Saving the Buffalo

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Overview

The American Bison, or buffalo, was once considered the symbol of the United States. This compelling story tells how it reached the brink of extinction, and how it was saved.

Saving the Buffalo explores the astonishing fate of these huge animals. There is no simple answer to their near extinction. The interplay of natural forces and people, both Native Americans and settlers, played a critical role in the story of this American symbol.

Many thousands of buffalo roamed the Great Plains for centuries. The first Native Americans had more than 100 uses for the buffalo, but only killed as many as they needed.

Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature

This book was written for nine to twelve year olds and certainly a child that age will enjoy it, but I am fifty-seven and I thought it was wonderful. Albert Marrin, professor emeritus at Yeshiva College, taught history for thirty-three years, and he brings all the discipline of an accomplished historian to this fascinating account of the American bison. These were formidable animals. Large males could reach two and a half tons and were more than a match for a grizzly bear. Buffalo, it is said, wandered the great American prairie in herds so large they seemed to reach the horizon. There were between 30 and 65 million of them when the first Europeans arrived; they were nearly driven to extinction in the 1870s, partly in sport, partly for the hides, and partly as part of a grotesque US government policy of destroying the means by which Native Americans survived. This is a splendid account of what buffalo are, how Native Americans lived with them, how they were decimated, and what is being done to restore them. Well worth the read, even if you happen to be over twelve.

VOYA

Marrin traces the buffalo from its days as "Lord of the Plains" to its near extinction and recent resurgence. The book begins by describing the conditions to which the buffalo has adapted on the Great Plains, how the buffalo fits into the prairie ecosystem, and buffalo behavior. The presence of American Indians did not greatly affect the buffalo, living together in delicate balance. The Indians developed a sustainable relationship with the buffalo, including the animal in religious ceremonies and adapting hunting and storage techniques to feed the tribe throughout the harsh winters. Western Expansion upset that balance, and the buffalo became another resource to be exploited. The animal became nearly extinct and only the efforts of a few people (including President Theodore Roosevelt) saved it from total destruction. The book ends on a hopeful note as it shows that although the thundering herds of long ago are gone forever, the buffalo is in the midst of a successful return. Marrin puts together a very attractive book for upper elementary and middle school students. The text is well written, and the glossary defines many difficult words. The book is set up well for browsing, as it is liberally illustrated with maps and color pictures, which include both photographs and reproductions of classical artwork. An index and a further reading list make the book useful for research projects on American Indians, Western Expansion, and the buffalo itself.

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School Library Journal

Gr 5-7-In characteristically robust prose, Marrin retraces the American bison's roller-coaster ride from "Lord of the Great Plains" to near extinction at the end of the 19th century, and slow recovery. Along with showing how the buffalo fit into the habitat's complex, interdependent ecology, he describes in vivid detail how the animals were hunted and utilized by indigenous peoples-"That night, there were favorite dishes like blood soup, that is, blood poured into boiling water and thickened with brains"-until being nearly exterminated through a combination of sport hunting, hide harvesting, and a campaign of deliberate slaughter intended to weaken Indian resistance to settlement. A generous array of accompanying illustrations includes crisply reproduced photos, both new and old; prints; paintings; and pictures of artifacts. Closing with an account of the buffalo's rescue and the state of both wild and domestic herds today, this title makes a splashy (sometimes literally so: "An enraged buffalo-might suddenly turn its head, slicing open a horse's belly with its horns, sending guts gushing out") alternative to Dorothy Hinshaw Patent's equally passionate but more restrained The Buffalo and the Indians: A Shared Destiny (Clarion, 2006).-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780439718547
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date: 10/1/2006
Pages: 128
Age range: 9 - 12 Years
Product dimensions: 8.10 (w) x 10.00 (h) x 0.60 (d)

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Saving the Buffalo

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