The killing of the buffalo furnished employment for the type of men who usually flock to any frontier. There was more or less excitement in the chase, the animals were absolutely defenseless, the hides and meat could be sold. But for the hostility of the Plains tribes, the buffalo would long ago have disappeared. But when the Sioux, Pawnee, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Omaha and others saw that the Whites would destroy their means of sustenance, they inaugurated a campaign of hostility throughout the Great Plains and the Upper Missouri country, against the Whites.
Certain communities where a large number of fearless men were assembled (such as Dodge City, Kansas,) became headquarters for the hunters, but the ranging of hunting parties throughout the entire West was restricted. This delayed the destruction of the buffalo. As I have stated, the coming of the railroad, and the subsequent building of other railroads, and steamboat navigation upon the Missouri, brought about curtailment of Indian activities and the ultimate destruction of the buffalo. I present a drawing from Wright’s book in which are exhibited upwards of 40,000 buffalo hides stacked up in the corral at Dodge City.[[56]] This was in 1876. So many hides were shipped to the eastern market that the price fell to a dollar. Unnumbered thousands were sold at $1.25. I entered a furrier’s store in Boston last winter and saw three buffalo robes offered for sale. The ordinary one was $75, another one was $100, and an extra fine robe was priced at $150. A few live buffalo were recently sold and the price was, I have been told, $1,000 each.
The hide-hunters killed the animal for the robe, as the name implies, and left the carcass to rot. Sometimes men took neither the hides nor the tongues, but killed for the mere pleasure of slaughtering.
It is not at all difficult for us to reconstruct the “good old buffalo days” among any of the tribes, from the Comanches of Texas to the Sioux of Minnesota. Many of the Indian bands followed the buffalo in its annual migration north or south, killing such of the animals as were needed for use and permitting the greater number to escape. There is no authentic account of early Indians slaughtering to satisfy a craving for blood. Indians sometimes killed enemies for the sheer love of slaughter, but the buffalo was not an enemy. Having obtained sufficient meat or hides, they simply quit, for they had not become “civilized”.
Let us imagine some village of the period between 1850 and 1865. There are numerous accounts of such, and we need read few of them to form an accurate, though composite picture. The camp is located in some favorite spot. Young men, out upon a scout, observe the approach of a great herd, and, lashing their ponies, speed back home with the welcome news. All is excitement in the village some twenty miles to the east. Immediately the village crier gallops from one end of the encampment to the other announcing that a buffalo dance is to be held that night. Everybody prepares for the festive occasion; the shamans make their medicine; the buffalo dance paraphernalia is brought out, and until early morning hours the dance continues.
Great merriment is caused when the better dancers try to outdo each other. Much feasting follows—for are they not soon to possess an abundance of meat? An old shaman appears; the dancers pause; he informs them that his medicine is “good.” No enemies are near; the dreadful white hunters are not at hand; every lodge will secure at least three buffalo. Therefore, all must prepare and be ready to begin the hunt at daybreak.
Shortly after sunrise a large portion of the Indians mounted on their most reliable “buffalo horses” (which have been trained to skillfully avoid the rushes of the bulls) pursue the herd. Each man selects a well-proportioned beast, and with rifle, arrow or lance, he brings him down.
Now, hunting buffalo with the lance, or bow and arrow, was sport. The use of a rifle required no skill. With the lance, the hunter must ride up close, thrust the lance in and swing his pony suddenly to avoid the charge of any belligerent bull. The steel-pointed arrows must be shot at close range, and when the beast was “on the jump”, in order that the arrow penetrate between the ribs to a vital part. Much of the arrow’s force was lost, if it struck a rib. Hence, great skill on the hunter’s part was required. He must shoot or thrust at the proper moment. This was true sport—just the opposite of still hunting, the favorite pastime of the pot-and-hide hunters; far more exciting than the work of such men as Buffalo Bill, who killed in order to make “big records”. When Indians hunted, the women and children and older men followed along in the wake of the advance party, removed the hides and cut up the meat.
Or, if the herd is a small one, it is surrounded by a large number of horsemen and forced to a common center. “Milling”, the old frontiersmen used to call it. Indians ride furiously around the herd, making much noise, and the animals seeking to escape, crowd toward the center of the circle. Buffalo were often maimed or crushed as a result of this style of hunt. It afforded the Indians opportunity to shoot down a large number of animals before the buffalo ceased “milling” and fled in various directions.
Again, small herds were run over precipices, or into ravines having steep sides. Sometimes they were pursued to the banks of the Missouri River and shot while swimming.