Document 5: White Settlers and the American Buffalo
The Plains Indians were not the only ones who
valued the American buffalo. Hides were worth
good money back east, where they were used
as belts for factory machines and as
fashionable robes and rugs. The railroad made
the buffalo herds of the Great Plains accessible
to the eastern U.S. and many men made their
fortune in buffalo hunting.
Pictured, left: 40,000 buffalo hides on display at Rath
and Wright’s Buffalo Hide Yard in Dodge City
Kansas, circa 1878
Pictured, below: Artist’s depiction of a railroad’s
buffalo “hunting specials”
Settlers hunted buffalo for sport too. Railroads offered
“hunting specials” that allowed passengers to shoot
buffalo from moving trains. The slaughter was so
massive that one summer, railroads had to cancel
these specials because the stench of the rotting buffalo
carcasses was too overwhelming.
Buffalo were killed accidently as well. Settlers’ livestock
carried diseases that destroyed buffalo herds. Land
fenced off for livestock took away grazing land from the
buffalo and cut off migration routes as well.
While the American buffalo numbered up to 60
million in 1860, it was on the brink of extinction
within decades. By 1894, there may have been as
few as 25 buffalo roaming the Great Plains.
Pictured, left: A pile of buffalo skulls waiting to be ground
up for fertilizer
In Your Answer Packet...
Document 5: White Settlers and the American Buffalo
● On page 2 of your answer packet, find “Table 1. Comparison of Perspectives: The
American Buffalo” and fill out the White Settlers and the Buffalo side of the T Chart
○ Include the following:
■ How did the settlers seem to view the buffalo?
■ How did the settlers use the buffalo?
● Answer Documents 4 and 5 Questions:
○ How might the use of the buffalo by settlers impact the lifestyle of the Plains
Indians?
○ After analyzing documents 1­5, what do you predict will happen next when white
settlers from the eastern U.S. continue to migrate West?