Edmonton Journal

Albertans join controvers­ial final hunt of wild buffalo

Although 25 hunters sign up, U.S. ultimately puts stop to Montana cull

- CHRIS ZDEB czdeb@edmontonjo­urnal.com To read more stories from the series This Day in Journal History, go to edmontonjo­urnal.com/ history

The final hunt of wild buffalo on the North American prairies was to take place in Montana in November “to kill off 20 to 30 of the ferocious animals” ( bulls) that had eluded capture during three roundups, the Journal reported.

The event, arranged by Howard Douglas, Dominion (Canadian) commission­er of parks, was to be held under the direction of Michael Pablo and his Mexican cowboys on his ranch, which is where the Dominion government earlier had bought 702 buffalo for $130,000. The herd was being held in captivity in Buffalo Park, 414 square kilometres of land adjacent to Wainwright. Former president Theodore Roosevelt first proposed the United States government buy the herd, but the purchase was turned down by Congress.

The old bulls needed to be hunted and killed because they were interferin­g with the roundup of 60 more buffalo to be sent to Wainwright, the story said.

The hunt was open to up to 25 people with rifles and ammunition, who could pay their railway fare to the Montana ranch. Everyone who killed a buffalo would have to pay $250 to have it properly skinned and the head and robe salted and prepared for shipment.

Within two days, Alberta hunters, mostly from Edmonton and Calgary, had filled all the available spots.

“The hunt will be a most spectacula­r wind-up to a most spectacula­r deal,” the story said. “Probably, never again will a buffalo hunt be possible in this part of the world. Besides privately owned buffalo in the northern states, the only other buffalo in existence in the Western Hemisphere still running at large, are the wood buffalo running at large near Great Slave Lake, which are being protected by the RCMP.”

Charles Russell, the noted artist and painter of western scenes, an- nounced he would attend the hunt to paint several pictures of the buffalo and scenes of the hunt.

The hunt had to be postponed when the United States federal game authoritie­s claimed it violated U.S. game laws because the buffalo had been ranging on government leased land, which meant they came under government control, insofar as killing them was concerned.

Other protests came in from Montana after reports that Douglas was coming down with “25 Canadian friends” to slaughter the remainder of the Pablo herd.

For weeks the issue went back and forth until Nov. 21, when the Montana government, which had done nothing to stop the sale of the larger herd, confiscate­d the remaining animals, including the buffalo that were still owed Canada. Pablo said he would spend $20,000 (equal to $490,000 in 2015) to fight the government in court.

According to the state’s attorney general, not only did Pablo have no right to kill any of the herd, he had no right to sell any of the animals to the Canadian government that had already been relocated to Wainwright. State authoritie­s said they would prevent the sale of the balance of the herd to Canada.

Probably, never again will a buffalo hunt be possible in this part of the world.

 ??  ?? This postcard shows buffalo at a park near Wainwright in 1910. Canada had bought the herd from a Montana rancher, who was going to allow people to kill bulls that were making roundup of the rest of the herd difficult.
This postcard shows buffalo at a park near Wainwright in 1910. Canada had bought the herd from a Montana rancher, who was going to allow people to kill bulls that were making roundup of the rest of the herd difficult.

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