58 



RECREATION 



conferred upon me. With best wishes 

 for the success of the undertaking/' 

 W. E. Palmer, San Francisco. 



We are informed by Howard Eaton, the 

 famous guide and rancher, a member of our 

 committee, that he has secured an option on 

 the entire herd and that all that is now ne- 

 cessary to do is to secure a congressional 

 appropriation, covering the purchase price 

 and the passage of a bill, setting aside a per- 

 manent buffalo reservation either in the 

 Flathead Country or in some nearby forest 

 or government preserve. 



The progress made has been duly reported 

 to President Roosevelt and to the Secretary 

 of the Interior. A bill is now being framed 

 for introduction at the approaching session 

 of Congress, fully covering the two points 

 involved. As soon as the bill is in shape 

 it will be printed in the pages of Recrea- 

 tion and our readers and their friends can 

 begin an aggressive fight for the immediate 

 passage of the measure when Congress con- 

 venes. 



ORIGIN OF THE PABLO-ALLARD HERD. 



In the July 5th, 1902, issue of Forest and 

 Stream, Charles Aubrey, of Browning, Mon- 

 tana, gives an extended history of the origin 

 of this famous !"erd of buffalo, which now 

 comprises some two hundred and sixty 

 head. 



Mr. Aubrey was an Indian trader on the 

 Marias river, in 1877. This part of the 

 river was a favorite winter hunting ground 

 for the Black Feet and was the main water- 

 ing ground between it and Milk river, one 

 hundred miles to the northward. 



Among the Pen d'Oreille Indians, who 

 made up a hunting party from across the 

 mountains, was an ambitions, bright, middle- 

 aged man of the warrior class — not a chief, 

 however, — whose Christian name was Sam. 

 lie was known to the Black Feet as "Short 

 Coyote." Owing to a family quarrel, Sam 

 had to leave the country for fear of punish- 

 ment by the soldier band of the Pen d'Oreil- 

 les. Later he sought Mr. Aubrey for coun- 

 sel, he desiring to return to his people. He 

 said he was lonesome and wanted to go back 

 but he feared the punishment that awaited 

 his return. There being no buffalo in the 

 Black Foot country Mr. Aubrey suggested 

 to Sam that he take back a few young buf- 

 falo as a peace offering in hopes that it 

 would lighten the punishment. 



Here is the story of this first introduction 

 of buffalo into the Flathead Reservation, in 

 Mr. Aubrey's own "words: 



"I suggested that as he was a good hunt- 

 er, an expert horseman, and could handle a 

 lasso well, he rope some buffalo calves — ■ 

 now nearly a year old — hobble them and 

 keep them with my milch cows. He could 

 use my corrals until they were gentle, he 

 could then drive them across the moun- 



tains by the Cadotte Pass, and give them 

 as a peace offering to the fathers at the mis- 

 s i .on. He looked at me in surprise and 

 doubt. I then showed him that as there 

 were no buffalo in the Flathead country, I 

 thought the fathers would aooreciate the 

 gift. Pie at once said he would try my plan. 

 I encouraged him to go to work at once, 

 and soon saw him arranging for a hunting 

 trip. 



"Next day I made a visit to his lodge and 

 found him and his Pen d'Oreille wife hard 

 at work, and both in a very pleasant humor. 



"In answer to my inquiries as to how he 

 proposed to handle the buffalo, he told me 

 he would catch the young buffalo; he would 

 then picket each by one leg at the place 

 where he caught it. He would then take a 

 blanket, peg it down at the ground at the 

 outer limit of the picket line. I asked him 

 why he did this. He replied it would attract 

 the buffalo's attention and keep him quiet ; 

 by smelling the blanket it would become 

 accustomed to the smell of man and would 

 not be alarmed at his approach. He would 

 catch and handle two at one time on the 

 prairie. They would then be driven in and 

 kept with the milch cows. 



"Sam was successful on his first hunt and 

 soon drove in two fine calves, then, April, 

 1878, nearly yearling buffalo — a heifer and a 

 bull. The heifer was loose, the bull side- 

 hobbled. The milch cows did not take kind- 

 ly to_ the buffalo, but the buffalo persisted, 

 in being friendly. They finally made friends, 

 for after a while the cows ceased to regard 

 them as a curiosity, and seemed to enjoy 

 their presence. Sam rested a few days after 

 his first trip, his wife joining him in telling 

 me the story of the wild chase and the 

 fierce struggles with their caotives. The 

 hunt was far away, as the buffalo were al- 

 ready working to the summer range on the 

 Saskatchewan, This would now cause some 

 change in his plans. Being alone, he was 

 afraid of the enemy — the Indians of the 

 North. He would only risk one more hunt, 

 and informed 'me I could look for him in 

 eight sleeps. If he did not return then, he 

 had been attacked by some war party. In 

 that event he hoped I would make some 

 effort to look him up. When I got up the 

 next morning Sam was gone. 



"True to his promise, he. returned at the 

 end of eight days with five young buffalo — 

 two bulls and three heifers. Each buffalo 

 was head and foot hobbled ; the head and 

 front foot tied together, with- a skin strap 

 two feet long. Each bull was dragging a 

 long lariat, so as to be easily caught for 

 night picketing. Sam was well pleased to 

 find the first two buffalo so contented with 

 the domestic cows. 



"The milch cows objected as before, but 

 the new arrivals took kindly to their new- 

 found friends. Sam told me they had met 



