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Buffalo/Bison
(Bison bison)
 Photographs/Cards/Stereoviews/Artifacts

 

 


 


"'Buffalo, Rocky Mountain Park, Banff, Canadian Rockies"
"Photo Copyright Wm. Notman & Son"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1910
8.8 x 13.5 cm
 


Herd of Bison
"Harry Shipler, Photographer
Salt Lake City, Utah"
Original vintage photograph, c. 1910
Mount: 10 x 20.5 cm
 


General Lawton
, (see below), age 24
Wichita National Wildlife Reservation, Oklahoma
"234976"
Original vintage photograph, 1929
11.6 x 18.8 cm
 


General Lawton (see below), age 18,
and his herd at Wichita National Wildlife Reservation, Oklahoma
"40010A"
Original vintage photograph, 1923
10.6 x 16.3 cm
 


"Scotty Phillip's Buffalo Ranch, six miles North of Ft. Pierre, S. D."
"No. 922.  Pub for Guy L. Hart, by Bloom Bros., Minneapolis, Minn.  Made in Germany."

 Original vintage collotype postcard, 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"The Herd at Close Range
At the Phillip Buffalo Ranch Above Fort Pierre, S. D."

"Publ. by Fred A. Mix & Co., Fort Pierre, S. D."

 Original vintage collotype postcard, 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Montana Pioneers"
"Copyrighted by J. A. Elliot, Butte, Mont.  Dec. 19, '09"
"Published by Cohn Bros, Importers and Jobbers, Butte, Mont.

 Original vintage photochrome postcard,  1909
9 x 13.7 cm

"Montana Pioneers. - The great Allard herd of buffalo being rounded up by Charles Allard,
the owner, assisted by his famous Indian Cowboys. 
This picture was take in 1892."

 


 Buffalo

" 208 - Illustrated Postal Card Co., New York, Germany"
"Printed in Germany"
" Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 



" No. 114D.  Buffalo Herd"
" New York Zoological Park"
"85687  Only official postcard, New York Zoological Society, Publishers.  (Germany)."
 Original vintage collotype postcard, c. 1905
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Buffalo on the Wichita Game Reserve Near Lawton, Okla"
"40383 - C"

"Made by Curt Teich & Co., Inc., Chicago, U.S.A."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard,  1934
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" The Government Herd at Banff"
"Published by W.
T. Ridgley Calendar Co., Great Falls, Mont."
 Original vintage lithograph postcard, 1909
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Sir Donald Banff  Age 34"
"W. T. Ridgley Calendar Co., Pub.  Great Falls, Mont."
 Original vintage lithograph postcard, embossed, 1906
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" A 103 - American Bison"

" Rembrant Post Card"
"Published by W. E. Noble, Colorado Springs, Colo"
"Color Reproduction by Pikes Peak Lithographic Co."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1950
9 x 13.7 cm

"These huge beasts weigh nearly two thousand pounds. 
At one time the plains were literally blackened with their vast numbers."

 


" Buffalo, Corbin's Park, N. H."
 Original vintage lithograph postcard, c. 1906
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"
Le Bison"
"Le Jardin
des Plantes" (Paris)
Original vintage collotype postcard, c. 1910
13.7 x 9 cm
 


" Buffalo in Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago"
"No. 82.  Y. O. Hamman Pub. Co. Chicago"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1920
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Remnant of a Mighty Herd that Once Thronged the Praries"
"1001 - Buffalo on the Plains of the Great West"
"Barkalow Bro's  Publishers  Omaha, Neb"

Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1950
9 x 13.7 cm

"Buffalo once swarmed over the plains from the mountains to the Mississippi congregating in
herds of untold numbers that extended for miles.  They furnished hides and meat to the Indians
and in later years many of the note scouts gained much of their reputation from their exploits in buffalo killing. 
These animals once so numerous are now reduced to  few scattered herds.
"
 


" R 34  Monarchs of the Plains"
"Published by Rushmore Photo, 520 6th St., Rapid City, S. D."

Original vintage photochrome postcard, c. 1915
9 x 13.7 cm

"Monarchs of the Plains.  The last of their race.  Buffalo in the State and National Parks of South Dakota. 
One of the largest buffalo herds left are in the Black Hills of South Dakota."
 


" Montana Buffalo"
"Mirro Krome Card by H. S. Crocker Co."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1950
14  x 17.7 cm

"The National Bison Range at Moiese, Montanna is the home of one of the largest
herds of buffalo in the U.S.  Auto tours are conducted here in the summer."
 


"
96   Buffalo Banff"
"Canadian Pacific Rockies. 
Photographed and Copyrighted by Byron Harmon, Banff, Canada"
 Original vintage photograph postcard, c. 1905
9 x 13.7 cm
 


American Bison
"317 - Paris. -  Museum d' Histoire Naturelle  - Bison
d' Amérique du Nord"
"Edition Bosle, Boulevard Saint - Marcel, 86, Paris"

 Original vintage collotype postcard,  c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"
Buffalo N. Y."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1911
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"226 - Buffalo on the Range in the Rockies"
"Sanborn Souvenir Co., Denver, Colo. 7A10-N"
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard (1937), c. 1960
9 x 13.7 cm

"Buffalo once swarmed over the plains from the mountains to the Mississippi, congregating
in herds of untold numbers that extended for miles.  They furnished hides and meat
to the Indians and in later years many of the noted scouts gained much of their
reputations from their exploits in buffalo killing.  These animals once so numerous
are now reduced to a few scattered herds."
 


"
The Adam and Eve of America"
"Published by W. T. Ridgley Calendar Co., Great Falls, Mont"

 Original vintage lithograph postcard, 1907
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"
9238  Buffalo at Water "
"Copyright 1905 by Detroit Publishing Co."
" 'Phostint' Card  Made only by Detroit Publishing Co."
Photographed in 1884 by C A Kendrick
 Original vintage photochrome postcard, 1905
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Buffalo  N. Y."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1907
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"8819  Buffalo Herd Near Fort Yellowstone"
"Copr. Detroit Photographic Co."
" 'Phostint' Card    Made only by Detroit Publishing Co."
 Original vintage photochrome postcard, 1909
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Buffalo Herd  05"
 Original vintage lithograph postcard, c. 1925
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"'83. A Few of the Remaining American Bison - Yellowstone National Park"
"1925,  A C Co."
Original vintage color lithograph stereoview, 1925
9 x 17.7 cm
 


"10692 - Roaming 'Monarch of the Plain.' 
The Buffalo in his Snow-bound Home, B. C., Can.
"
"Keystone View Company, 1903"
Original vintage photograph stereoview, 1903
9 x 17.7 cm

"It is most likely too late to preserve the lordly American bison from extinction. 
About 500 head still exist, under legal protection in parks and zoological gardens. 
A few still roam wild in the forests south of the Great Slave Lake.
The extermination began about 1860 and was pursued mercilessly from 1865 to1875,
about 2,000,000 hides a year being sold for ten years, at an average of $1.00 each. 
The Indians slaughtered great numbers, but a veritable army of white hunters destroyed
the enormous herds on the prairies as if they were cattle in the shambles. 
Now, where the first railroad trains were stopped by passing herds,
or even steamboats halted in the Upper Missouri by swimming herds in the river,
not a bison remains except a few captives.
The specimens before us are the herd of Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal,
his real name is Smith...preserved in the beautiful Rocky Mountains Park of Canada,
among the towering peaks, lakes, glaciers and snow-fields of the Canadian Rockies"
 


 "10137 - A Buffalo Head, Yellowstone Park"
"Haynes - Photo"
"Published by Haynes, St. Paul. 
Official Photographer, Yellowstone National Park"

 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1920
13.7 x 9 cm
 


"A Herd of Buffaloes  264"
"Published by Scheuber Drug Co., Livingston, Mont."

"Made in U.S.A."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm

"The buffalo in Yellowstone Park are in two herds one on the Lamar River and at
Mammoth Hot Springs, the success already attained in rearing these animals which
are under Government protection is very encouraging."

 


"
Buffalo in City Park, Portland, Oregon "
"1132.  Publ. by The Portland Post Card Co., Portland, Ore."
"Made in Germany"
 Original vintage photochrome postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Wild Buffalo, one of America's 'first families,' at home on a sunny slope,
Yellowstone Park, U.S.A."

"Underwood and Underwood Publishers.
New York.  London.  Toronto - Canada.  Ottawa - Kansas."
"Copyright 1904 by Underwood and Underwood."
Original vintage photograph stereoview, 1904
9 x 17.7 cm
 

 

"
15 Wild Buffaloes Grazing"
"Copyright 1907 by L. A. Huffman"
"The Huffman Pictures, Milestown, Montana"
Photograph by L. A. Huffman , c. 1881
 Original vintage collotype postcard, 1907
9 x 13.7 cm

"FIFTEEN WILD BUFFALOES (count them), quietly grazing on the
prairies of northern Montana. Photographed in the early eighties."
 


"A Killing of Cows & Spikes"
(Also titled "Five Minute's Work")

"Copyright 1907 by L. A. Huffman"
"The Huffman Pictures, Milestown, Montana"
Photograph by L. A. Huffman , 1881
 Original vintage collotype postcard, 1907
9 x 13.7 cm

"A KILLING OF COWS AND SPIKES.  Printed from the original negative taken in
the Smokey Butte country in 1881, near the end of the great tragedy,
the extermination of the American bison by red men and white, which was then nearing
its culmination, between the Missouri and the Yellowstone, during the late seventies. 
Nine dead animals are shown.  The killing was scattered over a mile of rough breaks,
and numbered a total of forty cows and young bulls in all. 
What an AWFUL waste it was!"  (L.
A. Huffman)
 


"
Buffaloes in Pt Defiance Park, Tacoma, Wash.  5172"
"The PCK Series.  Made in Germany"
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"The Buffalo Hunt"
From a painting by  R. Atkinson Fox
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1907
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Buffalo Bull"
"Copyright 1906, by Everett Harold Baynes, Meriden, N. H."
Original vintage lithograph postcard, 1906
13.7 x 9 cm
 


"C. S. Co. 1 - Canadian Buffaloes"
"C. S. Co. Ltd. Winnipeg"
Original vintage collotype postcard, 1907
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Bison on the U. S. Reserve - Moise, Montana"
"J. W. Meiers  Polson, Mont."
Original vintage photograph postcard, c. 1940
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Buffalo or Bison, Banff National Park, Canada
Along the Line of the Canadian Pacific Railway"
"Copyrighted by Byron Harmon, Banff, Canada"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1920-30
13.7
x 9 cm
 


"8818  The Largest Living Buffalo Bull"

"Copr. Detroit Photographic Co."
" 'Phostint' Card    Made only by Detroit Publishing Co."
 Original vintage photochrome postcard, 1909
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Old Bill, Father of the Herd, Buffalo, N. Y."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1912
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"No 157.  Buffalo Herd, near Ft. Yellowstone, Yellowstone Park."
"Haynes Photo"
"Published by Haynes, St. Paul,
Official Photographer, Yellowstone National Park."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1910 - 1920
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Bison d'Amérique / Amerikansche Bison"
"Anvers - Jardin Zoologiue / Antwerpen-Dlerentuin"
" Ern. Thill, Bruxelles"." 
Original vintage photograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" No. 51.  Buffaloes on the Range"
"Published and Copyrighted,1910, by E. M. Hegglund, Pierre, S. D."

Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" No. 21.  American Bison"
"Photo by F. W. Bond"

" From the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park.  N. W." 
Original vintage lithograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"
One of the Buffalo Herds in the
Theodore Roosevelt National Park - 74"

"Montana Postcard and Souvenir Co., Box 1157, Miles City, Montana 59301"
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1970
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"
12.  Buffaloes Grazing.  Yellowstone National Park"
"Published by J. L. Robbins Co., Spokane, Wash.  Made in U. S. A."
"C. T. Photochrom   A 6916"
 Original vintage photochrome postcard, c. 1916
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" 51051 Bison (Buffalo) Herd"
"Copr. Haynes"
 Original vintage photograph postcard, c. 1930-40
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" 686.  Buffalo and Elk in City Park, Denver, Colorado"
"7-19-10"  (Handwritten)
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Buffalo at Wind Cave National Park
In the Black Hills of South Dakota - 340"
"Published  by Dakota News Agency, Sioux Falls, S. D.
A 'Natural Color Card'  by E. C. Kropp Co., Milwaukee, Wis. - FIL"
 
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1930-40
9 x 13.7 cm

"At Wind Cave National Park, a few miles from Hot Springs, buffalo roam wild
on the rolling hills as they did when the Indian pursued them many years ago. 
Hundreds of these huge animals are in the Wind Cave herd, and can be seen from
the highway by the traveler as he passes through the Park."
 


" Buffalo, N. Y."
" No. 1.  Published by S. H. K. & Co., Buffalo, N. Y."
"Made in Germany"
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1906
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Buffalo Herd.  New York Zoological Park"
" 55714  Only official post card.  New York Zoological Society, Publishers.  (Germany)"
 Original vintage collotype postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" 285   Buffalo State Game Park "
" Rise Studio - Rapid City, S. D."
 Original vintage photograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Buffalo Chase"
" Published by W. T. Ridgley Calendar Co., Great Falls, Mont."
 Original vintage lithograph postcard, 1907
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"
46 - Buffalo  N. Y."
"
© H B 1078"
" 'Metrocraft, Everett, Mass."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1930
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Bull Buffalo "
"Wind Cave National Park, Black Hills, S. Dak."
"Black Hills Novelty and Mfg. Co., Box 1589, Rapid City, S. D."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1930 -1940

"The buffalo herd at the Wind Cave National Park is one of the largest
in the United States.  The herd is usually visible from the road through the Park,
and every summer many tourists are able to get excellent pictures of them.
Buffalo can be extremely dangerous when aroused, and it is advisable for the tourist to
stay near his car when photographing them."
 


" Forest Park, Springfield, Mass."

" The big BULL BUFFALO, one of a pair from the Corbin Preserve, New Hampshire."
"A great attraction of Springfield's Zoo - A-446)"
"Photo Type Postcard"
"By Geo. S. Graves, Springfield, Mass."
 Original vintage lithograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 

Buffalo - Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma
"Viewgram  BLC-44"
"Scotty's Barbeque  3 Miles West on Highway 66  Vinata, Oklahoma"
"Baxtone, Box 175, Amrillo, Texs, Made in U.S.A."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1950

"One of a herd of 600 Buffalo in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge,
photographed and painted by C
. Faye Barnett."
 

.
"
Buffalo (Bison bison)"
"N-11  Color Photo by W. J. Gibbons, AMPA"
" 'Made in Canada.  Agency Press Ltd."
"Banff, Alberta, Canada"
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1966
9 x 13.7 cm

"Buffalo (Bison bison)
Sixty million buffalo once roamed the plains of this continent.  These numbers were
hopelessly decimated as civilization moved westward after 100 and brought
greedy hunters who wantonly slaughtered the herds to the level of near extinction. 
Many bloody battles were fought between the white hunters and the Indians,
who depended upon the buffalo for food, clothing and shelter. 
Protection of the last few surviving buffalo and the creation of reserves finally brought them
 back to the point were today they number 15,000 in Canada and 10,000 in the States."
 


"
63 - Buffaloes in the State Park, Black Hills. So. Dak." 
"80236 N  Genuine Curt Teich - 'Chicago  C. T. American Art'
Distributed by Black Hills Post Card Co., Deadwood, S. D."
 Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1919
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"3743 B - American Bison.  New York Zoological Park"
"Copyrighted - New York Zoological Society, Publishers. 
Quadri-Color Co., New York"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Iron Tail.  The famous Indian Chief"
" Montana Souvenir Company, Miles City, Montana"
 Original vintage lithograph postcard, c. 1910
13.7 x 9 cm
 



 Buffalo Nickel, 1935
(Five Cent Indian Head)
U. S. Coin
21.2 mm diameter; 1.5 mm thick

Designed by sculptor James Earl Fraser, the Buffalo nickel or five cent piece was minted
in the United States from 1913 through 1938.  Although aficionados prefer the name
Buffalo Nickel, the official name of the coin is the Five Cent Indian Head. 
Millions upon millions were minted (the US Mint claims the number to be 1.2 billion)
over the 26 years of its life, and the record price paid for a particular rare stamping
is a million and a quarter US dollars. Although named the Buffalo Nickel,
it is in fact an American Bison that is depicted (buffaloes are found in India and Africa,
the bison is related to the European Bison and the Canadian Woods Bison).
The Native American on the obverse of the coin is a composite portrait of three chiefs,
Iron Tail (see above), Two Moons, and John Big Tree (also known as Adoeette);
the "buffalo" on the reverse is an American Bison, thought to be one named
Black Diamond from the Central Park Zoo in New York City. 
If true, it may be related to the Bronx Zoo herd, and therefore to General Lawton (above) as well. 
President Teddy Roosevelt instigated the design and minting of this coin;
his affection for the Old West and his respect for the Native American
fostered the symbolism and iconography.  The coin's daily use by millions for 26 years
without doubt contributed to maintaining the memory of the "Indian," the "Buffalo"
and their relationship for an extended time period. 
The coin was replaced in 1939 by the Jefferson Nickel; the pony-tailed president
and his personal mansion continue to ride in our pockets and purses to this day,
with no more respect and honor than was afforded the buffalo and its native partner.
One in 25,000 nickels in circulation today is still a Buffalo Nickel.
 


 Buffalo Nickel, 2005
U. S. Coin
21.2 mm diameter; 1.5 mm thick
 



  U. S. $10  Note - Bison / Buffalo, 1901
Gold Certificate - Legal Tender
FR-122

Issued to stimulate interest in the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
held in Portland Oregon in 1905.  It features "Buffalo Bill" (sic) in the center
flanked by portraits of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
 



Indian Hunting Buffalo, 1898
The Trans-Mississippi Issue
U. S. 4¢ Stamp
Scott -287

Issued  to promote the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition
held in Omaha, Nebraska in 1898.  This stamp was originally designed in two colors,
but due to Bureau of Engraving's production of revenue stamps to fund
the Spanish-American War, it was issued in one color.  In 1998, 100 years later,
it was re-issued in it's original bi-color design (Scott 3209).




 American Buffalo, 1923
U. S. 30
¢ Stamp
Scott -569



Wildlife Conservation, The American Buffalo, 1970
U. S. 6
¢ Stamp 
Scott -1392



 Bison Stamp  1981
U. S. 18¢ Stamp 
Scott -1883



 Bison, 2001
U. S. 21
¢ Stamp
Scott -3468

 "Buffalo Chase," 1972
Indians of the Plains
Les Indiens des Plaines
Aboriginal Peoples Series
(From painting by George Catlin)
Canada 8
¢ Stamp 
Scott (Canada) -562

"Canada  Bison bison athabascae " 1981
Canada  35
¢ Stamp 
Scott -884
 


"America the Beautiful  USA"
"First Day of Issue"
USPS 1988"
"March 28, 1988  Buffalo, N. Y. 82834"
U. S. 15¢ Postcard
 


"American Wildlife Commemorative Series of 1987
"
"Official First Day of Issue"
"Bison"
"First Day of Issue"
"USPS CAPEX Sta. .
Toronto, Canada
Jun 13 1987"
U. S. 22¢ Stamp on Envelope
 


"21202  © Buffalo (American Bison, Bull) Yellowstone National Park"
"Copyright by Haynes, Inc.  Yellowstone Park, Wyoming"
"SA - H506"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1920
9 x 13.7 cm

"This is a typical large buffalo bull (American Bison) of the herd
of approximately one thousand in Yellowstone National Park."
 


"Buffalo  - Yellowstone Park"
"Haynes - Photo  <Collotype>  Made in Germany"
Original vintage collotype postcard, 1907
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Buffalo on the Range, Flathead Valley, Montana"
"Published  by James R. White, Kalispell, Mont. 60910 W"
Original vintage photochrome postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 

 
"9 - The Buffalo"
"Oregon Trail Monument Expedition Post Card"
"Published by Ezra Meeker, Seattle, Wash. "
Original vintage lithograph postcard, c. 1906
9 x 13.7 cm

"Once so vast  in number but now extinct on the Plains this illustration will revive
the memories of Pioneers of what was so often seen and quite too often dreaded
in the wild stampedes led by just such fellows as here illustrated."
 


"Buffalo - Canadian National Park, Banff, 
Canadian Pacific Railway
100394 NV."
"Published by Valentine & Sons. Ltd., Toronto and Montreal"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1908
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Old Charlie"
"Buffalo (American Bison) Bull in West Texas"
"Photo 9368 B  Copyright, 1934 by McCormick Co. 4AH-1930"
"Distributed by McCormick Co, Photographers, Amarillo, Texas"
"Genuine Curteich - Chicago  "C.T. Art-Colortone" Postcard (Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.)
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1934
9 x 13.7 cm

"A lonesome survivor of the thundering buffalo herds!  His forefathers were saved
from extinction
by the wife of Texas Panhandler's pioneer rancher,
Colonel Charles Goodnight, for whom he is named."
 


 "Buffalo Herd Stampede, Yellowstone National Park"
"Copyright by Haynes Picture Shops, Inc., 341 Selby Ave., St. Paul,  Minn.
and Yellowstone Park, Wyoming. 16181"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1940
9 x 13.7 cm

"In Yellowstone Park there are approximately 1,000 buffaloes (American Bison). 
The majority of these constitute the Lamar Valley herd, some of which are
in this picture.  The 'show herd' of only a few buffaloes is quartered at
Mammoth Hot Springs during the summer season"
 


"Buffalo Herd
Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave So. Dakota."
© Rise Studio, 292W."
Original vintage photograph postcard, c. 1940 -1950
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"The Buffalo Hunter"
From the painting by John Innes
"Troilene Animal Series"
"Published by The Cargill Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., U.S.A."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Bison, Philadelphia Zoo, Pa."
"Published  by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1940
9 x 13.7 cm

"Fifty years ago the Bison (incorrectly called Buffalo) was nearly extinct. 
Millions were slaughtered for their hides and tongues during the last half of the
Nineteenth Century.  Thanks to the protection given
by the American and Canadian Governments the Bison is now plentiful again."

 


"National Bison Range, Moiese, Montana"
"Pub by The Rose Hall Studio, Sandpoint, Idaho"
"41674 - B"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1955
9 x 13.7 cm

"Here, several hundred bison are rounded up, from their 18,500 acre range, each Fall. 
Small quarys are 'cut out' by daring buffalo-boys and brought down at head-long speed
(to minimize their cutting back) and put into smaller corrals, then chutes, there to be branded,
vaccinated and the herds to be reduced to maximum range capacity."
 

 

"Buffalo Herd  Golden Gate Park.  SF, Cal."
"Piggett  #548"
Original vintage photograph postcard, c. 1940 -1950
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Winter in Black Hills."
"Photo  Courtesy Wind Cave National Park"
"Published by Don Grigg Enterprises, Mitchell, South Daktoa - 521994 B"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1950 -1960
9 x 13.7 cm

"Just like in the days of the wild west - the Buffalo still roam in the praries of So. Dak. 
Both in Summer and Winter".

 


" 5000 Herd Buffalo in the Wainwright  Park"
" Photo Copyrighted Carsell"
 Original vintage photograph postcard, c. 1927
9 x 13.7 cm
 

   
"Buffalo in the North Dakota Badlands"
"C26988 - Color Photo by North Dakota Travel Dept."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1974
9 x 13.7 cm

"BUFFALO in the North Dakota Badlands, Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park. 
The American Bison which numbered in the millions on the Northern Great Plains
until almost annihilated by white hunters in the 19th - Century. 
Now re-introduced herds of this majestic beast may often be seen in the park."
 



"American Bison"
Hills Practical Reference Library
Original vintage wood engraving, 1903
5 x 7 cm
 



"Batiste and Catlin Running Buffalo
"
George Catlin
Plate No. 9
Original vintage chromolithograph print, 1892
8 x 11.5 cm

CLICK  for a series of nine original Catlin prints of Buffalo scenes
 


"The Last of the Buffalo"
Original vintage color (hand colored) lithograph stereoview, c. 1895 -1900
9 x 17.7 cm
 


"The Finish"
""78 - Copyright N Y 1908"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1908 / 1912
9 x 13.7 cm
 


" Slaughtered for a Pastime"
" Shall the Buffalo Go?  Reminiscences of an Old Buffalo Hunter"
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, Vol. XV, May 1883, New York,
 Original vintage wood engraving, 1883
11.1 x 15.9 cm
 


" Shooting Buffalo From the Trains of the Kansas Pacific Railroad"

" Sketched by Theodore R. Davis"
"Harper's Weekly - December 14, 1867"
 Original vintage wood engraving, 1867
15 x 23 cm

"(This) engraving represents a sport that is peculiarly American. At this season of the year
 the herds of buffalo are moving southward, to reach the canyons which
contain the grass they exist upon during the winter. Nearly every railroad train
which leaves or arrives at Fort Hays on the Kansas Pacific Railroad has its race
with these herds of buffalo; and a most interesting and exciting scene is the result.
The train is "slowed" to a rate of speed about equal to that of the herd;
 the passengers get out fire-arms which are provided for the defense
of the train against the Indians, and open from the windows and platforms
of the cars a fire that resembles a brisk skirmish.
Frequently a young bull will turn at bay for a moment. His exhibition of courage
is generally his death-warrant, for the whole fire of the train is turned upon him,
either killing him or some member of the herd in his immediate vicinity.

When the "hunt" is over the buffaloes which have been killed are secured,
and the choice parts placed in the baggage-car, which is at once crowded by passengers,
each of whom feels convinced and is ready to assert that his was the shot that brought
down the game. Ladies who are passengers on the trains frequently enjoy the sport,
and invariably claim all the game as the result of their prowess with the rifle.
 This solution of the case is, of course, accepted by all gentlemen,
and a more excited party of Dianas it would be impossible to imagine."
Harper's Weekly - December 14, 1867
 


" 867-2  World's Largest Buffalo"
" Montana Souvenir Company, Miles City, Montana"
"Color Photo  by Kosty"
 Original vintage lithograph postcard, c. 1960
9 x 13.7 cm

"Replica (1959) of the once famous Buffalo which roamed the great Dakota prairie. 
Erected by the City of Jamestown, N. D. and the chamber of Commerce,
the Buffalo is three story high and a weight of 60 tons."

 


"European Bison"
"Copyright  Photo by F. W. Bond"
"From the Gardens of the Zoological Gardens of London, Regent's Park, N. W."
Original vintage lithograph postcard, c. 1910
9 x 13.7 cm
 


Man Wearing Buffalo Robe
"CYKO"
Original vintage photograph postcard, 1910
13.7 x 9 cm
 


Man Wearing Buffalo Chaps
"Ellis Photo  530 K St.  Sac'to, Calif"
Original vintage photograph postcard, 1907
13.7 x 9 cm
 


" 'Buffalo Bill'  William Cody"
"Whose Home was in North Platte, Nebraska"
"Barkalow Bros. Publishers, Omaha - Neb"
"Art Tone 'Glow-Var'  Finished.  Made only by Beals, Des Moines, Iowa"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1910 - 20
13.7 x 9 cm

"The name of Buffalo Bill, famous plainsman, Indian fighter and Government Scout,
is inseparably linked with Overland Route History."
 

 
"994   Buffalo Bill (Col. Wm. F. Cody) Famous Plainsman and Scout"
"6A23"
"Sanborn Souvenir Co., Denver, Colo."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1940
13.7 x 9 cm

"Buffalo Bill (Col. Wm. F. Cody) typifies a glorious and romantic period in American history. 
His life and exploits captured the imagination and enthusiasm of the whole world
and dramatized more than any other man the early day adventures in  conquering the West."

William “Buffalo Bill” Cody
1846 – 1917 
Buffalo Bill Cody got his name after he killed 4,280 buffaloes in an 18 month period. 
Originally known as an Indian fighter/killer (he killed his first Indian at age eleven)
Cody received the Medal of Honor from the U.S. government and eventually was named
“the most recognized celebrity on earth” with his “Wild West Show.” 
The contemporary view of Buffalo Bill is that of a conservationist
 (he later advocated a hunting season for buffalo) and Indian rights activist
(he hired lots of Indians for his Wild West Show).  
Cody continues to be viewed as a hero; a state park in Wyoming bears his name
and in 1988 he was formally honored with a postage stamp (see below).
 



"Buffalo Bill Cody"
1988
U. S. 15
¢ Stamp
Scott -2177
 


"Under the Saddle"
"Copyrighted by J. A. Elliot, Butte, Mont., Jan. 1910"
"Published by Cohn Bros.  Importers and Jobbers, Butte, Mont. 
Montana View Series.  A7177"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1910
9 x 13.7 cm

"UNDER THE SADDLE.   This is the only Buffalo ever saddled,
showing the dare-devil nature of the Northwestern Cowboy, who chances his life
for the amusement of the spectators."
 


"5087.  A Happy Cowboy on a Bucking Buffalo"
" © 1910   U.P.R.R. Co."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard,  1910
13.7 x 9 cm
 


"Mr. Ernest Harold Haynes Driving the Only Team of Buffaloes in the World"
"Copyright, 1906, by Ernest Harold Haynes, Meriden, N. H."
Original vintage lithograph postcard,  1906-07
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Lassoing Buffalo Calf"
"Copyrighted 1910 by Amer. Tob. Co."
"Indian Life in the '60's'
"
 Original vintage chromolithograph trade card, 1910
6.3 x 8.3 cm

"HASSAN  Cork Tip Cigarettes. 
The Oriental Smoke. 
The Largest Selling Brand of Cigarettes in America."


"Lassoing Buffalo Calf
All animals display great courage in defence of their young, and the mother buffalo
was particularly dangerous if she thought her calf was attacked.  The Indians would often-times
try to capture the calf by lassoing it.  The illustration shows a mounted buck who has succeeded
in lassoing the calf and is attacked by the enraged mother buffalo."
 


"Buffalo Charging Hunter"
"Copyrighted 1910 by Amer. Tob. Co."
"Indian Life in the '60's'
"
 Original vintage chromolithograph trade card, 1910
6.3 x 8.3 cm

"HASSAN  Cork Tip Cigarettes. 
The Oriental Smoke. 
The Largest Selling Brand of Cigarettes in America."


"Buffalo Charging Hunter
Hunting the buffalo with bow and arrow was dangerous work, and the Indians
depended largely upon the speed and activity of their trained ponies to keep out of danger.
They were compelled to go close to their game in order to kill with the bow and arrow

and had very little chance of success unless well mounted."
 


"Buffalo Wallow - Indian Hiding"
"Copyrighted 1910 by Amer. Tob. Co."
"Indian Life in the ''60's'
"
 Original vintage chromolithograph trade card, 1910
6.3 x 8.3 cm

"HASSAN  Cork Tip Cigarettes. 
The Oriental Smoke. 
The Largest Selling Brand of Cigarettes in America."

"Buffalo Wallow
Indian hiding from enemies
behind a dead buffalo in a wallow.  It was a common sight
to see the carcass of a buffalo on the plains, and it has often been used
as a shield from enemies both by Indians and white men.
These wallows were formed by the buffalo lying down and rolling
and swinging around, until a hollow was formed about a foot deep,
which would collect rain water, which has been used by men for drinking water
when there was not a stream within many miles.  They have saved many lives."
 


"American Bison (Bos Amricanus)"
"The Extermination of the Bison"
The Illustrated London News  June 11, 1892
 Original vintage wood engraving  1892
10 x 13 cm

"To the Great Northwest with the Marquis of Lorne - X"
"A Buffalo Hunt in the Red River Valley "
"The 'Coup de Grace' "
"Sketched by our Special Artist, Mr. Sydney Hall"
"The Graphic   November 26,1881"
Original vintage wood engraving, 1881
40.6 x 27.9 cm

(The shooter is T
he Marquis of Lorne (J. D. S. Campbell), the son-in-law of Queen Victoria
and the Governor-General of Canada. 
The location is the Red River Valley in Manitoba; the event took place on September 05, 1881. 
The Graphic was a London weekly newspaper (1869 - 1932).)
 


"Bison Skulls Collected by the Indians and Half-breeds"
"The Extermination of the Bison"
Photograph by H. Lounslen, August 1890
The Illustrated London News  June 11, 1892
 Original vintage (Meisenbach relief) halftone  photograph, 1892
11.5 x 15.3 cm

Click to see entire article
 


"Bison Bones on the Canadian Pacific Railroad"
"The Extermination of the Bison"
Photograph by H. Lounslen, August 1890
The Illustrated London News  June 11, 1892
 Original vintage wood engraving ("after H. Lounslen photograph"), 1892
11.2 x 16 cm

 



"Buffalo Hunters' Camp"
"Through Texas"
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 59  No. 353, October 1879
Original vintage wood engraving, 1879
8.7 x 12 cm
 


"H-3960  Forty Thousand Buffalo Hides Ready for Shipment.
Dodge City, Kansas, 1878"
"Fred Harvey"
Original vintage collotype postcard,  c.1910
9 x 13.7 cm

"In the early days, Dodge City was the great freighting station of the Southwest, furnishing supplies
to the military posts and Indian agencies of the Indian Territory, and to ranchmen and hunters. 
In the heart of the buffalo country, trade in hides and meat reached a large volume"
 


"Slaughtered for the Hide"
Harper's Weekly   December 12, 1874
Original vintage wood engraving, 1874
40 x 28 cm
 



"The Last Buffalo"
"Don't shoot, my good fellow! Here, take my 'robe,' 
save your ammunition, let me go in peace."
Harper's Weekly   June 6, 1874
Original vintage wood engraving, 1874
12.5 x 12 cm
 



Buffalo Dance of the Mandan Indians

Plate 32, Figure 56  "Making Buffalo Come"
George Catlin
Original vintage chromolithograph print, 1890
 80 x 115 mm

The Manners, Customs, and Condition of the NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS,
by GEORGE CATLIN.
Written During Eight Years Travel
Amongst The Wildest Tribes of Indians in North America, 1832-39
With Four Hundred Illustrations, Carefully Engraved from his Original Paintings
and Colored after Nature
In Two Volumes - Volume the First

London - Published by the Author at the Egyptian Hall, Picadilly
1841 (Second Edition 1890 )

 


"Buffalo Dance"
"Copyrighted 1910 by Amer. Tob. Co."
"Indian Life in the '60's' "

 Original vintage chromolithograph trade card, 1910
8.3 x 6.3 cm

"HASSAN  Cork Tip Cigarettes. 
The Oriental Smoke. 
The Largest Selling Brand of Cigarettes in America."


"Buffalo Dance
After a hunt and the destruction of many buffalo killed by the Indians, they set apart a gala
or feast day when they danced in a circle and chanted wierd (sic) songs.  They
had a superstition that by wearing the buffalo's head with horns, etc., and painting their bodies
that the Great
Spirit would forgive them for their great slaughter and bring back some buffalo to them.
The Indians had no idea of economy and would often kill the game to a wasteful extent."
 


"The Buffalo Dance of the Prairie Indians (Potawatomi)"
The World, its Cities and Peoples
Original vintage wood engraving, 1892
19 x 26.2 cm
 


" Buffalo Dance"
 Original vintage silkscreen on wood laminate postcard , c. 1930
13.7 x 9 cm

" Buffalo Dancer of the Pueblo Indians"
"Thousands of years ago the Bison (Buffalo) roamed west to the Pacific.  Ancient Basketmakers
hunted them in Arizona and New M
exico.  Cliff Dwellers succeeded the Basketmakers and their
descendants became the Pueblo Indians of today.  But during recent centuries Buffalo herds
 came little farther west than the Rockies.  Plains Indians performed many ceremonial dances to
 this animal, their staff of life.  Pueblo Indians usually hunted only Deer, Elk, Antelope, and
Mountain Sheep.  Some made sporadic and dangerous journeys into Plains Indian country
 for Buffalo.  It is thought that they brought back, along with Buffalo meat and hides,
a Plains ceremony.  However the Buffalo Dance is now common to all pueblos,
 with slight variations in the colorful performance."
 


"Buffalo Medicine Man Arrayed for his Incantations and Ceremonies"
"5A65  Sanborn Souvenir Co., Denver, Colo."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1935
13.7 x 9 cm

"This Medicine Man with his Buffalo trappings is believed to possess
and to be able to confer the strength and virtues of the Buffalo upon his followers. 
The hoop is the instrument with which he confers his charms."
 


" Buffalo Dancers, Santa Clara Pueblo "
"Curteichcolor  ® 3-D Natural Color Reproduction"
"Distributed by Southwest Postcard Company, Albuquerque, N. M."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1930
9 x 13.7 cm

"K 458 - Deer and Buffalo Dancers Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico
The Indian dances are many and the costumes worn are in keeping with the ceremony.
The Dance of the Chase represents the Indian in costume with the Buffalo Head and Bow and Arrow,
others with antlers, carrying a stick in each hand to appear four-footed,
adorned with Fox Skins and Eagle Fathers."
 


"93  Buffalo Dance, Pueblo Indian Ceremony"
"C. T. American Art Colored"
"Harry Herz, 1655 Ebers St., San Diego, Calif."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1935
9 x 13.7 cm

"The Pueblo Indians, though converted to Christianity three centuries ago,
have not in the least given up their pagan Gods and rites,
but have placed the white man's God in their ancient pantheon. 
The Buffalo dance, a celebration in honor of the God of the Chase
and a sort of prayer for successful hunting during the winter, is held on the feast day
of the patron saint of Tesuque Pueblo, St. James (San Diego), November 12th."
 


"K-386 - Buffalo and Deer Dance on the Indian Reservation"
"Natural Color Reproduction - Curteich Color  ® Art - Creation Reg. U. S. Pat. Off."
"Distributed by Southwest Postcard Co., Box 685, Albuquerque, N. M."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1957
9 x 13.7 cm

"The Indian Dances are many and the costumes worn are in keeping with the ceremony.
The Dance of the Chase represents the Indian in costume with
Buffalo Head and Bow and Arrow, other with Antlers carrying a stick in each hand
to appear four footed, adorned with Fox Skins and Eagle Feathers."
 


"The Buffalo Dance of the Hopi Indians"
"Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona  (In Front of Hopi House)"
"Phostint - Made Only by the Detroit Photographic Co."
"H - 3630"
Original vintage photochrome postcard, c. 1930
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"The Buffalo Dance of the Pueblo Indians"
"Curteich Chicago.  C. T. - Art - Colortone Postcard "
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1937
9 x 13.7 cm

"This dance is very colorful and interesting and done according to
ancient Indian lore by all tribes of Pueblo Indians - the Hopi, San Juan,
Santa Clara, Taos and all tribes of the Rio Grande. 
Genuine Buffalo heads and skins form part of the costume."
 


"The Indian Messiah Craze"
"
The Red Record of the Sioux
LIFE OF SITTING BULL and HISTORY OF THE INDIAN WAR of 1890-1891
A graphic account of the life of the Great Medicine and Chief Sitting Bull; his tragic death;
the story of the Sioux Nation; their manners and customs, ghost dances and Messiah craze;
also, a very complete history of the Sanguinary Indian War of 1890-1891
W. Fletcher Johnson
Edgewood Publishing Company Publishers, 1891"

Original vintage halftone after woodcut, 1891
9.5 x 14.2 cm
 


"The Ghost Dance"
"
The Red Record of the Sioux
LIFE OF SITTING BULL and HISTORY OF THE INDIAN WAR of 1890-1891
A graphic account of the life of the Great Medicine and Chief Sitting Bull; his tragic death;
the story of the Sioux Nation; their manners and customs, ghost dances and Messiah craze;
also, a very complete history of the Sanguinary Indian War of 1890-1891
W. Fletcher Johnson
Edgewood Publishing Company Publishers, 1891"
Original vintage halftone after S. V. Preath woodcut, 1891
10.5 x 14.3 cm
 



"A Ghost-Dance"
"The Ghost Dance of the American Indians, R. A. Gregory"
Leisure Hour, July 1897, Vol 36
Original vintage halftone of  Mary Irvin Wright painting, composited from James Mooney photographs, 1897
123 x 207 mm
 


"Hypnotized Performers of the Ghost-Dance"
"The Ghost Dance of the American Indians, R. A. Gregory"
Leisure Hour, July 1897, Vol 36
Original vintage halftone of  Mary Irvin Wright painting, composited from James Mooney photographs, 1897
120 x 202 mm

Shortly after the Wounded Knee Massacre (1891), ethnologist James Mooney photographed a Ghost Dance
on the Southern Arapaho Reservation in Oklahoma.  From the 78 (18 5x7 glass plates and 69 Kodak Round nitrates)
poor-quality photographs taken, a number were composited by Mary Irvin Wright into paintings. 
These were printed as halftones in Mooney's 1896 Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology
Report on the Ghost Dance.  The above images were a part of an article in the British periodical Leisure Hour
 reporting on the Smithsonian Report.
 


"'Ghost Dance of Crow Indians"
"Copyright Griffith and Griffith"
Original vintage color lithograph stereoview, 1910
9 x 17.7 cm
 

"'Apache Ghost Dancers"
"Curteich 8A88-N"
"Mid-Continent News Co., Oklahoma City, Okla."
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1938
(Photo c.1920.  Wavoka on right)

9 x 13.7 cm
 


"'Indian (Sioux) Ghost Dancers "
The Peoples Standard History of the United States
Edward S. Ellis, M.A.
The Woolfall Company, 1897
Original
vintage halftone photograph, 1897
7
x 12.7 cm
 


"'The Sioux Dance"
August 30, 1907 Macleod, Alberta
"Copyrighted 1907 by A. Y. & Co., Printed in Germany"
"To. 185 3"
Original vintage collotype postcard, 1907
9 x 13.7 cm
 


"Sitting Bull, Sioux"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, 1907
13.7 x 9 cm
 


"Chief Sitting Bull"
" L. Peterson 3420"
"Copyright 1908  H. H. Tammen, Denver
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, embossed, 1910
13.7 x 9 cm

Chief Sitting Bull, a Lakota-Sioux (Hunkpapa) was captured and shot in 1890 by the U.S. Government
who feared his support of of the Ghost Dance.  Wovoka's Ghost Dance was at the heart of
a messianic movement aimed at restoring the dignity of the native people and ushering the return of the buffalo.  
Sitting Bull's death precipitated the Wounded Knee Massacre, two weeks later, in which over 150 men,
women and children were killed by the U.S. Army. Four Hotchkiss cannons, early machine guns,
were used against the people.  Medals of Honor, the highest possible honor a soldier can receive,
were issued to twenty military participants in the massacre.
 


 
Sitting Bull ,1989
Great Americans Series
U. S. 28
¢ Stamp
Scott -2138
 



"iron Hail known as Dewey Beard " (1858-1955)
"Survivor of the Wounded Knee Indian Battle"
Original vintage color lithograph postcard, c. 1920
13.7 x 9 cm

When Dewey Beard died in 1955 he was the last survivor of Wounded Knee.
 


"Chief Spotted Elk, or Bigfoot"
"Chief Big Foot
Killed at the Battle of
Wounded Kn(ee)
with his Full Ban(d by the)
7th Cav Dec (28:1890)
Copy Right (Jan 1st 1891)
N W. Pho(to Co  Chadron
)
(Neb
)"
(Missing text from another copy)
George Trager, Photographer
Original vintage photograph postcard, (1891) c.1920
9 x 13.7 cm

After Sitting Bull's death, Spotted Elk, Chief of the Miniconjou Lakota Sioux and Sitting Bull's half-brother,
traveled to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Spotted Elk was a good negotiator, and came to help restore peace. 
He carried a white flag and had no intention of fighting. He was apprehended and held prisoner by the Cavalry,
then taken to a camp at Wounded Knee Creek.  In the one hour battle that ensued that next day Spotted Elk
was shot along with 150 (official count is 150, eyewitnesses say 300) others, including women and children. 
The dead lay snow-covered in the field for three days before their bodies were thrown into a common grave. 
This famous photograph was taken after Spotted Elk's frozen body, lying face down, was rolled over. 
He was an advocate and practitioner of the Ghost Dance, outlawed only several weeks before
by the U. S. Government.  The Battle of Wounded Knee squelched the Ghost Dance movement,
and essentially ended the native's determination to maintain their ancient life way.


The Demise and Recovery
 of the Bison/Buffalo in North America

Vintage images / artifacts from the 19th and 20th century

In 1871 there were more Bison/Buffalo than people in North America.

Historical accounts vary as to precise dates and numbers,
but it is quite accurate to say that the American Bison or Buffalo
was almost entirely gone from North America by 1900.
The proud, stalwart and beautiful beast that was sacred to the
New World's Native Peoples for thousands of years, and roamed in herds of
tens of thousands (an estimated 60 million once occupied the Great Plains),
was virtually decimated within just a few years when the U. S. Government decided that
the "Indian" could be "discouraged" (official term) by eliminating its sacred animal.
In 1867 the famed General Sheridan had declared
"Kill the buffalo, and you kill the Indians."  This became official policy.

Few efforts were initiated to stop the slaughter of this noble creature prior to the
turn of the century.  In an odd twist of fate, a New York zookeeper named
William T. Hornaday had a sense of what was happening and acquired
several of the remaining beasts for his zoo, probably unaware of the ultimate
significance of this action. An Oklahoma Comanche Chief, Quanah Parker,
led a campaign to encourage Hornaday to ship some of his animals
to the newly-formed Wichita Mountains Wildlife Preserve in Oklahoma. 
In October of 1907 a train arrived in Cache, near Lawton, south of the Refuge. 
Aboard were 15 buffalo from the Bronx Zoo, one of which was a hefty two year old male,
soon to be named General Lawton after a Civil War figure of local fame,
General Lawton  (see photos above) became the alpha male of the Wichita herd.
The herd flourished and over the next years animals were transplanted back into
their native habitats, albeit mostly to protective reserves. Similar projects joined this effort
and eventually the Buffalo/Bison population began to rebound in the West.
Even though the population is no longer threatened today, 
the Bison's role in America's native heritage exists primarily in memory and ritual. 
Bison themselves are owned by ranchers and the government.

The above images/objects, including two rare vintage original photographs
of General Lawton, are records of the "demise and recovery" of the Bison/Buffalo
in Western North America. In the 19th and early 20th century, books and magazine articles
about the status of the Bison/Buffalo that were illustrated with wood and steel engravings;
stereoviews, real photograph or color postcards, trade cards, etc. were
 popular media circulating amidst the public. Photographs were rare, but do exist.
 The Buffalo Nickel (1913-1938), as well as several U.S. Postal stamps, served to
connect the Native American with the Bison/Buffalo, and were day-to-day reminders
of a lost heritage. Cumulatively they recount the story of the campaign to reverse the history
of the Bison/Buffalo's near complete demise. Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show
as well as local rodeo acts served as mixed signals to the American public.
Neither the Bison/Buffalo nor the Indian regained their rightful role in the American
landscape/heritage, but perhaps the Bison/Buffalo fared better than the Native American.
Native Americans retain their memories and spirit of the Bison/Buffalo primarily through ritual

 

.THE EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON
The classic 1889 study entitled The Extermination of the American Bison by
William T. Hornaday is available in its entirety, free with no restrictions,
from The Gutenberg Project.  Click title to read online or download.


THE BUFFALO RANGE
In January 1869 Theodore R. Davis published "The Buffalo Range" in
Harpers New Monthly Magazine
. The original pages from 1869 are in the
archives of Imagi Gallery. This seventeen page article with illustrations
by the author can be viewed/read in its entirety by clicking the title. 




GALLOPING BUFFALO
Sixteen frames of famed photographer Eadweard Muybridge's 1887 running
buffalo images were sequenced together to create this animation. 
 Muybridge is known for creating such sequences of still images, originally done as
locomotion studies, that eventually became motion picture films.
 

 

BUFFALO DANCE

Buffalo Dance is an 1894 American 16-second black and white silent film shot in
Thomas Edison's Black Maria studio. It was produced by William K. L. Dickson
with William Heise as cinematographer, and features three Sioux warriors
 named Hair Coat, Parts His Hair and Last Horse dancing in a circle
 while two other Native Americans accompany them with drums.
Apple does mot support Adobe Flash Player and won't play this film.
 


This is a project in process.  It has not yet assumed a significant shape. 
It has begun and yet continues as a collection of artifacts,
many of which are shown on this web page.
Soon it will evolve into something of substance. 

All of the above artifacts, with the exception of the 1901 U.S. $10 Note,
are in the collection of Imagi Gallery. The 1887 Muybridge Animated Sequence
  and the Edison Buffalo Dance film are in the Imagi Collection but are in Public Domain.
For information please contact (click here to email) Imagi
Gallery.
 

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