44 



RECREA TION. 



are like bears, in one respect — i.e., some 

 years they will be seen and caught freely, 

 and in others they apparently desert the 

 same section altogether, or nearly so. Is 

 the lynx inclined to be migratory in its 

 habits? 



Mountain lions have been killing deer, 

 to an unusual extent. During January and 

 February several half-eaten carcasses were 

 found, and I saw the remains of a large doe 

 floating in the lake. She had been killed 

 and partially devoured. This was evidently 

 a lion's work. One of these had been stay- 

 ing in the Stehekin valley for several win- 

 ters, but Redmond Pearl saw it one day 

 and wounded it, with his 38-40 Winchester. 

 He then followed and killed it — a male, 7 

 feet 10 inches long and weighing 131 

 pounds, on a steelyard, just after being 

 brought in. It was very fat, and is sup- 

 posed to be the one that has been heard so 

 often for 3 or 4 years past. 



Deer wintered well here and few were 

 killed during the later winter months; but 

 they are not so plentiful as formerly; nor 

 are goats shot so often. Two men from 

 Southern Oregon, came in lately, bringing 

 4 large dogs with them. They have gone 

 up Railroad creek after bear and intend 

 hunting them all the spring. Hides are 

 good until the middle of June, away up in 

 the mountains. Trout are biting freely and 

 some good catches have been made. Pros- 

 pectors are preparing to go out now, in the 

 hope that the new forest reserve order will 

 be amended. Mining is the coming indus- 

 try in Washington, and if the order stands 

 as made, it will utterly ruin this country. 



C. Greenwood, 

 Lake Chelan, Wash. 



WHERE THE BUFFALO WENT. 



Anaconda, Mont. 



Editor Recreation: In 1876 I was Gov- 

 ernment scout under General Miles. Little 

 did I think then that the immense herds of 

 buffalo which were continually in sight, 

 would so soon be swept off the earth. 



In September of that year, " Yellow- 

 stone " Kelly, " Billy " Cross and I were 

 sent by General Miles to locate the camp 

 of the Ogallalah Sioux. We followed down 

 the Yellowstone 50 miles, and about 10 

 o'clock that night, found where their camp 

 had been during the day. The next morn- 

 ing we took a straight cut for Cedar creek, 

 reaching it at dark, then travelled up 

 stream 8 miles. Every half mile we ran 

 into herds of buffalo. They were not wild, 

 and at times it seemed certain they would 

 run over us. It was a peculiar situation — 

 hunting Indians and dodging buffalo. 



We camped in a thicket that night. In 

 the morning, Miles' command was seen 



about 8 miles away, exchanging shots, at 

 long range, with the Indians. Cross and I 

 were for lying low until night; but Kelly 

 insisted on taking daylight for it. So, with 

 almost a certainty of being shot, we started 

 for the command. 



The Indians had set fire to the prairie, 

 and the smoke had shut off our view; but 

 every time the wind lifted the screen, we 

 got our bearings. Fortunately for us, the 

 enemy had gone to the farther side of the 

 command, leaving clear sailing for us. The 

 Indians told Cross, afterward, they saw us, 

 but through the smoke took us for Indians. 



When within 250 yards of the troops, we 

 saw them sitting on a sidehill, resting. As 

 the air was still smoky, they also took us 

 for Indians, and fired volley after volley at 

 us. The bullets rattled about like hail. We 

 found shelter in a convenient washout un- 

 til a sergeant, with a small detail, came 

 down to scalp the dead. The soldiers were 

 certain they had seen a number of Indians 

 fall from their horses; but it was only us, 

 as we tumbled to the ground, looking for 

 holes in which to cache ourselves. 



From '76 to '82, on both sides of the 

 Yellowstone, buffalo were slaughtered 

 ruthlessly by whites and Indians. At every 

 shipping point there were thousands of 

 hides piled up. All that was saved of the 

 animals were the hides and horns. The 

 former averaged the hunter $2.50 each, 

 while for the horns he got 1 cent a pound. 



In those days, from any prominence, 

 10,000 buffalo might be seen " at one look." 

 It was certainly a magnificent sight. The 

 cattlemen wanted the buffalo exterminated, 

 so the cattle could have thev grass. As no 

 one interfered, the white hunters slaugh- 

 tered, indiscriminately, male, female and 

 young. 



One day, on the Redwater, 35 miles 

 North of Glendive, I counted from a butte 

 18 hunters, all shooting into different herds 

 of buffalo, with their Sharps rifles. Yet 

 people wonder how the buffalo could have 

 been so quickly exterminated. 



In '83 there was practically but one herd 

 left. That was between Moreau and Can- 

 non Ball rivers, in North Dakota. There 

 were about 10,000 animals in this herd. In 

 September of that year, Sitting Bull, with 

 his followers, went up the Cannon Ball, 

 hunting. The 1st day they killed 1,100 — an 

 average of 1 buffalo to each Indian. White 

 hunters would 'have killed 20 to 60 in the 

 same time. By the middle of the following 

 November the herd was completely wiped 

 out. From that month, the American bison 

 was practically a thing of the past. 



Vic Smith. 



" Buttons used to cost $100 apiece." 

 "Yes; men used to need more decora- 

 tion than they do now." 



