34 
The Prong- Horned Antelope 
its scientific name until 1 8 1 5 , when in Guth- 
rie's Geography Ord described it as An- 
telope Americaniis, and still later in the 
Journal de Physique, 181 8, when he made 
for it the genus Antilocapni. 
The word Cabrit or Cabrie, used by the 
half-breeds of the North-west, is doubtless, 
as Richardson suggests, a Basque corrup- 
tion of the Spanish cahra, a goat. The 
names Le Sqiienoton and Sqiiinaton, record- 
ed by Dobbs and his anonymous predeces- 
sor, probably do not belong to this species. 
Merriam has recently (1901) described the 
Mexican Antelope as a new sub-species, mex- 
icana, but this name is possibly antedated by 
Hamilton Smith 's/?a/wa^a (1827). Ihavenot 
attempted to demark the areas of the races. 
The map shows a surprisingly slight 
shrinkage in the ranges of the species; a 
shrinkage which, unfortunately, does not 
correspond with the actual reduction of its 
numbers. The ancient territory of the 
Pronghorns was about 2,000,000 square 
miles; and a safe estimate, founded on the 
reports of travellers, would be five Antelope 
to every square mile of that. 
Major J. B. Pond wrote meas follows: "In 
the winter of 1868-69, 1 travelled on the new 
railroad for the fimi time frQm.J)enver to 
Cheyenne. The Antelope had all left the 
open plains, and were now sheltering among 
the foot-hilit?. Fot ten or twelve miles in 
Cache le Poudre Valley and all the way west 
of the train, about three-quarters to one- 
half a mile away, was one long band of An- 
telope, twenty to forty rods wide, practical- 
ly continuous and huddled together for 
warmth. Their numbers changed the color 
of the country. That winter many wagon- 
loads were brought to Denver and sold, 
three or four carcasses for two bits (25c.) 
that being the smallest coin in use." 
If there is no error in these figures it meant 
2,000,000 Antelope. Probably these came 
from within a radius of 200 miles, and cer- 
tainly this was but a small proportion of the 
entire Antelope population of America. 
From these various facts it will be seen 
that in many regions the species probably 
exceeded ten to the square mile, and though 
there were vast areas which fell far below 
this, they were offset by the congestion else- 
where; therefore, in estimating their pris- 
tine population at five to a square mile, I 
have been reasonably conservative. 
The present range covers about 1,000,000 
square miles. But who will say that there are 
5 ,000,000 Antelope left ? If there are 100,000 
wild Antelope to-day I am agreeably sur- 
prised. At least half of them must be in 
Mexico. 
In some regions, I am told, there is a shght 
increase, but in others a sad diminution 
in the last five years. Mr. A. A. Anderson 
estimates that in 1905 there were not more 
than a quarter of the Antelope in Wyoming 
that there were in 1900. Nevertheless, the 
nation has wakened up to the fact that 
the Antelope is worth preserving and that a 
national effort is needed to do it. 
All the States now have game laws for 
the protection of Antelope; some of them 
have declared a close season for a term of 
years, and it is possible that we may yet keep 
the Pronghorn from going the way of the 
Wild Pigeon and the Buffalo. 
The largest buck Antelope in the Zoolog- 
ical Park, is, according to Mr. Hornaday, 
" 37K inches at the shoulder." A fair-sized 
buck stands 36 inches at the shoulder — the 
top of the head rising a foot higher — and he 
weighs about 100 pounds. A four-month's 
old buck which I weighed in Jackson's Hole, 
^October, 1898, w^t 60 pounds, and stood 
28 inches at the shoulder. A large one killed 
by Mr. E. S. Dodge, of Oracle, Arizona, 
weighed 125 pounds. The females are 
smaller and lighter. 
The colors of the adult male Antelope are 
rich tan, which, under the brilliant skies of 
the Plains, looks purplish, varied with pure' 
white patches, as shown on page 41. The 
upper part of the muzzle, the patch under 
each ear, eyes, horns, hoofs, and sometimes 
the mane, are black. The female is similar 
in color, but with the black areas less, and 
often without that under the ears. Mr.W.T. 
Hornaday has a large male head also with- 
out the black side-patches. 
On the photograph by Mr.Wallihan [page 
45] the second figure from the right shows a 
curious color variation, the principal one 
known. The usual pattern on the throat is 
there, but distorted throughout as though 
the stencil had been jarred when the work 
was half done. 
The young are at first grayish brown , dark- 
ening on the face, paling on the rump, and 
with faint suggestions of the adult colors, 
but never spotted, as in the Deer family. 
