Recumbent Bull
We see here an American Bison bull. You probably recognize it as a buffalo. Blame the confusion on the French. When French trappers first encountered them in America, they thought they were shaggy cows. So they called them “bouefs” which is French for cattle. Samuel de Champlain was the first to refer to them as buffalo in print. A bull could be up to 6.5 feet tall and 12 feet from nose to tail. They could weigh 2,000 pounds. Until white settlers came along, millions of them roamed the Great Plains. When the Indians domesticated the horse, this allowed them to follow the herds and the tribes became dependent on the buffalo for their lifestyle. They used virtually every part of the body, including the tail as a flyswatter (which is what the buffalo used it for, too). White hunters killed buffalo in the millions, mainly for their coats and their tongues (which were considered a delicacy), but also to deprive the Indians of their walking department stores. By 1905, there were only about 500 left. Conservationists took note and places like Yellowstone National Park were created as sanctuaries. Today, the park has a herd of about 5,000 and the majestic animal is no longer endangered.
- photo is from the Library of Congress / information is from Encyclopedia.com
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