume 

 would be required to catalogue its manifold applications. 

 The hide was dressed in a variety of ways, each special 

 treatment having its particular use. 



"The flesh of the Buffalo was the most wholesome, pal- 

 atable and universally used of that of any wild animal. 

 The extent of its use, that is, the degree to which the en- 

 tire animal was thus utilized, depended upon its abund- 

 ance. "When there were multitudes at hand the epicurean 

 palate rejected all but the choicest morsels, but in times of 

 scarcity every part of the flesh did duty as food. The 

 greatest luxury was the tongue and this was often the only 

 part taken. The hump ribs and the tenderloin came next 

 in favor, but the smaller parts, such as the marrow bones, 

 liver and gall, and parts of the intestines, were often de- 

 voured with avidity while the process of butchering was still 

 going on. The fleece fat upon the animal's back was gen- 

 erally thick and rich, and was an important article in the 

 process of cooking. 



"All authorities unite in praising the excellence of 

 buffalo meat, and the true plainsman would never admit 

 that the domestic beef could approach it. It always agreed 

 with the digestion and it seemed impossible to overeat of it. 

 Combined with the healthfulness of the open-air life on 

 the prairies or in the mountains, it formed a perfect food 

 whose virtues became widely known; and many an invalid 

 has recovered his health on the plains with no shelter but 

 the sky and no food but the meat of the buffalo. 



"The methods of capture were various. With the 

 Indians wholesale destruction was commonly resorted to 

 by alluring vast herds at full gallop to the brink of a preci- 

 pice or into the mouth of an artificial enclosure. The force 

 of the mass behind crowded those in advance ahead until 



