Buffalo Robes

1888

<< Previous  Next>> Thomas County , Kansas April 19, 1888 THE BUFFALOES FATE Extinction of the Noblest of all the American Game Animals ……It is believed that there are now only a few hundred representatives of the main the bison which, when, Fremont across the continent, roamed over our great Western plains. A few small herds have very likely escaped the notice of hunters and settlers. Nearly two years ago residence along the upper Missouri and Yellowstone rivers reported that the bison was probably extinct in that region, but later the hunting party organized by the taxidermist of the Smithsonian … Read more

1885

<< Previous  Next>> / Waukesha Daily Freeman Waukesha Wisconsin Apr 2 1885 GRADUAL EXTINCTION OF THE BUFFALO GATHERING THE BONES OF THE COUNTLESS DEAD FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES The harvest of furs in the Northwest is about it ended, for the buffaloes are on the eve of final extinction. Hunters who are engaged in the business of hunting the buffalo for his hide are returning daily from the ranges on the north and south sides of the Yellowstone river, and report not a bison to be found in a country where they formerly roamed in myriads. Men who have hunted hitherto … Read more

1884

<< Previous  Next>> / Manitoba Free Press Winnipeg Manitoba Can Jan 2 1884 SL Bedson bison herd /   / The Daily Republican Monongahela, Pennsylvania Mar 22 1884 THE BISON CHASE The prairie stretches on, and on, a boundless, bellowing see! As free as Rovers of the main, are gallant steeds and we! Then ho! hillo! Draw well the girth, knot tight strong for fast far we o! Aye, ready, comrades? Ready all! The day is just begun- Hurrah! Rare sport we’ll see, I ween, before the set of sun! Then ho! hillo! Our horses sniff the clear, crisp air … Read more

1883

<< Previous  Next>> ” Slaughtered for a Pastime” ” Shall the Buffalo Go? Reminiscences of an Old Buffalo Hunter” Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, Vol. XV, May 1883, New York, Original vintage wood engraving, 1883 On loan from Historic Photographs by Imagi Gallery / Jamestown Weekly Alert Jamestown, North Dakota  Jan 12 1883 Bismarck Tribune: Two compositors on the Jamestown Alert went out New Year’s Day to slay a buffalo. They had crawled a quarter of a mile through the snow to get a shot at  a lot of cows which they mistook for bison, when a bulldog appeared suddenly and … Read more

1881

<< Previous  Next>>     Steuben Republican Angola, Indiana Jan 12 1881 IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY (extract) by General Jason S. Brisbin, U.S.A. (At North Platte crossing the Republican River) The Indians had encamped in the grove not long before our arrival, in many of the frames of their lodges were still standing, some of them seeming to have been but recently abandoned. The frames were made of poles, stuck in the ground, the tops being bent over and fastened together with pieces of rawhide. Some had both ends of the poles driven into the ground, the middle being bent … Read more

1874

<< Previous  Next>> Wholesale Slaughter Nashville Union Jan 6 1874 Wholesale Slaughter With reference to the wholesale slaughter of buffalo on the plains, a Western paper says: Mr. Lessing estimates that there are at least two thousand hunters in camp along there waiting for buffalo. He came across one party of sixteen, who stated that they killed twenty-eight thousand buffaloes during the past summer, the hides of which only were utilized. If sixteen hunters can kill this many animals, how great must be the slaughter upon the broad extent of the bison range? Evidently millions of the animals must have … Read more

1873

< Previous  Next>> “American Progress”  by George A. Crofutt c1873 Print shows an allegorical female figure of America leading pioneers westward, as they travel on foot, in a stagecoach, Conestoga wagon, and by railroads, where they encounter Native Americans and herds of bison.   Chicago Daily Tribune Chicago, Illinois Feb 16 1873 BISON BUTCHERY Tremendous Slaughter of Buffaloes in Southern Kansas – Doomed to Speedy Extinction From that Topeka (Kan.) Commonwealth. Dodge City, on the A.T. & S.F. road, is a principal point of shipment of buffalo meat and hides in Kansas. In fact, the trade of the town, apart … Read more

1872

<< Previous  Next>> Spotted Tail and Company This is a 30 x 40-inch oil on canvas painted in 1972.  A little background on the painting: it commemorates the 100th anniversary of Grand Duke Alexis of Russia’s buffalo hunt in Nebraska.  In 1872, Gen. Philip Sheridan, Gen. George Custer, and Buffalo Bill Cody rode along to ensure the duke’s success, but the duke’s aim was terrible; he fired six shots, missing buffalo from just 20 feet away.  Then the duke emptied Cody’s pistol without success.  Cody gave him his 50-caliber Springfield rifle and rode beside him to tell him when to fire.  … Read more

1870

<< Previous  Next>> Height of the Destruction Many Indians and whites considered buffalo tongues to be a great delicacy; western soldiers craved them. In 1870, General John Pope, new commander of the Department of the Missouri, wrote to his old West Point chum, Lieutenant Colonel Richard I. Dodge, in command at Fort Dodge, requesting twelve dozen buffalo tongues. Dodge quickly obliged by detailing a sergeant and a squad of marksmen to scour the Kansas plains for the shaggy beasts. In three days they returned with a wagon filled with more tongues than were ordered. To kill over 144 buffalo, animals … Read more

1869

<< Previous  Next>> The Brooklyn Eagle Jan 5 1869 Robe “Very well,” said he. “Mike,” calling a hall – boy, ” run round to Snagg’s Stables, and toll him I’ll want my sleigh here at three o’clock; and say, toll him I want my best buffalo.” No sooner had he pronounced those words than the bison of the prairies sprung up before me, as I had read of him in a hundred books, with his huge tangled mane, his small bloodshot eye, his gigantic hoof, his terrible branching horns. I immediately determined to invent a pretext for not going; but … Read more