54 
BUFFALO. 
“ The domesticated Buffalo retains the same haughty bearing that dis- 
tinguishes him in his natural state. He will, however, feed or fatten on 
whatever suits the tame cow, and requires about the same amount of 
food. I have never milked either the full blood or mixed breed, but 
have no doubt they might be made good milkers, although their bags 
or udders are less than those of the common cow ; yet from the strength 
of the calf, the dam must yield as much or even more milk than the 
common cow.” 
Since reading the above letter, we recollect that the Buffalo calves 
that were kept at Fort Union, though well fed every day, were in 
the habit of sucking each other’s ears for hours together. 
There exists a singular variety of the Bison, which is however very 
scarce, and the skin of which is called by both the hunters and fur 
traders a “ beaver robe.” These are valued so highly that some have 
sold for more than three hundred dollars. Of this variety Mr. Cul- 
bertson had the goodness to present us with a superb specimen, 
which we had lined with cloth, and find a most excellent defence 
against the cold, whilst driving in our wagon during the severity of 
our northern winters. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
The range of the Bison is still very extensive ; but although it was 
once met with on the Atlantic coast, it has, like many others, receded 
and gone west and south, driven onward by the march of civilization 
and the advance of the axe and plough. His habits, as we have seen, 
are migratory, and the extreme northern and southern limits of the wan- 
dering herds not exactly defined. Authors state, that at the time of the 
first settlement of Canada it was not known in that country, and 
Sagaed Thbodat mentions having heard that bulls existed in the far west, 
but saw none himself According to Dr. Richardson, Great Slave Lake, 
latitude 60°, was at one time the northern boundary of their range; 
but of late years, according to the testimony of the natives, they have 
taken possession of the flat limestone district of Slave Point on the north 
side of that lake, and have wandered to the vicinity of Great Marten 
Lake, in latitude 63° or 64°. The Bison was not known formerly to 
the north of the Columbia river on the Pacific coast, and Lewis and 
Clark found Buffalo robes were an important article of traffic between 
the inhabitants of the east side and those west of the Rocky mountains. 
The Bison is spoken of by Hernandez as being found in New Spain 
or Mexico, and it probably extended farther south. Lawson speaks of 
