12 THE AMERICAN BISON IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 



could convey any information on the subject, and from what I have 

 gathered I am satisfied there are no buffalo in the western and southern 

 part of the State of Kansas. There are several in the parks at Denver, 

 but none running wild on any of their old ranges in this State, Texas, 

 Colorado, or New Mexico. Of course the Government officials know 

 about how many are in the Yellowstone and other parks in the North- 

 west, as I understand they are under the supervision of the Government 

 and are guarded by United States cavalry. I think the buffalo, like 

 the red man, are dying out, and I most decidedly think the Government 

 ought to take some steps to preserve them. Mr. Charles Goodnight, 

 of Goodnight, Tex., has a herd of over 100 — more than one-half of 

 these are pure bred; the remainder are hybrids, a cross between the 

 buffalo and the Galloway cow. The} 7 call them cataloes, but 1 am told 

 they never mix, but keep wide apart in separate and distinct groups. 

 The cataloes have the same hump as the buffalo, with shagg} 7 hair — with 

 jet black hair on some and light brown on others. All have longer 

 horns than the buffalo. I inclose you a description of the buffalo when 

 they were in their native state and as I knew them years ago. 

 Yours, very truly, 



R. M. Wright. 



Governor W. E. Stanley, Topeka, Kans. 



Under date of February 26, 1902, Col. C. J. Jones (Buffalo Jones) 

 wrote that he had been in Washington and had given all the information 

 and statistics at his command concerning buffalo to the Secretary of 

 the Smithsonian Institute, and, taking it for granted that this was the 

 source from which the information was wanted, did not repeat it. 



THE BUFFALO AND THEIR HABITS. 



The "buffalo wallow" is caused by the buffalo pawing and licking the salty, alkali 

 earth, and when the sod is once broken, the dirt is wafted away by the action of the 

 wind. m Then year after year, by more pawing and licking and rollings or wallowing 

 by the animals, more wind wafts the loose dirt away, and soon there is a large hole 

 in the prairie. Now there is a much more curious spectacle to be seen every spring, 

 when the grass starts up — is even plainly to be seen when springtime arrives. These 

 are rings on the prairie, and there are thousands of them; yes, millions. From the 

 first of April until the middle of May was our wet season on the plains. This was 

 always the case; you could depend upon it with almost the certainty of the sun and 

 the moon rising at the proper time. This was the calving season of the buffalo. 

 The buffalo, not like our domestic cattle, only rutted one month, neither more nor 

 less, then it was all over. 



I want to interpolate a statement here, that no man living I ever heard of or saw 

 ever witnessed the act of copulation by the buffalo; it was all done after night. 

 Then was the only time the buffalo ever made any noise or fuss, but at this season 

 they would keep up a low roaring sound all night, and as a consequence the cows all 

 calved in a month. This was the " w T et month." At that time there were a great 

 many gray wolves in the country as well as the little coyotes. While the cows were 

 in labor the bulls kept guard to drive off the wolves, and in their beat made the 

 rings referred to. I have had people argue with me that they were caused by light- 

 ning striking the earth, but it is certainly strange that lightning should only strike at 

 these breeding places and nowhere else. Others would argue that Indians held their 

 war dances there, which is just as absurd a statement as the other. Others even 

 say that two bulls get their heads together in battle and push each other around and 

 around in a ring until the circle is formed. 



Buffaloes live to a great age. I have heard it from the best authority that some 

 of them live to be 75 or 80 years old, and it is quite common for them to live 30 or 40 

 years. In fact, I think I have seen many a bull's head that I thought to be over 

 30 years old. After a storm, when we would go in search of our lost cattle, we 



