274 
nected with the buffaloes, their way of trying to 
protect the calves from the attack of wolves, 
came under my eye near the Antelope Hills in 
the Indian Territory in the early spring of 1868. 
I saw at a distance from the top of a divide a 
very large herd feeding quietly. Of a sudden 
there was great agitation, then I saw many 
wolves on three sides of the herd moving 
quickly toward a lot of cows with young calves. 
At once the cows started by pushing the calves, 
aided by the bulls, toward the center of the 
herds. The cows then formed a circle with the 
calves inside and the young bulls forming an¬ 
other circle outside of the cows, and the old 
and large bulls still making another circle out¬ 
side on their flanks, thus protecting the calves 
from the wolves. 
In the movement of troops on the Kansas 
Pacific R. R. in 1868, between Fort Leavenworth 
and Fort Hays, I have often known of and 
often been in the train, when the buffaloes were 
so numerous that the train was compelled to 
stop for over half an hour at a time to let them 
cross the tracks. 
I have seen hundreds caught in quicksands on 
the Platte River, and also along the banks and 
shoals of the Red, Arkansas and Canadian 
Rivers. 
Alas, to-day there is not a single buffalo be¬ 
tween Texas and Canada, save in the Yellow¬ 
stone Park, in Oklahoma, Montana and North 
Dakota, where reservations have been estab¬ 
lished, thanks to our Bison Society. 
The real causes of the almost extermination 
of the buffaloes, outside' the killing by the 
Indians, was not only by the demands of com¬ 
merce in skins, heads and horns, etc., but by 
so-called “Sportsmen” (God forgive me for sup¬ 
plying such a term to these wanton butchers), 
who slaughtered these animals for their 
Louisiana is one of the last states in the Union 
which may be said to possess wild life in almost 
primeval abundance- Conditions there are ideal 
for a continuance of this happy circumstance. 
The report of the Conservation Commission of 
Louisiana issued recently contains facts and fig¬ 
ures which indicate that the state not only har¬ 
bors a permanent population in the way of water 
fowl that should make it the envy of the many 
less favored sections, but it is also the breeding 
ground of migratory birds in vast numbers. Lou 
isiana has not yet shut down entirely on the mar¬ 
ket hunter, but it is drawing the lines closer 
each year. Here is a record showing the amount 
of game received in the market and taken by 
amateurs during the past hunting season, the 
totals being based on actual inspection and count 
of market receipts with an estimated addition for 
the amateur kill: 
FIVE MONTHS, 1913-1914. 
Mallards or French Ducks. 117,843 
Pintails. 27,955 
Wood Ducks (Branchu) . 850 
Black or Ring Necks . 13,632 
Grey Ducks (“Gadwalls”). 15,620 
FOREST AND STREAM 
tongues alone, and also would shoot them down 
and leave the great beasts to die, a food for 
wolves and other animals. Thousands upon 
thousands were killed to supply meat for the 
railroad workingmen employed in building the 
Kansas Pacific, Union and Northern Pacific, 
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroads. 
The Government of the United States, with 
fits shortsightedness in the past in failing to 
protect the great game of our country, is really 
responsible for the slaughter of the buffaloes 
and other large game. A few ignorant and in¬ 
terested members of Congress prevented the 
passing of bills to protect them. 
Even attempts to get control of the Yellow¬ 
stone Park in 1882 and 1883, were only frus¬ 
trated by the strong protests made by me, when 
Governor of Montana, showing the great des¬ 
truction of game by pot hunters and others in 
the Yellowstone Park and adjacent country. My 
report was read in the U. S. Senate, by Sena¬ 
tor Vest, of Missouri, and by an overwhelming 
vote the Park, its game and natural curiosities 
were saved to the people, though during that 
winter when the matter was before the Senate, 
some 4,000 elk and thousands of buffaloes and 
other game were slaughtered in the Park. 
In 1883, I wrote to the Governors of Idaho, 
Utah, Dakota and Wyoming asking them to 
meet me at Helena for the purpose of talking 
over and taking steps for the preservation of 
the large game of the Northwest. This meet¬ 
ing resulted in our agreeing to send a special 
message to our respective legislatures, asking 
for the passage of such stringent laws as would 
protect the large game and punish all offenders. 
This was done, resulting in the arrest of 
many pot hunters and so-called “sportsmen.” It 
was due to this concert of action that any large 
game was left in the Northwest. 
Canvas Backs . 1,037 
Red Heads or Pochards . 798 
Spoonbills .. 36,864 
Teal. 30,276 
Dos Gris or Bluebills. 38,560 
Poule D’eau . 39> I1[ 4 
Snipe.. 46,790 
Geese . 2,315 
Grand Total . . 371,654 
This seems like a tremendous drain on one of 
the most valuable natural resources of the state. 
The laws regarding market shooting are too lib¬ 
eral, but they will be less liberal in the future. 
Louisiana is not usually regarded as a trap¬ 
ping 'territory, but the number of fur-bearing 
animals taken in the state during the season of 
1913-1914 was over five million, of which number 
four and a quarter million were muskrats. 
Through the establishment of state game pre¬ 
serves, particularly the Mcllhenny-Ward and the 
Mrs. Russell Sage donations, magnificent breed¬ 
ing grounds for ducks, etc., have been created. 
These preserves are being guarded with care, 
and with amazing results. In writing to the 
Conservation Commission, Edward A. Mcllhenny 
gave the following interesting information: 
Regarding the effect of protection on the State 
Game Preserve and Marsh Island, I beg to say 
that after the survey of the State Game Preserve 
was completed there was very little trespassing 
on the Preserve and the warden seemed to take 
interest in covering his territory, and keeping 
trespassers out; consequence was, the game be¬ 
came very plentiful on the State Game Preserve, 
especially the canvas back, red heads and Gadwall 
ducks which fed in large numbers in Lake Fear- 
man and North Lake, and the marshes at the 
head of Bayou Tom and between Bayou Tom and 
Hog Bayou were full of ducks all winter, and 
in this area now there are large numbers of black 
mallard nesting. The geese on the State Game 
Preserve were very plentiful and came quite 
near the warden’s house. I estimated the flock 
of geese that was ranging near his house at 
100,000. 
Regarding the efficiency of protection on Marsh 
Island in regard to the quantity of game win¬ 
tering there, I point out that the only trouble we 
had on Marsh Island from trespassers was trap¬ 
pers who pretended to be on the School Sections, 
or state lands on Marsh Island. These trappers 
disturbed the game considerably, shooting the 
ducks and game for food as well as bait. We had 
a number of arrests made, and if we can have 
the state place under protection the school lands 
on Marsh Island, which amounts only to about 
1,7,00 acres, we can easily another season keep all 
trespassers from this preserve. Due to the geese 
being disturbed in the outlying districts of Marsh 
Island, they congregated in one vast flock quite 
near the warden’s house, where they were thor¬ 
oughly protected. On going through this flock 
with the wardens in order to make an estimate 
of it, “we found the flock to be solid for a distance 
of two and a half miles about, and from one-hall 
to three-quarters of a mile in width.” In riding 
through this flock the geese were so tame that 
they would not take wing, simply walking away 
from the horses a few feet to the side of the 
path, and all the time that we rode through the 
flock there were geese between ten and fifteen 
feet from us on both sides. We estimated this 
flock to contain from'one and one-quarter million 
to one and one-half million geese, and there were 
probably twice as many ducks, and a very large 
number of shore birds using the island. There 
was absolutely no shooting done on Marsh Island 
during the past winter, except by the dozen trap¬ 
pers who were supposed to be making use of 
the school lands. There are many thousands of 
ducks nesting on Marsh Island now. We found 
nests with eggs during the latter part of Feb¬ 
ruary, and there are now many broods of young 
ducks already hatched. Both the blue-wing teal 
and black mallard are nesting there plentifully 
and we expect a few grey mallards to nest there 
this spring as they had last year. 
Regarding changes which should be made in 
the present conservation law: there are a number 
of important changes, but I would suggest first, 
and most important, is the necessity of installing 
a thorough paid warden system, especially in the 
coast parishes. 
There should be a number of changes made in 
the lists of game birds, season in which they may 
be killed, etc. The robin should entirely be 
eliminated from our list of birds that can be 
killed. The season for killing ducks should be 
shortened to February 15th. It is a great mistake 
to kill wood ducks and black mallards as late as 
March 1st, as both of these ducks are nesting by 
March 1st, and I have found nests of eggs of 
both of them this year as early as February 24th. 
The open season for shooting of ducks, except 
the black mallard and the wood duck, should be 
November 1st to February 15th. The season for 
shootink jack snipe should be October 1st to 
March 15th. The entire method regulating the 
sale of game should be revised. The tag law 
should be put into effect, on the system that is 
now in use in New York. The time for shooting 
ducks should extend from one hour before sun¬ 
rise and an hour after sunset. The reason for an 
Louisiana, the Happy Hunting Ground 
