Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
American (Plains) bison
The story of the bison's near extinction is well known, but it bears repetition. Even relatively early
European settlers had contact with bison, for bison ranged well eastward of the Great Plains into areas
such as Indiana and Kentucky. There they lived in openings within partly forested areas. These were
only the tip of the iceberg, however. As white settlers surged westward in the mid-1800s, especially
after the American Civil War, they encountered seemingly endless herds of bison on the prairies.
These animals were the perfect denizens of the Great Plains. Moving in gigantic herds, they effect-
ively gave the prairie an annual haircut and shave by cropping the plants almost to the ground. As
the bison grazed, their dung—the famous buffalo chips—fertilized the land. This system permanently
maintained a rich variety of annual and perennial plants, and held encroaching forestland at bay.
Simultaneously, the diversity of prairie plants nourished the bison and provided an ecosystem for
which it was perfectly adapted. Able to tolerate drought and the searing heat of summer on the Plains,
the bison was also able to withstand the shrieking, howling winds, driving snow, and subzero temper-
atures of prairie blizzards. With heads, necks, and front quarters insulated by incredibly dense, woolly
fur, the bison simply faced into the blizzards and endured, where lesser creatures, such as domestic
cattle, soon perished.
So huge were some of the bison herds that we can scarcely imagine them today. George Armstrong
Custer wrote of leading troops through a herd for six consecutive days, during the last three of which
the bison were steadily and continually moving across their path! These were part of a mighty popula-
tion estimated as high as 75 million, although 60 million is the most widely accepted estimate.
For centuries the Plains Indians had shared the land with the bison and had developed an almost mys-
tic relationship with the great, shaggy creatures. On foot for hundreds of years, and subsequently with
the advent of horses obtained from Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century, these Native Americans
hunted bison. Their prey provided them not only with food, but also with most of their other necessit-
ies: clothing and tepee covers from the hides; cups and ladles from the horns; knives, arrowheads, sled
