The Last of the Buffalo 



National Park in January, 1892. White 

 buffalo — though often referred to as 

 mythical — sometimes occurred. These 

 varied from gray to cream-white. The 

 rare and valuable " silk " or " beaver " robe 

 owes its name to its dark color and its pe- 

 culiar sheen or gloss. White or spotted 

 robes were highly valued by the Indi- 

 ans. Among the Blackfeet they were 

 presented to the Sun as votive offerings. 

 Other tribes kept them in their sacred 

 bundles. 



Apart from man, the buffalo had but 

 few natural enemies. Of these the most 

 destructive were the wolves, which killed 

 a great many of them, chiefly however, 

 old, straggling bulls ; for the calves were 

 protected by their mothers, and the fe- 

 males and young stock were so vigorous 

 and so gregarious that they had but little 

 to fear from this danger. It is probable 

 that, notwithstanding the destruction which 

 they wrought, the wolves performed an 

 important service for the buffalo race, 

 keeping it vigorous and healthy by killing 

 weak, disabled, and superannuated animals, 

 which could no longer serve any useful 

 purpose in the herd, and yet consumed the 

 grass which would support healthy breed- 

 ing animals. It is certainly true that sick 

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