The Extermination of the American Bison

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Group of American Bison in the National Museum Collected and mounted by W. T. Hornaday

It is hoped that the following historical account of the discovery, partial utilization, and almost complete extermination of the great American bison may serve to cause the public to fully realize the folly of allowing all our most valuable and interesting American mammals to be wantonly destroyed in the same manner. The wild buffalo is practically gone forever, and in a few more years, when the whitened bones of the last bleaching skeleton shall have been picked up and shipped East for commercial uses, nothing will remain of him save his old, well-worn trails along the water-courses, a few museum specimens, and regret for his fate. If his untimely end fails even to point a moral that shall benefit the surviving species of mammals which are now being slaughtered in like manner, it will be sad indeed.

Although Bison americanus is a true bison, according to scientific classification, and not a buffalo, the fact that more than sixty millions of people in this country unite in calling him a “buffalo,” and know him by no other name, renders it quite unnecessary for me to apologize for following, in part, a harmless custom which has now become so universal that all the naturalists in the world could not change it if they would.

W. T. H.

By
William T. Hornaday, Superintendent of the National Zoological Park

• Part I

  • The Life History of the Bison

  • Discovery of the species

  • Geographical distribution

  • Abundance

  • Character of the species

    • The buffalo’s rank amongst ruminants

    • Change of form in captivity

    • Mounted specimens in museums

    • The calf

    • The yearling

    • The spike bull

    • The adult bull

    • The cow in the third year

    • The adult cow

    • The “Wood” or “Mountain Buffalo”

    • The shedding of the winter pelage

    • Albinism

  • Habits of the buffalo

  • The food of the buffalo

  • Mental capacity and disposition of the buffalo

  • Value to mankind

    • Utilization of Buffalo by White Men

  • Economic value of the bison to Western cattle-growers

    • The bison in captivity and domestication

    • Need of an improvement in range cattle

    • Character of the buffalo-domestic hybrid

    • The bison as a beast of burden

    • List of bison herds and individuals in captivity

• Part II

  • The extermination

    • Causes of the extermination

    • Methods of slaughter

      • The “still hunt”

      • The chase on horseback

      • Impounding

      • The surround

      • Decoying and driving

      • Hunting on snow-shoes

  • Progress of the extermination

    • The period of desultory destruction

    • The period of systematic slaughter

      • The Red River half-breeds

      • The country of the Sioux

      • Western railways, and their part in the extermination of the buffalo

      • The division of the universal herd

      • The destruction of the southern herd

      • Statistics of the slaughter

      • The destruction of the northern herd

  • Legislation to prevent useless slaughter

  • Completeness of the wild buffalo’s extirpation

  • Effects of the disappearance of the bison

  • Preservation of the species from absolute extinction

• Part III

  • The Smithsonian expedition for specimens

    • The exploration for specimens

    • The hunt

    • Trophies of the Hunt

    • The mounted group in the National Museum

      • The Accessories

      • The Six Buffaloes

      • The Taxidermist's Object Lessons

      • Map Illustrating The Extermination Of The American Bison

This site includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes implied.

Source: The Extermination of the American Bison, 1886-’87, By William T. Hornaday, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1889

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