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World Regional
Geography A Short Introduction

John Rennie Short

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

New York   Oxford  

OXFORD UNIVERISTY PRESS

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 viii Contents

Environmental Transformations 45
Demographic Holocaust 45
Sugar, Slaves, and the Atlantic Economy 45
Economic Transformations 46
From Colonial to Postcolonial Economies 46
The Emergence of Manufacturing 46
Tourism 47
Toward a More Service-Based Economy 47
Social Geographies 48
Demographics 48
A Melting Pot 48
The Languages of Aruba 48
Garifuna 48
Religion 48
Rural Focus 49
Land Grabs 49
Urban Trends 49
Informal Urbanism 49
Urban Primacy 49
City Focus: Mexico City 50
Geopolitics 51
Colonial Legacy 51
The Role of the United States 51
Boundary Disputes 52
Connections 52
The Panama Canal 52
Migration and Remittances 53
Subregions 54
Mexico: The Giant of Central America 55
Central American Republics 56
Troubled Nations 56
A New Canal 57
Stable Nations 58
Island Nations of the Caribbean 58
Cuba 58
The Contrast Between the Dominican
Republic and Haiti 60
The Lesser Antilles 60
Focus: Cocaine Capitalism, the Narco Economy,
and the Narco State 61
Focus: The Real Pirates of the Caribbean 63
Select Bibliography 63
Learning Outcomes 65

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 Contents ix

4 South America 66
ea
bean S Caracas
Carib
Georgetown
Paramaribo

Learning Objectives 66
COLOMBIA VENEZUELA Cayenne
GUYANA French
Bogotá Guiana (Fr.)
Quito SURINAME
ECUADOR
A M A Z O N B A S I N

The Environmental Context 68

Galápagos Is.
(Ec.)
PERU
BRAZIL
Lima
BOLIVIA
La Paz
Brasília
The Backbone of the Andes 68
PARAGUAY

PACIFIC
OCEAN
Asunción
São Paulo Rio de Janeiro Amazonia 68
E S

El Niño and La Niña 69

D
A N

CHILE
URUGUAY
Santiago

Juan Fernández Is.

(Chile)
ARGENTINA
Buenos
Aires Montevideo
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Historical Geographies 69
The Pre-Columbian World 69
PATA G O N I A

The Columbian Encounter 70

Economic Transformations 70
Falkland Is.
Neoliberalism 71
Poverty Reduction 71
(U.K.)

Tierra del
Fuego

0 250
250

25 50
0

500
5 Mile
500

Kilometers
00 Kilo
Ki
i mete
m ers
r
Miles
iless
Social Geographies 72
Population Differences 72
Indigenous Peoples 72
Blacks 73
Whites 73
Fluid Categories 73
Religion 74
The Demographic Dividend 74
Rural Focus 75
Extending the Agricultural Frontier into the Amazon 75
Urban Trends 75
An Urbanized Realm 75
Unequal Cities 76
Urban Primacy 76
City Focus: Rio-São Paulo, South America’s Megacity 78
Geopolitics 78
Imperial Legacies 78
Emerging Nationalism and Pan-Nationalisms 79
International Tensions 79
The Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas 79
Intranational Conflicts 80
Connections 81
Commodity Booms and Busts 81
Subregions 81
Gran Colombia: Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela 81
The Andean Arc: Bolivia, Chile, and Peru 83
The Land of the Pampas: Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay 84
The South American Giant: Brazil 86
Fragments of Empires: Guyana, Suriname, and Guiana 87
Focus: The Galápagos 88
Select Bibliography 89
Learning Outcomes 90

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 x Contents

5 Europe 92
Learning Objectives 92
ICELAND
Reykjavik FINLAND
NORWAY SWEDEN
Helsinki
Oslo
North Stockholm Tallinn ESTONIA

The Environmental Context 92

Sea DENMARK
Riga
LATVIA
UNITED Copenhagen RUSSIA
IRELAND KINGDOM LITHUANIA
Dublin Vilnius Minsk
NETHERLANDS GERMANY
London POLAND BELARUS
Amsterdam
Berlin
Warsaw
Brussels BELGIUM

Seismic Activity 92
ATLANTIC LUX.
Prague
Kiev
Luxembourg CZECHIA SLOVAKIA UKRAINE
OCEAN Paris LIECHTENSTEIN
Vienna Bratislava
SWITZERLAND Budapest
AUSTRIA MOLDOVA
Bay of FRANCE Bern
SLOVENIA HUNGARY
P S Chisinau

Physical Landscapes 93
Biscay
A L
Ljubljana Zagreb
CROATIA SERBIA ROMANIA
SAN BOSNIA & Bucharest
ANDORRA Belgrade
PY MARINO HERZEGOVINA
RE MONACO
ITALY Sarajevo
NEE MONTENEGRO
KOS.
BULGARIA Black Sea
PORTUGAL Madrid S Corsica
(FRANCE)
VATICAN
Pristina

The European Anthropocene 94

CITY Podgorica Sofia
Rome Tirana Skopje
Lisbon N. MACEDONIA
SPAIN Balearic Islands Sardinia ALBANIA
(SPAIN) (ITALY)

Medite GREECE TURKEY

rrane
an
Polders 95
Sicily
Strait of (ITALY) Athens
Gibraltar
Valletta Se
MALTA a

The Cardinal Geography of Europe 96

Crete
TUNISIA (GREECE) CYPRUS
MOROCCO
ALGERIA

Historical Geographies 96
The North-South Divide 96
The West-East Divide 98
Economic Transformations 98
Intensification of Agriculture 98
Industrialization and Deindustrialization 99
Brownfields 100
The Postindustrial Economy 101
Female Participation 101
A Welfare State 101
Social Geographies 102
The Graying of Europe 102
Immigration 102
Schengen Agreement under Pressure 103
Rural Focus 104
The Common Agricultural Policy 104
Urban Trends 104
The Merchant City 104
City Focus: Amsterdam 104
The Industrial City 105
Capital Cities 105
The Postsocialist City 105
City Focus: Warsaw 105
Eurometro 106
Geopolitics 107
European Union 107
Many Europes 108
Nations and States 108
Connections 109
The Globalization of Europe 109
Subregions 110
The Core 110
The Inner Rings 110
Nordic Democracies 110
The United Kingdom and Ireland 111
The Southern Zone 112

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 Contents xi

The Outer Rings 112

The Edges of Europe 112
Ukraine 112
Iceland 113
Cyprus 113
In Europe But Not of Europe 114
Focus: The Regional Geography of Soccer in Spain 114
Focus: Brexit 115
Select Bibliography 116
Learning Outcomes 117
6 Russia and Its Neighbors 118
ARCTIC OCEAN
New Siberian

Learning Objectives 118

Barents Sea Severnaya Bering
Zemlya Islands
Novaya Sea
Zemlya

Kaliningrad

BELARUS

Moscow
U
N
T
A
IN
S

S I B E R I A
Kamchatka
Peninsula
The Environmental Context 118
R U S S I A
A Sprawling Land Mass 118
O
M

Sea of
UKRAINE Okhotsk
L
A
R

Sakhalin

Four Ecological Zones 119

U

Island
Bl
ac
kS

Astana Lake
ea

Baikal

The Warming Arctic 120

GEORGIA Aral
Sea K A Z A K H S TA N
Tbilisi
ARMENIA
a
Se

Yerevan Lake A
Balkhash LT
AZERBAIJAN Baku A Ulaanbaatar
Y

Historical Geographies 121

M
UZBEKISTAN O MONGOLIA
n

U
ia

Bishkek N
sp

TURKMENISTAN TA NORTH
Ca

IN
Ashgabat KYRGYZSTAN S KOREA
Tashkent

IRAN Dushanbe
TAJIKISTAN
CHINA
SOUTH
KOREA
Russian Expansion 121
AFGHANISTAN
The Soviet Empire 122
Economic Transformations: From Planned to Market
Economies 123
The Primary Sector 124
Agriculture 124
Manufacturing 124
Pollution 125
The Tragedy of the Aral Sea 125
Producer Services 126
Eurasian Economic Union 126
Rural Focus 126
The Fergana Valley 126
Social Geographies 127
Population Movements 127
A Multiethnic Russia 127
Ethnic and Language Groups in Central Asia 127
Ethnic and Language Groups in the Caucasus 128
Religious Revivals 129
Urban Trends 129
Long-Established Cities 129
Soviet Urbanization 129
Post-Soviet Urbanization 130
Pollution 130
City Focus: St. Petersburg: What’s in a Name? 131

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 xii Contents

Geopolitics 132
A New Political Geography 132
Geopolitical Relations on the Western Edge 132
Tensions in the Caucasus 133
New States Emerge in Central Asia 133
The Far East 133
Connections 134
Pipelineistan 134
Subregions 134
Russia 134
The Caucasus 136
The Central Asian Republics 137
Mongolia 139
Focus: Exclaves in the Post-Soviet World 139
Select Bibliography 140
Learning Outcomes 141

7 East Asia 142

RUSSIA

KAZAKHSTAN
MONGOLIA NORTHEAST
PLAIN
Learning Objectives 142
KYRGYZSTAN
G O B I

The Environmental Context 142

TAKL A M AKAN D E S E R T Beijing Hokkaido
TAJIKISTAN NORTH
DE S E RT
Pyongyang KOREA Sea of
PAKISTAN KUNLUN MTS
. U Japan J A PA N
EA Seoul (East Sea)
LOESS P L AT NORTH Honshu
SOUTH

Three River Basins: Hearths of Civilization 143

Tokyo
H T I B E TA N CHINA Kyoto
I KOREA
M P L AT E A U C H I N A Three
Gorges
PLAIN
Shikoku
A S
L A Y A Dam
East Kyushu
NEPAL

Climate and Weather 144

BHUTAN China
Sea
N)
PA
JA

INDIA SOUTHEAST
s(

Taipei
nd

UPLANDS

Seismic Activity 145

a
BANGLADESH Isl
u
ky
Ryu
MYANMAR Hong Kong
Bay of (BURMA) Macau
TAIWAN

Soil Erosion 145

Gulf
Bengal of Tonkin
LAOS
VIETNAM
South
Hainan
(CHINA) China
Sea PA CI F I C

Historical Geographies 145

I ND I A N THAILAND
OCEAN PHILIPPINES O CE A N

The Long Fall and Recent Rise of China 145

The Legacy of Imperial Japan 146
Economic Transformations 147
Rapid Industrialization 147
Environmental Pollution 148
Agriculture in China 148
Agriculture in Japan and South Korea 149
Social Geographies 150
Ethnic Homogeneity 150
Ethnic Groups in China 150
Demographic Trends 151
China 151
Japan and South Korea 153
Belief Systems 153
Rural Focus 154
The Hukou System 154

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 Contents xiii

Urban Trends 154

Rapid Urbanization 154
The Problem of Land Supply 155
City Focus: Tokyo 155
Geopolitics 156
Bordering China 156
South and North Korea: A Frozen Conflict 157
Conflict in the East China Sea 157
Conflict in the South China Sea 158
Connections 158
The Silk Road: Old and New 158
Subregions 159
China: A Spectacular Rise 159
Economic Reforms 159
A Shrinking China 160
Problems of Rapid Growth 160
Global Trader 161
Hong Kong 161
Macau 162
Taiwan: Economic Power, Uncertain Politics 162
Korea: Divergent Paths 163
South Korea 163
North Korea 163
Japan: Rising Economic Power, Declining Demographics 165
Focus: Okinawa and the Typhoon of Steel 166
Select Bibliography 166
Learning Outcomes 167
8 South East Asia 168
CHINA

INDIA
MYANMAR
(BURMA)
Nay Pyi Taw LAOS
Vientiane
Hanoi Learning Objectives 168
Yangon THAILAND VIETNAM Manila

The Environmental Context 168

(Rangoon) Philippine
CAMBODIA South
Bay of Bangkok
China Sea
PHILIPPINES
Bengal Phnom
Gulf of Penh Sea
Thailand

Seismic Activity 168

BRUNEI
Bandar Seri Begawan
M A L A Y PACIFIC
Kuala Lumpur S I A
Singapore OCEAN

SINGAPORE

I N D O N E S I A
Monsoons and Typhoons 169
Climate Change and Flooding 170
Jakarta Java Sea
INDIAN PAPUA
OCEAN Dili NEW
GUINEA
TIMOR-LESTE Arafura
Sea
Deforestation 171
Historical Geographies 171
AUSTRALIA

Early Empires 171

Angkor 171
The Colonial Experience 172
Economic Transformations 173
Agriculture 173
Green Revolution 173
Manufacturing and Services 174
Producer Services and Global Cities 174

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 xiv Contents

Social Geographies 175

Religion 175
Ethnicity and Nationality 175
Gender 176
Demographic Trends 177
Rural Focus 177
Bali 177
Urban Trends 177
Urban Primacy 178
Urban Environments 178
Informal Cities 178
City Focus: Bangkok 178
Geopolitics 179
Postcolonial Reshufflings 179
Divergent States 180
International Conflicts 180
Boundary Disputes 181
Connections 181
The Bamboo Network 181
Subregions 182
Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam 182
Myanmar 183
Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore 184
Insular South East Asia 186
Indonesia 186
The Philippines 187
Thailand 188
Focus: Vietnam’s Two Big Cities 189
Select Bibliography 190
Learning Outcomes 191

9 South Asia 192

KAZAKHSTAN
UZBEKISTAN KYRGYZSTAN MONGOLIA

Learning Objectives 192

TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN
Kabul CHINA
AFGHANISTAN HI
IRAN
Islamabad MA
PAKISTAN L AY
NEPAL AS BHUTAN

The Environmental Context 192

New Delhi
Kathmandu Thimphu
Karachi
Dhaka
INDIA Kolkata

Making Mountains 192

(Calcutta)
BANGLADESH MYANMAR
Mumbai DECCAN
(Bombay) (BURMA)
Arabian P L AT E A U

Sea

Lakshadweep
Bay of
Bengal
River Systems 193
(INDIA)

SRI
Andaman
Sea
Monsoons 194
LANKA Andaman
Islands

Historical Geographies 194

(INDIA)
Colombo
MALDIVES
Male
INDIAN
OCEAN
Coming under British Control 195
Partition 195
Economic Transformations 196
Agriculture 196
Agricultural Revolutions 196

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 Contents xv

Food Insecurities 196

A Gendered Practice 196
Economic Modernization 197
Rural Focus 198
Farming in India 198
Social Geographies 199
The Geography of Religions 199
Religious Rivalries 200
The Population Explosion 201
Impacts 201
Demographic Dividend 201
Urban Trends 202
The Growth of Cities 202
Urban Problems 202
City Focus: Dhaka 203
City Focus: Karachi 204
City Focus: Mumbai 205
Geopolitics 205
The Conflict Between India and Pakistan 205
Border Disputes 206
Connections 206
South Asian Diasporas 206
Bollywood 207
Subregions 208
Afghanistan 208
Pakistan 209
The Himalayan States: Nepal and Bhutan 210
Bangladesh 211
India 212
Geographic Differences 213
Economic Reforms 213
World’s Largest Democracy 213
Sri Lanka 214
The Maldives 215
Focus: Cricket in South Asia 216
Select Bibliography 216
RUSSIA
Learning Outcomes 217
10 The Middle East and North Africa 218
FRANCE UKRAINE
AZERBAIJAN
ITALY ARM. Ca
BUL. Black Sea sp
PORTUGAL SPAIN GEO. ian
UZB.
GREECE Ankara AZER.
TURKEY TURK.
Se

Algiers Tunis Med LEBANON

a

iterranea SYRIA
Casablanca TUNISIA n Sea Beirut Tehran
AFGH.
MOROCCO Tel Aviv Damascus Baghdad IRAN
Tripoli ISRAEL Amman
ALGERIA West Bank IRAQ Kuwait PAK.
WESTERN
Cairo
Laayoune Gaza JORDAN KUWAIT

Learning Objectives 218

L I B YA UNITED
SAHARA BAHRAIN Manama
Jerusalem ARAB
(MOR.) EGYPT Riyadh Doha
EMIRATES
Re

SAUDI QATAR
S A H A R A D E S E R T Dubai
d

MAURITANIA ARABIA Muscat

Se
a

ARABIAN

The Environmental Context 218

MALI OMAN
NIGER PENINSULA
SENEGAL

CHAD Khartoum ERITREA YEMEN Arabian

BURKINA

Seismic Activity 218

Sanaa Sea
GUINEA FASO SUDAN

DJIBOUTI Socotra
CÔTE TOGO NIGERIA Abyei (YEMEN)

An Arid Region 219

D'IVOIRE
GHANA BENIN ETHIOPIA
SOUTH
CENTRAL AFRICAN SUDAN
REPUBLIC

Desertification and Salinization 220

CAMEROON Juba INDIAN
ATLANTIC SOMALIA OCEAN
OCEAN DEM. REP. OF KENYA
THE CONGO UGANDA

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 xvi Contents

Historical Geographies 221

Early Empires 221
The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire 221
European Influence 222
Places as Palimpsest: The Case of Tunis 222
Economic Transformations 223
Agriculture 223
Lack of Industry 224
The Age of Oil 224
Rural Focus 225
Stress on the Nile Delta 225
Social Geographies 226
The Geography of Religion 226
Jews 226
Christians 226
Yazidi and Druze 227
Muslims 227
The Geography of Language 228
The Geography of Ethnicity 228
Kurds 228
Amazigh 229
The Youth Bulge 229
The Geography of Women’s Lives 230
Urban Trends 230
An Urban Explosion 230
Gulf Urbanism 231
City-States and Primate Cities 231
Informal Settlements 232
City Focus: Istanbul 232
Geopolitics 233
Unstable States 233
Other Actors 234
Hezbollah 234
Hamas 234
Houthis 234
Al Qaeda 234
ISIS 235
Alliances with the United States 236
Connections 236
The Contribution of the Islamic World to the European Renaissance 236
Airlines and Global Hubs 236
Subregions 237
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States 237
Yemen 238
Iran and Iraq 239

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 Contents xvii

The Cockpit of the Middle East: Jordan, Lebanon,

and Syria 240
Hinge States 241
Egypt 241
Israel 241
Turkey 243
North Africa 244
Libya 244
Tunisia 245
Algeria 245
Morocco 245
The Southern Rim 245
Sudan 245
South Sudan 246

Focus: Dubai’s Race Against Time 246

Select Bibliography 247
Learning Outcomes 248

11 Sub-Saharan Africa 250

TUNISIA

ALGERIA LIBYA EGYPT

Learning Objectives 250

S A H A R A D E S E R T SAUDI
SENEGAL ed
Se ARABIA
R

MAURITANIA MALI
GAMBIA Nouakchott NIGER CHAD SUDAN Asmara a
CABO VERDE Dakar BURKINA FASO Niamey Ndjamena ERITREA
Bamako NIGERIA
GUINEA- Praia Banjul Ouagadougou ETHIOPIA DJIBOUTI
Abuja CENTRAL AFRICAN SOUTH Djibouti

The Environmental Context 250

BISSAU Bissau
Conakry Yamoussoukro Porto-NovoCAMEROON REPUBLIC Addis
GUINEA Freetown Yaounde Bangui SUDAN Ababa
Lomé Malabo
SIERRA Monrovia Accra SOMALIA
São Tomé REP. UGANDA
LEONE GHANA Libreville OF THE Kampala
LIBERIA GABON CONGO RWANDA KENYA

Climate and Vegetation 251

TOGO Mogadishu
Brazzaville BURUNDI Kigali Nairobi
CÔTE D’IVOIRE
Kinshasa DEM. REP. OF Bujumbura
BENIN THE CONGO Dodoma
Dar es Salaam SEYCHELLES
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE TANZANIA

Environmental Challenges 252

Luanda Victoria
EQUATORIAL GUINEA ANGOLA
MALAWI COMOROS INDIAN
ZAMBIA Lilongwe
Moroni OCEAN

Climate Change 252

Lusaka

Harare MOZAMBIQUE
NAMIBIA ZIMBABWE Antananarivo

ATLANTIC Windhoek
BOTSWANA MADAGASCAR MAURITIUS

Historical Geographies 252

Gaborone
OCEAN Pretoria
Maputo
Port Louis

SOUTH Mbabane
AFRICA SWAZILAND

European Colonialism 253

Bloemfontein LESOTHO
Maseru

Cape
Town

The Legacy of Empire 253

Economic Transformations 254

The Importance of Primary Commodities 254
Changing Rural Society 255
A Land Grab 256
Manufacturing and Services 256
Rural Focus 256
Agriculture in Rwanda 256
Social Geographies 257
Demographics 257
HIV/AIDS 258
Socioeconomic Geographies 258
Urban Issues 259
Rapid Urbanization 259
Informal Urbanism 259
City Focus: Lagos 260
City Focus: Cape Town 261

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 xviii Contents

Geopolitics 262
Tribalism and National Cohesion 262
Areas of Unrest: Eastern Congo 262
A Geopolitical Fracture Line 262
Connections 263
The Slave Trade 263
Making Their Way to Europe: The Contemporary Migrant Tide 264
Recycling Electronic Waste 265
Subregions 265
The Sahel 265
Horn of Africa 266
West Africa 268
Central Africa 269
East Africa 269
Southern Africa 270
Islands 272
Focus: Mobile Phones and Banking in Kenya 273
Select Bibliography 274
Learning Outcomes 275
12 Australasia and Oceania 276
Mariana Is. (U.S.)
Northern
MARSHALL IS.
Majuro P
(U.S.) D STATES Palikir
Guam TE
FEDERA CRONESIA

Learning Objectives 276

OF MI R O N E S I A Tarawa Wallis and O Tokelau (N.Z.)
C NAURU Futuna (Fr.)
Melekeok M I M E KIRIBATI L
PAPUA NEW L A TUVALU
PALAU GUINEA Funafuti SAMOA
Honiara N
E Y
SOLOMON S American Samoa
I (U.S.)
Port IS. VANUATU A FIJI Apia N

A Landscape of the Very Old and the Very New 277

Moresby Suva
Coral Port-Vila Niue Cook Is.
New (N.Z.) E
Sea Caledonia Nuku’alofa (N.Z.)
(Fr.) TONGA S
Papeete I

Environmental Vulnerabilities 278

AUS T RALI A French A
Polynesia
(Fr.)

Canberra NEW

Climate Change 278

ZEALAND
Tasman Wellington Pitcairn I.
Sea (U.K.)
Chatham Is.
(N.Z.) PACIFIC
Tasmania
Auckland Is.
(N.Z.)
OCEAN
Maintaining Biological Heritage 279
INDIAN
OCEAN
The Peopling of the Region 279
The Geopolitics of Incorporation 280
Achieving Independence 281
Connections 282
Nuclear Testing in the South Pacific 282
Australia 282
Indigenous Peoples and Land Rights 282
Environmental Challenges 283
A Resource-Based Economy 284
Multicultural 284
An Urban Nation 285
City Focus: Sydney 286
Rural Focus: The Murray-Darling River Basin 286
New Zealand 287
Oceania 288
Melanesia 289
Micronesia 290

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 Contents xix

Polynesia 291
Easter Island 291
Focus: Art of the Central Desert of Australia 292
Focus: Obesity in South Pacific Islands 293
Select Bibliography 294
Learning Outcomes 294

13 North America 296

RUSSIA ARCTIC Greenland
OCEAN (DEN.)

Learning Objectives 296

ICELAND

Alaska
Anchorage (U.S.)

CANADA
The Environmental Context 296
RO

Calgary Québec
CK

Vancouver

Cardinal Physical Geographies 296

Ottawa
Y

Seattle Minneapolis- Boston

St. Paul
MO

New York City

PACIFIC
Denver Chicago
Environmental Challenges 297
UN

Washington, D.C.
OCEAN
TA

St. Louis
San Francisco UNITED STATES ATLANTIC
IN
S

OCEAN
Hawaii
(U.S.)
Los Angeles Dallas-
Fort Worth New
Orleans
Miami Environmental Hazards and Climate Change 299
Gulf of CUBA

Historical Geographies 302

MEXICO Mexico

Caribbean Sea

Pre-Columbian 302
The Columbian Encounter 303
Settler Societies 304
Economic Transformations 305
The Primary Sector 305
Farming 306
The Rise and Fall of Manufacturing 306
The Rise of a Service Economy 307
Regional Differentiation 308
Rural Focus 308
The Dangers of Farm Labor 308
Social Geographies 308
Center of Population 308
Demographic Trends 309
Nations of Immigrants 309
Gender 310
Race, Ethnicity, and Class 311
Urban Trends 312
Continuing Metropolitanization 312
Central Cities 312
Suburbs 313
Urban Differences 313
City Focus: Baltimore 313
City Focus: Vancouver 314
City Focus: Megalopolis 315
Geopolitics 316
Borders 316
The Arctic 316
Canada and the United States 316

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 xx Contents

The United States and Mexico 316

The United States as a Global Power 317
Connections 317
Trade Associations 317
Miami as Capital of Central America and the Caribbean 318
Subregions 319
Canada 319
The United States 320
Focus: Engineering the Columbia River 321
Focus: Hawaii 321
Select Bibliography 323
Learning Outcomes 323

Glossary 324
Index 331

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Preface
The primary market for this book is the introductory course
in world regional geography. There are a large number of
world regional texts, and so in a crowded market, the obvi-
ous question is, what makes this book stand out?
This new text allows a fresh departure point from many
established world regional texts that over the years and
numerous editions have grown to include far too much
material, much of it dated and overly congruent between
regions. This book introduces students to the character of
world regional geography, the distinctiveness of different
parts of the world, as well as the linkages and connections.
Old established regional texts often have difficulty with the
linkages because their focus was originally in demarcation
rather than connectedness. This text will start off from the
premise of describing both the character of the world’s re-
gions but also their interconnections.
This book is concise, but brevity does not compromise
depth. The text is designed to appeal to the fundamental
excitement of learning about new places. The narrative is
crafted to be both interesting and accessible. The text is long
enough to cover the main themes but concise enough to
maintain interest. Overall, it provides an affordable, acces-
sible, and interesting read that kindles a sense of excitement.
The Need for a New
World Regional
Geography
The principal market for this book is in the United States.
A striking feature of life in the contemporary United
States is the enormous ignorance of the outside world. This
is not a new state of affairs. The US educational system,
especially at the elementary and high school levels, spends
little time on the history and geography of other parts of
the world. The emphasis is on the here and now of the con-
temporary United States compared to other parts of the
globe and their different histories. The vast bulk of pre-
college education is concerned with events in the United
States. Most educational systems have a national bias; after
all, each serves as an element in the creation of national
identity and consciousness. But this insularity is rein-
forced in the United States by three factors. First, as an
immigrant society, education has long been dominated by
the need to create a national citizenry. The school is one of
sho06703_fm_i-xxv.indd xxi
the principal places of national socialization. Emphasis has
long been placed on national history and national identity.
Less attention has been spent on teaching students about
other places and other times.
Second, in many other countries the simple facts of
geography and the disputed facts of history have created a
spatial awareness of others. Sharing borders with only two
countries, separated by two oceans from Europe and Africa
on the one side and Asia from the other, the United States
can seem less connected to the rest of the world. The sheer
size of the country also means that internal travel provides
continental difference. Unlike sun seekers in Northern
Europe, people in the United States do not need to leave
their own country to experience subtropical climates, see
desert landscapes, or go skiing in the high mountains.
Third, the bias of the educational system is reinforced
by the military and cultural power of the United States. At
a military level, the United States is the undisputed super-
power; perhaps the only one with sustained global reach and
capabilities. The US projects power onto others, and this
brute fact becomes part of a formal and informal under-
standing of the world. Almost everywhere else in the world
the power of others and especially the United States is a fact
of both national geography and history. The United States is
also a hegemonic cultural power. Symbols and images are
projected out from the United States to the rest of the world.
There is two-way traffic, but one dominated by the export
rather than the import trade. People in other countries learn
about the United States. They are made acutely aware every
time they hear world news or watch a Hollywood movie that
there are other places in the world with a different history.
The rest of the world is not a distant place nor is it a
mirror of ourselves. We need to understand the rest of the
world as something that is both similar in important ways
to us but also different in profound ways. A genuine mul-
ticulturalism should be aware of other parts of the world,
their historical particularities and geographical differ-
ences. An understanding of world regional geography is a
good place to start.
Structure of the Book
An introductory chapter presents readers with the op-
portunities and dangers of using maps, data, and differ-
ent scales of analysis. Readers are made aware that world
regions are useful but a provisional partitioning of the
xxi
10/03/19 02:20 PM
 xxii Preface
world hides major regional and urban differences, and that
similar countries, regions, and neighborhoods are found
throughout the world.
Part 2 is the heart of the book and is a concise geogra-
phy of the major regions of the world:
• Central America and the Caribbean
• South America
• Europe
• Russia and Its Neighbors
• East Asia
• South East Asia
• South Asia
• The Middle East and North Africa
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Australia and Oceania
• North America
Readers may have their own idea of the ordering of the
main regions. Some would start close at home with North
America. Others with Europe. A good case could be made
for Africa, the original home of humanity and the point of
diffusion of humans across the globe. Good justifications
can be made for many different starting points. I prefer to
start with Central America. Up until 1492, there was a con-
tinental divide between the Old and New World. For thou-
sands of years, they remained separate, sometimes with
distinctly different flora and fauna and even genetic make-
up. After 1492 and the Columbian Encounter, the world
was seared together in cultural and physical interactions,
some accidental, others planned. And many were brutal
and exploitative and turned the two separate regions into a
global unity. Central America is the scene where a singular
world took shape. So I begin this book in the region where
the “world” of “world regional geography” was created.
For each region the following topics are covered, al-
though with enough variety to avoid the relentless repetition
and tedious march of very similar themes for each region:
• The Environmental Context
• Historical Geographies
• Economic Transformations
• Rural Focus
• Social Geographies
• Urban Trends
• Geopolitics
• Connections
• Subregions
• Focus
sho06703_fm_i-xxv.indd xxii
In the Environmental Context, I will highlight significant
environmental challenges. This is not a physical geogra-
phy text, so the emphasis is on the human–environmental
relations and especially on the dominant environmental
issues facing the region.
In order to understand the contemporary human ge-
ography of a region, it is necessary to have an appreciation
of its Historical Geographies. In this section I will give a
historical dimension to contemporary concerns. An un-
derstanding of historical geography is vital to comprehend
the contemporary state of affairs.
Economic Transformations looks at economic differ-
ences within the region and how the region fits into the
global economy. A Rural Focus will provide a more gran-
ular look at selected rural issues. In Social Geographies,
I will provide an understanding of the different peoples
of the regions, demographic trends, and important issues
in the cultural geography of the region. Urban Trends
looks at patterns of urbanization, the role of cities, and
discusses specific cities in a series of focused case studies.
In Geopolitics, I will discuss current issues that link geog-
raphy with intra- and international relations. In order to
highlight the linkages, Connections will focus on some of
the flows and transactions between the region and the rest
of the world.
In Subregions, I will look at the character of different
countries within the region in order to provide a finer-
grained analysis than the broad regional survey. A series
of Focus sections will provide more detailed discussions of
particular features of the region.
The broad themes are the same for each region, but
the specifics are tailored to focus on the distinctiveness
of the region. Thus, the Urban Trends section of South
Asia looks at the dramatic rise of urbanization, while the
North America chapter highlights the rise of metropoli-
tan regions, the increasing diversity of big cities, and the
urban bias to the rise of the creative-cultural economy. The
Australasia region, in contrast, will focus on the domina-
tion of just a few very big cities, the suburban spread, and
the urban environmental implications of global climate
change.
Hopes for the Book
Although a seasoned author and mature academic, I have
not lost my child-like sense of awe at being in the world,
my love of travel, and my excitement for going to new
places and meeting different people. The longer I live, and
the more I travel, the more I am aware of the privileged
nature of my life and the wondrous nature of our world.
I hope that some of this joy and wonder and appreciation
find their way into this book.
10/03/19 02:20 PM
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank the many scholars who, during the writ-
ing process, dedicated valuable time to reviewing and of-
fering comments on the manuscript. In these busy times,
I am so very grateful for their input. Their comments im-
proved the book significantly.
• Angela Antipova, University of Memphis
• Lewis Asimeng-Boahene, Penn State
University-Harrisburg
• John T. Bauer, University of Nebraska Kearney
• David Lee Baylis, Delta State University
• Richard W. Benfield, Central Connecticut State
University
• Mikhail Blinnikov, St. Cloud State University
• Karl Byrand, University of Wisconsin Colleges
• Craig M. Dalton, Hofstra University
• Neal Devine, Santa Fe College
• Seth Dixon, Rhode Island College
• Catherine Elspeth Doenges, Southern Connecticut
State University
• Dawn M. Drake, Missouri Western State University
• Michael Dunbar, Kent State University
• Michael Finewood, Pace University
• F. Tyler Huffman, Eastern Kentucky University
• Injeong Jo, Texas State University
• Juan Miguel Kanai, University of Sheffield
• Yeong-Hyun Kim, Ohio University
• Yong Lao, California State University Monterey Bay
• Max Lu, Kansas State University
• Stephen McFarland, University of Tampa
• Caroline Nagel, University of South Carolina
• Lindsay Naylor, University of Delaware
• Dristi Neog, Westfield State University
• Trushna Parekh, Texas Southern University
sho06703_fm_i-xxv.indd xxiii
• Thomas Pingel, Northern Illinois University
• Adrien M. Ratsimbaharison, Benedict College
• Evelyn Ravuri, Saginaw Valley State University
• Lesli Rawlings, Wayne State College
• Philip D. Roth, Indiana University/Purdue University
Indianapolis
• Ginger L. Schmid, Minnesota State University,
Mankato
• Andrew Sluyter, Louisiana State University
• Kristin Sorensen, South Plains College
• Jennifer Titanski-Hooper, Wright State University
• Stanley Toops, Miami University
• Annette Watson, College of Charleston
• April Watson, Broward College
• Clayton Whitesides, Coastal Carolina University
I am very lucky to work with a team of great professionals
at Oxford University Press. I was fortunate to have not just
one but two great editors: Dan Kaveney was involved at the
earlier stages, and Daniel Sayre saw the project through to
completion. Daniel’s enthusiasm for the project is deeply
appreciated. I was delighted to work for a second time with
OUP’s very own Dream Team of Marianne Paul, Produc-
tion Editor, who turned my words on to the printed page
and Michele Laseau, Art Director, who shaped the elegant
design of the book. Leslie Anglin copyedited a large and
complex manuscript with great care. Thanks to Sarah
Goggin for the Learning Objectives. A special thanks to
Kevin Lear and his team at International Mapping for the
beautiful maps. The book in your hands is the work of
these talented professionals. My thanks.
Lisa Benton-Short has travelled with me on many field
trips around the world and not only tolerated but also ac-
tively encouraged my many solo travels necessary to write
this book. Whether at home or abroad, she is the very best
of companions.
xxiii
10/03/19 02:20 PM
sho06703_fm_i-xxv.indd xxiv 10/03/19 02:20 PM
 World Regional Geography

sho06703_fm_i-xxv.indd xxv 10/03/19 02:20 PM

Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Over the
Santa Fé Trail, 1857
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
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you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Over the Santa Fé Trail, 1857

Author: William Barclay Napton

Release date: December 20, 2023 [eBook #72461]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Franklin Hudson Publishing Co,

1905

Credits: Sonya Schermann and the Online Distributed Proofreading

Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OVER THE

SANTA FÉ TRAIL, 1857 ***
 Transcriber’s Note
Larger versions of most illustrations may be seen by right-
clicking them and selecting an option to view them separately,
or by double-tapping and/or stretching them.
Additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook.
Over the Santa Fé Trail
1857

BY
W. B. NAPTON.
1905.
FRANKLIN HUDSON PUBLISHING CO.,
KANSAS CITY, MO.
 CONTENTS
Page
I. Captain “Jim Crow” Chiles 3
II. In Camp, South of Westport 10
III. Buffalo 14
IV. Companions of Voyage 18
V. Pestiferous Indians 21
VI. At the Kiowa Camp 28
VII. To the Cimarron 33
VIII. My First Antelope 38
IX. A Kicking Gun and a Bucking Mule 46
X. A Gray Wolf 50
XI. Arrival at Las Vegas 54
XII. In Peril of Indians 62
XIII. Captain Chiles’ Chase 69

LEWIS & CLARK’S ROUTE RETRAVELED

Chapter I 73
Chapter II 84
Chapter III 93
 ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
“Jim Crow” Chiles Laughed 7
The Mule Suddenly Bucked 24
Punched Him With the Point 26
Difficult to Get the Heavily Loaded Wagons Across 34
Their Drivers Were Unable to Restrain Them 40
“Skeesicks” Walked Up 44
He Plodded Along With the Lame Cattle 46
He Jumped and Kicked 48
The Officers Dragged Him Out 60
“Men, They Are Indians!” 66
 Over the Santa Fé Trail, 1857.

I.
Captain “Jim Crow” Chiles.

When I was a lad of 12 years of age my father had a red-headed

overseer, good-natured, loquacious and fond of telling stories, the
kind that suited the understanding and tickled the fancy of a boy. His
stories were always related as being truthful accounts of actual
occurrences, although I suspected they were frequently creatures of
his own imagination. This overseer, a Westerner born and bred, had
driven an ox wagon in a train across the plains to New Mexico; had
made two trips across—in 1847 and 1848—one extending as far as
Chihuahua, in Old Mexico. His observation was keen, and his
memory unexcelled, so that, years afterwards, he could relate, in
minute detail, the events of every day’s travel, from the beginning to
the end of the journey. I was charmed with his accounts of the
Indians and buffalo, wolves, antelope and prairie dogs.
Reaching the age of 18 in 1857, with indifferent health, my father
acquiesced in my determination to cross the plains to New Mexico.
The doctor said the journey would benefit my health. Already an
expert with a gun or pistol, I had killed all kinds of game to be found
in Missouri, and had read Gordon Cumming’s book of his hunting
exploits in South Africa, so that I felt as if nothing less than killing big
game, like buffalo and elk, could gratify my sporting proclivities.
Colonel James Chiles of “Six Mile,” Jackson County, was a state
senator, and while at Jefferson City during the session of the
legislature, my father telling him of my desire to go out to Santa Fé,
the colonel sent me an invitation to come to his house by the middle
of April and go out with a train belonging to his son. So in the early
spring of 1857 I set out from my home in Saline County, well
mounted and equipped for the journey.
The spring was backward, and when I reached Colonel Chiles’s
house in the middle of April winter was still “lingering in the lap of
spring.” The grass was not good on the plains until the 10th of May.
It was arranged for me to go out with the train commanded by “Jim
Crow,” a son of Colonel Chiles.
“Jim Crow” was then about twenty-five, not over medium height,
but strong, athletic and wiry, and had a pretty well established
reputation as a fighter among the frontiersmen. He had killed a
lawyer named Moore, who lived at Leavenworth, in the Noland hotel
at Independence. After the Civil War he killed two other men at
Independence, and he himself was eventually killed in a fight with
the Independence town marshal. But I found “Jim Crow” a kind and
considerate friend, jovial and good natured generally, but subject to
violent fits of anger, and when angry, a very dangerous man. One
night on the “trail,” while he and I were riding some distance ahead
of the train, amid the solitude of the darkness and the vast plains, the
conversation drifted into a confidential vein. He recalled the killing of
Moore, saying he regretted it beyond measure; that the affair had
haunted him day and night; that he would willingly give up all that he
owned or expected to acquire to be relieved of the anguish and
trouble and remorse the act had caused him. But he was possessed
of the kind of courage and combativeness which never suggested
the avoidance of a fight then or afterward.
Kansas City was even then, in 1857, an aspiring town. For a
month or two in the spring the levee was covered with wagons and
teams, and sometimes four or five steamboats were at the wharf
discharging freight. General John W. Reid had recently bought forty
acres, the northwest corner of which is now the intersection of
Broadway and Twelfth street, for $2,000. The land was covered with
timber, which he cut into cord wood and sold to the steamboats for
about enough to pay for the land.
 There were no streets, and only one road from the levee, leaving
the river front at Grand avenue, running obliquely across to Main
street and back again to Grand avenue, in McGee’s addition.
Colonel Milton McGee had taken down his fences and laid off his
cornfields into lots.
The work cattle and wagons were collected and a camp
established, about the first of May, on the high, rolling prairie near
the Santa Fé trail, three miles southwest of Westport. The wagons
were heavy, cumbrous affairs with long deep beds, covered with
sheets of heavy cotton cloth, supported by bows. A man six feet high
could stand erect in one of them, and they were designed to hold a
load of seven or eight thousand pounds of merchandise each. Those
in our train were made by Hiram Young, a free negro at
Independence, and they were considered as good as any except
those with iron axles. The freight consisted of merchandise for the
trade in New Mexico. Two of the wagons were loaded with imported
champagne for Colonel St. Vrain of Las Vegas and Mora.
There was a shortage of good ox drivers that spring and Captain
“Jim Crow” found it difficult to supply the number he needed. Twenty-
five dollars a month “and found” were the wages. One evening, while
we were lounging around the corral, waiting for supper, three men
came up on foot, inquiring for the captain of the train. They were
good looking, well dressed men, two of them wearing silk hats, but
bearing no resemblance to the ordinary ox driver. They said they
were stranded and looking for work. They proposed to Captain
Chiles to hire to him for drivers, while they disclaimed any knowledge
of the calling.
 “JIM CROW” CHILES LAUGHED.

“Jim Crow” laughed, and after interrogating them as to their

antecedents, said he would hire them on probation. “I will take you
along,” he said, “and if I find you can learn to drive cattle before we
get to Council Grove, the last settlement on the road, then I’ll keep
you; otherwise not, and you must look out for yourselves.”
 They were invited to supper and assigned to a mess. One of
them was named Whitcom. He hailed from Massachusetts and had
never seen a yoke of oxen in his life, but he was strong, sturdy and
active, and before we reached New Mexico he was rated the most
dextrous driver in the outfit. Moreover, his team looked better than
any in the train when we reached the end of our journey. Ten years
ago Whitcom was living in Cheyenne, and was one of the wealthiest
cattle raisers in the state of Wyoming.
Another of the three hailed from Cincinnati. He wore a
threadbare suit of broadcloth and a “plug” hat, and was tall, angular,
awkward, slip-shod and slouchy in appearance. He had been
employed in his father’s banking house in Cincinnati, and was
accomplished in penmanship and a good accountant; but he proved
to be utterly unfit for an ox driver. He could not hold his own among
his rough companions, and became the object of their jeers and
derision. By unanimous consent he was given the name of
“Skeesicks,” and by this name he was known ever afterwards.
The third of the trio proved to be a fairly good driver, and is now
a prosperous merchant in the state of Montana.
Among the drivers was a young Mexican, Juan, who had been in
the employ of the Chiles brothers for years. Through him we were
enabled to converse with the Kiowas and Comanches when we
reached them. Many of the Indians could speak or understand
Spanish, but could not understand a word of English. We had men
among the teamsters from Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and
Texas. They soon became known and answered to the name of their
own state. “Tennessee” and “Texas” prided themselves on the size
and weight of their whips, and the loudness of the noise they could
make in popping them.
Young Reece, from Missouri, went out with the train for his
health. He had consumption and hoped the journey over the plains
would be of benefit to him. He was very tall, being six feet four
inches, of large bone and frame, but thin as a huge skeleton, and
had allowed his heavy black hair to grow until it hung below his
shoulders. He was well off so far as property was concerned, and
rode a splendid dapple gray horse, muscular, tough and graceful,
with handsome mane and tail, which could fairly fly over the prairie.
 II.
In Camp, South of Westport.

In the camp, three miles southwest of Westport, we were

detained for a fortnight or more, awaiting the arrival of our freight at
Kansas City. There were twenty-six wagon, five yoke of oxen to
each, carrying about seven thousand pounds of freight each. There
were no tents, so we slept on the ground, either under a wagon or, if
we preferred it, the broad canopy of heaven.
Captain “Jim Crow” commanded the company, with Rice as
assistant wagonmaster. There was one driver for each wagon, and a
boy of 16, of frontier origin and training, whose duty it was to drive
the “cavayard” or loose cattle, taken along in case any of the teams
should get lame or unfit for service. “Jim Crow,” immediately on his
arrival at the camp, gave the boy the nickname of “Little Breeches,”
suggested by his very tight-fitting trousers, and the name,
abbreviated to “Little Breech,” stuck to him.
While encamped below Westport I was fortunate in purchasing a
first rate “buffalo horse,” a California “lass horse,” that had been
brought across the plains the previous year. He proved his
excellence afterward, was very fast and would run up so close to a
buffalo that I could sometimes touch him with the pistol point.
Camped in our vicinity were several corrals of trains belonging to
Mexican merchants, who used mules instead of oxen, and had lately
come up from New Mexico. These Mexicans subsisted altogether on
taos (unbolted) flour, and dried buffalo meat, while our mess wagon
was filled with side bacon, flour, coffee, sugar, beans and pickles.
I soon got on fair terms of acquaintance with the master of one
of these Spanish trains. He was a successful buffalo hunter, but I
was surprised to find he used a spear for killing them, instead of a
pistol. When a buffalo was found at a distance from the road or camp
he would goad the animal, until so enraged, it would turn upon and
follow him, and in this manner he would get the game to a more
convenient place for butchering, before finally dispatching it.
There were no farms fenced up in sight of our camp at that time,
but the prairie was dotted with the houses of the “squatter
sovereigns,” who were “holding down” claims.
On the 10th day of June we yoked up and started on the long
journey. At the outset everybody about the train, from the captain to
the cavayard driver, was filled with good humor. The weather was
perfect, the view of the apparently boundless prairie exhilarating.
The road having been surveyed and established by the government
before the country was at all occupied, was almost as straight as an
arrow toward the southwest. The wagonmaster would arouse the
men before daylight in the morning and the cattle would be driven up
to the corral, yoked up and hitched to the wagons by the time the
cooks could prepare breakfast, a cook being assigned to each mess
of six or eight men. Some of the oxen were not well broken to the
yoke, and it was a difficult task at the dim break of day for a green
man to select each steer that belonged to his team in the corral,
where the 250 were crowded together so that their sides would
almost touch.
Once on the road the drive was continued for from eight to
twelve miles, the stops being governed by the convenience of
camping-places, where grass and water could be found for the
cattle. Familiarity with the route was essential in the wagonmaster,
who, riding some distance ahead, would select the camping-place,
and when the train came up direct the formation of the corral. The
cattle were immediately unyoked and turned loose, herded by two of
the teamsters. Often it was necessary to drive the cattle a mile or
more from the corral in order to find sufficient grass, that near the
road being kept short by the incoming trains from Mexico and the
outgoing trains ahead of us.
 At Council Grove there was a considerable settlement of Indian
traders. There we found assembled a large band of Kaw Indians,
who had just reached there from a buffalo hunt on the Arkansas. The
Kaws were not classed as “wild” Indians, and I think had been
assigned to a reservation not far off, but when they got off on a hunt
their native savage inclinations made them about as dangerous as
those roaming the plains at will, and whose contact with the white
man was much less frequent.
Beyond the Diamond spring we met two men on horseback, who
were hunting cattle belonging to a train then corralled some distance
ahead. The cattle had been stampeded by Indians in the night and
they had lost fifty head. The train could not be moved without them.
The men had been in search of them for two days and thought they
would be compelled to offer a reward for them, that being found
necessary sometimes, along the border. The Indians and
“squawmen”—white men married to, or living with, Indian squaws—
would stampede cattle at night, drive them off and hold them until
they ascertained that a reward had been offered for them. Then they
would visit the corral, learn with seeming regret of the cause of the
detention of the train, declare that they were well acquainted with the
surrounding country and could probably find them and bring them in,
offering to perform this service for so much a head. After the bargain
was struck the cattle would be delivered as soon as they could be
driven from the place of their secretion. It was not infrequent for a
band of Kaws to strike a wagon master in this way for as much as
from $100 to $500.
Here we learned that Colonel Albert Sidney Johnson, in
command of a considerable force, had moved out from Fort Scott
against the Cheyennes, who were on the warpath up on the
Republican river, in the western part of Kansas, but we missed
seeing the command until months later, on our homeward journey in
September.
 III.
Buffalo.

As we were drawing near the buffalo range preparations were

made for a chase. The pistols were freshly loaded and butcher
knives sharpened. One morning about 9 o’clock, on Turkey creek, a
branch of the Cottonwood, we came in sight of buffalo, in a great
mass, stretching out over the prairie as far as the eye could reach,
though the topography of the country enabled us to see for several
miles in each direction. The prairie in front of us was gradually
undulating, but offered no great hindrance to fast riding. Reece and I
were anxious to try our skill, and Captain Chiles said he would go
along to assist in butchering and bringing up the meat; but, as he
was riding a mule, he could not be expected to take an active part in
the chase. Reece was mounted on his splendid iron gray and I on
my trained buffalo horse, each of us having a pair of Colt’s navy
revolvers, of six chambers in holsters.
We rode slowly until we got within three or four hundred yards of
the edge of the vast herd. Then they began to run and we followed,
gaining on them all the time. Pressing forward, at the full speed of
my horse, I discovered that the whole band just in front of me were
old bulls. I was so anxious to kill a buffalo that I began shooting at a
very large one, occasionally knocking tufts of hair off his coat, but
apparently having little other effect. However, after a lively run of
perhaps a mile or two he slackened his pace, and at last stopped still
and, turning about, faced me. I fired the one or two remaining
charges of my revolvers, at a distance of twenty or thirty yards, and
thought he gave evidence of being mortally wounded. After gazing
steadily at me for a few minutes he turned around and walked off. I
followed, but presently he resumed a gallop in the direction the main
herd had gone, soon disappearing from view over a ridge. So I had
made a failure, and felt a good deal put out, as well as worn out by
the fatigue of fast riding.
Through a vista between the clouds of dust raised by the buffalo,
I got a glimpse of Reece. His horse proved to be very much afraid of
the buffalo and could not be urged close enough to afford shooting,
with any degree of certainty, with a pistol. Reece held his magnificent
horse with a rein of the bridle in either hand, his head fronting
towards the buffalo, but the frightened animal would turn to one side,
despite the best efforts of his master, fairly flying around in front of
the herd. That was Reece’s first and last attempt to kill a buffalo on
horseback.
I rode back towards the train, soon meeting Captain Chiles, who
greeted me with derisive laughter, but considerately expressed the
hope that I would have better success upon a second attempt. As we
were all very anxious to get some fresh meat, he suggested that I
should lend him my horse; that he would easily kill one with a
double-barrel shotgun, which he was carrying in front on his saddle. I
readily agreed to this, and mounting on my horse, he put off and
promptly slew a fat, well-grown calf that proved good eating for us
who had lived on bacon for many days.
That afternoon I turned my buffalo horse loose, permitting him to
follow, or be driven along with the cavayard, in order that he might
recuperate from the exhausting races of the forenoon. The following
morning he was as good as ever, and I resolved to try another
chase.
Having received some pertinent instructions from Captain Chiles,
as to the modus operandi of killing buffalo on horseback at full
speed, I mounted and sallied forth with him, the weather being ideal
and the game abundant.
At the left of the road, in sight, thousands of buffalo were grazing
in a vast plain, lower than the ridge down which we were riding.
Opened up in our view was a scope of country to the southeast of
us, a distance of ten miles. This plain was covered with them, all
heading towards the northwest.