4 MISCELLANEOUS CIRCULAR 36, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



sures are as large as those in New York, it was believed that the only- 

 way to insure perpetuation of the buffalo would be through the 

 creation of herds maintained by the Government on large areas of 

 grazing grounds. The establishment of the Wichita Game Preserve 

 suggested to William T. Hornaday, director of the New York Zoologi- 

 cal Park, that an opportunity had been created for building up a Gov- 

 ernment bison herd under exceptionally favorable conditions, because 

 the preserve embraced some of the best grazing grounds of what had 

 once been the great southern herd of American buffalo. In view of 

 the light snowfall in Oklahoma and of the fact that millions of buffalo 

 had previously inhabited the plains of Oklahoma and Texas all the 

 year round, subsisting by grazing, it seemed evident that the buffalo 

 could maintain themselves on the Wichita National Forest. 



Doctor Hornaday therefore suggested to the New York Zoological 

 Society that it offer to the Federal Government, through the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture, a free gift of a herd of not less than 12 pure-blood 

 American buffalo of various ages, to serve as the nucleus of a national 



Fig. 2.— Buffalo bulls in the fenced pasture of the Wichita Game Preserve 



herd, provided that Congress would appropriate funds for a suitable 

 fence around a large area of range in the Wichita preserve and would 

 maintain the animals. The suggestion met with instant approval 

 by the society. The offer was made and was cordially accepted by 

 the Secretary of Agriculture. 



In 1906 Congress appropriated $15,000 to fence an inclosure of 

 8,000 acres, now popularly known as the Wichita buffalo pasture. 

 Fifteen miles of 7^-foot wire fence was finished in 1907. Within the 

 fence there are abundant grazing grounds, consisting of gently rolling 

 prairie covered with choice mesquite grass, buffalo grass, and blue- 

 stem. The grazing grounds are practically surrounded by several 

 high, round-topped or rock-capped hills, and cliffs and ridges of red 

 granite. Heavy growths of blackjack oak cover most of the slopes, 

 and near the bases of the elevations blackjack and postoak groves 

 extend down into the level country for a quarter of a mile. In 

 several parts of the forest there are trees 60 feet in height. The 

 mountains, hills, and timber together afford the buffalo abundant 

 shelter from the fiercest storms of winter. 



