My Encephalon Journeys

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this picture is worth many thousands of bison. This photo from the 1870s shows a man proudly standing in front of a mountain of tens of thousands of bison skulls - an iconic American species that was systematically slaughtered by the millions as European Americans settled the west.

The US Army actively endorsed the wholesale slaughter of these animals for two main reasons: to remove any competition with cattle, and to starve Native American tribes who greatly depended on the bison for food. Without the bison, the resisting tribes of the Great Plains would either be forced to leave or die of starvation.

More than a century after this dark period in our history, the bison is making a comeback. After living on the brink of extinction, this American icon is slowly but steadily returning to the Great Plains - one baby bison at a time.