The buffaloes were nomadic, wandering in search of pasturage. and certain annual migra tory movements took place under the influence of regional or seasonal changes in forage or weather. In such movements they swain large rivers fear lessly, and climbed mountains or made their way over rough ground with amazing agility. As a rule, however, they chose the easiest routes, and their trails were excellent guides to both travelers and engineers. One great defect in their ehaf acter was their liability to panic, when the whole herd would rush headlong into a bog or over a precipice, taking no heed of the fate of those in front.
The Indians of the open inferior region sub sisted mainly upon the buffalo, and were able to retain their independence as long as it was numerous. The flesh was excellent beef. and was sun-dried in vast quantities for transporta tion; and the hides served as material for lodges, winter clothing, harness, boats (in the form of coracles on the Missouri), shields, etc. Various uses were found for the sinews, bones, and horns, while the dung or `chips' formed the fuel of the plains. The Indians hunted it in companies, usually mounted, but sometimes ou foot, or on snow-shoes, when various stratagems were em ployed to aid them. The simple chase on horse back was most exciting and perilous. \Then large amounts of meat were desired for winter stores, or for making pemmican, pounds were constructed, with guiding fences. At the en trance to the trap or inelosure a sudden pitch, natural or dug, would compel the animals to leap down, whence they could not return and could easily be slaughtered. This was feasible only in a somewhat wooded region. Another
method was for a party of men to ride round and round a herd until they were crowded into a bewildered, stationary mass, and then kill them at leisure. White men at first hunted the buffalo for food, and thousands were recklessly killed for the sake of a single slice from the hump or a tongue. Their hides early became an article of commerce, and the Indians were encouraged to procure them for the traders. To this there was added, from about 1860 onward, an army of white hide-hunters, who made a business of fol lowing and ruthlessly slaughtering the animals, and succeeded so well that careful estimates show that on the average 2,000,000 hides a year were sent to market between the years 1865 and 1875. For these they received on the average no more than $1, out of which sundry expenses must be paid. Subsequently, as the product diminished, prices rose, but never very greatly, and robes continued to sell up to 1890, in Eastern cities, for from $15 to $40. and the few remaining are not greatly advanced in price.
A great number of poor hides were tanned for leather, but it was porous and of no great value. 'rile coarse fleece has been spun, and small quan tities of it have been made into a soft cloth used for gloves, ete.—a service certain Indians found for it prehistorically. The early settlers in the Mississippi Valley looked upon the hutrnio as likely to prove domestieable and of great. service: but although easily subjugated when taken young, it has not proved docile and of practical use, nor have the hybrids frequently produced between it and domestic cattle shown such quali ties as make them desirable. See article on