218 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE 
the slightest excuse for shooting it, save as a specimen of 
natural history. Like the antelope, it is so valuable as a 
natural curiosity that it deserves to be taken out of the ranks 
of animals that are regularly pursued as game. 
Tue Erx.—The story of the progressive extermination of 
the American elk, or wapiti, covers practically the same ter- 
ritory as the tragedy of the American bison—one-third of 
the mainland of North America. The former range of the 
elk covered absolutely the garden ground of our continent, 
omitting the arid region. Its boundary extended from central 
Massachusetts to northern Georgia, southern Illinois, northern 
Texas and central New Mexico, central Arizona, the whole 
Rocky Mountain region up to the Peace River, and Mani- 
toba. It skipped the arid country west of the Rockies, but 
it embraced practically the whole Pacific slope from central 
California to the north end of Vancouver Island. 
The extermination of the wapiti began with the settle- 
ment of the American colonies. Naturally, the largest animals 
were the ones most eagerly sought by the meat-hungry pio- 
neers, and the elk and bison were the first game species to 
disappear. The colonists believed in the survival of the 
fittest, and we are glad that they did. The one thing that a 
hungry pioneer cannot withstand is—temptation—in a form 
that embraces five hundred pounds of succulent flesh. And 
let it not be supposed that in the eastern states there were 
only a few elk. The Pennsylvania salt licks were crowded 
with them, and the early writers describe them as existing in 
“immense bands”’ and “great numbers.” 
Of course it is impossible for wild animals of great size to 
