1. Native Americans & The Buffalo US History: Spiconardi

5. Causes of the Buffalo’s Decline

6. Buffalo herds often ripped up train track and caused a problem for the railroads

7. The Railroads Hunted Buffalo – Buffalo stampedes would rip up track – Railroad companies would feed workers buffalo meat

8. Tanning Not this type !

9. Many American hunters removed the buffalo hides in order to sell them, but left hundreds of thousands of carcasses to rot on the plains. This type!

10. Tanning Tanneries paid hunters $1 to $3 for hides Hides were sent east to be used as belts on industrial machines Hunters often left carcasses and other potential uses of the buffalo were wasted

11. “Kill every buffalo you can. Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.” ~A United States Army Officer

12. Genocide Genocide  The planned destruction and elimination of a particular ethnic or religious group Americans viewed Native Americans and Indians as a hindrance to their ambitions – The government supported policies that would remove Indians from the path of white settlement – Wanted to Americanize Indians Wanted to end nomadic lifestyle of Indians

13. Impact of the Buffalo’s Decline

14. Conflict Tribes of the Great Plains clashed with one another over hunting rights due to scarcity of the buffalo – Tribes were forced to hunt further from home & often entered the territory of rival tribes Being further from home made settlement vulnerable to raids

15. Starvation Lack of buffalo forced Indians to rely on agriculture – If weather caused crops to fail, Indians had no food to sustain themselves

16. Loss of Traditional Culture Indians would have to adapt to life without the buffalo – 1850: 13 million buffalo – 1880s: less than a thousand buffalo