The Great Buffalo Hunt

by Wayne Gard

.

Genres: History

Paperback

First published October 1, 1968

Reviews

[Bill Brewer]

How do 4o million buffalo get wiped out in just five years from 1870 to 1875? This well-researched book will tell you how and in doing so give a peek at a slice of American history in the High Plains from Lubbock, Texas north through Nebraska and into the Dakotas. The US government's treatment of the Indians and the retaliation of the Indians at having their source of food, clothing, and shelter systematically wiped out is a recurring theme throughout all of American history. Buffalo hunting was not what we see on TV and in the movies but a well-planned slaughter done by a lone rifleman hidden behind a clump of trees. The riflemen sometimes carried two Sharps rifles so one could cool down between use. He could, in some cases, drop 80 buffaloes with ninety-one shots in a single hour by taking out the lead buffalo. We have all heard stories about the cold on the Great Plains. These hunters would sometimes get caught out in the weather and survive by climbing into the cavity of a recently shot buffalo. We do not hear that on occasion the carcass froze solid making it impossible for the hunter to extricate himself.

[Mikel]

An important book to read when studing the Great Slaughter of the bison. The book primarily focuses on the experiences of the people who were hunting the bison. It includes several important eye witness accounts. Some stories are so detailed they even recount which dogs survived the encounter.

The slaughter of the bison is overwhelming. Wayne Gard does nothing to try and mask it. Rather, he lets it wash over you again and again. Ending the book with a chapter on the collection and selling of the bison's bones brings home the tragedy in a poignant way. It reminds us that humans even erased the evidence of this large scale ecological disaster. Without important works like The Great Buffalo Hunt we would forget what happened here all too soon.

[Patrick Macke]

I received a first edition of this book as a gift ... I figured it was a fictional "cowboy" story ... Turns out it's everything you ever wanted to know about the wholesale slaughter of the 60-75 million buffalo that used to share a continent with us ... There are some interesting facts here, however, the plain truth is that the killing and waste and brutality and senseless disposal of the buffalo is disgusting, ignorant and short-sighted ... Not our best moment

[Fredrick Danysh]

In the later half of the nineteenth century the army organized an elaborate buffalo hunt for American and foreign dignitaries. It portrays the vastness of the buffalo herds at the time and the total disregard for conservation of our natural resources. The slaughter of the buffalo was also sanctioned because it destroyed the food source of many Native Americans. While somewhat stilted in style, a good read.

[Rey Dekker]

...the numbers were staggering...the reasons behind this near extinction story greed...with a little genocide thrown in for good measure...the figures were mind-numbing at times and names of people voluminous (and inconsequential really but this book was written a long time ago)...what a terrible saga for what was and is the North American Landmark Animal...the bison...

[Mark Malone]

I rate this book 3 of 5 -- GOOD. The book contains quite a few astonishing (and sobering) facts, and interesting descriptions of buffalo hunters' lives on the plains and interactions with natives. But large sections of the book seem to simply list of the names of buffalo hunters and the number of buffaloes killed, making it hard to plow all the way through (which I did).