On the Buffalo Jones Ranch

Buffalo Jones, from left, Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill. (Courtesy photo)

Some folks flee the rigors of a Nebraska winter by going to the South, to Florida or Texas. Some try the tempting climes of Arizona or Hawaii. Through a difficult set of circumstances my wife, Jean and I were forced to change our address for the winter, but instead of those favorable winter destinations, we chose to go east --to the eastern edge of McCook. After living for more than 50 years in downtown McCook, we were pleasantly surprised to find that there are parts of our fair city that were almost foreign to us.

Our winter retreat is east of Kelley Park, north of the College, quite different from the older, downtown neighborhoods. It is a beautiful area, with wooded hills and canyons, teeming with wildlife, adjacent to the Kelley Creek walking and hiking trail.

This new walking trail is very popular, and on the nice winter days we've had (and even some more typical, not-so-nice days) the trail is almost crowded with couples, and families, out for a bit of exercise. Across 6th street, in Kelley Park, the disc golfers have been out almost every day, regardless of the weather. It is good to see.

But, for me, the biggest attraction of our new location is that I find we are living on the land that once made up part of Buffalo Jones' Buffalo Ranch, the home of the last, and largest herd of buffalo in America in the 1890s. The location of Buffalo Jones' ranch is described variously as "on the Hocknell School Section No. 16, two miles northeast of the city," or between East 6th and East 11th Street, or between the Elk's Club and Willow Ridge Retirement home. It is a very nice feeling to know that as we look out to the hills just east of us, that these are the hills and canyons that Buffalo Jones chose to save the Mighty Bison from extinction.

During the time that Jones' ranch was in McCook large crowds of spectators flocked to McCook to see the buffalo. Mrs. John T. Harris (nee Suess) remembers that her mother told of being able to see dust raised by the Jones' buffalo from her home on Norris Avenue (In 1891 McCook was virtually tree-free).

There certainly were others in America who were dedicated to saving the buffalo after the widespread slaughter of these animals threatened their extinction, after the Civil War. In South Dakota, Scotty Phillips is credited with reintroducing the buffalo to Western South Dakota, and Charles Allard and Michel Pablo in Montana were successful in saving the species in their regions, but Charles "Buffalo" Jones, in Kansas, Nebraska, and later in Arizona, was probably the best known, and most successful in establishing good sized herds, earning him the title of "Preserver of the American Bison."

Jones had his ranch at McCook from 1890 to 1892. At the maximum, the McCook herd probably numbered from 70 to 85 and perhaps as many as 100, "the largest herd of buffalo left on earth."

In 2009, much is made of the export of Nebraska beef to European and Asian markets, and Gov. Heinemann is tireless in promoting new markets for Nebraska beef. But back in the 1890s Buffalo Jones was equally diligent in his efforts to find markets for his buffalo. He boasted of the softness and warmth of socks, blankets, and material made from buffalo fur, of which buffalo "produced an astonishingly large amount annually."

In 1892 Jones dispersed his herd of McCook buffalo to Chicago, where the animals were "star attractions" of the Columbian Exhibition, marking Columbus' voyage to the new world. But before that time, in 1891, Jones opened the European market for his Nebraska bison, when he shipped 10 head of his McCook herd to a wealthy English nobleman, C.J. Leland, in Liverpool, England.

Jones had arranged for the sale of the 10 buffalo to Mr. Leland for "a fabulous price" -- good enough so that Jones, with his chief hired man, Wayne Boor, accompanied the shipment themselves, on the 10,000-mile round trip, five-week journey, to ensure their safe arrival. It is good that Jones and Boor did accompany their buffalo from McCook.

Five pair of full-grown buffalo were quite easily loaded onto rail cars in McCook on Oct. 19, 1891, bound for New York. Easterners were intrigued by anything connected with the "Wild West," and the arrival of the buffalo had been covered by the New York press, and large crowds were expected to be on the docks to see the strange creatures.

To avoid the crowds, which Jones believed would distract his buffalo, he arranged that they be transported at 4 a.m. on Oct. 28, 1891, from their pens on the shore to the ship, Runic. Electric lights (brand new in 1891) were provided, which helped the workers, but excited the buffalo. Adding to the difficulties were 200 head of cattle, already on the ship, which were bellowing at high volume.

One hundred longshoremen, armed with clubs, lined the specially constructed gangplanks (sideboards six feet high, two feet thick). Five bison had been safely loaded, but a sixth animal proved stubborn and refused to ascend the gangplank, even with 100 longshoremen beating him with clubs. Jones leaped into the fray, but even his clubbing only managed to enrage the big bull bison. Finally the large beast reared up on his hind legs and jumped over the sideboards and back onto the dock. Immediately 100 longshoremen left the scene and took cover, leaving Jones and Boor alone to subdue the infuriated bull buffalo.

What followed was an intense game of "hide and seek," as the buffalo ran hither and yon, among the boxes, cotton bales, and other items of cargo on the dock. Among these other items was a large case, containing a piano. Somehow, the bull broke through the piano case, striking dissonant piano chords, from low, all the way to high C.

After about an hour of buffalo chase, one fellow managed to close a large gate, keeping the buffalo off the rail tracks, into a makeshift corral. One by one the dock workers and longshoremen crept from their hiding places and came to Jones' aid. "Slowly the circle of armed men grew smaller, while Jones stood on the outside swinging his lariat over his head ... The beast sprang to his feet and cleared the knot of men who were closing on him with ropes, and made a lunge for an open door, which would have landed him in the water had not the noose of Jones' lariat fallen over his head, and 50 men seized the other end, and with other ropes bound him, and on two hand trucks, took him down into the hold of the ship, where the other buffalo had been safely caged in big, specially built stalls. It cost Jones $20 a head to ship his buffalo to England, but he returned from England with orders for 50 more."

Hired man, Wayne Boor and all the buffalo got terribly seasick on the trip. Waves came over the buffalo sheds, soaking the animals, nearly freezing them. When Jones complained to the Captain of the Runic, some old tarps were provided, to cover the sheds and offer some protection to the animals from the elements.

Wayne Boor and the buffalo finally became accustomed to the movements of the ship and Wayne and all of the buffalo finished the trip in good shape.

McCook's Buffalo Jones was warmly received by the English people when he arrived in Liverpool. He was the darling of the British press, who dubbed him, "Charles Jesse Jones, The Buffalo King."

Source: We're indebted to Linda Hein, who gleaned back copies of the McCook Tribune for the years, 1890-1892. Her detailed and entertaining story of Buffalo Jones appeared in her column, "On Main Street" in the McCook Gazette in 2002.