2l6 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 8, 1908. 
Memories of an Old Buffalo Hunter. 
III.—The Trade in Robes. 
The feeble efforts of man can never hope to 
re-establish the buffalo. And to the settler of 
to-day its value is not apparent. Yet that noble 
animal made possible the boldly conceived ex¬ 
pedition of those remarkably enduring and brave 
pioneers, Lewis and Clark, for by it they sub¬ 
sisted. I send you a silver peace medal given 
by those brave and resourceful men to the Sioux 
Indians on their perilous trip as a token of a 
square deal with honest justice on the part of 
•our Government—a pledge from which we have 
woefully backslidden. 
1 he upbuilding and maintenance of St. Louis, 
Mo., was largely due to the upper Missouri River 
trade in buffalo robes. The route of the trade 
trails of the American Fur Company in con¬ 
ducting that trade is to-day followed by one of 
the great railroad systems of this country. 
The pioneer settlers of this country often 
tered in all directions, while formerly they had 
kept in bands, and when pursued generally ran 
in one direction, but now they seemed to have 
lost some great leader. 
'this seeming change of habit was simply in¬ 
stinct muttering its discontent with their feed¬ 
ing grounds, eaten out by long grazing or ruined 
by fires. Such conditions made necessary a change 
of range, and the buffalo migrated. This instinct 
felt, as if by magic, the vast horde of shaggy 
beasts right about faced; the spirit of moving 
had asserted itself. At once the old cows took 
the lead and set the pace. All appeared to act 
at once and in concert. As far as the eye could 
reach the vast stretches of plains became a mov¬ 
ing mass of animal life. The march begun, they 
stopped for nothing. It was to some extent an 
orderly and systematic movement, which was 
unconsciously protective. It was well this was 
so, for the buffalo had many and merciless 
enemies. 
The bulls were on the flanks and made up 
the rear guard of the column. The old cows 
were in the van and within the flanks 
their thirst. They passed through winding bad 
lands where winds and waters had worn out 
picturesque formations. They passed choice 
alkali spots, but none stopped to lick. Onward ! 
commanded the spirit of moving that possessed 
this numberless multitude. They went on. Up 
and over the vast stretches of tablelands, rich 
in virgin grasses, and in the plants the buffalo 
loved so well, but there was no foraging, no 
straggling. 
When the shades of night began to fall, the 
long drawn hoarse howlings of the army of 
buffalo wolves mingled with the quick answer¬ 
ing yelps and cries of the cunning coyote. These 
were the signal cries of hunger. The calls for 
attack were repeated from band to band, re¬ 
echoed from canon and coulee, until the fierce 
music was lost in the rumbling, tramping thunder 
of the marching hosts. 
I he calf kept closer to its mother, the guard 
of great bulls was more on the alert as the 
howls, yelps and cries of the wild army gathered 
force and rose above the din of the quickened 
LEWIS AND CLARK MEDAL. 
Legend about Border: Th. Jefferson, President of the 
U. S., A.D. 1801. 
turned to the buffalo for help in the early days 
of the then far West. These pioneers possessed 
very limited means, and when mining and farm¬ 
ing failed, as often they did, then ruin with his movements, at once close 
starvation stared them in the face. Now the 
pioneer was driven to his last resort. With his 
wife and family, he went to the buffalo range, 
although he well knew the dangers he had to 
face from the raids of predatory savages, who 
resented his intrusion into their territory, for 
with their claim to the range went their claim 
to the game that roamed over it. On the buf¬ 
falo range he must win with his gun the winter 
supply of meat, while the hides of these noble 
animals enabled him to remain in the land to 
assist in building up the great States of the now 
wonderful West. What these sturdy men have 
done in border warfare and as peaceful regu¬ 
lators with outlaws, white as well as red, is part 
of the history of those now great States. 
The Migration. 
Sometimes on his return from the chase the 
Indian, hunter used to tell his people of the 
aimless actions of the buffalo, describing how, 
when he ran them on horseback, they scat¬ 
next to the bulls, while the young stock 
were distributed generally through the 
centers. With the herd marched also 
the beasts of prey that fed on the buf¬ 
falo. Of these the chief gathering 
were the great buffalo wolves, each the 
very incarnation of destruction. With 
his powerful jaws of shark-like teeth, 
his wonderful muscular strength, the 
tireless endurance of a compact body, 
the speed of the greyhound, and the 
cunning of man, he was gaunt, wild¬ 
eyed, lazy and unafraid. The gray 
wolf must eat, and that of the best in the 
land, for he is no scavenger of the plains. 
The Indian was not the wolf’s 
superior as an expert hunter, and in 
concert of action in the attack upon the 
common prey, the buffalo. Much as 
the cowboy cuts out from the herd the 
animal he has chosen, so the wolves 
selected their victim. With deceptive 
sleepy gait, they closed in on the 
flanks of the marching host; when 
the leader had picked out his victim—preferably 
a young cow—he at once changed his gait to a 
quick pace, and his followers, alert to imitate 
in. When he 
saw that they were well in hand, he gave the 
signal for attack, a deep, hoarse roar, and a 
bounding rush followed. The terrified cow was 
cut out of the herd, and once out, the power¬ 
ful leader made a quick sidelong spring and 
hamstrung the prey, and the others as power¬ 
ful fastened on her flanks. She was thrown 
down by the sheer force of the impact, and at 
once the band was upon her, tearing her to 
pieces, and scattering her flesh about while she 
was yet in the throes of death. Or perhaps 
some bull, alert to meet an attack, would charge 
the onrushing wolves. With a lunge and toss 
the leader was thrown high in the air, his car¬ 
cass taking one direction, the entrails another. 
The band repulsed, shrunk back, to renew the 
attack elsewhere. So with the march the fight 
for life went on. 
All day, all night long, with noses to the earth, 
looking neither to right nor left, passing placid 
lakes and springs of cooling waters, the jour¬ 
ney continued. There was no halting to quench 
Peace and Friendship. Slightly less than natural size, 
which is 3 inches. 
click and crackle of the cup-like hoofs of the 
marching multitude. 
With the dawn of day, the magpie, that 
spangled, chattering parrot of the plains, was 
about looking for his morning meal, for he 
knew of the slaughter of the night. He scolded 
that loitering camp follower, the coyote, the 
fox wolf of the plains, for devouring the rem¬ 
nants of the buffalo wolves’ feast. 
The war eagles soared about in silent circle. 
Wonderful masters of the art of flight, they 
watched for some straggler to fall by the wayside. 
With slow and awkward wing beats the turkey 
buzzard, harbinger of plague and famine, rose, 
gorged from his feast. 
Hovering over these multiplied millions of 
marching buffalo were countless numbers of the 
emblems of peace, their summer companions and 
guardians, the buffalo birds, each neatly dressed 
in his spick and span suit of sombre hue which 
well fits his shapely body. He is busy picking 
flying ants and ticks from his hosts’ hairy coat, 
and when at rest is faithful to his friendship, 
at the sign of danger arousing his shaggy com¬ 
panion by fluttering and crying about him and 
picking at his head. 
