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Did you know that over 60 million buffalo roamed the plains in the fifteenth century? In 1889 there was only about 550 buffalo left in the United States and only about 300 in 1900. Today, there are only about 350,000, but a way of life has vanished.

The buffalo has a massive head with forequarters covered with long, dark, brown, woolly hair. They have a short broad forehead, a short neck, and high humped shoulders, with a tuffed tail. The long hairs of their chin form a long beard. Hips and hindquarters are much smaller and without long hair, which forms a distinct slope from hump to tail. Some stand six feet tall at the shoulders and weigh as much as a ton. They have short, sharp, upcurved horns. Their shaggy winter coat falls off in patches in the springtime. Their color is dark brown in the winter and light brown in the summer.

Their habitat was the open plains of the United States and Canada originally, but now they are found in National Parks and reserves. Their diet is mostly grasses and they only need water once a day.

The buffalo were called the “Great Bulls of the Prairie,” and the “Lords of the Prairie.” Plains Indians would follow buffalo herds up to 200 miles across the prairies.

There is a sacred white buffalo that was born August 20, 1994 in Janesville, Wisconsin. Her name is “Miracle.” She is not an albino. She is said to be the first white buffalo calf born since 1933.

Indian Uses of the Buffalo.
It was the Buffalo that provided the Native Americans all their basic needs.

Rawhide	Hide	Horns	Hair	Tail	Meat	Skin Of Hind Leg	Hooves
containers	moccasin tops	cups	head- dresses	medicine switch	(every part eaten)	mocccasins	glue
clothing	cradles	fire- carriers	saddle pad filler	fly brush	pemmican- converted	boots	rattles
head- dresses	winter robes	powder horns	pillows	lodge exterior	hump ribs-eaten right away
food	bedding	spoons	rope	decorations	jerky-converted
medicine bags	breech- clouts	ladles	ornaments	whips
shields	shirts	head- dresses	halters
buckets	leggins	signals	medicine balls
moccasin soles	lance covers	toys
rattles	belts
drums	dresses
drum- sticks	pipe bags
splints	pouches
cinches	dolls
ropes	coup flag covers
belts	quivers
bullet pouches	tipi covers
saddles	gun cases
horse masks
lance cases
armbands
quirts
bull boats
knife cases
stirrups
thongs
horse ornaments

“The Indian was frugal in the midst of plenty,” said Luther Standing Bear, a member of the Lakota Tribe. When the buffalo roamed the plains in multitudes, he killed only what he could eat and those he killed he used to the hair and the bones. Indeed, for thousands of years the huge bison herds were able to make up for the loss of hardly few animals taken by the Native Americans.

In the 1500’s, things began to change. The first Spanish explorers introduced horses to the region. By the 1800’s, Native Americans had learned to use the speedy animals to chase bison, majorly expanding their range and effectiveness. But it was the arrival of vast waves of white settlers in the 1800’s and their conflict with the Native Americans that spelled the end for the buffalo. There were also trappers and traders who sold bison meat and hides.

The commercial killers, however, weren’t the only ones shooting bison. Train companies offered tourists the chance to shoot buffalo from the window of their coaches, pausing only when out of ammunition or their barrels were too hot. There were even buffalo shooting contests. In one contest, a Kansan set a record by shooting 120 buffalo in only 40 minutes. Buffalo Bill Cody hired to kill buffalo; they killed more than 4,000 bison in just two years.

Some United States government officials even promoted the destruction of the bison herds as a way to defeat their Native American enemies, who were resisting the takeover of their lands by white settlers. Congressman, John Throckmorton, believed that “It would be a great step forward in the civilization of the Indians and the preservation of peace on the border if there was not a buffalo in existence.” Soon Military commanders were ordering their troops to kill buffalo; not for food, but as a way to deny Native Americans their own source of food. One General believed that “Buffalo Hunters”, did more to defeat the Indian Nations in a few years than soldiers do in 50.”

By 1880 the slaughter was almost over. Where millions of buffalo once roamed, only a few thousand remain; sheltered in the isolated valleys of the newly created Yellowstone National Park.

Because the great herds were nearly gone before any organized attempts were made to survey populations, we may never know just how many bison once roamed the North American continent, although estimates range from 30 to 75 million. “The moving multitude… darkened the whole plains,” wrote Lewis and Clark, who encountered a herd at South Dakota’s White River in 1806.

Killing such large, fast animals was a difficult task. Ancient Tribes soon perfected several techniques. Some would surround small herds with a human chain, giving archers a better shot at the tightly packed bison. Others learned to stampede bison over cliffs. They were called “Buffalo Jumps.”

Despite their great size and bulkiness, buffalo have amazing mobility, speed, and agility and are able to sprint at speeds up to 35 miles per hour. They can sprint for long periods of time.

Cows give birth normally every year to one tawny or buff-colored calf. Most of the calves are Born between the middle of April and the end of May, but some in October. At birth the calves have a faint hump. They begin grazing very young and can live for up to 20 years. They take 9 years to mature.

Conservation of the buffalo came slowly. In May 1894 Congress enacted a new law making buffalo hunting illegal in Yellowstone National Park. Eight years later in 1902 money was given to purchase 21 buffalo from private herds to build up the Yellowstone herd. With adequate protection this herd has steadily grown until it numbers almost 4,000 bison today.

Many other private herds have boosted the buffalo’s overall population over the years as well. While the present herds, numbering about 200,000 buffalo in all, are not as large as the giant herds that once roamed the North American continent, they are large enough to ensure the continued well being of the American for generations to come.

A strong relationship between the humans and the bison has existed for thousands of years. Bison were the center of life for the Plains Tribes of Native Americans, providing them with food, shelter, clothing, and spiritual inspiration. Legend tells “The great spirit brought the pipe to the people. She came as a young woman wearing a white buckskin dress and moccasins. After the Great Spirit presented the pipe to the people and explained the significance of that pipe, she left the teepee as a white bison calf.

In 1886 zoologist William T. Hornaday needed specimens of the plains bison for the National Museum in Washington D.C. Knowing that the plains bison were now becoming very scarce, he went west and in eight weeks he collected only 25 bison in the whole Montana region that had supported tens of thousands a few years earlier. His thorough search clearly demonstrated that the species was indeed in danger of permanent extinction.

In my opinion, people all over the world are still trying to rebuild the once mighty Buffalo Nation that once filled the Plains.

Josh Meyer
Rossville Junior High
2002 Plains Project
Bibliography

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