THE EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON. 533 



and had been left behind. The calf was caught alive without any 

 difficulty, and while two of the members of our party carried it to camp 

 across a horse, the other two made a vigorous effort to discover the 

 band of adult animals. The effort was unsuccessful, for, besides the 

 calf, no other buffaloes were seen. 



Ten days after the above event two bull buffaloes were met with on 

 the Little Dry, 15 miles above the LU-bar ranch, one of which was 

 overtaken and killed, but the other got safely away. The shedding of 

 the winter coat was in full progress. On the head, neck, and shoulders 

 the old hair had been entirely replaced by the new, although the two 

 coats were" so matted together that the old hair clung in tangled masses 

 to the other. The old hair was brown and weather-beaten, but the new, 

 which was from 3 to 6 inches long, had a peculiar bluish-gray appear- 

 ance. On the head the new hair was quite black, and contrasted oddly 

 with the lighter color. On the body and hind quarters there were large 

 patches of skin which were perfectly bare, between which lay large 

 patches of old, woolly, brown hair. This curious condition gave the 

 animal a very unkempt and il seedy" appearance, the effect of which 

 was heightened by the long, shaggy locks of old, weather-beaten hair 

 which Ciung to the new coat of the neck and shoulders like tattered 

 signals of distress, ready to be blown away by the first gust of wind. 



This specimen was a large one, measuring 5 feet 4 inches in height. 

 Inasmuch as the skin was not in condition to mount, we took only the 

 skeleton, entire, and the skin of the head and neck. 



The capture of the calf and the death of this bull proved conclusively 

 that there were buffaloes in that region, and also that they were breed- 

 ing in comparative security. The extent of the country they had to 

 range over made it reasonably certain that their number would not be 

 diminished to any serious extent by the cowboys on the spring round-up, 

 although it was absolutely certain that in a few months the members of 

 that band would all be killed. The report of the existence of a herd 

 of thirty-five head was confirmed later by cowboys, who had actually 

 seen the animals, and killed two of them merely for sport, as usual. 

 They saved a few pounds of hump meat, and all the. rest became food 

 for the wolves and foxes. 



It was therefore resolved to leave the buffaloes, entirely unmolested 

 until autumn, and then, when the robes would be in the finest condition, 

 return for a hunt on a liberal scale. Accordingly, it was decided to re- 

 turn to Washington without delay, and a courier was dispatched with 

 a request for transportation to carry our party back to Fort Keogh. 



While awaiting the arrival of the wagons, a cowboy in the employ of 

 the Phillips Land and Cattle Company killed a solitary bull buffalo 

 about 15 miles west of our camp, near Sand Creek. This animal had 

 completely shed the hair on his body and hind quarters. In addition to 

 the preservation of his entire skeleton, we prepared the skin also, as an 

 example of the condition of the buffalo immediately after shedding. 



