Analysis Of The Frontier Army And The Destruction Of The Buffalo

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In the journal article, "The Frontier Army and the Destruction of the Buffalo: 1865-1883, Smits asserts that the United States ' post-Civil War frontier army was the driving figure in the near extermination of the Great Plains buffalo. This process, which was orchestrated at the highest level of command ,and carried out throughout this ranks, was launched in order to drive the Plains Indians tribes into reservations. This paper will dive into the rationale of the army for their systematic eradication of the buffalo, how it was accomplished, and the major consequences of their pursuit. The mastermind behind the destruction of the buffalo was none other than General Sherman. A highly brutal yet effective Union commander during the Civil War, …show more content…

Army commanders, such as Colonel Custard, utilized the buffalo herds as target practice to train their troops to shoot while riding. Some soldiers, such as those stationed at Fort Cobb, used cannon fire to drive buffalo herds away from the premises. Officers would even hold hunting contests to see which person or team could eliminate the most buffalo in a certain amount of time (Smits, 319). On top of their own killing spree, the army would invite prominent businessmen and heads of state (such as Grand Duke Alexis of Russia) to participate in buffalo hunts. During these hunts, the hunters would only keep the tongue and best cuts of meat, while leaving the rest of the body to rot. As a result of these hunts, hundreds to thousands of buffalo were killed in a single season. At the result of these mass killings, the buffalo population of North America was driven to the verge of …show more content…

As stated by an unknown high ranking officer, "if we kill the buffalo we conquer the Indian" (Smits, 331). Based on the written testimonies and historical hunts presented, I agree with the Smits ' assertion that the extermination of the buffalo was planned, orchestrated, and encouraged by the highest commanders of the United States army. The primary ramification was the elimination of the buffalo must not only be considered in terms of economic "progress" and "profit". Its chief aim was to pacify the resisting plains tribes while connecting the burgeoning nation by an interconnected system of

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