BOOKS BY GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL
Published by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
The Wolf Hunters. Illustrated.
12mo, net $1.35
Blackfeet Indian Stories. Illustrated.
12mo, net $1.00
Beyond the Old Frontier. Illustrated.
12mo, net $1.50
Trails of the Pathfinders. Illustrated.
12mo, net $1.50
Blackfoot Lodge Tales. The Story
of a Prairie People. 12mo, net $1.75
Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales.
Illustrated, 12mo, net $1.75
THE WOLF HUNTERS
"Then come a puff of smoke and the prairie was afire."
[Page 237]
THE
WOLF HUNTERS
A STORY OF THE BUFFALO PLAINS
EDITED AND ARRANGED
FROM THE MANUSCRIPT ACCOUNT OF
ROBERT M. PECK
BY
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL
Illustrated
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK:::::::::::::::::::::1914
Copyright, 1914, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published September, 1914
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
In the days of the buffalo, wolfing was a recognizedindustry. Small parties—two or moremen—with team, saddle-horses, and camp outfit,used to go out into the buffalo range, establish acamp, and spend the winter there, killing buffaloand poisoning the carcasses with strychnine. Thewolves that fed on these carcasses died aboutthem, and their pelts were taken to camp, to bestretched and dried.
The work was hard and not without its dangers.Storms were frequent, and often very severe,and the Indians were bitterly opposed tothe operations of these wolf hunters, who killedgreat numbers of buffalo for wolf baits, as well aselk, antelope, deer, and other smaller animals.On the other hand, in winter the Indians did notusually travel about very much.
The following pages describe the adventures ofMr. Peck and two companions—all recently dischargedsoldiers—during the winter of 1861-1862.
Robert Morris Peck was born in Washington,Mason County, Kentucky, October 30, 1839. Atthe age of seventeen—November, 1856—he enlisted[Pg vi]in the First Cavalry, and the following yearwas sent to Fort Leavenworth and took part inthe Cheyenne and other campaigns. He was dischargedin 1861, and not very long afterwardbecame a wagon-master, in which capacity heserved in the army of the frontier. Mr. Peckdied March 25, 1909.
G. B. G.
July, 1914.