The Last of the Buffalo 



buffalo, or those out of condition, were 

 rarely seen. 



The grizzly bear fed to some extent on 

 the carcasses of buffalo drowned in the 

 rivers or caught in the quicksands, and oc- 

 casionally caught ■ living buffalo and killed 

 them. A Blackfoot Indian told me of an 

 attempt of this kind which he witnessed. 

 He was lying hidden by a buffalo trail in 

 the Bad Lands, near a little creek, waiting 

 for a small bunch to come down to water, 

 so that he might kill one. The buffalo 

 came on in single file as usual, the leading 

 animal being a young heifer. When they 

 had nearly reached the water, and were 

 passing under a vertical clay wall, a grizzly 

 bear, lying hid on a shelf of this wall, 

 reached down, and with both paws caught 

 the heifer about the neck and threw him- 

 self upon her. The others at once ran off; 

 and a short struggle ensued, the bear trying 

 to kill the heifer, and she to escape. Al- 

 most at once, however, the Indian saw a 

 splendid young bull come rushing down 

 the trail toward the scene of conflict, and 

 charge the bear, knocking him down. A 

 fierce combat ensued. The bull would 

 charge the bear, and when he struck him 

 fairly would knock him off his feet, often 

 inflicting severe wounds with his sharp 



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