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RECREA TION. 



WHO KILLED THE BUFFALO. 



Gardiner, Mont. 



Editor Recreation: S. N. Leek, Jack- 

 son's Hole, Wyo., states, in Recreation, 

 that " no resident of Jackson's Hole ever 

 killed buffalo in the Yellowstone National 

 park." In a later issue, under the initials of 

 B. V. K., I said residents of Jackson's Hole 

 had killed buffalo in the park. In your 

 August number Mr. Leek admits that buf- 

 falo were killed in the park, just where I 

 said they were, on Crawfish creek (not 

 Crawford). 



As he says, the men did not live in the 

 timber reserve, that winter, but it is not 

 true that none of them were residents of 

 Jackson's Hole. To my knowledge one of 

 them lived in the Hole until recently. An- 

 other lived there until the spring of 1894 

 when, it is reported, he was killed, on his 

 way to Evanston, to dispose of furs se- 

 cured during the winter. Another man had 

 his horses in Jackson's Hole during the 

 winter of 1893; but he was reported to be 

 in the adjoining county " wolfing." One 

 of the others was lost in a snowstorm and 

 perished, on Huckleberry mountain. 



An article on this subject by C. G. N., of 

 Mammoth Hot Springs, in August Recrea- 

 tion can easily be verified by any one de- 

 siring the truth. 



Mr. Leek makes another misstatement 

 when he says the real cause of the park 

 buffalo being gone, is that the syndicate 

 and the soldiers have cut the winter feed of 

 the buffalo, and put it up for hay. 



Any one familiar with the facts, knows 

 the soldiers never put up hay in the park 

 and that the only hay cut by the syndicate, 

 anywhere near the buffalo range, is cut on 

 the bottom land along the Yellowstone 

 river, where the snow lies 6 to 10 feet deep, 

 all winter. 



The truth is that on account of too many 

 visits by'the soldiers, to the winter feeding 

 ground (Hayden Valley), such visits how- 

 ever being necessary to prevent poachers 

 from getting in — the buffalo became scared 

 and split up in small bands, going to the dif- 

 ferent parts of the park and trying to win- 

 ter in the deep snow, where those that were 

 not killed by poachers, died of starvation. 



For years the calves of buffalo have been 

 killed by the protected bear, wolves, etc., 

 just as they kill the young of all other big 

 game animals, every spring. These are the 

 real causes of the disappearance of buffalo. 

 Wm. Van Buskirk. 



the 5 men who settled on Warm Spring 

 creek, in August, '91, did so in good faith 

 and that they had a perfect right to do so. 

 At that time the timber reserve was not 

 annexed to the park, and no notices were 

 posted, by Captain Anderson, until later 

 that fall. Theirs was not a case of trespass, 

 at all. Wilson, the Chief Scout of the park 

 informed Tom Brown (one of the squat- 

 ters) that their camp was 3^2 miles South 

 of the park line. 



The 5 men who established quarters 

 there, were Tom Brown, Captain Edwards, 

 John Shive, Jeff Simmerson, and Dave De- 

 foe. Only 3 of the 5 wintered there, as 

 Tom Brown was lost in the October snow 

 storm and was found dead some weeks 

 later. Captain Edwards pulled out on 

 snow shoes, early in December. Certainly 

 these 2 men had nothing to do with the 

 killing of the buffalo. Those animals were 

 not killed on Crawford creek, and far ex- 

 ceeded 3 in number. 



F. W. Rising, Butte, Mont. 



In July issue I see an explanation of 

 "Where the Buffalo Went." Another way of 

 departure was explained to me some years 

 ago, by an old time missionary, Reverend 

 Pritchard, of South Dakota. 



In some of his early experiences on the 

 Missouri river he says the Indians, in order 

 to starve out the Northern tribes, with 

 whom they were at war, burned the prairies 

 to the North of the big herds, which he said 

 would extend for miles, to prevent their 

 Northern migration. Then they stampeded 

 the buffalo into the rivers. On one occa- 

 sion he had to camp 3 days, on the banks 

 of the Missouri, as navigation was impos- 

 sible owing to the thousands of dead ani- 

 mals floating down. 



Another way was to rusk them into the 

 big snow drifts, on the- coulee banks, and 

 kill them at short range on snow shoes. 

 The only part of the buffalo then used was 

 the tongue, except where an extra good 

 skin was to be had. 



So these savages have only to thank 

 themselves for the passing of the bison, 

 which seems to be only an indication of 

 their own fate. 



C. A. S., Lowville, N. Y. 



Being a hunter and guide, knowing, thor- 

 oughly, the Jackson's Hole country and 

 the people who live there, I beg to say S. 

 N. Leek made an error, in his article in 

 Recreation, entitled, " Who Killed the 

 Buffalo?" 



Mr. Leek does not seem to know that 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



In the August number of Recreation, 

 " Syracuse " expressed doubt of the truth- 

 fulness of the story by Van Dyke, whose 

 elk ran 100 yards, with a bullet through the 

 heart. The experience of " Syracuse," with 

 heart shots, cannot be great. My experi- 

 ence has taught me that wild animals in- 

 variably run a short distance, if shot 

 through the heart. _ 



One evening, while hunting in Colorado, 

 I was startled by a signal from my com- 



