A NATIONAL DISGRACE. 

 THE EXTINCTION OF THE BUFFALO. 



The time 'is rapidly approaching when 

 American game will be reduced to German 

 carp, Mongolian pheasants, Belgian, hares, 

 European starlings and Gypsy moths. That 

 this is not an exaggerated forecast may be 

 proven by reference to the government re- 

 ports made by cold-blooded unsentimental 

 scientists. 



The threatened extinction of the bison 

 has already been brought to the notice of the 

 American people by the press, the maga- 

 zines and personal pamphlets. All the people 

 see the necessity of immediate action, but 

 stand idle, like an unorganized mob, await- 

 ing a leader. In the meantime the danger 

 of utter extermination of our historic ani- 

 mals is imminent. We learn that the Flat 

 head reservation is to be opened soon for 

 settlement and that the so-called Allard herd 

 is to be sold. This would be a national 

 calamity and as soon as this rumor reached 

 the Recreation office, a letter was written 

 to President Roosevelt, calling his attention 

 to the fact that the only large herd of buffalo 

 now living on an old buffalo range is the 

 Allard herd, of the Flathead Reservation 

 and asking that steps be taken by the gov- 

 ernment not only to purchase these animals, 

 but to preserve sufficient land of their pres- 

 ent range upon which they can live and mul- 

 tiply as they have been doing under the 

 care of their owners. 



By return mail word was received from 

 Washington to the effect that the President 

 has the matter under serious consideration. 

 What we ask of our readers is to back us 

 up in this movement by immediately writing 

 personal letters to their senators, congress- 

 men, local newspapers and members of Rec- 

 reation committee, advocating the immediate 

 purchase by government of all the live buf- 

 falo in the market and the reservation of 

 that part of the tract of land near the Saddle 

 Butte, between the Mission Mountains on the 

 East and Pend d'Oreille River on the West, 

 the Northern Pacific Railroad on the Soutb 

 and the Flathead Lake on the North, now 

 occupied by the Allard herd. 



The time for talking the thing over and for 

 the expressions of regret is passed, 



WE MUST ACT. 



There is nothing impractical in this idea 

 and the only possible opposition will be that 



of a few land sharps, but although there are 

 millions of right-minded patriots in America 

 in favor of this idea, the millions are un- 

 organized and may be beaten by a small but 

 well organized band of conscienceless sharp- 

 ers. This will not happen if we act at once, 

 before any opposition is organized. There is 

 nothing we can not accomplish if we work 

 for it, and as there is neither money nor poli- 

 tics in this movement all sportsmen, nature 

 lovers and true blooded Americans can lend 

 a hand to send a shower of personal letters 

 to their representatives demanding that they 

 at once use all their influence to save the 

 bison. There is lasting fame and the grati- 

 tude of a nation for the man who pushes 

 through a bill for this purpose. 



Recreation has asked the following gentle- 

 men to act upon a committee to bring this 

 matter up and back our president in his work 

 in behalf of the American bison : 



Caspar Whitney, Outing; Hamilton W. 

 Mabie, Outlook ; Richard Watson Gilder, 

 Century; Melville Stone, Pres. Associated 

 Press; Grover Cleveland, Princeton, N. J.; 

 George Bird Grinnell. Forest and Stream; 

 Frank Doubleday, Editor World's Work; 

 Charles Lanier, Editor Country Calendar; 

 Clarke Flowell, Atlanta Constitution ; How- 

 ard Eaton, Guide and Ranchman; John Muir, 

 California; W. E. Palmer, San Francisco; 

 Henry Van Dyke, Princeton, N. J. ; Homer 

 Davenport, cartoonist, and wild animal far- 

 mer; Hamlin Garland, novelist and lecturer. 



Ten million buffalo in 1865 ; one thousand 

 in 1905. Twenty years ago the black, shaggy 

 bison of the Great West would have sufficed 

 for a procession, two abreast, reaching from 

 Point Barrow to the Straits of Magellan; 

 while, to-day, the surviving remnant would 

 barely reach around two city blocks. 



But what is past is past; it will be infinite- 

 ly more profitable if we take counsel, and 

 decide what we shall do to protect the buf- 

 falo that remain, rather than spend our days 

 in grieving for animals slain by a generation 

 that has nearly passed away. The one hope- 

 ful phase of the situation is the slight in- 

 crease in number of buffalo during the last 

 decade, for it encourages the belief that, with 

 adequate protection and skilful handling, 

 the species may even yet become numerous. 



The buffalo breeds freely in captivity, and, 

 when well fed and allowed ample liberty, 



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