The Extermination of the American Bison eBook

William Temple Hornaday
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 330 pages of information about The Extermination of the American Bison.

The Extermination of the American Bison eBook

William Temple Hornaday
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 330 pages of information about The Extermination of the American Bison.
purchased them of Mr. Frederick D. Nowell, of North Platte, Nebraska, for $100 for the pair, and presented them to the National Museum, in the hope that they might form the nucleus of a herd to be owned and exhibited by the United States Government in or near the city of Washington.  The two animals were received in Ogalalla by Mr. Joseph Palmer, of the National Museum, and by him they were brought on to Washington in May, in fine condition.  Since their arrival they have been exhibited to the public in a temporary inclosure on the Smithsonian Grounds, and have attracted much attention.

Mr. B. C. Winston, of Hamline, Minnesota, owns a pair of buffaloes, one of which, a young bull, was caught by him in western Dakota in the spring of 1886, soon after its birth.  The cow was purchased at Rosseau, Dakota Territory, a year later, for $225.

Mr. I. P. Butler, of Colorado, Texas, is the owner of a young bull buffalo and a half-breed calf.

Mr. Jesse Huston, of Miles City, Montana, owns a fine five-year-old bull buffalo.

Mr. L. F. Gardner, of Bellwood, Oregon, is the owner of a large adult bull.

The Riverside Ranch Company, south of Mandan, Dakota, owns a pair of full-blood buffaloes.

In Dakota, in the hands of parties unknown, there are four full-blood buffaloes.

Mr. James R. Hitch, of Optima, Indian Territory, has a pair of young buffaloes, which he has offered for sale for $750.

Mr. Joseph A. Hudson, of Estell, Nebraska, owns a three-year-old bull buffalo, which is for sale.

In other countries there are live specimens of Bison americanus reported as follows:  two at Belleview Gardens, Manchester, England; one at the Zoological Gardens, London; one at Liverpool, England (purchased of Hon. W. F. Cody in 1888); two at the Zoological Gardens, Dresden; one at the Zoological Gardens, Calcutta.

+--------------------------------------------------+
|   Statistics of full-blood buffaloes       |    |
|     in captivity January 1, 1889.          |    |
+---------------------------------------------+----+
|Number kept for breeding purposes            | 216|
|Number kept for exhibition                   |  40|
|                                             | ---|
|     Total pure-blood buffaloes in captivity | 256|
|Wild buffaloes under Government              |    |
|protection in the Yellowstone Park           | 200|
|Number of mixed-breed buffalo-domestics      |  40|
+--------------------------------------------------+

There are, without doubt, a few half-breeds in Manitoba of which I have no account.  It is probable there are also a very few more captive buffaloes scattered singly here and there which will be heard of later, but the total will be a very small number, I am sure.

PART II.—­THE EXTERMINATION.

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The Extermination of the American Bison from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.