The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, July 1960 - April, 1961 Page: 278
574 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Anglo-American hide hunters. The migratory trail habits of the
buffalo are explained in some detail, as are the uses to which
Indians and whites put the animal. In telling of the fall of the
bison, the writer displays a frankness of words which is refresh-
ing. The seventeen sketches by artist Nick Eggenhofer add dis-
tinctly to the feeling of reality, as do the ten additional drawings
and six photographs which are included.
Gard has included an interesting chapter on buffalo hunting
as a sport in which he tells of visits to the American plains by
American writer Washington Irving and the Russian Grand Duke
Alexis. The author is perhaps at his best as he relates how the
grand duke, accompanied by such notables as General Philip H.
Sheridan, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, and William F.
(Buffalo Bill) Cody, journeyed to the valley of the Platte River
in 1872 for the hunt. The effort was a success, and Alexis re-
turned to his special train a satisfied man. The grand duke was
so pleased with buffalo hunting that a second chase was sched-
uled near Kit Carson, Colorado, and it, too, was a rousing suc-
cess. Gard points clearly to the fact that even though the stories
of those who hunted buffalo for sport are interesting, their tales
had little bearing on the removal of the "shaggies" from the
North American plains.
The major portion of the book is devoted to the hunters who
killed buffalo for the financial returns they could reap from the
venture. In the pre-Civil War years hunting was accomplished
mainly for the meat and robes which could be obtained. After
the war and largely through the efforts of two brothers, J. Wright
and John Mooar, the value of dried or flint hides to tanneries
was recognized. Starting in 1870, hunters swarmed over the plains,
first in Kansas and later in Texas, to blaze the final chapter in
the history of the buffalo. Gard devotes approximately equal
space to the erasure of the great herds on the north and south
plains, and he does not neglect to point out the important place
held by the Sharps rifles in this struggle. As the plains Indians
saw their commissary being destroyed, they became more and
more rebellious. Gard gives interesting and detailed accounts of
the retaliatory efforts made by the red men, and the attack on
Adobe Walls in 1874 is not overlooked for the Anglo-Americans
won an important victory at that place.278
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, July 1960 - April, 1961, periodical, 1961; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101190/m1/310/?rotate=270: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.