Into the Storm

By 1889, Buffalo Bill Cody was the most famous American in the world. “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” show promised “a year’s visit West in three hours,” complete with a stampede of buffalo – and the urban crowds couldn’t get enough of it. The show played an instrumental role in building a following in the country to save the buffalo from extinction.

U.S. concern over a new Ghost Dance ceremony prompted the arrest of the Lakota Chief Sitting Bull. Dozens ended up dead, including Sitting Bull. Several hundred Lakotas headed toward the Black Hills to end things peaceably with the U.S. Army. En route, they camped at a creek called Wounded Knee. The next morning, more than 250 Lakotas – mostly women and children – were killed by U.S. soldiers.

George Bird Grinnell was a student of Lucy Audubon, the widow of the famous ornithologist and painter. She taught him how to observe and appreciate the natural world. More importantly, Lucy taught him to think about future generations and how they might live one day. Grinnell put Lucy’s lessons to work, fighting against the destruction of birds and other wildlife, including the buffalo.

The 1913 Buffalo Nickel raises important questions about the romanticization of the American West. Bison were brought back from the brink of extinction. Today conservation work continues in concert with the people whose lives have been intertwined with the buffalo for over 10,000 years. At least 80 tribes in 20 states control their own herds on nearly a million acres of tribal land.