Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1895 — A BUFFALO FARM. [ARTICLE]

A BUFFALO FARM.

RAISING THE NEARLY EXTINCT ANIMAL FOR PROFIT. Montana Contains tha Only Domiiticated Hard in tha Country* - Cross-Bred Buffaloes. Montana is the home of many strange geological and agricultural wonders, but none more so than that of the only herd of domesticated buffaloes in this country. Ravalli is located upon the edge of the old Flathead Indian Reservation, and can be reached by the Northern Pacific, from Helena, in half a day’s ride. It is a thriving and enterprising place in a most picturesque part of the country, and in the summer time many tourists get off there to inspect the herd of buffaloes owned by Mr. Chas. Allard and Marchiel Pablo. Scientists and representatives of museums frequently drop off here and try to buy buffaloes to ship east, and one day the leader of a traveling circus tried to bargain for the whole herd. As there are nearly 200 in in the herd, and the price for buffaloes is advancing rapidly every year, this enterprising showman did not realize the sum of money he would have required for the purchase. A good buffalo hide is worth SIOO today, and a mounted head all the way from S2OO to $500; but what a whole buffalo would cost it is difficult to say. The owers of the herd are not selling to-day; they are breeding for the future. Letters pour in upon them from all parts of the country asking them their price for from one to a dozen buffaloes

“But we are not selling any buffalo,” says Charles Allard, “for the reason that we need them all at present. They will not be put upon the market for several years yet. Museums, parks and shows are constantly making efforts to get them in quantities, and though we might dispose of one or two singly we have no pairs to sell. We will have altogether about 200 by this fall.” Two years ago this herd consisted of 82 animals, and was then located at omaha, and was known as the Jones herd. Allard paid SIB,OOO for them, and removed them to Montana, where they are kept on a large range. Later Marchiel Pablo, a well known cattle merchant, went into partnership with Allard, and the two have conducted the buffalo farm between them ever since. During the present summer a party of scientists and travelers visited the herd, and they enjoyed something rarely tasted In these days, a steak of buffalo. An accident had made it possible for them to try this tempting morsel, and everyone pronounced it more delicious than any steak ever put upon the market, and buffalo meat in time may become a rare product of our markets. When the animals are bred in sufficient numbers they will be killed gradually for their hides and heads, and the meat alone will bring a good sum to the owners. Buffaloes crossed with domestic cattle make fine meat for table use also; some fine specimens here crossed with polled Angus stock are wonders to the strangers. They are all large and magnificent animals, and the fur is finer and closer than that of the pure buffalo. The cross breeds yield very valuable robes and in many ways retain the looks and characteristics of their wild projenltors. Cross-bred buffaloes may yet roam over the country in herds and infuse new blood into our domesticated stock .giving them the strength and vitality so much needed in the West to withstand the storms and blizzards. The domesticated buffaloes and the cross-breeds defy the severest storms and they face them every time. While horses and cows will be driven before the storms for many miles the buffaloes simply stand still with their breast toward the wind and wait until it has abated. Then they will hunt around where the snow is thinnest and search for food. Their thick, shaggy coats appear to be water-proof and cold-proof. As soon as a storm approaches the herd bunches together and form a wedge, with the well protected head of the oldest bull at the apex. In this way the weakest cows and calves are sheltered by the more hardy animals.

The domesticated herd has lost much of the natural wildness of tbe untamed buffaloes, and they feed quietly within the range not far from human spectators; but their instincts are the same, and it is an interesting study to watch them as they graze on the rich grass. The report of a rifle near by invariably startles them and they rush across the field in true buffalo style, giving you an idea of what kind of death awaited one who happened to be in their way. The animals ape trusty to a certain extent, but it needs an experienced cowboy to handle them when the bulls are around. These animals, though not so fierce as the Spanish bull reared for the arena, are more savage and determined when drawn into battle. If placed in the arena with a Spanish bull, a wild buffalo would come out victor every time, if one can judge of his fighting qualities out here in the native wilds. His head is as hard as a rock, and nothing short of a cannon ball could make an impression upon it. The shaggy hair acts as a thick pad to most of the head and protects the eyes and brain so that a rifle ball could not penetrate through hair and hide unless it happened to strike at a peculiar angle. “This herd is the only one in this country of any size,” explained the head of the valuable herd stock, “although there is a small one in the Texas Panhandle. There are quite a number of wild ones in the Yellowstone Park, too, and there may be a few scattered around in the West. 1 These, however, are scattered over immense ranges, and hidden in almost inaccessible places. In 1888 the northern herd of wild buffaloes contained about 10,000 head, and were located between the Black Hills and Bismarck. But during that summer so many hunters. Indians and white men, surrounded the herd that by October the number was reduced to 1,200. Then Sitting Bull’s band arrived at Standing Rock Agency, and in a few days there wasn’t a hoof to be found in the whole region. Occasionally one is stumbled upon, but it is a very rare thing. They are literally exterminated. Long before

this southern herd had been killed off by the Indians and white hunters, and the destruction of the northern herd completed the whole business. This is why the American : buffalo is becoming an animal of 1 great curiosity to most people."