514 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



by obstacles that it never became an accomplished fact. Even when 

 both houses of Congress succeeded in passing a suitable act (June 23, 

 1874) it went to the President in the last days of the session only to be 

 pigeon-holed, and die .a natural death. 



The following is a complete history of Congressional legislation in 

 regard to the protection of the buffalo from wanton slaughter and 

 ultimate extinction. The first step taken in behalf of this persecuted 

 animal was on March 13, 1871, when Mr. McCormick, of Arizona, intro- 

 duced a bill (H. R. 157), which was ordered to be printed. Nothing 

 further was done with it. It read as follows : 



Be it enacted, etc., That, excepting for the purpose of using the meat for food or 

 preserving the skin, it shall be unlawful for any person to kill the bison, or buffalo, 

 found anywhere upon the public lands of the United States; and for the violation 

 of this law the offender shall, upon conviction before any court of competent juris- 

 diction, be liable to a fine of $100 for each animal killed, one-half of which sum shall, 

 upon its collection, be paid to the informer. 



On February 14, 1872, Mr. Cole, of California, introduced in the Sen- 

 ate the following resolution, which was considered by unanimous con- 

 sent and agreed to : 



Resolved, That the Committee on Territories be directed to inquire into the expedi- 

 ency of enacting a law for the protection of the buffalo, elk, antelope, and other 

 useful animals running wild in the Territories of the United States against indis- 

 criminate slaughter and extermination, and that they report by bill or otherwise. 



On February 16, 1872, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, introduced a 

 bill in the Senate (S. 655) restricting the killing of the buffalo upon the 

 public lands; which was read twice by its title and referred to the Com- 

 mittee on Territories. 



On April 5, 1872, Mr. R. C. McCormick, of Arizona, made a speech in 

 the House of Representatives, while it was in Committee of the Whole, 

 on the restriction of the killing of buffalo. 



He mentioned a then recent number of Harper's Weekly, in which 

 were illustrations of the slaughter of buffalo, and also read a partly 

 historical extract in regard to the same. He related how, when he was 

 once snow-bound upon the Kansas Pacific Railroad, the buffalo fur- 

 nished food for himself and fellow-passengers. Then he read the bill 

 introduced by him March 13, 1871, and also copies of letters fur- 

 nished him by Henry Bergh, president of the American Society for the 

 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which were sent to the latter by 

 General W. B. Hazen, Lieut. Col. A. G. Brackett, and E. W. Wynkoop. 

 He also read a statement by General Hazen to the effect that he knew 

 of a man who killed ninety-nine buffaloes with his own hand in one 

 day. He also spoke on the subject of cross-breeding the buffalo with 

 common cattle, and read an extract in regard to it from the San Fran- 

 cisco Post* 



On April 6, 1872, Mr. McCormick asked leave to have printed in the 



* Congressional Globe (Appendix), second session Forty- second Congress. 



