Jack Among the Indians; Or, A Boy's Summer on the Buffalo Plains

by George Bird Grinnell

"Yes," said Joe, "I expect it is the way to get the most meat, and of course, that's what we are trying to do; to kill all the food possible. A good deal of it will be eaten fresh, and all the rest will be dried and eaten when the buffalo are scarce."

As they were talking thus, a man came swiftly trotting up to them, riding a beautiful white horse with black spots, and as he drew near them, Jack saw that it was Hugh.

"What do you think of this horse, son?" said Hugh.

"Why, he's a beauty," said Jack. "What an awful queer colour, but what a splendid horse he looks like."

"Yes," said Hugh, "old Last Bull, when he heard that I was going to run buffalo to-day, offered me this horse to ride. They say he's fast, and one of the best buffalo horses in the tribe."

"Well," said Jack, "if horses count for anything, seems to me that we three ought to kill a lot of buffalo to-day."

"Yes," said Hugh, "I expect we ought to, but come, let's get on up toward the front, I see the soldiers are beginning to get on their horses."

Almost as he spoke, the young men began to mount and as they did so, all the other hunters sprang on their horses and crowded up close behind the line of the soldiers. By this time it was plain daylight, though the sun had not yet risen. Jack looked up and down the line of the hunters, with the greatest interest. To his surprise, he saw that almost all of them were naked, and wore nothing but their moccasins and their bow cases and quivers slung on their backs. Here and there were men who rode on curious saddles, which looked like soft pillows of buckskin, astride of which the man sat, a little ridge rising in front of and behind him. Many of the men were not mounted, but ran along beside their horses with an arm stretched across the withers or back of the animal. Here and there would be seen two men mounted on a single horse, and leading two naked horses, which would thus be fresh when the time came to make the charge on the buffalo. To Jack's great surprise, very few of the men carried guns, and bow and arrow seemed to be almost the universal weapon.

The soldiers had started on a brisk trot with an even front, and the crowd of hunters pressed close behind them. Running his eye up and down over the company, Jack tried to estimate how many men were there, but he could form no idea. He called out the question to Hugh, who was riding close beside him, but Hugh shook his head as if he didn't know. Little by little the pace increased, and soon the horses were going at a brisk gallop. Before long, as they approached the top of a hill, one of the soldiers who rode in the middle of the line, raised his hand, and at once the whole company halted. Two of the soldiers then dismounted and crept up to the top of the ridge, and after looking over, returned, mounted again, and calling out some words, all set forward at a smart gallop. As they paused over the crest, Jack saw before them, a wide level plain on which were feeding a great herd of buffalo. Again he tried to estimate how many there were, but he couldn't tell whether there were a thousand or five thousand.

The mounted men swept down the hill at a good run, yet each man was obliged to hold in his horse in order to keep it back of the line of the soldiers. At first the buffalo did not appear to notice the hunters, but as they drew nearer and nearer, some of the great beasts began to raise their heads and look, and then to turn about and run toward the herd; and in a moment all the animals had taken the alarm, and, throwing down their heads and raising their tails, were racing off over the prairie. Just before they started, the chief soldier gave a shrill yell, and at this signal, each man pressed forward as rapidly as he could. There was no longer order or discipline, but every rider did his utmost to get among the buffalo.