These horrifying photos show mounds of buffalo bones. European settlers in the New World saw the survival of buffalo as incompatible with their vision of transforming the Great Plains into a landscape suited for cattle ranching and agriculture. They perceived buffalo as competitors for resources and viewed their vast herds as a hindrance to their economic and cultural goals. This perception not only clashed with the Native American reliance on buffalo but also aligned with the settlers' broader agenda of westward expansion and reshaping the land to fit European-American ideals. As a result, the destruction of buffalo herds served both as a means of perpetuating settlers' aspirations and as a strategy for controlling Native American ways of life. The US Fish & Wildlife Service approximates that a staggering 30 to 60 million bison thrived in North America as European arrival on the continent commenced. Yet, owing to extensive and debatably indiscriminate slaughter initiated by European settlers, the bison population dwindled to fewer than 1,000 individuals in North America by the year 1890. This is a quote from Annual Report of the Department of the Interior in 1873.

 

"The civilization of the Indian is impossible while the buffalo remains upon the plains. I would not seriously regret the total disappearance of the buffalo from our western prairies, in its effect upon the Indians, regarding it as a means of hastening their sense of dependence upon the products of the soil and their own labors"

~ Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano

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Today, the American bison population has rebounded to some extent. Fortunately, conservation efforts, such as Yellowstone National Park's establishment and captive breeding, helped their recovery. Native American involvement, government support, and protected habitats significantly contributed to the recovery of the bison's population. According to the National Wildlife Federation, there are roughly 31,000 wild bison in North America (20,000 plains bison and 11,000 wood bison) with an added 420,000 in commercial herds currently. Although bison are no longer at risk of extinction, they now encounter different obstacles. The decline in genetic diversity and the absence of natural selection pressures jeopardize bison's ecological restoration as a wildlife species. A notable presence of cattle gene influence is evident in the majority if not all.

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Sources:

https://www.theatlantic.com/.../the-buffalo-killers/482349/

https://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/yellowstone-buffalo...

https://www.nwf.org/.../Wildlif.../Mammals/American-Bison...).