The ‘Last Great Bison Hunt’ in the US, Part 2.

The ‘Last Great Bison Hunt’ in the US, Part 2. Click here for Part 1. 

Shooting at buffalo herd 1926 from UDSH

In 1926 the privately owned bison herd on Antelope Island was purchased by Andrew H. Leonard, president of the famous Scotty Phillips buffalo herd in SD.

Leonard originally intended to remove most of the bison and sell them to parks and zoos and to integrate some of the bison into his own South Dakota herd. As part of the contract with Buffalo Island Stock Co, he was to leave ~30 bison on the island to build up a new herd, but most of Antelope Island could finally be used for cattle grazing which was more profitable than the bison.

However, that plan was soon abandoned citing that it would be impossible as the bison were too wild. And so, another great hunt was organized to begin Nov 1 1926.

The 1926 hunt was advertised around the US and fancy invitations were sent to prominent big game hunters (image 5).

Unlike in 1921, there was little outrage from SLC or other Utahns. In fact, most newspapers largely supported the hunt and described it in celebratory fashion.

However, many leaders in the East expressed objection, including the president of the American Humane Association who had been called on to help stop the hunt just a few years previous.

G. W. Lillie “Pawnee Bill” from OK was the most critical stating that the bison “are to be slaughtered by rich men who call themselves sportsmen and have the money to pay… How a modern and up-to-date city like SLC can sit idly by and allow such an outrage at her very doors is something I cannot understand.”

Governor George Dern strongly rebuked the naysayers saying it was a private herd, nothing could be done, and Easterners didn’t understand anyway. Dern was also one of the early hunting participants.

Reports range between 100-200 hunters participating, each paying for the privilege.

Eventually, the State of Utah purchased part of Antelope Island in 1969 and bought the rest in 1981 and became Antelope Island State Park.

Sources: SL Trib 1926-07-22; Ogden Standard Examiner 1926-10-22; Davis Reflex 1926-10-28; SL Trib 1926-10-31; Park Record 1926-11-19

Utah Governor George Dern with his bison 1926 from UDSH.

 

Headline from Salt Lake Tribune Nov 4 1926

Invitations to hunters, Salt Lake Tribune Sept 19 1926

Clipping from Weekly Reflex Oct 28 1926

The Last Great Bison Hunt

What was termed the ‘Last Great Bison Hunt’ occurred on Antelope Island in the 1920s.

Bison hunt on Antelope Island. Salt Lake Telegram 1921-01-24

100 years ago, Salt Lakers were outraged to discover that the private owner of Antelope Island and the associated bison herd, the Buffalo Island Stock Co, planned to kill most of the bison herd in a grand hunt to make way for cattle grazing, to begin Jan 1921.

For the price of $200 (~$3K today) a hunter was guaranteed one bison. An estimated 230 bison were on the island at the time.

Calls from SLC business leaders immediately went out to save the bison. The Elks Club vowed to raise money to buy the island. The national president of Humane Society and Utah’s congressmen were called on.

And a mock hunt with a taxidermied bison was staged in protest at the Brigham Young monument in downtown SLC.

All endeavors to save the bison failed, including an effort to make the island a National Bison Reserve, due to lack of funds to purchase the herd.

The Deseret News wrote an editorial calling the hunt a “grievous mistake” and “even if the herd must be destroyed, there is not reason why their killing should be made a bloody holiday.”

Regardless of the outcry, the first bison hunt began on Jan 12 1921. After reaching the island by boat from Saltair, each of the 5 hunters killed a large bull.

The grand slaughter of all the bison that was feared never materialized. After the bad press the Buffalo Island Stock Co stated they never intended to cull the entire herd and the hunting targeted only the older bulls.

According to the Buffalo Island Stock Co, 60 people purchased hunting permits. Several small parties continued to hunt the bison over the next few years, including heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey in 1923.

In 1923 they sold filming and hunting rights for production of the silent film “The Covered Wagon” which featured a bison stampede and hunt in which 7 bison were killed.

In 1926 the Buffalo Island Stock Co sold the bison herd.

And so begins Part 2.

Sources: SL Trib 1921-01-11, 1921-01-14; Des News 1921-01-10; Ogden Standard Examiner 1921-01-14; SL Telegram 1921-01-24, 1921-12-15; Davis Reflex-Journal 1923-09-27

Mock bison hunt at the Brigham Young monument. SL Trib 1921-01-13

Advertisement, Salt Lake Tribune 1921-11-27

Advertisement, Salt Lake Tribune 1921-01-16

Spooky SLC: John de Baptiste the Infamous SLC Cemetery Grave Robber

SLC Cemetery at night from 11th Ave

In the 1860s, John de Baptiste robbed hundreds of graves in the SLC Cemetery, Part 1.

In Jan 1862 Utah’s “three-week” Governor, John W. Dawson made a lewd proposition to a society lady in SLC which resulted in his being chased down and beaten by a relative of hers.

Warrants were issued for all members of the gang involved in the beating and Porter Rockwell tracked some of them down, killing the gang leader, Lot Huntinton. Moroni Clawson and John Smith were taken into custody but were killed the following morning, allegedly during an attempt to flee police custody.

The bodies of Huntinton, Clawson, and Smith, were all buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Initially, the body of Moroni Clawson went unclaimed and in a charitable gesture SLC police officer, Henry Heath, purchased burial clothing for Clawson.

About a week later Clawson’s brother, George, came to town to exhume the body and rebury him in the family plot in Draper. Upon opening his brother’s coffin he found the body naked.

Clawson and Heath asked the cemetery Sexton about the situation and he suggested talking with the cemetery grave digger, John de Baptiste.

While at Baptiste’s home on 3rd Ave the two noticed boxes containing “sickening heap of flesh soiled linen” and funeral robes of people who had been buried in the City Cemetery for the past several years. Infant clothes and about 60 pairs of children’s shoes were found along with adult funeral robes and men’s shirts, caps, and socks.

Officer Heath was particularly outraged and was concerned about the grave of his daughter being desecrated. Heath immediately confronted Baptiste at the City Cemetery and “choked the wretch into a confession” of robbing graves, dumping the bodies out of their coffins, and using the wood for kindling in his home.

Baptiste confessed to robbing only a dozen graves but the evidence pointed to at least 300 grave robberies over a 3 year period, mostly those of women and children.

After the confession of grave robber John de Baptiste, a 50 ft long table in the courthouse was covered with several hundred funeral suits, shoes, and clothing recovered from Baptiste’s house.

Relatives of the deceased came to identify and claim the clothing. Many of the family members were intent on reclothing their deceased relatives out of fear that without proper burial clothing the religious ceremonies and rites would be incomplete.

Brigham Young addressed the people and told them not to disinter their relatives but to let them be in peace and he promised them that they would “be well clothed in the resurrection.” Ultimately, all agreed that the clothing would be reburied into a single grave site at the SLC Cemetery.

Brigham Young told the people that killing Baptiste was too good for Baptiste and that he wished to banish him and “make him a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth.” So, Baptiste was sent to Antelope Island where he was tattooed with the words “Grave Robber” on his forehead.

On Antelope Island he was met by Henry and Dan Miller. The Miller brothers kept cattle on Fremont Island and they agreed to transport John Baptiste by boat to Fremont Island and allow him to remain there alone with their cattle. They provided him with a shack and provisions every few weeks.

After 3 weeks on Fremont Island, the Miller brothers checked in on Baptiste and he seemed to be getting along quite well and helping himself to the provisions left for him in the shack. But 3 weeks later Baptiste was gone. The Miller brothers found that part of the shack had been removed and one of their cows had been slaughtered and the hide cut into strips. Baptiste had made a raft of the wood from the shack and the hide of the cow.

It is unknown what happened to Baptiste. Some stories indicate that he escaped by raft to Promontory Point where he caught the railroad. Some say he did not even make it out of the Great Salt Lake and must have drowned.

Source: The Saint and the Grave Robber by John Devitry-Smith

An open grave at SLC Cemetery.
Imagine this one filled with previously used burial clothing!