Andrew Isenberg said that “the destruction of the bison was not merely the result of human agency but the consequence of the interaction of human society with a dynamic environment.” Humans and nature both played a large role in the ultimate demise of the bison.
Bison have been around for 10,000 years. Their ancestors where known as giant bison and they were hunted by the paleoindians that came over on the Bering Strait. The giant bison however became extinct because the paleoindians hunted them and at the end of the last ice age, most of the vegetation they fed off of was destroyed. Dwarf bison, the bison that are around today, survived the ice age because the dwarf bison were faster, reproduced more rapidly and required less vegetation to sustain them. The destruction of giant bison resembles what happened to the bison in modern day America; accept they had to survive droughts instead of extreme cold.
Bison were not always the main source of nomadic people’s livelihood on the plains. One example of how nomads survived is that of the Comanche’s, “they lived between the Colorado front range and the Swatch Mountains, from the San Luis Valleys in the south to the Laramie Basin in the north, they snared jack rabbits and other mammals, fished, and gathered small seeds, nuts, and berries. From the slopes of the Yampa River Valley they dug for roots of the Yampa plant, during the summer they traveled east to the plains to hunt bison on foot and south to the Pueblos to raid and trade corn” (Isenberg, 34) The nomads depended on the bison for food, shelter, cloths, and small tools. Before Euroamericans arrived in North America, nomads hunted bison as they needed them, so they wouldn’t be wasteful. In the eighteenth century nomads “a...
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...ghteen hundreds there were seventy five million bison in North America. When the nomads and euroamericans started hunting them for their hides and using them for the main form of trade, along with other natural factors there population took a devastating turn for the worst. “By the eighteen eighties only a couple hundred bison had found refuge from commercial hunters, drought, and the destruction of their grazing land by farmers and livestock in Yellowstone national park” (Isenberg 164). Yellowstone was made into a safe haven for the bison and the United States government did allow the railroad to cross throw Yellowstone because it would affect the safety of the bison. People started to capture the bison and domesticated them to rebuild the population. Bison became a symbol of the American west, which is why the euroamericans started to regenerate there population.
Weisiger’s narrative explains the relationship of “livestock grazing, environmental change, cultural identity, gender, and memory during the New Deal era of the 1930s and its aftermath” (p xv). Weisiger relies on oral histories, environmental science, and government documents. Weisiger begins by discussing the debate about the Stock Reduction Program from 1933-1934. She goes on then to detail the importance of livestock to Navajo cultural identity and way of life. Weisiger writes, “Dine knew nature not only through their connections with the physical environment but also
The site played a significant role for the study of the strategic hunting method practiced by Native American. The native people hunted herds of bison by stampeding them over a 10- 18 metre high cliff. This hunting method required a superior knowledge of regional topography and bison behaviour. The carcasses of the bison killed were carved up by the native people and butchered in the butchering camp set up on the flats.
In this paper Martin is arguing that late quaternary or near time extinctions where caused by human activity or as he calls it “overkill”. Martin recognizes that there have been many forces that have triggered extinctions in the planet on the past but disagrees with the idea that near time extinctions where caused by some commonly believed causes like climate change, disease or nutrient shortage. He argues that the arrival of humans to different continents, islands and the subsequent excessive hunting, the introduction of diseases and other competitors and predators was the cause of extinction of a great number of species “As our species spread to various continents we wiped out their large
The Frontier Thesis has been very influential in people’s understanding of American values, government and culture until fairly recently. Frederick Jackson Turner outlines the frontier thesis in his essay “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”. He argues that expansion of society at the frontier is what explains America’s individuality and ruggedness. Furthermore, he argues that the communitarian values experienced on the frontier carry over to America’s unique perspective on democracy. This idea has been pervasive in studies of American History until fairly recently when it has come under scrutiny for numerous reasons. In his essay “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature”, William Cronon argues that many scholars, Turner included, fall victim to the false notion that a pristine, untouched wilderness existed before European intervention. Turner’s argument does indeed rely on the idea of pristine wilderness, especially because he fails to notice the serious impact that Native Americans had on the landscape of the Americas before Europeans set foot in America.
There are three parts in West’s book; the first part focuses on the sociological, ecological and economic relationships of the plains Indians, starting with the first establish culture of North America, the Clovis peoples. Going into extensive detail pertaining to early geology and ecology, West gives us a glimpse into what life on the early plains must have looked to early peoples. With vastly differing flora and fauna to what we know today, the early plains at the end of the first ice age, were a different place and lent itself to a diverse way of life. The Clovis peoples were accomplished hunters, focusing on the abundance of Pleistocene megafauna such as earlier, larger forms of bison. Though, little human remains were found, evidence of their s...
Estimates are that at the turn of the twentieth century, over two million wild horses roamed free in the western United States. However, having no protection from their primary predator, man, by the 1970’s their numbers had dwindled to less than thirty thousand. In 1971, after a massive public uproar, Congress by a unanimous vote enacted the “Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act” (Act) that characterizes wild horses and burros as national treasures and provides for their protection. “Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.”
However, the issues that the southern Plains tribes faced did not end there: intensive pastoralism brought on negative environmental impacts that led to the decline of the bison population.
...leaving a little portion of land to the animals is not that bad. The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone has been very beneficial to the ecosystem. We tried to eliminate this species but in the end, we need to ask ourselves the question, do we really need to eliminate another species based on our own biases and fears? We need to look past personal gain, and leave nature to take its course.
The earliest known records of the Cheyenne Indians are from the mid 1600s. They were a nomadic peoples whom lived completely off the land. Originally, the Cheyennes lived in larger masses, residing in homes they called wigwams. Eventually, as they became a nomadic peoples, they converted to the usage of a teepee as a home. A Cheyenne teepee was primarily made of buffalo-hide and could be easily moved form place to place, following along behind the buffalo herds. The hunting of buffalo was no easy feat, as the Cheyennes hunted on foot, with bow and arrow. However, the Cheyennes thrived on buffalo; their meat provided food, there hides provided warmth, and the bones allowed for bows, cooking utensils and toys. Also, the sinew made bowstring and sewing equipment.
Native people in the Great Plains would hunt bison mostly with Folsom points. Great plain hunters often stampeded bison herds over cliffs and then slaughtered the animals that plunged to their deaths. They used bows and arrows to hunt, which replaced spears. Archaic peoples in the Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada inhabited a region of replaced spears. Archaic peoples in the Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada inhabited a region of great environment diversity defined largely by the amount of rain. They hunted fish, deer, antelope, bison, and smaller game. To make sure they did not have shortages of fish they relied on plants for food. Archaic peoples in the Pacific Coast lived within the richness
Over the years, the idea of the western frontier of American history has been unjustly and falsely romanticized by the movie, novel, and television industries. People now believe the west to have been populated by gun-slinging cowboys wearing ten gallon hats who rode off on capricious, idealistic adventures. Not only is this perception of the west far from the truth, but no mention of the atrocities of Indian massacre, avarice, and ill-advised, often deceptive, government programs is even present in the average citizen’s understanding of the frontier. This misunderstanding of the west is epitomized by the statement, “Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis was as real as the myth of the west. The development of the west was, in fact, A Century of Dishonor.” The frontier thesis, which Turner proposed in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition, viewed the frontier as the sole preserver of the American psyche of democracy and republicanism by compelling Americans to conquer and to settle new areas. This thesis gives a somewhat quixotic explanation of expansion, as opposed to Helen Hunt Jackson’s book, A Century of Dishonor, which truly portrays the settlement of the west as a pattern of cruelty and conceit. Thus, the frontier thesis, offered first in The Significance of the Frontier in American History, is, in fact, false, like the myth of the west. Many historians, however, have attempted to debunk the mythology of the west. Specifically, these historians have refuted the common beliefs that cattle ranging was accepted as legal by the government, that the said business was profitable, that cattle herders were completely independent from any outside influence, and that anyone could become a cattle herder.
Bison, like many species, have come a long way since the dawn of time. Bison have grown along side humans and humans took advantage of the bison to near extinction. Now bison have been struggling to survive but are luckily still around today but not in every place it used to be. The history of bison go far back to when species are still young on land.
In the early days of United States history market hunters took advantage of what seemed like an endless supply of wild game to sell furs, feathers and meat to colonial traders. Lewis and Clark reported of seeing herds of buffalo that stretched across the plains as far as the eye could see when first passing through this territory in 1804. Estimates of thirty to sixty million buffalo roamed the Great Plains. The demand for buffalo fur back east and in Europe created a market so strong that the Indians and white hunters would kill hundreds of thousands year after year. The government hired market hunters to kill all the buffalo, the native Indians major food source, to pressure the Indians onto reservations. The buffalo herd quickly diminished
Bison bison, or simply bison, have an average body mass of 579 kg. They are herbivores, mainly surviving on prairie grass. Bison are selective grazers, and never remain in one place for long. This means they do not overgraze any one area. The hooves of bison leave indentions in the land where they travel. These indentions in the earth help trap moisture and rain fall necessary for plants to survive upon. The upturned earth also aids in burying seeds. Larger indentions may also be created when a bison rolls upon the dirt to cool off. These may eventually form water holes for all types of species. Wolves, bears, and mountain lions also hunt young, weak, and/or old bison. This allows predators to provide for themselves and their offspring. Females produce one calf per year with an average gestation period of around nine months. The maximum life span of a bison is thirty-three years. The average size
Throughout history, the world and its inhabitants have been subject to great change. Whether these changes are biological, ecological or geological they are all influenced by certain factors at play. Great changes take time to observe, usually longer than one's life would allow. The longer the change, the harder to identify the exact cause. When it comes to the species that inhabit the earth, it is notable that some species that lived and thrived long ago are now simply gone. The extinction of entire species of birds, mammals and amphibians occurs throughout time here on earth but the exact cause for their disappearance has been debated. In chapter two of "Twilight of the Mammoths" written by Paul S. Martin, the theories of extinction are challenged.