HI 440 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Market Hunters
Bison and Abundance
From Harvest to Slaughter
● The horse permitted the expansion of the Indian economy through hunting bison, a very
fast animal
● Traded parts of the buffalo eastward to countries such as France
○ Buffalo populations began to decline due to this trade
● The millions of horses combined with hunting leads to the decrease of population →
there was a changing ecological arrangement
Indians and Bison Decline
● The near extinction of buffalo happens in the mid-1800’s due to the expansion of
railroads
○ Huge amount of waste hunting buffalo for railroad purposes
● Americans realized the value of buffalo as a commodity
○ Robes, blankets, warm outerwear could be made out of buffalo hide
● Market hunters kill bison for profit in consumable goods
● Indians are pushed off of their land due to railroads
● In place of the bison and Indians comes large herds of cattle onto the plains, but these
animals require much more work than the bison
○ Results in pollution of streams
Markets and Railroads
● Railroads provided lengths to distant markets
● Railroads would be used to provide access to bison that would not have been possible
otherwise
The United States Army
● Would kill bison to deprive Indians of their main food source
● Used the bison as a weapon of war, and the market hunters contributed to this war cause
due to the decline of bison
● Indians peoples waged economic war against each other and even killed bison to hurt
each other
According to Jennifer Price…
● Passenger birds would come in thousands and was almost too abundant, but then in the
end, they became extinct due to hunting and lack of food/forest
● The meaning of the pigeon is in the connection of nature, it represents the abundance of
the New World
○ But then all of a sudden there were no more of these birds
● Pigeons represent the ability to get food in masses
○ They were so abundant that if you shot at the sky, dozens would fall
● Transformation as pigeons become this marvellous, magical and unpredictable force, but
the sense of this wonder is lost because they no longer are coming in masses
○ Lost its uniqueness → shifted to capitalizing/getting money from the bird
○ Something is greater at loss than just the pigeons themselves
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Document Summary
The horse permitted the expansion of the indian economy through hunting bison, a very. Traded parts of the buffalo eastward to countries such as france. Buffalo populations began to decline due to this trade. The millions of horses combined with hunting leads to the decrease of population there was a changing ecological arrangement. The near extinction of buffalo happens in the mid-1800"s due to the expansion of railroads. Huge amount of waste hunting buffalo for railroad purposes. Americans realized the value of buffalo as a commodity. Robes, blankets, warm outerwear could be made out of buffalo hide. Market hunters kill bison for profit in consumable goods. Indians are pushed off of their land due to railroads. In place of the bison and indians comes large herds of cattle onto the plains, but these animals require much more work than the bison. Railroads would be used to provide access to bison that would not have been possible otherwise.
