The Prairie Detective — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE PRAIRIE DETECTIVE. - CHAPTER I. THE BUFFALO HUNTER. As late as 1859 the vast prairies of Western Kan- sas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming furnished employment for hundreds of hardy men who gained their livelihood by the use of rifle and trap. Millions of buffaloes grazed upon the nutritious grasses; herds of antelopes, graceful and fleet of foot, dotted the soft undulations; great numbers of coyotes or prairie wolves, slinking from sight by day, and howling dismally by night, lived upon the carcasses of the sick and wounded animals which, falline exhausted from their places in the ranks, were left behind by their companions to die; myriads — of smaller animals, whose skins were marketable, helped to attract the hunters. But the main feature of Western life at that pe- riod was buffalo hunting. There was an eager de- mand for all the peltries that could be taken, and the sport of hunting the huge prairie monarchs, made the profession thoroughly enjoyable to those wild and venturesome spirits of the frontier. (ae) comicbhooks