Excerpt from The American Bison: Its Habits, Method of Capture and Economic Use in the North-West, With Reference to Its Threatened Extinction and Possible PreservationBut any extended reference to the oft-described Red River plain-hunt, its organiza tion, rules and methods, does not enter into the scope of this article, in which I seek to. Place on record facts less generally known, and features and incidents which are illustrative rather than striking in themselves. The oddest feature of the plain-hunt was the variety of weapons it called into play and its most interesting incidents the presence of mind and quickness of perception exhibited by the hunters in emergencies. The most antiquated fire-arms, mended and re-mended for generations by the ingenious Indians, or Metis, until all identity with the originals was completely lost, figured in the scene in company in latter days with ancient pistols and modern revolvers, the Sharp, the Ballard and the Henry repeater. The lance, which was simply a scalping knife warped with sinew to the end of a pole, or the knife alone, was used at close quarters. But the favourite weapon, particularly of the plain Indian, was the bow and arrow. It did not drive the animals frantic like firearms, and was even more deadly and much safer. The bow was about four feet and a quarter long and was made of the osage orange in the south, but of the choke-cherry in the north, a wood which is as tough as English yew.

It was wound along its entire length with sinew, and strung with the same, and when drawn by a strong man, has been known to drive the arrow clean through a buffalo and into another. The arrow was half the length of the bow, and was made from the saskatoon.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition.

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