Whether you call the species by its correct name (the bison) or by its popular name, the American Buffalo is a staple of American history, culture, and art. Through massacres and Westward expansion, the American Buffalo has been tried, tested, and transformed into an icon representative of the American West and has recently begun to make a comeback. 

For hundreds of years before white settlers began to “Win the West,” the buffalo acted as a lifeline for indigenous tribes like the Sioux and the Comanche. These cultures relied on the buffalo for food, shelter, and even clothing, so when white settlers began to head west and come into conflict with natives, settlers used this to their advantage. They began to “hunt” (more like massacre) these animals by the thousands in order to cripple their native adversaries. 

Nearly 25 million buffalo were slaughtered in the creation of a wasteland meant to defeat the natives and amplify settlers’  trade routes. Eventually, these killings led to the large-scale trade of buffalo hides and tongues which were shipped back east across the Mississippi to be sold to wealthy Americans. Many historical accounts give details on miles of prairie covered in the wasted carcasses of dead bison left without hides. In one of his journals, President Theodore Roosevelt famously wrote on a hunt out West, “We were never out of sight of a dead buffalo, and never in sight of a living one.”

Despite the seeming feud between Americans and buffalo, the species became an iconic symbol of America and its last frontier, giving inspiration for Buffalo Bill’s name and James Fraser’s Buffalo Nickel which entered the US Mint in 1913. There was even a buffalo kept in Central Park in New York City named Black Diamond until his auction and slaughter in 1915. So the legend goes, Black Diamond was the buffalo used for modeling both the Buffalo Nickel and the buffalo used on the $10 Lewis and Clark bill.

Throughout the period of westward expansion and the killing of buffalo, there were some “saviors” of the species. James Philip, a rancher and politician, saw the decline of the buffalo in the West where millions once roamed. Philip knew something had to be done. He then purchased buffalo calves at the estate sale of the late Mr. Dupree. In 1901, Philip moved his bison herd, which had grown from 5 to nearly 70 buffalo, to an enclosed pasture along the Mississippi River. After convincing the federal government to make an effort to save this American symbol, Philip leased 3,500 acres from the government to create Buffalo Park. He also worked with other ranchers in the States and Canada to gather and preserve the species and create protected herds of buffalo.

Thanks to large-scale efforts of modern conservation, the American Buffalo is no longer threatened with extinction and even thrives in parts of the American West. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), an estimated 20,500 bison live in conservation herds, and nearly half a million live in commercial herds. Many states and private organizations are currently trying to re-establish the bison and make migration patterns available in the American West. Across 12 states, the Department of the Interior (DOI) manages 19 different herds, 6 of which are free to roam in native habitats. Government departments like the DOI and the USFWS work with conservation groups to monitor the herds’ health across the country. DNA and disease testing is continually administered in order to keep high genetic diversity and to prevent the spread of illness. On the other side of this massive effort comes the rehabilitation of native ranges for the buffalo to roam. Over 4.5 million acres of land are currently being monitored and kept up in order to support America’s remaining buffalo herds.