the buffaloes commenced to move, the uneasiness would

increase. As the herd started, the leader would shout. Every

horse would spring forward. All had to start, for no horse
could be restrained. Bridles were let go, guns brought into
position and the wild cavalry bore down on the fleeing herd.
After the first shots were delivered, the hunter reloaded his
gun while his horse was at full speed and in firing, care was
taken not to raise the breach higher than the muzzle least the
ball should roll out, but as the rider generally was only a few
feet from the animal that he wished to shoot there was no
need to raise the gun to the shoulder. Sometimes a single
hunter would shoot four or five buffaloes during the chase.
The larger the drove the better chance there was for the
hunter as the animals in advance retarded the progress of

those in the rear where the attack was taking place. The cows
and young bulls were not killed unless by accident or when
game was scarce. On the occasion of the great hunt, the carts
were loaded with pemmican, tongues and skins of the buffalo. When the hunter had dropped an animal at some
distance from his comrades, or from camp, the horse was
tied to the head of the buffalo while its master was engaged
in skinning the beast that had been killed. During the continuance of the great hunt on the Souris Plains which lasted
for many weeks, the food of the hunters was meat and
nothing else. The next season the buffalo herds had moved
far to the west and never again returned in great numbers to
the Souris Plains.

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Pictograph showing the last buffalo hunt. The original made on heavy canvas, 56" x 8'6", in 1906 by Roger St. Pieree, Dunseith,
N.D. Photo credit: State Historical Society of North Dakota.
WHEN FURS WERE THE HARVEST OF THE REGION
When Minnesota became a territory in 1849, that portion of
North Dakota which lies between the Missouri and White-

earth rivers extending to the International boundary line was

included. In 1851, the legislative assembly of Minnesota
divided the entire territory into nine counties, one of which
was Pembina.
For several generations the half-breed sons of French,
Scotch, and English traders had been hunting and trapping in
Pembina. Their carefree nomadic life on lands believed to be
their rightful inheritance from Indian mothers, caused them
little, if any, concern over boundaries. Wherever the buffalo
roamed, they followed. In summer they criss-crossed the
prairie with ponies and carts; in winter a sheltered spot in
wooded range or a hut near some trader's fort met all the
requirements for comfort.
As competition increased, traders set up temporary huts
for collecting the spoils of the hunt wherever business looked
promising. It is claimed there were many such establishments in the Turtle Mountains during the later half of the
nineteenth century. Joe Rolette, Norman Kittson, Charles
Grant, and Charles Bottineau, also mixed-bloods and kinsmen of many of the h u n t e r s , enjoyed a lucrative trade at
their forts on the Pembina and Red Rivers. Their territory,
extending from Mouse River to the Lake of the Woods,
(10)