Hiram B. Clawson's Witness of the Miraculous Preservation of the Buffalo

“One morning when we were camped in the mountains, I started out. I do not know what impelled me to pick up a gun. I had never been a hunter, and never had been out with a gun. But I took this one, and went out to where the hills there were rolling. The wind was blowing from the north, and as I came along, I thought, ‘Well, I believe I will just climb upon this little knoll and see if I can see anything.’ I did so and just as I raised my head above the level and looked over, I saw a buffalo standing within the range of my rifle, facing toward me and eating. Now, while I was not a hunter I was not the least bit excited. I raised my rifle, prepared it, took steady, careful aim, and fired. I saw the buffalo raise up and start, but pretty soon he began to totter and then spread his legs out and fall over. I went up to him and found that I had shot him through the heart. I was very much surprised, and I think the camp was, too, for we were very short of food, and this was a great blessing to us.”

— Hiram B. Clawson, "Crossing the Plains," The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 18, no. 5 (May 1907)