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The Extermination of the American Bison/Contents

< The Extermination of the American Bison
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CONTENTS

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PREFATORY NOTE.
Page.
Part I — The life history of the bison 373
I. Discovery of the species 373
II. Geographical distribution 376
III. Abundance 387
IV. Character of the species 393
1. The buffalo's rank amongst ruminants 393
2. Change of form in captivity 394
3. Mounted specimens in museums 396
4. The calf 396
5. The yearling 401
6. The spike bull 401
7. The adult bull 402
8. The cow in the third year 406
9. The adult cow 406
10. The "Wood" or "Mountain Buffalo" 407
11. The shedding of the winter pelage 412
V. Habits of the buffalo 415
VI. The food of the buffalo 426
VII. Mental capacity and disposition of the buffalo 429
VIII. Value to mankind 434
IX. Economic value of the bison to Western cattle-growers 451
1. The bison in captivity and domestication 451
2. Need of an improvement in range cattle 452
3. Character of the buffalo — domestic hybrid 454
4. The bison as a beast of burden 457
5. List of bison herds and individuals in captivity 458
Part II.  — The extermination 464
I. Causes of the extermination 464
II. Methods of slaughter 465
1. The "still hunt" 465
2. The chase on horseback 470
3. Impounding 478
4. The surround 480
5. Decoying and driving 483
5. Hunting on snow-shoes 484
III. Progress of the extermination 484
A. The period of desultory destruction 484
B. The period of systematic slaughter 486
1. The Red River half-breeds 488
2. The country of the Sioux 490
3. Western railways, and their part in the extermination of the buffalo 490
4. The division of the universal herd 492
5. The destruction of the southern herd 492
6. Statistics of the slaughter 498
7. The destruction of the northern herd 502 ​
IV. Legislation to prevent useless slaughter 513
V. Completeness of the wild buffalo's extirpation 521
VI. Effects of the disappearance of the bison 525
VII. Preservation of the species from absolute extinction 527
Part III.  — The Smithsonian expedition for specimens 529
I. The exploration for specimens 529
II. The hunt 534
III. The mounted group in the National Museum 546
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Group of buffaloes in the National Museum Frontispiece
Head of ball buffalo to face page 382
Slaughter of buffalo on Kansas Pacific Railroad do 392
Buffalo cow, calf, and yearling do 398
Spike bull do 398
Bull buffalo do 404
Bull buffalo, rear view do 406
The development of the buffalo's horns do 418
A dead bull do 442
Buffalo skinners at work do 442
Five minutes' work do 444
Scene on the northern buffalo range do 444
Half-breed calf do 454
Young half-breed bull do 458
Half-breed buffalo (domestic) cow do 458
The still-hunt do 468
The chase on horseback do 472
Cree Indians impounding buffalo do 478
The surround do 482
Indians bunting buffaloes on snow-shoes do 484
Where the millions have gone do 500
Trophies of the hunt do 542
MAPS.
Sketch map of the hunt for buffalo do 534
Map illustrating the extermination of the American bison End of paper
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