Why Wait Until Next Weekend to Be Shocked by the Dirty Bison Slaughter When for Some Reason It’s Already on the Internet?
American Indians used to chase buffalo over a cliff. The cliff was called a buffalo jump. The most famous of Wyoming’s buffalo jumps is the Vore Buffalo Jump located near Beulah. From the layers of bones, scientists have estimated that some 20,000 bison were killed at the site and that it was in use as late as 1800 AD.
{ Pile of bison skulls, 1870s } [ update 02/21 Bison were hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century and were reduced to exactly two males by the mid-1880s, from which all the present day’s managed herds are descended. One major cause was the governmental idea of killing off the Plains Indian food source–which was the bison. The herds formed the basis of the economies of local Plains tribes of Native Americans for whom the bison were a primary food source; without bison, the Native Americans would be forced to leave or starve. ]
In one small town in Texas, Rath City, some 1.1 million buffalo hides were shipped out in a three year period. By 1890, it is estimated that only 750 bison were left in the United States. Today’s herds are descended for the most part from 23 bison in Yellowstone’s Pelican Valley, a herd developed by Charles J. “Buffalo” Jones, and the Goodnight-Thayer Cattle Company herd of 250 animals. { Wyoming Tales and Trails } + { Slaughter continues (1997) }
February 21st, 2007 at 1:28 am
Please tell me that you aren’t implying that the American Indians are responsible for the near extinction of the Buffalo, because that is crap.
The white man destroyed the herds to control the Indian population. Our government paid for each head that was slaughtered. In most cases, just the hides were taken. It was a shitty thing they did… the white men.
February 21st, 2007 at 4:21 am
We made an update to make it clearer. Thanks.
February 21st, 2007 at 9:59 am
“Bison were hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century and were reduced to exactly two males by the mid-1880s, from which all the present day’s managed herds are descended.”
Bison reproduce asexually?
February 21st, 2007 at 11:56 am
Where’d the first photo come from–when and where was it taken?
February 21st, 2007 at 12:30 pm
We got the image via email a while ago…
If anyone has any information about it, please leave a comment. Thanks.
February 21st, 2007 at 2:55 pm
“Bison were hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century and were reduced to exactly two males by the mid-1880s, from which all the present day’s managed herds are descended.�
An early triumph for male pregnancy, obviously.
February 21st, 2007 at 3:06 pm
“exactly two males…”
ah!
should we edit the wikipedia article?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bison
February 21st, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I think that if the Indians had been left to themselves, they would have killed ALL the buffalo and they would be extinct. Thank god the Indians were stopped.
April 8th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
The buffalo herds went through periodic periods of decline and growth due to climatic conditions long before the Europeans arrived in America. Native Americans had no horses before the arrival of the Spanish. They used buffalo jumps because chasing down bufflao on foot and killing them was a difficult task. Before they got horses, most tribes were hunter-gatherers who only occasionaly ventured onto the plains to hunt buffalo. The Spanish introduction of the horse changed all this. As the “horse culture” exploded across the plains in the mid-1700s, tribes migrated from the forests and mountains to the plains, where they became almost totaly dependant on the buffalo. Once on the plains, the tribes has to move constantly to ensure grazing for their horses. As more tribes hunted buffalo and more horses competed with buffalo for grazing, the buffalo herds started to decline. The tribes traded buffalo hides among themselves as well as with the Spanish, French, British and Americans. They also killed buffalo simply for their hides and tounges. They killed more buffalo than the buffalo hunters who ventured into the plains at a relatively late, and they took part along with the white buffalo hunters in the destruction of the herds (which never dropped to a low as two buffalo).
The buffalo hunting “horse culture” lasted less then 100 years, but is remembered as a time of plenty in Native American oral history. Native American tribes had to migrate frequently due to climate change and pressure from hostile tribes. Before the horse, they had to carry their possessions on their backs or on dog-travajos. In the 1800s, one Lakoa Sioux woman remembered the evolution of the horse culture with fondness because it mean they no longer had to leave the old people behind when they moved. The old people could ride horses too.