In the economy of the area now known as North Dakota the mammalian fauna has played an important part, not only since the separate State was created in 1889, and when it was a Territory with South Dakota in 1868, or a part of Nebraska in 1854, or of the Louisiana Territory in 1804, but still earlier, before the Louisiana Purchase added it to the United States. The fur-bearing animals first attracted white men to take up shifting residence within what are now the borders of North Dakota, where abundance of game insured their support and lured them on to new fields of profit and adventure. The rich soil and the luxuriant vegetation of the region originally supported vast numbers of the most important large game animals of the country, and these naturally attracted many predatory species. The rivers, streams, and lakes teemed with beavers and muskrats, and the limited forest areas supported many other valuable fur-bearing animals.
      The region was exceptionally rich in the number of individuals, if not in the species, of large game. Of the abundance of small animals before the settlement of the region, there is little record, but probably in most cases there has been comparatively slight change. Many of the larger species have entirely disappeared, or have become very scarce or local in their distribution, owing to the change from a limited Indian population with crude weapons to the occupation of the country by hunters, trappers, and traders, and later by a well-armed, well-equipped, energetic, and sport-loving people. Before any thought of game protection or conservation influenced the destructive methods of the early settlers, much of the game had disappeared. Only in comparatively recent years have wise and effective laws been enacted for the protection of the game that remains, and there are not enough protected areas to insure the maintenance of this remnant. Some of the vanished species are being reintroduced in areas of little value for other purposes, and it is hoped that still others that are no longer found within the State may thus be preserved for the interest of future generations.
      In many cases the disappearance of the game before the settlement of the country was necessary and can be regretted only on the ground that the methods employed were wasteful and the rate of depletion was unnecessarily rapid. With better control the buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, and mountain sheep would have lasted much longer, and could have been of value to great numbers of people for several generations, instead of being largely squandered by a few skin hunters. It is futile to waste time in regrets over what can no [p.18] longer be helped, but future loss to the State can be prevented by a fuller knowledge of the species which should be preserved and those which can well be spared.

      At the present time the mammals of the State may be divided into two groups, the useful and the harmful. The clearly useful species may be grouped under game animals, fur-bearing animals, certain rodent destroyers and insectivorous animals. The harmful species may be classed broadly as predatory animals and rodent pests. Each of these groups has an important place in the economy of the State, but without a thorough knowledge of the abundance, distribution, and habits of each it is impossible to employ intelligently successful methods of protection, propagation, control, or destruction of a species or a group of species. To supply the needed information, the present report has been prepared, the information being based on facts gathered in field work of the Biological Survey, supplemented by data from all available reliable sources.

      The Indian names given for many of the mammals have been collected for the sake of perpetuating those longest in use for the species, and in the hope that in cases where other names are not available or well established, some may be generally adopted. Names of many of the conspicuous species from several different tribes are found in the reports of Maximilian and other ethnologists, but most of those used have been contributed by Melvin R. Gilmore, formerly curator of the State Historical Society, at Bismarck, now of the Museum of the American Indian, New York City, who has obtained them directly from the Indians through his own knowledge of their language or by showing skins of the species with which they are familiar. Many of the Mandan names have been supplied by George F. Will, of Bismarck, in cooperation with Doctor Gilmore.
      The following phonetic key is used except in names from Maximilian, where the German spelling is retained:

a, as a in father. e, as e in they. i, as i in marine. o, as o in go. u, as u in rule.

c, as ch in chin (k and s are used for the ordinary sounds of c). ch, as guttural ch in German ich, ach. zk, as z in azure. n (elevated) nasalizes the preceding vowel.

      In most cases the usual three measurements are given: Total length--from tip of nose to tip of tail vertebrae in a straight line; length of tail--from base at right angle with back to tip of skin at end of tail; and hind foot--from point of heel to tip of longest claw. Most of the measurements are, as originally taken, in millimeters.(1) Weights are given, when available, in grams for the smaller and in pounds for the larger animals.

      1 For the convenience of those not familiar with the metric scale it may be stated that 25 millimeters make approximately 1 inch, and 304.8 millimeters are equivalent to 1 foot.