BUFFALO AND MUSK OX 
T HE American bison or buffalo, Bison bison (Linnaeus), is in many 
ways the most interesting as it is now the scarcest of wild 
animals to be found in the New World. A large bull is about 
5 feet 8 inches at the shoulders; 10 feet from nose to root of 
tail; tail (vertebrae), 1 foot 3 inches. Specimens of over 6 feet 
at the withers have been recorded, and cows are usually about 
4 feet 10 inches at the shoulder. The horns are curved and cylindrical; in 
bulls they measure from 18 to 22 inches in length and in girth from 14 to 
17 inches. The spread ranges from 20 to 34 inches. The horns of the cow 
are smaller and thinner. About 1,800 lb. is the average weight of a bull, 
but Hornaday has weighed two living bulls of 2,190 lb. and 1,990 lb. 
Audubon and Bachman state that fat cows weigh 1,200 lb., though Henry 
remarks that they are seldom heavier than 700 to 800 lb. 
The bull has the head, tail, legs, and lower parts of the neck very dark 
brown, with lighter brown on the upper parts of the body and very pale 
brown on the shoulders and rump. In spring the upper parts are bleached 
to a pale yellow, the head and neck looking almost black by contrast. 
The cow is somewhat darker at all seasons. Newly -born calves, which I 
saw in the National Park at Banff, were of a dull reddish -yellow and very 
pale on the under parts and legs. 
The beard on the chin of the bull is about Ilf inches, and the hair 
on the forehead, when completely developed, is often over one foot in 
length. 
The mountain buffalo of the north often has an almost black “ robe,” 
and in past times skins of various tints were often obtained and known as 
“buckskin,” “blue,” “beaver,” “white” and “pied” robes. White robes 
were greatly treasured by the Indians and considered great “ medicine.” 
An historic robe of pure white was the “ medicine ” of the great Cheyenne 
Chief, Roman-nose, but it did not save his life when he charged fearlessly 
at the head of his warriors in the fight with Forsyth’s troops entrenched 
on Beecher Island, September 17, 1868. 
It can scarcely be said that the races of American buffalo have much 
claim to sub-specific distinction. The great black Wood buffalo, called by 
Rhoads B. b. athabascce, is only a large and dark buffalo growing a finer 
pelage in its Arctic home. The Rocky Mountains were said to possess a 
buffalo smaller than that of the plains, but this is by no means proved, 
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