38 THE AMERICAN BISON IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



Smithsonian Institution, 



Washington, February £, 1902. 



Sm: In reply to your communication of the 1st instant, inclos- 

 ing a copy of Senate resolution of January 30, 1902, 1 have to say 

 that the Institution has in its charge in Washington but 11 buffalo, 

 of undoubtedly pure blood; but that it has, by understanding with the 

 Secretary of the Interior, endeavored to promote the preservation of 

 the herd in the Yellowstone National Park by having built there at its 

 own expense, in 1895, a large stockade, inclosing several hundred acres, 

 in which it was proposed to turn a part or the whole of the herd (then 

 estimated to number 200 or more) inhabiting the wilder portions of 

 the park. The plan of inclosing the animals was intended both for 

 security against unlicensed hunters and to "gentle" those which 

 might later be transmitted to Washington. 



It is much to be wished that this could have been done, for the herd 

 has since been more than decimated, and has, it is supposed, been 

 reduced to a very small number, while the stockade has literally rotted 

 away without a single animal having been secured for it. 



I beg to ask your attention to a copy of my last annual report, trans- 

 mitted herewith, in which I have marked certain pages referring to 

 this subject, which I should be very glad to know had your personal 

 attention. 



I beg to inclose also a list, compiled from various sources, of the 

 American buffalo existing wild or in captivity in this country and in 

 Europe, numbering nearly 1,100 individuals, with the remark that I 

 am not certain in every case of the pureness of the strain. I have 

 indicated with an asterisk those for which I have reason to think the 

 strain is pure, without intending this to the prejudice of the others,, 

 with which I have less acquaintance. 



Ver} r respectfully, yours, S. P. Langley, 



Secretary. 



The Secretary of the Interior, 



Washington, D. C. 



RUNNING WILD. 



Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming *30 



Region about Salt River, Peace River, and Great Slave Lake, Dominion of 



Canada *500-570 



IN CAPTIVITY. 



United States: 



Adrian, Mich., herd of Page Woven Wire Fence Company *10 



Armstrong County, Tex., herd of Charles Goodnight *100 



Blue Mountain Park, N. H., herd of Austin Corbin *98 



Buffalo, N. Y., City Park *5 



Chicago, 111., Lincoln Park menagerie *10 



Cincinnati, Ohio, Zoological Gardens, estimated. ^ *8 



Cochrane, Wis., herd of Huber Bros 9 



Denver, Colo., City Park 3 



Denver, Colo., Elitch's gardens 2 



Detroit, Mich., City Park 3 



Dodge, Nebr., private owners 10 



East Hampton, Long Island, N. Y., herd of David J. Gardner 3 



Flathead Reservation, Mont., herd of Allard & Pablo *200 



