When exploration of the prairies west of the Mississippi River began in the early 1800’s, millions of bison were found. The number of animals was far, far beyond what had ever been seen back east. While most people were at a loss to describe the sight of tens of thousands of animals spread before them on the open grasslands, looking “like one immense buffalo robe spread across the land,” according to one account, some people did make good attempts. In particular, Ernest Thompson Seton, a naturalist just after the turn of the century, made a respectable attempt to estimate how many bison there had been (at that time, they were already gone). After calculating the size of their original range and how many animals could be supported per acre in various areas, he arrived at the figure of 75 million bison in North America before the arrival of white men. Many modern scientists place the historic number of bison at about half of Seton’s number, more like 30 million bison. We’ll probably never know for sure.

An adult bison requires about 30 pounds of forage per day. Imagine the impact these large grazers had on the prairie vegetation. Bison evolved with the prairies, and along with fire were a dominant force in shaping the prairie ecosystem. What the bison ate, and didn’t eat, had an enormous impact on the species composition in native prairies. Bison also created open areas and removed standing dead vegetation, making habitat for thirteen-lined ground squirrels, meadowlarks, and other species. Wallowing by bison created unique microhabitats which supported plants found nowhere else in the prairie. So bound to one another were the bison and the prairie that some ecologists today argue that you can’t have a completely functioning prairie in the absence of bison.

Bison began to be exploited for trade in the 1830’s. Tongues, robes, and meat were taken and traded. The mid- to late-1800s saw a rapidly accelerating slaughter of the bison driven by the advance of the railroads (providing better access) and human greed. By 1857, the trading posts along the Upper Missouri River were by themselves shipping 75,000 bison robes annually to eastern markets. In the beginning of the trade, buffalo were taken only from November to March, when they had their thick winter pelts. However, around 1871 tanneries looking for new sources of leather experimented favorably with bison and created a new market. The word spread that hides taken at any time of year would be accepted, with or without hair on them. By 1882, the southern plains (including Texas) were completed depleted. Bills to protect the bison were introduced (but never passed), but certain lawmakers and military figures saw eradication of the bison as a way to control the American Indians. Eventually, protective legislation was passed, but too late. Soon, except for a few private herds and several small, scattered wild populations, (all together totaling no more than 1,500 animals) the American Bison was gone.

Fortunately, a few people worked to save some remnant of the great herds. Thanks to men like Michel Pablo, C.J. “Buffalo” Jones, Charles Goodnight, and Pablo Allard, by 1902 there were about 700 bison on private ranches. Because of their efforts, the bison did not become extinct. Today, there are over 300,000 bison in private and public herds. One can see free-roaming bison in two locations in North America: Yellowstone National Park and Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park.

The 20+ bison (the exact number changes annually) at LLELA are owned by Robert Vaughan, who entered into a partnership with LLELA in 2003. Robert and the LLELA staff work together in day-to-day management of the herd. The bison came from multiple sources. Some animals came from Ross Perot’s herd. Others came from the Kansas auction. The current bull is from Ted Turner’s ranch in Castle Rock, New Mexico. The bison are involved both in research and in habitat management. Research is being conducted related to bison and fire impacts on vegetation in our prairie restorations. As a management tool, bison can be used in concert with fire to promote the naturally-occurring mosaic of plant communities across the prairie. They can also aid in brush control by browsing, rubbing on, and generally trampling weedy brush, even clearing paths for humans and their equipment to get into dense areas. Ultimately, both fire and grazing will be used to maintain and continue to elevate the condition of LLELA’s grasslands. The herd size will be managed to optimize the impact on the range.