530 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



seums of the country, and for others which will come into existence 

 during the next half century, it was resolved to collect at all hazards, 

 in case buffalo could be found, between eighty and one hundred speci- 

 mens of various kinds, of which from twenty to thirty should be skins, an 

 equal number should be complete skeletons, and of skulls at least fifty. 



In view of the great scarcity of buffalo and the general belief that it 

 might be a work of some months to find any specimens, even if it were 

 possible to find any at all, it was determined not to risk the success of the 

 undertaking by delaying it until the regular autumn hunting season, but 

 to send a party into the field at once to prosecute a search. It was resolved 

 to discover at all hazards the whereabouts of any buffalo that might 

 still remain in this country in a wild state, and, if possible, to reach them 

 before the shedding of their winter pelage. It very soon became ap- 

 parent, however, that the latter would prove an utter impossibility. 



Late in the month of April a letter was received from Dr. J. G. Merrill, 

 United States Army, dated at Huntley, Montana, giving information of 

 reports that buffalo were still to be found in three localities in the North- 

 west, viz: on the headwaters of the Powder River, Wyoming; in Judith 

 Basin, Montana; and on Big Dry Creek, also in Montana. The reports 

 in regard to the first two localities proved to be erroneous. It was ascer- 

 tained to a reasonable certainty that there still existed in southwestern 

 Dakota a small band of six or eight wild buffaloes, while from the Pan- 

 handle of Texas there came reports of the existence there, in small 

 scattered bauds, of about two hundred head. The buffalo known to be 

 in Dakota were far too few in number to justify a long and expensive 

 search, while those in Texas, on the Canadian Biver, were too difficult 

 to reach to make it advisable to hunt them save as a last resort. It 

 was therefore decided to investigate the localities named in the North- 

 west. 



Through the courtesy of the Secretary of War, an order was sent to 

 the officer commanding the Department of Dakota, requesting him to 

 furnish the party, through the officers in command at Forts Keogh. Ma- 

 ginnis, and McKinuey, such field transportation, escort, and camp equi- 

 page as might be necessary, and also to sell to the party such commis- 

 sary stores as might be required, at cost price, plus 10 per cent. The 

 Secretary of the Interior also favored the party with an order, directing 

 all Indian agents, scouts, and others in the service of the Department 

 to render assistance as far as possible when called upon. 



In view of the public interest attaching to the results of the expedi- 

 tion, the railway transportation of the party to and from Montana was 

 furnished entirely without cost to the Smithsonian Institution. For 

 these valuable courtesies we gratefully acknowledge our obligations to 

 Mr. Frank Thomson, of the Pennsylvania Bailroad; Mr. Eoswell Miller, 

 of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul ; and Mr. Bobert Harris, of the 

 Northern Pacific. 



Under orders from the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the 



