A Mountain of Bison Skulls

Imagine if you will, bison Skulls piled as high as a two story building. And in your mind a never endly supply of enormous beasts filling stomachs and helping fuel the modern world. For a time bison and bison skulls and bones did both. Bison were once one of the most prominent animals spread across North America. In the opening years of the 1800s 60 million bison were said to have roamed across the vast continent. Their range was from Northern Mexico to the center of Alaska. By the close of the 19th century settlers had killed an estimated 50 million of them; leaving behind mountains of Bison Skulls. At the lowest point the bison’s numbers had dwindled to about 600 (total).  Today you would be hard pressed to see any bison where once they were plentiful. Over the course of 100 years the face of North America changed drastically. Here are a few photos displaying the carnage born by bison during that time starting with a mountain of bison skulls:

File:Bison skull pile edit.jpg
Bison Skills in 1992 waiting to be made into charcoal
Pelts in Yellow Stone
Bison in the Plains: The Decline and Comeback
Gathering of Bison bones in Alberta Canada (This link is incredible if you want to learn more)
Bison skulls
Bones being loaded into rail cars (a daily event)
Advert for a passenger Bison hunt in the late 1800s (Library of Congress)

At one time bison skulls littered the plains. Next time you find yourself traversing across the USA imagine the world a mere two hundred years ago. And feel free to let out a bison yawp. If you liked this content check out more from the PLUTARCH PROJECT ! If you’d like to learn more about Bison click HERE or  Here. or HERE

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