The animal massacre that changed America forever
Table of Contents
In 1870, tens of millions of bison roamed America. Just thirty years later, fewer than two dozen truly wild ones were left, hanging on in what would become Yellowstone National Park.
It was the largest animal massacre in history, and it changed America forever. It severed the relationship between our native people and the animal that sustained them for thousands of years. It taught us that the frontier wasn't endless, that some things - and some places - needed protection from us.
And one man was at the center of it all. A showman who made his fortune reenacting the bison hunts of his youth, and became perhaps the most famous man in the world in the process. And when it was clear the bison were teetering at the edge of extinction, William Cody - better known as Buffalo Bill - became one of their most visible advocates.
This is the story of the largest animal massacre in history, and how its legacy shaped the country we live in today.
