Memories of an Old Buffalo Hunter. 
II.—The Buffalo’s Hide. 
The buffalo was provided with a thick hide, 
as well as thick hair fur. While the hide of the 
buffalo of the northern herd was not noticeably 
thicker than the hide of the buffalo of the south¬ 
ern herd, the coat of the north buffalo in the 
winter months was much darker in color than 
that of the southern buffalo at any time of the 
year. Nor did they shed their winter coat as 
early in the spring as the south buffalo. That 
made the north robes in greater demand than 
the south robes. 
I have branded and butchered all the notable 
beef breeds of cattle bred on the great plains 
for beef except the Highland cattle. The short 
horn and Texas cattle readily take the branding- 
iron, as they have thin hair and hides. The 
Hereford cattle have thicker hair and hide, while 
the Poll Angus have a thick coat of hair with 
a thicker hide than either of the other three 
notable breeds. Galloway cattle require a very 
hot iron, and are much like the buffalo as to 
thickness of hair and hide, and again a Gallo¬ 
way bull, while a rnuley, is much like a buffalo 
bull—in being a bull all over—and has a very 
thick hide and hair. 
Mr. Ulme, manager of Schlitz Co., Milwaukee, 
told me that an uncle of his was the pioneer 
tanner of the buffalo hide for leather. He said 
that he could make no use of the great mass of 
hair those great bull hides carried; it had no 
commercial value and was not even suitable for 
plastering purposes. 
The cattle grub, so common in the backs of 
cattle, I have not found in the hide of the back 
of the buffalo. During the fly season those great 
powerful bulls, using their sharp horns as tools, 
would tear up the dry hard soil, paw it into fine 
dust and wallow and roll in it much like a horse. 
The bull delighted to take a dust bath to drive 
away his tormentors, the gnats and flying ants, 
and tossed up the dust with his cup-like hoops 
to an astonishing height. The Indian as well 
as the white hunter was often uncertain 
when the cause of the disturbance was out of 
sight_that the dust was not caused by an ap¬ 
proaching war party. 
The Bull. 
The buffalo bull was a great fighter—very 
brave. His general appearance was all bull, and 
for so large an animal, with his awkward gait 
and uncouth appearance, he was extremely ac¬ 
tive, as I and many another unfortunate hunter 
testify by stories of gored horses and narrow 
escapes from death at his sharp hoi ns. 
• _ :r T /-oil it- —nf 
the bulls in the season of the rut could be heard 
many miles away from the herd, and again the 
queer droning sound of the bulls, as they utter 
a challenge to what is at times a mortal combat, 
makes a mingling of sounds so curious that f 
could not attempt to describe it. 
The Indian people greatly admired the buffalo 
bull for his prowess and strength and never 
wearied of te'.lirg stories of him. They named 
their great carriers and leaders after him, giv¬ 
ing them such titles as Sitting Bull, Powder Bull, 
Green Grass Bull, Lame Bull, Four Bulls, Hind 
Bull, Crazy Bull, Butte Bull, Red Bull, Bull Back 
Fat, Bull Sits Around, Dusty Bull, Bull Look¬ 
ing—all of whom I have known, some as great 
warriors, others great in council, all men of 
great native ability. 
The Indian people attributed to the buffalo 
bull great medicine powers. They tell of his 
restoring to life cows that were desperately 
wounded, describe how he would not leave the 
cow when she had lain down from exhaustion, 
but would stand over her snorting and blowing 
yellow medicine paint over the body, until 
through his tireless efforts he had succeeded in 
getting her on to her feet and had at last made 
off with her to the hunter’s great astonishment. 
At night in the lodge the successful hunter 
would tell of the hunt, describing the actions 
of the bull he had killed, how he wounded him, 
how the bull charged, how he evaded it, how 
the bull turned for a moment, shaking his great 
shaggy head, lowering it with bowed neck, dar¬ 
ing him to come on; then again of the brave 
bull’s retreat, the pursuit, the death wound, the 
bull’s motions as he fell and his death struggle. 
As the hunter warrior dismounts and stands 
over this great bull, a feeling of satisfaction is 
seen upon his painted face. Here is food and 
clothing for his children, material for his lodge 
and its furnishings, money wherewith to pur¬ 
chase from the trader the necessities of his life, 
for of luxuries as we know them he has* none. 
His proud wife comes to assist at the butcher¬ 
ing and in her face he reads the pride she feels 
for him as she gaily chats, sharpening her big- 
knife on her steel circle. Cutting a small tuft of 
hair from the brave bull’s foretop the warrior 
hunter in all humbleness holds out the hair to 
the sun and offers a short prayer of thanks¬ 
giving to the Sun God for his successful hunt, 
for the food he has gotten for his children and 
for the protection afforded him in not permitting 
his enemy to steal his buffalo runner. 
When in the family circle he tells the story 
of the hunt, he goes through so realistic a 
pantomime that one cannot but feel that he was 
present, for he sees it all. The boy listeners, 
not yet of hunters’ age, are intensely interested 
and follow every sign made by the hunter, long¬ 
ing for the day when they shall be big enough 
to take part in the hunt. The story told, the 
wife announces in a quiet manner: “The meat 
you killed is now cooked.” He replies: “I 
will call our friends to feast with us.” 
Rabid Wolves. 
The Indian people of the great plains at times 
suffered from hydrophobia caused by the bite 
of the great buffalo wolf afflicted with rabies. 
In their crazed condition the wolves sometimes 
invaded the camps of the people, snapping at 
them, their dogs and horses. The people 
through fear shut themselves in their lodges. 
Any person bitten by a wolf and showing 
signs of the dread disease was at once bound 
with thongs of buffalo hide to prevent injury to 
patient and people. Treatment was given to the 
sick person at once. A bull was killed and the 
naked patient was tightly bound up in the green 
hide, hair side out. To each end of the hide 
covering him were attached stout thongs of buf¬ 
falo hide by which the bundle might be lifted. 
Much dry grass and small dry willows were 
gathered on the ground, and when all was ready 
the great doctor offered a short prayer to the 
