Buffalo Land Part 25

In our note-book, I find the outline of a speech delivered by the Professor in Topeka, and I quote a single paragraph as fitly expressing the common sentiment of our entire number:

"Gentlemen, great as your State now is in extent of territory and natural resources, she will soon have a corresponding greatness in the means of development, and in a self-supporting population. 1870 holds in her lap and fondles the infant; 1880 will shake hands with the giant.

The whole surface of your land, gentlemen, is one wild sea of beauty, ready to toss into the lap of every venturer upon it, a farm. The genius which rewards honest industry stands on the threshold of your State, with countless herds and golden sheaves, smiling ready welcome to all new-comers, of whatever creed or clime."

WHAT A FARM WILL COST.

The emigrant has already been told what it will cost him to obtain government land. If this adjoins railroad tracts, he can secure what is desired of the latter at from two to ten dollars per acre.

The expense of fencing material might be fairly estimated at from twenty to thirty dollars per thousand feet for boards, and ten to fifteen dollars per hundred for posts. This is supposing that all the material is purchased. If fortunate enough to have timber on his claim, the emigrant, of course, can inclose the farm at the cost of his own labor.

I have seen many new-comers protect their fields by simply digging around them a narrow, deep trench, and throwing the earth on the inside line so as to raise an embankment along that side two feet in height.

One single wire stretched along this, and secured at proper intervals by small stakes, appears to answer quite well as a cattle guard.

Osage orange grows rapidly, and is cheap, and a permanent fence can be made with it, at small expense, in the course of three or four years.

The usual cost of breaking prairie is from two to four dollars per acre.

With a yoke or two of good oxen, however, this item can also be saved.

The second year the farmer can set out with safety his trees and vines, and the third or fourth year he may be considered fairly on the road to prosperity.

Laborers' wages are from twenty to thirty dollars per month and board.

I estimate that a fair statement of the prices for stock would be about as follows: Work oxen, seventy-five to one hundred dollars per yoke; cows, twenty to fifty dollars each; horses, seventy-five to one hundred and fifty dollars.

A FEW MORE PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.

I would say to the emigrant, Do not be influenced to select any one particular State or locality until you have more authority for the step than a single publication. Examine carefully, make up your mind deliberately, and then move with determination. It will require no very great exertion to secure a half dozen glowing advertis.e.m.e.nts from as many new Western States and Territories. It will need but little more effort to obtain from five to fifty "rosy" circulars from as many different districts in each of the separate "garden spots." After examining these until ready to sing,--

"How happy could I be with either Were t' other dear charmer away,"

take down your map, and let the railroads and streams a.s.sist your choice. You have then secured yourself against one danger of the journey--that of having these same circulars flung into your lap _en route_, and being diverted by them into dubious ways and needless expenditures. But be careful, reader, that you select not as accurate beyond the possibility of a mistake the maps accompanying the circulars; otherwise, you may find yourself unable to choose between several thousand railroad centers from which broad gauges radiate like the spokes in a wheel, and your ignorance of modern geography may be brought painfully home by discovering navigable rivers where you had supposed only creeks existed. In these matters, as in every thing else connected with your "new departure," consult _all_ the various sources of information within your reach.

APPENDIX.

CHAPTER SECOND.

FURTHER INFORMATION FOR THE SPORTSMAN.

APPENDIX.

CONTENTS OF CHAPTER SECOND.

PAGE

HUNTING THE BUFFALO, 453

ANTELOPE HUNTING, 458

ELK HUNTING, 459

TURKEY HUNTING, 459

GENERAL REMARKS, 460

WHAT TO DO IF LOST ON THE PLAINS, 461

THE NEW FIELD FOR SPORTSMEN, 462

CHAPTER SECOND.

_FURTHER INFORMATION FOR THE SPORTSMAN._

HUNTING THE BUFFALO.

The first matter to be determined, in planning any sporting trip, is the best point at which to seek for game. If the object of pursuit be buffalo, I should say, Deposit yourself as soon as possible on the plains of Western Kansas.[5] Take the Kansas Pacific Railway at the State line, and you can readily find out from the conductors at what point the buffalo chance then to be most numerous. There are a dozen stations after pa.s.sing Ellsworth equally good. One month, the bison may be numerous along the eastern portion of the plains; a month later, the herds will be found perhaps sixty or eighty miles further west. As one has at least a day's ride, after entering Kansas, before penetrating into the solitude of Buffalo Land, there is ample time to decide upon a stopping place. Russell as an eastern, and Buffalo Station as a western point, will be found good basis for operations. In the former, some hotel accommodations exist; in the latter, there are several dug-outs, and hunters who can be obtained for guides.

[5] During the present year, the A. T. & Santa Fe R. R. will probably be finished to the big bend of the Arkansas, which will place the sportsman in one of the finest game regions of the continent.

Those who can spend a week or more on the grounds, and wish to enjoy the sport in its only legitimate way, namely, horseback hunting, should stop at the point where they may best procure mounts, even if it necessitate a journey in the saddle of twenty miles. Ellsworth, Russell, and Hays City are the places where such outfits may generally be obtained.

For shooting bison, the hunter should come prepared with some other weapon than a squirrel rifle or double barreled shot gun. I have known several instances in which persons appeared on the ground armed with ancient smooth-bores or fowling-pieces; and in one of these cases the object of attack, after receiving a bombardment of several minutes'

duration, tossed the squirrel hunter and injured him severely. A breech-loading rifle, with a magazine holding several cartridges, is by far the best weapon. In my own experience I became very fond of a carbine combining the Henry and King patents. It weighed but seven and one-half pounds, and could be fired rapidly twelve times without replenis.h.i.+ng the magazine. Hung by a strap to the shoulder, this weapon can be dropped across the saddle in front, and held there very firmly by a slight pressure of the body. The rider may then draw his holster revolvers in succession, and after using them, have left a carbine reserve for any emergency. Twenty-four shots can thus be exhausted before reloading, and, with a little practice, the magazine of the gun may be refilled without checking the horse. So light is this Henry and King weapon that I have often held it out with one hand like a pistol, and fired.

When a herd of buffalo is discovered, the direction of the wind should be carefully ascertained. The taint of the hunter is detected at a long distance, and the bison accepts the evidence of his nose more readily than even that of his eyes. This delicacy of smell, however, is becoming either more blunted or less heeded than formerly, owing probably to the pa.s.sage over the plains of the crowded pa.s.senger cars, which keep the air constantly impregnated for long distances.

Having satisfied himself in regard to the wind, the sportsman should take advantage of the ravines and slight depressions, which every-where abound on the plains, and approach as near the herd as possible. If mounted, let him gain every obtainable inch before making the charge. It is an egregious blunder to go das.h.i.+ng over the prairie for half a mile or so, in full view of the game, and thus give it the advantage of a long start. When this is done, unless your animal is a superior one, he will be winded and left behind.

In most cases, careful planning will place one within a couple of hundred yards of the bison. Be sure that every weapon is ready for the hand, and then charge. Put your horse to full speed as soon as practicable. Place him beside the buffalo, and he can easily keep there; whereas, if you nurse his pace at the first, and make it a stern chase, both your animal and yourself, should you have the rare luck of catching up at all, will be jaded completely before doing so. In shooting from the saddle, be very careful between shots, and keep the muzzle of the weapon in some other direction than your horse or your feet. A sudden jolt, or a nervous finger, often causes a premature discharge. In taking aim, draw your bead well forward on the buffalo--if possible, a little behind the fore-shoulder. The vital organs being situated there, a ranging shot will hit some of them, on one side or the other. Back of the ribs, the buffalo will receive a dozen b.a.l.l.s without being checked.

A discharge of bullets into the hind-quarters, is worse than useless.

While trying in the most enjoyable and practical manner to kill the game, it is very necessary to escape, if possible, any injury to yourself or horse. The Frenchman's remark on tiger hunting is very apropos. "Ven ze Frenchman hunt ze tiger, it fine sport; but ven ze tiger hunt ze Frenchman, it is not so." Care should be taken to have the horse perfectly under control, when the bison stands at bay. Unless experienced in bull fighting, he does not appreciate the danger, and a sudden charge has often resulted in disembowelment.

Never dismount to approach the buffalo, unless certain that he is crippled so as to prevent rising. One that is apparently wounded unto death will often get upon his feet nimbly, and prove an ugly customer. I knew a soldier killed at Hays City in this manner--thrown several feet into the air, and fearfully torn. Recently near Cayote Station, on the Kansas Pacific Railway, a buffalo was shot from the train, and the cars were stopped to secure the meat, and gratify the pa.s.sengers. One of the latter, a stout Englishman, ran ahead of his fellows, and shook his fist in the face of the prostrate bison. The American bull did not brook such an insult from the English one, and Johnny received a terrible blow while attempting to escape. He was badly injured, and, when I saw him some time afterward, could only move on crutches.