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The discovery of the American bison, as first made by Europeans,
occurred in the menagerie of a heathen king.
In the year 1521, when Cortez reached Anahuac, the American bison
was seen for the first time by civilized Europeans, if we may be
permitted to thus characterize the horde of blood thirsty plunder
seekers who fought their way to the Aztec capital. With a degree of
enterprise that marked him as an enlightened monarch, Montezuma
maintained, for the instruction of his people, a well-appointed
menagerie, of which the historian De Solis wrote as follows (1724):
"In the second Square of the same House were the Wild Beasts, which
were either presents to Montezuma, or taken by his Hunters, in
strong Cages of Timber, rang'd in good Order, and under Cover:
Lions, Tygers, Bears, and all others of the savage Kind which
New-Spain produced; among which the greatest Rarity was the Mexican
Bull; a wonderful composition of divers Animals. It has crooked
Shoulders, with a Bunch on its Back like a Camel; its Flanks dry,
its Tail large, and its Neck cover'd with Hair like a Lion. It is
cloven footed, its Head armed like that of a Bull, which it
resembles in Fierceness, with no less strength and Agility."
Thus was the first seen buffalo described. The nearest locality from
whence it could have come was the State of Coahuila, in northern
Mexico, between 400 and 500 miles away, and at that time vehicles
were unknown to the Aztecs. But for the destruction of the whole
mass of the written literature of the Aztecs by the priests of the
Spanish Conquest, we might now be reveling in historical accounts of
the bison which would make the oldest of our present records seem of
comparatively recent date.
Nine years after the event referred to above, or in 1530, another
Spanish explorer, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza, afterwards called Cabeza de
Vaca-or, in other words "Cattle Cabeza," the prototype of our own
distinguished "Buffalo Bill"-was wrecked on the Gulf coast, west of
the delta of the Mississippi, from whence he wandered westward
through what is now the State of Texas. In southeastern Texas he
discovered the American bison on his native heath. So far as can be
ascertained, this was the earliest discovery of the bison in a wild
state, and the description of the species as recorded by the
explorer is of historical interest. It is brief and superficial. The
unfortunate explorer took very little interest in animated nature,
except as it contributed to the sum of his daily food, which was
then the all-important subject of his thoughts. He almost starved.
This is all he has to say:1
"Cattle come as far as this. I have seen them three times, and eaten
of their meat. I think they are about the size of those in Spain.
They have small horns like those of Morocco, and the hair long and
flocky, like that of the merino. Some are light brown (pardillas)
and others black. To my judgment the flesh is finer and sweeter than
that of this country [Spain]. The Indians make blankets of those
that are not full grown, and of the larger they make shoes and
bucklers. They come as far as the sea-coast of Florida [now Texas],
and in a direction from the north, and range over a district of more
than 400 leagues. In the whole extent of plain over which they roam,
the people who live bordering upon it descend and kill them for
food, and thus a great many skins are scattered throughout the
country."
Coronado was the next explorer who penetrated the country of the
buffalo, which he accomplished from the west, by way of Arizona and
New Mexico. He crossed the southern part of the "Pan-handle" of
Texas, to the edge of what is now the Indian Territory, and returned
through the same region. It was in the year 1542 that he reached the
buffalo country, and traversed the plains that were "full of crooke-backed
oxen, as the mountaine Serena in Spaine is of sheepe." This is the
description of the animal as recorded by one of his followers,
Castañeda, and translated by W. W. Davis:2
"The first time we encountered the buffalo, all the
horses took to flight on seeing them, for they are
horrible to the sight.
"They have a broad and short face, eyes two palms from
each other, and projecting in such a manner sideways
that they can see a pursuer. Their beard is like that of
goats, and so long that it drags the ground when they
lower the head. They have, on the anterior portion of
the body, a frizzled hair like sheep's wool; it is very
fine upon the croup, and sleek like a lion's mane. Their
horns are very short and thick, and can scarcely be seen
through the hair. They always change their hair in May,
and at this season they really resemble lions. To make
it drop more quickly, for they change it as adders do
their skins, they roll among the brush-wood which they
find in the ravines.
"Their tail is very short, and terminates in a great
tuft. When they run they carry it in the air like
scorpions. When quite young they are tawny, and resemble
our calves; but as age increases they change color and
form.
"Another thing which struck us was that all the old
buffaloes that we killed had the left ear cloven, while
it was entire in the young; we could never discover the
reason of this.
"Their wool is so fine that handsome clothes would
certainly be made of it, but it can not be dyed for it
is tawny red. We were much surprised at sometimes
meeting innumerable herds of bulls without a single cow,
and other herds of cows without bulls." |
Neither De Soto, Ponce de Leon, Vasquez de Ayllon, nor Pamphilo
de Narvaez ever saw a buffalo, for the reason that all their
explorations were made south of what was then the habitat of that
animal. At the time De Soto made his great exploration from Florida
northwestward to the Mississippi and into Arkansas (1539-'41) he did
indeed pass through country in northern Mississippi and Louisiana
that was afterward inhabited by the buffalo, but at that time not
one was to be found there. Some of his soldiers, however, who were
sent into the northern part of Arkansas, reported having seen
buffalo skins in the possession of the Indians, and were told that
live buffaloes were to be found 5 or 6 leagues north of their
farthest point.
The earliest discovery of the bison in Eastern North America, or
indeed anywhere north of Coronado's route, was made somewhere near
Washington, District of Columbia, in 1612, by an English navigator
named Samuel Argoll,3 and
narrated as follows:
| "As soon as I had unladen this corne, I set my men
to the felling of Timber, for the building of a Frigat,
which I had left half finished at Point Comfort, the 19.
of March: and returned myself with the ship into
Pembrook [Potomac] River, and so discovered to the head
of it, which is about 65 leagues into the Land, and
navigable for any ship. And then marching into the
Countrie, I found great store of Cattle as big as Kine,
of which the Indians that were my guides killed a
couple, which we found to be very good and wholesome
meate, and are very easie to be killed, in regard they
are heavy, slow, and not so wild as other beasts of the
wildernesse." |
It is to be regretted that the narrative of the explorer affords
no clew to the precise locality of this interesting discovery, but
since it is doubtful that the mariner journeyed very far on foot
from the head of navigation of the Potomac, it seems highly probable
that the first American bison seen by Europeans, other than the
Spaniards, was found within 15 miles, or even less, of the capital
of the United States, and possibly within the District of Columbia
itself.
The first meeting of the white man with the buffalo on the northern
boundary of that animal's habitat occurred in 1679, when Father
Hennepin ascended the St. Lawrence to the great lakes, and finally
penetrated the great wilderness as far as western Illinois.
The next meeting with the buffalo on the Atlantic slope was in
October, 1729, by a party of surveyors under Col. William Byrd, who
were engaged in surveying the boundary between North Carolina and
Virginia.
As the party journeyed up from the coast, marking the line which
now constitutes the interstate boundary, three buffaloes were seen
on Sugar-Tree Creek, but none of them were killed.
On the return journey, in November, a bull buffalo was killed on
Sugar-Tree Creek, which is in Halifax County, Virginia, within 5
miles of Big Buffalo Creek; longitude 78° 40' W., and 155 miles from
the coast.4 "It was found
all alone, tho' Buffaloes Seldom are." The meat is spoken of as "a
Rarity," not met at all on the expedition up. The animal was found
in thick woods, which were thus feelingly described: "The woods were
thick great Part of this Day's Journey, so that we were forced to
scuffle hard to advance 7 miles, being equal in fatigue to double
that distance of Clear and Open Ground." One of the creeks which the
party crossed was christened Buffalo Creek, and "so named from the
frequent tokens we discovered of that American Behemoth."
In October, 1733, on another surveying expedition, Colonel Byrd's
party had the good fortune to kill another buffalo near Sugar-Tree
Creek, which incident is thus described:5
| "We pursued our journey thro' uneven and perplext
woods, and in the thickest of them had the Fortune to
knock down a Young Buffalo 2 years old. Providence threw
this vast animal in our way very Seasonably, just as our
provisions began to fail us. And it was the more
welcome, too, because it was change of dyet, which of
all Varietys, next to that of Bed-fellows, is the most
agreeable. We had lived upon Venison and Bear till our
stomachs loath'd them almost as much as the Hebrews of
old did their Quails. Our Butchers were so unhandy at
their Business that we grew very lank before we cou'd
get our Dinner. But when it came, we found it equal in
goodness to the best Beef. They made it the longer
because they kept Sucking the Water out of the Guts in
imitation of the Catauba Indians, upon the belief that
it is a great Cordial, and will even make them drunk, or
at least very Gay." |
A little later a solitary bull buffalo was found, but spared,6
the earliest instance of the kind on record, and which had few
successors to keep it company.
This site includes some historical
materials that may imply negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language
of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the
historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in
any way endorse the stereotypes implied.
Source:
The
Extermination of the American Bison,
1886-’87, By William T. Hornaday, Government Printing Office,
Washington, 1889
Extermination of the American Bison
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