Answer with explanation:
What was the Destruction of Buffalo?
Years ago Native Americans discovered what they believed was a gold mine. They noticed a herd of 30 to 60 million Buffalo's roaming the plains. The Native Americans hunted the buffalo so they can maintain an accurate amount of food. By the 1700's the Native Americans tamed some of the buffalo, which made hunting easier. The Native Americans moved with the herds so they can have a good supply of food. The Native people used different methods of hunting. One method use is called the Dog Soldier. A group of Native people who are called this, push some of the herd over a cliff so some of the animals would die. During winter they would chance the larger animals onto frozen lakes and slaughter them. The ice made it difficult for the buffalo to run. Warriors did the killing. The woman were responsible for getting the meat. The rest of the buffalo was used for clothing, shelter and weapons. Native American knew that their survival depended on the buffalo. They never killed too many. They only killed wanted they needed and celebrated the life of the buffalo after.
When and why did it take place?
In the 1860's White settlers saw the plains as a good place to raise cattle. They moved the Native people off the plains and destroyed the herd od buffalo. They were able to do this because the white settlers had political friends in Washington. The buffalo, who feared nothing or no one did not run. They actually stood their ground together. This provided easy killing access for the " Cattle Barons". The buffalos were skinned and their carcasses were left to rot. Some white settlers even cut out the tongue of the buffalo to eat. The killings were brutal and pointless. By the year 1885 the buffalo herd had decreased to 200. Native Americans believe that this policy was out in place to weaken them. Their numbers decreased as well. The slaughter of the buffalo and lack of food caused the tribes to become ill and die of diseases.
What was it like?
The Native Americans and the whites had very different viewpoints on the buffalo. The West held as many as 60 million buffalo before the arrival of the white man, and one would often see solid herds of them for ten to twenty miles. Due to rapid American expansion in less than 50 years, the buffalo was well on its way to extinction with less than 1000 left by the end of the nineteenth century.
The Plains Indians lives were intertwined with the buffalo and they depended on them for food, shelter, and clothing. The cultures, communities and way of life of the Plains Indians were developed around the buffalo, which was the center of their daily and ceremonial life.
In contrast, white settlers migrated to the west in increasing numbers when the 1862 Homestead Act was passed after the Civil War. In order to make migration easier, the US government (through the Army) adopted a policy to exterminate the buffalo which would eventually mean the demise of the Indians who relied on them for almost everything.
In 1869 the first transcontinental railroad was completed, splitting the herd in the heart of buffalo range, making migration easier for farmers and ranchers who wanted the prairies for crops and cattle, and the transportation of buffalo hides easy and cheap. The whites used bison skins for industrial machine belts, clothing and rugs, and there was a huge export trade to Europe of bison hides. The buffalo were a nuisance to the railroads, because they could damage locomotives if the trains failed to stop in time, and bison herds could delay a train for days. They hired professional hunters to supply meat to railroad crews. Old West buffalo hunting was a large commercial enterprise involving organized teams of hunters, skinners, wranglers, cooks, guards, cartridge reloaders and even men who recovered and recast bullets retrieved from the carcasses. The animals were skinned and the tongue was cut out as a delicacy for the white settlers and hunters, and the carcasses were left to rot. After the animals rotted, their bones were collected and shipped east to make fertilizer. Professional hunters, such as Buffalo Bill Cody killed over a hundred animals in a day, and thousands in their career. The buffalo was also hunted for sport, and unfortunately were easy targets. Their natural instinct in the face of danger was to stand still in large groups to intimidate wolf packs or coyotes who were less likely to attack when confronted this way.
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