The American-"bi-son,_ or "buffalo, as the animal .is more generally called, 

 achieved, military sigHificance in the history ..of the -.country. It 'has "been - ■ ;■ 

 estiiaated that there were not fever .than 75,000,000 of these .animals making 

 up the' .-vast herds' that -roamed the co.ntinent at the time the white man was es- • 

 tablishing the. first colonies. Buffalo v^rere not, a.s many\now suppose', a purely 

 western species. . At that time their range extended to the' Atlantic seatjoard-^ 

 as did that of the .elk. The hide hunters "brought the "buffalo to the very 

 verge of extinction, and though.it seems strange to us today., "they had the 

 full consent and approval of the "United States C-overninent to encourage them 

 in the slaughter. The "buffalo v.ras the Plains Indians' "base of supply, and '-' 

 the existence of vast herds on the hunting grounds made the su"bjugation of 

 the hostile tri"bes difficult if not impossi"ble of accomplishment "by the armed 

 forces, of the -United States, It was clear to the strategists in Washington 

 that there could TD.e no peace. with the Indian, and no complete conquest of the 

 rich v;e stern lands until the "buffalo had "been de'stroyed, for these, roving 

 herds ^-ere supplying the Indian with nearly everything he needed ill the v/ay 

 of food, • shelter , and- equipment,. 



The. Government accomplished its .purposes "by aiding the "buffalo hunters 

 vdth free ammunition e.nd supplies and "by giving them military protection' 

 whenever possi"ble. '/Then the Sharps ""buffalo gun" and the. skinning knife had ■ 

 finished their worlc the Indians had '^een driven into the reservations, and 

 the huff alo — the fev/ hundred of them remaining — ^lArere gathered into preserves, 

 most of which are now maintained "by. the same Government that; a fev/ years pre- 

 viously had so grimly sought annihilation of the animals. There' they v/ill 

 remain unless in the unpredicta"ble vicissitudes of time, and occasioned per- ■ 

 haps "by the effect of land-utilization practices, great areas ,of their heredi-- 

 tary range are again restored to them and to the elk, deer, and antelope, 



■■The BA-df t .and merciless exploitation of the "buffalo only hastened an •■ 

 inevita"ble process, hov;ever, for in time the Indians must ha,ve retired "before- 

 the constantly augmented num"bers of settlers and the herds of domestic cattle 

 would then have usurped the "buffalo pastures. The history of the decline of '■ 

 this animal furnishes one of the most illuminating examples of the relation- 

 ship existing "between wildlife conservation and land utilization. Years of 

 actual experience prove that these herds . on Federal preserves "can "be increased 

 indefinitely; . that the "buffalo might even .Id e restored to original ahundance 

 locally, provided land v;ere availa"ble» 



; ■ --The same is pro"ba'bly true of any form of wildlife. The principle is 

 emhodied. in the national wildlife-restoration program now'"bei.ng conducted "by ■- 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service, This program seeks the esta'blishment of a 

 system of refuges to furnish ha"bitat for increasing, the' population of tiirds ■ 

 and animals and pro7l6.iy.p; a. siurplas not novi e.^i'st^ni: "but ono that will off- 

 set -the losses ff-ou :;eg'ulated shooting and o'.oher cp-uscs^ Since 1924 the ■ herd 

 on the E.x.3.on. '-^ange iu Iloutana--"but one of foes ciniilar ranges administered- 

 "by the Na-'-.'icnai ocrv"? cc- -hcit; produced Dea'i.!/ 2:000 ani.mal:, ir cxcics of -the 

 camying capaf-.iGy of the range- Tcal:.>;u--p-*;^^ '^^ thooe Trom the other -pr'e- 

 serves, had :thay "been released and al.rcwed to reproduce -under protection,- 

 would nov- have repopulatod a considoralle areac These increases, however, 

 have contri"butcd little or nothing to any "broad restoration program, "because- 



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