A Book of the United States / Exhibiting its geography, divisions, constitution, and government ... and presenting a view of the republic generally, and of the individual states; together with a condensed history of the land, from its first discovery to the present time. The biography of about two hundred of the leading men: a description of the principal cities and towns; with statistical tables

by Unknown

Rocky Mountain Goat.—This species is nearly the size of a common sheep, and has a shaggy appearance. Its hoofs and horns are black; the latter project but little, and are slightly curved. Great numbers of this goat are found about the head-waters of the north fork of Columbia river, where they are much hunted by the natives, and form an abundant though somewhat unsavory article of food. They are seldom seen far from the mountains, and are more numerous on their western than on their eastern slopes. The skin is thick and spongy, and is used for moccasins. Thefleece is said to be as fine as that of which the celebrated cashmere shawls are manufactured.

Rocky Mountain Goat.

Argali.—The argali is found in the Rocky Mountains, from about the fiftieth degree of north latitude to California. Here troops of twenty or thirty are seen together, feeding on the most precipitous tracts, and bounding with wonderful agility from rock to rock. During the summer months, the color of this animal is a grayish fawn, with a reddish line across the back. The male has very large twisted horns, fixed near the eyes; its ears are straight, broad and pointed, and its tail quite short. This is said to be the species from which all the varieties of our domestic sheep are descended.

Bison.—This animal is found in herds in the prairies in the neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains: it is continually receding before the advance of man, and will soon be entirely banished to the far west. Schoolcraft says that the species is confined to the regions situated between the thirty-first and forty-ninth degrees of north latitude, and west of the Mississippi river. The only part of the country east of this river, where the bison now remains, is that included between the falls of St. Anthony and Sandy Lake, a range of about six hundred miles.

‘Being now in the region of buffalo,’ says Mr. Schoolcraft, ‘we concluded to land, in the course of the day, at some convenient place for hunting them. This we were soon invited to do by seeing one of these animals along the shore of the river, and on ascending the bank, we observed, upon a boundless prairie, two droves of them, feeding upon the grass. All who had guns adapted for the purpose, sallied forth in separate parties upon the prairie, while those who felt less ambition to signalize themselves upon the occasion, or were more illy accoutred for the activities of the chase, remained upon an eminence which overlooked the plain, to observe the movements of this animal while under an attack of musketry, and to enjoy the novel spectacle of a buffalo-hunt. The grass was so tall as to allow an unobserved approach towards the spot where they remained feeding, but the first fire proved unsuccessful, at the same time that it scattered the herd, which were now seen running in all directions across the prairie, and an incessant fire of random shots was kept up for about two hours; during which three buffaloes were killed, and a great number wounded, which made their escape.

‘While thus harrassed, they often passed within a few yards of us, and we enjoyed a fine opportunity of witnessing their form, size, color, and speed. The buffalo has a clumsy gait, like the domestic ox, which it also resembles in size and general appearance. Unlike the ox, however, this animal exhibits no diversity of color, being a uniform dark brown, inclining to dun. It is never spotted, with black, red, or white. It has short black horns growing nearly straight from the head, and set at a considerable distance apart. The male has a hunch upon its shoulders, covered with long flocks of shaggy hair, extending to the top of the head, from which it falls over the eyes and horns, giving the animal a very formidable appearance. The hoofs are cloven like those of the cow, but the legs are much stouter, and altogether, it is more clumsy and ill-proportioned. The tail is naked till towards the end, where it is tufted, in the manner of the lion.

‘The general weight of this animal is from eight hundred to a thousand pounds; but they sometimes attain an enormous size, and have been killedupon the Mississippi prairies weighing two thousand pounds. The skin of a buffalo bull, when first taken off, is three fourths of an inch in thickness, and cannot be lifted by the strongest man. A hundred and fifty pounds of tallow have been taken from one animal, and it is highly esteemed by the Indians in preparing their hommony. Instances of excessive fatness are, however, rare, and such over-fed animals become so unwieldy that they often fall a prey to wolves; particularly if they happen to stray a distance from the herd. The buffalo is a timid animal, and flies at the approach of man. It is however asserted by the hunters, that when painfully wounded, it becomes furious, and will turn upon its pursuers.

‘There is a particular art in killing the buffalo with a rifle, only known to experienced hunters, and when they do not drop down, which is often the case, it requires a person intimately acquainted with their habits, to pursue them with success. This has been fully instanced in the futile exertions of our party, upon the present occasion; for out of a great number of shots, few have reached the object, and very few proved effectual, and the little success we met with is chiefly attributable to the superior skill of the Indians who accompanied us. Unless a vital part is touched, the shot proves useless. It also requires a larger ball than the deer and elk. Lieutenant Pike thinks that in the open prairies, the bow and arrow could be used to better advantage than the gun, particularly on horseback, for you might ride immediately along side the animal and strike it where you pleased. The Indians employ both the rifle and arrow, and in the prairies of Missouri and Arkansas, pursue the herds on horseback; but on the upper Mississippi, where they are destitute of horses, they make amends for this deficiency by several ingenious stratagems.

‘One of the most common of these is the method of hunting with fire. For this purpose, a great number of hunters disperse themselves around a large prairie where herds of buffalo happen to be feeding, and setting fire to the grass encompass them on all sides. The buffalo, having a great dread of fire, retire towards the centre of the prairie as they see it approach, and here being pressed together in great numbers, many are trampled under foot, and the Indians rushing in with their arrows and musketry, slaughter immense numbers in a short period. It is asserted that a thousand animals have been killed by this stratagem in one day. They have another method of hunting by driving them over precipices, which is chiefly practised by the bands inhabiting the Missouri. To decoy the herds, several Indians disguise themselves in the skins of the buffalo, taken off entire, and by counterfeiting the lowing of this animal in distress, they attract the herds in a certain direction, and when they are at full speed, suddenly disappear behind a cleft in the top of a precipice, when those animals which are in front on reaching the brink, are pushed over by those pressing behind, and in this manner great numbers are crushed to death. These practices are less common now than formerly, the introduction of fire arms, among most of the tribes, putting it into the power of almost every individual to kill sufficient for the support of his family.