Despite the assertions that these tribes had lived in their present location since “time immemorial,” nearly all Native American tribes associated with the Great Plains, are recent immigrants from other parts of North America. With the adoption of the mobile horse lifestyle, many tribes converged on the plains to hunt bison. By the 1750s, most tribes in the northern Rockies and northern Great Plains had acquired Spanish horses either through trade or by stealing them from other tribes. However, perhaps the most crucial factor concerning the tribal contribution to bison decline was the introduction of the horse. He quotes Captain Raynolds, who had done a huge circuit of the prime bison grounds in the northern Plains between 1859-1860 lamented that the bison would be extinct in a generation.īy the 1750s most plains tribes had horses and adopted a mobile bison hunting lifeway. The resulting decrease in moisture led to a reduction in grass production and, thus, bison carrying capacity.Īt least one author speculates that diseases introduced from domestic livestock in Texas cattle drives contributed to bison decline, but this was again late in the game, long after bison were already extirpated from numerous parts of their former range.īarbour notes in his book that bison decline was already being noted by the 1830s which is long before either commercial hide hunting or Texas cattle drives. The Little Ice Age ended in the 1800s, which resulted in drier conditions across the West. There were several factors contributing to bison decline, including climate change. Richard Keigley goes into some detail about bison in the Yellowstone region, including the demise of bison in SE Idaho. These include the following authors: Jim Bailey in American Plains Bison Rewilding an Icon, Andrew Isenberg’s The Destruction of the Bison, Douglas Branch The Hunting of the Buffalo, and Allen Asaphi History of the American Bison all provide background on the bison decline. Various other authors also noted the early destruction of bison. The idea that Indian hunting contributed to substantial bison decline is reiterated and documented by other authors like historian Dan Flores in his book American Serengeti who alludes to the decline of bison well before the 1870s bison hide hunting era. For a more in-depth review, see my piece Indian Culpability in Bison Demise. Still, by that time, bison numbers were already diminished and even extirpated from many areas where they were once abundant just a few decades earlier.Ī 1999 New York Times article reported a short overview of bison’s decline. This was long before there was any significant white settlement or commercial bison hunting.Ĭommercial hide hunting in the 1870s was the final nail in the coffin. However, some of the best evidence for Indian extirpation can be found in Southeast Idaho and adjacent regions where by 1840 bison were extirpated. A similar decrease in bison occurred in Canada, with herds extirpated by the 1870s. However, there is plenty of evidence that Indian bison hunting led to the demise of the great bison herds and a decline in large mammals elsewhere. It’s often repeated over and over that commercial hunting by white sharp shooters led to the demise of the large western bison herds. With the cultural appropriation of the horse, Indians became effective predators of the West’s bison herds.
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