Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1904, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Terms, |4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. I 
Six Months, $3. ) 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 1, 1908. 
( VOL. LXV.— No. 1. 
I No. 346 Broadway, New York. 
The object of this journal will be to studiously 
promote a healthful interest in outdoor recre= 
ation, and to cultivate a refined taste for natural 
objects. Announcement in first number of 
Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF THE BUFFALO. 
During the next session of Congress a strenuous effort 
should be made by all people who have a respect for 
things American, to induce the Government to acquire 
and care for all the remaining specimens of the .American 
buffalo, now alive and not in zoological collections. Lists 
printed in the past few years seem to show that there are 
in this country somewhat less than i,ooo head of buffalo 
in private hands. These should be purchased by the 
Government, which should also set aside certain reserva- 
tions for their care, and dividing the buffalo up into small 
bunches, should have them placed in these different farms 
and bred there with the same care that, for example, is 
exercised in the horse breeding establishments of France. 
Scattered through the old buffalo range are many Indian 
reservations occupied to-day by different tribes, and from 
several of these reservations the Government should pur- 
chase sufficient territory to pasture a herd of from sixty 
to sevent-five buffalo and to'-provide for their increase 
for twenty or twenty-five years. It is probable that four 
townships, an area of twelve miles square, would be 
ample for each such reservation, including the growing 
of whatever hay might be required for the herd. This 
land could undoubtedly be bought from the Indians at a 
price far less than the Government price. Land could be 
selected of little value from the agricultural standpoint. 
Put excellent for pasture. The expense of fencing such 
pastures would be an important item, while the help 
needed to care for the animals would be a slight one, 
since four men would be enough to attend to each farm. 
There would have to be a few’ horses, houses for the 
hands to live in, and in summer perhaps additional hands 
would be needed to put up a stock of hay; but it is alto- 
gether probable that this putting up of hay would have 
to be done but once in several years. 
It may not be easy to induce Congress to appropriate 
the money for such a purpose. Congress has very little 
sentiment about it. It rather prides itself on being stern- 
ly practical. Nevertheless there is no body of men in the 
world so quick to respond to public sentiment as Con- 
gress, and if the public really wants the buffalo tO' be pre- 
served — and it is clear to those who have given much 
thought to the matter that they can be preserved only in 
this way — Congress will very promptly respond to that 
wish ; but the public must show that it has a wish in the 
matter. 
A committee recently appointed to urge this matter in- 
cludes the following names: Caspar Whitney, Outing; 
Hamilton W. Mabie, Outlook; Richard Watson Gilder, 
Century; Melville Stone, President Associated Press; 
Grover Cleveland, Princeton, N. J. ; Dan Beard, Recrea- 
tion; George Bird Brinnell, Forest and Stream; Frank 
N. Doubleday, editor World’s Work; Charles D. Lanier, 
editor Country Calendar; Clarke Howell, Atlanta Consti- 
tution; Howard Eaton^ Guide and Ranchman; John 
Muir, California; W. E. Palmer, San Francisco; Henry 
'Van Dyke, Princeton, N. J. ; Homer Davenport, car- 
toonist, and wild animal farmer; Hamlin Garland, novel- 
ist and lecturer. 
The first question to be faced in all this matter is this : 
Does the public wish to have America’s largest land 
mammal pass wholly out of existence, or is it worth 
while for the Government to spend some money to pre- 
serve this species for future generations ? It is a question 
of sentiment, not a question of getting back the dollars 
and cents invested. It is a question of re-establishing 
a species. The buffalo breed freely in confinement ; 
there are half a dozen different stocks to draw from for 
breeding purposes ; there are millions of acres of forest 
reserve which after proper larvs have been enacted and 
enforced, so that the Government property within these 
reservations shall be respected, will form immense game 
parks as well as forest reserves. It is perfectly possible 
for the Government within the next twenty-five or thirtty 
years to rear on these suggested farms enough buffalo to 
stock permanently the different forest reservations in the 
country so that the buffalo may be left to themselves and 
need never become extinct. 
It is our belief and' the belief of many other people 
who have given careful thought to the matter, this is 
something well worth doing. We have reason to know 
that President Roosevelt is heartily in favor of it, and 
we know that many Congressmen are also in favor of it. 
But after all, in the last analysis the question as to 
whether anything shall or shall not be done rests with 
the people of the country. Do^ they think that it is worth 
while that this should be done? 
The largest herd of buffalo^ is that belonging tO' Michel 
Pablo, a mixed-blood Indian residing on the Flathead 
Reservation. This herd, numbering not far from 250 
head, is what is' left of the old Allard-Pablo-Jones herd 
and has long been ranged on the Flathead Indian Reser- 
vation. This Reservation is soon tO’ be thrown open, the 
Indians are to be allotted lands in severalty, and the sur- 
plus lands to be thrown open to settlement by the whites. 
When the reservation is thrown open Pablo will no 
longer have any land on which to range his buffalo, and 
so will be obliged tO' get rid of them— tO’ sell them alive 
or dead. This herd, therefore, will be soon thrown on 
the market and can be bought for a very moderate price. 
They should be bought by the United States and places 
provided in which to keep them. 
We should be very glad indeed tO' hear from any of our 
readers who may feel an interest on this point. 
Now THAT in this country we have reached a stage 
where we cannot devise and develop plans for the sys- 
tematic restocking of game grounds with quail and other 
birds, the subject is one of constantly growing interest. 
Our chief obstacle tO' enterprise in this field has been the 
interference of the laws forbidding the export of birds 
from one State to another. The legislation of the year 
1905 is characterized in an encouraging degree by a 
recognition of the need of such stocking enterprises and 
of the necessity of permitting the taking of live game for 
the purpose. The Minnesota law authorizes the game 
commissioner to secure by purchase or otherwise, and ex- 
change specimens of game birds, game animals or game 
fish with the game commission or State game warden 
of other States for breeding purposes. A like provision 
is made b}'- several other States. Thus the Missouri sec- 
tion permits the State game and fish warden, upon appli- 
cation from the game and fish warden in corresponding 
office of any other State or Territory, to procure and 
transport tO' such officer live specimens of the game ani- 
mals or birds of Missouri to be used for propagating pur- 
poses. This opens the way to what might very well grow 
into an extensive system of transfers of live game from 
one State to another. Conducted under the direction of 
the commissioners, there would be no- danger that the 
dealing in live game would be perverted into a market 
traffic. , ■ . 
There is manifest also an extension of the privilege of 
keeping and selling live game for stocking purposes. In 
Massachusetts, for example, a new clause of the law re- 
lating to possession in close season provides that “any 
person, firm or corporation holding a permit from the 
commissioners on fisheries and game may sell or have 
in possession live quail for purposes of propagation with- 
in the Commonwealth.” 
The Tennessee Game and Fish Protective Association 
has been organized, with Col. Joseph H. Acklen, of Nash- 
ville, State Fish and Game Commissioner, as its head, 
and having vice-presidents to represent the interests of 
East, Middle and West Tennessee. The purposes are the 
promotion of sportsmanship, protection of game and fish, 
and the introduction of new species. The association, 
which is incorporated, has an extended list of influential 
citizens as charter members ; and we may look for sub- 
stantial results from the movement. Tennessee is one of 
the latest of the States to take up in a systematic way 
the conservation of the game supply, and under the effi- 
cient direction of Colonel Acklen an excellent beginning 
has been made. Game protection is growing in popularity 
throughout the State. The wide distribution of the mem- 
bers of the new association indicates that it is not a local 
movement. To the native quail has been added the ring- 
necked pheasant, and Commissioner Acklen reports that 
the introduced game gives promise of proving a valuable 
addition to the feathered resources of the State, 
The Audubon societies have been signally successful 
in securing the enactment of their law for the protection 
of song birds in most of the States. Now that the Na-' 
tional Association of Audubon societies has taken up the 
important enterprise of giving the sea birds a like im- 
munity from pursuit, the public response to its appeals 
for funds as the sinews of war should meet a generous 
response. There is no lack of money for the purpose 
if only the aims and efficient methods of the societies can 
be brought to- the notice of those who would gladly con- 
tribute to carry on the work. In another column is 
printed a statement by President William Dutcher, in 
which is indicated the very practical methods it is pro- 
posed to adopt to put an end to the senseless bird 
slaughter; and we bespeak for the Association a gener- 
ous financial support. 
K 
Some months ago we recorded the establishment of a 
public park system for the city of Wymo-re, Neb., as a 
result of the enterprise and intelligent foresight of Mr. 
A. D. C. McCandless, one of Wymore’s citizens, who is 
well known to- the readers of our columns as the author 
of several sketches of shooting experiences in the 
grouse country of Cherry county. It is a pleasure to 
note that Wymore has made acknowledgment of its in- 
debtedness to- Mr. McCandless. In grateful recognition 
of his public service as the founder of the park system 
and for his liberality to and care of the parks the City 
Council has named the principal one of the pleasure 
grounds McCandless Park. 
The angler in Chautauqua county, N. Y., who may 
happen to hook a maskinonge under twenty-four inches 
in length must immediately return it to the water “with- 
out unavoidable injury.” That is to say, he must per- 
form a miracle ; but the law requires him to do it, and let 
us hope that he will find a way to- obey the law. 
Mr. R. B. Marston, editor of the Fishing Gazette, of 
London, has invented and patented artificial flies of 
which the bodies are made of celluloid, and they are said 
to be very killing imitations of the natural insect. The 
Canadian Postmaster-General has promulgated a notice 
that celluloid is regarded by the postal authorities as an 
explosive. Does this bring Mr. Alarston’s flies under -the 
ban of the law which forbids fishing with explosives ? 
Sportsmen visiting Florida have complained loudly of 
the non-resident license system which requires a separate 
license for each county one may shoot in, with a fee of 
$10 attaching to- it. This necessitates the taking out of 
several licenses for a cruise in the Indian River or on the 
Gulf coast. An endeavor was made this year to change 
the law, so that there might be one general license valid 
anywhere in the State, but the Legislature has re-enacted 
the house provision retaining the single county feature. 
St 
The State of Missouri has come back into the Union 
again. For some years it was an alien province ; that is 
to say, it made aliens of the rest of us by decreeing in 
Legislature assembled that no non-resident might hunt 
within its borders. Thus to make aliens of the citizens 
of the rest of the country was to make an alien of itself. 
But under the new and more stringent law, any person, 
wherever he may have had the fortune to be born, may 
hunt in Missouri on payment of a fee of fifteen dollars. 
This is not coming all the way back into- the Union, but 
it is as far as many of the other States have got with 
their non-resident laws. 
Of the late Alonzo- Davenport, the famous hunter of 
Heath, Mass., it is told that he ran down and captured 
a fox as a condition of obtaining his bride. If that stunt 
were a common condition precedent many of us would 
have to go- without the girl. 
An international exhibition of hunting trophies will be 
held in Vienna in 1908. Prince Heinrich Lichtenstein is 
the president of the committee of organization. America 
will doubtless be represented with credit; certainly from 
Alaska we can contribute the largest moose (or as called 
jn Europe, elk) heads kno-vy-q, 
