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About 70 million bison, or buffalo, once roamed North America’s grasslands, from Alaska to Northern Mexico. This majestic creature, with its signature humpback, became the symbol of the prairie.
Bison are the largest land animal in North America, reaching a formidable six feet high and often weighing more than a ton — so huge that early settlers believed bison had cleared the trees from the prairie. They roamed in herds of 50 to 200, never overgrazing, always moving on, granting the land time to recover. Like fire, they were a mainstay within a delicately balanced ecosystem. Plants and animals learned to thrive in their wake.
Lewis and Clark knew bison roamed the prairies, but they were surprised at the immense numbers. These grazing beasts were so plentiful that the Corps called the Great Plains a Garden of Eden. The bison's lean, red meat quickly became their favorite meal, providing them with much-needed nourishment during long legs of the journey.
The sheer abundance of bison also enthralled future pioneers, who couldn’t imagine this abundance diminished. Men shot them for fun; hunters sold their hides for buffalo robes; traders shipped their meat east, where it was popular; and businessmen used their bones to make fine china, fertilizer and as a refining agent in sugar.
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In Their Own Words... |
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“The senery already rich and beautiful, was still farther hightened by immence herds of Buffaloe deer Elk an antelopes which we sawn in every direction feeding on the hills and plains. I do not think I exaggerate when I estimate the number of Buffaloe which could be comprehended at one view to amount to 3000."
~ Lewis, describing the abundance of big game
on the Great Plains | | By 1883, less than 80 years after the Lewis and Clark expedition, bison were on the brink of extinction. Their once-great population was reduced to 350. It was about that time efforts to save them gained momentum. Today, bison have rebounded to nearly 325,000 — yet still a mere 1 percent of their original numbers. Many of these animals are part of private herds, as bison meat is again popular today.
The Conservancy reintroduced bison at some of its preserves — including Cross Ranch in North Dakota and Samuel H. Ordway, Jr. Memorial Preserve in South Dakota — because of the critical role they play in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. To learn more, click here. | 
