Tales From Buffalo Land. The Story of George “W” Newton (Old-time Buffalo Hunter of Dakota and Montana).

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Memoir of Dakota Territory buffalo hunter George “W” Newton based on interviews of Newton by Usher L. Burdick, Congressman and eighth lieutenant governor of of North Dakota. Newton provides a vivid description of a buffalo hunt:

When an actual killing would begin, the hunters would take a position where the wind was blowing directly from the herd to the hunters to avoid any chance of the presence of the hunters being detected by the sense of smell of the buffalo. Being thus properly located the next prerequisite was dexterity of the marksmen in properly shooting the buffalo. For example, if the first shots would wound the animal he would stampede and with him would disappear the entire herd. By dexterious [sic] marksmanship, however, the buffalo was either shot through the heart or liver and instead of stampeding would become sick and immediately lie down and by this method the balance of the herd would not be disturbed. In the very early buffalo days, the firearms used were usually Sharps rifles of .45-70 caliber, but these rifles were slow in effect and it sometimes took several shots to reach the vital spot, and larger guns came into use. ... The hunter, of course, endeavored at the beginning of the shoot to fell the leader of the herd, which was usually a huge buffalo bull. The highest number of buffalo killed by Mr. Newton in any one stand was sixty… After the killing had been completed the skinners would come on the field and procure the hides and spread them up on the prairie where they would dry in the sun. When dry they were stacked up a good deal like shingles and kept until the buyers came through on their annual purchase trip. (pp15–16)

A native of Philadelphia, Newton went West at the age of 14, eventually moving to Dakota Territory in 1874, though not settling there until 1878. Includes some discussion of the Sioux Indians and the “Vigilantes” of Montana, members of the Montana Stranglers organization of horse and cattle thieves: “With the Vigilantes of which so much has been written, perhaps Newton came in closer contact and had a better opportunity to observe theor action than anyone else in the West by reason of his acquaintance with some of the leaders.” (p20)

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