Bison History

Turn of the Century $10 Bill.

From the early days of settling the American West, bison were hunted. Buffalo Runners, as these buffalo hunters called themselves, hunted the bison for their meat and hide.One of the main weapons used was the sharps rifle. From this accurate long range fifle comes the term Sharps-shooter or more commonly today as sharpshooter.
Buffalo, or bison, were seriously depleted from the teeming herds that the American Indians hunted, but modern ranching methods have brought about a resurgence of the American Bison.

The American Buffalo is not a true buffalo. Its closest relative is not the buffalo of Asia and Africa, the Cape Buffalo or Water Buffalo, but the European bison or Wisent, and the Woods Bison. Bison belong to the Bovidae family of mammals, the same family as domestic cattle.

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