NARRATIVE: The American bison, or buffalo, is a majestic icon of North America. Associated with the Wild West, Native Americans, and "Buffalo" Bill Cody, the bison's story is a dramatic tale of survival.

After the Civil War, white settlers began to push westward and, at that time, vast herds of buffalo roamed freely across the Great Plains of North America. The buffalo provided an invaluable source of food and clothing, mainly in hides and other materials for settlers and army posts scattered towards the Pacific. The big push west had begun and it attracted men like Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok and William F. Cody. These men were buffalo hunters and were among hundreds of men trying to capitalize on the tens of millions of buffalo in the untamed West. Sadly, the buffalo were hunted to near extinction, which is why conservation is so vital to the preservation of our precious wildlife and land.