The Daily Missoulian. [volume], July 04, 1909, Morning, Editorial Section, Image 13

About The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
I EDITORIAL SECTION T HSALP~HSO L~J4Z ~ L ETUiI
MJS V4,MONTANA, SUNDAY YIkORNINU, JULTY -i4, imiuy .____..__.._..___._._...
ALL BUT OUTLAWS OF GREAT BUFFALO HERD MOVED
FROM FLATHEAD TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE SETTLER
PATRIARCH OF HERD (CENTER) WHICH DIED.
(By F. L. Baghy.)
WITH the shipment Wednesday
of nearly 200 buffalo from.
Ravalla, Mont., to Canada,
all but the outlaw remnant of the
largest herd of wild bison in the
United States were removed from
their native heath to the limited con
flnes of a foreign p1rk--to nmke: way
for the advanclo march of progress
and development. Trap~ed into mutn
made corrals, 1'0.e1 and loaded into
cages, bound down with crhains and
wire, haled over long antl rough
roads, then dragged by main force
Into freight cars and shipped like so
many common cattle over the rail
roads, nearly 600 of these lords of the
plains have been dragged from the
free and untranmelled ranee of their
nativity into a national playground,
where they will he kept as nable
specimens of a rapidly vanishing
species of American big game. And
this is all done to maim room for the
white man-the than with the B low
and the hoe, whose conquest of the
soil has swept the red magi, the buf
falo and other wild game before him
like mist before the wind. The set
tler, in the great battle of develop
ment,' needed more lands to conquer.
The Flathead reservation offered an
enticing field for his activities. But
there was not room for the red man's
buffalo and the white man's cattle.
perforce the bison had to make way
for the munching cow, the tolling
horse and the ravenous sheep and
swine of him who was coming to
transform the untamed wilds into an
Arcadia of homes, farms ' and
ranches. The grazing range of the
buffalp was to become the feeding
ground of domestic animals, so the
bison were sold for a paltry sum and
men were hired to capture and ship
them into the country of the pur
chaser-the Canadian government.
And when the 150 head that remain
upon, the reservation are rounded up
and shipped this fall, there will be
none of the noble animals left to dis
pute the right of the White inan's
stock to- every blade of grass on the
range where once the buffalo was
lord of all he surveyed.
Countless Numbers.
But a few years ago bison roamed
the western plains in countless num
hers. Herds so large that days were
required fqr them to pass a given
point frequently forced pioneer immi
grants to encamp and wait patiently
for them to pass before they could
resume their journey over the new
trail into the unknown wilderness of
the vast west. In their migrations
the beat of their hoofs resounded like
the mighty rumble of thunder, and
the dust from their heels clouded the
sun itself. Running before a prairie
fire or stampeded by a flash of light
ning these great masses of shaggy,
wild-eyed, snorting beasts made the
very earth tremble beneath their ma
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BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF RAVALLI.
jectic forms. But these days have
swiftly glided into the past, and with
them are vanishing the buffalo like a
mirage at the setting of the sun. The
thunderous pound of their hoofs is
heard no more, and the plains where
they once were wont to graze in peace
or rush in maddened fright before
some impending 11n11ger, are crossed
With fences, clotted with farm houses
and producinlg farm roaducts to sus
tali life and pour dollars into the
pockets of their m(ininerers-the white
Whitened Skulls.
A few years ago whitened skulls'
and scattered bones marked the great
immigrant trails into the west, grew
some monuments to mighty lerds that
fell under the ruthless slaughter of
countless hunters. Bat even these
relics of pioneer days have disijite
grated and have bi iorrie indlistinguish
ably lmingled with lie loi s of1 tile
earth.
Man's ap1etite for fresh meat and
the discovery that buffalo tongue was
a delicacy to tickle the palate of an
epicure first led to the' ruthless
slaughter of the animals, the lives of
countless thousands being sacrificed
for the sake of their tongues. When
the bison began to at scarce and
wealth developed a. hobby for buffalo
hides and heads, man's greed for gold
furnished a motive for the slaughter
of more and more until he suddenly
awakened to the realization that the
bison was almost extinct. A desire to
save and protect these noble animals
found birth in the hearts of a few
men, and the surviving buffalo were
gathered together in small herds by
animal fanciers, zoological gardens
and bison societies in various parts of j
UNLOADING THE HAULING CRATES.
the. country. The Canadian govern
ment took an interest in the matter
and established herds in some of its
parks. The United States government
has, at last, been interested and has
established a bison range in Montana,
but it failed to act in time to prevent
the loss to this country of the largest
herd withih its borders.
The Allard Herd.
Among the indiv idnales w1o took an
Interest in preserving the buffalo was
BUFFALO IN LOADING CORRALS.
Charles Allhird, who secured a few. ani
mals and started a herd on the Flat
head reservation near ttonan in the
early eighties. lie increased this herd
by breeding and purchase to more
than a hundred head in a few years.
In 1893 he purchased the herd owned
by "Buffalo Jones" of Kansas, and
drove them across country to his herd
on the Flathead. Accompanied by his
family and riding in an old-fashioned
barouche. he follower] the heal ea ross
pluae and mountain until tht" mnembers
f the hand were salily de
livered on the resriationi In Montania.
this herd consisted of full-blooded
atilt haltf-breed itnimuls. The latter
were products of riss-irieding with
cattle, but they dhI not prole to te a
d', irable animall, luavin; al1 the undie
sirable and none or the good tualitite
of either ancestor. Thu mongrels were
separated from the blooded animiIs,
and the latter were permitted to range
in a wild state on the reservation.
They thrived and the 1terd girt until
it numbered alitist 800.
When Allard died the herd trussed
into the possession of xis 1 Part'er,
Michel 'Publt, a half-treeet Indian nid
an expert buffaio raiser. Piblo was
itduced to dispose of a few of the aii
otals to ioulogieut pIrks, but kept the
larg@r portion of the herd inttet until
he learned that the reservation was to
tie thrown open tuo settlement ait that
his tuffalo must make way for the
settler and his QattIle. Then it was
that Howard Eaton, exptrt hunter iii
Wolf, Wyo., attempted to interest the
United States government 1n thti pur
chase of the hern. Falling in this he
turned to the Apnrerican Bison asso
elation, but again was unsucieceslful.
Makesa an Offer.
It was at this junctura that the
Canadjan government sent Howard l
Douglas, superintendent of the west
ern Canada national parks, out to the
Flathead to see the herd and mate uti
offer for It. Mr. Dougles resmtmended
the purchase of the animals and en
offer of about $130,000 was made. This
was accepted, Pablo agreeing to (ie
liver the animals in Canada for that
price.
Then came the task of rounding up
these animals, transporting them from
their range to Ravalli, Mont., i;f miles
away, loading them upon freight cars
and shipping them to Canada, where
they had to be unloaded and delivered
in the parks. To say that such a task
was Herculean is to express it mildly,
but Michel Pablo was not daunted.
He employed a force of expert riders,
mounted them upon his own best
horses and set forth to accomplish the
task, riding at the head of his men on
his own favorite mount. A corral into
which the animals might be driven
from the range was the first necessity.
Taking advanrtage of a horseshoe bend
in the Pend d'orielle river, the outside
bank of which Is of clay and stands
almost straight up and clown, he had
a fence constructed across the neck of
the horseshoe and wing fences built
for a distance of a mile or more from
the end of this fence and a cut in the
bank of the river out into the range.
Into this the buffalo were driven in
three separate hands at different
times. It required much hard and
dangerous riding on the part of the
buffalo punchers, and many of the
animals escaped numerous times, but
perserverance prevailed and two years
ago 400 of the herd were successfully
rounded up and then driven down the
Mission valley into the corrals at Ra
valli. From these corrals the animals
were pulled and dragged by means of
block and tackle into the railroad
cars. Last year another round up was
made, but just when the riders were
about to drive the herd to Ravalli
the band stampeded and made its es
cape from the corral at Rntan.
A New Plan.
This spring it was decided to make
no further attempt to drive the ani
mals from Ronan to Ravaili. but to
corral them, load them in crates
mounted upon wheels and haul theni
over the mountains to the loading
corrals.
For this purpose heavy crates,
large enough to hold two buffalo
each, were constructed of heavy tim
ber fastened together with steel and
wire. Through a loading chute the;
animals were driven into these crates,
securely roped in and hauled by
means of six and eight-horse teams
over the long and dusty journey to
Ravalli. Here they Were turned out
into a series of corrals from which
they were driven, one at a time, into
the loading chute. A noose around
each buffalo's neck and the tugging
of a score of men landed the animal
in his car, where the struggling beast
was held until a partition to separate
him from his companions could be
firmly put into place.
The dangers attending the work of
handling the buffalo were many and
there were numerous narrow escapes
from death and injury on the part of,
riders and loaders, Fred Decker had
FEEDING FROM THE HAY RACKS.
his horse gored under him, and his
brother. Johnnie Decker, twice had his
mount gored and was slightly injured,
his life being saved only by the
prompt action of Pablo and his
brother in firing pistol bullets into
the neck of an Inf rinted beast that
was trying to kill man and horse.
In their n1iii00n0 strLtggls ogllust
being dragged into ri Itivity 20 or the
animals were killed, ,o1e iof them
rushing blindly against the sides ofi
the corrals with such fTrce as to
break their necks. one, the patriarch
of the herd, fought with a younger
PULLING A BISON ABOARD A CAR.
bull, then lay down in the lading
chute and died.
Pathetic Picture.
It was a pathetic picture to one who
stopped to think, as he gazed at the
SHAGGY MONARCHS OF THE RANGE.
lacerated, bleeding, ragged animals
that stood in the corral at fIaallt,
gazing longingly through the cracks
of the high, strong fences out upon
the hIlls, beyond which lay the wild
free range from which they had been
dragged in ignominious captivity to
he loaded Into era imned stalls of rail
riad rars, there to re left to vent
lhrir l'ury in valn rricirs against the
all"ls of their prisons until st'am and
steel landed therm at their new lhire.
Slowness in haulln"' the bison fr'mir
the round-up corral necessitated srme
of the animals standing in the tars for
eight rrays before the last train
started for Canada. At last all of the
shipments save those that were killed
and two that rserped were loaded,
aboard and the long trip of 1,200 miles
to the point ofa unloading was eorn
rinered. Crrnad lre hseceured a bar
gain irr buffalo and the United States
lIr, lest rr asset r'hirh It may never
be able to rerie'e.
Much interest Is already being rman
Ifrstedl in the rminrrg roirtl Lrt) of the
rirainrig portion of the herd which
is scheduled to commence about the
elrst of SepterrrIeir. The riters who
have been leading the strenuous life
on the buffallo range for the past two
liantihs will now turn their ittenitlion
io, gatthpring together tire cattle that
have been wintering on the reserva
tion, inud this work twill continue un
til haying time. When the season's
crop Is gathered the sunburned riders
wi ill again dun their' '"'shaps,"r h igih -
hetled bouts uind spri's, mount their
favorite steeds und ride forth to the
buffalo range. Then the work of
maneuvering the outlawi hnffalo from
their stamping grounds into the cor
raI at RIoniRir will he gotten under
way.
Siice the work of shipping tie rts
tjit banid was begun the wilder lntew
hers of the herd have strayed some
40 miles from their usual feeding
grounds, and it was feared that they
would migrate so far from their us
o ual haunts that it would herome an
1, almost impassible task to drive them
a back. But Indian riders report that
n within the past two weeks the stray
ling bands have turned their noses
r back toward their accustomed range
o and are gradually moving back in
- that direction. It is hoped by the rid
t ors and Pailh that by the first of
8'ptembher the animals will have for
I gottirm the excitement that has been
i lt Progress in the vicinity of Ronan
A and be back in that district, for
enough trouble is anticipated in
l handling the beasts is it is without
t having to search for roving bands of
them over the entire reservation and
1 rounding them in a bunch of three
1 or four at Al time.
The same methods and tactics used
in handling the recent shipment will
be employed in handling the outlaw
herd, provided the herd does not up
set All plans. Some changes are
plannod in the corral at tonan, as
I experience has taugmht the riders that
the iufsalo Is i. wily animial and can
not be trapped twice in "the same
place or manner.
A buffalo that has been driven into
a trap once and sueee s in making
hIs e'eane cannot be dfivenr into the
trap in the same place again, and will
always attempt to escape frurn the
place that afforded him freedom be
fore. The entrance to the corril will
be changed to another location, the
loading chute will be moved and the
entire corral will he strengthened to
withstand the onslaughts of the ob
streoerous beasts.
New crates of a little better con
struction tian the ones used last time
will be constructed for time hauling of
the animals from Ronan to Ravaili to
the loading pens. An effort will also
be made in the fall to load and haul
mnoire bison at it time from tlie round
iu p mirral, so that those loaded into
the cars at Rtavalli will not be forced
to stand in their cramped stalls so
long as many of tile recent shipment
were forced to do.
Though the riding on the recent
roundup and the incidents attendant
upon the work were mire thrilling
atd sensational than any "wild west"
performance ever dreamed of being,
still greater exiterment is unticipated
when the next round up is gotten un
der way. 1ut notwithstanding the
dangers they have passed through
and the narrow escapes from death
that some of them have had, the rid
ers face the coming round un with
eager impatience. Those bronzed men
who sit the saddle with as tmuch coin
fort as a millionaire rests in his tp
holstered chair, and find more enjoy
mont and actual life in doing so,
would rather ride than be the presi
dent of a railroad.. To them the ex
citement, the dinger and the thrill at
tendant unili a chase either before or
after a rushing herd of bison, consti
tute life.