n8 



RECREATION. 



As the mounted men reached the upland, 

 probably 2,000 buffalo, in small herds, were 

 seen, some of them not more than 200 yards 

 away. 



The charge was ordered, and, " every 

 man for himself," the hunters started. I 

 kept up the chase till both my revolvers 

 were emptied, and had dropped 3 bulls. I 

 then pulled up to find myself alone, and 

 more than a mile from the nearest of my 

 friends. 



There was always one danger in running 

 buffalo in the Indian country. The hunter, 

 engrossed in the pursuit of his game, lost 

 all idea of course or distance, and a run of 

 4 or 5 miles was not an unusual thing. At 

 the end of that the sportsman often found, 

 himself alone on the prairie, with empty 

 pistols and a tired steed, in a most defence- 

 less state if suddenly attacked. I was soon 

 joined by the other officers, and we waited 

 for the wagon to come up and get our 



"WE FOUND THE TEAM ALL RIGHT AND 

 THE PROFESSOR AT WORK." 



game, in the meantime scanning the ground 

 along the horizon for some sign of the am- 

 bulance. But we looked in vain, and as 

 soon as the beef was loaded we retraced our 

 steps in search of the Professor. Nearly 2 

 miles back we met one of the party, his 

 face wearing a disgusted look, as though 

 he did not think much of buffalo hunting. 

 To our inquiries about the others, he re- 

 plied, — 



" I don't know where they are. The 

 driver took us up to that place you pointed 

 out, and just as we reached it a small herd 

 came rushing up from the ravines, and ' the 

 old man ' told us to get out and get a shot. 

 As we jumped out another herd came 

 along, and he told the driver to drive on, 

 and left us out in the cold, and by that 

 time the herd we had first seen had run out 



of reach. The last I saw of the team it was 

 away off in that direction (pointing to the 

 Southwest), and I think it was running 

 away." 



Turning in the direction indicated, we 

 galloped off in search of the lost man, and 

 rode nearly 2 miles before, as much farther 

 away, we saw the ambulance halted, and a 

 man apparently at work on a carcass. Rid- 

 ing up, we found the team all right, and the 

 Professor at work. He was a sight! He had 

 killed a young bull (as the driver told it), 

 " had filled him too full of lead for him to 

 carry." He had lost his hat, and in lieu 

 of it had tied a white handkerchief about 

 his head, — thrown off his coat, and, with a 

 knife " hacked worse than 2 saws," and 

 which had been used all the trip for digging 

 fossils, he was trying to cut off the animal's 

 head to take home as a trophy. His hands 

 and arms were bloody, his face dripped 

 with perspiration. In trying to wipe it 

 away he had forgotten that his hands were 

 bloody, and had stained his face, hair and 

 handkerchief with gore, till he looked 

 worse than a Chicago butcher. We sent 

 the driver back to bring up the wagon, and 

 then proceeded to assist in getting off the 

 skin, as he said he must have it dressed 

 and the head mounted. After we had re- 

 turned to the post, had a bath, and the pro- 

 fessor had cooled down, mentally, he began 

 to think how he must have looked and 

 acted, and after ! his return to the East it 

 was soon a tabooed subject. The driver's 

 story, told to his fellows, was couched in 

 language more forcible than eloquent. 

 Leaving out the expletives it was about as 

 follows: 



" He wasn't goin' to shoot no buffalo! 

 Oh, no! But after he got them young fel- 

 lows out, he jest went plumb crazy, an' 

 when about the third bunch of 'em run 

 past, he poked his gun out past my head 

 an' fired right over my mules, an' they went 

 in spite of me. His hat blowed off, and I 

 wanted to go back fur it, but he sung out 

 not to mind his hat, but go on. And bime- 

 by he banged away again, and then the buf- 

 faler stopped, an' I began to circle 'round, 

 and then the old fellow jumped out and 

 was goin' to run right up to him; till I 

 hollered that he'd git h'isted if he did, and 

 then he jest stood off, and. pumped lead 

 into him till he dropped. Talk about ' buck 

 ager ' — if he didn't have ' buffaler fever ' 

 I'm a tenderfoot." 



The Professor came back the next year, 

 and with him came one of the same party. 

 Scarcely had we shaken hands when he 

 said, " Don't say buffalo to the old gentle- 

 man — it is a sore subject." 



