http://www.northernplainsbuffaloprod...15/page/784745
There was a time when as many as 50 to 60 million buffalo roamed the great plains from Alaska to Mexico. Massive herds moved across the plains leaving trails that are now our railroads and highways. One wonders, with this great number of buffalo, who actually took time to count them! Did someone sit on the side of a hill and count as they moved by? Journals of early frontiersmen tell of herds 50 miles long and 20 miles wide, that's a lot of buffalo! Just imagine being the buffalo in the middle, you talk about being in a crowd! I hope none of them had claustrophobia. Now imagine the buffalo in the center needing a drink of water. He or she must travel 10 miles through the crowd. That's about as bad as getting to the bathroom at halftime at the Super Bowl!
But seriously, the America buffalo sustained, not only the Native Americans of the plains, but were an important life source for the early frontiersmen that came to explore the west. The buffalo also played a major role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They provided food, clothing, and shelter for the Lewis and Clark team as they made their way to the Pacific. Lewis and Clark, in 1806, wrote,"The moving multitude....darkened the whole plains." It's interesting how everything works together to make things happen and in how changes come about.
The American Indians lived well on the prairie when the buffalo were so plentiful. They had all the food, clothing, and shelter they needed and had the freedom to move as they pleased, following the buffalo herds. But things change. The change came for the buffalo and in turn the Native Americans when the Europeans moved west.
The massive herds of buffalo dwindled fast. The buffalo hunters only wanted the hides,and it became somewhat of a "sport" to shoot buffalo from the train as they passed the herds.
The American Buffalo have played an important part in our American history, from the tremendous numbers of the past to near extinction in the late 1800's to growing into an important industry in our nation today. The American buffalo deserves our respect for playing such an important part in our past history and our present day society.
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/06/0082064
"The government began large-scale operations against the Yellowstone buffalo in 1989, after forest fires drove the herd out of the high plateaus and geyser basins of the park. The severity of the treatment the animals receive each year depends on how far they venture from the park, which itself depends on the size of the herd, the availability of forage, and the vagaries of weather. In the winter of 1996–97, for example, 1,084 stray bison were slaughtered by the DOL—at the time, the largest single-season buffalo kill since the nineteenth century. In 2005–06, more than 30 percent of the herd was culled, including fourteen bison that, pursued by government agents on snowmobiles, died after crashing through the ice on Lake Hebgen. The buffalo, it was reported, struggled for three hours to stay afloat, until two of the creatures at last sank beneath the water; several others were then retrieved and shot. The surviving buffalo instinctively gathered around the victims, shaking their heads, jumping, turning in circles, performing a kind of dance. These too were killed."
There was a time when as many as 50 to 60 million buffalo roamed the great plains from Alaska to Mexico. Massive herds moved across the plains leaving trails that are now our railroads and highways. One wonders, with this great number of buffalo, who actually took time to count them! Did someone sit on the side of a hill and count as they moved by? Journals of early frontiersmen tell of herds 50 miles long and 20 miles wide, that's a lot of buffalo! Just imagine being the buffalo in the middle, you talk about being in a crowd! I hope none of them had claustrophobia. Now imagine the buffalo in the center needing a drink of water. He or she must travel 10 miles through the crowd. That's about as bad as getting to the bathroom at halftime at the Super Bowl!
But seriously, the America buffalo sustained, not only the Native Americans of the plains, but were an important life source for the early frontiersmen that came to explore the west. The buffalo also played a major role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They provided food, clothing, and shelter for the Lewis and Clark team as they made their way to the Pacific. Lewis and Clark, in 1806, wrote,"The moving multitude....darkened the whole plains." It's interesting how everything works together to make things happen and in how changes come about.
The American Indians lived well on the prairie when the buffalo were so plentiful. They had all the food, clothing, and shelter they needed and had the freedom to move as they pleased, following the buffalo herds. But things change. The change came for the buffalo and in turn the Native Americans when the Europeans moved west.
The massive herds of buffalo dwindled fast. The buffalo hunters only wanted the hides,and it became somewhat of a "sport" to shoot buffalo from the train as they passed the herds.
The American Buffalo have played an important part in our American history, from the tremendous numbers of the past to near extinction in the late 1800's to growing into an important industry in our nation today. The American buffalo deserves our respect for playing such an important part in our past history and our present day society.
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/06/0082064
"The government began large-scale operations against the Yellowstone buffalo in 1989, after forest fires drove the herd out of the high plateaus and geyser basins of the park. The severity of the treatment the animals receive each year depends on how far they venture from the park, which itself depends on the size of the herd, the availability of forage, and the vagaries of weather. In the winter of 1996–97, for example, 1,084 stray bison were slaughtered by the DOL—at the time, the largest single-season buffalo kill since the nineteenth century. In 2005–06, more than 30 percent of the herd was culled, including fourteen bison that, pursued by government agents on snowmobiles, died after crashing through the ice on Lake Hebgen. The buffalo, it was reported, struggled for three hours to stay afloat, until two of the creatures at last sank beneath the water; several others were then retrieved and shot. The surviving buffalo instinctively gathered around the victims, shaking their heads, jumping, turning in circles, performing a kind of dance. These too were killed."
