BUFFALO WALLOW

A buffalo wallow is a natural depression in the prairie that holds rain water. The wallows serve as temporary watering holes and they are a spot favored by the buffalo to "wallow in" to cool off  and drink from on hot days.

This late 1800 map shows the extent and size of the land where the buffalo once roamed.  The American Indians lived on Plains of North America and the buffalo were their entire source of existence, as they used every single part of the animal in their day to day life....not wasting one smidgen.

Also in the late 1800's a couple of young buffalo hunter brothers from England made their way to Ft. Zulu Stockade, about 15 miles from where I live. The Cator Brothers lived and died in the area as they hunted buffalo alongside the Plains Indians.

Ft. Adobe Walls

a map of the fort

hunting the buffalo

Later, as the military began to relocate the Indians into areas where they could contain and maintain them, they began to slaughter the buffalo.  An estimated 31,000,000 buffalo were killed between the years of 1868 and 1881

 with only 500 buffalo left by the year of 1885.

I hope this makes you sad...but be sad no longer because 

THE BUFFALO ARE BACK!!

oh yes they are!

on our trip to Mount Rushmore we traveled through 

The Black Hills and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands

where nearly 600,000 acres contain a diversity of plants and animals and are one of the most extensive, productive ecosystems in the United States....and especially dedicated to

the buffalo

what an  amazing and emotional sight to behold

it would cause this chief

and his entourage

to do the happy dance!

to read more about Adobe Walls click the link below

2nd Battle of Adobe Walls

If you love history and natural beauty...I would so encourage you to visit this area

and here we actually have a small buffalo herd close by and though not much is there to see at the Adobe Walls site, it's an amazing vacation!  Let me know...and you can be our guest at 822!

**the above  photos were given to me by my mother (the actual b&w hang in our office) and they were given to her by a man in Minnesota who came to the 1974 Anniversary of the Battle of Adobe Walls where he took the photos.