Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
runners, and hoes from the bones; bowstrings from sinews; dried dung for fuel; and the skull and horns
as ceremonial and religious objects.
Then, with railroads reaching their tentacles into the West, white settlers came in earnest, and the
slaughter began. In one of the most disgraceful chapters in the pillage of North America's natural re-
sources, this enormous population of bison was nearly extinguished within a few short years. With the
aid of modern weaponry—repeating rifles and more powerful rifles with longer range—bison were
hunted in every available manner. They were shot by men on foot, on horseback, and even leaning out
the windows of trains.
Some of the killing was at least for the legitimate purpose of procuring meat and hides, but much
was simply wanton slaughter. Bison were shot by the thousands, their tongues cut out as a delicacy, and
the remainder left to rot. Even worse, thousands more were shot by wealthy “sportsmen” from train
windows and wagons for no better purpose than the fun of it.
Exacerbating the situation was an underlying government policy of eliminating the bison as a means
of solving the “Indian problem.” Rid the Plains of bison, the reasoning went, and the Indians will vanish
also. No less a figure than Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan, the great Union Civil War leader, de-
clared in 1875, “These [hide hunters] have done in the last two years, and will do in the next year, more
to settle the vexed Indian question than the entire Regular Army has done in the last thirty years. They
are destroying the Indians' commissary . . . let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffaloes are exterm-
inated. Then your prairies can be covered with speckled cattle and the festive cowboy. . . .” However
misguided its aims, this policy was unquestionably effective in achieving its purpose.
Incredibly, by 1885 the bison were nearly gone. This creature, which had darkened the Plains in
great, thundering rivers of living animals, and which was strong enough and fast enough to face down
or outrun most predators, was no match for man and his rifles. By 1893 it was estimated that perhaps
as few as three hundred bison remained.
Fortunately, a few ranchers and true sportsmen, appalled by what was happening, rounded up a few
of the fast-dwindling remnant bison and began to raise them in captivity. In 1905 the noted biologist
William Hornaday became the cofounder and first president of the American Bison Society, dedicated
to saving and restoring the bison. Meanwhile, President Theodore Roosevelt successfully pushed Con-
gress into establishing a number of wildlife preserves. Many of these, along with several national parks,
were restocked with animals from private bison owners, and the former monarch of the Plains began its
slow march back from the brink of extinction.
There seems to be a rather vague sense that the bison, though no longer endangered, is rather uncom-
mon. In fact, it's thriving, and its numbers will eventually be limited only by available habitat. Today
there are an estimated 250,000 bison in North America, found in nearly every province and state, in-
cluding Alaska. Most are captive animals, but at least three herds aren't confined by fences.
Captive doesn't equate with tame, however. Bison often seem placid and docile, but they're not do-
mestic livestock. Those most familiar with bison warn that they are
not
tame and should not be ap-
