F SI I 03 BANCROFT LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 'J[;H|i:, JiUFFALO RANGE. .JSh 147 THE BUFFALO KANGE. By TireoDOKE R.j Davis. Il,lu8tkatki> bv the Actuos. P5~=t THE HEBn LEAT>EE. T HE American bison, or buffalo, as tlie ani- mal is here familiarly designated, differs in very many prominent y)oints from the European bison and the Indian buffalo of Asia and Afri- ca. It has a pair of ribs more than the Euro- pean bison, and two pair more than the do- mestic ox. The limbs and tail of the Ameri- can bison are much shorter than those of any of the bison species, unless, indeed, we except the musk-ox, which inhabits the coldest regions of this continent. A somewhat extended investigation leads me to believe that the bison once ranged as far east as the Atlantic sea-board in Virginia and the Carolinas, but there is no evidence that they ever reached points to the east of the Hudson River or Lake Champlain. From Catesby we learn that about the year 1712 herds of buffalo were to be seen with- in thirty miles of Charleston, South Carolina. At present, however, if one desires to do buf- falo liunring he must journey something like 148 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. two thousand miles westward from the Atlan- tic coast. A few English gentlemen recently undertook a biiiialo hunt among the Catskill Mountains, and in the neighborhood of Coving- ton, Kentucky, but in each case failed to find the game of which they were in quest. These gentlemen should now go to Leavenworth, Kan- sas, and from thence proceed west by the Union Pacific Railroad, Eastern Division, or, as it is familiarly known in the Western country, "the Smoky Route." Then they may find the buf- falo herds, hunt them, and perhaps be hunted by them too, if they prove no better buffalo hunters than some of the Britons that I have seen ecutter away chased by a wounded bull. Neither will the party need the permit which an English gentleman who had journeyed across the Atlantic in quest of sport was anxious to obtain. Could any thing be more absurd to an American than to have, as once I did, a person ask, "Ah, and could you favor me with the person's name who would kindly furnish me with a permit to hunt the buffalo ? Are they carefully preserved? They should be." The best hunting-ground at present will be found between the Republican and Arkansas rivers. For days I have traveled pony-back over this section of the Plains, when at any moment I could glance in some direction and look upon vast herds of buffalo. There may be some little objection to this hunting ground arising from the fact that it is the favorite one of the most unreliable Indians that range the Plains, and you are safe only so long as you are not discovered by these same aborigines. From the last of July until the first of Sep- tember the buffaloes are engaged in settling family matters for the year to come. The bulls fight viciously, and are attended during these combats by an admiring concourse of wolves, who are ever ready to come in at the death of either of the combatants, or will even take a chance in and finish any killing that has been imperfectly done. It is at this season, too, that the young bulls promote themselves, by establishing a retiring board and driving the old and useless officers ou^ of the herd. This expulsion is final, as after being thus driven out the old bulls wan- der singly or in small bands over the Plains. At times they may tarry in the vicinity of a herd, but I have never known them to join one permanenth\ The leader of a buffalo herd is generally a splendid-looking young bull, who, having fought himself into his position, holds himself ready to maintain his rank by the same prowess that has gained it. This party, it may be needless to remark, has now and tlien a fight on his hands, or may be, to speak very correctly, horns. The buffalo cow carries its calf eleven months, July being in Indian parlance " the moon of heat and buffalo pappoose." The buffalo con- tinues to grow until it is seven or eight years Old, and ordinarily lives, if unmolested, to reach the age of twenty-five or thirty years. I once saw a buffalo killed (by a green hunter) which, judging from the rings upon the horns and oth- er signs of age, must have been nearly if not quite fifty years old. The meat, I may re- mark, was a little tough. The average gross weight of grown bulls is about twenty - five hundred pounds. I once killed a buffalo that weighed over three thou- sand pounds gross. Old bulls are not often killed by the experienced hunter, as the beef of the younger members of the herd is far pref- erable as food, it being more tender and free VOUNO UUKFALO OOW AND 0A1.K THE BUFFALO RANGE. 141) THE UKBI> MOVIJSO TOWABD WATER. from the decidedly disagreeable and rank flavor noticeable in the tough old bull-beef that nov- ices are apt to select as their game. The young calf is very light in color. This changes and deepens as fall ^ves way to win- ter, and the chill, keen winds of the Plains begin their frosty song, "More hair, more hair." Will Corastock used to aver this to be the burden of the music of the breezes ; " for," he would say, "don't you see how quickly the Indian beef puts on his thick coat? That is undoubtedly the reason why he does it." Dur- ing the winter season the hair is of a rich brown color. This coat of hair is shed from the flanks and sides, as well as considerably thinned out about the head and shoulders, dnring the next summer ; and the fall of the second year sees it darker and more luxuriant than during the sea- son previous. Once past the prime of life and the hair becomes tinged with a rusty brown. Will Comstoc.k used to designate these as " old moss-backs," which could not carry any of his lead, and might be good coyote bait, but not the kind that he bit at if he had any choice in the matter. But the tongues, tender-loin, and hump of such a buff'ulo arc not to be despised, and the rest of the beef would not be consid- ered tough by the frequenters of some of the restaurants of Gotham. A few months since passengers on the way to Denver and Salt Lake, by the Smoky Hill route, had frequent opportunities of seeing herds of buffalo from the cars of the Union Pacific Rail- road, and on several occasions the buttalo were sufficiently close to the trains to be killed by shots from the car windows and platforms ; the engineer being accommodating enough to slow the locomotive sufficiently to keep pace with the buffiilo, which were seemingly engaged in a race with the iron horse. When buffalo were killed the train was stopped, the game secured being granted a free ride in the baggage-car. It would seem to be hardly possible to imagine a more novel sight than a small band of buffiilo loping along within a few hundred feet of a railroad train in rapid motion, while the pas- sengers, are engaged in shooting, from every available window, with rifles, carbines, and re- volvers. An American scene, certainly. The feeding-ground of the buffiilo is usually located at some distance from the streams at which they quench their thirst. If undisturbed, the buffalo frequently graze for days in the same vicinity, moving once each day, usually at even- ing, toward the water. At this time it is a picturesque sight to see them ; each band is be- ing led by its chief, and the whole herd by "a leader." Flankers are thrown out; the cows and calves are in the centre of the herd, which moves slowly. Many of the buffalo are formed in lines of greater or less numbers. Their head? are down, frequently so low that the long, mat- ted beard drags and brushes the ground. They seem satisfied that the sentinels are doing their duty, and that any sign of danger would be quickly noted and signaled to the herd. Some hunters have told me that the buff^alq is supplied with a sort of internal reservoir, by 150 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. THE STINKING WATEE. means of which they are enabled to travel long distances away from water without suffering in- convenience from thirst ; also that a person per- ishing from thirst may, by killing the buffalo and having recourse to this spring, find the much- needed supply of water. I can not vouch for the truth of this, as I have never seen such a method resorted to for quenching thirst. I have noticed, while cutting up a buffalo, that there seemed to me to be a somewhat different in- ternal arrangement from that observable in a bullock. I might say, too, that I have never used my hunting-knife on a buffalo as a means of securing information, food being the inva- riable object of my search. The smaller water-courses of the Plains arc mostly found to run through deeply-cut banks. This makes it difficult to reach the water except j in occasional marshy places, where the mud is I deep, and in some places seemingly bottomless. i Such a stream is the '* Stinking Water," one of I the small rivers emptying into the Republican. The name was conferred by the Indians, who have more than once been forced to abandon a campground on this river on account of the oft'ensiveness of the water, caused by the decay- ing carcasses of buffalo that had been mired in the mud and there died. At a point where I once crossed the skeletons of buffalo lay strewn about as thickly as if the spot had been used as THE BUFFALO RANGE. 151 A U£UD AMONU TUB JiBEAKB. an abattoir. Will Comstock was sure that it was bad " medicine" (luck) to camp on the Stinking Water, and I expect that some troopers who tarried there once thought so too, for those among them who drank the water were made decidedly uncomfortable by so doing. Hundreds of buffalo perish each year in such places as this stink- ing water, for an accessible crossing- place is difficult to find, and when dis- covered is almost invariably similar to this crossing of the badly-named stream. The character of the Plains is, I find, almost invariably misunderstood by persons who have not obtained any 152 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. very particular information with reference to these vast oceans of land. It is seldom that one meets with any stretch of country tliat might be designated with any truth as a prairie. Back from the water-courses the hind lies in great billows, rising one above the other to a crest known technically as a "di\ide." This is simply the highest point of land between two water-courses. The "canon" is met with on the Plains ; it is, however, a term generally used to designate a pass or gulch in the mountains. The breaks of the Plains will be found to be picturesquely wonderful. In journeying north from the Republican to the Platte River, one must have a good knowledge of the country and the trails, or he will certainly find, when he reaches a point within from six to ten miles of the Platte River, that he is in the most broken country that is to be found on this continent, without a trail by which to travel. The buffalo trails are the surest guides through the breaks. Though they follow a sinuous course, they are pretty certain to lead to a canon which, if followed, will bring you to the broad meadows through which the Platte has its course. I do not wish to be understood as saying that the country through which the Platte flows is all of this conformation, but the Buffalo Range is as I have described ; and a single herd of buffalo will frequently occupy two or three days in moving through the breaks of the Platte, traveling always by the most favorable route. The Indians seem well aware of this fact, for in moving their villages they make use of the stream -crossings used by the buffalo^ knowing that by so doing they travel by the most con- venient route. It seems to be a very general impression that Indians can go to any portion of the Plains by a direct route. Unencumbered with the vil- lage, a war party will move with grent rapidity and in any direction; but to move the village is quite another question. The tent-poles must be transported, and these can only be carried by fastening them on each side of the ponies and permitting one end to drag. On these ends the Indian fastens great wicker baskets, which serve him for the transportation of all manner of things. With this load The pony must have a good stream-crossing, and such a thing is not frequently foand on some of the rivers of the Plains. Persons who have never seen the vast herds of buffalo moving can have but little conception of the almost irresistible power of such a living mass, and the difficulty of turning or breaking the herd when once it is in motion on a certain course. The countless thousands press forward, overwhelming any but the strongest barrier. Wagons have been overturned in this way, and teamsters have saved themselves and the stock only by flight. An army officer who with a strong force crossed the Plains by the Smoky Hill route in 1865 was forced to "corral" his train of wagons and order his men to fire volleys into a herd which threatened to march over his train. This is, however, infrequent. A party may be on the Plains, or even on the Buffalo Range, for years and never see it; still such instances have occurred. I have frequently been amused at the calcula- tions made by wise old hunters whom one finds on the Range. They settle within a million or so the exact number of buffalo that are yet wan- dering about. , One old fellow is convinced that there is something like seventeen millions, and that this is the exact number required to keep up the present stock. The buffalo is certainly decreasing since 1 858. They have been pressed more than a hundred miles west in Kansas and Nebraska. They no longer range up to the Platte in the great numbers that formerly vis- ited that stream ; and the Indians are ever bringing forward the fact, in their powwows with commissioners that soon the buffalo will be gone, and the red brother must keep peace with the white and eat his " spotted buffalo" iiUKAKlMU A UKttU. THE BUFFALO RAKGE. 153 A BATTLE FOE LIFE. (Indian for domestic cattle). I am tempted to remark that they do eat a very considerable number of spotted buifalo that are not procured in a very brotherly way ; and no Indian is com- plete in his outfit until he has a cow-skin (hair on) bow-case and arrow-quiver. If, as the In- dian fears — groundlessly, however, at present — the buffalo will pass away, I am at a loss to know what he would do, for the buffalo feeds, clothes, and warms the nomads. The flesh being used as food, either fresh or sun- dried. T!ie skin is used as cl thing, blanl:ets, and, with the hair removed, becomes the best material out of which to manufacture the tents or "tepes," and the "6ots de vache" is as good fuel as the Indian asks for. In fact, there is scarcely a manufactured article that the aborig- ine uses but what one may discover that some portion of the buffalo has been used in the con- struction of it. Certainly the redskin must feel something like consternation as he sees the buf- falo become year by year less plenty. It is commonly supposed that it is the white man only who kills and wastes buffalo. I do not think that this is entirely the case, as an Indian is not always particular about using all the meat that is killed. Buffalo are frequently killed by Indian war-parties', who take what may be needed as food, but the rest of the carcass falls to the lot of the wolves and ravens, that are sure to be ready to take such leavings of the In- dians. Many of the young buffalo fall prey to the hungry gray wolves and coyotes, and a sick or wounded buffalo is sui'e to have a numerous body of attendant wolves, all ready to speed the lame one on until he falls tired and, no longer able to protect himself, an easy victim to his famished funeral procession. During the winter storms on the Range the wolves are frequently starved into bravery ; then, and not until then, they attack the sol- itary bulls that wander from canon to canon in search of forage. It must not be imagined that the wolves partake of this feast without a severe fight, for the old bull will fight furiously, and several wolves are placed out of the fight before the bull is conquered and killed. Now comes a verification of the old adage, a little changed, maybe, but still pertinent, "To the brave belongs the fare" for the big wolf takes the first seat, and fails to extend any in- vite to the wolves of lesser size and pluck, until his wolfship has quite satisfied the cravings of his starved system ; even then the invite might be considered somewhat doubtful, as the feed- ing of the smaller coyote is accompanied by occasional sharp snaps from the gray wolves, which have remained just near enough to ren- der a meal at the second table a somewhat live- ly afi^'air. That the buffalo is fast disappearing there is certainly no reason to doubt. The Indians tell you that the herds are less numerous ; the "rancher" vouches the same fact; the trader has raised the price of the robe ; and many of the eastern trails are " mossed over" from dis- use. The Indians and buffalo are moved about as far to the west as they can well go. As a usual thing if you hunt buffalo you may consider the fact certain that vou are in the " In- 154 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. dian country," and it is a well-known fact that our aboriginal nomad will kill his white brother if the opportunity offered is a good one. So don't venture too far from the government post or ranch without a sufficient escort to fight if need be. Not but what you may go on fifty buffalo hunts without even seeing an Indian; but don't tempt him too far, for flesh is weak, and the red baby must be made familiar with the different varieties of hair, and blonde tress- es are highly prized among the tepes. Of the various methods of hunting buffalo, the true sportsman will not hesitate to pro- nounce in favor of that usually adopted by our cavalry officers and the best hunters among the frontiersmen. This is known as " running buf- falo," in which, to be successful, the hunter must be a good horseman and a cool and steady shot, with either carbine or revolver; the revolver being the preferable arm from its greater con- venience in handling. Your mount must be fleet and courageous ; in fact, a "buffalo-horse." The Indians mark such animals by a short slit in the top of each ear. General Lander was, I think, the best buffa- lo hunter that I ever saw. Mounting an un- saddled pony — a lariat served him as bridle — he would dash among a herd of buffalo. He was the best two-handed shot that I ever saw, his right or left hand pistol being used with like result. Either meant meat, and the best that the herd afforded. " Cow beef for me," was a favorite remark of Lander ; and if he shot the buffalo the cow was pretty certainly young and fat. There is much to be said of what is known on the Range as a "buffalo -horse." Some horses become so frightened at the sight of buf- falo that they become unmanageable, and for the time the rider has quite as much as he can attend to in simply staying on the horse's back. Such a horse can seldom be made a good buffa- lo-horse, though a good rider may eventually use him and kill buffalo from his back. A dead buffalo will cause this horse to show great fear. Other horses may exhibit some little hesita- tion in running alongside of a buffalo, and jump as the shot is fired, but a little judicious training will eventually bring them to their work. But your close-built, plucky little buf- falo-horse seems to enjoy the sport. Give him the rein, and with ears set back and tail flag- ging in the air, he will lay you alongside of your* game, and with a free, steady jump keep pace with the buffalo that is loping along within ten feet of you. Until this moment your revolvers should be in your belt, for if you have them in your hands you may cock them, and if they are cocked they frequently go off accidentally, and make a fellow-hunter think that he is as likely to be shot as the buffalo. The best hunters use the thumb of the hand in which the pistol is held to cock the weapon, the hammer being raised as the pistol is thrown up. The shot is then fired almost instantly, seldom with any ex- act aim, however; most good hunters prefer- ring to shoot as it were by intuitive feeling, glancing maybe along the barrel as they draw the trigger. THE BUFFALO RANGE. 155 The rapid motion of horse and game is not favorable to any steady aim by means of the sights, but the near approach that you are en- abled to gain by the good conduct of your mount affords an opportunity to deliver shot after shot into the buffalo until you may be sure of your "meat," or the buffalo, refusing apparently to be made further game of, turns, driven furious by the pain of the wounds that you have given him. This is the moment for a little calcula- tion. If the buffalo is bleeding from nose and mouth it is certain that your shots have done their work ; for the buffalo is mortally wound- ed, and needs no more of your lead, and you are free to gallop on for the next victim, following up the sport until your revolvers are emptied, or you are satisfied that you have a sufficiency of meat. I have no idea of the quantity of lead that a buffalo can carry off, if the shots are not well placed. The vital point of the buffalo — his heart — is to be reached by a shot fired from a point a little behind him, aiming just behind the shoulder-blade, and about two-thirds down from the top of the hump. A single revolver-ball well placed is quite sufficient to bring down the stoutest old bull. Some hunters have kill- ed as many as eight or nine buffalo on a single run. That is, with the twelve loads contained in their brace of revolvers, but this is extraor- dinary, and a thing of very occasional occur- rence, three or four buffalo being usually count- ed as a first-rate run. A word here with reference to the arms used in buffalo hunting. Those who prefer a car- bine will find the short Ballard or Spencer guns very effective, as they shoot "heavy lead," and may be used with great rapidity. The carbine is frequently used without bringing it to the shoulder, the piece being rested across the sad- dle in front of the hunter, and discharged while in this position. This was the old style of hunt- ing the buffalo when breech-loaders were un- known, and a short muzzle-loading rifle of large bore was used as the best arm for buffalo hunt- ing. With such a weapon the hunter dispensed with a ramrod, charging his gun by simply pour- ing the powder into the barrel, and then drop- ping a bullet from his mouth into the gun, and sending the charge home by striking the butt of the rifle smartly on the pommel of the saddle. Of the revolvers in use the old style dragoon pistol of the Colt pattern seems the favorite, though the bullet that it shoots is no heavier than that used in the present style known as Colt's army revolver. The pistol itself is heav- ier and more steady to shoot, and the cylinder is chambered for more powder. I am not aware that this arm is any longer manufactured. The Plains men who possess a pair hold them in great esteem. Their calibre is 44-lOOths of an inch. I have found it best in loading my pis- tols not to rely upon the fixed ammunition sup- plied for them, preferring to use loose ammuni- tion, or cartridges made by myself. Then there is some certainty of the quantity of powder, and a charge as heavy as the weapon will con- tain. It seems best to speak thus explicitly with reference to the description of arms to be used, ! as I have met so many persons who have gone out on the Range with too light a carbine or pistol for the game that they purpose hunting. Then, too, there is no particular fun in shooting into a buffalo a bullet that is just sufficiently large to worry the animal into turning on you, and making itself the hunter and you the hunt- ed. True, you may in some measure avoid this by dashing past the animal as he pivots on those stumpy front legs, and thus get a little behind him again. He may dash at you as you run past, but quick movement will save you, and some one of your little pellets may reach his heart or some other vital point ; but the chances are against the light pistol. Or if the buffalo turns so quickly as to throw you off your guard, and your horse is not right up to his work, the horse is in some way turned too ; then comes a neat performance in the shape of a hunter being hunted. The horse is frightened, and away he dashes. Per- haps you are hunting over ground perforated with the holes of the prairie-dog. Your horse's foot falling into one of these would send both steed and rider — how or where is not certain. I once saw an army officer in such a plight do some ground and lofty tumbling that the most successful acrobat would have looked at Avith astonishment. A gentleman with whom I once hunted was unceremoniously turned upon by an old bull, which he had been previously advised to leave undisturbed, and a most laughable scene was the result of the over-valorous attempt to kill tough meat. The couple were flying away over the Plains, when the hunter, feeling that he was about to lose his hat, put up his hand to save it. In the hand was the cocked pistol that was to have sounded the death -knell of the bull. Just as the hand reached the hat the pistol was discharged, and the hat went in one direction and the pistol was thrown in the other. The horse, startled by the report, made a quick movement which landed the rider out of the saddle into an inconvenient seat on the horse's neck. Things were looking just a trifle serious, and one of the party started off, and after a few well-directed shots brought the bull down and relieved the hunter from his trying situation. I am not aware that he has hunted any more old bulls since that time, if he has been on a buffalo hunt, which I think extremely doubtful. For an old buftalo hunter there is no better sport than to go out with a number of tyros and witness their first hunt. To be sure the shots from their carbines and revolvers sometimes come hurtling past you. Will Comstock used to remark at such a time that the safest place was nearest the buffiilo; but I have never known of any person that was the recipient of any of these wild shots. A hunter who is unused to the sport, and becomes excited during the run, 156 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. GO IT, DOCTOBI will frequently shoot his horse — how, I never could quite comprehend ; but the revolver goes off, and the horse has the bullet. The rider loses his mount, gets no sympathy, but learns how to bear jokes of all descriptions. He may learn, if he will, " that there is no particular demand for horse-robes just at present, though they may come in style if he remains on the Range for any length of time." I remember on one occasion to have seen a large party leave a column of cavalry that had halted for rest, and start for a herd near by. A few buffalo were killed by old hands ; but the novices had a time all of their own with a buf- falo that had separated from the herd. Round and round the point where the command was halted was the buffalo hurried ; shot after shot was discharged at him, until the excitement was too great for one of the wagon -masters, who mounted his mule and galloped after the flying chase. Two quick shots from his revolver and the buffalo fell. In a moment the spot was crowded with horsemen armed with empty re- volvers. " How many shots in him ?" " What a lot of lead he could nm with!" "He must have had an accident -insurance policy!" and divers other like exclamations were heard. I will simply remark that two shots were all that the closest examination by a score or more pair of eyes could discover in that buffalo, and who fired those shots was never quite determined, as the wagon-master failed to claim his shots. But some of those who assisted in frightening that buffalo on that occasion have since become good THE BUFFALO RANGE. 157 hunters and successful shots ; but they do not now shoot at a buffalo when he is running quite fifty yards distant from them. It must not be supposed that a person can ride directly into a herd of buffalo without dan- ger. In your excitement the horse may stum- ble and fall; or, as is frequently the case, you may, before you are aware, ride into a dog vil- lage, and the wide, deep holes that are to be seen in almost every square yard are traps that it is impossible to avoid entirely. I have seen several instances of this kind, and horses have been killed or disabled, and the riders severely bruised. The buffalo, too, is sometimes known to turn with a surprising quickness of movement ; and woe betide the hunter who is not instantly be- yond the reach of those short, sharp horns. Then, too, you may bear in mind the fact that a wounded bull is not as safe a companion as you might select if you had a choice. I have seen old hunters, who were excellent horsemen, kill buffalo with lances somewhat similar to those used by the Indians ; but this has been more for bravado than as a favorite style of hunting. To lance a buffalo the hunt- er must have a horse that has no fear of the buffklo, and is thoroughly trained as a buffalo- horse — a "split ear," if possible, for his Indian education is then of service to you. What is known as still hunting is a favorite mode of hunting practiced by those who do not hunt so much for the sport as for the meat, and desire also to save their ponies for other work than running bufflalo. Some of the colored in- fantry troops on the Plains are quite successful in this kind of hunting, which is merely to gain a position as near the herd as possible, taking care to keep well concealed from the vigilant eyes of the watchful pickets of the herd ; then, selecting the buffxilo, crack away with a long m»sket, which you will find the best arm for this kind of hunting. If you are careful, three or four buffalo, and sometimes many more, may be secured before the herd moves off*. This is regarded by many Plains men as a kind of pot-hunting, that is not entitled to the name of sport, and only to be resorted to for the purpose of securing the meat needed as food. I must say, however, that the skill dis- played by some of the colored soldiers, as they approach a feeding herd and single out their game, is worthy to be classed as the work of good hunters. These same sable warriors make good antelope hunters too. The principal food of the buffiilo is a short, fine grass that grows in tufts, and only to the height of four or five inches. T«his, it would seem, is very nutritious, for domestic cattle fat- ten on the " buffiilo grass" even during some of the winter months. On the bottoms or low- lands, through which the water -coui-ses flow, there is found a taller growth of grass that grows rank and coarse. Somewhat similar to this is the forage found in the canons among the breaks. At first sight the short, fine buffalo grass seems but a scanty forage for the vast herds ; but close examination will reveal the fact that grazing on it will be full and abundant. Dur- ing the summer months the color of this grass is a greenish gray; as autumn approaches it be- comes more brown in its tint ; but late fall and winter spreads a mantle of gray, with a just perceptible tint of blue, that is in pleasant har- mony with the delicate skies of the Range. Grass that has been thoroughly fed over or burned off" is the first to spring up the next year. During April and May bright green grass marks the ground that has been burned over during the previous fall. The Indians, taking advantage of favorable winds, will burn thousands of acres of grass each fall, knowing full well that this will make a hunting-ground during the next spring, and at the same time afford the forage that will be greatly needed by their ponies. Buffalo are in the best condition during the fall, sj)ring time being a rather unfavorable pe- riod of the year to look for fat bison. The In- dians have a number of ways of designating the months or moons of the year. They have " fat buffalo moon," " thin buffalo moon," " the moon in which to find the buffalo with much hair," " the moon when the hair is gone." But I will not go through with the calendar, for Indians use all manner of things by which to designate and remember the great changing luminary of the night, which so frequently affords light for depredations that they fear to commit during the day. In hunting buffalo the Indian is not particu- lar in his selection. If the animal is old and tough, his hide will make many articles that a thin skin would be unfit for : soles for mocca- sins, shields, etc. The sinews are larger and stronger, which fact makes them useful for in- numerable purposes that are best known to the squaAvs who collect and use them. Give a squaw time and a raven would starve on the leavings that he could find on the spot where the buffklo had been killed, so thorough is the removal of every particle of nutritious matter. The Indian prefers as food the flesh of a young cow; he will eat the oldest bull, how- ever ; and an unborn calf is a feast to the red- skin. The hide of this very young buff'alo bal-y is greatly prized by the Indians, and frequently used, when nicely tanned, as one of the articles of wearing apparel with which a show may be made. A hunting party of twenty or thirty In- dians will frequently kill more buffalo during one day than the squaws of the band are able to skin and strip in two days ; for the squaws do nearly if not all of the actual labor that In- dians find necessary ; and, to say the truth, aji Indian squaw will accomplish an amount of la- bor that is surprising, and do it well too. Hunting buffalo is to the Indian a labor rath- er than a pastime ; so he kills the animal, and leaves the labor of cutting out the meat, curing the skin, etc., to the women. He prefers the easiest mode of killing the buff'alo, and regards 158 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. hunting them on snow-shoes as one of the best methods of securing his quarry. The number of buffalo that may be killed in this way, even by a small party of Indians, would supply a con- siderable band of Indians with food for Aveeks, maybe months; for there would seem to be hardly a limit to the number of buffalo that could be slaughtered. When the snows are deepest on the Range, which is most generally during January and February, the top of the snow will be melted by the noonday sun. This melting ceases as the afternoon comes on, and by nightfall the cold winds have frozen a crust over the snow, which crust is sometimes sufficiently thick and strong to support the weight of a man. Provided with the broad snow-shoe, or, as they are sometimes termed, "rackets," the Indian will move over the frozen crust quite rapidly, and entirely with- out danger of breaking through. With the buffalo things are somewhat different ; to him the deep snow is bad enough, but a thick crust is still worse, as it not only impedes progress, but renders it painful as well, the crust being sharp almost as a knife-blade. All of this is well known to the Indian, and is at the same time a source of profit, for he loses no time when near a herd of buffalo thus embarrassed by the crust, but starts out on his snow-shoes, and, with arrow and spear, makes game of the trou- bled bison. An Indian on snow-shoes has the buffalo herd at a great disadvantage, unless the herd be a very large one ; then a solid path is beaten which will be kept by the main herd, which in this manner is enabled to escape. At such a time it is the scattered members of the band that are the victims; and it is to these that the Indians devote their entire attention. This mode of hunting the buffalo is principally practiced by the northern bands of Sioux and other Indians whose range is well to the north of the true hunting-ground. Buffalo are to be found as high as latitude fifty, and as low as thirty. To the east the settlements form a boundary, and to the west the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains. This embraces an area of many thousands of square miles. But, as I have previously stated, the best hunting on the Range is to be found be- tween the Platte and Arkansas rivers. Here I have seen the Indians have recourse to another method of slaughtering buffalo, in a very easy, but to me cruel, way, for where one buffalo is killed several are sure to be painfully injured ; but these, too, are soon killed by the Indians, who make haste to lance or shoot the cripples. The mode of hunting is somewhat as follows : A herd is discovered grazing on the table-lands. Being thoroughly acquainted with the country, the Indians are aware of the location of the nearest point where the table-land is broken abruptly by a precipice which descends a hun- dred or more feet. Toward this "devil jump" the Indians head the herd, which is at once driven pell-mell to and over the precipice. Meanwhile a number of Indians have taken their way, by means of routes known to them, and succeeded in reaching the canon, through which the crippled buffalo are running in all directions. These are quickly killed, so that out of a very considerable band of buffalo but few escape,' many having been killed by the fall, and others dispatched while limping off. This mode of hunting is sometimes indulged in by harum-scarum white men; but it is done more for deviltry than any thing else. I have never known of its practice by army officers, or persons who professed to hunt buffalo as a sport. INDIANS UUNTING liUFFALO IN THE SNOW, THE BUFFALO RANGE. ir>9 Some time since some enterprising individual became imbued with the idea that one of the vast herds of buffalo — say a thousand or so — might be driven eastward until near the Mis- souri River, when the herd was to be made to enter a strong stockade that should be arranged for their reception. Then, as he expressed it, they were to be beefed and sent East, or put into cattle-cars, and killed after they had arrived in the Eastern cities. The exact number of men that would be necessary for the accomplishment of this neat drover performance was not defin- itely stated, but the party did not think that it would take many "fellers,'' if the boys were only up to the mark. Fancy this idea practi- cable, what a lively entertainment would be the result of an attempt on the part of a beef- butcher to act as executioner of a stout old buf- falo bull ! Young America could have a buf- falo hunt in a Communipaw stock -yard, and the Board of Health might take advantage of the opportunity thus afforded to discover the ef- fect of the cattle disease on bison. Governor Gilpin, of Colorado, once suggested that a very sure way of keeping the Indians off the Smoky Hill route would be to drive all the buftalo to the north of the Platte River, and then station guards to keep them there. I told the Governor that when this was done I should surely be on hand to secure a sketch of the per- fonnance. It has not been done as yet. A question frequently propounded to a per- son returned to the East after a journey to and over the Buffalo Range is. Did you see a white buffalo? In my experience I have seen but one, and then, being mounted upon a pony tired from much travel and a somewhat long run, failed to secure a position sufficiently near the animal to make any sure shot, but a white buf- falo it certainly was. I have met persons who have seen white buffalo, but never yet with a party who has succeeded in killing a white bison ; neither have I ever seen a white buffalo- skin. Th'e Indians regard the possession of a Avhite buffalo-robe as " good medicine" for the tribe ; but they do not carry them about during their wanderings over the Plains. The reason for this I am not aware of; but from the best in- formation that I have been able to obtain I believe that the Indians cache or hide the skin in some unfrequented place, and only resort to it for the purpose of "making medicine," or some other mummery in which the white robe is thought to be of great and important assist- ance. Some persons have suggested that the white robe and white buffalo were things of the purest imagination, or at best only old bulls that had been wallowing in some alkali bottom and thus coated their hides with a whitish earth, which at a distance might easily cause them to be mis- taken for white buffalo. I saw my snow-backed friend during that part of the season when the buffalo is not much addicted to wallowing, so still adhere to my belief in the existence of at least one white buffalo. I have frequently noticed the statement pub- lished that buffaloes made their wallows in marshy places, and made pilgrimages to such locality for the purpose of indulging themselves in an occasional roll. This may all be, but for one wallow found on the lowlands you will find twenty on the rolling Plains, far from water and high above any thing damp, unless it be rain. These wallows may be well described by stating that they seem as if huge saucers of eight or ten feet in diameter had been used as moulds, and the impress had been secured by pressing them into the earth. On every hand you will note these basins in the earth, and during the spring time you may frequently notice the buf- falo pawing or wallowing in these spots. At times he will throw himself on his back, and seeming to juvot on his hump, he will " wabble" and kick for some moments. By many the buffalo is supposed to have recourse to this per- 160 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. fortnance as a means of securing some relief from the vermin with which he is at times sore- ly afflicted, for, they sa}', you see that he does it when he can get mud after a ruin, and thus cover his hide with earth. Very true ; but I have noticed them at this performance when there was only dust in the wallow, and very dry dust too. My idea is that the chief reason for the wallow is ihat the buffalo finds it necessary to assist the shedding of the hair which he loses during the spring and early summer of each year, and that he has recourse to the wallows for this purpose almost entirely. You will not, indeed, find much hair in the wallows. The strong afternoon wind of the Plains would quick- ly blow this away ; but kill a buffalo early in the summer, when the hair only hangs to the flanks in short tufts, and you will find that he has dusted these tufts, and his whole skin for that matter, with a liberal coat of fine earth. The Plains man is familiar with another use which may be made of the buffalo wallow. It is to him an earth-work, from which a desperate and frequently successful resistance may be made against a numerous party of Indians. I remember one wallow that my attention was attracted to by noticing that there had been a track beaten about the wallow by the unshod hoofs of Indian ponies ; a ti-ack circling the wallow at a distance of nearly two hundred yards from it, that was as plain as a beaten road. The ground near the wallow was strewn with arrows. The whole story seemed to be told by the four piles of exploded rifle-caps that were found at different points in the wal- low. November and December are the months dur- ing which to find the buffalo wearing the most expensive clothes ; his robe during these months is at its best. All of which the Indian is quite as well aware of as the trader, and hunting is brisk and work plenty with every band of red- skins on the Range ; food may be an incentive too, but the robe is certainly a prime object for the energetic hunting that the Indian does at this season of the twelvemonth. The squaws are busy with their work of cur- ing the robes and jerking the meat. The hard and incessant labor that is necessary to proper- ly " Indian tan" a robe is not easy to realize unless one may see the work go on day by day from the first step, which is to spread out the pelt or undressed hide upon the ground, where it is pinned fast by means of wooden pins driv- en through little cuts in the edge of the robe into the earth. The flesh side of the robe, be- ing uppermost, is then Morked over by two, and sometimes three, squaws. The tools used are often very rude, some being provided simply with sharp stones or buffalo bones. Others, more wealthy, have a something that much resembles the drawing-knife or shave of the cooper. The work in hand is to free the hide from every particle of flesh, and to reduce the thickness of the robe nearly one-half, and some- times even more. This fleshing, as it is term- ed, having been satisfactorily accomplished, the hide is thoroughly moistened with water in b(J0AW8 CUHINQ BOBEB. THE BUFFALO RANGE. IGl teadee's camp. which buffalo brains have been steeped; for ten days the hide is kept damp with this brain- water. Once each day the hide is taken up, and every portion of it rubbed and rerubbed by the squaws, who do not have recourse to any thing like a rubbing-board, but use their hands until it would seem as if the skin would soon be torn off. There seems to be no defin- ite rule as to the length of time which the robe shall occupy in curing. The squaw labors un- til the hide becomes a robe, which may requii-e the work of one week or two, sometimes even more ; but I think that ten days may be con- sidered as the average time which it takes to properly cure a robe. I have not the space here to go into a lengthy account of the different modes of dressing the skins which the Indians use for tents (tq)es) and clothing. Some skins from which the hair lias been removed are as white as the paper on which this article is printed. The painting and decorating of a robe is the work of much time, and for the extremely rude materials employed by the squaws in the work a result is attained which is highly creditable to the uneducated and somewhat savage wives and daughters of "Nasty Elk," or whatever euphonious tei*m the master of the lodge may see fit to designate himself by. But this work increases the price of a robe, and is generally only expended upon a robe that is to be used in the family, and not as a means of obtaining sugar, coffee, calico, and other coveted articles which are of use to the Indian, and serve as Vol. XXX-^ail.-No. 224.— 11 an indication of wealth on the part of the pos- sessor, who takes care to make great parade of all such articles as may be likely to ex- cite the envy of the habitants of neighboring tepes. In "old times," said Colonel Saint Vrain to me when I last saw him at the little New Mexican pueblito of Mora, "the Indians came to the posts when they had any trading to do ; camped near by, and did their trading ; settled little disputes among themselves ; had pon}'- races with the mountaineers that had come in with pelts, and a sort of good time generally. If you could have seen the old trading post that stood where Bent's Old Fort now stands, on one of these trading visits, you would have seen a sight worth remembering. We did not let many Indians into the fort at a time, and those who were in had to exhibit good behavior or none at all. There have been more than forty thousand robes sent out from that post as the result of one year's work. There was money in the trade then, but now — Well, there's but few of the traders who go out to the villages with an outfit but what might have found quite as good employment for themselves in some other line of business." The Colonel's stories of the wild scenes of gambling that the Indians indulged in at their villages near the post, and the " nice row" they would occasionally kick up among themselves, certainly indicate that there must have been a much more plenteous supply of whisky within the reach of the Indians than there is at the IG2 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. present time when a trading outfit goes into camp in an Indian village. Then the white men were the masters of the situation; now it would seem that the Indian has quite the first voice in the trade. Not a comfortable thing for the trader; but how is the individual to help himself after he has will- ingly placed his outfit in the midst of an Indian encampment, situated maybe many miles from any post or fort ? I fear that the too shrewd, driving Yankee outwitted himself when he thought to take to himself the cream of the trade by proceeding directly to the Indian vil- lages with trading goods, rather than to await the coming of the Indians to the neighborhood of a trading post or government fort. A first-rate trading outfit consists of four or five large wagons, each with a four or six mule team. The wagons are loaded with blankets, cloths of ditFerent descriptions, calico, flannel, flour, sugar, cofl'ee, trinkets of all kinds — such as beads, small mirrors, square plates of Ger- man-silver, and the like. To enumerate the stock of the Indian trader I should be forced to go into a Ipng disquisition showing what possible use could be made of many of the ar- ticles comprised in the outfit. Sometimes the trader carries his own tent, but more often he depends upon the hospitality of the Indians. The party will consist of five or six men, of these two must understand the language of the band that is to be traded with, and if possible the whole party is previoixsly well known to the head chief of the band. Upon the arrival of the trader at the Indian village the chief as- signs him a tepe, which he may make his abiding-place. This would seem an act of kindness on the part of Mr. Big Injun, but — Well, the trader has a tent to call his quarters, and the privilege of feeding probably the largest family which the village contains. I must dwell just a little on this family joke. All the food which the trader has is expected to be shared by this family. The quantity of bread and other white-man food which is de- voured by this family may be said to gnaw a large hole into the profits of the trip. Next, Indians flock to the trader to tell him that they have " a heap of mighty fine robes," but they want to see some of the trader's stock to dis- cover whether it is good before they can trade with him. This means presents. The chiefs must have something in the way of presents too, and not a small something either. The old women are, to use the language of an old Indian trader, " the loudest beings on a beg that ever stood on leather." But this is not the end of give and take ; the evening folloAving the arrival of a trader in the village is almost sure to be a season devoted to the execution of a performance known as a " begging dance." This is certain to make a somewhat heavy draft on the trading goods ; and this is not all, for a continual and persistent beg is kept up during the entire stay of the trader in the village or in its vicinity. I have taken pains to state thus particularly the drain which the trader's stock must meet before trading opens, that it may not seem that the trader got "too much robe for too little sug" (sugar), as the Indian will always aver. The currency used in Indian trading is much like this : 10 cnps of sugar make cue robe. 10 robes make one pony. 3 ponies make one tepe. A ten-dollar bill is also a " robe ;" but, as may be supposed, as it takes but seven pounds of su- THB BOBE PBUBi*. THE BUFFALO RANGE. 1G3 gar to fill the trading cup ten times, the trader quite prefers his cups, temperate man though he may be. With such a standard it is not diffi- cult to see how trade is carried on. Ten cups is not the invariable price for a robe. Some rebes will command more than ten cups' worth of calico, and some may bring but five cups' value of any desired article. As the robes are secured the trader has them arranged in lots of ten each, with but little re- gard for quality other than some care that par- ticularly fine robes do not go too many in one lot. These piles are then pressed into a com- pact bale," by means of a rudely constructed af- fair composed of saplings and a chain. The trader does not leave the village while there is a skin to be traded for, or until his goods are exhausted. T have simply referred to the trad- ing for bnfFalo-robes as this is supposed to be a buffalo article, but traders will, as a rule, pick up all manner of things — horses (sometimes branded U. S.), mules, cattle, white prisoners, etc., etc. That there may be found among the adven- turous men who seek their fortunes in this not entirely safe business persons who seemingly would sell their souls for a consideration I have no doubt. I have not met them. On the con- trary, some of the best men on the frontier are Indian traders, and these will show you that it is not only unwise to sell whisky, fire-arms, and ammunition to the Indians, but it is absolutely unprofitable, and not, as a usual thing, put up for "the outfit." Of the diff'erent robes the Comanche is per- haps the best in its dressing, but the fur is not likely to be so good as that of the Sioux dressed robe. The only way of accounting for this is the fact of climate, the Comanche being a I southern Indian, and the Sioux ranging far to the north. The Sioux robe is not, however, so well dressed as either the Comancho or Kiowa robes. What is known as the split robe — that is, a robe which has been divided in two parts and is sewn together after it has been dressed — is uncommon among the southern Indians, but frequently met with in trading with the Sioux. - We will leave the Range with the trading outfit, and note as day by day we journey east- ward how the grim white skulls which but a few days since dotted the Plains so thickly are less seldom seen ; chips (hois de varJiej are scarcer ; the trails fewer and not freshly mark- ed with the thousands of sharp hoofs that but a few years since cut them out deep and strong, to mark where the Range was but is now no longer. The outfit is in the settlements. The ques- tion is, how to dispose of the furs ? The two great gatherers or collectors of buffalo-robes are Charles Bates, of St. Louis, and Durfree, of Leavenworth. Their combined collections dur- ing a single year have amounted to over two hundred thousand robes ; and the entire stock collected may be said to reach, during good years, nearly a quarter of a million of skins ; of these two-thirds are said to find their way to the New York market, where they are classed as first, second, third, and calf. jAt present the prices paid by large dealers in New York, who buy by the hundred bales, is something like $16 50, $12 50, $8 50, this being the prices for first, second, and third rate skins. Calf- skins bring from $3 50 to $4, and are not much dealt in. The great collectors are said to hold their robes for the market sometimes as long as three or four years, this being done when the market does not range to suit them, though one would think that controlling the trade as they do they might dictate the prices of the robe. A few untanned robes are sent to New York from Texas, but there is no particular price demanded or paid for them ; in fact, I do not think that they are mentioned in the fur market. Think, as you tuck the warm robe about you for your joyous sleigh-ride, this winter skin of the bison was once the very best clothes of a roamer over "the Buffalo Range." TUB BKULL. 164 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. PAUL DU CHAILLU AGAIN.* LYING LOW FOB ELEPHANTS. NINE months ago, that is in April, 1868, we had something to say touching our friend Paul du Chaillu. He had written more than one very good book designed for grown-up readers. Then he wrote a book for Young Folks, wherein he told something of his ad- ventures in the Gorilla Country, closing it with the words: " ^Au revoir ;' that means good-by till I come again." He has now come again, and a more welcome visitor it would be hard to name. There are three great travelers whom the Editor of this Magazine knows well, and whom at various times he has specially introduced to its read- ers. The scenes of their explorations lie far apart, all of them being in regions heretofore almost unknown. No three men can be found differing more widely in personal appearance. Mr. Charles F. Hall, to whom it has been reserved by his own individual labor to clear up the mystery of the fate of Sir John Frank- lin and his associates — a task which had been vainly attempted by expeditions fitted out by the Governments of Great Britain and the United States — bom, we think, certainly reared, in the Great West — is a man of large frame, with light hair, blue eyes, and flowing beard, a very Vi- king in aspect ; rather slow of speech — a man whom upon first introduction one would be apt to set down as the most diffident person he ever met. Mr. John Ross Browne, now Ameri- can Minister to China, born in Ireland, but • Wild. TJfe under the Equator ; narrated for Young People. By Paul nc Chaillu. Harper and Brothers, New York. from boyhood an American, is rather above middle height, spare of figure, with scanty dark hair, broad forehead, and the general air of a scholar rather than of an explorer. Mr. Du Chaillu — our "Friend Paul" — is, though born in America, of French descent, and edu- cated in France ; and while he writes our lan- guage with perfect facility, and speaks it with fluency, it is with a marked Parisian intona- tion. He is hardly five feet four in stature, and slight in form ; we doubt if he weighs a hundred pounds. His closely-cropped hair is as black as a raven's wing ; and were it not for the flashing of a most brilliant black eye, he is about the last man whom one would dream of being the most daring traveler of our day. To these three we add the name of another whom we only know from his books, but who yet always seems to us like a personal friend : David Livingstone, Scotch by birth, but African by long residence and wide travel. A spare, wiry man of middle stature — we judge from his portrait — with strongly marked and rather rugged features ; by no means a nota- ble-looking personage. But all these three men ^1;hom we know pos- sess one characteristic in common. They are lo^^able men. Children — those instinctive judges of human nature — take to them at once. Let either of them be seated at your fireside, and in half an hour — you can not tell how — all your Young People will be clambering around them. So, too, with uncivilized men, who are but big children, and quite often very bad ones. They take to these men. Livingstone also clearly