THE EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON. 403 



straw-yellow hair, in thickly- growing locks 4 inches long. But the head 

 is irresistible in its claims to precedence. 



It must be observed at this point that in many respects this animal 

 is an exceptionally fine one. In actual size of frame, and in quantity 

 and quality of pelage, it is far superior to the average, even of wild buf- 

 faloes when they were most numerous and at their best.* In one re- 

 spect, however, that of actual bulk, it is believed that this specimen may 

 have often been surpassed. When buffaloes were numerous, and not 

 required to do any great amount of running in order to exist, they were, 

 in the autumn months, very fat. Audubon says : u A large bison bull 

 will generally weigh nearly 2,000 pounds, and a fat cow about 1,200 

 pounds. We weighed one of the bulls killed by our party, and found 

 it to reach 1,727 pounds, although it had already lost a good deal of 

 blood. This was an old bull, and not fat. It had probably weighed 

 more at some previous period." t Our specimen when killed (by the 

 writer, December 6, 1886) was in full vigor, superbly muscled, and well 

 fed, but he carried not a single pound of fat. For years the never- 

 ceasing race for life had utterly prevented the secretion of useless and 

 cumbersome fat, and his " subsistence n had gone toward the develop- 

 ment of useful muscle. Having no means by which to weigh him, we 

 could only estimate his weight, in which I called for the advice of my 

 cowboys, all of whom were more or less familiar with the weight of 

 range cattle, and one I regarded as an expert. At first the estimated 

 weight of the animal was fixed at 1,700 pounds, but with a constitu- 

 tional fear of estimating over the truth, I afterward reduced it to 1,600 

 pounds. This I am now well convinced was an error, for I believe the 

 first figure to have been nearer the truth. 



In mounting the skin of this animal, we endeavored by every means 

 in our power, foremost of which were three different sets of measure- 

 ments, taken from the dead animal, one set to check another, to repro- 

 duce him when mounted in exactly the same form he possessed in life — 

 muscular, but not fat. 



The color of the body and hindquarters of a buffalo is very peculiar, 

 and almost baffles intelligent description. Audubon calls it " between 

 a dark umber and liver-shining brown." I once saw a competent artist 

 experiment with his oil-colors for a quarter of an hour before he finally 

 struck the combination which exactly matched the side of our large 

 bull. To my eyes, the color is a pale gray-brown or smoky gray. The 



range of individual variation is considerable, some being uniformly 



_ » __ 



* In testimony whereof the following extract from a letter written by General Stewart 

 Van Vliet, on March 10, 18S7, to Professor Baird, is of interest : 



" My Dear Professor : On the receipt of yonr letter of the 6th instant I saw Gen- 

 eral Sheridan, and yesterday we called on your taxidermist and examined the buffalo 

 bull he is setting up for the Museum. I don't think I have ever seen a more splendid 

 specimen in my life. General Sheridan and I have seen millions of buffalo on the 

 plains in former times. I have killed hundreds, but I never killed a larger animal 

 than the on© in the possession of your taxidermist." 



t Quadrupeds of Nortk America, toI. ii, p. 44, 



