The value of the American bison to civilized man can never be calculated, nor even fairly estimated.  It may with safety be said, however, that it has been probably tenfold greater than most persons have ever supposed.  It would be a work of years to gather statistics of the immense bulk of robes and hides, undoubtedly amounting to millions in the aggregate; the thousands of tons of meat, and the train-loads of bones which have been actually utilized by man.  Nor can the effect of the bison’s presence upon the general development of the great West ever be calculated.  It has sunk into the great sum total of our progress, and well nigh lost to sight forever.

As a mere suggestion of the immense value of “the buffalo product” at the time when it had an existence, I have obtained from two of our leading fur houses in New York City, with branches elsewhere, a detailed statement of their business in buffalo robes and hides during the last few years of the trade.  They not only serve to show the great value of the share of the annual crop that passed through their hands, but that of Messrs. J. & A. Boskowitz is of especial value, because, being carefully itemized throughout, it shows the decline and final failure of the trade in exact figures.  I am under many obligations to both these firms for their kindness in furnishing the facts I desired, and especially to the Messrs. Boskowitz, who devoted considerable time and labor to the careful compilation of the annexed statement of their business in buffalo skins.

Memorandum of buffalo robes and hides bought by Messrs J. & A. Boskowitz, 101-105 Greene Street, New York, and 202 Lake street, Chicago, from 1876 to 1884.

+----------------------------------------+
|Year | Buffalo robes.  | Buffalo hides. |
|     |Number.| Cost.   | Number.|Cost.  |
+-----+-------+---------+--------+-------+
|1876 | 31,838|  $39,620|   None.|   ... |
|1877 |  9,353|   35,560|   None.|   ... |
|1878 | 41,268|  150,600|   None.|   ... |
|1879 | 28,613|  110,420|   None.|   ... |
|1880 | 34,901|  176,200|   4,570|$13,140|
|1881 | 23,355|  151,800|  26,601| 89,030|
|1882 |  2,124|   15,600|  15,464| 44,140|
|1883 |  6,690|   29,770|  21,869| 67,190|
|1884 |  None.|      ...|     529|  1,720|
+-----+-------+---------+--------+-------+
|Total|177,142|$709,570 |  69,033|215,220|
+----------------------------------------+

Total number of buffalo skins handled in nine years, 246,175; total cost, $924,790.

I have also been favored with some very interesting facts and figures regarding the business done in buffalo skins by the firm of Mr. Joseph Ullman, exporter and importer of furs and robes, of 165-107 Mercer street, New York, and also 353 Jackson street, St. Paul, Minnesota.  The following letter was written me by Mr. Joseph Ullman on November 12, 1887, for which I am greatly indebted: 

“Inasmuch as you particularly desire the figures for the years 1880-’86, I have gone through my buffalo robe and hide accounts of those years, and herewith give you approximate figures, as there are a good many things to be considered which make it difficult to give exact figures.